Fiction, Food, Faith and everything in-between

The cold weather is upon us and I have the flu. I felt a bit odd on Saturday morning but I decided to cook lentils and Chinese Chicken and Broccoli. I also made a Chocolate Babka with some lovely Godiva chocolate which was given to me as a thank you present. By evening I felt very unwell and then the snow came and I went to bed. I think flu does something to your brain. I managed to sleep very deeply and then I woke up at 3.30am and decided it was a great time to make mulled wine. I didn't even taste it. I just put everything in the pot, heated it, heated water for my hot water bottles and returned to bed.  My head still feels like cotton wool and I really need to rest instead of answering emails. Maybe drink some of the mulled wine. In the midst if the flu and snow, I was struck by how comforting the food is. The Lentils just slid down my sore throat and made me nice and sleepy. I haven't had the flu for the past 3 ye...

There is something deeply comforting about meat and potatoes. Whether it is roast, fried, boiled, sautéed or barbecued, a meat and potato combo = comfort.  It is even more comforting when the meat and potatoes are wrapped up in pastry. A good pie is just right for wet, wintery weather. I made this meat and potato pie from a Paul Hollywood recipe. It was lovely but I think I prefer pie crust at the bottom and the top. In this recipe the pie crust is only for topping. I made the filling and added extra herbs and seasoning but I should have left some of the sauce in the pie. I managed to make a decent pastry. I am not a great fan of making pastry.  but this turned out ok. I didn't trim it. When the pie was ready I just broke of the edges and ate them. Why waste good pie crust? All in all it was a very nice dish, and delicious with broccoli 🥦 😋 👌.

I have had a number of mishaps in the kitchen today. I think it is because I am preparing for my new role and cooking at the same time. I decided to cook a loaf of  Cholla for a friend and added two lots of salt by mistake. I then made a quick soda loaf so that I would have something to give her.  The Cholla was much too salty. The soda loaf was ok but a bit underdone in the middle. I discovered this because my friend didn't turn up and I cut the loaf in half so that I could put it in the freezer. I saved it by sticking it back in the oven.  I also decided to make Blondie Cake from the Jamie Oliver 'One' cookbook. Alas I left it in the over too long. Happily it still tastes fab! Who knew that plum jam and crunchy peanut butter could be so delicious in an overbaked cake!  A couple of days ago I tried to make Samosas for the first time. The pastry was too thick and the Samosas didn't hold their shape but once again they tasted great. ...

I made a sausage roast for the first time ever. It is a Tom Kerridge recipe which I saw him make on the food channel. I also made roast potatoes and roast broccoli. There is something so comforting and so traditional about a roast meal. It always feels like coming home to me. It reminds me of my childhood and sitting round the Sunday dinner table with my parents and two sisters. I loved those meals which often ended up with apple pie and ice cream 🍦. Apple pie and ice cream, and a nice roast dinner are my favourite foods.  I also made squid and chorizo. I love chorizo and squid but I don't really know how to cook squid well. I am getting there though.  A couple of weeks ago I had jerk squid at a restaurant and it made me realise that cooking squid nicely is actually an art form. The restaurant failed because their squid was dry, fried to death and tasteless. Why have something on your menu if you can't cook it properly? In any case my new challenge is to learn how...

I love to spend time in the kitchen over the weekend before the hassle of the week. I like to batch cook during the weekend and it means that I don't have to cook again until the end of the week.  One thing the lock down enabled was the ability to slow down because we were not racing to the office. I want to hold onto that sense of slowing down timeven though I will soon be starting a new and demanding job. I think planning and batch cooking can help with this. Good cook books and easy recipes can also help. I have some of these Emmental pastries in my freezer and also a few odd loaves of bread. Sometimes I eat these when the busyness becomes unavoidable and other time they make nice gifts for friends. This Paprika Chicken from Jamie Oliver's One book was very easy to make. Being able to make quick dishes is often so much better than local takeaways and also cheaper.  I do love a takeaway but I do prefer my own cooking. Planning ...

Yay for this lovely cookbook. This is the October cookbook for the Jamie Oliver cookbook club and I love it. It us a great book full of stories and colourful pictures. The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are accessible. A few pictures below. I made Somali Spiced Tea (Shaah Cadays) It is like a very spicy chai, very spicy! Definitely a good one for winter. Chicken with garlic and ginger(Akoho Misy Sakamalao) from Madagascar.  Fish in a coconut sauce. Coril de Peix Coro) from Mozambique. and Kachumbari which is Tomatoe and Onion Salad but Kachumbari sounds nicer. The book doesn't say where the salad is from (unless I missed that part) but according to Google Kachumbari is popular in East Africa.  They are all tasty and easy to make.

I love cooking and this October we have a new book in the Jamie Oliver Cookbook Club. It is 'Bibi's Kitchen.' It is another great book and I have been cooking a few things here and there. I made Date Bread this morning and it was surprisingly easy to make. Over the past couple of weeks I made Zanzibar Pilau Rice. It is seasoned with Cardamoms and cinnamon stick and tastes really fragrant. You have to try and hunt for the Cardamom and Cinnamon and retrieve them before serving. I made Doro Wat to go.with the rice. This is a spicy stewed chicken which is supposed to be eaten with hard boiled eggs. I skipped the eggs because I am not really a fan. I also made stewed Spinach otherwise known as Zebhi Hamli. It is great to find a way to eat Spinach. I think mine had a bit too much Tomatoe but it still tasted great and went nicely with the Doro Wat and rice. I also beans which are called Kunde in the book and I made ...