FLOWER POT KITCHEN: I LOVE SUSHI

23 Oct 2011

I LOVE SUSHI

I JUST LOVE THIS FOOD

250g sushi rice
Wild Alaskan salmon thinly sliced
Fresh tuna thinly sliced
Large shell on prawns (peel and slice in half)
Raw baby squids cleaned and sliced
Smoked salmon sliced
12 Fresh oysters
6 Fresh scallops
ginger fine shards
peppers sliced
spring onion sliced
soy
sake
mirin
kenjap soy
sesame oil
rice wine vinegar
wasabi paste (don't bother with the powder)
Japanese ginger for sushi
tempura batter mix
soda water (must be cold)
potato flour
oil for frying

I know this seems a lot of ingredients, but most of these items can be kept for over a year once opened in your larder, I use these ingredients a lot more than I thought I would now they part of my standard larder.

Sushi Rice - Wash the rice 3-4 times in cold running water, place in a saucepan with 330ml water, cover and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on, then turn the heat off and don't touch for another 10 minutes. Tip out onto a plate and cool quickly.

Form into sushi balls and oblongs by firmly pushing the rice together in the palm of your hands, TIP keep your hands wet or the rice will stick.

Place a small amount of wasabi on the rice and then place a slice of the fish, and there you have it SUSHI.

Dips for sushi, first dip, mix soy dash sake, dash sesame oil and a dash of rice wine vinegar. Second dip, soy, kenjap soy and rice wine vinegar. Third dip, rice wine vinegar, soy, wasabi and mirin.

Oysters Tempura, make the batter with approx 125ml ice cold water, don't stir, use chopsticks and just gently half mix, you want lumps of flour in the mix as this will puff up and creates that light spiky batter. Fry in 200 degrees and drain before serving.

Ginger scallops, pan fry spring onions, peppers and lots of ginger, add the scallops for approx 3 minutes till just cooked, a couple of tablespoons of water and season to taste.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.