I need to clean out my freezer and refrigerator of bits and pieces.

I had some speck, some baby green peas, some onions, mushrooms, and a handful of cherry tomatoes on the cusp of blooming some mould.

Speck is smokey bacon and sold as a block rather than rashers. I had an open packet after I’d used some speck a few weeks ago for some other dish.

I also have some frozen baby green peas in the freezer because frozen peas are so versatile. When I make mushy peas, I use sour cream, and I had a little left after having it with avocado during the week.

Because I ate a sweet lunch on Friday rather than my usual caramelised onion and mushrooms on Italian bread I had some brown mushrooms getting a little dry in a paper bag in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• Speck
• Onion
• Cloves
• Chicken stock
• Baby green peas
• Sour cream
• Butter
• Cherry tomatoes
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Claire’s whiskey Seville marmalade
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Golden syrup

Instructions

Speck and caramelised onions

1. Cut the speck into thick slices. When I write thick, I’m thinking, at least 1 cm thick. You want to be able to bite into the smoked bacon and experience the smokiness as your teeth cut through and the fatty meat juices burst from the moist, tender flesh over your tongue. 
2. Quarter a brown onion with a sharp knife. I use a Chinese-style meat cleaver which I like to hone with a cook’s steel each time I use it. I love the sound of iron on iron.
3. Put the speck, onions and some cloves into a saucepan and pour over enough chicken stock to cover the meat.
4. Bring the chicken stock to a simmering boil and cook for about 40 minutes.
5. The idea is to get the speck soft and floppy.
6. After 40 minutes, take the saucepan off the hob and allow it to rest off the heat.
7. With a mandolin, slice a couple of white onions and remove the stalks from the mushrooms.
8. Begin to caramelise the onions in some olive oil over low, slow heat. Add in the mushroom caps and stalks and put a lid on the frying pan.
9. When the onions and mushrooms soften and begin to take some colour, add in a little balsamic vinegar and continue to cook slowly. For some extra kick add a dessert spoon of Claire’s whiskey Seville marmalade. Watch the onions and mushrooms because you want them caramelised and not burnt.
10. Towards the end, add in some golden syrup for a little extra sweetness. Adding the golden syrup is an optional step.
11. When the onions and mushrooms are ready, take the frying pan off the heat and transfer the caramelised onion and mushrooms to a bowl.
12. Remove the pieces of speck from the saucepan. Dry the surfaces of the meat and fat with a towel.
13. In the frying pan used for the onions and mushrooms, fry off the speck along with the cherry tomatoes. Fry the meat until it takes on some colour and a little crispiness.

Mushy peas

1. Put the frozen baby green peas into a silicon mixing jug with a little water and cook using microwave radiation. Cook the peas until they just become soft.
2. Drain out the excess water and add in a nudge of butter and a dessert spoon of sour cream.
3. Blend with a stick blender.
4. The sour cream keeps the peas bright and green.

Serve the food

1. Put everything on a dinner plate.
2. Shoot a photograph.
3. Sit down and eat with a knife and fork.

What have I done this week?

I’ve been out twice. I know, right? What a gadabout. I like the description of gadabout in the British Engish Thesaurus (see below).

On Monday evening I went out with some pathologists (specialist microbiologists, as a colony) to XO in Narabundah and we enjoyed the Christmas menu.

On Wednesday evening, I went out with some work friends to Tipsy Bull in Braddon and enjoyed a collection of vegetarian tasting plates.

What have I watched this week?

I watched the food show Ugly Delicious produced and starring US-based celebrity chef, David Chang. David is of Korean heritage, and this is important to know when watching the program.

David spent the series highlighting the differences between the sophisticated Italian and French cuisines against the messy and ugly south-east Asian and Indian cuisines. The premise being there is inherent racism because Asian food is quick and looks sloppy, and the service is often curt. In contrast, Italian and French food is refined and sophisticated with the food elements and plating being elegant, and the service is polite and courteous.

I could see his perspective, but I don’t see it as racism. Eating at a fine dining restaurant with attractive looking food and courteous service is enjoyable with the right company. Likewise going for cheap eats in an Asian restaurant with cheap tables and chairs, newspaper for table covering, and disposable chopsticks can be just as enjoyable with the same company.

Final thoughts

Have a good week. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

British English Thesaurus

gadabout: gallivanter, pleasure-seeker; wanderer, rover, rambler, drifter, bird of passage; traveller, journeyer, explorer, globetrotter.