Sometimes, when it's a "treat" occasion - a Saturday evening just the two of us, a Sunday night when we're fighting off thoughts of Monday morning, any day when we have guests - I want to celebrate by cooking. Spending time in the kitchen, chopping, stirring, tasting, tweaking is as much part of the celebration as eating the meal.
But even though I love cooking and start to miss it when I haven't had a chance for a while, sometimes it's the last thing I want to do. Perhaps I've already made enough pack lunches to last us both for the week. Maybe I'm dog tired - the whole job hunting thing has meant this has happened a lot lately. Maybe I'm just feeling lazy.
Sure, a lot of the time when this happens we'll order a takeaway. But sometimes I want something that tastes "cleaner", without the grease and the complex flavours. And sometimes we just want something a bit more special.
That's when this comes in - blinis, heated gently, topped with a dollop of half fat creme fraiche, half topped with smoked salmon, half topped with lumpfish caviar. Chives snipped on top of the smoked salmon if we have any that are alive, and can be bothered. Generally eaten after splitting a big bag of crisps between us. Often also following a starter of asparagus, or shelled broad beans, or failing nice seasonal vegetables, avocado.
It's so simple, but the slight crispness of the edge of the blinis, the smooth, sour cream, and the unctuous smoked salmon or salty, fishy caviar are just perfect. It takes minutes to make, and if it wasn't for the large bag of crisps would be somewhere near healthy. And it all costs less than the takeaway would have done - even if it's very far from being the budget option.
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