On Vacation !

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I have learned that working in catering requires a lot of dedication and hard work to make any kind of a decent salary. A huge tolerance level is also required when you have friends start texting you on a Saturday night telling you what a wonderful time they are having down the Big Market in Newcastle while your sweating away trying to place a smear of Fennel Puree on a plate as if you were Claude Monet and then erect a piece of precision cut fish on top of it like a sculptor positioning his latest work of art in a gallery !
Its Hot, the kitchen noise of sizzling pans, waitresses talking about boyfriends, teenage pot washers listening to some obscure BBC radio station....Radio 1 xtra I believe its called these days fills the air. Chefs race from stove to kitchen pass using the bluest of language that Roy Chubby Brown would have been proud off while cooking on their section, texting on their phone and given a chance chat up the odd waitresses too ! A busy service kitchen is a movie in itself......Saturday night at the movies as I have said before.
Every now and then though you have to take time off just to recharge your batteries. We all get tired with work and usually a couple of days off does the trick for a while but sometimes you need more time  to rediscover your work mojo.
I am very lucky in that I wanted to become a Photographer and spent 15 years doing it happily and then out of the blue I suddenly wanted to work with food and up till recently been happy doing it but now I  think I need a little break from it to find my cooking work mojo. So as of now for a time unspecified I am on Vacation ! Well from work cooking anyway. I still have to feed myself !

Hanging my chef whites out to dry.

Turkey Kofta

Well tonight's holiday supper treat is Turkey Koftas eaten alfresco. Well I tend to eat this dish Alfresco anyway as they are normally purchased from the kebab shop and eaten on the way home after a few Light Ales  !
Kofta is usually Beef or Lamb mince with some spices added to them and then shaped into balls. In the Supermarket you tend to get them in the Barbecue section and are shaped like sausages with a flammable wooden stick stuck through them and then place them onto a hot barbie ! That's the cooking device and not the blond bimbo toy ! Ha ha !
This is a slightly less calorific version of the Supermarket and and Takeaway variety using lean Turkey mince.

In a mixing bowl place your Turkey mince. Add some diced Red Onion and I placed some sliced pickled Chillis into the mix which I absolutely love.
I would put some curry powder in at this point but I did not have any so lurking at the back of the cupboard all by itself was a jar of the Maysan instant Curry sauce powder. Just add boiling water to this tubs powder and something magical happens. A chemical reaction between the powder and the hot water creates a golden liquid curry gravy-ness ! Ha ha !
Anyway I sprinkled the curry powder into the mince and mixed it thoroughly.

The truly Mystical and magical healing powers that Maysan Curry powder will never be understood by mere mortal cooks and heavy drinkers !

Next using some cling film wrap into a sausage shape and then chill in fridge to help bind the meat together.

Now just cook in the oven for about 7 minutes and then turn them over and cook for a further 7 minutes.

I served them with a warmed Pitta bread and a lovely fresh crisp salad with a simple Wholegrain mustard dressing...the best bit was eating them outside in some rare sunshine knowing that tomorrow I don't have to go to work for a while...ahhhh.... ! Enjoy.