Bless him - he loves to go shopping for groceries but despite returning home with 15 bags of stuff (never less, oh no. Bulk shopping is the ONLY shopping for him) I have nothing to cook - especially nothing child friendly.
I have done a small and informal survey and I am not the only unlucky one. My neighbour's husband comes home with foie gras and pheasant, and a friend's husband buys nothing but frozen cheap shite TV dinners and tins of inappropriate sauce. So mine went shopping yesterday. He came back with a dozen hot cross buns which will go off in three days - 16 apples (and we already had about 6 in the house) - the biggest block of butter I have ever seen (we have plenty already) - beers, of course - 5 tubs of yoghurt which only he eats - and a year's worth of oatmeal. No meat, no vegetables, in short, no dinner. But he was so excited...especially about the hot cross buns which were on a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Can someone please teach my husband how to food shop?
Retro Beef Stroganoff
I realise my recipes recently have been a little more time consuming than what I, the Happy Working Mother, promises above. I think the problem is I mostly cook well on weekends when I have a touch more time, and this recipe is no exception. BUT, it is very simple and quite delicious.
Slice up half a rump or sirloin steak per person into even finger sized strips. Put them in a plastic bag with some garlic salt, hot paprika and pepper. Shake around the bag until all the meat is well coated and set aside. I left mine for 1/2 a day. Cut a generous amount of mushrooms into halves or quarters so they are still a good size and slice up one or two onions. Fry the onions in olive oil until they are translucent, then add the mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes then switch off the heat. In a wok, or big frying pan, melt a fair bit of butter and get it as hot as you dare before adding the beef, stir frying it until it is browned but still rare inside. 2-3 minutes max should do it. Now tip the beef into the onions and mushrooms, add one big tablespoon of smooth french mustard and mix together. Add a pot of sour cream which should result in enough sauce to coat some noodles. I served this on papardelle (wide flat noodles) with some broccoli on the side. Yum.
Monday 19 January 2009
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Ahhhhh...January
Yesterday for the first time in weeks, I had the house to myself. It wasn't planned, but following Christmas with my Maw here for a month's visit, plus a guest from New York for 3 weeks not to mention my immediate family and the cleaning lady - an empty house is a rare treat. It only lasted 1.5 hours but that's all I needed to recharge, de-stress and then I got lonely.
I like the chaos of my home and although we have a constant stream of guests and dinner parties and unexpected coffee or wine worshippers showing up at all times, I like it that way. I may not read as much as I might like to, but entertaining friends and family is my great hobby. It creates good memories.
During the holidays I cooked a lot. For me the memorable meal was this stew which I tried making for the first time. Easy and perfect for cold weather.
Irish Lamb Stew
Chop up a couple of white onions and fry in a slosh of oil in a big casserole pot (which must have a lid). While that is frying, put half a coffee cup of plain flour, with a pinch of salt and lots of ground pepper into a resealable plastic bag. Add enough cubed lamb to feed your crowd, close the bag and shake to coat all the meat. Add the lamb and all the flour to the pot and stir until the meat is getting browned. Add a drizzle more oil if there is too much flour though you should have a sticky gloopy mess. Add enough stock (vegetable or chicken) to cover the meat and then some. Stir it all together, turn down the heat to simmer, and cover.
Peel and chop into nice chunky pieces some carrots and some turnip and add these to the pot. Remove a generous amount of fresh thyme from its stalks and add that too. Then add a small handful per person of pearl barley to the pot. Stir and cover and let it simmer gently for 2 hours. Keep checking it doesn't get too thick and stir it from time to time to prevent the barley from sticking to the bottom. If it is too thick just add a little warm water or half a glass of white wine. Also check the seasoning and add as necessary.
I served this with boiled new potatoes and everyone had seconds.
I like the chaos of my home and although we have a constant stream of guests and dinner parties and unexpected coffee or wine worshippers showing up at all times, I like it that way. I may not read as much as I might like to, but entertaining friends and family is my great hobby. It creates good memories.
During the holidays I cooked a lot. For me the memorable meal was this stew which I tried making for the first time. Easy and perfect for cold weather.
Irish Lamb Stew
Chop up a couple of white onions and fry in a slosh of oil in a big casserole pot (which must have a lid). While that is frying, put half a coffee cup of plain flour, with a pinch of salt and lots of ground pepper into a resealable plastic bag. Add enough cubed lamb to feed your crowd, close the bag and shake to coat all the meat. Add the lamb and all the flour to the pot and stir until the meat is getting browned. Add a drizzle more oil if there is too much flour though you should have a sticky gloopy mess. Add enough stock (vegetable or chicken) to cover the meat and then some. Stir it all together, turn down the heat to simmer, and cover.
Peel and chop into nice chunky pieces some carrots and some turnip and add these to the pot. Remove a generous amount of fresh thyme from its stalks and add that too. Then add a small handful per person of pearl barley to the pot. Stir and cover and let it simmer gently for 2 hours. Keep checking it doesn't get too thick and stir it from time to time to prevent the barley from sticking to the bottom. If it is too thick just add a little warm water or half a glass of white wine. Also check the seasoning and add as necessary.
I served this with boiled new potatoes and everyone had seconds.
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