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.
Showing posts with label Winter warmer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter warmer. Show all posts
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.
Monday, 10 November 2008
Are You a Martyr Mum?
We all know a Martyr Mum. They sacrifice all their energy, time, thoughts, life, daylight hours and nighttime dreams and discussions to being a mother. For them it is all defining and all consuming. They go to bed early so they are on form for the next day, they play with their children for hours, they enjoy making puppets and home made easter cards, they volunteer for everything at school, they stay up late sewing little Johnny's Halloween costume/Dara's fairy outfit for the Christmas play and most importantly, they cook all children's meals from scratch. God Bless You All, I am not worthy. Granted, Martyr Mums are a little bit crazed, but hell some people are passionate about brewing their own beer and quite frankly I think children are a better cause... Ha. You thought I would be more controversial, didn't you? Just because I work doesn't mean I don't get it. The all consuming mom thing.
When I feel the love for my kids (and have the time) I make risotto!
Martyr Mum Risotto
Making risotto is neither scary nor difficult. It's an act of love. It's also a great way to use up an odd assortment of ingredients.
Get everything ready as once you start you can't stop: Heat some stock (cube will do) in a separate saucepan. Have lots to hand and it must be hot! Chop up an onion and all the vegetables you will be using. Choose a protein (I like cubes of chicken or tiger prawns). Grate some parmesan cheese. Now we start! Heat some olive oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion, a good shake of oregano and a handful of arborio risotto rice per person. Stir for a minute or so to fry the rice and semi cook the onion, then ladel in the first of the stock. It should sizzle impressively. Keep stirring the rice with a wooden spoon until the stock is almost all sucked up, then ladel in some more stock. Keep on stirring (this is the love part) and it too will be sucked into the rice, and so on. The whole process takes about 20-25 minutes, so if you are cooking hard veg like carrots or brocolli add them after 5 minutes and soft veg like asparagus or courgettes after 15 minutes. The hot stock and stirring eventually cooks the veg. Same for the protein. If it's chicken add it after 5 minutes so it cooks through by the time the risotto itself is done, and if you're using prawns, then add them only at the last 5 minutes to heat through or you'll have bullets. Add a generous handful of grated parmesan towards the end, and stir it in to melt. Taste the risotto to make sure it's not crunchy, and once it's oozy and soft, you're done. Serve with more parmesan on top.
When I feel the love for my kids (and have the time) I make risotto!
Martyr Mum Risotto
Making risotto is neither scary nor difficult. It's an act of love. It's also a great way to use up an odd assortment of ingredients.
Get everything ready as once you start you can't stop: Heat some stock (cube will do) in a separate saucepan. Have lots to hand and it must be hot! Chop up an onion and all the vegetables you will be using. Choose a protein (I like cubes of chicken or tiger prawns). Grate some parmesan cheese. Now we start! Heat some olive oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion, a good shake of oregano and a handful of arborio risotto rice per person. Stir for a minute or so to fry the rice and semi cook the onion, then ladel in the first of the stock. It should sizzle impressively. Keep stirring the rice with a wooden spoon until the stock is almost all sucked up, then ladel in some more stock. Keep on stirring (this is the love part) and it too will be sucked into the rice, and so on. The whole process takes about 20-25 minutes, so if you are cooking hard veg like carrots or brocolli add them after 5 minutes and soft veg like asparagus or courgettes after 15 minutes. The hot stock and stirring eventually cooks the veg. Same for the protein. If it's chicken add it after 5 minutes so it cooks through by the time the risotto itself is done, and if you're using prawns, then add them only at the last 5 minutes to heat through or you'll have bullets. Add a generous handful of grated parmesan towards the end, and stir it in to melt. Taste the risotto to make sure it's not crunchy, and once it's oozy and soft, you're done. Serve with more parmesan on top.
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