Super Busy

Today I've managed a great day in the kitchen. Got shopping nice and early (well, lunchtime, but it is the holidays!). Bought loads of veggies and have made a few meals for us all to eat over the coming months.

For the girls, I crushed three cloves of garlic, fried in olive oil until just going golden and then added two tins of tomatoes, some dried tarragon, oregano and two dessert spoons of sherry vinegar. I bought some nice quality ones today as well to add sweetness. I reduced these for about 30 minutes whilst roasting five very large red and yellow peppers on a high heat in the oven. Once cool enough to handle, I deskinned the peppers, put them into the tomato sauce and blended. I served this over pasta with a mixture of grated cheddar and Parmesan. Was it successful? Biggie said 'Mummy, you're a winner' and downed the whole lot in less than five minutes. Baby Big Girl ate at her usual speed and about forty minutes later we threw about half of her portion away, cold. I don't think she disliked it...hope not, as there are five portions now in the freezer! It's a recipe I'll make for Husband#1 and myself in the efforts to reduce cholesterol - not so much cheese I guess for us!

Whilst the peppers were roasting I decided to make the pesto for Tuesday - the girls are going to join us on this one, it does create pressure! So I roasted about 100g of pine nuts and cooled. Then I added about three and a half large basil plants (stalks and all), two crushed cloves of garlic, half a triangle of Parmesan, chopped and blended with a mix of olive oil and extra virgin olive oil until just as I wanted. I added a little salt and tested a spoon on the Biggie. She approved. Hope she likes it on pasta with a nice piece of fish!

Beautiful Colours!

Pasta with Roasted Pepper Sauce and Cheese

Busy Busy Busy...and breathe.

Well I haven't bogged for quite some time but that doesn't mean I haven't been eating! In the time since I last posted, I have probably put on more weight than I've lost and I've also gained 'raised' cholesterol - not sure what the damage is there, but let's face it, I don't believe in margarine, olive oil or other ominously named 'spreads.' I only eat butter. But taking that into context, I won't reach for the butter tub on a weekly basis, so the chances of everything being solved by my moving over to a special 'spread' that lowers cholesterol if I take 3 portions per day don't exist. I have moved to low fat mayonnaise - but again if I use that twice a month it's lucky. I drink skimmed milk and since Baby Big Girl turned two, we no longer have blue in the house so even porridge is made low fat these days. I even read that lowering your salt intake might be a bad thing to do when you have cholesterol...hurrah!

Chocolate. That's my problem. I am convinced. Okay, so it hadn't yet made me diabetic but it has made me book a ten minute 'dietry advice' session with the doctor. Great. Will update in that one later.

In the meantime, I've been to the coast with Husband#1and whilst we were there we fully intended to partake of a large amount of lobster, crab, whelks and whatever delights might be on sale, but there were none to be had. Well, hardly. Due to the excessively cold weather, there have been no lobsters for ever. Or so it seems. We managed to get a crab one day and I made a lovely starter of crab, tomatoes, red onion and basil all chopped up and mixed with a little olive oil and a tiny drop of balsamic vinegar. It was really fresh and will definitely have that one again if the fishermen ever manage to catch any more crabs. We did also manage a small tray of whelks as a snack, but they didn't count as they were a) the big chewy ones, which are tasty but not as nice as the usual small, juicy beauties that Arthur the fishmonger sells and b) Biggie was around which meant a three-way share. Great. She's just at that age where she wants to try everything, which I am very proud of, but just not when I only have a small tray of whelks!!

So the next day, we tried to have Ina's lobster mac and cheese but no lobster to be found again and so a change of plan was needed. Haven't roasted a sea bass for ages so I bought a couple (which the man from Morrison's couldn't price, so he gave me for £2 each!) and stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts and served on roasted peppers, potatoes and red onion. Surprisingly satisfying when you consider we were expecting lobster mac and cheese by Ina!

The final, and again, healthy triumph was the sardine open sandwich. Ciabatta, roasted peppers, hearts of romaine lettuce, juicy tomatoes and red onion and topped with grilled, fresh sardines, anchovy fillets and a hard boiled egg. Drizzled with a little olive oil, it was again, delicious and I believe the doctor would approve...

A Food Lover's Worst Nightmare

And so the holidays are coming to a close for me and now is the time I should be working in preparation to go back to work, but no, not me. Too stupid for that. I'm writing the blog that no one reads.

It is indeed nightmare time for me, as I have put on a plethora of pounds over Christmas (and before) and now really do have to consider shedding about 1/4 of them. Yes. It is that drastic. I have to work out how to do that, without alcohol to improve the taste of diet food (see below) and without losing interest in diet rubbish and turning to takeaways, leading me to pile on yet even more poundage. I can reminisce about lovely treats of the past however....

So, since I last posted, I've received a couple of sponsors for my Dryathlon this month - and will of course push this again - it is easy to text, sending the code SEBM73, followed by £5, £4, £3 etc - up to £10 - to 70070.

It was Husband#1's birthday last week and the family came over so again, needed to get some good ideas going. Bil's New Girlfriend (henceforth BGN) was coming too, so extra impressing to do.

We had an excess of blue cheese (this excess only ended yesterday with a portion in the freezer and two litres of cheese sauce being made) so I made caramelised onions - sauteed with a little brown sugar, with Stilton scattered over the top and a small crouton which was brushed with olive oil and garlic and then browned on a griddle. Worked very well actually, especially considering that the crouton was a last minute addition and made out of Hovis 50-50 or whatever it is called....had I the brains to have for-planned, I'd have impressed further by making my own bread!


http://twitter.com/WorkingMumCooks/status/285500947814289408/photo/1/large?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=WorkingMumCooks&utm_content=285500947814289408

Then I went for simple but spectacular and did Chateaubriand with roasted tomatoes on the vine with chips and garlic mayo, of course. Even MIL and FIL ate rare pieces (albeit with the bloody side turned down). I remember several years ago trying desperately to make them a well-cooked steak and it wasn't a moral thing or a blatant refusal to spoil a piece of beautiful fillet. No. They had ten minutes - that's TEN minutes - longer cooking time than the rest and I cold not get the buggers to cook more than medium, so I believe that my inner being simple blocked the heat processes.

Finally I made sticky toffee pudding with homemade custard. I dropped a piece on the floor, devastatingly, and MIL tried to get me to share half a piece with her but NO WAY. I don't go making sticky toffee pudding with homemade custard to only have half a piece. I carefully scraped the piece from the floor and had that with extra toffee sauce....if you want to stop reading these blogs in disgust, please do. Would never give food from the floor to my gals, but for heaven sake this was me and sticky toffee pudding. Half a piece? No bloody way. Anyway, in a desperate effort to impress the wrong person, BGN agreed to share half a piece with MIL. Pathetic.

Finally it was New Year's Eve and we celebrated with octopus and chips, an old but delicious favourite.

Happy New Year Everybody (even though I know you aren't really reading, but I can pretend!).

Sponsorship Required for Cancer Research UK

So a cheeky post, may result in absolutely northing, but is always worth a try...

I am beoming a 'Dryathlete' for January - not a drop of alcohol will touch my lips until the end of the month. Being the type of drinker who plans meals and wines to go together on a weekend, and who can down a bottle of wine whilst easting two slices of pizza on a Friday, there will be challenges - but will all be worthwhile if I can raise some cash for Cancer Research UK.

So please, text the code "SEBM73" followed by the amount you are willing to donate "£1", "£2", "£5" or even more(!) to 70070 - it won't cost you anything for the text!

Thanks!

Christmas and Beyond

As I sit here typing, balancing a bowl of heavily salted, roasted jumbo cashews whilst nursing a large G&T (and yes, Husband#1, now you can taste that two year old gin is quite fine), I'm worrying about the excess of cheese - particularly Stilton - that may go off in the fridge.  Is there a Stilton dessert that I can cook for Husband#1's birthday tea on Sunday? Already I have planned broccoli and cauliflower (blue) cheese for lunch on Sunday: is it possible to then have a Stilton soufflé as a starter for tea, followed by a Stilton and fig cheesecake (for example) for dessert?

May have to research that fig and Stilton cheesecake. Could it have a hovis biscuit base? It's sounding quite nice, but then maybe that's the part of me that's desperate not to waste. Certainly a cheese sauce will be created and frozen as there is a lot of blue cheese - bought in a panic of Armageddon proportions. What if they run out? It was beautiful last year, we need double this year. Maybe triple. Goes out of date on January 3rd? Not a problem to us. I over-estimated even out glutton. Oh dear.

So, let me go through what I've eaten in the last few days - ashamedly I have put on a 'few' pounds and will put on more before the sobriety starts. I believe it all started on Christmas Eve with Baby Big Girl's birthday party, an inspired 10am beginning with platters of cut fruit, two bought Spanish Omelette's with garlic mayo (well done again, Husband #1) and some Sainos Blueberry Mini Muffins. It all went down very well and guests were expelled at 12pm. Fish and chips, pork pie and various pickles provided energy for the rest of the day. 

Christmas started at 8.10am, waking up both children (wow!) and going downstairs for croissants and brioche. Then came Kathaleean's Christmas Dinner - never a meal to be missed. Turkey, bacon covered sausages (called..?), sausage stuffing, sage and onion stuffing, chestnut stuffing, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, sprouts, roast potatoes and mash. Oh, I forgot bread and cranberry sauces. I ate it all apart from the mash (a little excessive, Kathaleean?) and then moved onto the leftover sprouts, chestnut stuffing and parsnips. Excellent. Christmas pudding was also good with brandy sauce and custard - I've never been one to make up my mind. Tea wasn't necessary,

Boxing Day is my big one and it was tough - by 8pm I was laid out on the sofa pathetically unable to even lift the TV control. Serious fatigue. But the afternoon was good. Twenty noisy, hungry and thirsty guests (including a Meat-Eating Vegetarian, the Gluten Free Sister and the Child Who Eats Nothing) were all happily catered for. Starters were nibbles, put out as and when I thought of them - bread sticks, crisps, dips, squid in ink sauce, capers, gherkins, saucisson and plum tomatoes all appeared and disappeared nicely (eleven year old nephew - a treat to feed and upon whom to administer new tastes!). This was all followed by chicken in  cider sauce with leeks and carrots and optional, separately roasted chorizo. An adaptation of (Sir) Rick Stein's Spanish dish due to the Gluten Free Sister, but tasted good and was easily done. Then for the Vegetarian who has become the Meat-Eating Vegetarian, I'd made a Mushroom Stroganoff. In fairness I've made it a few years running now and everyone likes it, so it isn't especially for those with morals, just those with taste - but imagine my surprise when the Meat-Eating Vegetarian took a slice of ham to go with her Veggie Stroganoff and then polished off the Child Who Eats Nothing's chicken...

So to dessert: white chocolate and lemon mousse, which didn't set properly but tasted well so who cares? - and an Ina Garten Tarte Tatin, executed delightfully by Husband#1.

It was all good - but good enough to be absolutely physically spent by 8pm? Not sure. Will I be a professional chef? No. Will I cope if I owned a nice little café? Probably not. Will I do Boxing Day next year? Probably...

And so back to the future. My pizza is ready (it IS Friday after all) and I sit here researching what to do with Stilton. Answers on a postcard are very much needed.

Kathaleean's Turkey Soup - 2nd Best Meal at Christmas

Two days and Counting

Will I get to the end? Who knows. A presentation in briefing this morning brought a new meaning to nerves, add to that a day of assessment and a lunchtime meeting, and the chances are that exhaustive collapse before Friday are high.

And even before that there are high chances of food poisoning. Last night I realised that the beautiful vegetable tartes I'd bought for a lunch were use by yesterday. We agreed that money was too scarce to ignore them and so they would go to work today. Who forgot his? That's right. Husband #1 had a fresh, free school lunch whilst I ate salmonella and something akin to Norovirus. It tasted good. Probably all the better having been left out on the side in a hot office for the morning.

So to tea, which was a beautifully reheated lamb tagine, which I originally made for the girls but was too spicy, accompanied by a larger portion than necessary of rice - so what, I then ate three Ina Garten sized cheese straws. Ha ha ha.

Yes, that said cheese straws - baked by husband #1. Baking, on a Wednesday?! Yep. And my, they were good. Puff pastry, Gruyere, Parmesan and cheddar with dried thyme, salt and pepper. What else could you make?

Following last week's food fest on Saturday, with the lovely risotto and white chocolate and lemon mousse, I'm having to think long and hard about future (Mc)Cookings. I haven't used some of my ingredients for ages as I'm relying on my freezer stocks, but cooking is good, relaxing and satisfying. Being important as I am now becoming at work ;-) I am somehow going to have to have a think about how I reorganise the rest of my life. Or even just organising it in the first place would be good....

I don't want to hit an unGodly weight, become diabetic, have a heart attack or my kids to go to school in unironed gear. Something's got to give here - and I don't mean my zipper.

Hibernation? 10 Minutes Sleep Would Be Good.

Things in life just now are disorganised to say the least, so to emphasis that I'll start this post with a picture of the Gals pizza:

Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper

So, working extra hard and extra late on Wednesday was fine as Husband #1 was cooking a three course extravaganza and would greet me at the door with a large glass of red wine as I arrived home at some ungodly hour after 9pm. Whatever. Someone had different ideas: OFSTED.

So I had to buy (out of my own money) my own tea. And worse still I had to get Husband #1's favourite takeaway (the expensive version) and extra treats and snacks to 'sooth' his troubled being. I got home at 10pm. The takeaway was delicious, I have to say, though and I also enjoyed the many extra treats and it was well worth it to have bought a couple of Cobra beers.

So since my tough day on Wednesday I have also been a single parent. It's tough, but hey I don't have to do it all the time so I can cope. Husband #1 and I will never spilt up, no matter how I joke as we wouldn't be able to agree over the children. Neither of us could cope alone :-).

And forward to Saturday. I don't remember much in between except that Baby Big Girl has regressed and had two 'night feeds' - wow. (Just what you need in the middle of the night just having done a 17 hour day and the day before OFSTED.) Tonight the parents are coming for tea as a thank you for the ridiculous bed building event of last week. For the first time in months I'm doing REAL cooking with my own recipes and everything! We are having saucisson, giant capers, gherkins and cavalo nero stir fried with caramelised garlic for the starter, followed by a smoked haddock and black pudding risotto with leeks and a poached egg. For dessert, I'm experimenting for Christmas: a white chocolate and lemon mousse (last year I may have called it Panna Cotta).

All I did was melted two bars of Green and Black's white chocolate in 600ml double cream and then added 4 tsp of lemon curd. Today I've made four separate ramekins but on boxing day it will all go into one bowl and get scooped out. It tastes lovely and has indeed set. I'll see what it's like when we eat it - but I think it's be good for Boxing Day and the gluten free sister.


White Chocolate & Lemon Mousse

I'll update with the risotto when it's done. Cross fingers!

Smoked Haddock, Black Pudding & Leek Risotto with Poached Egg