Ugh, I am so over 2019. I have spent much of the last few weeks feeling under the weather. Not ill enough to indulge myself like a proper invalid, just a bit bleurgh. I’m well into my second week of the cold that just won’t quit, I had to get emergency dental treatment last week to prevent me from having to go out in public resembling an extra from Deliverance and my stomach continues to object to anything I care to ingest. Harrumph.
Still, I’m sure it’s not all doom and gloom. Oh, I know. We finally, FINALLY cracked and bought ourselves a dishwasher which got plumbed in this weekend. Our kitchen, which is ridiculously wee compared to the size of our dining room because of piss poor planning by whoever designed the house, does not really have room for a dishwasher. But the unremitting washing up was just dragging us down so we moved our gorgeous 1950s style fridge into the dining room, convinced ourselves that it was a design feature, and moved the dishwasher into newly created space. Deep, deep joy. The eventual plan is to knock through and create one big kitchen-diner which would be a much better use of the overall space. But until such time as we win the lottery (oooh, or perhaps someone reads this blog and offers me a Changing Rooms style makeover in return for a good write up! Get in touch!) this will have to do.
Of course, this means that I am currently desperate to cook things that require multiple pans and bowls just for the pleasure of bunging them in the dishwasher and NOT washing them up. Regardez:
Monday: soup
Tuesday: mushroom stroganoff with rice
Wednesday: prawns with sweet potato and coriander mash and chilli sauce
Thursday: gnocchi baked with courgette, garlic and chilli
Friday: haggis with neeps and tatties (happy Burns Night to my Scottish friends!)
Saturday: Szeuchan style braised pork belly
Sunday: salmon with curried mussels
Have a lovely week all!
Monday 21 January 2019
Friday 11 January 2019
Recipe corner: Sticky Toffee Parkin
This latter dessert is a reminder of all that is good and true in the world, even in these days of Brexit and Trump. It has all the spice of the traditional Yorkshire Parkin (my recipe for that is here) but slightly lighter of texture and, of course, DRENCHED in golden toffee sauce. You could have a bit of cream or ice cream alongside but, to be honest, you don’t need to do so. It is perfect as it is.
It should be noted that my husband cooks very big puddings indeed. The quantities that he provides as serving 3 could easily be stretched to 6 (in my humble opinion) if being made for people with normal appetites who are coming to the end of a substantial meal. Obviously, because it was my birthday I just engaged my Pudding Stomach and ate an entire one as described. But on your birthday it is OK to be greedy.
Right. Per the man himself:
Ingredients
75g self raising flour
40g oatflakes
5g ground ginger
1g ground nutmeg
1g mixed spice
3g baking powder
85g soft dark brown sugar
1 medium egg
28g butter
5g bicarbonate of soda
85g chopped dates
143g boiling water
Serves 3-6 depending on levels of greed
Oven at 180C.
Butter 3 metal rings - diameter 7cm and height 6cm, wrap tin foil round bottom quite tightly, the mixture is quite wet and will seep out otherwise. Butter the bottom of this too.
Put all the dry ingredients in your Kitchen Aid, using a K-whisk attachment, whisk ingredients until incorporated.
Add egg, and whisk until incorporated.
Add butter, in centimetre cubes and whisk until incorporated.
Add the boiling water to the dates. Add the bicarb. Mash the date mixture.
Add to the other ingredients and whisk until incorporated.
Pour into the rings, until about 1cm below the top.
Put in oven for about 25 minutes. Don't worry if the tops catch slightly as you will be cutting the tops off so they are flat.
Once they are done i.e. you can skewer them cleanly, leave to cool.
Make the sauce.
Ingredients
60g salted butter.
60g soft dark brown sugar.
50g double cream.
Put ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Stir. Done.
Remove tops off the puddings (the puddings will rise about a centimetre or more above the height of the rings, which will make it easy to cut the tops off.)
Remove them from rings, using a knife round the sides.
NB: You could, at this point, divide each cylinder into two portions by cutting horizontally through the middle.
Put in a bowl.
Pour over the caramel sauce.
Eat.
Thursday 10 January 2019
New year, new you?
What is it about January 1st that makes us all think we will suddenly ditch our every bad habit and arise from the ashes of our previous failures like a glorious, slender, beautiful, healthy, mindful, balanced pheonix? I've lived through enough Januaries now to know that it NEVER happens and, also, that the darkest, wettest, coldest more miserable time of you is probably the period in which you are least likely to succeed in instituting lasting changes.
With regards to weight loss, I long ago tried to ditch the "I want to weigh xxx by yyy" because, well, that way certain madness lies. And it most definitely has improved my general relationship with food such that I have managed to end the last two years lighter than when I began them, which is progress in the right direction.
My experience trying WW Flex last year was a really positive one. I lost weight and felt like I was eating really well. But after a couple of months, the old itchiness started creeping back in. I started resenting the constant measuring and tracking and starting yearning for all those things that just didn't fit naturally into the programme.
Previous to that, I managed to lose weight successfully, and keep it off, using intermittent fasting and here, too, I see many benefits. You get all the unpleasantness out of the way across two days and the rest of the time you learn to practice moderation. And you really do - no longer are you stuffing in a full size pizza because "diet starts tomorrow". But the fast days were really, really hard - I'm horrible to be around when my blood sugar gets too low - and increasingly I was making excuses to skip one or both fasts a week. Which means you're then just eating normally all the time - which is fine if you're maintaining but not if you have weight to lose.
It strikes me that by combining the two I might be on to a winner. One fast day a week - not fun, sure, but doable. To counter: one "day off" built into the week: a day to cook that roast pork belly recipe that won't fit in to your daily points, or get that takeaway or eat that doughnut. Five days a week of counting. Maybe four - if I can get away with a day and a half "off" (generally Friday evening and Saturday) and still lose a pound a week, I'd be perfectly happy.
So that's the long term plan. But, for now, I'm using January to lay the groundwork. I'm not back to pointing yet but I have instituted the one day a week fasting. For the rest, I'm concentrating on getting back to eating in a regular, moderate way after the madness that is the latter half of December. Snacks are out, midweek drinkies are definitely out (alcohol reserved for weekends only). Plenty of vegetable based meals. A proper routine at bedtime and in the morning to get my sleep sorted out. More steps daily, even if it just means getting of the bus a stop early. Little, healthy habits. It's not dramatic or exciting but I think, from now, on I'm treating January as less of a fresh start and more of a gentle transition.
With regards to weight loss, I long ago tried to ditch the "I want to weigh xxx by yyy" because, well, that way certain madness lies. And it most definitely has improved my general relationship with food such that I have managed to end the last two years lighter than when I began them, which is progress in the right direction.
My experience trying WW Flex last year was a really positive one. I lost weight and felt like I was eating really well. But after a couple of months, the old itchiness started creeping back in. I started resenting the constant measuring and tracking and starting yearning for all those things that just didn't fit naturally into the programme.
Previous to that, I managed to lose weight successfully, and keep it off, using intermittent fasting and here, too, I see many benefits. You get all the unpleasantness out of the way across two days and the rest of the time you learn to practice moderation. And you really do - no longer are you stuffing in a full size pizza because "diet starts tomorrow". But the fast days were really, really hard - I'm horrible to be around when my blood sugar gets too low - and increasingly I was making excuses to skip one or both fasts a week. Which means you're then just eating normally all the time - which is fine if you're maintaining but not if you have weight to lose.
It strikes me that by combining the two I might be on to a winner. One fast day a week - not fun, sure, but doable. To counter: one "day off" built into the week: a day to cook that roast pork belly recipe that won't fit in to your daily points, or get that takeaway or eat that doughnut. Five days a week of counting. Maybe four - if I can get away with a day and a half "off" (generally Friday evening and Saturday) and still lose a pound a week, I'd be perfectly happy.
So that's the long term plan. But, for now, I'm using January to lay the groundwork. I'm not back to pointing yet but I have instituted the one day a week fasting. For the rest, I'm concentrating on getting back to eating in a regular, moderate way after the madness that is the latter half of December. Snacks are out, midweek drinkies are definitely out (alcohol reserved for weekends only). Plenty of vegetable based meals. A proper routine at bedtime and in the morning to get my sleep sorted out. More steps daily, even if it just means getting of the bus a stop early. Little, healthy habits. It's not dramatic or exciting but I think, from now, on I'm treating January as less of a fresh start and more of a gentle transition.
Monday 7 January 2019
MPM: 7th January 2019
It’s 2019 mes amies! And how has it started off for you? I am not going to spend my first meal planning post of the year whingeing so I’m just going to say it is Sunday evening, my cat is on my knee and I had the most AMAZING steak ever last night. Reader, Google reverse searing. It will change your life.
This makes it clear that I’m not doing Veganuary. While I wholeheartedly applaud any of you who have risen to this particular challenge, I am just going to come out and admit that I love animal products far too much to ever give them up. We buy the best quality that we can possibly afford but even so, my refusal to give up eggs, cheese, steak, smoked salmon...(continue list ad infinitum) probably makes me selfish. I certainly intend this year to make renewed efforts to ensure that a high proportion of my meals, particularly during the day, are meat free.
Let’s look at meal planning then. I’m going to brunch with some work colleagues on Saturday (and, by brunch, I mean extended piss up) so I’m assuming I won’t need supper. D has a Ginger Pig pork chop in the freezer that he plans to devour. Elsewhere:
Monday: roasted spiced squash and red onions, couscous with olives, goats’ cheese. We have some beautiful Yellison leftover from Christmas that I am excited to use.
Tuesday: soup
Wednesday: more goats’ cheese, this time combined with some beautiful green veg and lemon to make a zingy risotto.
Thursday: we’re going to use some homemade Merguez sausages to do a spicy twist on a toad in the hole, with harissa onions.
Friday: monkfish with Romesco sauce.
Sunday: we’ve been bumping a Diana Henry miso chicken and sweet potato traybake for weeks now and, dammit, we’re doing it this week.
Happy cooking all!
This makes it clear that I’m not doing Veganuary. While I wholeheartedly applaud any of you who have risen to this particular challenge, I am just going to come out and admit that I love animal products far too much to ever give them up. We buy the best quality that we can possibly afford but even so, my refusal to give up eggs, cheese, steak, smoked salmon...(continue list ad infinitum) probably makes me selfish. I certainly intend this year to make renewed efforts to ensure that a high proportion of my meals, particularly during the day, are meat free.
Let’s look at meal planning then. I’m going to brunch with some work colleagues on Saturday (and, by brunch, I mean extended piss up) so I’m assuming I won’t need supper. D has a Ginger Pig pork chop in the freezer that he plans to devour. Elsewhere:
Monday: roasted spiced squash and red onions, couscous with olives, goats’ cheese. We have some beautiful Yellison leftover from Christmas that I am excited to use.
Tuesday: soup
Wednesday: more goats’ cheese, this time combined with some beautiful green veg and lemon to make a zingy risotto.
Thursday: we’re going to use some homemade Merguez sausages to do a spicy twist on a toad in the hole, with harissa onions.
Friday: monkfish with Romesco sauce.
Sunday: we’ve been bumping a Diana Henry miso chicken and sweet potato traybake for weeks now and, dammit, we’re doing it this week.
Happy cooking all!
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