10/05/14

Well, it looks as if the indecisiveness of my last post has endured, at least if this afternoon's weather is anything to go by with bright sunshine followed by torrential storms. I am quite glad to be tucked up in my kitchen, typing this post to the soundtrack of the washing machine boisterously coming to the end of its cycle & the faint whine of my flatmate uncharacteristically actually hoovering upstairs. After a lazy day lolling around Greenwich Park yesterday with Andrew, picnicking & sitting back to back with our books, I've had a comparatively productive time of it today catching up on domesticities that I have been otherwise avoiding (cleaning the bathroom is the worst) This conscientiousness has also, however, extended as far as things that I enjoy such as a morning bundled up in bed with my recipe books & an afternoon devoted to the weighing of ingredients, whisking of egg whites & frequent peeking into the oven to check that nothing is smoking or smoldering (an ever-present worry given the wonky shelf within) I have been trying a lot of new recipes of late, some from the small stack of cookbooks precariously balanced by my bed, others from devoted food blogs & some that I sneakily scribble from new arrivals at the bookshop. A handful that I have tried of late have included mushroom mapo tofu from the 'Leon Vegetarian' cookbook, an asparagus & pistachio risotto which I have made before but couldn't remember where I'd found it, wilted arugula, almond & goat's cheese pasta from 'The Kinfolk Table' & a butternut squash, gorgonzola & walnut bake also from 'Leon Vegetarian'.    

Excuse the messy hob, if you will!

As is inevitable when trying new things & with being a person who is perhaps more haphazard in her measurements than is required, there were some hits & misses. My first occasion cooking with tofu & by no means familiar with chinese spices, the mapo tofu was nothing short of a disaster - half an hour spent scouring Sainsbury's produced a packet of distinctly wobbly tofu & a packet of arbitrary Szechuan stir fry sauce which already, I should have known, didn't bode well. It was, however, the tiniest teaspoon of chilli stirred into the already disintegrating dish that meant Andrew & I were both mopping up our tears, mouthful by mouthful. Still, I'm hoping to try it again with the spices built up from scratch & perhaps a handful of green beans to add a bit of texture.

The texture of the asparagus & pistachio risotto, on the other hand, was just perfect & I was surprised to find that the stalks themselves didn't need blanching before being added. Once stirred into the rice, their hue instantly brightens & adds that lovely crunch that balances out the richness of the double cream & the almost chewiness of the toasted pistachio nuts on top. 

My making of pasta with wilted arugula, almonds & goat's cheese was a happy coincidence really having bought a box of fresh rocket from the fruit & veg stall in Hampstead to have in my cheddar cheese sandwiches, & having my copy of 'The Kinfolk Table' fall open at this recipe. I must admit that I was not exactly loyal to its instructions but I did go so far as to buy goat's cheese & try a slither before stirring it into a pot of wholewheat spaghetti - like avocado, it's a taste that I feel obliged to like, convinced that I'll grow into but just cannot bring myself to eat (sorry!) Luckily I had half a pot of ricotta lurking at the back of my fridge which perhaps didn't have the oomph of the goat's cheese but was nonetheless delicious.

Butternut squash, on the other hand, is a flavour of which I hope I will never tire, especially when it has been roasted for over an hour in olive oil & honey so it's so tender to be falling away from its skin. Cut into cubes & mixed in with lots of spinach (one of the best ways to get enough iron from a vegetarian diet), crumbled gorgonzola & roughly chopped & toasted walnuts, this was a really indulgent dish that I wish I'd found sooner i.e in the depths of our London winter. All the same, one that is so simple but certainly doesn't taste as such. 

Granola before & after baking - oh & a sneak peek at the very cheap & cheerful floral tea dress that I chanced upon in a charity shop on a lunch break, as ever.

I feel as if I've been a little in over my head with life lately, anxieties related to homesickness &, as ever, finding the time to escape myself & feel a sense of togetherness with other people, most importantly Andrew. I feel as if the rituals of cooking really give me time to think, this afternoon folding together rolled oats, coconut slices & pumpkin seeds for homemade granola (a combination of recipes from 'Smitten Kitchen' & 'The Green Kitchen') & afterward chopping tomatoes into quarters to be roasted with garlic, chilli, lemon juice & white wine for a couple of hours.

I'll leave you with a few photographs from the last couple of weeks, of moments when I've been able to feel as if everything is just fine, the view of the canal from Victoria Park, sat in the rose garden in Greenwich, although the sunshine does seem to have that effect, doesn't it.

What've you been dishing up this week? 

Happy weekend!

Speak soon - O.