Guilt from browsing cookbooks

Don't be fooled by this photograph. This is not another Nigel homage, although he will get a mention or two - well more, but it's not really about him or his recipes. I also don't think I shall have much to say but I did want to say something arising from my attempt to decide what to cook for our friends coming to lunch on Sunday. And yes, I ended up with these three books and some bookmarks, but let me tell you how I came to this, and why I ended up feeling guilty.

I wasn't guilty about potentially choosing to go with Nigel yet again. I arrived at Nigel after following my usual thought process for deciding what to cook for guests. It's a process arrived at over the years, where I generally attempt to decide on a theme for the whole meal. This might mean a particular cuisine, be built around a particular dish that catches my fancy, a memory meal or a particular cook. It just makes it easier to plan an actual menu if you can narrow down the vast spectrum of possibilities to just one smallish area.

On this occasion I had sort of decided on some kind of apricot tart - made with the apricots that have been soaking in moscato and brandy in the cupbaoard in which we keep glasses, liqueurs and various odd things that don't get used much. The soaking apricots is a Nigel recipe - Apricots in muscat and brandy - which have now been doing their blending thing for a month or so. It's time that they - and the liquid should be used, so I thought to make some of those puff pastry tartlets you see these days.

I had made Nigel's Quick apricot tarts some time ago but they were made from tinned apricots in syrup. However I wondered whether I could apply that upside down puff pastry tartlets technique somehow. Maybe with a little mascarpone spread on the pastry before inverting it on to the apricots, sitting on some of the syrup. Although will it be syrupy enough? Nigel himself suggests serving it with zabaglione - which I could also give a go - or maybe I should try it them with cheese. I saw that somebody had suggested Stilton - which is not my thing, with a drink of the liquid. But then would our friends consider this dessert? No I think I shall ponder more on the tart idea.

Anyway having more or less decided on at least the idea of a dessert, I thought, well why not go for Nigel for the whole meal. That would, after all narrow the range. Of course you could also go for an apricot meal, or a puff pastry meal, but that's really a bit silly.

So yesterday I spent a really relaxing and enjoyable afternoon browsing through four of his books, although I have just realised I have not looked at Tender. So maybe, as I am still dithering a bit I should do that tomorrow.

As far as the meal is concerned I am down to a short list. I think the entrée will be these rather glorious looking Tomatoes with an anchovy crumb crust, from his book Eat, Which I shall make with Coles' heritage tomatoes. The recipe does not appear to be online, although he has a similar recipe which is - Baked tomatoes, crumbs and herbs - but I rather like the little touch of the anchovies - David I don't think you will notice them - and it's a slightly cleverer recipe. Serve with a crispy baguette to soak up the juices. I'm guessing there will be juices.

But what about my mains shortlist? There are a couple that involve tarragon and so I am somewhat reluctantly putting them aside as tarragon has not reappeared in the shops as yet. And really there is no substitute.

There is also this rather sumptuous looking but actually very simple, chicken and leek pie. I don't think this particular one - from A Cook's Book - is online, but he has several other chicken and leek pie recipes. When all is said and done however, chicken and leek pie is - well chicken and leek pie. So, no I don't think so. It's not quite special enough for a special lunch.

Another non-starter as far as this post goes is Sautéed chicken, porcini and Marsala - a footnote to another recipe in Eat and a recipe just 7 lines long.

No picture or recipe online for you to see, but I am considering it, because I do love, love, love his Chicken, marsala and crème fraïche, shown here, which since it's discovery, features on our home menus every now and then. In that recipe he even says: "There is no reason why you shouldn’t introduce a handful of halved button mushrooms with the chicken.", but the porcini version is different in other ways. No cornichons and capers, no crème fraîche and they perhaps are what make it so special, so maybe not the porcini one. I'll keep the bookmark in for now however.

Miso chicken - He has a couple of versions online of this, neither being quite the same as the one in his book Eat - which is the one I am considering, because he does call it "Miso chicken - possibly my favourite fast-food recipe ever. There I've said it." I think it is closest to the online Grilled miso chicken with soy and lemon potatoes which does at least have a suggested accompaniment and there is also Grilled chicken with miso which he serves with radish and watercress and includes maple syrup and sesame oil in the marinade. But maybe I should keep one of these for my experiments with miso - coming soon.

I confess I'm currently leaning towards this Grilled pork steak with courgettes and sauerkraut and that mild lean was emphasised this morning when I found zucchini on a special - and rather good looking smaller ones than the expensive giants that have been around recently. Plus I have a half jar of sauerkraut in the fridge that needs using up. Maybe some kind of potato to serve with it. We had bread for the first course, and besides, bread doesn't quite seem right here.

So there you have my recipe meanderings, which I may continue with Tender. The point is, however, that although I enjoyed the relaxation of browsing through this little collection of books, it also left me feeling very guilty because there were so many good things on offer in these books. However, Nigel's books are just a very small part of my cookery book collection - there are around a hundred or so other options, and I think I have very probably weeded that collection down to the ones that deserve to be there, other than a very few that are there for sentimental reasons. And yet I rarely cook a recipe from a cookbook these days. Even on the days when I am not just tossing something together from what is in the fridge. I do try to cook at least one rather more effortful dish per week, but even those tend to be something tried and true, rather than something new and adventurous.

What a waste. I could be cooking soemthing new and exciting at least once a week if I raided my cookbooks. Since I'm not likely now to eat in the world's greatest restaurants - even Australia's - I could at least be cooking something really special from my wonderful collection. And 'really special' does not necessarily mean complicated. None of the above short list recipes is at all difficult. All of them could be made by a child - although maybe supervised in terms of safety -knives, heat and all that.

So should I make yet another resolution - a new dish from a cookbook - whether random or in some planned sequence at least once a week - a cookbook a month - an author a month? Or will that just end up with me feeling even more guilty because the resolutions have not been kept?

But then guilt is such a heavy thing, and this is a trivial thing. So I'm just going to enjoy cooking for friends and trying something new. But maybe I'll try the something new every week thing again. If I put that resolution in my diary every week I might even do it, because of the pleasure of giving it a tick!

YEARS GONE BY

December 10

2024 - Why is distressed so loved?

2023 - What's in a name?

2022 - Just to show I'm not biased

2021 - Nothing

2020 - Missing

2019 - So many pips

2018 - Lucky dip - crackling

2017 - So many different ways to pickle a cucumber - or gherkin - or cornichon

2016 - Foodie gifts for Christmas