31st August 2020

Sometimes it is really difficult to decide what to cook over the coming week, I like to make sure we don’t constantly have the same things, that we try different recipes, that it is balanced and that all tastes and requests are catered for.

I bought a chicken for today from the butchers but unusually had not thought about exactly what to do with it, I had thought I would decide later but it was just one of those times that the day was here and I had put no thought into it at all. 

I was in the kitchen pondering what to make when Victoria said how nice a roast would be as it had been several months since we last had one.  The temperature has dropped and as a family of gravy lovers we always enjoy them. 

In the freezer I had wing tips which are perfect for gravy and last week I needed mushrooms for a recipe and had some leftover and thought a mushroom stuffing would be a great addition.  My son, Matt absolutely loves mushrooms and they are so good with chicken.  I have never made a vegetarian stuffing so was a little unsure as to how it would turn out but actually I really didn’t need to worry because it was absolutely delicious.  

 A perfect side dish for roast chicken is a good old South African potato bake.  It is really super easy and so so delicious.  Whenever I make potato bake it just doesn’t last in this house no matter how much I make because, even if there are leftovers they are gone before the end of the day as even cold it tastes fabulous. Nobody seems to have any control with the potato bake. A good friend of mine taught me how to ‘steam’ vegetables with a microwave and a carrier bag and I have never looked back. I love that the vegetables are not cooked in water and so when you add them to a sauce nothing is watered down and it is so much quicker, so easy and so perfect. 

To steam your vegetables, take a clean carrier bag, put in your vegetables and tie a knot in the bag.  Chuck into the microwave for 5 mins, take it out of the microwave extremely carefully, jiggle it and put back.  For potatoes I tend to cook for 10-15 mins, for other vegetables less but you can feel through the bag and get a good idea of how they feel. 

I also remade mosbolletjies and amarula butter as I've recently changed phones and lost 6,000 images (facepalm) so lots of recipes no longer have images. I’ll just have to get cooking and fatten everybody up.

I sat outside this morning in the sunshine reading Dominique Ansel’s Secret Recipes. I really do want to learn how to make his cronuts although it is a 3 day mission. One for Christmas perhaps.