Salmon in basil cream sauce

Monday 21/2/2005

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Diary and Notes

Hurray! Some good news at last.

I don't want to be thought of as authoritarian or wishing to restrict anyone's freedoms but the authorities (a term I use with a bad taste in my mouth) are trying to get people to realise the problem with the chewing gum menace.

My problem isn't so much that this stuff sticks to everything and is there for years afterwards, it's mainly with the guy on the next desk (Oskar - he's Swedish) who chews consistently and loudly all day long. A tax on gum wont stop him from chewing as he's a heavy smoker and uses nicotine replacement gum (I have suggested he get's a patch but he is addicted to the chewing now) but at least he'll be made to pay for irritating me. Flog him I say, bring back the Spanish Inquisition and the strappado and squassation - for loud chewers that is - and stoning isn't such a bad idea either.

Ah, a good stoning. I wont forget to wear my comedy beard - which leads me to today's dinner strangely enough.

"That halibut was good enough for Jehova!"

Ok, so it wasn't a halibut, but a piece of salmon, but it was still good enough for Jehova.

Now I don't know much about this Jehova dude but I imagine He knows a good piece of fish when he sees it, so I am confidently saying that my piece was good enough for Him. But He wasn't getting any, it was all for me and I wasn't sharing.

So I say this to Him: Hand's off my fish! Go and buy some of your own - and none of that slight of hand business and making it feed five thousand either, that sort of economics doesn't wash these days as it puts fishmongers out of business and causes all sorts of problems with the European Union and the common agricultural policy.

Just who does He think He is?

Cake Blog

A chocolate flapjack. I was in a hurry and the only place I could get a cake from was the university shop. It was a stodgy, greasy affair and not worthy of the name cake.

Menu

Spaghetti with mushrooms, olives and sun dried tomato

Panini (it was called panini, but was really just a ciabatta roll with some burned marks on the top)

Ingredients

Salmon: Salmon fillet (make sure it's fresh enough for Jehova), olive oil, white wine, cream, fresh basil, salt, white pepper

Spaghetti: Spaghetti, olive oil, onions, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, black olives, mushrooms, anchovies, capers, black pepper, Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Salmon: Dip a piece of kitchen paper in a little olive oil and rub onto a hot frying pan and place the fish, skin side down in the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes per side. Add a dash of white wine and loads of finely chopped basil. Allow to reduce to about 1/3 volume of wine, add some single cream, stir in and season. Simple but good enough for Jehovah.

Spaghetti: Put the spaghetti into some boiling water. In a pan, heat a little olive oil and sweat the onions and garlic. Finely mince some sun dried tomatoes, anchovies, capers and add to the pan. Put some chopped mushrooms in, some sliced black olives, a good grind of pepper and cook gently until the spaghetti is ready. Drain the spaghetti and mix in. Serve with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

JCBorresen@gmail.com