What . Am . I . Doing.
It's 3.42am Sunday morning and I'm looking at second hand meat slicers and where to buy sheeps brains on the river cottage forums. I don't feel the need to want to purchase any if these items im just running out of things to search for on my I phone whilst lying in bed next to an clearly sound asleep husband and two extreamly contented dogs.
It's been three hours, 11 mins and 55 seconds since I first awoke and now having exhausted all the recipe searching I need for today's ( that seems strange calling it that at this unearthly hour) baking and cooking experiments, I am now wasting precious battery life on looking at completely useless things ( unless you are some S and M type alternative butcher who wishes to posses a meat slicer for try to shave off slices of sheep brain ).
The reason behind my annoying insomnia must be down to feeling much disappointed ( and a little bit queasy) at a meal we had at a restaurant last night.
I love eating out, to me it s one of life's ultimate luxuries , either with a partner or a small group of friends ( large dining experiences never work), eating and savouring every last mouthful of food that we wouldnt usually pre pare for ourselves at home. It should be like having an invigorating day at the spa, without of course anyone intruding your personal space with their hands, you should feel pampered, first upon being greeted by warm and welcoming staff, then throughout the meal they should continue their gracious mannor and treat you like they are your sole carer, only there to answer to your every need. The food, wether it be a Michelin starred gourmet miracle or a humble home cooked treat in your local comfortable pub should amaze and wow on appearance. The wafts of aroma and the spine tingling tastes on your tongue should make you melt and ease your way into your comfy but not too slouchy seat.
Obviously from my detailed and descriptive example of what you should expect when dining out this is what R and I did not receive last night.
I will not lower myself to actually listing one by one the number of problems with this particular eatery but meals ( or should I say plates of inedible ingredients) like what we suffered last night make me forget why we were romanticised by dining out in the first place.
Fortunately we decline in eating out often, preferring to apply passion and vigirous happiness into our own food we prepare at home, which makes my feelings all that bit more bitter as we use restaurant eating as a treat, believing that if we as home cooks can feel that emotional about food then just imagine what a chef would feel, bursting with creativity and feeling doubly hormonally charged into supplying only their best quality work to customers that are happy and more than willing to pay for their masterful creations. Even I as a home cook know that their is no greater sense of achievement wether it be over a simply boiled egg or an extravagant lobster bisque than someone, loved one or stranger enjoying and falling in love with the food you have cooked them.
It's been three hours, 11 mins and 55 seconds since I first awoke and now having exhausted all the recipe searching I need for today's ( that seems strange calling it that at this unearthly hour) baking and cooking experiments, I am now wasting precious battery life on looking at completely useless things ( unless you are some S and M type alternative butcher who wishes to posses a meat slicer for try to shave off slices of sheep brain ).
The reason behind my annoying insomnia must be down to feeling much disappointed ( and a little bit queasy) at a meal we had at a restaurant last night.
I love eating out, to me it s one of life's ultimate luxuries , either with a partner or a small group of friends ( large dining experiences never work), eating and savouring every last mouthful of food that we wouldnt usually pre pare for ourselves at home. It should be like having an invigorating day at the spa, without of course anyone intruding your personal space with their hands, you should feel pampered, first upon being greeted by warm and welcoming staff, then throughout the meal they should continue their gracious mannor and treat you like they are your sole carer, only there to answer to your every need. The food, wether it be a Michelin starred gourmet miracle or a humble home cooked treat in your local comfortable pub should amaze and wow on appearance. The wafts of aroma and the spine tingling tastes on your tongue should make you melt and ease your way into your comfy but not too slouchy seat.
Obviously from my detailed and descriptive example of what you should expect when dining out this is what R and I did not receive last night.
I will not lower myself to actually listing one by one the number of problems with this particular eatery but meals ( or should I say plates of inedible ingredients) like what we suffered last night make me forget why we were romanticised by dining out in the first place.
Fortunately we decline in eating out often, preferring to apply passion and vigirous happiness into our own food we prepare at home, which makes my feelings all that bit more bitter as we use restaurant eating as a treat, believing that if we as home cooks can feel that emotional about food then just imagine what a chef would feel, bursting with creativity and feeling doubly hormonally charged into supplying only their best quality work to customers that are happy and more than willing to pay for their masterful creations. Even I as a home cook know that their is no greater sense of achievement wether it be over a simply boiled egg or an extravagant lobster bisque than someone, loved one or stranger enjoying and falling in love with the food you have cooked them.
It's now 5am, and having got that off my chest I now feel ready to drift off into my sleep dreaming of baking and cooking to come later on today.
Courgette soup
Olive oil/ Rapeseed oil
Any large amount of yellow or green courgettes, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
Half an onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
Sprig of rosemary
1.5 litres of chicken or veg stock
First,switch a hob on to a medium heat and warm enough oil in a pan to coat the vegetables, taking note that it will thin slightly once heated, add the rosemary, onions, carrots, celery and garlic and allow to soften for around ten minutes, stiring every now and again to ensure the vegetables do not catch and burn the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the diced courgettes and leave for another 10 minutes longer this yime placing the lid on the pan and turning the heat down a fraction, still checking every now and again to prevent burning.
Once everything has softened, add the stock ( dont drown the vegetables, just add enough stock so that it comes up to around 2 cm below the top of the vegetables ) and slowly bring to a gentle simmer, keeping it there for another 10 minutes longer without letting it start to vigorusly bubble away. Remove the sprig of rosemary.
Take a stick blender or what ever you have available and pulse the vegetable mixture until you have a smooth consistensy, if you prefer your soup more chunky then before blending remove some of the diced up pieces of courgette and add once you have smoothed the rest of the soup.
Check for seasoning.
For an tasty extra i made a parsley and pistachio pesto to add a slighty more contrasting and interesting dimension to the soup, wether you choose to add it or not, is up to you.
Parsley and Pistathio Pesto
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 large handfull of fresh parsely leaves
1 small handfull of shelled pistachios
Sea salt
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
In an a pestle and morter bash up the galic and the pistachios ( this may take some elbow grease but can be done, dont worry if your pistachios are left a little chunky) and add a pinch of sea salt.
Add the parsley leaves and continue banging out your frustrations until you have beaten the life out of the parsley leaves and you are left with a green mushy paste.
Add a small amount of parmesan and start to drizzle in the oil, until you have a made a pourable consistency without it being too thin, remembering the stars of the show are the parsley and the pistachios, dont allow the olive oil to steal all the credit.
Add more parmesan and salt to taste.
This could be used for all manor of different things - chicken , pasta, salad dessings, sandiwch fillings, usually anything that can tatse a bit bland can easily be revived by a bit of vived green pesto.
Dippy egg with courgette dippers
Such a simple and uncomplicated recipe but one that is oh so effective and high up on the simple taste scale.
The smaller the courgette the better for this recipe, so get out in your garden or your friends garden and bag your self some baby courgettes.
1 Fresh as possible free range egg
2 / 3 baby cougettes sliced into fingers.
Put enouth water in a small saucepan to cover the egg then bring to a simmer.
Once simmering carefully lower the egg into the pan, set a timer for one minute.
Once the minutes up remove from the heat, place a lid on the pan and leave covered for no longer than 7 minutes.
Place in an egg cup, firmly give the top of the egg a sharp tap with a spoon or firmly slice the top off with a knife.
For added indulgence sprinkle a small amount of sea salt on top of your runny oak or place a teaspoon full of the above pesto ontop of the egg, so once dipped the pesto emerges into the oozing yolk giving off a whole different side to your simple soft boiled egg.
No comments:
Post a Comment