What's for Dinner (Lunch, Elevenses, Second Breakfast, etc.)

[chrisboote]

Made some hot cross ... muffins, definitely muffins ... today

Texture of muffins (a little dense due to not rising properly after proving) taste of hot cross buns

I made 12

7 left

[Catch-up]

We had a chicken curry with peppers, onion and couscous last night, followed up by gourmet s'mores. My sister sent me the s'mores kit and extra marshmallows from a bakery in New Mexico. There were regular flavored marshmallows, lemon lavender and coffee.

[steeljam]

Went shopping today; got pasta and rice.
The butchers was open so got lamb and pork chops plus some Cumberland sausages
Tonight we are having Spaghetti Bolognese. Tomorrow it is lamb kebab and Monday it will be pork casserole.
I love when a Plan comes together.

[Sandra]

We were going to have steak tonight, with mutton shoulder tomorrow and lamb chops monday...

The mutton shoulder has been defrosting for three days and still looks like a hazard to shipping, it stopped the steak defrosting - so lamb chops it is (they were fresh from the butchers).

Next week I expect to be making mutton left-overs (probably for the freezer).

[phalarope]

You would think being in the seafood capital of Maryland, I would be swimming in it. Alas, with restaurants closed the seafood market is collapsing. But today, after making 3 phone calls, I found a wholesaler willing to do retail. Scored fresh, wiggling soft crabs and a pint of shucked oysters. Woot! Doing my part for our watermen!

I had to roam an entire processing plant and go through a door marked Employees Only to find anybody. (It's a different world down here) Four people were cleaning and wrapping soft crabs to beat the band. One woman wrapping dressed crabs could have been a young Anoia, complete with ciggie. She was wrapping a crab every six seconds, though! Me, I was wearing gloves and a cloth mask.

Pan sauteed crabs for today's lunch. Fried oysters will be tomorrow's dinner. Probably the last of the season - it closed Tuesday, and aquaculture oysters are too expensive.

[Stibbons]

Roasted onion and butternut squash risotto with sage (couldn't get fresh) and goat's cheese. Very tasty. Bacon sandwiches for lunch (HP sauce on mine). Before dinner spent an hour out on the balcony, The Lady with couple of bottles of Crabbies, me with a rather nice tempranillo. Oh, and breakfast was porridge, with bananana for her, cinnamon and sultanas for me.

[Nonny Mouse]

Chicken piccata with grilled artichokes. This was actually my daughter's home ec project.

Ah! But I made crepes yesterday. I didn't think I could without a special pan, but apparently you totally can. they weren't as good as the ones made on the big irons, but they were pretty darn good and had a lovely texture. Then, because I'd always wanted to, I set some on fire and made en flambe.

That was an adventure, and not as hard as I thought it would be. Not perfect, but new and fun and pretty tasty.

[Stibbons]

Chicken and chorizo jambalaya tonight. This serves 4. Chop 2 chicken breasts (or one huge one like we had) and stick it in a pan to fry up and brown. Chop up a chorizo sausage (finer than the chicken) and bung that in as well, Fry it all up in the pan for 5-10 mins and take off the heat and pour out into a bowl, making sure you collect all that thick red gloopy juice that cooking has generated (esp. if you're using cheap chicken, which I was). Assemble the foundation of Cajun cooking; onions (2), garlic (lots), celery (2 sticks) and peppers (2 each of red and green). Chop 'em all up quite coarse (1 to 1/2 cm chunks) and start 'em all frying up and sweating in the same pan with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, give it 10-15 mins then chuck the meat back in (and the gloop). Season with Cajun seasoning (I have no shame, couple of teaspoons full), garlic granules, black pepper, paprika and a bit of extra chilli powder or Spicy Season All (TM). Bung the rice (50g per person) on top and stir it all through to coat everything with everything else, then add two tins of chopped tomatoes and a pint of chicken stock. Keep stirring. Add that one inspirational British addition to international cuisine, a couple of drops of Worcestershire sauce, also a squirt of tomato puree. Keep stirring, don't be afraid to add more water (or stock) if it looks like drying out. Can bulk out with chickpeas if you want (smeg knows I've got enough of those lurking at the back of the cupboards right now). Simmer for 40 mins or so until the rice is soft and has absorbed most of the cooking liquid. Take off the heat, cover and rest for 10 mins or so while you lay the table and get the beers ready. Serve. Eat. Have extras. Put the remainder in the fridge for lunch or dinner tomorrow, depending on how much you've just scoffed, you greedy gits. Have another beer to celebrate.

Works for me.

[Stibbons]

Roast loin of pork tonight. Wrapped it around a couple of peeled onions and seasoned with salt, garlic granules and mixed herbs (alas, no sage). Parboiled some potatoes and have just chucked them in with it to roast. In 15 mins or so will start the carrots boiling and add peas 10 mins later. 25 mins or so will take roast out of the oven to rest and stick the onions and potatoes in a separate dish and back in the oven to keep warm. With the fat from the roasting make up a gravy, using the water from the veg (and remembering to sluice it around the roasting pan first to pick up the BCBs (burnt crunchy bits, adds to the colour). Warm the gravy boat (yes we have a gravy boat, dead posh, us) and serve. Yum.

We got an Ocado delivery slot tomorrow! Like hen's teeth those are, have ordered a leg of lamb and a load of other fresh meat. The freezer will be full! Have also found a recipe for roasting tinned chickpeas in the oven and spicing them up to create a crunchy bar snack at home. Gotta use up all these chickpeas somehow...

[Pat]

Since lockdown, Jan has made three different sorts of bread and I have made scones, Chelsea buns and hot cross buns.

We have come to an important conclusion: bakeries exist for a reason.

[phalarope]

One of our local farmers' markets opened yesterday, complete with CDC social distancing guidelines. Drive-through only. Pre-orders recommended, though not required. All the vendors in masks and gloves, with some very creative recipticles-onna-stick for exchanging cash at a 6-foot distance. Two pounds of asparagus have been converted into asparagus and potato soup, and a pound of fresh local crab meat is destined for crab cakes and cream of crab soup today.

[Nonny Mouse]

Since lockdown, Jan has made three different sorts of bread and I have made scones, Chelsea buns and hot cross buns.

We have come to an important conclusion: bakeries exist for a reason.

I tried my hand at hot cross buns too. Um. I think I can do better.

[Catch-up]

I made spaghetti carbonara for the first time last night. Turned out pretty good! I goofed though. I put in our usual amount of pasta not thinking about how much pasta the recipe called for. So I should have added more egg and cheese. Next time! I also made brownies, Mickey Mouse and Doctor Who shaped.

[steeljam]

We had Stibbons' Chicken and chorizo jambalaya last night. Excellent.
Tonight was pork loin and tomato kebab on a bead of brown rice with salad.

[chrisboote]

Tonight was something new

Bobotie meatballs and cheese-free Shakshuka

We are supposed to be in South Africa right now, so I did South African food