A few days of kitchen action - with photos!

Wednesday 18th January

I was rather pleased with the 15 satsumas for a pound deal. Despite being advertised as seedless, they even came with free seeds. A bargain.

I need to sort out the trout in my fridge before it starts to lose its sparkle. For some reason there is quite a bit of cheap fennel about on the stalls, despite it not being in season in the UK for another six months. January is usually all about carrots, turnips, leeks, and pears. I have some hanging around the kitchen so decide to use the green stems to flavour the trout along with a few slices of lemon and some parsley. The whole lot goes into a foil envelope with a glug of marsala (the most useful single ingredient in my kitchen at the moment) and into the oven.

I can’t remember the last time I used my bamboo steamer so I dig it out from the back of the cupboard and steam whats left of my carrots and mangetout. Fish and veg doesn’t seem enough somehow, and I don’t feel like carbs so I poach a sneaky egg egg in my ‘egg-shaped’ poacher from Heal’s.

I burst the foil bag and poke my nose in to take in the sweet smelling steam. The fish looks marvellous with the fennel poking out like ribs. I’ve just got a digital camera so take a couple of quick pics.

Thursday 19th January

Essay stress at the moment… lunch is a cobbled together experiment. Cheese on toast with sundried tomato pesto is straightforward enough, but doesn’t fill me up, so I line a ramekin with some roasted ham and crack an egg into it for baking in the oven. The results were tasty, have a look at the photo. Next time I’d use moister ham and might get better results from a muffin tray.

Friday 20th January

The essay is finished by midday and so I stop by Loaf on Oldham Street for a club sandwich. The same price as M&S and far superior. Loaf are being brave by slipping a bit of stuffing into the sandwich. As surprises in club sandwiches go this actually works in some way.
I think after I’ve finished my Manchester curry café project I might start a search for the perfect club sandwich. I do enjoy a club sandwich, it is the quintessential hotel bar sandwich.