thepassionatecook

Scallops on chicory, dolcelatte and walnut salad - a contribution to WTSIM

Oh how I regret not being able to blog more at the moment, but I am knee-deep in revisions for my first big exam at uni (well, at least the first in almost ten years!)... what I regret even more is the fact that I am unable to cook as much as I'd like to. Tonight, though, after hours of being buried in my books, I indulged in a few hours of me-time and prepared a little number for "Waiter, there's something in my...", this month hosted by Andrew of spittoonextra and with the theme of "seasonal salads".

Making a salad when winter is drawing his last breaths is not really the obvious choice, but googling "seasonal food" I got chicory as a result - and remotely remembered a salad of Skye Gyngell (one of my food heroes for making simple dishes shine through perfect ingredients and great, bold flavour combinations) that I had seen in a food mag a few months back and set about to recreate what was left of it in my memory (not much, it appears, now that I have found the recipe...).

It was one of those moments where you put something together and are not really sure it'll work, probably a result of not being entirely with it as you recite pathophysiology of the nervous system while you are cooking (Alzheimer, Parkinson, mengingitis... why, that's never happened to you?) and then you sit down and you eat one bite and then another and all of a sudden your focus is where it should be: your tastebuds (or shall I say, papillae circumvallate?). And with every mouthful you enjoy your dinner more and you almost wipe away a tear as you eat your last bite... I never thought scallops, blue cheese and thyme could form such a perfect union and the chicory is not nearly as bitter as they make you believe, now that it is at the height of its season - a wonderful dish that I will certainly serve as a starter at the next dinner party, if ever I should get my life back ;-)

Crispy chicken balls with home-made sweet & sour sauce

Almost four years ago now, I caught myself saying on this blog that I had tired of looking out for Chinese restaurants which were all mediocre and served nothing but the same old glutamate-laden ready-made sauces... would you believe that the same passionate cook has found new love in Asian restaurants lately? And this is a relatively new disovery, a complete 180-degree turn of my palate, who would have thought?

I really didn't have much hope of ever setting foot in a Chinese outside of China again and actually enjoy my food - but I have discovered that there is a vibrant restaurant scene here in London, if you care to look beyond the Chinatown eateries that only manage to lure in hungry tourists who don't know any better. Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing some of my preferred places on (German-speaking) culinary portal kuechengoetter.de - my absolute favourite at the moment being Hunan in Pimlico, where a family-run restaurant only offers custom-made lunches and dinners serving anything between 15 and 20 courses of the most delectable, Chinese food... I could eat there every day, if they let me!

On this journey of rediscovery, I have also revived an old favourite recipe. Curious as I am, I wanted to make my own sweet & sour sauce rather than resorting to something full of preservatives and E-numbers. You wouldn't believe just how easy this is to make, there is really no excuse for not making your own... believe me, you won't regret it!

PS: I can't promise I'll ever do a proper review of it, so if you want to indulge in custom-made sichuan cuisine, see for yourself:
Hunan
51 Pimlico Road, SW1
Tel: 020 7730 5712

Waiter, there's something in my... Terrine! - the round-up

When I chose the theme for the January edition of "Waiter, there's something in my...", it was in the good effort to finally overcome my fear of making a proper (read: meat-based) terrine. I do enjoy eating them, especially when foie gras is involved, and these little earthenware pots of terrines are also pretty much the only way I tolerate liver. But it was not to be, I succumbed to the pressures of my own hectic schedule and ended up making something I was more familiar with: a vegetarian one.

Who would have thought, though, that the majority of bloggers out there would go for a meat-free alternative? You wouldn't believe the vast array of creations that featured vegetables, fruit and even (god forbid) chocolate! Also very popular was a frozen incarnation, which is just as well, seeing that the least thing the Southern hemisphere needs this time of the year is to have the oven going at full steam for several hours!

So here you have it: a summary of the most delicious terrine creations you gifted foodbloggers around the world have come up with... thanks for participating and watch out for the next round, this time hosted by Andrew of SpittoonExtra!

Tom Pla style soup with salmon and asparagus

After receiving a few complaints about the fact that my sweet tooth is coming through too much in my recipes (and how could it not, given that we've only just left behind the most indulgent weeks of the year and I am also now a Daring Baker), here's an altogether different recipe for you. Not that it is any less satisfying: indeed, it has become my very latest food addiction.

I used to be into soups in a major way, completely immersed in them during my student years, with hardly anything else in my kitchen,trying to make it through the harsh winters we get and of course, not a penny in sight in those times just after the war as we like to complain to our daughter (who seems to think that being a teenager and in love with the Jonas Brothers is the toughest job on earth). Ah, the hardships of student life!

This winter, I haven't been craving soups much and for no apparent reason. It's not for lack of being immersed in books with exams approaching at full speed, so maybe it's due to the fact that around here, winters don't actually get that cold anyway - true, the cold sort of creeps in on you with the weather always being so damp, but it's not like we're approaching zero on more than 3 days a season...

But I have recently re-discovered my love for Asian soups and it is a rekindled romance that I now indulge in with a passion without par, I have been having this soup at least once a week since the start of the year and I am far from growing tired of it. If I have made one resolution for 2008, albeit a rather loose one and nothing as commendable as losing a stone or running a marathon or putting an end to the crisis in the Middle East, it would be to slowly diminish the stack of food I have been amassing in our kitchen cupboards because I am too lazy to check what we have at home before heading to the shops. I don't really cook Asian food all that often, but every time I go I seem to buy oyster and fish sauce, tamarind paste and palm sugar... and luckily, this recipe calls for all of the above.

The soup base is always the same, but I play around with the "trimmings" as my vegetable drawers or the offers of the day dictate - more often than not - just because that's the combination I like the most - it'll be Japanese buckwheat noodles with tenderstem broccoli, shitake mushrooms and thin slices of salmon fillet dropped in at the very end so they only lightly cook as the bowls are brought to the table. But you can use anything that you happen to have at home: some greens (asparagus, mange-tout, chard), some protein (fish, prawns, even chicken, if you like), then add some noodles (any Asian type, really, but I love the Japanese buckwheat noodles above all) and mushrooms, if you like. The only thing that is non-negotiable for me is a generous helping of spring onions and coriander - and of course, tons of ginger and lime juice - which is just as well, as they're a real boost for your immune system.