Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Cod with my favourite satay sauce
The warmer weather has me thinking about lighter meals these days. I am looking forward to summer salads and as soon as the weather permits, a barbecue. I know a lot of people happily barbecue their way through all sorts of weather, but I am not one of those people. Shivering over a barbecue in freezing weather or rain is not my idea of fun. But once the weather warms up, I will barbecue more this year. I am harbouring a fantasy where I build an outdoor kitchen in the garden, with a sink and prep area, a pizza oven, a fireplace, and a really good barbecue. If I ever get that sorted, I will likely spend all summer cooking in the garden.
Summer is most definitely on its way, but this time of year means the temperature is madly variable. In normal times that would have meant many of us overestimating how warm a day it would be before we left for work and dressing inappropriately for what would turn out to be a much chiller day that we predicted. There is not much of that happening this year obviously, but I found that my weekly shop was a little like that last week. I bought lots of salad leaves, fish, berries and even ice cream, and less potatoes and red meat. The weekend was glorious here in Wexford, the sun felt warm on our skin and we even turned the heating off. And then, predictably perhaps, it turned again, and we are back to single-digit temperatures. I suspect I am not yet quite done with hearty meals designed to warm and nourish all at the same time.
