Distracted by a potato peel pie.

I’ll keep this short, because my whole night is running late. I have been a little distracted. By people who love books and a book about them. Yesterday I started reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and tonight I finished it. I couldn’t put it down, so when I came through the door after work tonight, I couldn’t cook my dinner, I had to keep reading. What a beautiful book, filled with wonderful characters who made me laugh and cry, more readily than I’ve done in some time. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

But a girl’s got to eat, so after whiping away the last of the tears and chuckling to myself still, I headed into the kitchen.

Spicy Pangrattato Risotto

I met a hurdle almost immediately. Instead of reading my shopping list and going to the supermarket on my way home, I was rushing home to read my book and forgot to buy an onion. The first ingredient in a risotto and I was without it, but after my reading session it was too late to head to the shops, so I made do without. A simple and basic risotto made, I sprinkled the pangrattato – lemon zest, dried chillies, garlic, anchovies & bread whizzed into bread crumbs and pan fried til crispy – over the top. Done. How easy is that? And Jamie didn’t lie when he said it was easy and tasty. It was the fluffy vs crunchy thing that really did it for me, plus the slightly tangy, slightly salty bread crumbs with a kick. Yum. Topped off the night nicely.

However, Jamie did lie when he called the salad I made for my lunch on the weekend simple and tasty. A big fat lie and a real disappointment.

Warm Grilled Peach & Frisée Salad with Goat’s Cheese Dressing

Grilled peaches, served warm on a bed of curly endive – seems tasty enough. Again with the soft vs crunchy theme. But it was the dressing that I couldn’t stomach. It sounded good on paper – goats cheese, walnut oil, S&P, lemon juice and grated parmesan – but like the Summertime pasta done some months back, it all went wrong. It was just not a pleasant combo of flavours and it was too rich and creamy. Not even the juicy peaches or crunchy lettuce could save it, so unfortunately it met a similar fate and half of it ended up in the bin. I hate food wastage, but I hate feeling forced to eat something I’m really not enjoying more. But at least it doesn’t happen often.

Xx

PS – did you know I’m almost half way through my experiment?!!!!!