You may have thought I had the idea of a cooking club/blog thing cos I am a good cook. I am not. I am a good eater, who enjoys creating menus and nosing around other people's kitchen. Actual cooking, I'm mostly only okay at. And sometimes, as this week, not even that.
I am a tiny, tiny bit distracted. I think I let my hopes get up that, although we clearly won't snap back to normal on 7 May, we might be at the end of the beginning. But I've realised it ain't so. This is a long, long slog. I cancelled my holiday for July today, and I cried. Which is self-indulgence amidst all this, but...
I had managed to forget somewhere among all the yoga and the hashtags and the people being excellent that this situation is awful. It's okay to be upset about that. All my upset seems to have collapsed on me at once, somehow, and it has resulted in, well... there has been carbonising.
Yesterday I made an old friend of a dish, an all-year-rounder that in theory would be good for barbecue but is also excellent for January cheering dinners: marinaded lamb chops, with roast tomatoes and houmous.
The lamb marinade is thyme, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, oil and salt, plus as much crushed garlic as you fancy. It works with a quick dunk but it's better with some hours of marinading if you can. Being able to do this over lunch is one of the major pluses of confined life.
The tomatoes I've made twice before on here already - they really are one of my staples. This time I'm using up plum tomatoes rather than cherry, but they work fine.
Both into the oven, 200deg, 20 minutes, ideal.Reader, they got 30 minutes. If not 35. I was distracted sorting out parental shopping online. It's not a disaster, but it wasn't very photogenic. Also, it was so tasty I ate yesterday's before I remembered about photos.
Today I was a bit more restrained, so you can see leftover cooked lamb, and the vital houmous and pita:
Put houmous into warm pitas. Add tomatoes. Either slice the lamb and distribute it evenly or (I like this) have a mix of veggie pitas and one stuffed with lamb. Gorge.
That's the end of the big meat cuts, btw. Nearly the end of meat week. Back to the veggies soon.
Meanwhile, for lunch today I realised I'd omitted an important lunchable thing from last week's shop, and then also luckily realised it was time to use up another bit of my panic buying. The panic buying where I got back from the theatre (theatre!) one evening in early March, and my CostCutter was still open, and I bought... random stuff.
Today, pumpkin gnocchi. They looked pretty normal, so I got out a saucepan, started water boiling, then read the ingredients. These, apparently, are gnocchi that you fry...
They were absolutely fine, in fact, and since I was going to serve them with just butter and sage it saved messing around with another pan.
On the other hand, don't try to work through frying your gnocchi. They only need 5 minutes. After 3 minutes without stirring:
I've the rest of the packet for lunch tomorrow, and I will do better. Maybe I'll even feel better. We'll see.
I am a tiny, tiny bit distracted. I think I let my hopes get up that, although we clearly won't snap back to normal on 7 May, we might be at the end of the beginning. But I've realised it ain't so. This is a long, long slog. I cancelled my holiday for July today, and I cried. Which is self-indulgence amidst all this, but...
I had managed to forget somewhere among all the yoga and the hashtags and the people being excellent that this situation is awful. It's okay to be upset about that. All my upset seems to have collapsed on me at once, somehow, and it has resulted in, well... there has been carbonising.
Yesterday I made an old friend of a dish, an all-year-rounder that in theory would be good for barbecue but is also excellent for January cheering dinners: marinaded lamb chops, with roast tomatoes and houmous.
The lamb marinade is thyme, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, oil and salt, plus as much crushed garlic as you fancy. It works with a quick dunk but it's better with some hours of marinading if you can. Being able to do this over lunch is one of the major pluses of confined life.
The tomatoes I've made twice before on here already - they really are one of my staples. This time I'm using up plum tomatoes rather than cherry, but they work fine.
Both into the oven, 200deg, 20 minutes, ideal.Reader, they got 30 minutes. If not 35. I was distracted sorting out parental shopping online. It's not a disaster, but it wasn't very photogenic. Also, it was so tasty I ate yesterday's before I remembered about photos.
Today I was a bit more restrained, so you can see leftover cooked lamb, and the vital houmous and pita:
 |
| This brand of smoked houmous is so good, if you can get it. Waitrose, and I bet Booths, do. |
That's the end of the big meat cuts, btw. Nearly the end of meat week. Back to the veggies soon.
Meanwhile, for lunch today I realised I'd omitted an important lunchable thing from last week's shop, and then also luckily realised it was time to use up another bit of my panic buying. The panic buying where I got back from the theatre (theatre!) one evening in early March, and my CostCutter was still open, and I bought... random stuff.
Today, pumpkin gnocchi. They looked pretty normal, so I got out a saucepan, started water boiling, then read the ingredients. These, apparently, are gnocchi that you fry...
 |
| DEEP scepticism, but okay |
On the other hand, don't try to work through frying your gnocchi. They only need 5 minutes. After 3 minutes without stirring:
 |
| Blurred with emotion. Or possibly speed. |
I've the rest of the packet for lunch tomorrow, and I will do better. Maybe I'll even feel better. We'll see.
Not just me, then. I heard my water boiling and went to put my pasta in; and then realised I'd put the pasta into cold water!?! Not brain here whatsoever...
ReplyDeleteReally not just you. It seems like a whole bunch of us have just slumped this week. We were doing All Right, but now, not so much.
DeleteI've noticed on our daily video calls that my team seem to be synced; we're all up, or all slumping. This week is a slump week. Hugs to you.
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