Asparagus Egg Dippers with Smoked Salmon
I’ve eaten in some very good restaurants in my time, although these days I tend to like to cook myself, as I like the thrill of creating something. But I’ve never eaten in Heston Blumenthal ‘s, Fat Duck, as I feel that his eclectic taste and ideas may not fit with being a coeliac.
So today, as I had some spare asparagus and I was going to Waitrose, I made sure that I had the basics for this recipe of Heston Blumenthal’s that the supermarket is promoting.
It was very simple and all it required was :-
- 250g of asparagus
- 1 tbsp of grapeseed oil – I’m not as posh as Heston thinks he is, so I used some good olive oil.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- 100g of smoked salmon – I used some from Pinney’s of Orford.
- 2 medium eggs although I think mine were large ones – Interestingly, I buy them in fours from Waitrose, which is a very sensible number for someone living alone.
The method is as follows.
- Remove the woody part of the asparagus stems by gently snapping off the ends (they should break naturally) – I’d never have thought of snapping them, so at least it saved a knife from the washing up.
- Coat the bottom of a frying pan with the oil then add the asparagus, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cover with a lid. Place the pan over a medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until the asparagus spears are cooked but still a vibrant green. Remove the pan from the heat and place the asparagus on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil – I actually tasted some after thy had been cooked and they were good.
- Cover a chopping board with a layer of clingfilm. Put the salmon slices on top in a single layer, then lay another layer of clingfilm over the top. Using a rolling pin, flatten the salmon so it becomes uniform in thickness. Remove the clingfilm, cut the salmon into strips and use to wrap each spear, leaving the top sticking out, and a few centimetres showing at the base – This was far too complicated and I can’t separate clingfilm with my hands, so I just separaed the smoked salmon and cut it into strips. It wasn’t too difficult and I’ll do it better next time.
- Using the smallest possible pan, just cover the eggs in cold water, and cover the pan. Bring to the boil quickly, over a high heat. Once boiling, remove from heat and leave to stand, still covered, for 6 minutes – I’d never have thought of boiling eggs in this way.
- After 6 minutes, remove the eggs from the pan and place them in egg cups. Crack the top of each egg with a spoon and remove the top. To serve, dip the salmon-wrapped asparagus spears into the soft egg yolk.
I actually opened the eggs as I always have by battering them with the bowl of a teaspoon and then peeling off the shell with the handle of the spoon.
I also put a hole in the bottom of the shell, so that witches can’t use them to sail away on the sea.
They were very good and a wonderful combination of three of my favourite foods; asparagus, eggs and smoked salmon.
They’re gluten-free too!
It gave me a lot of satisfaction to do this recipe. I also learned several simple techniques, that work well.
So perhaps the success of his cooking is lots of simple ideas, brilliantly executed.
Ups and Downs
I had a good morning in that I put some more IKEA furniture together and then took the bus up to Upper Street for the physio. I then had a quick lunch in Carluccio’s whilst I did the Suduko in my copy of The Times. I finished off the Fiendish one and then I did the Killer one that was supposed to take 65 minutes in about 30. After Waitrose for my weekend shopping, I came home and slept for three hours.
I felt good after the mental work, but now I’m tired again. Sometimes, I almost feel like I did before I was diagnosed as a coeliac, when I used to sleep a lot.
At least though my face seems a bit better as I write!
Life seems to be a series of ups and downs.
Dr. Rosemary Says It’s OK To Eat Eggs
Rosemary Leonard has just been recommending that we eat more eggs, saying that they have proteins that are good for your eyes and vitamins D and B12.
An interesting thing she said was that Mexicans eat the most eggs per person. Someone said, this was because Mexico is a poor country, but it would be interesting to know why.
For the Royal Wedding, a friend and his Mexican wife stayed. On knowing that I was a coeliac, she said that Mexicans don’t eat much bread. But they do eat maize-based tortillas.
Does anybody have any information on the numbers of coeliacs in Mexico and how they get on? I suppose that their diet will be ruined by their neighbour to the north.
Byron Hamburgers
I ate in Byron Hamburgers at Islington Green tonight. It was good and it made a nice change for me to have a real gluten-free hamburger and chips.
I also got to thinking about the similarities between my father and Lord Byron.
For a start they were both poets, although my father’s output wasn’t very large and was much less famous and was meant to be spoken with a Cockney accent. But then my father was probably a better printer than the noble Lord.
They both married women with the surname of Millbank, although Byron’s wife had a spelling of Milbanke.
And then just like I am a computer programmer, so was Lord Byron’s daughter; Ada, Countess of Lovelace.
But that’s as far as the links go.
I Don’t Like Polenta
If offered polenta cake, I’d usually say thanks but no thanks.
However, in Carluccio’s in Upper Street last week, because I had time to kill, I popped in for a coffee and asked if they had any gluten free snacks to go with it. The waiter, who knows I am a coeliac and am very particular, then showed me an enormous polenta cake, which he assured was safe for me. Although the slice was quite large, I decided to have one.
I didn’t regret it, as it was very good. It was about three pounds though, but it would have been big enough to share.
So that’s another thing off the list of things I won’t touch!
I did try to buy another slice in their caffe at St. Pancras but they didn’t have one. So if you want to try one, check before going.
Problems with Genius Bread
I like the Genius gluten-free bread, as the texture seems to be just right for me. It also makes very good toast, which I like to have with proper jam or marmelade. I suppose, I’ve been eating it for perhaps a year, since it started to be stocked in Waitrose in Newmarket.
But I’ve been having problems with it lately, in that it tends to grow a spotty mould after only a couple of days, so I have to throw it away. This probably started a couple of months ago.
I thought that it might be me, but then I use the same bread bin as I did in Suffolk, I keep the bread properly wrapped, when I’ve cut it for the first time. I also thought it could be the air in London, which hasn’t been of too high a quality since about CHristmas.
But then in Waitrose in Upper Street, Islington, when I was reaching for a new loaf, a lady was doing the same. So I asked her, if she’d had a problem with the bread and she said yes.
I did report it in store at Customer Services to an assistant, who seemed to know the product well as she said she had a wheat intolerance.
So is this a temporary problem or something more serious?
A First Visit to ExCel
ExCel is an exhibition and conference centre in London’s Docklands. Despite it being opened for several years, I’ve never gone.
Until today, when I went to see Grand Designs Live.
It is certainly a lot better than Earls Court or Olympia, which have been tired for years.
I was even able to get a gluten-free salad and a fresh orange juice.
Gluten-Free Salad and Juice at ExCel
My only worry is the wooden disposable cutlery. It often isn’t strong enough for my hands.
I remember asking for any gluten-free options at Earls Court some years ago and got a reply which was something like. “There is none and anyway if we offered anything, we wouldn’t sell any, as you’re the first that’s asked.”
I got no reply to my letter of complaint.
Pizza Express in Swansea
I made very little progress in finding a gluten-free restaurant in Swansea, so it had to be a tuna salad with a glass of wine at Pizza Express.
It was a great improvement on my dreadful trip to Coventry, where the waitress had learned her trade by watching Catherine Tate videos. But saying that, Pizza Express in Leeds had been very good too.
Swansea is also a Pizza Express with good views of the old Swansea Castle.
Swansea Castle
The waiter also told me how to find the Liberty Stadium, which wasn’t shown on any direction signs or maps.
How To Get Up a Coeliac’s Nose
If there is one thing that annoys me living here, it is the amount of junk I get through my letter box. Most is flyers for fast food restaurants, none of which I would dream of using. As most of the food on offer is gluten-rich, it would do me harm.
I actually had one today from Subway, who claim that all their meat is halal. But their gluten-free offerings can be counted on the fingers of Nelson’s right hand.
I shall be sending a copy of this post to Subway.
Table Tennis at the Duke of Wellington
I did try to play table tennis a few months ago, but my eyesight wasn’t good enough.
Tonight though, I went down the Duke of Wellington in the Balls Pond Road and played a couple of games for charity. I was a lot better.
I also had some very good Wye Valley asparagus with a poached duck egg on top. I did have a chat with the manager and they know their gluten-free.
The strange thing about the pub is that it is a few doors away from where some my ancestors lived in the 1850s. I just wonder if, I’m not the first member of my family to drink in the pub. I’m certainly the first to play table tennis.
The Anonymous Widower 