The Sugar Bar

Has anyone been watching ‘Big Chef Takes On Little Chef‘? Heston Blumenthal, owner and chef of 3 Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck in Berkshire, attempts to restore the British chain of motorway restaurants Little Chef from financial crisis by revamping its menu. I am actually hooked! 9pm Channel 4 every night. The tension between the owner of Little Chef and Heston just leaves me totally on edge. But what really draws me to this show is Heston’s creativity and innovativeness (that’s not a word isn’t it?) when it comes to cooking methods and creating (quote Little Chef’s ridiculous CEO) “taste explosions”. This man is famous for creating Bacon & Egg Ice Cream and serves dishes where you can listen to the sea as you eat – literally, an iPod in a conch shell! I wanna go the The Fat Duck. I admire this man who creates such amazing food. Some think it’s all poncy. I think it is wonderful. To be that daring and creative, on the verge of seeming radical is just brilliant.

So anyway, one must have the perfect relaxing comfort food for supper. TV food. No. I don’t mean frozen dinners. I mean something you make in advance, bang into the oven and have it ready in time for your favourite TV show. That’s what I did. Also, Ben recently got offered a job in the merchant navy. We’re all delighted for him. He can finally leave Starbucks for something better paying. This is my celebratory meal for him and also my own indulgence as I love fish pie a whole lot!

When it comes to pie, I don’t like to feel restricted with ingredients. As with cottage pie, shepherd’s pie, I like to bung in whatever I have in the fridge. This time, there obviously isn’t much, hence the name ‘Anything-Sorta-Goes’. Despite the lack of funky ingredients and a smoked fish, this still turned out amazingly well. If you’re not prepared to slave away for a long time in the kitchen, leave this to a day when you can. By the end of this, although my tummy was all cozy warm and satisfied, my shoulders were aching bad!

The pictures this time round are quite horrid, I admit. The lighting in the kitchen is bad and since daylight hours are short during British winter, and my camera is the shittiest piece of crap ever, I apologize really. I can vouch for this recipe, however, as it is honestly good and I will make this again for sure. Also, this recipe has earned me a promise – YES. a trip to The Fat Duck during the summer with Ben. He’ll probably have gotten his driving license by then so it’ll be a tranquil, afraid not, more like banging roadtrip to Berkshire and some gastro-delights at Heston’s. At 125 quid for a 12 course tasting menu, I am so certain the whole experience will be orgasmic and totally unforgettable!!

*Note: The cooking time for this is about 2 hours or so. It’d be great to use 1 smoked fish to give the pie more flavour and some shrimp for a variation of texture. If you like, you can even get creative and add more vegetables like fennel and peas. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any around. So this was deviating a little from the classic fare of an average British pub/restaurant ingredients wise.

This recipe was created to serve 2 — 1 man with a bottomless pit for a stomach and 1 lady who ate two scoops of pie. I used a whole round casserole dish and a small gratin dish for this.

Anything-Sorta-Goes Fish Pie
Ingredients

For the pie:
2 boneless salmon fillets, cut into chunks
1 boneless cod fillet, cut into chunks
2 medium carrots, cut into small cubes
1/2 a medium-sized onion, chopped
300ml fish or vegetable stock
500g floury potatoes
knob of butter
some skimmed milk
1 cup grated medium-strength cheddar cheese
1/2 cup fresh white breadcrumbs

For the white béchamel sauce:
30g butter
2 heaped tbs flour
stock from poaching the fish
3 tbs double cream
salt and pepper, for seasoning
mix of herbs such as dill, parsley, oregano

Have the stock ready in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil then add the vegetables and cook for about 3 minutes or so. Lower the heat. Add the fish and cook gently for 2 minutes. Drain the stock into a separate bowl. This cooking liquid will be used to make the sauce. Let it cool. Set aside the cooked fish and vegetables, keeping it slightly warm covered.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the flour and stir in, letting it cook on low heat for 1 minute. Gradually add the cooled cooking liquid and stir until just incorporated. Bring to the boil, then lower heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add the double cream and simmer for another 10 minutes or until thick. Add the herbs, season and let cool for 15 minutes. The flavours of the herbs will infuse the sauce and it’ll thicken just slightly as it sits.

Fold the fish and vegetables into the sauce. Spoon into a large pie or casserole dish, filling to 3cm below the top. Let it set for about 30 minutes – this is so layering on the mash later will be a simpler task and wouldn’t mess up the top layer of pie.

Preheat oven 180d Celsius.

While waiting, peel, chop then boil the potatoes. Drain away the water once cooked. Mash with some butter, a little skimmed milk til smooth, and very fluffy. When the pies are set, pipe or layer on the mash potatoes evenly with a spatula, starting from the edges to seal it. Work one way round the edges and then fill the centre. Using a fork, ridge the top.

Bake 20 minutes. Then, remove from oven. Scatter cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs over the top. Bake for another 10 minutes until golden. Serve on warm plates.

The clocks have turned back, the temperature’s dropping lower and I’m discreetly reaching out for that next bar of chocolate. Kit Kat’s latest release – Kit Kat Senses is quite the treater. I say go try it if you haven’t. Huddled under the duvet in a giant fleece hoodie with a Kit Kat as I watch Hellboy then Hellboy II, my Sunday is going by quite well actually if you don’t consider the fact that I’m seeing my dissertation tutor tomorrow who is a practicing psychoanalyst — she’s terribly intimidating and I shit marbles from fear when I’m talking to her one on one!

Shitting marbles ain’t exactly the best expression for me to be putting onto the intensely parent-controlled world wide web, or a food blog that has no scatological relations whatsoever, but it’s the appropriate way to describe how freaked out I get when I’m around her. She’s amazingly intelligent and seems nice enough. There are people with big personalities; there are some with very dominating presences and some who just get forgotten by others even when standing right next to that ridiculously coloured punch bowl; some who light up the room; some who are really messed up or eccentric or hilarious. And there are just some who FREAK THE HELL OUTTA YOU – who seem to see right through you, through your eyes and into your brain then right out through the back of your head and then down your spine into your stomach and intestines. That’s right. I feel like she’s even in on what I ate for lunch. As I chatter on away nervously about Jeanette Winterson and Luce Irigaray and these big ideas on phallogocentrism, I gather she’s analyzing everything about me — my black patent Dr. Marten’s, my pseudo curly ‘bed’ hair, my shiny dark-coloured nails and the woolly tights I’m wearing that I saved from my laundry basket that very morning. Her gaze is so piercing and intense, being in the same room as her is near suffocating. Suffocating because the air that I breathe out she breathes in and holds it in and I’m like a skanky hungry rat being held from its tail by its captor, unable to run away or do anything except squeak in fear and twist its body into weird contortions in hopes of loosening its tail from those unforgiving fingers.

Yea. Yea, so…she’s not that scary, huh?

Think it’s definitely a glass of water, a couple of deep breaths before I knock on her door tomorrow. I don’t even know if I’ve got her office hours right, either. Seems I get it wrong every week. As I did last week, which resulted on me waiting patiently outside her office listening in on some sort of odd group seance.

That’s the story of my life this week. A build up of anticipation and nervousness which shall either combust into flames of stutterings or coat itself in a glossy exterior of placidity. Hence, the chocolate, cookies and Jelly Babies. I’m not stress eating! Absolutely not! Well…some might dispute that. But I don’t stress eat. It’s just about the time of the month and sugar makes me properly drugged. Sugar and chocolate get me giggly and funny in the mind. Which also seems to be telling me something – I’m addicted to the drug Sugar!

However, it’s bad that I’m consuming that much sweetie junk for lunch and so I decided to whip out the chopping board and cooking utensils to fix myself a proper lunch, which also decidedly chased away some of my stress devils. I’ve dreamed about the caramelized onions and goats cheese pizza from Pizza Express a couple of times now. Knowing I’m a little skint, I’ve recreated the flavours into a simple and rather cheap pasta dish. Honestly speaking – best bowl of pasta I’ve ever made! The caramelized onions were beautiful and a recipe I’ll definitely be coming back to for as a pizza topping, addition to burgers, etc. The choice of greens were very limited since I didn’t really do a proper shop for this and the addition of runner beans were quite random. Not complaining though since it all tasted great, made the stomach happy and filled up one of the slots for my 5 a day.

Wonder if my tutor will be clairvoyant enough to know what I ate for lunch today, tomorrow?

This recipe is just perfect for 1. Increase the amount for caramelized onions and store in fridge for later use if you like!

Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Goats Cheese, Streaky Bacon, Cashews & Greens
Ingredients

1 serving penne pasta
olive oil, for frying
1 tbs goats cheese, crumbled
2 strips smoked streaky bacon, cut into small strips
small handful of spinach leaves
4-5 runner beans, chopped
4-5 cashew nuts
salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning

For the caramelized onions:
1/2 a medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbs salted butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs HP brown sauce, woodsmoked flavour
2-3 tbs water
a few drops of sesame oil
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning

Prepare caramelized onions about 20 minutes before.
Melt some butter in a saucepan. Add olive oil. When butter is all melted, add onions and let it sauté and then, sweat. Once it starts getting softer and translucent, add spices and sesame oil. Once most of the fats has started to be absorbed into the onions, add water to saucepan to loosen up the sauce that’s starting to solidify at the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and let it simmer, stirring now and again. This should sit on the hob for about 5-10minutes.
Most of the water should have reduced by then. Add HP brown sauce and season a little to taste. Set aside to top the pasta later.

Toast cashew nuts on an un-oiled frying pan or on a baking tray in a preheated oven.
Boil some water and cook the pasta. In a separate saucepan of boiling water, cook the runner beans.

On another frying pan, heat some oil and fry bacon strips. Once pasta is cooked, mix the bacon strips and some of its grease into the pasta, not forgetting the runner beans and spinach leaves. Mix well so all the pasta is covered with the lovely bacon juice.

Pour out into a bowl. Crumble goats cheese over the top, spoon the caramelized onions on the top and finally the toasted cashews. Serve.

I’ve got the munchies!!

All day today, and all day yesterday, I’ve been plagued by this never-ending craving for chips, crisps, biscuits and sweeties. It’s been an awfully long time since I’ve felt this way or felt such a need to snack on something. Don’t get me wrong. Snacking is something I definitely do but this massive force or urge compelling me to trek down to the kitchen every 2 minutes is not only unbearable (I can’t bloody focus on work since I’m on the constant move for food). It’s starting to seem very suspicious. Maybe I’ve been spiked (not with a date rape drug) with the can’t-stop-eating drug!

Actually, there’s probably a more logical reason for this whole shnazzle. I’ve got a cold. I’ve been trying to fight it off for ages. It’s here, happy and healthy in my system as my white blood cells fight off the freaking cold. It’s definitely getting better but I’m told, one needs to feed a cold – thus, my voracious appetite and the bottomless stomach.

And because of Diva’s inherent greediness which is made very much worse, like feeding oil to fire, by her hungry cold, she has now accepted FREE chocolate chip cookies from strangers on the streets.

What? Did someone just call me ‘silly’? Oh…’mental’ is that what you said? No no. I wasn’t lured away to someone’s evil lair by cookies, not to worry. I got free cookies in exchange for giving away some details to Unibutler – a new freebie service for university students. Quite a cool new company that I foresee might be a competitor to the ever-dependable Studentbeans.com. And even though the cookies were worth 59p from Premier, Steph and I were rather pleased with our little freebies. To be honest, a cup of tea and a free cookie and I was sorted! It was the best thing that happened to me that whole boring day.

Do you believe in lucky stars? The human ones, not ones that form constellations. I firmly believe that Steph is my Freebie Lucky Star. When I’m with her, freebies seem to come my way. So far, I’ve had a free Cadbury Freddy and a box of chocolate chip cookies. It doesn’t seem like much and I’m really not one to go hunting after free stuff. But one must understand that Diva NEVER has and ever gets freebies. What a pleasant surprise to finally be noticed by the God of Free Things.

Anyway, the day I had free cookies was also the very day my craving for fish gave me cold turkey. I would’ve used a nice white fish for this dish – something like monkfish or haddock – but having not been able to visit the fishmonger in town and wanting not to be such a self-indulgent Epicurean, Tesco’s Healthy Living salmon fillets were mighty fine. The fillets require little seasoning except for the all-important garlic powder. Good parma ham should be used as this is what will flavour the fish and therefore, minimizes your job of having to prepare the fish really. I have a bad habit of not paper-towelling off any excess moisture off fish and so it usually results in a white liquid discharge. Forgive me for describing it as such, but it isn’t a pretty thing and you can see it very clearly in my pictures. Word of advice: cutting corners has its consequences.

The vegetables were quite messily put together and I went a tiny bit overboard on the white wine vinegar. Hence, resulting in a way too piquant plate of veggies but it seemed to cut through the smokiness and saltiness of the fish and ham. That was a relief. The fish was amazing. I might re-attempt the veggies with less vinegar but the flavours definitely worked.

Here’s a recipe good for 2.

Roasted Parma Ham Wrapped Salmon, Runner Beans & Red Peppers with Dill, Mascarpone & Pesto
Ingredients

For the fish:
2 fresh salmon steaks
2 slices of parma ham
1/2 tbs basil
1/2 tbs thyme
a few shakes of garlic powder/ garlic & herb powder
freshly ground black pepper

For the runner beans & peppers:
2 servings of runner beans
1/2 a red pepper, sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dill
2 tsp sundried tomato pesto
1/2 tbs mascarpone (or use a ready-made mascarpone & pesto combination easily available from the shops)
quick light splash of white wine vinegar
a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, to taste
salt and pepper, for seasoning
olive oil, for cooking

Preheat oven (or you can always use the grill if you prefer) to 170d Celsius.
Season salmon steaks with herbs, garlic powder and pepper. As salmon is an oily fish, I did away with drizzling it with olive oil. Wrap tightly with parma ham. I find placing the fish slightly diagonally on the parma ham a little easier but this depends on the shape and size of your fish really. You might find that you need more than a slice to each steak.
Place in a prepare foil, close over the sides and scrunch it up at the top so it looks like a little wonton. You want to be able to open up the bag towards the end of the cooking process just so that parma ham browns and crisps up at the top.
This should cook for 25-30minutes.

Towards the end of that cooking time, re-open the foil bag and let it brown up.

For the vegetables, heat some olive oil in a pan. Sauté the garlic, then add the vegetables. Add white wine vinegar. Be careful not to add too much – which was exactly the mistake I made. Geez.
Add pesto, mascarpone, Worcestershire sauce and dill. Finally, season to taste.
This should be done just about the time your fish is ready to be removed from the oven.

Plate up – placing vegetables at the bottom and fish on top. I was very tempted to serve this with chips or rice, but I’d already had the indulgence of having chicken & chips this afternoon (and a ridiculous amount of snacks, obviously) so that was not on the cards for me. Shame.

On the other hand, the meal was pretty fantastic other than the ridiculously obvious note of vinegar on our plates.