Todays Derby Day Cookball

Today was derby day, Spurs v Arse...nal.

And what a game it was! 3-3 and end to end, a 'true advert for English football' they said, 'a wonderful game for the neutral' they said, 'We should've f**king beat them' I said, loudly... at the TV.

I'm not a neutral, I'm a Spurs fan. Which has meant a life of mediocrity, until now. Now we've gone and got good, not amazing, but good. Which is bad, because now I have a healthy dose of unwanted hope and expectation riding me, like bad sunburn a day before the Annual Back Slapping Convention.

On the plus side I enjoyed the game, sort of, with a nice dinner cooked by yours truly.

Baked Salmon and Pea Hash with Poached Egg

The Salmon was wrapped in foil with finely chopped garlic, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Then baked it in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes before opening the foil and leaving it in for a further 5 minutes to slightly concentrate the lovely juices.

Meanwhile I boiled some peeled potatoes, pushed them through a potato ricer and mixed them with a knob of butter, a splash of milk, a handful of frozen peas, some fresh parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then the salmon was forked, easynow, into the mash in chunks so as not to break it up too much. The mix then went into a cake cutter to make a hockey puck shape a few times over.

Now was a perfect time for me to gently break two eggs into to an inch of simmering water and turn the heat down to low...

I transferred the Hash Pucks into a hot pan with a splash of olive oil to brown both sides, about 3 minutes each, by that time the eggs were ready and were served on top of the Hash with a drizzle of the oil from the pan to finish.

By this time it was 2-1 to Arsenal. Balls.

Biff x