Barleycorn

The trip to town on the Wednesday of my week off saw my recent past flash before me; I saw someone from school walking behind me, a  current fraternal contact stopped me near the largely deserted market stalls and touchingly I bumped into an old boss who I admire immensely. I was able to tell her as to how things had changed over the last few years and that I had pushed myself towards a proper career thanks largely to her which made it a warm reunion for both of us. Tellingly she parted with the words "everything happens for a reason". Maybe she was right.

The fourth piece of my past to come flying back at me was when I visited the town's newly opened record shop and picked up a secondhand copy of Radiohead's groundbreaking 1995 effort "The Bends". When I was at uni I fell out badly with a housemate who was obsessed with the band and therefore to me they were always guilty by association to an extent.

However the following day as I listened to the album while making a barley and sweetcorn casserole I was able to marvel at the sheer quality of the album. There are many high points and it's certainly one of those albums that reveals something new each time you listen to it. The best tracks include the opening distorted stomp of 'Planet Telex' and the biting power of 'Just' as well as the dreamy cynicism of 'Fake Plastic Trees'.

The casserole recipe was quite simple. I first fried eight ounces of Pearl Barley  for five minutes until they began to brown. I then added a pint and a half of vegetable stock to the Le Cresceut dish that the Barley was frying in and boiled it vigorously for three quarters of an hour while adding more stock if the dish looked to be boiling dry.

In the meantime I boiled two sets of sweetcorn on the cob for half an hour to soften them up and once they had softened I drained them and sheered the sweetcorn from the cobs. I then cut the sweetcorn into small squares and added it to the barley, after it had cooked for its allotted time, with a quarter of a pint of creme freche.

I stirred the contents of the Le Cresceut dish well and after a further five minutes of warming the dish through I served it. I had never tried pearl barley before but it made a textured and enjoyable alternative to rice while the sweetcorn and the creme freche added flavour to the dish that made it fortifying and filling. The meal certainly set up well for the following days trip to Manchester and Sheffield which involved cocktails on the 23rd floor of the Manchester Hilton, Danish food, an Ellie Goulding gig and meeting some exciting characters.

You'll find it hard to locate a more healthy and fortifying meal than this.