Updates done

Well almost. I’ve done some fiddling with the layout and it’s pretty much how I want it. I’ve almost caught up with the food diary posts. I had more than I thought to catch up with, and I’ve got at least one more to do once I’ve uploaded the photos. Because I post them with the actual date I did the cooking, they have appeared down the page a bit, but here is a list so you can go straight to them :

• 1 March 2008 – Fish Pie
• 2 March 2008 – Coq au Vin
• 5 March 2008 – Shepherd’s Pie
• 12 April 2008 – Chicken stuffed with mozzarella
• 17 May 2008 – Roasted chicken breast

Updates

Slight change of style, which seems quite nice. And some of the page links may not be working due to my insistence on custom templates which I need to update after the upgrade to the latest version of WordPress.

Anyway, I’ve got a couple of food posts to make, and then I can get on with the general wittering, and my new favourite type of comment, what I have come to call the ‘Victor Meldrew’ post.

I think the name speaks for itself. 🙂

Current topic thoughts:

• Generalisations
• Psychics
• Internet vs Web

Oh such fun 🙂

Grilled Mackerel

We went to Eyemouth and got some lovely fish. They had some really nice mackerel, so we got some for dinner – as well as some nice cod, dressed crab, and scraps for the cat.

I’m never quite sure what to serve with fish, so I looked at what we had hanging around (potatoes and butternut squash), dug out a recipe for butternut squash from Recipezaar (which is a great resource) and got on with it….

Pictures: show

Ingredients, ingredients, ingredients. I never get tired of the process of gathering ingredients. Samantha gives me hassle for being so organised, but since this is one of the few areas in life where I am organised, I think I can get away with it.

As usual, do all the prep. This included actually making the potato salad, but it’s hardly a major dish. The mackerel has just been slashed and seasoned with salt, pepper and a little olive oil.

The mackerel goes under the grill, and the bacon is started off for the squash.

The recipes I had printed out kept getting in the way, and falling off the counter, so I hung them from the cupboards.

Add the onions to the bacon, and check the mackerel.

The squash goes in, as well as the herbs, and turn the mackerel.

The squash is now done.

The mackerel is also done, even if the picture is a little dark.

Serve. Easy really 🙂

This was very tasty, and it was well worth going to get the fresh fish.

Roasted chicken breast

This is from ‘Cook with Jamie’. I’ve come across the recipe a few times but never quite got round to using it. Then Lisa asked if I could do something with butternut squash because she really likes it, and this gave me the opportunity to try it out…

Pictures : show

Including the oh-so-phallic squash.

Attack everything with a knife, and spend ages getting nice thin slices of squash – only to remember way too late that you have a mandolin especially for this sort of job. Idiot.

Basically, you put the chicken in the tray with the chilli, herbs and oil, and arrange the squash around it, adding some cream over the squash. It looks very pretty 🙂

Get the onion and celery started for the risotto.

Add the rice and start the long stirring process. Interestingly, most common advice is to stir constantly. When I did my Italian cookery course, the instructor told us not to stir any more than necessary. I tend to come in the middle somewhere. I just can’t be bothered with constant stirring 🙂

Adding stock and getting rather large.

Add in asparagus and tomato. This is just to make the risotto a bit more interesting, and is a combination of a couple of Jamie’s risotto recipes. This is one of the reasons I like risotto, you get the basic recipe right, and you can add pretty much anything to it.

See – there is a spoon – it’s right there! My ever-present tasting spoon – a requirement whatever you’re cooking really, but a real must when making risotto to check when it’s done.

The finished risotto which is now clearly way too much for two people, and the rest went into a tupperware in the fridge for lunch the next day.

Serve. A nice clean-looking plate. I could have made more of an effort with the squash probably.

Oops

2 months since my last post.

Must do better.