Cooking
Greek-ish Pork with Orzo Salad: loosely based on this recipe, I marinated pieces of pork tenderloin overnight in a combo of red wine vinegar, minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh mint and a pinch of sumac. I seared the pork in a cast-iron pan and cooked it through to temp, it was soooo flavourful! For the orzo salad, I did a quick vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, a little dijon mustard and maple syrup, salt and then did a combo of diced red onion, tomato, red pepper and cucumber, plus crumbled feta and a good shake of za’atar to finish it off. Delicious and refreshing!
Other things I cooked:
Liv B.’s Crispy Tofu bowls with Peanut Sauce: I loved this idea from @itslivb for crispy tofu but simplified the breading since I’m not vegan. I dipped the slices of tofu in egg, then did a breading of almond flour seasoned well with salt and pepper. Panfried it in olive oil until crispy. For the sauce I followed her recipe, swapping almond butter for peanut butter (mainly because I was too lazy to mix my new jar of almond butter aha). For the veggies I stirfried them because I’m still afraid of my oven :)
Smitten Kitchen’s Spiced Cauliflower soup: loved this soup - tastes like samosa filling. I dipped sourdough bread in it but would be so good with naan. I fully blended my soup to make it smooth, I think it would also be good chunkier. I froze two servings for future me.
Julia Turshen’s Swedish Meatballs: a classic in my rotation - I couldn’t find panko yet so I did fresh breadcrumbs from my sourdough bread. Made for a super tender meatball! For the braised cabbage I thinly slice red cabbage and add about ¼ cup of water to the pot, and let it simmer, covered until the cabbage is super buttery and tender. I finish with some red wine vinegar, honey, salt and pep!
Eating
Padella. This pasta hotspot by Borough Market I’ve read about on many lists - luckily my flat is within a small radius of the restaurant so I can join the queue virtually (they don’t take reservations). I tried the n’duja, marscapone and lemon fettuccine, it was *chef’s kiss*. I will definitely be back!
Following
@thedefinedish - I saved her Korean-inspired ground beef and kimchi bowls for future lunches.
Listening
Using
Bowls for prep. Now that I have a gas stove, I have to do all my prep of veggies, etc before I start cooking because the pans heat up so fast. It’s definitely forcing me to be a bit more organized in the kitchen - rather than my usual prep-as-I-go method.
Thinking
About the rituals and routines. A good friend who has also moved abroad told me that one key thing to do when you arrive in a new country is to create routines, even if they are as small or seemingly benign as “on Saturday mornings I get a pastry and a coffee”, to create meaning and purpose to the wide open calendar. I’m finding this is making me feel a lot more grounded here as I find my footing and social network.
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh