Last Monday saw the return of mackerel to this kitchen--and indeed, the smell, which lingers somewhat in a flat, even with an extractor fan and an open window. Anyhow, my Green party voting liberal as you like hippy parent, has for reasons known only to herself, started taking the Daily Torygraph (at least it isn't Murdoch owned). However, I shall lay off the teasing for a while as she posted me Jamie Oliver's Summer Seafood booklet which has lately come free with the Telegraph, and I picked out crispy skinned mackerel with an Asian style dressing. The fish is served on a bed of rice and is topped with mint and coriander (which I thought was nuts till I tried it) and has a sticky, spicy, honey and soy dressing. The crispy skin comes from dry frying the fish skin side down in an extremely hot pan. This was one of my favourite dishes so far--really light, perfect for summer, and made using sustainable fish.
This week I had the absolute honour of watching A graduate from his Phd. My two contributions to the day were doing an extra loud scream for him, with friend N, as he was handed this most prestigious of qualifications, and, more credibly, making him a graduation cake, and so making my first foray into sugar craft. I haven't used a recipe for a lemon cake in years--I usually just chuck some juice and zest into a sponge mixture, so wanting to improve my technique, I made this recipe for lemon cake. I scaled it back by a third. It was quite a lot of effort, but worth it for the occasion! And the sponge was very nice, though I say so myself--it had a huge citrus hit. Now, my intention for the icing was to make a beautiful skyscape to represent A's freedom and future. However, sugar craft is harder than I thought, so what I ended up with looked like the background to a child's cartoon; perhaps it's not too disgraceful for a first attempt, though.
And finally, stuffed aubergines, from the August issue of Olive. These came from the 30 minute supper section. Now, I love aubergines, they are my favourite vegetable; Sam thinks they are as enjoyable to eat as slippers. I'd never done aubergines stuffed with cheese, or under the grill and not in the oven. The goats cheese and tomato filling was really tasty. However, I grudgingly agree with my other half, on this occasion, that aubergines when grilled in halves are somewhat slipper like to eat (I gave up halfway through my second half), they are best roasted slowly in the oven, without a shadow of a doubt.
More next week, it'll probably be made with the products of bin diving as I have spent all of my wages on a handbag.
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