Tue 7 - Better Muffin & Smoked Mackerel

Usual morning rush, so I gave Konditor & Cooke another go.  The spinach & parmesan that I disliked yesterday had been baked with the cream inside again, so I went for the seasonal rhubarb & custard muffin instead.  A good choice as it turned out, containing chunks of tart rhubarb within the cake mix, balanced by a sweet, set yellow custard centre.  I'll buy this again.

A "Vietnamese" chicken baguette from Pret at lunchtime.  Whilst not reminiscent of the genuine variety that you might find in Ho Chi Minh City (how I wish) it was fairly pleasant.  The chicken had been finely sliced with crunchy carrot and daikon, and there was an adequate amount of chilli sauce.  An improvement on the "Thai Sweet Chilli" baguette it's replaced, which was too wet and frequently turned the bread into mush.

We finished the day with a fairly healthy dinner of home-smoked mackerel, kimchee, brown rice and pickled radish, cauliflower & carrot.  The fish was sparkling, purchased from Moxons as per usual.  Tuesday's a good day to visit the fishmonger, as everything should be fresh in after the Sunday / Monday shutdown.  V filleted it before smoking, she got the skills.

After salting for a few minutes, rinsing clean then patting it dry, I smoked the fish over alder chips in my beloved Cameron contraption - basically a large metal box with a retractable lid, housing a grill tray and mesh.  You could do this in a wok but the smoker simplifies things.

 
The kimchee was shop-bought, and was not quite as funky as it tends to be when made at home, but still hit the spot that only kimchee can.  The homemade pickles were a bit of a disaster, being adulterated by coriander seeds and tumeric amongst other things, and consequently it wasn't eaten.  It didn't spoil a fine dinner though.