Fancy Salmon Platter

So my favorite manifestation of cooking is party or picnic food. I’m not sure if that’s an eating disorder thing and because small nibbly food is easier for me to go about eating, or if it’s just because I love food that has a lot of variety. Either way, I get an intense feeling of satisfaction out of making and plating party food. This was actually super easy to make and required little to no actual cooking. 

I cheated and bought the marinated mushrooms you see in the pic. I intensely regret that, they weren’t very good. If you want to make this platter with your own marinated mushrooms, just boil some mushrooms of your choice until they are just about tender, then leave them in a bowl or jar overnight with a liquid that is half olive oil, half red wine vinegar, and maybe add a crushed garlic clove or two and salt and pepper to taste. It’s a pretty basic recipe that you really can play with. Add some herbs, saute some onions, get fancy with your mushroom choice.

The hard boiled eggs were a last minute addition to this. I always go with the Julia Child method of cooking eggs (it might be a bastardisation of it actually, I don’t remember). But yeah, all I do is put the eggs in the pot, put lightly salted water in, then as soon as the water comes to a boil I cover the eggs, turn off the heat, and let everything sit for 17 minutes. In theory, your eggs should be perfect. Cut them however you like, and salt and pepper them to taste.

So the liquid you see in this pic is a dipping sauce for the bread. If you cool it, it also makes a fantastic salad dressing, fun fact. All you do to make it is take a frying pan, put it on medium heat, throw in a tablespoon of capers, and a heaping teaspoon of garlic diced up into tiny bits. Add a third of a cup of olive oil to the pan and as soon as the garlic starts to get golden brown, take it off the heat. Take the leaves off of a sprig of thyme and add it to the oil as it cools. When it’s cooled, throw it in a blender or food processor until the capers can no longer be distinguished as capers. This dip also goes realllly well with artichokes.

The smoked salmon, lemons, and bread are pretty straightforward. Just get them and try to arrange them aesthetically. I do have a long rant to go on about the cheese though. Don’t get a sharp hard cheese with this. Sheep milk cheese, Parmesan, and things akin to that won’t go well. I got plain Wensleydale cheese with this because 1) it’s my favorite cheese and 2) it has a relatively light and creamy flavor that wouldn’t overwhelm the salmon. It also is between a crumbly cheese and a hard cheese and that fascinates me. Plain Wensleydale can be kind of hard to find though. Over the past few years I’ve gone through an elaborate rigmarole to get my local super market to carry it, and I’m a solid 80% sure I am the only one who buys it. If you want a different cheese with this go for a plain or herbed goat cheese. Maybeeeee go for a triple cream cheese, but you will have to take a nap after you eat it with the dipping oil and bread.  

To Begin

I love food. It is the most consistent and reliable thing I work with on any given day. It burgeons with possibility and thrives in simplicity. It’s preparation entails a rhythmic and therapeutic repetition of tasks. Cooking necessitates mindful attention to flavor, patience, and diligence. It is also the only technical skill I have, and the only thing I feel I can confidently do. 

I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in 2015. I had struggled with disordered eating for over a decade before that. Over the past couple of years I’ve gone through the arduous process of relearning how to love food, how to feel comfortable working with food, and how to love myself while having a healthy relationship with food. 

Soooooo you lucky folk who have stumbled across this blog will get to watch a part of that process. I’ve been torn between two sides for so long: one that is enthralled with the pageantry of the fine dining world, and another side that is beyond terrified to consume anything from that world. This blog will include photos, recipes, occasional rants, and an overall theme of food positivity.

Food is one of the most basic things we need to live. I have to remind myself of that sometimes, and I know a lot of other people struggle in similar ways. I hope this project helps paint food in the positive light that everyone deserves to see it in.