Leftovers #151
No essay, just a late list of recs...
Two weeks in the sun and there’s a welcome patter of rain tapping against the window. The tumble dryer, dish washer and washing machine are all whirring; the car is packed (I never want to see a cardboard box again); and I’m heading back to the original 23. Dinners with old friends, visiting friends and family awaits. As does 23º weather and of course, Lime bikes. I spent my birthday soaking up the sun both alone and with friends, zooming around Cornwall and making pit stops to buy vegetables. Made the perfect jambon beurre in the back of the RAV4, swam on my favourite beach and had a few shandies at my favourite pub. All in all delicious. I received a little notification that tells me I was #99 on the ‘rising in food and drink’ list (although I am nowhere to be found on that list), and then I saw this note on Substack that reminded me none of that matters, as per lesson #26 on my 34 things I’ve learnt in 34 years post.
The amount of likes you get on a Substack post doesn’t make your writing any more or less poignant. Your writing matters whether one person gets something from it (and that one person could be you) or 100 people do.
Good to things to consume (bodily)
It’s asparagus season. Simply boil for a few minutes until they’re just tender, add to an ice bath so they retain their green-ness and dip into a big bowl of Green Goddess dressing (minus the avo for this one - my friend Lucy made it without the avo and it tasted better tbh).
Also a great time to make hardy, crunchy salads to eat at the park – enter sesame caesar salad by Nasim Lahbichi.
V into the idea of pickle butter in a jambon beurre sandwich.
Fun fact, Americans call roast chicken ‘roasted chicken’?! Chuck can do no wrong, though – I want his roasted chicken with sweet pea and mustard sauce stat.
I’ve been making this snap pea, radish and feta salad on repeat. It’s crunchy, fresh and the perfect accompaniment to a roast chicken (of course). I do mine a little differently and will share in a salad round up recipe newsletters next week!
For a recent shoot I made this potato salad with miso butter and LOTS of chives. I think the trick to making delicious potatoes that hold up the next day is part boiling them in properly salted water then turning them off half way through then letting them sit with the lid on, no heat for at least a few hours (or even overnight). This way the insides get infused with a little salt and they’re soft (but not crumbly).
After a recent roast chicken, I made this spring-forward chicken soup which was very helpful considering two hours earlier I saw an ex, burst into tears, drove home and had to climb a ladder and crawl in through a window because I left my keys in the house.
It’s almost barbecue season so it’s probably time for
’s ‘chicken like lamb’ skewers. Also HELL YES to 70s Lambrusco energy - I was just talking about how I want to make Lambrusco happen with Luke who runs Little Cellars in Camberwell. Let’s go!I’ve bought a couple of really delicious light reds from supermarkets recently. The first was this Argentinian Cabernet Franc which is £11 from Waitrose; and then I bought this Australian Pinot Noir from Sainsbury’s (although it’s weirdly £2 cheaper at Waitrose). The first is good more at room temp; but I really enjoyed the pinot chilled.
My friend Lucy hosted a dreamy dinner at her cottage in honour of our friend Tor, and of course she made my perfect meal: roast chicken, potatoes and salad. She said she used the Marcella Hazan recipe and it was juicy, plump and delicious.
Easy spring pasta recipe for 1: slice up half a courgette into thin rounds, fry in lashings of olive oil (ok about 1 tbsp) with 2 garlic cloves (crushed and roughly chopped). Mix through cooked pasta, chopped dill and mint, some peas and then add lemon zest, torn mozzarella and a little final flurry of olive oil. Plus lots of cracked black pepper and a flurry of salt.
Good things to consume (culturally)
As someone who reads a lot but forgets a lot too, this piece titled ‘How to remember everything you read’ was super helpful.
Also if you’ve ever had any reservations about confidently reading a wine list, I loved this instruction manual by
!Obviously had to deep dive into The Cut’s polarising piece by Brock Colyar about West Village gentrification/girlification. Thought it was interesting and probably true, but interesting that it focused solely on the women and didn’t really mention the finance bros! Gentrification doesn’t exist in a gender vacuum!
I know I’m always on my Joan Didion shit – I’ve come around to her more recently, having been a full blown Babitz diehard after reading Lili Anolitz’s book – but after Lena Dunham mentioned Didion’s piece ‘Goodbye To All That’ (about leaving New York), I had to re-read.
Speaking of, it’s poignant that I just finished re-watching the last season of Girls where the final few episodes are all about Hannah battling with leaving New York; then Lena Dunham came out with this essay about why she left New York; just as I’m about to exit a 6 year relationship with London.
For anyone interested in Pope / got really into the Conclave DJ set that was doing the rounds on TikTok, this London Review Of Books piece by Colm Tóibín is a great read: how Pope Leo’s more balanced position in the Church might challenge the influence of right-wing factions.
I can’t stop reading about or watching the totalitarianism of the Trump administration. It’s like watching a car crash go both quick and slow. Here’s a New Yorker piece on how he’s policing institutions like the Smithsonian and works of art within them. Sigh.
Some lighter fare: New York Times published a piece on the rise of unwieldy restaurant salads and I agree!! I think we need to bring back the chopped salad and stop dressing massive radicchio or little gem leaves with dressing. I don’t want to cut my salad ok.
I don’t have a particular affinity for Mangal II but I’m willing to return after reading Ferhat’s most recent newsletter about how we need to be supporting our local restaurants.
I just started reading Fleishman is In Trouble (I’m late to the party I know) after having watched the series a few years ago, and I really love the narrator (written in the third person but by someone known to the protagonist/antagonist).
Loving the recipes!
Such an amazing list, everything! The recipes, the marginalia, the mangal! Thank you xx