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Jan. 21st, 2009
yes we can
Jan. 21st, 2009 02:04 pmHenry and Ron grow by the day, and their exploits know no bounds. Ron is still the runty one, so it took him about two weeks longer than Henry to work out how to get on to the kitchen worktops; as this is where we have been putting the big cats' meals, there is an element of being not very impressed *at all* by this amongst the older members of the Tribe.
At the weekend, I misplaced my keys - it caused me a great deal of angst, as there were two front door keys, two back door keys, and a USB stick on the ring. We searched high and low, but no sign, and I felt sure they were gone for good. On Monday morning, I found them down beside the washing machine, where I suspect small kittin paws had thwipped them. I threatened EnRon with kitten soup.
We make a lot of soup here, and we make it in a huge saucepan which lives on the top of our huge American fridge. Yesterday, believe it or not, I found Ron sitting in it, for all the world as though he was waiting to be turned into nourishing soup :) The world is his lobster now he can leave the kitchen floor behind ...
At the weekend, I misplaced my keys - it caused me a great deal of angst, as there were two front door keys, two back door keys, and a USB stick on the ring. We searched high and low, but no sign, and I felt sure they were gone for good. On Monday morning, I found them down beside the washing machine, where I suspect small kittin paws had thwipped them. I threatened EnRon with kitten soup.
We make a lot of soup here, and we make it in a huge saucepan which lives on the top of our huge American fridge. Yesterday, believe it or not, I found Ron sitting in it, for all the world as though he was waiting to be turned into nourishing soup :) The world is his lobster now he can leave the kitchen floor behind ...
| Originally published at the Tribe. |
We have a rather whizzy shower curtain, with all the elements listed on it. It's not hugely expensive in the scheme of things, but we've only had it a few months, and I'd like it to last a bit longer yet, thankyouverymuch.So this morning, I was not amused to find Ron and Henry in the bath, one on either side of the curtain, thwipping at each other with their sharp needly claws. The wretched curtain has holes in it now.
Kitten soup, I swear ...
| Originally published at the Tribe. |
3lbs of stewing steak
Jan. 21st, 2009 06:14 pmI wanted to make Anjum Anand's Gujerati lamb with fenugreek dumplings at the weekend, so sent Pete out to the icy wastes of the outdoor freezer to fetch some lamb. He returned without, as he couldn't find any, and it's all gummed up with ice and we need to defrost it. But he was clutching about 3lbs of Dexter stewing steak.
Anjum's book isn't big on beef, so we compromised, switched things round, left it to cook a lot longer over a low heat - I did most of it, while Pete struggled with a recalcitrant RAID array in our Linux server, and then he did the dumplings. And delicious it was too.
But I only used half the beef - we're not big meat eaters, so I put in far more chickpeas than she recommended, and thus was left with the same amount again to deal with.
On Monday, we stirfried some with some tinned black beans from the chinese supermarket (gorgeous - but half a tin was too much; wonder if they freeze), and green pepper and so forth.
And on Tuesday lunchtime, I whipped up the rest of it into a pie filling. Fried off the beef, then quickly sautd a chopped onion, some garlic, three big mushrooms chopped, and a couple of carrots, diced. In a big casserole dumped the beef and veg, a slosh of red wine, a small tin of tomato pure, a slug of balsamic vinegar, a little water, a bouquet garni and some seasoning. Brought it to the boil and then put it on a very low heat on a diffuser, and we suffered the smell wafting up the stairs all afternoon.
Cheated, and got some puff pastry out of the freezer to make the pie, which we had with potatoes roasted in olive oil, and broccoli and cauliflower.
So, that 3lbs of beef made:
Which I think is not at all bad.
Anjum's book isn't big on beef, so we compromised, switched things round, left it to cook a lot longer over a low heat - I did most of it, while Pete struggled with a recalcitrant RAID array in our Linux server, and then he did the dumplings. And delicious it was too.
But I only used half the beef - we're not big meat eaters, so I put in far more chickpeas than she recommended, and thus was left with the same amount again to deal with.
On Monday, we stirfried some with some tinned black beans from the chinese supermarket (gorgeous - but half a tin was too much; wonder if they freeze), and green pepper and so forth.
And on Tuesday lunchtime, I whipped up the rest of it into a pie filling. Fried off the beef, then quickly sautd a chopped onion, some garlic, three big mushrooms chopped, and a couple of carrots, diced. In a big casserole dumped the beef and veg, a slosh of red wine, a small tin of tomato pure, a slug of balsamic vinegar, a little water, a bouquet garni and some seasoning. Brought it to the boil and then put it on a very low heat on a diffuser, and we suffered the smell wafting up the stairs all afternoon.
Cheated, and got some puff pastry out of the freezer to make the pie, which we had with potatoes roasted in olive oil, and broccoli and cauliflower.
So, that 3lbs of beef made:
- 8 portions of beef curry (I put three tubs in the freezer)
- 4 portions of pie (we shall have the rest of it tomorrow or Friday)
- 2 portions of stir fry
Which I think is not at all bad.
| Originally published at Reactive Cooking. |