A couple of years ago, I worked as a cook at a conference center in Scotland, a place called Iona. It was a gorgeous setting and an amazing place, but what I really loved was the work. Along with a team of 4-5 volunteers, I churned out breakfast, lunch and dinner for up to 80 people a day. The team taught me so much about having fun with cooking and what a collaborative art it can be. But I also found my own style in the midst of the group and I love how it has stayed with me. I have a cooking sense now that I never did before, and sometimes recipes just appear in my head and I work them with a kind of natural ease that I find very delightful. Nothing complicated, mind you, but the results are sometimes just wonderful.
Take my soups lately. Very simple fresh spinach soup:
a couple of onions, some cloves of garlic, all chopped and sweating nicely in a good covering of olive oil
a bit of veggie broth mix
great handfuls of fresh spinach
enough water to cover
salt and pepper
a dab of butter to deepen the flavor
when the spinach is cooked down, blend with a stab mixer and serve with grated haloumi cheese and cracked pepper
It's so green and good you feel as strong as Popeye after a couple of bowlfuls.
Next time - the stilton and celery soup I brazenly copied - and improved - from my favorite buddhist restaurant here in London.
In honor of all things green, this pic from Cambridge last weekend.
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