I'm going to write about the incredible stuffing I made today. You need to like oysters, though, AND fennel seeds AND sticky rice. I'd take a photo of it but believe me, it tastes miles better than it looks (it looks like speckled sticky rice). What was even more exciting about this recipe was that it was one of those dishes born out of desperation: after FDPG's accident I was unable to hit up a market for the fresh stuff like I'd intended to, and seeing as we were having people for dinner, I had to make do with what I could scrounge out of my own fridge.
I started with some braised oysters (Fanny Bay's finest), chopped haphazardly into tiny pieces with a paring knife and fork. Set them aside. Then I sauteed some finely diced leeks and garlic in olive oil until golden and fragrant and glistening, added some celery seed (I was out of celery), LOTS of fennel seeds (fresh from the garden), a shake of dill and Spike, and several large clumps of already cooked sticky rice. Plopped the mass (if you know sticky rice you'll know EXACTLY what I mean here) into a pyrex dish with a lid, and baked it until it was hot. You could add a couple of beaten eggs if you like. I didn't, but I did think about it.
And my oh my was this an amazing stuffing. The fennel blended so well with the oysters that I felt I had had a Food Revelation. I wanted to call Nigella - I am sure Nigella would have appreciated this as much as I did. Even FDPG liked it, well, until she saw the teenie tiny oyster bit hidden in the rice. Then she shrieked "Is that an oyster? I HATE oysters!" I feel compelled to point out here that she has never once tasted an oyster. She's going merely by what they look like, which I admit is not exactly the most fortuitous of appearances (even if I do love them with a passion bordering on fanaticism).
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