... nothing at all, I just think the little guy looks sweet enough to eat. I'm not very confident of my illustrative capabilities and pick up my pen & brush with trepidation. It's a lot like cooking, if it goes wrong it's hard to live with the consequences.
So what's been cooking here this week?
Small monk fish tails were a bargain on the Totnes Friday market, and the mussels were fabulous so back home to a family Friday fish supper. Clean and cook mussels in white wine reduced with sautéed shallot for enough time (2 minutes) to open and add mussel juices to the liquor - mussels set aside for a while. And there was more fish stock retrieved from the freezer from last week so it was added to white wine and reduced; then added to that was the rest of the creme fraiche and that was reduced. Monk fish tails fried off briefly in foaming butter to brown, sugar snaps from Riverford thrown in with potatoes cooked to tender, and the fish stock reduction. Check seasoning and add a tad more salt, a grinding of pepper, and cook a further couple of minutes before returning the mussels back to reheat. Served up in big pasta bowls with lashings of finely chopped flat leaf parsley, mixed with lemon zest and crushed, finely chpopped garlic (gremolata to some) a squeeze of lemon juice. Bloody lovely. Could only have been improved with some prawns.
Now I'm sure the French would say that was cotriade with shell fish in it, or chowder, or some such, but it's not - it's buying a few things that go together and then putting them together. At some point in one's culinary life you have to go freeform, and when it works out well (as with the pen & brushes) it's a uniquely satisfying experience. Also puts a smile on the family's faces which is even more satisfying.
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