This week I tackled Jamie's Cauliflower Macaroni, Chicory Salad with Insane Dressing and Lovely Stewed Fruit. Each week I have been helped out by Dear Housemate, who dutifully peels, chops, stirs and monitors dishes as I bustle about throwing pasta into boiling water and yanking ingredients out of cupboards and bags. But this week I was flying solo due to a few timing issues and work committments. But bless her heart, she did all the washing up.
I feel that I put a great deal less planning into this week than I have in previous weeks, partially through laziness and partially through busyness. So it was a great pleasure when I decided to go grocery shopping on my lunch break to discover that everything I needed, bar two ingredients, was actually available at my local green grocer and supermarket. Usually in the days leading up to Jamie Oliver Challenge Night I prepare a shopping list, source the more 'exotic' ingredients (and by this I mean anything not readily available at the local Woolies) and ensure I have the right quantities of everything. This week I had a more slap dash effort, throwing together a list at the last minute and hoping I'd be able to find everything. In my haste I did not write down the required amounts of anything and subsequently spent the entire shopping trip relying on intuition to get me through.
And there is the most important lesson of today: when it comes to food, trust your intuition. In the same way that your subconscious knows whether that old chinese food in the bottom of the fridge is beyond it's glory days, it retains information about the meals you have planned and will guide you through when you're in a sticky situation. Similarly, if you're stuck in the middle of a dish and can't figure out how to substitute something or how to measure without a spoon, your intuition will guide you. It hasn't failed me yet.
Having managed to purchase exactly what I needed, in exactly the right quantities, despite my uncharacteristically bad planning, I made it home with about 45 minutes to spare before dinner was to land on the table. And those 45 minutes were blissful. The fact that there was nobody there waiting to be fed was very calming, because it meant I could go at my own rate and disguise any doubts I had as I cooked away. Not to mention the fact that I could let out audible groans of delight everytime I caught a whiff of the stewed fruit.
I found this week to be the least stressful and simplest so far. I decided to man up and give chicory another go, which actually worked out quite well because the dressing for this recipe completely dims out the overwhelming bitter taste of the leaves. And Jamie wasn't kidding when he labelled the dressing as Insane. It is quite literally the best salad dressing I have ever consumed in my life, and I recall (through the haze of deliciousness) commenting on how I would like to bathe in it. Perhaps an overstatement, but until you try it you will never understand. That dressing is. So. Good.
The cauliflower macaroni was a surprise also. Dear Housemate is not a fan of cauliflower, nor of cheesy dishes, but she requested leftovers for her lunch tomorrow which is always a good sign. The dish itself served up about 12 decent sized portions, so I would recommend using it if you have a lot of mouths to feed or want to stock up on some lunches/frozen meals for the winter. For a recipe that calls for 250g cheese and 250g creme frache, it was surprisingly light and free from that awful melted-cheese texture that can often weigh down macaroni. The crust in particular is amazing, and I only wish there had been more of it!
The stewed fruit was a triumph in itself. It was dead easy to make, taking maybe five minutes to cut and remove the seeds from the fruits, and only an extra minute or two to tip over the last of the ingredients (brandy included). The smell of it cooking was almost unbearable, with the mixture of fruits (I used plums, nectarines, apricots and peaches), the cinnamon and the orange zest wafting out of the oven. It is a pretty sweet dish, and the ice cream helps to add a bit of subtely to a dessert full of some strong flavours, but they all work together so well that it's hard to complain. I realised halfway through that the majority of this dessert was fruit, with the little bit of sugar and ice cream added being the only 'unhealthy' part. I think this would be really nice during winter, when it can be hard to have chilled desserts without freezing to death, although the lovely summer fruits might be harder to source.
All in all, I brand this meal with an A plus. I enjoyed every dish (much to my surprise!), everyone at the table enjoyed the dishes enough to ask for seconds and bundled up leftovers and I can see myself making this again to feed the starving masses that may appear at my house post-party or other event.
It's only week three and already I feel like I'm trying so many new things, not just with my eating but with my cooking as well, and my crockery is getting a workout. It also means that I get a night of socialising that I otherwise would have missed and its a night away from the television too. It is only early days but I am really glad that Dear Housemate and I have taken on this challenge. We've each had a flick through the book and have picked out meals we want to invite particular people over for and have ideas about how we can tweak things to suit our needs and plans. The whole challenge has already become a very positive force in this household and I look forward to each Challenge Night as it comes along.
Til next time y'all - Bon Appetit!
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