the birthday dinner

January birthdays aren’t easy. After all the hullaballoo of Christmas, the last thing you want to do is go out, spend money and eat and drink loads. Quite the opposite. I’m usually in the second week of eating and drinking more healthily. And let’s face it, turning 27 isn’t particularly exciting!

That’s not to say my birthday dinner on the ninth of roast monkfish, cabbage and leek stir fry and pureed cauliflower wasn’t fantastic. It was. And as a special treat, we cracked open a bottle of champagne too. How’s that for a treat?

The monkfish was divine – we had picked up too much of it from Borough Market over the holidays, and had frozen two lovely tails. They defrosted really well, so I seasoned them and seared them in about 5 sprays of olive oil in a pan before transferring them to a tin in an 180 C oven for twenty minutes.

While that was roasting away, I stir fried the sliced cabbage and leeks in a few more sprays of olive oil with salt and pepper. The smell is beautiful, and there isn’t a need more more herbs, unless, of course, you like them. Thyme might be nice.

Last but not least, I steamed the cauliflower for about 10 minutes before pureeing them with a hand blender and a bit of the steaming water. Be sure to season it well!

You might have noticed a lot of “I” – that’s because I love cooking, even on special occasions. But my lovely husband did all the clean-up and kept my champagne glass topped up!

in season: mussels

I awoke Saturday morning with a clear plan. The goal: mussels. Pete and I walked from London Fields to London Bridge, with our minds dreaming of Borough Market. The smells wafted on to the bridge as we weaved our way down into the market.

If we had the means, I would visit this market every Saturday morning. But dropping in for just one ingredient feels somehow more special. We beelined for the fish counter. Bags of mussels, fresh from the Scotland coast, were piled high on the right of the stand, nestled in ice.

Feeling hungry already, I inquired just how much I'd need for two people that night. Two kilos, figured the man behind the counter. Not three? I asked. Now you're just being greedy, he laughed.

I agreed, picking up two kg of mussels for a mere £8.80.

That night, we scrubbed and polished the mussels to a fine shine, eagerly awaiting our prize. A small wine's glass worth of Viognier, an entire bulb of pressed garlic and a finely chopped bunch of parsley went into the pot with the mussels. Steamed in a large pot, covered, for 10 minutes, the mussels relented, exposing the lovely pearls within.

I saved the cooking liquid and poured about half of it into a saute pan already full of spinach leaves and olive oil, allowing the mixture to bubble for a few minutes. My patience got the best of me and I decanted the liquor over the mussels.

Served with a stick of French bread and the remainder of the Viognier, I can't recall having eaten a better meal in recent memory. The mussels, huge and fleshy, were completely infused by the garlic and white wine.

I won't let another September go by without a trip to Borough Market for these mussels. You simply can't go wrong - shellfish is so healthy (about 90 calories per dozen mussels), and at seasonal prices, you can easily afford to feed two for less than £15. Considering that our overflowing bowls of mussels would have set us back at least £15 each, plus wine, at any decent restaurant, I'd say you can't get a better deal than that.