Day 184: a simply kind of day

Had a few days off from the cookalong, since marking the halfway point so epically - if I say so myself - with a Haunted Manor edition of Nigella’s Cider and 5-Spice Bundt Cake drizzled with a glittery Smoky Salted Caramel Sauce.

This week has been pretty full-on for us. There are some big changes happening in our life at the moment and it’s all getting very exciting. I’m afraid, for now, I have to be a bit mysterious and evasive about the topic, it’s early days and we’ll say more when are ready, but I am grateful to have this cookalong and you lovely lot to keep me grounded. It’s nice to step out of the chaos and into a tranquil, reflective food space - though I have to keep these entries short and unoriginal sometimes to avoid this too becoming an overwhelming space.

I couldn’t more grateful to the organised me for taking over the shopping last week and actually buying some of this week’s cookalong ingredients in advance. It was definitely a Simply kind of day today and we enjoyed two very large bowls of Nigella’s Pasta Snails with Garlic Butter.

Nigella’s Pasta Snails with Garlic Butter

I’ve had escargot on many occasions. Some enjoyed, others despised. When I was younger I remember my Nan doing them for dinner parties. She’d use the ones from a tin, put them into clean shells - which I also recall soaking in her kitchen sink - and then load them up with garlic and parsley butter before a short blast in the oven. I recall liking these. I also had them in the Alps on a skiing holiday a few years. Those I did not like; they were horribly chewy. The nicest ones I had were on our trip to Amsterdam a few weeks ago. Marcin had never tried them, we were in a French wine bar, it seemed like a good thing to do. We ordered Escargots à la bourguignonne, ate them with curiosity and enjoyment - mostly salivating over the salty pungency of the garlic butter, but also the earthy savouriness of the snails - and drank a glass of +++ on the side (it packed enough flavour and punch to survive the intensity of the garlic in the snails). These snails were soft and tender. After, much bread was used to dredge through the butter and herbs.

One mouthful into a bowl of this pasta sent me straight back to that wine bar. Bread was of course used for cleaning out the pot!

The recipe for Nigella’s Pasta Snails with Garlic Butter can be found on p85 of Simply Nigella.