Prog Chefs Unite!!!

I used breast meat simply because it was on offer in out local supermarket but normally I would have used thigh (its cheaper than breast, more moist and far tastier). Start by boiling some water in a kettle and while that is happening slice a lemon very thinly using a mandolin. Remove the skin from the chicken, discard any fat and cut meat into bite size pieces, season them well with salt and pepper. Then take three or four cloves of garlic and cut them in half (no need to peel) and fetch a sprig of fresh thyme from the garden. 

Old eggs are easy to spot because they tend to be less viscous (runnier), for example a fried egg will have a flatter yolk and the white will be clearer and spread further in the pan. Eggs have to be really old to taste off, they have a shelf-life of 3-5 weeks.

Free range/organic/farm-fresh eggs will taste stronger than (or at least different to) mass-produced eggs because of what the birds eat before laying, this stronger taste could be mistaken for being a bit off tasting. In mass-production (even free-range mass production) the feed is more controlled so are more uniform (and blander) in taste. This taste difference is even more noticeable in duck eggs.

I wasn't aware that you could buy eggs that were pasteurised as this is uncommon in the UK unless the eggs are sold without shells. Looking deeper into it is seems there is a huge difference in opinion between the USA and Europe on egg safety, in the USA it is mandatory that eggs are washed before sale while here it is illegal to do that. Unwashed eggs have a natural protective bloom that prevents infection, washing removes this coating and also makes the shell more porous, increasing the risk of post-wash contamination (which is why you shouldn't store eggs near cheese or raw meat); also because of this difference in processing eggs are refrigerated in the USA and sold unrefrigerated in the UK.  Curiously, neither method is proven to be better as the number of salmonella outbreaks per capita are double in the USA compared to the UK but you eat twice as many eggs (that's not a correlation as most salmonella cases are caused by contaminated meat).

Sea Bass and Rainbow Trout Ceviche, with Bruchetta.

Step one. Using a microplane grater zest citrus fruit into a bowl and add the pulp from the passion fruit:

Step two. Add the juice from the citrus fruit with the vanilla and give it a good stir:

Step three. Slice fish thinly - how thin depends on how long you will marinate the fish in the citrus juice, if leaving it over night make each slice about 5mm, if only a few hours then make them thinner. Arrange the slices of fish neatly in a shallow dish so than none of them overlap.

Step four. Pour citrus marinade mixture over fish, then slice both chillies and scatter over. Season with pepper (no need to add salt just yet).

Step five. Cover in food-wrap and place in refrigerator for at least two hours (or over-night).

Step six. Just before serving, prepare bruchetta by mixing diced veg and torn-up herbs together in the serving dish:

Step seven. presentation: Drizzle bruchetta mix with a good measure of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toast the bread and rub the toasted surface with the garlic. Remove food-wrap from fish and scatter with fresh herbs and edible flowers, (I used borage flowers because our garden is over-run with them), taste juice and add salt if necessary (unlikely due to the fish). 

Step eight. Serve:

Step nine. Assemble and enjoy:

(yes, the knife and fork is laid-out incorrectly, I am right-handed but eat cack-handed)

 

The pie I made was a big hit this evening, people ate seconds and would have gone for thirds if there had been any left after the seconds.