Pdlyons's Weblog
NOT THIS FUCKIN TIME!
remember cooking is a sacred art
so second v&t a grammatic incorrection because properly it should be G&T but only have vodka left over from the tincturing; another benefit of tincture making is that there’s always a jug of left over vodka some where. making veggie soup with white beans, side salad and some crusty bread for dinner, and listening to Kathleen Edwards Failer album while doing so, and typing away while waiting for things to boil n cook etc. soups on and about ready, beans done and added to soup, Stock: quartered onion sauteed with two crushed garlic cloves in olive oil, add rough chopped 3-4 sticks celery with leaves, a good sized carrot & a half chopped diagonally in rough thicknesses, some baby corn chopped & sauteed with other stuff. add abt 1 quarter cup of white dry wine, ten mins or so later add a good dose (one small can) of tomato paste ,and then a pint n a half of water bring to boil n simmer while beans cook. cook beans with a few garlic unpeeled cloves n a few sage leaves ( add a few sage leaves n parsley to your soup stock as well a small handful of dried parsley) drain beans when soft, add to soup remove skins from bean garlic, and mash then add to soup; garlic should make a nice paste at this point. cook together until veg are the texture you like. serve over separately cooked al dente pasta.
tip: all recipes are starting points, a place you can jump off of. cooking without intuition is just drudge
tip#2 remember that food creates the bodies of those you love your family n yourself ( if you dont love yourself yet then please start right now!) and that our bodies while not us are a really useful tool for the life we have at this moment.
so take steamed chicken breast (left over) shred – take two forks and pull in opposing directions, put in bowl, chop green olives, say abt half-dozen, dice half onion, tomatoes sauce few table spoons left over from aubergine sauce, add cumin good dash. bit a salt n black pepper, chopped sweet red bell pepper, if you want heat use chiles or whatever you got, heat together in sauce pan get it hot a few splashes of wine and tomatoes past to get a consistency, mix in a cup or less cooked rice, lay into and wrap up in corn tortillas, put some cheese in first – shreds of whatever you got last night used swiss, and some mozzarella, wrap, top with a bit of olive oil and if theres any sauce left and some more cheese. heat in oven in oven proof dish or pan, when cheese melts and gets a bit crisp take out and eat. served with beer and a rocket dry salad, some fresh tomatoes for garnish. works.
today our breakfast routine oat meal , organic oats with a few tablespoons of flax seeds (whole n cracked) cooked with organic milk( not water), served with dash butter, spoon of honey – takes 7mins to cook. fresh lemon juice with vitamin pills and st johns tincture, horse-tail tincture.
tip: no matter what you have for breakfast start off each day with black coffee in bed. (by now you should no better regarding too much dairy and too much sugar – so choose your use carefully, milk in oatmeal infinitely better than milk in coffee, and then your done with milk for the day. yeas we use cheeses in cooking but when you shred you can use less and get more flavours out of that less, also goats and blue cheeses are more beneficial and not matter what go for quality – a cheap cheese is most likely lots of additives and fatatives) any way coffee in bed – very important!
tip #2
be open to learning new things: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/11/fort-hood-tragedy.html even if you need to be brave to do so.
tip#3
Laurie Anderson home of the brave IS good yoga music!!
http://www.laurieanderson.com/
Lunch: two, two egg omelets, two eggs,chives sNp, whisked, splash of olive oil in a non stick pan, low heat, whisk eggs pour in let cook, when you can get it to come up on you egg turner, lay some rocket into the middle, fold in half, split into two pieces so you can handle easier, flip over cook until slightly golden brown. serve with more black coffee and oj and some greens and a slice of your best homemade bread. Use abt a six-inch pan, not too big!
dinner – white beans with light tomato sauce served over pasta, use white wine and garlic and thyme in sauce, use parmesan as garnish, make a proper tossed salad of red leaf lettuce, rocket (of course) shalots shred of carrot, balsamic,xtra virgin, sNp pinch of mustard and raspberry jam. (boil beans in a veg. stock of shredded carrot,chopped celery,left over half of red bell pepper, chopped onion – handful, some parsley and oregano, saute veg in olive oil when soft add beans which were soaked over night, toss around add just enough water to cover, cook, add water if needed as you go, oh yeah a dash of wine after veg soften, also add a few bits of garlic while sauteing, to add a subtle heat add whole chile, take out after sauteing is finished – before you add water. a few bay leaves never go astray leave in untill beans are cooked then take away the leaves, bay leaves were used a an ancient roman poison, while not toxic in and of themselves, the remain sharp enough to cut the internal organs during digestion, so the old roams would grind them small enough to be crunchy but not impossible to eat, especially if your were full of wine, and even if you visited the vomitorium theyd get you as they came out that way so there you go.) anyway use abt a cup of beans, when cooked mix with a cup or two of tomato sauce. done.
so today is leftovers. well not exactly re-heats but tweaked up a bit. lunch: carrot soup (i can go small dose for myself if enough pepper is used) then take a few slices from your best made bread, toast bread lightly, lay a slice of ham on each, cover with saute mushrooms : take about 8oz or more or less whatever slice thin dump into dry skillet over the lowest heat add small glug white wine or elses a few tblspoons water, add a bit pinch of herb(s) I used a pinch of basil but whatever you think will go, half cover till reduced then uncover get rid of liquid (cook it off), add fair bit of parsley and butter continue till they are they way you like em. spoon over ham n bread, sprinkle some chives, layer with gruyere shreds (or swiss is nice or whatever you like remember cheddars are usually very oily) put under warm grill till melted.
served with plain dry rocket greens on side and with a bowl of carrot soup. you can put mustard a thin coat on toast before ham etc. i like a good strong english mustard. i also like to sprinkle chile flakes on the melted cheese. any way these little open sandwiches work a treat when dressing up carrot soup left overs, especially if you dont like carrot soup.
tonight will steam some chicken breast till just cooked, juicy and moist still, lay them into oven dish cover with aubergine sauce from yesterday, first prep sauce by heating with a whole chile pepper to get a subtle bit of heat if i had green greek olives i’d slice them up n throw them in but i dont. wonder if capers will work? then cover with lid and let it get good and hot, at the end maybe some Parmesan and whatever other cheeses and back in until melts. set oven 200C for this. shelly thinks capers will work! so thats what we’ll do. serve with side of pasta and some greens.
Morgan still under the weather. dosing with tinctures and dr who video festivals. gets to lay on the sofa by the fire watching her beloved dr. while getting tended to by the parental units. better today was able to do some school work with mom, keeping up with her irish language studies. got to sleep in mom n dads bed last night, nothing like the old tried n true remedies. she gets st.johns, elder, horse-tail, lavender, and sometimes star anise. Mostly i think the tinctures are placeboc and the true medicine is the Dr. who shows …
ready steady
So today left this morning to drop off Morgan at school. went into mullingar to look for yeast. a specific brand… no luck. then over to watch Morgans school at their swimming lessons. she’s come a long way since last year. now shes no fear and stroking away. Back home with some lovely squids from the market. meanwhile the black beans are ready to cook so i dont want to even imagine combining them – plus we have some lovely fresh salmon which we cannot leave until tomorrow. beautiful red organic salmon filets. so… black bean chile cook today serve another day…
plus olive oil cumin oregono cumin corriander chiles cayenne white wine
Then because Michelle has to go out tonight and she’ll be driving which means she cant have wine the meal, i’ll make the squid with tomato sauce and peas for tomorrow night. which gives us time to get a decent wine for the occasion, my first irish squids!
before
Morgan was quite impressed with the eyes and tentacles and the lovely black ink. do we have to eat the ink dad? not enough for a sauce this time so no morg, we dont have to eat the ink.
after, but still a way to go
now all they need some shalots shredded carrots olive oil garlic fresh rosemary tomatoes bit of sugar bit or red wine parsley and peas. ( will add the peas tomorrow)
and yes got some more of those fantastic carrots!!! just great things for soup as you know, for sauce bases, for salads, for photos and just love to carry them through the shopping centre. holding them by the tops swaying with my foot steps as if they were wiggling like a brace of living rabbits….
earth sun wind rain
dirty is best
Tip for the day: in case like me you didnt know – leave the carrots dirty untill needed, if you clean them they get soft quick and then you have to use them all in a big pot of soup which is ok if you have no other plans for your carrots. other wise dirty til needed.
Tomorrow some photos of finished stuff at least some views into the pots. For all you adorable public….til we met again!
