I’ve just finished a special meal for one. I went to Borough Market today and stocked up on goodies to help keep myself cheerful during the separation.
My husband is vegetarian, so it’s also a chance to indulge my inner omnivore (though admittedly I do eat meat and fish when he’s here as well). I was, however, a committed ‘locavore’ – the meal is made almost entirely of produce from the UK.
It was a bit of an S-themed meal with squid, spaghetti, scallops and strawberries.
STARTER: Squid and tomato salad with basil and a light balsamic vinegar dressing.
Recipe: Slice three red campari tomatoes in quarters and four golden cherry tomatoes in halves. (Obviously you can use whichever tomato varieties are in season but it’s nice to have a few different colours). Roll up five basil leaves lengthways and slice finely (this is called a chiffanade). Slice one spring onion finely. Mix half a teaspoon of olive oil and half a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar in a small dish and toss through the salad. This is enough to enhance the natural sweetness of the tomatoes – do not use any more than this or the balsamic vinegar will drown out any other flavour.
Gut the squid, unless you’ve had the fishmonger do this for you already. Slice into thin strips and put in a clean plastic bag with a squeeze of lemon juice and black pepper and allow to marinate for 10 minutes. Then fry in a pan or wok – you really only need to sear this. It’s done when the white goes from slightly translucent to completely opaque and the strips of squid start to curl a little. If you overcook it, it will go rubbery.
Slice the cooked squid into squares and mix with the tomato salad. Season with salt and black pepper.
MAIN: Spaghetti tossed with seared queen scallops, peas, lemon zest, parsley, spring onion, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Recipe: Fill a pot with plenty of boiling water (you’ll use less energy if you boil the water in the kettle) and salt. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, chop parsley and spring onion finely and zest lemon (about a quarter of a lemon for one person). Blanche garden peas in boiling water (or cheat and add them to the pasta water when it’s nearly done).
Sear scallops in a pan or wok – don’t overcook them.
Toss the spaghetti, scallops, peas, herbs and lemon zest with a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper.
DESSERT: Fresh strawberries, straight up. So juicy and sweet!
The squid came from Cornwall and the scallops are from the Isle of Mann (queen scallops are smaller and sweeter than the ordinary kind). The tomatoes were from somewhere in England and the strawberries are from Kent, just south of London. As you can see, you can dine pretty well as a locavore, even in England.
I also bought a very expensive steak, which I’m saving for tomorrow. It’s an organic Angus fillet steak from Scotland, traditionally aged for 28 days. I nearly baulked at the price – £10 – but he’d already wrapped it up for me so I went with it. I’m really looking forward to it!
My digital camera is busted at the moment, so no pics of the food unfortunately. The main pic of a olive stall at Borough Market is by klbw on Flickr, published under Creative Commons.
I had my first taste of Borough Market when I popped down to the capital a few weeks ago. It’s a riot – rather Greek in its thronging semi-chaos. Not cheap – but wow, the variety. I suspect that the end of the day, when everyone is desperate to shift their stock, is the time to stock your freezer.
Also – squid. *sigh* I’ve just had some prepacked squid this evening, and it was awful. Since I grew up on kalamari in Cyprus, bad squid is a tragedy I’m particularly vulnerable to. Glad to know you enjoyed the real deal.
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