5th day of January today and up to our elbows in frost and ice. We are expecting 30cm of snow tonight. Very unusual for the South Coast of England. Its also cold. Not Canadian cold, I admit, or Danish cold but for us wussie Southerners it is quite cold enough. We have a couple of candles burning in the sitting room to give the illusion of heat! We do have the central heating on It is on 15 degrees but it is actually keeping us pretty warm. All the curtains (which are thermal lined anyway) are closed up tight and we have fluffy blankets to snuggle up under.
I am also sticking with my internal central heating plans. Porridge for breakfast, soups and stews at all other times. Scrummy, warming, economical. Last evening we had tomato soup. Tomatoes were reduced to 10p per bag in ASDA. Some garlic, onion, coriander spice (not the leaf) and cumin were fried off in olive oil. Add the tomatoes, five green chillies chopped and chicken stock and simmer for 90minutesish. Really tasty but next time more stock as it got a bit thick near the end.
Today I cooked. A reduced piece of pork in the middle of a large tin (that i had for Christmas actually), a portion of my home made chicken stock, more of the ASDA reduced tomatoes and lots of ASDA seriously reduced new potatoes. These were £2 a bag down to 20p. A few carrots and mushrooms, an onion, some slices of french sausage. Near the end i added pinto beans. The spice from the sausage made other spices unnecessary. It looks and tastes a bit like casoulet.
I love having the week off work. I hope I can continue cooking, shopping and so on with the same enthusiasm when I get back to work.
It sounds so yummy! Just curious, do you use a slow cooker much or always on the hob?
ReplyDeleteHi Kadeeae. I dont get on too well with the slow cooker unfortunately. I have tried so many times but nothing is as good as a pan on the hob for me. It could be that my slow cooker is so old (wedding present in 1989) that it just isnt hot enough for the job. The additional heat isnt wasted though as it is keeping the kitchen nice and warm instead of needing to be heated. I do love my pressure cooker but I am scared of it a bit too.
ReplyDeleteLizzie