We were in Spain last week (more on that in future posts) and this week we’ve been just trying to catch up and do various admin-y things.
However, I thought I’d post about a couple of two things we ‘invented’ and worked well so you don’t forget about us.
First, my creation:
Goose barnacle seaweed with fried shallots, on a bed of lettuce, seasoned with some drops of balsamic vinegar and olive oil
My initial intention was to literally finish off this seaweed. I bought a bunch of packets from La Patrona a while ago and because we don’t know very well how to use it, we never use them, which annoys me.
I rehydrated them, then squeezed the extra liquid, and placed them over lettuce. But I felt they needed something else, maybe something salty and fatty and with a bit of bite? and I thought of the dried shallots, sprinkled a few on top. The balsamic vinegar with its tanginess and sweetness was a nice final touch.
I thought it’d taste a bit nasty or even awkward, but it worked out quite well. The textures were very complementary and made things interesting.
I might use this idea with the other types of seaweeds. Maybe it could also work with sesame oil + rice vinegar combo instead of the olive oil + balsamic vinegar…
You’d be surprised to hear, but seaweed does not taste necessarily salty, fishy or of much at all, and I sometimes find they’re mostly providing an interesting/odd/unusual texture for you to put things on top of.
Sweet and sour pickled daikon
Devvers had a bit of left-over daikon (radish) from making turnip cake, and as an experiment sliced it and put it with some salt, sugar and rice vinegar in a little pot in the fridge.
When we came back from Spain, the daikon was very ready to be eaten and enjoyed.
It tastes very much like what you’d get in a nice Japanese restaurant. And it’s so easy to make!
It was fun to add it to my eccentric platter of weird combinations, also featuring a courgette omelette, and some olives, which you can kind of see in the background. You can definitely see some unusual combinations in this kitchen đź‘€