Ugh... and my #ConfinedSpring entry, for balance

You've probably gathered that I'm pretty open on the internet. I bibble on here about mental health quite readily, and frankly if you're not prepared for that by the blog subhead, you should be. If I confess (as I am confessing) that although I'm mostly not too bad about the current situation day to say, I do occasionally crumple up like I've been punched and sob for a while for sheer loneliness, futility and fear... well, if you think the worse of me for that, I think the worse of you in turn. This is a difficult situation and it's okay for that to creep up on you.

But I do censor myself all the same. I have only just decided to confess here that I have within the lockdown period been to an outdoor market, despite all the many, many people queuing up on social media to condemn this as a mad risk. It's a police-inspected, HSE-approved market which is letting about 20 people in at a time, only allowing you in singly for direct visits to your planned stalls, and has a properly distanced queue around the block to prove it - ie better managed than most supermarkets have been able to do in practice. But I'm still sure some readers will think this was a bad decision. I have second-guessed myself a lot already. You do inevitably do a direct exchange with a couple of people at stalls, more so than you would at a till, even with tappy pay. I dunno. I'm not planning to go back, I don't think.

Anyway. I went for the greengrocer primarily, hence a lot of the seasonal greenery I've been cooking for the last weeks. Hence also my #ConfinedSpring entry, which is the last of it.

Yes, it's more broccoli. Special broccoli though

Meanwhile, the mood in the Confined Kitchen: Melinda version has darkened considerably for reasons I also hate to confess despite it being ridiculously common hereabouts. I've got mice. Or at least a mouse. Evidence in the kitchen, mercifully only on the floor so far. Ugh. It is not a rare occurrence, since I live in a Victorian terrace with highly imperfect construction and lots of gaps in the barriers between houses. They run pretty unhindered when they get established. But I could really do without it at the moment. Not least because the flat reeks of bleach already. I'm indignant. I've been putting in the cleaning time, gdi.

Turns out pest control still counts as  permitted emergency, when it's disease-carrying vermin, so the Rat Man has visited once, and will return, unless either of us goes down with the virus in the next seven days. ("You'll be at home same time next week, yeah?" "Um... yes. Yes, I will be. Oddly enough.") So hopefully I don't have to make the mice into pets or meals for the duration.

Mice happen, I know this. It has however reduced my appetite for shopping, cooking and eating, which is a shame, as this was rather a nice dish. It's basically the same broccoli recipe as I did earlier in the week, forgetting that this was actually a planned broccoli option, with the properly seasonal Purple Sprouting Broccoli. But there's nothing wrong with greens and garlic.

Purple sprouting usually looks so much better before it's cooked that it is rather a shame to put it to head, but as it's a while since the market shop so it was on its last legs. Definitely good for a slow cook. Trim the stems for anything woody, especially this late in the season. Steam it for 5-6 mins, return it to a pan with some of the steaming water and plenty of oil and sliced garlic. Cook-stew it for a while.

PURPLE sprouting. Not beige, ideally.

This is a specific recipe for a meal, rather than just a random broccoli side that goes with anything. Put the cooked PSB on toast, with a good sprinkle of salt, squeeze of lemon, zest of lemon and ricotta if you have it. Something mild and dairy, anyway, to balance out the dark green leafery of the cooked PSB mix. I thought all these additions did a job within the whole, so recommend sticking to the lot if you have them available. If...

Not pretty, unfortunately. But good.

And that's the end of the green veg excitement for a while. Strictly supermarket wares for a bit. I'm cracking open my antepenultimate tinned tomatoes next week. Stay tuned...