Nearly six months have passed since last committing one of my kitchen endeavours to Love the Kitchen. I could try and propose some entertaining (or my attempt of it) diatribe of the purely dire, inept, ethically corrupt and self-harming government (Brexit – if in doubt) which has led us into the worst cost of living crisis since the 1940s. It just saddens and angers me deeper to the core. What it has done is zapped me of the creative energy to write, photograph, and edit – all prerequisites each time I post a new blog article.
The rising costs of energy bills has also impacted what was once my unwavering commitment to knocking out a couple of Sourdough loaves a week – to the point that I have not baked something I truly adore for over 6 months. Don’t worry, alpha and beta, my sourdough starters have been kept on life support for the last 6 months. They also celebrated their two-year birthdays in April. I will bake again. I will.
The current state of the economy is not the only reason for inactivity on this blog- in January we moved house and relocated to the outskirts of the beautiful and small city of Lincoln. After our move (definitely the most stressful experience, Marlini and I have endured together) limited spare time has been consumed with numerous DIY projects. Whilst my camera has been gathering dust I have been paint stripping, sanding, painting, cleaning as I work through numerous home improvement projects both indoors and out. As ever, they never seem to go exactly as planned, and every five-minute job ends up taking far longer due to unexpected consequences. Too wet, too cold, too hot- I think you get the picture!
We love the new space here – but everything is different. Adapting to new ovens etc have taken time (we have inherited far more integrated kitchen toys than we’d ever have planned for), and there are new environmental challenges to overcome – by this – trying to adjust to completely different lighting for photography being the prominent one. Last weekend (largely thanks to the weather) I needed to postpone an outdoor DIY project and felt it high time to commit one of our absolute favourite recipes to the blog. And we went with.. Kedgeree! It has become one of our favourites – and something we would make more often if we could find a more regular supply of undyed smoked haddock or cod. It should also go without saying that in order for Marlini’s unwavering commitment to wanting chilli with just about everything, the recipe had to be adapted accordingly.
Kedgeree with Chilli and Garlic
Kedgeree is a dish most closely associated to Anglo-Indian cuisine and has very interesting origins.
According to various sources, it began life as khichuṛī in 1340 (or earlier) as an Indian rice and bean or rice and lentil concoction which also included fried onions and ginger.
However, the dish was transformed during British colonial rule in India, and adapted to suit their palette which is where the addition of fish and eggs derived. The dish was introduced to the UK by British colonials during Victorian times – and since then has seen many permutations. When trying to source a recipe to first try, I was pleasantly surprised by how many variations exist. As ever, this is the result of several experiments with the intention of finding a good balance between texture and flavour.
