Tuesday 8 September 2015

healthy but nothing in the cupboard.

fried 1 leek and 1.5 celery stalks finely chopped with 2 cloves garlic in olive oil until they were soft and translucent. poured in 2 handfuls of frozen peas and a slug of white wine and simmered for a couple of minutes. then emptied in a packet of merchant gourmet "mixed grains" as we happened to get that in the post recently. it is a good and saintly combination of pre-cooked Bulgar Wheat, red quinoa, toasted soya flakes (???) and lentils.
It comes out of the packet in clumps and lumps so i bashed it all up with a wooden spoon and ladeled in some chicken stock - probably about a cupful just to loosen it all up a bit. when this had warmed through completely I stirred in a teaspoon of grainy mustard, a teaspoon of rocket pesto and a teaspoon on creme fraiche and seasoned with salt and pepper. tore in an old bunch of watercress and served with ripped up basil leaves on the top. it was surprisingly great actually, and max said it was the best neeps and tatties he had ever had. which is sort of like when someone at a festival in Hackney thought I was Scarlet Johansson but then qualified it with the fact that they had had acid for breakfast.

the best food in the world.
steam tenderstem broccoli for five minutes in a saucepan with about 2 cm water in the bottom of the pan and a lid on. when it's done it should be vibrantly bright green and maintain some bite. Drain off the water and drizzle a slick of the magic ingredient "white truffle infused extra virgin olive oil" all over. crunch over a BIG pinch of salt and toss it all around. eat straight out of the pan, fight off any surrounding ganets. it is SO delicious. it tastes like you have drenched the entire thing in oceans of butter. but you havn't.

magic sweet potatoes.
steam diced sweet potatoes for about 10 mins? or just until you can spear them with a fork. then mash with olive oil and seasoning. I used smoked paprika, smoked salt, and garlic granules. good.