Warming

 It's been a week in need of warming. Damp and chill (I finally turned my heating off last week and Will Not Budge). Bad news, or potentially bad news, in the news (50% more transmissible, you say? Ahahaha suuure. Wait, only 30% more transmissible? We will take that). 

And we said goodbye to Liz yesterday. I'm deeply thankful to her family for making it possible to see the funeral service at a distance, and to Nicholas for organising an online forum so we weren't simply left blinking and alone when the livestream cut. But it's still a bleak thing to say goodbye, even if you are glad to have the chance to celebrate a life well lived. 

Thank you, Liz. I wore this yesterday.

 

There isn't a good segue from that to food, is there? Except that funerals are, or should be, followed by infinite buffets. My aunt, the first person I knew who died far too young, was sent off by an M&S buffet catered by my mum in so heartfelt a fashion that we ate quiche and coronation chicken out of the freezer every meal for two months afterwards. There is a care in wake catering, and a need in the bereaved for comfort and cheer. In short, it's a time for carbs. 

No wake now, of course, but a Zoom room. And last night, courgette fritters. Just what's needed. Then today, for lunch, yoghurt drop scones. 

Not quite Stef's syrniki but a perceptible cousin - these are from Mamushka [which I bought when it was very on sale and I'll probably cook a few bits only, good choice]. They should be kefir based really, but otherwise it's yoghurt, flour, egg, bicarb and done.

Or... ricotta and apricot jam and a sprinkle of salt, and really, really done. Remarkably cheering for a quick weekday lunch break. Maybe I shouldn't just be doing toast for lunch from now on.

Dinner tonight? Fried mash with cheese. There is definitely a theme here. I've not had the frying pan out so much since the autumn, and it's really not May-time cooking. But also, it really is cooking for this week. 

These are Ecuadorean llapingachos, which means it's gastronomy not greed, definitely. Recipe from New Kitchen Basics, as ever, and really, really delicious. 

There are several things going on, which means a certain amount of preliminary faff (with onions). But the actual making is a simple thing.

You're going to need mash, so boil some chopped spuds and create some mash. Chop an onion and fry it with lots of paprika till soft. Slice another onion and marinate it in salt and lime, 5 minutes minimum. 

Now, you are making three things: potato patties, a peanut sauce, and a tomato/onion salad. 

Patties: mix your mash with seasoning, grated cheese, a tbsp flour and half the fried onion. Roll up as little golf balls, flatten into patties, dredge briefly in flour, and then fry, turning gently, for 2 minutes a side. [I forgot to mix in flour, and they didn't fall apart in fact, but the recipe says they are delicate so I pass it on.]

Peanut sauce: the rest of the fried onion, blended* with 75g peanut butter, 1/2 tsp cumin and 50ml milk. Warm very gently for a few minutes. [Don't do this early to get ahead, it will set on the pan and be a bugger to clean.] [[*didn't bother with a blender, ugly but fine]]

Tomato salad: tomato, coriander, marinated onion slices. 

If you'd eaten as many fried things as I have this week, you would add your leftover watercress and sorrel to this too. 

Then just assemble. It's really good, warm and full of comfort.

But I really, really would like to need this sort of thing less next week. [If you're in need of cheer, don't forget terrifying Eurovision cocktails this Saturday, though.]