Saturday, February 04, 2006
Market Day
Finally, it's Saturday. I love Saturdays. I get to sleep in and rid myself of the tiredness of the week, I get to do what I want all day and then I can stay up late and look forward to another day of leisure tomorrow. Fridays are not free enough to qualify as my favourite day; in fact, I tend to be so tired by 7 pm that they hardly qualify as full days at all. And on Sundays, the new week already casts its shadow over the day, so I just cannot relax as I could, did I not know that I had to get up at 7 the next morning. But Saturdays don't have any of these setbacks. They are, as far as weekdays go, perfect.I must admit, I have developped a certain routine for Saturdays that would probably scare all more spontaneous people and I do stick to it with a degree of compulsiveness that would probably scare many a psychologist. Don't get me wrong, I don't obsessively stick to a preset schedule, but there is definitely a list at the back of my head, a list of things that I enjoy doing and that I miss if I don't get to do them at least once a week. Not all are food related. For example, nothing gets in the way of my weekend poker tournaments at Paddy Power. I don't know what it is, but there's something about the game that at the same time relaxes me and wakes me up. It's not so much the prospect of winning, I don't play big. I'm not really a gambler, I just enjoy a good game of poker. With the emphasis on good. I like meeting my poker friends, having a chat, a laugh and a challenge. I absolutely hate these idiots who bully others and know nothing about manners. I'm no 70-year-old dreaming of the old days when people had respect for one another - I'm cynical enough to know that people have never been very respectful - but I do wish that those who do not care about their fellow men (and women) would just keep to themselves and stay well clear of me. Unfortunately, though, the world is far from perfect and most of the time they do not. But still, poker time is more often than not a good time.
Saturday morning is also reserved for Rick Wakeman's show Rick's Place on Planet Rock. The guy is even more grumpy than me and just hits the nail on the head with his rants. Not to mention the music, which is great all the time on Planet Rock. Well, unless they slip up and play Oasis. How in the world can you call the epitomy of Britpop classic rock? But I'll forgive them, it doesn't happen too often and they stay away from the worst tracks. I tried to listen to the station at work, but the music just sounds awful through my little earplugs on my poorly equipped computer. I used to listen to Hearts of Space, but they've made that a subscription only service and I am one of those people who expect stuff on the internet to be free. This is not because I don't acknowledge that producing content costs money. It is because I think that recouping those costs by charging for the content goes aginst the spirit of the Internet. In my opinion, the great thing about the web is that everyone has access to every kind of information and computer-bound service at all times. Fees restrict that access; this is why I am opposed to them. I don't mind ads, I don't mind awkward paths, I don't mind free memberships that require you to give up some information about yourself. Hell, I don't even mind tracking cookies if in return I get something I really want. But I do mind being charged. Generally, I therefore opt for some kind of jazz station instead. The setback of these is that I tend to want to go to sleep after the second track, which is not very conducive with my work. Not that Ambient music is any more lively, but I still prefer it. So, if anyone knows of a good free Ambient radio station online, please do let me know.
But back to the original topic - Saturday foods. As the title of this post indicates and as I have already said last week, Saturday is market day. Saturdays just aren't comp
lete without a trip down to Temple Bar food market. Today, I got a nice selection of vegetables and a lovely cod filet for dinner. I once again resisted the temptation to get a brownie and a fresh fruit smoothie or to follow my workmates' advice and try the sushi there (which is supposedly very nice). I just can't afford to have others cook for me at the moment. I'm saving for a trip to my native Munich, Germany, where good food is abundant and relatively cheap. And it is easy to spend your week's shopping money on just a few items at the market. The fish seller there (who by the way is very nice, very knowledgeable and has very nice fish) tells me that most Saturdays, all he does while stanting behind his stall is phantasise about the next snack. Many a time he has spent a good part of his earnings on food from his colleagues. I believe him, I am definitely at risk of doing the same when I go there.Instead, I held myself back and headed on to Meath Street. I got some more vegetables there and a whole bunch of little things that I felt inspired to need by the sheer fact that they were there, looked good and were cheap. I got a great deal on four-packs of organic yoghurt at the fish monger (don't ask, they tend to have a strange mix of things), who also had (among all kinds of ready-made foods that I would never touch with a 10-foot-pole) organic smoked salmon, which I know is gorgously lean and full in flavour, and very nice looking bottled fruit smoothies. That's not quite the same as the fresh ones in Temple bar, but they claim to be all fruit with no additives, so why not give them a try. The same cannot be said about the sweets I got, which probably consist of more artificial colourings, flavourings and the like than anything else, but you can't be perfect all the time. I'll get the organic fruit-juice ones when I'm in Germany.
I got home just in time for the afternoon poker tournament. In my opinion, this tourney is best enjoyed with a cup of tea and some biscuits or a slice of cake. I still had some of Kreuzkamm's original Dresdener Christtollen left, which was perfect for the occasion. I'm still a novice to the whole tea thing. At the moment, all I know is that I like some teas and some foods with them, but I am trying to learn some more about the whole issue. Much like this blog, my ability to create a good afternoon tea is a work in progress, so expect to hear more from it. In fact, I am currently looking into setting up a proper recipe archive and afternoon tea will definitely constitute a category.
Dinner tonight was a typical Saturday affair - something new and complicated, which takes forever to prepare and uses tons of dishes. Tonight, the basis was the cod. The difficult thing was deciding how to serve it. I love white fish baked in the oven with a herb crust and served with crushed potatoes and buttered carrots. Unfortunately, I had no bread crumbs and no bread to make any, so I opted for pan-frying the fish and serving it with steamed baby vegetables and a butter sauce instead. The sauce was based on one made by James Martin on Ready Steady Cook, and modified to suit my personal taste. For two people you will need
400 to 500 g cod filet, scaled and cut into two portions
3 tbsp oil
a few tablespoons of flour
50 ml water
50 ml white wine vinegar
half a bunch of spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp chives, chopped
50 g butter
1 vegetable stock cube
3 to 4 tbsp cream
1 tbsp demerera sugar
a selection of baby vegetables (such as carrot, broccoli and cauliflower), chopped into bite-size pieces
1 tpsp butter
7 to 8 baby potatoes
3 to 4 tbsp olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Brush the potatoes under cold water, but take care not to damage the spins. Boil for about 10 minutes. Put in an ovenproof dish, lightly crush to expose some of the flesh and drizzle with the oil, making sure the outsides are well covered. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes.
For the sauce, heat the vinegar and the water in a small pot. Add the spring onion and chives and boil until well reduced. Puree lightly (but do not allow to go smooth). Return to the stove and melt the butter into it over a gentle heat. Now add the cream, stockcube and sugar. Heat through, but do not allow to boil.
For the fish, heat the oil in a non-stick pan over high heat until hot. At the same time, heat some butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Cover the cod filets on both sides in flour, shaking off any excess. Add the vegetables to the butter, cover and gently cook in their own steam. When the oil is hot, add the cod, skin side up. Fry for three to four minutes without moving it in the pan, until lightly browned and cripy. Turn over and crisp the skin for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately, drizzled with the sauce, surrounded by the potatoes and vegetables.
At the beginning I was quite worried that the sauce would turn out too vinegary, but in the end, I was happy with the outcome.
Christine at 10:53 pm
