Trying New Things in the Kitchen


Leftovers, cupboard raiding & what's in the freezer?

It's a new week. To jump start my creativity, I'm in the kitchen with not much left in my fridge and a few frozen treats I've been saving. 

Bread mix has been in my cupboard and it's just pass or coming up to the expiry date. I have escargot in the freezer and fresh bread goes well with it. 

I don't have a bread maker but the mix that I buy is fine with a wooden spoon, mixing bowl and oven. It's a matter of patience and time. It's in the oven now and I can't wait. 

Wright's bread mix is pretty easy and I've had a good experience with it. This time I have a grains bread mix, so hopefully it won't be too dry. To be on the safe side, I've added water to a tray at the bottom of the oven. 

Bread is a treat and I'm looking forward to it. There's some cherry tomatoes in the fridge which will be great for bruschetta. 


Rice is also a rare visitor to my kitchen, but I have leftover tofu and a tub of gojuchang (Korean red pepper paste).

I've never cooked with gojuchang so it will be interesting to see what it's like. I love bimbimbap and discovered gojuchang is used in the sauce. The Future Dish - Bimbimbap's recipe seems straight forward.

I'm going to experiment with gojuchang and see what else I can use it for. Maybe a stir fry, noodles or a salad dressing? 



A few weeks ago, I tested out a fishmonger delivery service. Upperscale have sashimi grade tuna and salmon. I had quite a feast for a couple of days. I have to learn how to cut the sashimi so that they look a bit more evenly, but for now, I'm enjoying my not so pretty but uber tasty sashimi. 


The squid was delicious and so fresh. It made several meals, including a divine pasta. The Maldon oysters were tastier than the Loch Fyne ones I've been buying from ocado. I also bought some softshell crab which has been in my freezer, but now is defrosting in my fridge. 

The softshell crabs were small and I was  disappointed with the size. Hopefully they will taste amazing and the size won't matter. 

I've never cooked softshell crab before. It is one of my favourites and I've missed it. 

The two recipes I'm looking at are: 

I'll likely do either a fish sauce, Vietnamese lime salt pepper dipping sauce or have a coleslaw to go with it. 


My bread has just come out of the oven. It's looking good. The tap on the top sounds good and a chopstick down the middle came out clean. I can't wait to taste it. The hard part is waiting for it to cool, because I really want hot freshly baked bread now! 

It's sitting on a cooling rack. I'm salivating at the thought of bread with butter, bread dipped into olive oil with rosemary salt or bread with jam. Such simplicity and flavour is incredible. 


For dessert, I'm thinking about sticky toffee pudding with pistachio icecream and baked bananas. There are some handy little tubs of sticky toffee pudding I bought ages ago. 

Food is a great way to spread my wings. I remember when I first came to London and mostly ate ready meals and pasta. I've come a long way. It's the growth in my skills which is satisfying. 

Some days I'm absent minded, like the morning I nearly added chilli powder to my oats instead of cinnamon. 

The awful experiments of muffins which don't taste right but I eat them anyway have resulted in greater precision with measuring cups. 

I want to remember that when it comes to writing. I can be hard on myself and forget that I love the act of putting words on the page. I feel tingles when I read back what I created. It's not about validation, publishing or making money. It's easy to get caught up in that and then be overcome with stress or disappointment. 

Monday can be a day to be blue or grey. A positive attitude, freshly baked bread and some experiments which hopefully don't go too wrong might paint the skies with a sunset that makes me smile. 

It usually feels grim having an almost empty fridge, but I'm excited with what I've managed to scrape together. I have the opportunity to be creative and try new things too. What a great way to start the week. 

Follow me on social media to find out what else I'm doing. 




E.M. Blake is the author of Dilly Dally Sally, a picture book about a duckling who is lost and won't give up. 

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