I guess the beauty of the blog is not being tied to an update schedule. And this week, its been a good job that’s the case. And its going to get worse I’m afraid – the course material came through for my next Open University course. I don’t think its going to take up as much time as last year, but its still going to take at least 12 hours per week. Coupled with a young boy to take care of and I don’t get left with much time. The writings not the issue, it’s the cooking.
Still, I started the blog to keep my motivation and productivity up, and to practise writing. And, speaking of cooking, I have managed a fair bit this week. Again, Rachel Allen has been getting a fair old work out. The main recipe I made this week was from Rachel’s ‘Home Cooking’, and I went for a prawn and coconut Indian curry. Rachel’s blurb advertises the recipe as “a beginners curry, something to get teenagers interested in cooking”. I think this is true, to a certain extent. I do like making curry, and much prefer using coconut milk rather than liquidising onions and garlic and cooking forever. The curry recipe is adapted, as per Rachel’s recommendation, from the chicken and coconut into prawns, which I had in the freezer. To be honest, the most difficult thing was finding a lid for my wok to allow the sauce to simmer (should curry be cooked in a wok? I have to say, I think its a most verstile pan and have been known to do Bolognese in ours!). A dinner plate did the trick. The only other trouble was fish stock; I really can’t stand the smell of meat or chicken stock, so cooking fish stock really wasn’t going to work for me. The better half came up with the idea of water and nam pla. Thai fish sauce saves the day again.
Overall, it was a satisfying recipe – easy to cook, tasted fresh, and the green beans added a bit of crunch to the texture. Definitely one I’ll be doing again.
The other recipes performed for your delight this week include Toffee Popcorn from Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home (we extended its borrowing period at the library), which was simply divine. The toffee sauce stuck to fresh popcorn and stuck, then dried to give the perfect taste and texture. The recipe for spiced popcorn didn’t look so great – think we’ll be giving that one a miss.
The final recipe was baked by the Mrs. Nigella Lawson’s Intense Chocolate Cookies, from “Nigella Express” were looked up last minute on the way to the supermarket via the iPhone. Again, it ticked boxes. “Express” meant relatively easy to cook. Nigella meant tasty, for the baby group mummies. Not many came back, to my disgust, and the ones that did were reduced in numbers even further by my parents. Mama Chef’s praise was high indeed. Its tough to get Mama Chef to admit to liking Nigella recipes, but even she conceded here, and even she might be interested in the link to the recipe below. Nigella has had quite the influence on my diet today, what with cookies and then the fried gnocchi that she unveiled recently in TV. Went perfectly with Mr Brains faggots, inspired by the “guilty secrets” thread over on the UK Food Bloggers Association forum.
Finally, I finished off the hamper with a nod to Grandad. A bottle of Glenfiddich has found its way into the basket, and I’m calling it a day there.
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