In the Bleak Midwinter

 

It’s possible I’m being a bit over-dramatic with this one, but it does all feel a bit bleak. Soaring cases, difficult decisions, general chaos and disruption*, and terrible weather (current themes: wet and windy) do not make for cheerfulness. I keep reminding myself that we are better off than last year (thank you vaccines), but it doesn’t seem to help much, especially as my nightmare scenario of soaring cases combined with a total lack of government action seems to be happening. I can’t see how we get out of this without some further measures, and the longer we wait to start, the longer we’re going to be stuck here. This latter thought in particular is brought to you by having Eurostar vouchers from 2020, which have to be used within the next two days. Possible destinations: France – currently effectively not letting in UK tourists; Netherlands – currently requiring 10 days quarantine for anyone from the UK; Belgium – don’t know, I was too depressed to check by this point.  (The plan is to book something for May and move them if necessary).

So, as ever, I turn to food for comfort (and cocktails, obvs), specifically: dahl and ice cream (not served on the same plate, you will be delighted to hear). I think dahl may be my ultimate comfort food, and this is a particularly good winter variant, from Nigel Slater, featuring beetroot.

I remembered this as a fairly simple recipe, but with the addition of flatbreads, it is a full three-pan job, so things got a bit frantic towards the end – but it still tasted good.

First of all, bear in mind that you need cooked beetroot. It doesn’t need to be warm, just cooked. I used half a packet of that highly-useful vacuum packed stuff that lasts an eternity in the fridge, but if you have raw beetroot it will need to be cooked first, which is not a quick process.

Beetroot aside, the first step is, as ever, chop an onion. Fry the slices until golden (he says 25 minutes, I always find it takes less) add garlic halfway through the cooking time. At the end, stir in some yellow mustard seeds and chilli flakes.

While all this is happening, bring some veg stock to the boil, then add the lentils and cook for 15 minutes until soft. At this point add the chopped up beetroot, some garam masala and a good knob of butter (Nigel does give a weight but this is a forgiving recipe), stir, and cook for a few more minutes until the beetroot is warm and the butter melted. Serve with the fried onions piled on top of the dahl, and some yoghurt (and in our case, flatbreads AND mini poppodoms, because it’s Chrimbo Limbo or Betwixtmas or whatever we’re calling it this year).

Beetroot dahl, poppadoms just visible (also note gold Xmas table mats)

If you are not sufficiently comforted after this, it’s time to move on to the ice cream. It is Nigella’s Salted Caramel and Bourbon, and it is wonderfully simple. Whisk together caramel condensed milk (obtaining this is the hardest part of the recipe, but Ocado will usually supply) and double cream with three teaspoons of sea salt (Recipe suggests adding it gradually to taste but I’ve made this before so I know I want all three) until thickened. Slowly whisk in three tablespoons of Bourbon (same note as with salt, but also, it’s Bourbon, why would you want less?). Pour into suitable containers. Freeze. Told you it was simple. Even better, because of the alcohol and salt, it stays soft enough to actually be able to serve/eat straight from the freezer. Stuff the January diet; if it’s going to be miserable, give me ice cream.

Ready for the freezer

*To pluck a few examples from memory – half the shows in the West End seem to be closed, LNER cancelled at least twenty trains yesterday, and both my favourite local coffee shop, and my favourite local café are closed, al because of Covid.