04 October 2012

An easy everyday lentil thingy

Took my mum to hear Ray McVinnie at Farro in Lunn Ave. He was preparing a dish of brown lentils and baked salmon which I now make all the time. It's very easy, salmon is ridiculously cheap and can go in the freezer for when you're late with dinner or have people for lunch.
Organic brown lentils: boil for 20 mins until al dente. Drain them then stir into a bunch of baby spinach, add chopped sundried tomatoes and a chunk of baked salmon broken into big pieces. Pepper. Lemon juice. Ray added flavoured sour cream but it''s not needed.
The heat of the lentils and salmon will wilt the greens. This is ever-so-yum, and left-overs make a great lunch for the next day too.
Thanks Ray!

Blue Cheese and Pear mini pikelets

Make some little pikelets (no, you do not need the recipe - all I'll say is, use Cream of Tartar and baking soda instead of baking powder.
Mash a nice little blue (100g for lots, less for fewer) into a light sour cream - about half and half. You could use ricotta if you prefer. Dice up some nice pear, drench with lemon juice and fold in. Now you can go mad with seasoning - not too much salt, but plenty pepper and I myself do always like a touch of sweet chilli. You could add some caramelised onion too - and a splash of whisky.
Pile that mixture onto the wee pikelets and there you have it.


New business ideas

Thinking about a new purpose in life... will wait out 2012 as the upcoming conference and the Dec-Jan trip to India are more than enough for now.
BUT bring on January and I need a better job.
Catering... picnics.... lessons..... demonstrations..... lovely old cups and saucers...... something involving better cooks than me...... illegal stuff, like cooking in my kitchen that's not registered... designer occasion catering... workshops... tastings with beer, or champagne... weird and wonderful party cakes....
Or shall I just go rowing?