I LOVE it when other people cook! My darling friend Sanja recently cooked a Serbian feast which involved the most delicious thing anyone has ever made for me. SAUERKRAUT with bacon and Romanian sausage. Oh my word it was delicious. And what’s more, she sent me home with a jarful of this precious slow cooked masterpiece too.
We also had Serbian style Moussaka which was divine and Zhito which involved drying out grain on a tea-towel for hours, much consternation with a grinder and a spectacular cream whipping incident when an electric whisk went out of control. I laughed almost as much as the time when Sanja burned a hole in her oven glove.
On the Saturday after I had a lovely time DJing for a local art gallery. I am a big fan of local business and I really love the little street in Muswell Hill – Avenue Mews – that houses the gallery and a couple of vintage clothes shops.
The Local Gallery was having a special event for the opening of a new exhibition of wonderful photographs of Paris in the Sixties by photographer Alan Scales.
I took along my 1960s French suitcase record player to spin some 78s. Here I am with Alan and my Teppaz (purchased from another favourite local business, the awesome Audio Gold in Crouch End).
I had lived in Muswell Hill for over a year before I even discovered Avenue Mews and have since bought several frocks from Cha Cha Vintage which is a gorgeous vintage emporium. They regularly have street parties and are all very good eggs. Lou – married to Matt who runs the gallery – is a brilliant cook and she sent me home with a big box of cakes and some of her handmade Granola. Yum yum.
All of the above is really to say that on this Silver Screen Sunday* I am totally in love with the human race and all the wonders of art, music and human generosity.
Now I am off to make a Jimmy Stewart Chicken Pie for dinner tonight. Life is wonderful.
Oh I almost forgot, I made Sopa Poblano and it was so good I decided to type up the recipe so here it is. I have never seen fresh Poblano chilis here in London, or ones in cans (if anyone knows where I can get some please let me know) so I use dried Poblano peppers that I get from (sorry to swear) Tesco.
Vincent Price’s Sopa Poblano (Chili Poblano Soup)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/4 lb lean pork cut into small cubes
½ medium onion, chopped
1 ear fresh corn, kernels scraped from cob
1 chili poblano, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini (courgette), thinly sliced
3 tablespoons tomato puree
1 quart chicken stock (I use about 1 litre)
1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Heat cooking oil, add pork and sauté over medium heat until pork is browned, stirring frequently.
Add onion, corn, chilli, zucchini, tomato puree and chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
Just before serving, add salt to taste, the avocado and Parmesan cheese.
(I didn’t take a photo so this one is from the time I made it during the Vincentennial Cookblog project).
Thanks Vincent!
