Hello hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Afternoon Delights. This week I talk about my one of my favourite tv genres - the cookery show, bring you a delicious creamy garlicky salmon dish that I’ve been tinkering with since before Christmas plus a roundup of Really Good Reads™ that I’ve been accumulating. Trying to keep up with the various Tory nonsense means jigsaw progress has been slowwww, but I have finally given in and tried the Pomodoro technique when writing the newsletter and much to my surprise, it actually works. If only life could be broken down into manageable 25 minute sections!
Slow jigsaw progress but gorgeous gorgeous Daffs in the sun.
On Unfettered Enthusiasm.
Growing up during the 90’s meant I was taught the very best thing you could be was cool and aloof. Pop stars and supermodels refusing to so much as smile for a photo, politics focussing more on spin than actual heartfelt beliefs. The goal was to come across as completely and wholly unbothered. After a lifetime of trying to damp down keenness lest I come across as uncool, I’m now here for pure, unadulterated enthusiasm. I get a huge buzz from hearing people talk about things they’re passionate about and even more so if it’s something they’ve created. Most of my favourite Instagram accounts to follow are people who yell about their work and the joy it brings them. I pay my Netflix subscription pretty much solely for the first episode of Salt Fat Acid Heat - Samin Nosrat in Italy should come on prescription. If you can watch her eat tacos in a later episode in Mexico without a huge smile on your face - you have a very dark soul. To be a professional cook is to be passionate - you can’t half arse food. On greyer days I like to keep Food Network on in the background, volume turned down to a low murmur in the way some people leave the radio on for their dogs. I find nothing more heartening than watching cooks chop and stir and mix and fry about their kitchens and then finally - taste or sip, and watch the delight creep across their face at whatever they’ve concocted. Give me an entire schedule dedicated to Nigella, Ina, and if you really want to spoil me, Keith Floyd mincing about his kitchen, glass of wine firmly in hand, and I’ll be absolutely delighted. Because what’s more delightful than good food?!
Herby Baked Salmon with Creamed Spinach and Mushrooms.
Creamy, garlicky mushrooms and wilted spinach with a crust topped fillet of salmon - this is comfort food at its best. Try and get a whole salmon piece here rather than individual fillets as it keeps the fish tender, but if you can only get individual fillets adjust the cooking time.
Ingredients.
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Olive Oil
300g mushrooms (chestnut, closed cup chopped in half or button whole)
300ml double cream
200ml white wine
Bag of spinach
500g piece of salmon
2 slices of seeded bread for breadcrumbs (can be any bread but a seeded loaf gives added flavour)
1 tsp sage and thyme, chopped
Method
1 . Pre heat the oven to 180 (fan) / 200 and fill the kettle and put on to boil. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat with a good drizzle of olive oil, and when the oil is hot add the garlic, keep stirring until softened.
2. Add the mushrooms to the pan and turn down to a medium heat and leave to soften, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, put the spinach into a colander and then place the colander in a bowl in the sink and pour the boiled water over the leaves. Remove after 20 seconds and run under the cold water straight away to refresh, then leave to drain in the colander.
3. Once the mushrooms and garlic are cooked, pour the cream and wine into the pan and turn up the heat, stirring until the mixture is bubbling. Over a separate bowl rub the bread together to get breadcrumbs and stir through the chopped herbs, and season.
4. Squeeze any excess moisture out of the spinach and place in the bottom of a roasting pan, then pour the creamy mushrooms over, mixing together so the spinach leaves are coated. Place the salmon fillet on top, and then scatter the breadcrumbs over, focussing on the fish and then using whatever’s left to coat the rest of the pan. Drizzle some olive oil over the top (truffle oil if you have it!) and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked and the breadcrumbs are nicely toasted.
5. Serve with green beans and sautéed potatoes.
Micro Doses of Joy
THE FIRST BUNCH OF DAFFODILS ARE IN AND SPRING IS COMING! I cannot in anyway express how thrilled this had made me over the last week. At one point in the (hopefully!) not so distant future I will have to explain to a mortgage lender that the weekly £3 spends in Sainsburys that start in January and very sadly come to a halt in late April are actually for bunches of daffodils that I put in vases throughout the house and yell at anyone in the vicinity “LOOK AT THEM BLOOM!” and are pretty much the lynchpin of my mental health. We’re getting 2 minutes and 7 seconds of extra daylight each day at the moment and not to shag springs arse, I AM BUZZING!
One of my team has introduced me to the Hershey’s Cookie and Creme egg, and sweet baby Jesus and the orphans it is sublime. It’s a very good job I’m attempting to boycott Amazon at the moment as I’ve just found out they sell them in boxes of 48 and my dentist quite simply doesn’t need the extra work.
Wordle continues to be great.
Really Good Reads™
The first of three corkers from Rolling Stone - Anthony Bourdain skulking around a martial arts Reddit feed anonymously - I can hear his voice as I read the excerpts. What a guy.
This piece by Amelia Tait on what happened to the original YouTubers as they grew out of shoving marshmallows in their mouths and waxing their armpits and covering themselves in butter is great, if a bit sad.
Oh for the confidence of a straight white man, and, apparently, the free time to listen to almost daily three hour podcasts AND “do your own research” into the vaccines. A group of doctors have got together here to call out Spotify for their lack of misinformation policy in allowing Rogan to create a “false balance” with some of his guests. “These are fringe ideas not backed in science, and having it on a huge platform makes it seem there are two sides to this issue. And there are really not. The overwhelming evidence is the vaccine works, and it is safe.” Thank you, Katrine Wallace, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
All hail Queen Ina.
A great explainer on how the Politics For All twitter account got so big and then, disappeared. I for one won’t miss that siren emoji followed by BREAKING NEWS and not knowing whether WWIII had started or Dilyn the dog had had his third poo of the day. Thankfully, the extremely useful Furniture For All account is safe.
The audacity here is unrivalled. Huge fan.
On one of my all time favourite pastimes - holding a grudge.
This blew my head off a bit! I was very aware that publishing houses pumped money into very few authors, most of whom are already famous, but had no idea they bought places on best seller lists in bookshops?! The dream of one day being a successful author is getting further and further away!
It’s looking terrifyingly unlikely that Roe will make it to fifty years, and the fall out will be borne by those who can bear it the least, as ever. The NYT interviews women who had abortions before they were widely available and it’s as eye opening as it is harrowing. Hugely generous stories illuminating what women stand to lose.
Finally, a belated Happy Penguin Awareness Day to those who celebrate!! Here’s one of my favourite letters, compiled of course by Shaun Usher of Letters of Note.
If you’ve got this far, thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed! If you think someone else will enjoy too, please feel free to share. There’s a very good chance that Colin the Caterpillar will have toppled our current PM by the time this hits your inbox, and if so I promise to dedicate the next newsletter to our cakey king. In the meantime do let me know if you try the salmon, and keep enjoying those extra minutes of daylight! N xo