Anne's Kitchen What's cooking?!

Right, I’m back. Just popped out to get some scallops for a very fancy lunch. Well, not really that fancy, but serving scallops and white wine for lunch isn’t very casual either.. Still, I’ve been meaning to make this dish for a while, and, walking past my fishmonger, I just couldn’t resist taking home a few fat scallops.

I just really love scallops: pan-fried and they release this smokey, almost meaty flavour or wrapped in dim sum parcels, where their delicate flavour is simply unbeatable. Scallops are lovely. Still, I had to learn the other day that not all scallops are! You see, I did the fatal mistake of buying frozen scallops – thinking I could save on a few pennies and also eat them over the course of a few weeks. Big mistake! As they gradually defrosted, a fishy smell started unfolding in my kitchen… A very fishy smell. I thought it could all be saved by frying the scallops, but nope, the fishy smell just lingered andit also tasted pretty damn fishy. Not nice. Not nice at all!

So, lesson learnt, always buy fresh scallops! If you don’t have a fishmonger where you live, and the supermarket is not stocking them, I’d suggest going online. I’ve noticed that all the main UK supermakets have scallops listed on their online grocery lists. There are actually some pretty decent online deals at Sainsburys or you can find other discounts shopping online. I’m yet to do my first online shop, but I can tell that this summer I’ll be taking advantage of online grocery deliveries – since I’d like to try barbecueing some scallops, hell yes!

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Spring is here! And with it a new issue of one of my favourite magazines: The Simple Things. If you haven’t heard of it yet, go and get a copy, it’s absolutely great, with lovely simple ideas to brighten up your everyday life. I’ve been buying the magazine since the first issue came out last year, so you can imagine my absolute delight when they contacted me and asked if I wanted to contribute to their spring issue.

The idea was to come up with three simple recipes that would accompany a feature on country walks. So, it had to be nice picnic food that could quickly be prepared, and that wouldn’t mind being taken on a long walk. I instantly thought of a savoury cake – one of my absolute specialties – and in this particular case I made a courgette/feta cake with mint, which for me really tastes of spring. I also came up with a lovely refreshing ginger lemonade, with a kick of rosemary, and I made some miniature quail’s eggs – because they’re so pretty and really über simple to prepare – which you just dip into salt and pepper for a delightful snack.

But that’s actually not all. On top of the feature, they asked me to contribute a recipe from my blog for their “What’s for breakfast” section. I didn’t have to think twice, it had to be my blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. It’s one of those wow-I-can’t-believe-this-actually-works-it’s-so-wrong-but-so-right recipes that I just had to share with The Simple Things. And they loved them too!

Now this is a slightly mad concoction. I admit that the flavour combination of feta, basil, tarragon, lemongrass, ginger and a Thai dressing is pretty much far fetched, if not even slightly psychotic!

But somehow it works… I actually made this salad with garlicky prawns for a different project I’m currently working on. It’s actually taking so much of my time that I feel slightly bad about neglecting the blog. So I decided to revamp the salad and make a blog version – with feta! Why the heck feta? Because I had a nice chunk of feta cheese lingering in my fridge, sad not to be used. Because I remembered this lovely watermelon and haloumi salad I had last summer, and how the sweet fruit and salty cheese really worked together. Because I thought “what the heck, let’s just try it”. And, weirdly enough, it worked.

Also, I really think it’s about time to let some sunshine and summery vibes into this grey and hellishly cold winter. I’ve pretty much had enough of freezing and just eating comfort food. Yes, I’ve been pretty much surviving on stews, pies, soups and other hearty meals lately – and who’s to blame me! Still, I feel like it’s also sometimes a good idea to let the sun shine through your belly – in this case these flavours remind me of Thailand, and convey happiness.

You may notice that I used both basil and tarragon in this dish. Now, that actually has a reason: I find it very hard to get hold of Thai basil! Unless I happen to be in Chinatown, it’s virtually impossible to buy this lovely herb. So, I decided to recreate the flavours myself – by mixing two ingredients commonly found in supermarkets: basil and tarragon. It’s incredible, but it somehow works! Thai basil has got this slightly aniseedy note, which I recreated by using tarragon. It may not be real authentic, and I’d still use Thai basil whenever I could, but this does it for now. Also, by buying my ingredients in a normal supermarket I can use a voucher code (for Tesco) and save money on food shopping. Real nice!

Anyway, I hope you give this slightly crazy salad a try! And do let me know what you think – I have a feeling it will be like Marmite, you either love it or hate it…

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