Clearing the fridge

 

 

We’re going on holiday next week. Ten days in Cornwall (well, actually eight days in Cornwall, preceded by two in Exeter, which is Devon). I am sort of looking forward to it. If we’d realised that cases would still be this high at this point, we’d either have booked nothing, or something different, as this holiday is staying in hotels and eating in a lot of restaurants (when it’s too late in the year to eat outdoors), not to mention several long train trips. 

My stress levels are not being helped by the fact I went for a flu jab yesterday, and the pharmacy I had it done at was so badly organised I ended up waiting twenty minutes in a supermarket surrounded by the great (mostly) unmasked British public. Given that I have avoided supermarkets religiously since all this started, this was not a nice experience. Still, deep breath. And it’s too late to cancel the holiday now, unless we want to lose all of the money.

Post-flu jab outdoor beer. I needed this. 

So, food-wise, this week has been mostly about clearing the fridge of anything that won’t last another two weeks. First up was socca (a thick chickpea flour pancake; recipe in Art of the Larder, I missed out the artichokes), with harissa and preserved lemon courgettes. The latter was an Ottolenghi recipe, but was surprisingly uncomplicated – you fry the courgettes slowly until they’re really soft, then mix them with a harissa and lemon sauce. Delicious, and a good side for the socca, which needs something moist with it.

Next up – to use up the other courgette – courgette, herb (should be dill, mint, basil and chives, I only had dill and mint, but they were fine) and goats cheese flatbread, with red cabbage and pear salad. They’re both Gill Mellor recipes from Root Stem Leaf Flower. I think I may have blogged the salad recipe before. I cheated slightly on the flatbreads by using my own dough from the freezer rather than making the one in the recipe fresh. The flatbreads are essentially pizzas – you cook the toppings, then put them on the base and bake them. They were good, and went surprisingly well with the salad – summer meeting autumn on one plate.

My husband had an over-enthusiastic moment buying pears recently, so next up was another Gill Mellor recipe, roasted pears with shallots and bay leaves, served – as suggested by Gill – with sausages. This recipe is genius, especially with sausages. It’s also fairly easy – you halve the pears, and mix them with chopped shallots, bay leaves, orange zest and crushed juniper berries (At last! Another use for the juniper berries which have been sitting in my cupboard for several years), and olive oil. I did have shallots which needed using, but onions would probably do just as well.

Yes, I started eating before I took a picture. I was hungry, OK? 

Last night, to use up the remaining sausages, and half a tin of tomatoes, I made Rachel Roddy’s Cavatelli with sausage, tomatoes and mint. Except in my case it was penne, as I don’t have any cavatelli.  This was another winner from A-Z of Pasta – I wasn’t sure about the mint, but it worked. I should know by now to trust the Italians when it comes to food.  Excellent post flu jab comfort food.

Tonight, I used up some eggs and the last of the goats’ cheese, by making a harissa and goats’ cheese frittata, which I think is the first thing I wrote about for this blog. After today I will spend three days raiding my supplies of frozen Pasta Evangelists meals before we head off on Monday. Wish me luck. That I’m going on holiday at all shows how far we’ve come. That I still need to ask for luck shows how far we still have to go.