Hi there! To all those who have taken an interest in this blog: Thank you so much! Here I am, back for week 2 (and a bit of 3) to go through how I've fared with my second batch of seasonal eating:
I won't lie, the first week was hard. I didn't really know what to eat, because there was such a random assortment of veg and fruit I could get that I didn't know what combination would work best for me. I usually shop for a few ingredients that work in multiple dishes so that I can make three or four different thinks without buying four sets of veg. Thanks to vegsoc and my ever helpful set of friends and family who threw suggestions at me, I approached week two with more optimism, vigour, and a desire to get back into cooking hearty, tasty, new meals, but still seasonal. My shopping list was as follows:
[]Milk
[]Carrots
[]Eggs
[]Pork Chops
[]Apples
[]Brussel Sprouts
[]Mushroom (I got button mushrooms, simply because they were the cheapest)
[]A pack of 12 bread rolls
[]Ginger nut biscuits (which have nothing to do with eating seasonally, and everything to do with my love for a cuppa). Again, for the economically conscious, this all came to £10.45.
And this, my friends, begins the journey to me absolutely loving Brussel sprouts. Do note, as I've mentioned, my breakfasts and lunches are usually fairly standard as porridge and a sandwich, so instead of reciting every variation of cheese sandwich by detailing my daily menu, I've picked out a few favourites from the last week. (Do know, if you do want to know anymore about what I'm cooking, leave a comment and I will be absolutely happy to respond).
Meal 1: An adapted Wagamama style Don Buri.
If any of you have met me, you'll also have probably been to Wagamama's with me. I like their style of cooking bursting with flavour and spice, so I also enjoy making mock up's of their meals at home. This version included onions and Brussel sprouts as my veg which was added to some boiled pad Thai noodles. Seasoned with soy sauce, a bit of fish sauce, hoisin, and a healthy dose of chilli flakes, all that needs adding is one fried egg (please appreciate one of the few times I've actually managed not to overcook my yolk). The results are as follows: (one of my better looking meals I have to admit).
Meal 2: Homemade burgers.
Burgers, a self explanatory meal to be fair. I adapted this one slightly, seasoning my burger patty with some salt, chilli powder and garam masala, and adding onions before I baked it in the oven. (For anyone questioning, yes you can pan fry, and yes I did intend to pan fry, but I've made no attempt to hide that not all my cooking experiments go well, and an overmeasurement of egg meant my burger patty was too squidgy to fry and flip).
Here are a few close up's of my veg that went with it, all seasonal this time (I haven't forgotten about my slip up with the bananas) (and yes I know that's a joke reference, you'll come to learn I love a nice pun).
The veg was really simple, and actually tasted surprisingly nice since I haven't used Brussel sprouts many times before. All I did was chop the carrots to resemble chips, and half my sprouts (after chopping off the ends and removing the outer leaves which had started to go bad), before dousing with salt, pepper, a bit of oil, and roasting in the oven for about 40 minutes.
And I added cheese and a fried egg to my burger for good measure too:
Meal 3: A simple roast.
Before anyone asks: yes I did have Yorkshire puddings, and yes I did make them myself! A roast needs not much explanation, but I'll give a brief overview. A pork chop was the meat of choice (BBC Goodfood had said it was in season!) and I paired it with yet more carrots and sprouts (I did say I became obsessed), and also some fried mushrooms. I know mushrooms were not a culinary choice, but I had them and they were about to go bad, so on the plate they went. I added Yorkshire puddings and gravy, and hey presto:
Meal 4: not a meal, but a dessert.
So, as much as I love eating seasonal, I do love a dessert as much as anyone else, and being confined to seasonal food wasn't going to change that. Using the porridge oats I already had (because yes, I could live off porridge), and apples, with flour and sugar, I used a BBC Good Food recipe to whip up a simple apple crumble.
So there are a few highlights from the last week, and now it's moving to Feb so next week it'll be the last of my January meals and we shall embark on a new menu (and be a month closer to eating potatoes again).
Your friendly neighbourhood Mischief Weaver,
Ani. :)
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