Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

Good evening everyone,

Farway wrote: »

S


I like the look of the pickled shallots Caron, depending on onion / shallots availability I may try that

Sorry missed this earlier, it's definitely worth making and I usually sub the birds eye chilli for a teaspoon of chilli flakes or a home dried chilli mainly because that's what I tend to have lurking. I have a bought jar this year though that was given to me by friends that they say are rather good. I'll crack those open on Boxing Day along with the pickled walnuts and other stashed pickly bits.:)


The rain has continued pretty much all day though gave odd teaser that it was drying up before suddeningly returning with a torrential downpour.:eek: The forecast euphemistically said "turning chilly" and it's not wrong it's definitely on the baltic side!


Very easy dinner tonight with the fishcake & chips from the freezer, just some veg to quickly prep and nuke and it's good to go. I'll be doing a bit of cooking over the weekend though as my sis & nephew are coming for dinner. I've promised a HM pie and a "proper" pudding. I have chicken thighs and diced gammon from the freezer defrosting so I can get the pie filling made tomorrow. I'm going to make either Eve's pudding or a steamed apple sponge for pud so I can have a play with my new standmixer:D. Custard has been bought as I cba making it from scratch though probably should as I've loads of eggs!

unrecordings

Saw this cheeky bit of marketing creep into the news today. Morrisons launch vegan pork pies, but won't stock them in Melton Mowbray to 'avoid offending the locals'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-50687895

caronc

Yes I saw that and still can't get my head round why they have to involve pork in it's name anyway:mad:. I'm sure they could have come up with something more apt. I'm not sure about others but I'd be much more inclined to buy something that wasn't trying so hard to mimic something it's not...
While not vegan, though easily veggie depending on the cheese, my son and I have agreed these are definitely on the make list over the festive period as I usually make dauphinoise at some point and end with LOs of it. Some nice sharp pickles, crisp salad, possibly some cold cuts and a large glass of red and I'll happily feel my arteries furring up!:rotfl:https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/25/observer-food-monthly-20-best-christmas-baking-recipes-ravneet-gill-dauphinoise-pies-potato-cheese

unrecordings

caronc wrote: »

Yes I saw that and still can't get my head round why they have to involve pork in it's name anyway:mad:. I'm sure they could have come up with something more apt. I'm not sure about others but I'd be much more inclined to buy something that wasn't trying so hard to mimic something it's not...
While not vegan, though easily veggie depending on the cheese, my son and I have agreed these are definitely on the make list over the festive period as I usually make dauphinoise at some point and end with LOs of it. Some nice sharp pickles, crisp salad, possibly some cold cuts and a large glass of red and I'll happily feel my arteries furring up!:rotfl:https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/25/observer-food-monthly-20-best-christmas-baking-recipes-ravneet-gill-dauphinoise-pies-potato-cheese

I'm looking forward to the mother of all bubble & squeak and don't have to worry too much much about furry arteries as fortunately I'm on Fragmin for my oedema :mad:

As for Morrisons, they've probably run out of meaty puns that aren't already trademarked

caronc

B&S is most definitely on the menu for Boxing Day - wouldn't be Christmas without it and the only way my nephew will ever eat more than a token bite of a sprout. We do tease him that he must be a "Changeling" as the rest us adore them, when they were small they were one of the few brassicas my younger son would happily eat without having to hide them in soup!
I get how there is a push to make plant-based eating more appealing & recognisable but the "meaty" puns do nothing for me just shout "processed, processed, processed" - a bit like their meat equivalents I know:eek: but as a happy meat eater who enjoys and eats a lot of non-meat food it just doesn't hook me at all, in the Morrison's example something like "Vegan picnic pie" or similiar would make me much more likely to try it.

unrecordings

Agree with what you're saying, it feels like rather than meat alternatives, the focus is on facsimile

On a related note, it's sausage & mash tomorrow, first try of those vegan Richmond sausages

caronc

unrecordings wrote: »

Agree with what you're saying, it feels like rather than meat alternatives, the focus is on facsimile

On a related note, it's sausage & mash tomorrow, first try of those vegan Richmond sausages

Hope they have a better texture than the meat ones :cool:.

Brambling

Boxing day for us is traditionally jacket potato with cold cuts, pickles and LO stuffing, although this year we are going to friends and their sons' OH is vegan so there will be some lovely vegan food as well, my friend is a good cook and ensures all guests are cooked for

I'm not very keen on pork pie or sausage rolls but I do like veggie alternative like cheese and onion rolls or homity pie.

Wet and horrible day although the temperature had gone up to 11 when I drove to work this morning, personally I'll take it 10 degrees colder if it's dry. The wet meant I ended up working through lunch :cool:

I managed to get the work I needed done by the end of today well before 5pm :T even with a panic call to a colleague in China to resolve an issue with some data she had sent me. I'm off Monday and Tuesday and Christmas lunch on Thursday so a half week next week

Lunch today was LO risotto from last night which tasted just as good microwave as it did last night . I followed your beige theme dinner Caronc with a slightly CBA meal of breaded cod fillet, chips cooked in the air fryer and tinned sweetcorn.

Farway

Rain's stopped but not going anywhere today, my only planned outside trip is empty the tea leaves bucket onto the garden before the rain returns


Usual porridge breakfast
Lunch, thinking of scrambled eggs on toast, the LO bread is so stale that toast, or bin is the only option with it now


Dinner, following the coloured themed CFO dinners it seems, mine is red today.

Pasta BBE 2011, with red [tomato] pasta with tinned salmon or maybe tuna stirred in. If I CBA I may use some of the stale bread to make[STRIKE] cretins[/STRIKE] croutons

PasturesNew wrote: »

I forgot to mention, when I was in L1dl I spotted something...

If you think you might have a vegetarian suddenly appear and need feeding over Xmas, get one of these in your basket. Just £1.99 at L1dl.

https://www.artisangrains.co.uk/our-range/nut-roasts/

For many years I ate a freshly prepared nut roast every Xmas Day - it's a LOT of shopping/faff and I asked the cook of that "if you had to buy a packet that was as close to yours as possible, which would you suggest?" and they said this one. So I bought one last year, never used it, it's in storage

I also spotted them yesterday & was slightly tempted on a just in case basis, but I've still got, like you, one unused nut loaf from last XCFO, mine's a frozen one though:o

caronc

Good morning everyone,

Back to wild & wet here with gales forcast from this afternoon. The weather was the same this time last year as it was when I got my stove installed. Hard to believe it's been in for a year!!
While it's still relatively calm I've done the bin run and double checked everything is still secure, the wind is really raw making it feel much colder than it actually is. Next door's cat was pressed up against my patio doors desperate to get in when I got up this morning. He's been conked out on my sofa ever since.... I suspect his owner was on early shift and the cat had wanted out then refused to come back in. He'll go home when he's ready.
Lunch today will be another pastrami sandwich and tonight probably pasta unless something else inspires me.