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lizblackdog May. 20th, 2008 10:06 pm)
lizblackdog May. 20th, 2008 10:06 pm)Can I just say that I fucking love aubergines?
Last week's Instant Korma was such a fucking success that I am now making the Big Random Casserole Of Things a regular occurrence here.
I'm proud of me, actually. Usually when I cook I do one of three things: either I cook something hugely self-indulgent like roast crispy pork belly or lamb shoulder or something and eat far too much of it in one go. Or I cook something healthy like ratatouille, eat a bit of it and then leave the rest in the fridge till it turns green and slimy, or I buy a lot of ingredients to cook something healthy, then I procrastinate about doing the chopping/cooking/kitchen cleaning until the ingredients turn green and slimy, untouched in the fridge.
This is one reason I got into the habit of eating mostly shit like crispy chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas; because you only need to throw that shit away if your freezer breaks. And I feel a lot worse about throwing good shit away through my own uselessness than I do about eating bad shit.
But I didn't do that last week. I made that awesome korma-flavoured bacon and chickpea and coconut thing, and even with the burnt onions it tasted fucking great. And I made enough to feed me for over a week, and I put it all into plastic tubs and froze it. Damn, I'm good.
I have cheated a little bit. My korma had leeks, shredded cabbage and carrots in it, and I bought all of those ready-chopped. Which is a bit lazy and sucky, except this: if I had bought stuff I had to chop and wash and peel and shred myself, however good my intentions at the time of buying, I would not have done it. I just would not. The definition of insanity trumps the triumph of hope over experience, you know?
So this is this week's instalment.
Ingredients
2 large aubergines, cut in rough-arse chunks. (Colonials: that would be eggplant in your language. They were also on special halfprice offer at Asda, or there might have been fewer. Did I mention I love aubergines?)
3 large onions, shredded. (I love onions, you can never have too much onion in any dish that isn't actually a dessert.)
1 packet mixed shredded cabbage and leek. (It's green. It's healthy. And I don't have to chop and scrub the fucker.)
1 pack carrot batons. (These are probably a mistake. Root vegetables are probably going to clash with the whole Mediterranean vibe I have going on with the rest of the food. But I didn't know it was going to go all Year in Provence on me when I bought them, and they're not going to get used any other way. So in they go regardless.)
2 pork rib steaks, cut in chunks and browned. (These have been lurking in the freezer since I picked them up reduced-for-quick-sale a month or so back. They comprise a very small proportion of the whole, but I am too much the carnivore to much like the idea of completely meatless food.)
Mushrooms. (Don't expect weights and measures from me. About a third of a 1.5 kilo economy pack, therefore about a pound of 'em.)
1 empty chinese carton's worth of chickpeas. (See weights and measures comment re: mushrooms. Soaked last night and boiled this morning. YAY CHICKPEAS.)
One celery, chopped. (Is it called a head of celery? Basically a whole plant. I like to chop in as much of the leaf as possible. It isn't an organic one this week. Sorry.)
Other shit: I have three tubs of reduced-for-quick-sale sundried tomato and chorizo pasta sauce, three tubs of reduced-for-quick-sale fresh vine-ripened tomato salsa, and a jar of pesto, any or all of which may also go in. At the time of writing I have not yet decided.
I forgot to buy fresh garlic though. Damn. I think I have some puree in a tube or a jar though.
Step one: Frying tonight. Fry onions softly till golden. Mix aubergines in with onions gradually as they fry and shrink until everything is all fried and soft and lovely. Do not be tempted to add shittons of oil, because the aubergines will drink it all - but if you just keep frying slowly they eventually give it back. Defeats object of healthiness if you use a gallon of grease, yes? I used some of the green basilly oil that floats on top of the pesto.
Two: Slowly start adding mushrooms in as the aubergines and onions shrink. Cabbage is also nicer if it's had a bit of a fry before being stewed, much like onions. Bung that in too. Then shift all the fried stuff to my new saucepan and use the frying pan to brown the meat.
Three-and-a-bit: I should have then put all the ingredients in my new saucepan and started simmering. But once the celery and carrots were in there was no room for anything else - even though I bought a new! BIGGER! saucepan! - so the meat and chickpeas and pasta sauce thingies are waiting till the celery and that have simmered and shrunk a bit. NEED MOAR PANZ.
Also, the floor is littered with bits of celery because the bastard kept escaping. But the cats seem to like it, at least to play with. Fuck me, I love cooking again!
Last week's Instant Korma was such a fucking success that I am now making the Big Random Casserole Of Things a regular occurrence here.
I'm proud of me, actually. Usually when I cook I do one of three things: either I cook something hugely self-indulgent like roast crispy pork belly or lamb shoulder or something and eat far too much of it in one go. Or I cook something healthy like ratatouille, eat a bit of it and then leave the rest in the fridge till it turns green and slimy, or I buy a lot of ingredients to cook something healthy, then I procrastinate about doing the chopping/cooking/kitchen cleaning until the ingredients turn green and slimy, untouched in the fridge.
This is one reason I got into the habit of eating mostly shit like crispy chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas; because you only need to throw that shit away if your freezer breaks. And I feel a lot worse about throwing good shit away through my own uselessness than I do about eating bad shit.
But I didn't do that last week. I made that awesome korma-flavoured bacon and chickpea and coconut thing, and even with the burnt onions it tasted fucking great. And I made enough to feed me for over a week, and I put it all into plastic tubs and froze it. Damn, I'm good.
I have cheated a little bit. My korma had leeks, shredded cabbage and carrots in it, and I bought all of those ready-chopped. Which is a bit lazy and sucky, except this: if I had bought stuff I had to chop and wash and peel and shred myself, however good my intentions at the time of buying, I would not have done it. I just would not. The definition of insanity trumps the triumph of hope over experience, you know?
So this is this week's instalment.
Ingredients
2 large aubergines, cut in rough-arse chunks. (Colonials: that would be eggplant in your language. They were also on special halfprice offer at Asda, or there might have been fewer. Did I mention I love aubergines?)
3 large onions, shredded. (I love onions, you can never have too much onion in any dish that isn't actually a dessert.)
1 packet mixed shredded cabbage and leek. (It's green. It's healthy. And I don't have to chop and scrub the fucker.)
1 pack carrot batons. (These are probably a mistake. Root vegetables are probably going to clash with the whole Mediterranean vibe I have going on with the rest of the food. But I didn't know it was going to go all Year in Provence on me when I bought them, and they're not going to get used any other way. So in they go regardless.)
2 pork rib steaks, cut in chunks and browned. (These have been lurking in the freezer since I picked them up reduced-for-quick-sale a month or so back. They comprise a very small proportion of the whole, but I am too much the carnivore to much like the idea of completely meatless food.)
Mushrooms. (Don't expect weights and measures from me. About a third of a 1.5 kilo economy pack, therefore about a pound of 'em.)
1 empty chinese carton's worth of chickpeas. (See weights and measures comment re: mushrooms. Soaked last night and boiled this morning. YAY CHICKPEAS.)
One celery, chopped. (Is it called a head of celery? Basically a whole plant. I like to chop in as much of the leaf as possible. It isn't an organic one this week. Sorry.)
Other shit: I have three tubs of reduced-for-quick-sale sundried tomato and chorizo pasta sauce, three tubs of reduced-for-quick-sale fresh vine-ripened tomato salsa, and a jar of pesto, any or all of which may also go in. At the time of writing I have not yet decided.
I forgot to buy fresh garlic though. Damn. I think I have some puree in a tube or a jar though.
Step one: Frying tonight. Fry onions softly till golden. Mix aubergines in with onions gradually as they fry and shrink until everything is all fried and soft and lovely. Do not be tempted to add shittons of oil, because the aubergines will drink it all - but if you just keep frying slowly they eventually give it back. Defeats object of healthiness if you use a gallon of grease, yes? I used some of the green basilly oil that floats on top of the pesto.
Two: Slowly start adding mushrooms in as the aubergines and onions shrink. Cabbage is also nicer if it's had a bit of a fry before being stewed, much like onions. Bung that in too. Then shift all the fried stuff to my new saucepan and use the frying pan to brown the meat.
Three-and-a-bit: I should have then put all the ingredients in my new saucepan and started simmering. But once the celery and carrots were in there was no room for anything else - even though I bought a new! BIGGER! saucepan! - so the meat and chickpeas and pasta sauce thingies are waiting till the celery and that have simmered and shrunk a bit. NEED MOAR PANZ.
Also, the floor is littered with bits of celery because the bastard kept escaping. But the cats seem to like it, at least to play with. Fuck me, I love cooking again!
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