Between 2006 and 2008 I embarked on a journey of discovery, not of new lands and distant shores (although this did feature somewhat in my life) or of personal reflection and introspection (which again, did happen to some extent), but of a journey in the kitchen. In most weeks, after reading the Saturday Guardian magazine, I'd pick out one of the recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Dan Leopard or Hugh Ferningly-Stanley-Whittington-Davies that featured in the magazine, sandwiched somewhere between the horrific fashion section and the curiously-calming gardening pages, and make it. Over the two years there were seasonal gems with lettuce or beetroot and oriental classics with 'modern twists' (the triple tofu satay being one memorable meal).
And so, over this period my range of cooking skills and knowledge of ingredients and their properties increased, helping make me fairly competent in the kitchen.
After 2008 my culinary exploration didn't stop, but I wasn't as relentless in trying new recipes and boldly cooking [or baking] what I hadn't cooked [or baked] before. I came to rely on some tasty old classics which I began to notice, came out again and again. I only really tried new things when friends came round to eat, enabling me to have willing guinea pigs to give valued feedback on the success, or not, of what had been made. And so this went on.
Then last year, a good friend of 12 years (Fi Aish) blazed a trail of inspiration with her New Year's Resolution to bake a different cake every week of the year, the results of which can be found on her encouraging blog. Added to this was a recent present of a pizza cookbook and pizza stone from my brother and his fiancee, a present which found immediate use, taking me into the new, delicious and fun world of homemade pizzas. Now seeing bright light where once they had simply been a warming glow, I realised that I had been resting on my bay-leaf laurels for too long and should once again stretch and challenge myself in the kitchen, making dishes and plates I had not yet created. And so my challenge was framed: to cook something new, something I hadn't cooked before, each week of this very year, 2014.
OK, so not as difficult as baking a cake each week of the year, but a challenge all the same and one that I initially started on quite lightly. It wasn't until attending Jo Tomlinson's birthday drinks one week ago, that I was persuaded and motivated by the triumvirate of Penny, Fi and Jo to turn this resolution into a public record: and hence the blog. As I'd already cooked three new things, the pictures for the first three are lacking, or mostly: week 3 has some leftovers and that's what you get a picture of.
And finally to put this all into some kind of personal context, pictures of my kitchen where the cooking takes place and my local Morrisons, provider of most of my ingredients. OK there we are.
Let's cook up!
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