22 November 2007

Fresh Greens with Strawberries and Grilled Kesong Puti

Fresh Greens with Strawberries and Grilled Kesong Puti (with title)
Right! So, my Jamie Oliver hiatus did not last long. It didn't help that I caught a glimpse of his newest show while I was in Boracay, Jamie at Home. The idea is that we ought to pay real attention about how we get our food and what's the best way to get them. Planting your own vegetables, or getting them organic, buying free-range eggs, paying attention to how the animals you eat are farmed, and paying attention to what's in season-- all subjects covered on the show. It also has an accompanying book with fantastic photographs by David Loftus, an artist I greatly admire (you may have read about Graeme's influence, Ted Tamburo). Loftus prefers shots that are high-key, with a shallow depth of field, and I try to achieve his natural looks.

Here's the theme song with lyrics (used my own ear, pardon if it's wrong):

My World by Tim Kay
I'll show you what it takes to feed my mind
While you go through reading all my signs

It was a lovely day
When everything was everywhere
And our love came into season

I didn't know you, life's little dreams you pushed aside
Can we take two to see those eyes we love to hide

At night alone in bed
With someone else's head
And our love came into season

Take time to make yourself feel good
And you do whatever you want
'Cause you can now in my world
Making up for losing so much time
'Cause you can now in my world

We want to take a little walk down this route you know
I'm not scared to, 'cause we get back, we can take it real slow

Another lovely day
When everything was everywhere
And our love came into season

Take time and make yourself feel good
And you do whatever you want
'Cause you can now in my world
Making up for losing so much time
'Cause you can now in my world

I'm gonna make you feel all right
I'm gonna make you hold on tight

Hold on tight

Take time to make yourself feel good
And you do whatever you want
'Cause you can now in my world
Making up for losing so much time
'Cause you can now in my world

Granted, Tim Kay kind of looks douche-y here and the video is all sorts of weird, but the song is quite relaxing to listen to (and I hear Tim Kay is actually a nice guy). It pretty much gets me in the mood to roll up my sleeves and start planting my own relatively rare crops, like strawberries, arugula, beans, and some flowers. Till I remember the dumb labor we went through in Plant Physiology class, sterilizing buckets of soil (to remove any pathogen that might kill the plants), making mineral mixes, and waiting forever for flimsy plants to grow. Yikes. So for now, I'm content browsing through numerous groceries for whatever's fresh. And when I saw these local strawberries for cheap at Unimart, I knew exactly what to do with them after watching one of Oliver's shows.
Strawberries
You will need:
  • 200g (8oz) fresh strawberries

  • balsamic vinegar

  • olive oil

  • 100g (3.5oz) kesong puti or any soft cheese, like halloumi or goat's milk cheese

  • a small handful of basil leaves

  • a small handful of mint

  • mixed fresh greens

  • half a lemon's juice

  • a few rashers bacon, speck, or thinly sliced prosciutto, Parma ham, or pancetta-- I dunno, go wild!

Trim and slice the strawberries into halves (quarters for larger ones). In a small bowl, toss them with a generous splash of balsamic vinegar and leave to macerate while you prepare the salad.

In a skillet, fry the bacon (in its own fat if you have a nonstick skillet) over high heat until just lightly browned-- you want it to still be flexible. Set aside. Cut up the cheese into thick slices (I made 4 slices from 100g) and press a basil leaf into the face of each. Set them face-down onto the hot pan you've fried the bacon in. Wait one minute, and the face should be nice and browned and the leaf fixed to it. Flip them over and brown the other side. Set the cheese slices aside.

To the strawberries, add a splash of olive oil and lemon juice. Add the greens and toss to dress them.

To plate it elegantly, arrange the cheese slices on a plate and mound some strawberries in the middle. Tear a few basil and mint leaves on top of the strawberries. Arrange a few greens on top and drape a slice of bacon around the top artfully. Top with some more greens. You can weigh it down with a strawberry if the leaves keep flopping around. Drizzle with some more balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Fresh and easy!

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