Off Topic Distancing special - what are you eating tonight?

Using up various bit and pieces that were getting to their 'use by' date, I made a pasta bake for me and the kids this evening comprising: sausages, cut up strips of pork loins, the odd pork meatball, mushrooms, red onion, courgettes, peppers and a jar of BBQ oven bake, topped off with a liberal sprinkling of grated cheddar.

Really rather pleasant.

























And only one of us had the ****s afterwards.

 

As you all seem to be getting to the backs of pantry and bottoms of freezers have a look at the supercook app
Type in whatever ingredients you have and it finds you some recipes

 

A spectacular looking roast fore rib of beef cooking tonight, with all the Sunday trimmings.

This requires a serious drink so the Barolo is open.

 

I was very tempted by the lamb today, then I saw the beef and could not resist.

Man the Barolo was good. Thankfully the dogs paw is back to normal so we have had a long walk (only saw two other people, on the other side of the road) to help dinner settle.

 

Starts at around £15, and that’s a nice drink. Goes up rapidly from there. My palate isn’t sophisticated enough to tell whether a £40 bottle is that much better than a £20 one.

It’s a Nebbiolo grape, from north Italy/Piedmont, there are other wines which use the same grape.

 

I’m told that opening a bottle early to let it ‘breathe’ is useless, just starts to let the wine deteriorate. Decanting and drinking immediately or simply swirling round a bit in the glass gets enough air into it to get the full taste. And it’s worth it with a decent wine.

Another really good, and usually less expensive but harder to find over here, Nebbiolo wine is Inferno, a sub region of Valtellina Superiore, a long valley in the Italian Alps in Lombardy with south facing slopes. Inferno is from around Sondrio, near the top of Lake Como. I found it by mistake when I lived in Milan, picked up from a supermarket shelf because I liked the name (Hell). My boss saw a bottle when he was round at my place (it was a very relaxed job) and commented ‘****ing hell, is that the house red?’ That’s when my very limited interest in wine began.

Fish and chips tonight. From packets.

 

Me neither re the drinking, I find I enjoy the weekends more. Plus I was drinking chilled white wine as a thirst quencher, which probably isn’t wise.

The downside of roast lamb is the Lingering smell of lamb fat.

 

I'm not as self-restrained as you two. Our rule has always been that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are dry days and that the weekend starts on Thursday. No change during lock-down.

 

I count Friday night as the weekend....

 

I’m trying not to drink in the week, but can argue when does it start and end.
Tonight it’s veg mince, broccoli and peanuts with udon noodles

 

Bubble and squeak...with cold meat and pickled onions!! hum....

 

Tonight it was a lovely line caught cod loin with creamy parsley sauce, mash, carrots and peas. Followed by the wife's victoria sponge cake...

 

Tonight I prepared a delicious vegan sausage, tomato and herb sauce, with chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, vegan sausages and assorted herbs.
This was eaten on a bed of basmati rice.

 

One for Casa Col (nearly) a fresh and hyper tasty pasta bake - red peppers, chestnut mushrooms, a fresh chilli, 4 or 5 crushed cloves of garlic and some fresh rosemary mix all up with olive oil bit of salt and chilli flakes, cook for 20 minutes, then add couple of cans of chopped toms, lots of black pepper and cooked fusilli. Top with (these bits not for vegans but sure there are some alternatives) dollops of pesto genovese, slices of goats cheese and a handful of grated parmigiano. Cook for another 30 minutes, feast.

Non booze night, low alcohol Brooklyn lager again. It’s not bad.

Both wife and daughter have baked today (I foraged some flour at last) so we have home made cookies and cake on tap as well.

 

After a day in the garden weeding, trimming and tidying, a very simple favourite tonight, lemon baked salmon with a mixed salad and citrus chilli dressing. Polished off the victoria sponge with some custard...