Don't Knock It Till You've Tried It!

Food focused television is a growing phenomenon with celebrity chefs becoming some of our most recognised superstars, we watch them on TV (we're fed roughly 500 hours of TV cookery a week) delivering mouth-watering dishes and think about how we can recreate them.

But how many of us actually do? I particularly love Nigella (have you noticed in the new series, simply Nigella, that she has a pink kitchen!) Nigella's backdrop is always fairy lit and alluring, her cookery style is very seductive and on face value her recipes seem achievable. For many of us, though, visual consumption has replaced actual cooking, I often buy recipe books that accompany TV shows such as Nigella's, however, in the cold light of day the recipes suddenly become less enticing.

Masterchef The Professionals is also currently on TV and interestingly many of the 'professional' chefs fail the first and most basic skills test. This week saw chefs failing to execute a buck rarebit (a glorified cheese on toast) which to be honest even I can do, but it does beg the question, if professional chefs are struggling, what hope have we got?

So, rather than waiting for Nigella's new book, I jotted this next recipe down as I watched her prepare it and literally struck while the iron was hot. Unfortunately, Nigella has yet again been lambasted on Twitter regarding this recipe, however, I thought it was quite ingenious and both I and Glenn thoroughly enjoyed it, as the saying goes: 'Don't knock it till you've tried it!'

Nigella's Caesar salad

Recipe
1 Romaine lettuce, cut diagonally
2-3 anchovy fillets
1 clove garlic
Half a lemon
Parmesan cheese
1 free range egg

Place lettuce in a baking tray

Cook anchovies in a small pan for a couple of minutes until slightly caramelised

Remove from heat and grate in the clove of garlic
Drizzle over lettuce

Place under a medium grill for 4-5 minutes until slightly charred
Remove and squeeze lemon over the lettuce, pop back under the grill for 2 minutes
Meanwhile, fry the egg
Place lettuce on a plate, sprinkle with grated Parmesan to taste and finish with the fried egg

What I can tell you about this dish is that the fishiness evaporates into a delicious salty hit whenever you caramelise anchovies (I use them in all sorts of recipes.) The saltiness of the anchovies and Parmesan compliments the sweetness of the cooked lettuce, and the soft oozy egg becomes a silky sauce, all delicious mopped up with crunchy toasted bread. As a light lunch or supper this is also an incredibly economical dish!

'Anyone who's a chef, who loves food, ultimately knows that all that matters is: is it good?  Does it give pleasure.'
- Anthony Bourdain.

Love Donna xxxxxxxx