I was hoping for the first post in this blog to have a more triumphant tone and was so excited about cooking Nigella's Speedy Seafood Supper that I was confident it would fit the bill. Alas, I should know by now that the times I allow my anticipation to run away with itself are the times it ends in tears and disappointment. That may sound mildly melodramatic but my boyfriend will be the first to attest to how much I am affected by food disappointment (maybe not as much as food envy, although that is for another post!).
It is probably obvious already to most that the blame cannot be laid at Nigella's door. I have already cooked enough of her recipes (Vietnamese Noodle Soup, Venetian Lasagne and Beef & Ale Stew to name a few) to know they produce fabulous end results and, well, she has sold enough books to prove the same point. So yes, my hands are held up...although I wish I knew what mistake I was admitting to!
Sometimes there are stark errors in cooking, the ones where you know as soon as the blunder has hit the pan that the dish is effectively a write off. Others though are frustratingly more elusive to diagnose, yet can still have just as detrimental an effect on the food. I chose not to splash out on saffron and instead replaced it with turmeric. I also bought a frozen cooked seafood mix instead of a frozen raw selection...yet assumedly this shouldn't affect the final product too noticeably...you just put the seafood in a few minutes later? These were, to my knowledge, the only deviances from the recipe. Admittedly I mistakenly added the 250ml of water cold, as opposed to freshly boiled; I feel the downfall must originate here somehow? Perhaps anyone with more technical know how can advise? I still feel rather hard done by though; surely even with the cumulative effect of all of the above I shouldn't have been left with a total disaster?
Ok, so total disaster is putting it quite strongly. I still had an edible meal at the end of it and there were definite good flavours in the dish (I had forgotten how much I love tarragon, especially when paired with white wine). The level of flavour I was expecting though seemed massively diluted and the overly liquidy texture exaggerated this further.
I really want to try this dish again. A big part of the appeal was its apparent simplicity and there is no way it is outside of my skill range. Most importantly, seafood is right up there at the top of my food agenda at the moment and therefore to have a quick but fantastic seafood supper I can add to my "cook without thinking after work" list, would be brilliant.
On the other hand though, 400g of seafood medley is slightly more expensive than my average food purchase. Not a problem if it serves the purpose I desire...but I am reluctant to throw more money at this dish when I still can't say for certain what necessary amendments I need to make. I could ask the boyfriend to test drive the recipe for me (you will come to learn that he has a much more natural flair in the kitchen than I do) but I don't think he has caught onto my surge of enthusiasm for seafood enough to be game.
Any suggestions welcome! I'm going to struggle to let this one go!
