Day 1

Pre-Cucumber Salad

Cucumber Salad

Pre-Chicken

Chicken

Pineapple

Pineapple Disasters turned Fabulous


From the sleep I managed last night, anyone would have guessed it was
2012, the day of the 100m Backstroke final in the London Olympics,
everything having gone right. With the excitement of my challenge
infused with the nerves surrounding my cooking abilities, or lack
there of, I reverted to a childlike Christmas Eve insomnia. I imagined
the sweet and sour chicken (p179) over rice and the king of puddings
(p282), as well as trying to picture which salad would be best for my
first Jamie Oliver lunch as the clock showed 1.36am, 2.33am and
3.46am.

On a slight tangent, while awake far into the night I definitely heard
the light pitter-patter of mice feet somewhere in my room, I tensed,
terrified of the sound from the creature, especially as the mousetrap
was empty this morning…my own little Jerry must still be alive!

Adventure Day 1; Sainsbury’s was out of breadcrumbs, or didn’t have
any to start with, so the King of all Puddings was out of the
question. I stupidly left Jamie at home and so came home pudding-less.
However, on the plus side, my herb knowledge increased from
supermarket trip number one, I now know what root ginger looks like!
Lunch: Japanese Cucumber Salad with Ginger, Coriander, Mint and Rice
Wine Vinegar Dressing (p97 &115)
Note: A thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated, does not mean grate your
actual thumb!
Lunch was a success and there is enough left for me to have on my way
to Wales tomorrow. Jamie’s insistence that herbs MAKE a meal was
satisfied by the surprising infusion of ginger, mint and coriander.
Dinner: Pot-roasted Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce (p179) over
rice, with Pukka Pineapple with Bashed-up Mint Sugar (p262) to follow.
Pealing pineapple is no easy feat; those little black bits that get
stuck on the outside are a pain! Dinner is prepared and ready to be
put in the oven with time to spare. I just hope it all turns out ok.


And OK it turned out, even if I do say so myself, I even added a small Gemma touch to my Jamie meal using the left over pulp from my sauce in with the simply boiled rice, delicious. Enthralling conversation with my gorgeous friend Anna accompanied my very first interesting Jamie Style Meal, for company. Even the pineapple with mint sugar tasted glorious with day one complete in typical Gemma fashion, I have exploded head first into my
challenge with 3 recipes and one dessert down, 91 and 12 to go
respectively, and mores to the point I am enjoying the process!