Most of us have it on Monday....apparently

Nope, not sex. A nice bowl of Spag Bol. 

Recent research carried out by an energy company reveals that Monday's the night for the 'average' family to indulge in this family-friendly stalwart. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/258024


So, how do you like yours? A lovingly-simmered ragu or a jar of Ragu?  Seems we all have our favourite way, from the tried and tested routine, to the riskier numbers.

Put your hands up if your first experience was with Mr Henry Heinz. He launched the tinned variety in England in 1966 - I can imagine our mums' excitement at this cosmopolitan addition to the larder.  A quick and easy route to the piazzas of Roma.  


As bistro fever took over, we moved a little closer to the traditional version. Something that Italians might nearly recognise. A pork and beef mix, chicken livers, red wine, simmered, al dente pasta and Parmesan.


My childhood version was slightly removed from this. Always a packet mix and always with chips. A 'N Chips' dinner. Al Dente spaghetti? "Al Dente? Never heard of him" said Mum. Bless her xxx


Cheddar reigned supreme. Had to have a conversation before we moved onto the Napolina tub of Parmesan.


Our familial roots inspire tweaks too. In the Montgomery-Gibbs household, I can just imagine the wonderful Garth unveiling his bobotie-inspired creation. Not sure how it was received, but I bet he was proud of it.


A Germanic twist for colleague Marc includes pork, lamb and peppers. My idea of comfort food heaven replaces tagliatelle with lokshen. Instant memories of Nanny whose simmered Spag Bol soothed fractious nerves on many a Saturday night.


G, living in the East Midlands, takes advantage of his fantastic local produce and serves up a venison ragu.  Ooh la la....


The hubby's version very much depends on the kind of day he's had. A bad day, and we've got a heady mix of lea & perrins, red wine with a scant offering of mince.


I make mine in the crockpot. Start it off in the morning, and walk through the door to a lovely aroma. Guaranteed to put a smile on the face of a nine-year old. I don't ask for much more than that.


So no matter how we all do it, it seems that we just can't get enough of it. Especially on a Monday night (:)

I feel like chicken tonight....

Continue to feel bleurgh. There was only one thing for it last night... suet, and lots of it! Chicken and vegetable stew. This one can be tweaked to include whatever's in the fridge. I would normally make this on a Monday to use up the Sunday roast leftovers.

And here's how I did it.  Preheated oven to 180c. Boneless chicken thighs (about 900g) rolled in seasoned flour and browned off in schmaltz (cures all ills, trust me!) along with a large chopped onion.  Deglazed the pan with some chicken stock and added a herb combo of parley, sage, thyme and bay leaves.

I'd visited "Cheapo Corner" in Tesco's earlier, so I had a nice array of vegetables to include.  I chopped half a swede (15p bargain!), parsnips, chantenay carrots, potatoes and a few stray mushrooms. Like to aim for five-a-day and this is a great way of making sure Lou gets everything he needs, whether he knows it or not! Every little helps, eh *with an affectionate nod to my Catmag colleagues*.

Put everything into a large casserole dish along with 75g of pearl barley. Added around two pints of chicken stock (if I have to use a cube, I normally use the Telma range) but please keep an eye on the liquid as you may wish to adapt. I tend to find the barley really soaks up the stock so recommend checking at regular intervals, especially at the latter cooking stage.

Everything mixed and seasoned, popped into the oven for an hour and a half. And then off to suet-heaven.

I combined 75g reduced-fat suet, 150g self-raising flour, chopped flat-leaf parsley, pinch of salt and two teaspoons of Colman's mustard powder, then slowly added enough water to make a slightly sticky dough. Should make around 16 dumplings. Must be Lou's Polish heritage - it's a struggle to stop him eating just dumplings and no stew. Same for me, actually.

Buzzer gone, I checked the chicken was cooked, topped up with some extra stock, and added the dumplings. After approx 25 minutes, we had crusty dumplings, tender pearl barley and more vegetables than you could shake a stick at. The sauce should be fairly thick at this stage but if you find the sauce a little thin, I'd add a cornflour/water mix and reduce down.

A no-frills family favourite. A warming, nutritious stew which is perfect for these dark autumnal nights...

Happy Friday x

#meatfreemonday the results are in

Had one of those days yesterday. No time for breakfast, no time for lunch, barely enough time to think. You know the kind of day when the phone doesn't stop ringing, and you can't even keep up with the voicemail messages. That kind of day.

Knew I'd ran out of time to prepare our first meat-free feast before a meeting at 6.30. Plied Lou with snacks and prepared the jasmine rice in advance. One job out of the way. Left it to cool and off we went. 

Meeting overran so at 7.45 I had a hungry child, the onset of a headache and the stress of knowing that dinner would be even later now. 

Walked in the door to find Husband eating beef & ale stew accompanied by my lovely prepared jasmine rice. Started to harangue him for a) poor combination choice and b) the fact that we had no rice now for our Thai Butternut Squash curry but thought better of it, and grabbed the rice noodles instead. And breathe, Emma.

Stir-fried some red onion with SprayLight (and yes, I did want sesame oil but....), then added a couple of tablespoons of red thai curry paste and one tablespoon of peanut butter. Once cooked through, added 400ml of reduced fat coconut milk (on special at Tesco's currently, 50p bargain), 250ml of chicken stock and left to simmer. 200g each of cubed butternut squash, baby corn, red pepper, homegrown cherry tomatoes and button mushrooms completed our vegetable quota. 

After 10 minutes of a pretty vigorous simmer ("Dinner won't be long, Lou"), I used the back of my wooden spoon to test how tender the squash was. And splashed the simmering stock all over my chest. Ouch. And breathe, Emma.

Served dinner and waited for the verdict. Silence in a good way. Went back to the kitchen to get mine ready. And then I heard "Mum". It was the kind of "Mum" that every parent will recognise. "Mum, something's broken, but I didn't touch it", "Mum, I've just wiped all your Midsomer Murder V+ recordings; you know the good ones with Tom Barnarby, not John." That kind of "Mum". 

He'd spilled his drink everywhere, and yes, it had gone into his dinner. Now orange-squash butternut squash curry didn't taste so good. And breathe, Emma.

Choc ice dispensed (don't judge me!), The Great Escape playing, I finally sat down to eat. Lovely flavours, nice combination of textures, and I didn't miss the meat at all. Feeling virtuous, I sat down to watch Masterchef and for the first time that day, could finally breathe normally.

Happy Tuesday x

Hello Monday, hello brand new week

Like on most Monday mornings, I have my list. I have my plans, I know my objectives for the week. Achieving all of these goals is the challenge.
My first challenge of this week is to convince my family that Monday's will now be more commonly known as #meatfreemondays. Son, wanting to please Mummy, seems interested and will give it a go. Husband acts like I've just sworn at him. #Meatfree has offended his Kiwi sensibilities. No matter, he can have leftovers from yesterday's beef and ale pie, courtesy of Angela Boggiano's wonderful book Pie http://www.foodepedia.co.uk/books/2009/feb/pies_angela_boggiano.htm
We'll be mostly having a Thai Butternut Squash curry. Easing Lou in gently, can tweak to my Slimming World requirements, and easy on the purse. Three out of three, back of the net....