Day 86: what heaven is to me
I am a firm believer that Bank Holidays, or indeed any holiday, should be about treating yourself. Whether that be by doing a lot or doing nothing at all is entirely up to you, but to forget about daily work is key; something hard to do on a regular weekend, I find.
I recently realised that it has been a long while since we’ve honoured #shellfishsaturdays. So, after re-shuffling the weekly menu, which started out very chicken-heavy, I stumbled upon Nigella’s San Francisco Fish Stew in Kitchen and it seemed THE way to make up for the lost Saturdays; with mussels, clams, fish and prawns all together in one gloriously rich, dark, briny, winy sauce.
Nigella’s San Francisco Fish Stew
The name alone immediately conjured forth memories from our trip there a few years ago. It wasn’t a long trip: we had already made the transatlantic trip for a work conference in Anaheim, so we decided to take an overnight bus to San Francisco once it finished and enjoy an extended weekend in the Golden City. A long bike ride was enjoyed over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, made up of beautiful views, happy memories, and several panic attacks and tantrums as I faced my fear of heights crossing the bridge. Many diners were visited; walks and meals enjoyed at the Fisherman’s Wharf (including an Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe) and some decent hours spent in Holiday Avenue at Macy’s (it was October) - followed by nachos and cheesecake on the roof at the Cheesecake Factory. A fabulously fun weekend. We can’t wait to go back for longer.
Back to the stew! There was uncertainty as to whether we would be eating it this weekend (I didn’t put in a pre-order at the fishmonger’s and there is usually a very long queue there on Saturday mornings), however, fortune smiled upon us and they had everything I needed.
I prepared, cooked and ate this in gleeful joy. I can say no more except that eating with a smile on your face is truly a wonderful gift.
I served it with a boule of freshly baked, still warm bread (Nigella’s No-Knead) and a blitzed wild garlic green sauce to emulate the garlicky croutons suggested in Nigella Kitchen.
Flavour musings
I paced about the house with childish excitement, in anticipation of making (and eating) Nigella’s San Francisco Fish Stew. And when we sat down to eat it - reminiscing over our fabulous weekend in San Fransisco a few years ago - it became very clear just what heaven is to me.
Leftovers: I really want to call this little section of my blog entries ‘Making Leftovers Right’, just because there really isn’t a better term for it. But, it was coined by the queen herself many years ago so until the time I can think of an alternative it shall need to remain unnamed. If I didn’t have (albeit tiny) control over my greed, there would most certainly be no leftovers. However, they were in this week’s meal plan so it was spoons down and bowls away after our second (third) ladlefuls. All leftover fish and shellfish were applied to spaghetti and presented as a big bowl of tangled seafood glory. I put a brief ‘how’ on my Instagram!
