The slippery, buttery slope

I had a delicious dinner last night. No, you’re not reading my restaurant column, my kitchen is hardly of restaurant quality although at moments the food I make gets pretty close. No, this is far more personal, this is about me and about my diet.
Let me start at the beginning. I spent a wonderful weekend in London with one of my oldest food loving friends. We took in some art, the David Hockney Portraits, and they gave us an appetite. How wonderful the man is, still pushing himself so hard and as brilliant – as ever.

We left the RA and headed to Great Windmill Street and you can read all about that on the food page today. This however is more about my food habits.
As you may know, I live alone, happily for the most part these days. Living alone means eating alone and that means cooking for one. I’m not very good at cooking for one, my food tends towards the big and to sharing. I still make big dishes, and were it not for a lot of containers and a decent freezer I would soon tire of them. It’s easy to see why people are led down the path of ready meals. Not me, well not often. There are times when something from M&S will be the right answer. But for the most part I like to cook, it’s my hobby as well as part of my job.

Last night I had a couple of slices of calves liver, some greens and access to decent potatoes. With a sliced onion and a few sage leaves sauteed in a little oil to start I peeled and chopped the spuds. The pak choi was steamed and finally the liver was introduced to the pan for the briefest of times. I took it out and let it rest. It was time for the final ingredients, butter and cream, which I introduced in scarily heart stopping proportions to the potatoes. There is no getting away from the fact that mash needs dairy, I tried olive oil but it isn’t the same.
As I ate the delicious meal I worried about the unhealthy combination, was it worth it? Oh and how. I don’t do it often, but once in a while, as a treat, excellent mash is the answer. If I ever get around to writing that recipe book it will have to be called “Eat Your Heart Out”.