Not my usual chipper self.

  For the usual, no reason at all, I'm off in one of my depressions today so today's photo is wonderfully relevant as it looks like I feel, like a greenish sludge. (Actually, it's brownish. -Ed.). However, this particular greenish sludge tastes magnificent so it's not all bad.

​​​​​​​ While making the scrummy slime, I had a kind of moment of clarity. Before we get on to that, it's probably worth revealing that the substance I keep referring to is a mushroom soup with leek and broccoli. As you know with my soups I like to keep things simple as well as constantly adjusting recipes.

  My simple soup recipe is as follows. Put mushrooms in a pan with your fat of choice, a sprinkle of salt and a lid above. Let it sweat gently over a low heat then blend the lot, adding a little liquid if it's a bit thick, (milk (I use coconut milk) or stock both work well). For a bit of variety, and because they were waving at me when I opened the fridge, I also added, (as I mentioned), some leek and broccoli. Oh, and a couple of cloves of garlic managed to dive in too.

  The revelation hit me when I was blending and tasting the tasty goop. I'm often in awe of the thought of artists who can mix a colour from oils or watercolours and then either exactly recreate or gently adjust that colour by knowing how much of which other colour to add. A skill which I'm sure they kind of take for granted after a lot of practice.

  Something I take for granted is being able to know what to reach for and how much to splash or sprinkle into a dish to get it just where I want it. I totally forget how much practice I've had and though it's hard to calculate or quantify, there's one thing I can absolutely guarantee, and that is that tasting food, adjusting and tasting again, over and over again, is the single most pleasurable type of practice there is. 

  What is the moral of this story? The moral is that you need to Fuck any of your insecurities and doubts about your cooking abilities and remember that there's nothing you can keep practicing and improving that will give you as much pleasure and (amazingly) that even includes racing motorcycles. Remember that next time you're feeling daunted by the prospect of cooking. 

Practice not only makes perfect, it makes you happy.

Kirk out

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