Sunday 17 February 2019

A Technical Challenge in the Kitchen

For many years now we have shared meals on a fairly regular basis with two sets of neighbours. We have an international theme, with each couple picking a random country - we wrote out the country slips after slightly too much wine, so some are very random indeed! - and providing either a starter, main course or dessert. Yesterday it was our turn to cook the main course and our country pick was Russia. One of our neighbours (technically now a former neighbour!) is currently eating fish but not meat, and the only suitable Russian fish dish I could find was this salmon coulibiac

I enjoy baking and I am a reasonably competent cook, but this was definitely out of my comfort zone! I am a big fan of the Great British Bake Off, and this was my equivalent of the technical challenge. Fortunately, unlike the contestants in Bake Off I had a picture of what the end result was supposed to look like, and a detailed recipe. Again, unlike Bake Off I did not have to make the puff pastry from scratch, which would have added a whole extra layer of difficulty. As it was it took me over an hour and a half to prepare. I was organised and got all my ingredients ready first. Instead of buying a large piece of salmon I bought six individual fillets as it worked out considerably cheaper. When it came to skinning them I may have regretted this a little. It was fiddly.


A salmon coulibiac is layers of seasoned rice mixed with hard boiled egg surrounding a salmon fillet, and wrapped in puff pastry - though I did see some recipes using filo pastry. The rice was first cooked with onion, garlic and fish stock, then seasoned with herbs and lemon before adding the chopped egg; meanwhile the salmon had to be part-baked.


Fortunately the pastry was pre-rolled, otherwise the chances of me getting it rolled to the exact size and thickness needed would have been slim! One sheet on the bottom, then a layer of the rice mixture, then the salmon ...


... and finally another layer of the rice, topped with a second sheet of pastry. I followed the instructions which said to make slits in the pastry, but I'm not entirely convinced this is how it was supposed to look. Fortunately it all held together.


And here is the finished pie. I was delighted with how it turned out, and it tasted very good. I served it with boiled new potatoes tossed in butter and dill, sautéed cabbage and green beans.


Part of the fun of these meals is that everyone has to try to guess the origin of the dishes they haven't cooked. This one came very close to defeating the guessers! They only made it to Russia with the help of a couple of clues. The starter was Moroccan (lamb kebabs, fish patties and chickpea salad) and the dessert Brazilian (a creamy mousse in a biscuit crumb case and a passion fruit cream). It always amazes us how our very eclectic country picks manage without fail to produce a three-course meal that works without any weird taste clashes. 

The combination of good food and good company always make it a fun evening. As our former neighbours now split their time between the UK and Spain it is especially good for us all to have the opportunity to catch up.

Sunday 10 February 2019

A Little Bit of Summer: Oxford in the Sun

A week ago we had snow - just enough for youngest daughter's school to close for a snow day; now it is warmer, but wet and miserable. To remind myself that summer will be here soon(ish!) I am going to share a few sunny, summery photos from a trip to Oxford last June. I homeschooled my older daughters for several years when they were young, and was part of a lovely literature-loving support group with a mix of British and American families. Last year we held a reunion in Oxford, timed to allow us to visit the Tolkien exhibition at the Bodleian Library. People flew in from the US and Cyprus to join us and we had a wonderful weekend with much reminiscing and laughter.

I love this picture of colourful punts viewed from Magdalen Bridge. We didn't go punting this time, though I hired one with a friend and her daughter the previous year. Standing on a small platform at the end of a boat pushing it around with a pole is definitely challenging, particularly for someone like me with appalling balance. I was quite proud that I managed to manoeuvre us around the river for an hour without causing any accidents or falling in.


A slightly wonky picture of the Radcliffe Camera, which is one of the reading rooms of the Bodleian Library. 


We spent much of the morning at the Oxford Botanic Gardens. The friends I was with are both gardeners, whereas I have black thumbs and have yet to find a plant I can't kill. I could appreciate the beauty of the gardens, even if the finer points of the plants and how to grow them went right over my head!


The tower of Magdelen College chapel seen from the gardens.


And finally a view across to Christchurch - I think! I know Oxford pretty well, but can still be confused by a different angle. 


These pictures were all from our last day, which was when the sun finally came out. Oxford in the June sun has to be one of the world's most beautiful cities.

Monday 4 February 2019

100 Books for 2018: 16 to 20

Book 16 - Ariel: A Literary Life of Jan Morris (Derek Johns)
After listening to Jan Morris' autobiographical account Conundrum I moved on to this biography by her long term literary agent, Derek Johns. I found it readable but mildly disappointing, though I now can't remember why!
*** 3 stars

Book 17 - The Troubadour's Tale (Ann Swinfen)
Still working through these medieval mysteries on my Kindle. While they very much stick to a formula I enjoyed both the characters and the setting, and felt she was able to keep up the pace and readability from one book to the next.
**** 4 stars

Book 18 - Betty: The Story of Betty MacDonald (Anne Wellman)
I stumbled across Betty MacDonald's account of her time in a tuberculosis sanatorium, The Plague and I, when I was still at school. Much later I read Mrs Piggle Wiggle to my daughters without having any inkling that the stories were by the same author. If I remember correctly, I had a free month's trial of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, and this was one of the books I downloaded. Betty MacDonald's was a fascinating life, and I am not sure why I did not rate this higher - I think it would have been a 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed for that.
*** 3 stars

Book 19 - How I Changed My Life in a Year (Shelley Wilson)
Another Kindle Unlimited book. The author decided to reboot her life by taking on a different challenge during each month over a year - mostly fairly obvious things like "lose weight", "get fit" or "do something creative". I am afraid it didn't inspire me.
** 2 stars

Book 20 - I Leap Over the Wall (Monica Baldwin)
Monica Baldwin, the niece of 1930s Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, entered a convent at the age of twenty in 1914. Realising that she was utterly unsuited for the life she was dispensed from her vows in 1941 and left her enclosed life for a wartime world that was changed in almost every respect from the pre-First World War society she had left behind. This book tells the story of her struggle to adapt to her new secular life. She was by third party accounts a difficult character which can't have made this any easier. A fascinating read.
**** 4 stars