Saturday night- please inspire me

[Aworryingtrend]

Its just for DH and I, I'm doing the meal plan and Im stuck! We normally make a curry on saturday nights but we are going to an Indian restaurant on Friday so won't want it two days in a row.

My mind has gone blank though, I can't think of anyhting else to make! Usually like to make something a bit 'different' on a saturday (as have more time to cook than during the week) but still keep it quite casual.

Would anyone like to inspire me?

A few things that are kind of like a curry but aren't a curry, that take a little more time to prepare:

• lamb/chicken/vegetable tagine
• chinese style braised pork belly (serve with rice and a steamed green veg like broccoli or bok choy)
• home-style burritos or tacos - you could lay out all the different ingredients and assemble your own
• pork chop boulangere (pork chops layered between sliced potatoes, covered with a mix of stock and milk/cream, baked for a good hour then another 30 min uncovered so the potatoes are crispy on top, melty inside and the pork is soft and lovely)

Those ideas are perfect Tyelperion, just the kind of thing I was looking for! Really fancy Chinese style pork belly. Or burritos/fajitas.

thanks!

Best recipe I've found is from Fuschia Dunlop's book on Sichuan cooking - you can see it here (with step by step pictures even).

I've made it many times and it makes the whole house smell lovely and aromatic. If you happen to have chinese red chili bean paste, or chili oil (the kind with the sludge of chili on the bottom you can add a spoon of one or both to the braising liquid for a bit of a spicy kick if you want it.

Just make sure you don't make anything else rich or fatty for the meal - just plain white rice and steamed greens - because the pork belly is too wonderful and unctuous to share the stage with anything else.