HOW TO EDIT YOUR DINNER.
Do you have too much on your plate? The powerful – and calming - role of editing when putting a meal on the table.
Ever hovered in the kitchen putting food on plates, and gone that one step too far?
Fashion folk will get this immediately – they are constantly editing their outfits, reducing and refining their wardrobes. Travellers, too, will give you the best packing advice – “put everything you want in your suitcase, then take half of it out”. Interior designers and gardeners, oh yeah, they know what I’m talking about.
Artists instinctively know this, and are forever adding and then taking away, allowing negative space to be a positive force. I was talking this through with my artist mate Zoe Young about how a busy plate stresses me out, and she got it immediately.
“The busier you are” she said, “the less you need from your food”.
Aha! So, having too much on your plate in life, leads to wanting to reduce what’s on your plate at the table. That makes sense. You need to control something, even if it’s just dinner.
Potentially, then, the same rules would apply to easing the pressure of doing too much:
Plan ahead.
You can design meals in your mind, then execute them later.
Prioritise.
Make one ingredient the hero, and keep it the hero, don’t bury it.
Learn to say no.
Yes, all those veggies are staring at you saying ‘pick me, pick me’, but you can’t turn everything into a ratatouille.
Go for what’s good for you.
Choose the food that is best for you, instead of the food that isn’t.
The power of three
So much of the food I cook at home, comes in threes. Your limit may be different, but mine is three. I’m never quite convinced about a plate with four different things on it, and look at it suspiciously. Do I really need you? Can I not turn you into a salad in the middle of the table instead?
Besides, look at the great threesomes of the world:
Chicken, peas, gravy.
Steak, frites, salad.
Spaghetti, garlic, tomatoes.
Eggs, bacon, toast.
Congee, pork, hundred year old egg.
Lentils, rice, dosa.
Scones, jam, cream.
Not to mention: Gin, Campari, red vermouth, the classic Negroni.
There’s no formula for building the perfect trinity, just common sense. If you like a little grilled steak and mashed potato, then you don’t start cooking pasta to have with it, or even a vegetable stew. You just steam some green beans or broccolini, wilt some spinach and toss it in butter, or cook down silver beet and splash it with red wine vinegar.
Or perhaps there IS a formula. Something salty is good paired with something sweet and something tangy. Sharp, rich, creamy. Sweet, tart, crumbly. Spicy, crisp, tart. You know the stuff you like, you can make up your own guidelines.
If a busy plate leaves you feeling unaccountably stressed and overwhelmed, then a plate of three bright, smart, compatible elements in perfect balance will calm you. It’s less to deal with, it’s in proportion, it’s more peaceful. It’s also more attractive, visually pleasing.
This recipe for king salmon with beans and tomatoes, for instance, is simple enough to handle a green, or to be served with a salad. Or not.
King salmon, tomato and beans
Serves 2
Also known as how to rescue a can of beans, or fasoi bogonadi – simmer them slowly in tomato paste, garlic and parsley as they do in the Veneto.
6 small truss tomatoes (cocktail, Sampari)
Olive oil at various stages
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 garlic clove, grated
2 bay leaves if you have them
Half tsp sea salt
100 ml water
400 g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 large fillet king salmon (Ora, Mount Cook)
Heat the oven to 170C. Douse the truss tomatoes in olive oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until plump and juicy.
Combine tomato paste, half the parsley, garlic, bay leaves, sea salt, a glug of olive oil and 100 ml water in a small pan, and heat, stirring. When hot, stir through the beans, cover tightly, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes to let the beans absorb all the flavours.
Cut the salmon in half lengthwise, brush with oil and fry skin-side down in a non-stick pan over medium heat, pressing down gently with an egg flipper to ensure a crisp skin.
As the salmon renders its fat, pour it off or it will start to smoke. I cook the salmon for only 3 or 4 minutes until rosy pink inside, then flip it to set the other side for 10 seconds, then out.
To serve, ladle the beans onto warm plates, arrange salmon and tomatoes on top and scatter with parsley.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to add a comment, or share with a friend, or subscribe for more Jill Dupleix Eats in your inbox every Thursday. And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for (probably) wishing there were more than three things on his plate but never saying so.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about bloody time, folks.
Yes! Less is more
My mother hated an overloaded plate and would be completely overwhelmed. Last night we had crumbed cutlets, peas and mash 😊