Intro

Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries is both an entertaining read and a fabulous cookery book. Join me as I journey through the year cooking along with him...
Do buy the book from Amazon or your local book store. It's not just the recipes, its the gentle writing style and the importance of food provenance which strike a chord with me.

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Week 9 - Taramasalata and Chicken and Bean Stew

Well a disaster had to happen sometime, and having got into March without having to actually chuck anything out is quite good going, I guess.

For a start, I have never eaten Taramasalata (p77), so I'm not sure (a) whether I like it or (b) what the heck it should taste like.  No matter, in for a penny, in for a pound and I scoured the borough for cod roe.  I eventually found a fish counter which had it on ice (although re-reading the recipe it called for smoked roe - no idea whether this is the same thing), and I bought the smallest piece I could so I could make a reduced portion of the recipe.  No point making tonnes of the stuff in case it turns out to be vile.

The roe looked like the result of a lobotomy operation, and languished in the fridge from Saturday until Wednesday.  So now I have something that looks like brains that I am going to eat raw that has been in the fridge for four days.  Bit concerned about giving myself food poisoning.

Come Wednesday, I got it out the fridge - can't tell if it's off or not - and scooped the roe out from the skin. Put in the processor with some bread that has been soaked in water & squeezed out, and a crushed garlic clove.  Run the processor drizzling in olive oil until it is the consistency of thick cream.  Stir in lemon juice.

I think I put in too much oil - it's all I could taste, having gingerly dipped a cracker into the result.  Hmm.  I have to confess that I didn't get too much further than that - but on the plus side, I didn't get food poisoning.

Next up is a hearty chicken stew.  I'd soaked some beans overnight, and marinaded chicken pieces in a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, herbes de Provence and the pared rind on an orange.

The next day I browned the chicken, then put in a pot with the cooked beans.  I softened some chopped leeks in the pan, added the garlic from the marinade, then a litre of water.  Any extra marinade went in, and the orange rind.  Cover and cook for a couple of hours in a moderate oven.

Very tasty with mash - although the orange could have done with being fished out at the end of cooking.  No pic as I ate it before getting the camera out!

1 comment:

  1. Not sure I'd like the first but the chicken and bean stew sounds OK. Take care.

    ReplyDelete