When I saw the contest at Canal Cocina to prepare recipes with apple, I first thought of doing an entire menu with apple. The dessert was pretty obvious, but it was funny also thinking of a starter and a main dish with apples. Apples, with their many varieties can be present in all the dishes of a meal. Their more or less neutral taste, depending on their variety, works wonders in so many combinations. So I thought the full menu. But for performing it I wanted to do something different. So I boarded my friend D., we began to plan it, worked remotely, and not because she is a friend of the Internet, but in this case our schedules are so different that we can hardly meet in person, let alone work- and we exchanged mails, links and quotes for our mini production.
All this to realize in the end that we could not meet the deadline.
At least not this time.
So I prepared a couple of recipes with apple: I thought on them, prepared, cooked, photographed, and I am publishing them. And yes, they are arriving on time for the contest, but now it is really secondary. The best thing is that I have an appetite to go ahead with this mini project with my friend, even if it have to be made at our spare time, whenever we could meet, and for no particular reason. Not particular reason apart from learning new techniques to expand my repertoire of possibilities of expression and force me out of my comfort zone, and having the joy of working with a friend with whom I share many things in a creative activity.
I am very sorry I can not show you the result. Not yet. I regret to tell you the beginning of a story not knowing yet how it will evolve nor how it will end, but I'm happy to share this feeling. Many may think this is absurd. But I feel full of energy. It makes me feel very, very alive to find a few hours from time to time for such projects. In a very often too hostile, aggressive and full of miseries environment, such projects become the fuel that makes me want to go faster, learn more, know more, and above all do not stand, do not stay satisfied with what I already know, but go ahead for all that still needs to be learned, tried, thought, be done. Everything seems to have been already invented. In cooking, photography, and a thousand things. But every personal project, no matter how small, makes it all start again and get going.
And finally, this long story means only that I'm learning to use the camera, but also to play in the kitchen without any complexes, letting myself be guided by my instincts blindly, abandoning to the game, like a child who does not think why, what for. In that instant when not daring to risk and try something different, something new, something crazy, would just be absurd. That moment when failing does not matter at all.
And that, in a world in which every step has to ensure profitability, when you are not allowed to go wrong, makes you feel light, like a child. That gets results.
Sure, mine is not the best blog in the world, neither my recipes, nor my photos; and I am not the most popular food blogger out there, nor am I the best in any other metrics that haunt us as bloggers.
And what the hell! It does not matter.
This is just a way to have fun.
And I tell you: every day I am having a much better time.
I'm alive. Are you?
Steak brochettes and apple french fries
Ingredients
For the brochettes
Pork tenderloin cut into medium dice
Apple, the variety of your choice
Green pepper
Red pepper
Oil
Salt
Black pepper
For apple french fries
1 apple
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon butter
Assemble the brochettes alternating pieces of steak with apples, and peppers. Brush the griddle with a little olive oil and fry. Add salt and pepper.
While making brochettes, put a teaspoon of butter in a deep pan. When melted, add the apples, cut into thin strips, like french fries. Add brown sugar and cook over medium heat until lightly browned and caramelized.
Serve the brochetes accompanied by the apple french fries.
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