Eat your greens

I sometimes can't remember whether Greyson is a dog or a child. We seem to have got a bit confused lately as for some reason we've been trying to give him more vegetables. I'm not quite sure why.
It does feel strange as a vegetarian to be feeding him tins of scraps of old dead animals off the cutting room floor but more vegetables with said animal product doesn't make it fully better.

I have been researching about how to make nutritionally complete vegetarian dog food for him but it takes a lot of time and effort. I put in an order for the ingredients but then left them in the car at my Granny's.

Anyway. More vegetables. I wouldn't say they're his favourite yet. Louis added spinach the other day to his bowl and he just ate the tinned food around it.


 

You've just really got to mix them well so he doesn't notice. I stuck my hands in and massaged some kale  so throughly with tinned chicken that he gobbled up the whole thing.

Easter rising

Mum asked what I thought she should make for Easter this year.
Louis and I distinctly remember her making a pie last year which had whole eggs baked inside.

She didn't remember and seemed to think the recipe I found a lot of effort.

"How many eggs?" "12". "That's a lot!"  "One for each Apostle. Oh and it's got 33 layers of pastry. One for each year of Christ's life." APPARENTLY the symbolism of the different elements in the pie give it as many layers of Easter significance as there are layers of dough in the crust.

Mum doesn't believe in Christ or my instructions it seems as she only used five eggs and one layer of bought puff pastry. And served it with cous cous..

Here's the basic recipe.

Filling : combine cooked diced onion, cooked spinach once you've made a bit less wet, Parmesan ricotta cheese, 3 eggs mixed in to the mixture. 

Put in pot lined with 12 layers pastry. Make little wells for the 12 eggs.

Put pastry lid on and cook.

Haunted house

I have such lovely memories of cooking for the collected friends at Cranston. When Alex and Tom's birthdays came along I thought it was time to fire up the oven again.

I realised when I was baking Alex and Tom's cake that the kitchen in my flat at Kemp house is spookily similar to the Cranston Estate one. Maybe that explains why I still make so many cooking mistakes. I'M HAUNTED.

The wooden spoon suddenly spun out of my control and tipped chocolate batter all over me. Then the ghost did something to my Lindt chocolate so it didn't quite make enough ganache. WELL if I can outwit anyone, it's a ghost of my own imagination. I ground down two penguin bars in the pestle and mortar, and melted a Freddo and an After Eight mint in with them. Mmm. I like a bit of texture to a ganache.



I popped the cakes in the oven and raised an eyebrow at the chocolate splattered gloss laminate work surfaces. I thought I'd quickly wash the large knife with my fingers. And I cut my knuckle. Lucky I'd already packaged the cake up in a tin.

"Noooo" Louis said, "You've put the cake in the tin I was just cooking Greyson's lamb chop in!" Oh. Whoops*. 




*(it was wrapped in baking paper by the way don't worry, no meat or blood in this cake). 

Spice up your life

Louis and I have been doing art class at the Shadwell Ideas store every Tuesday evening with a pre session South Korean restaurant conveniently close.

We've been getting spicier each week and for the first time ever I experienced the sour burn of acid reflux! I quite enjoyed having a new experience - especially after having read so much about it when studying medicine. Hope I don't get it too often and develop squamous cell carcinoma in my oesophagus.

Although I strongly do not believe health professionals should be unhealthy, or as I call them HYPOCRITE PROFESSIONALS, my need for that is being tested right now with the rising trend of kimchi! I've had said acid reflux three times in a row now. The novelty is wearing off... 


Here's a recipe still . 

Slice and salt a cabbage. Cover it with water for hours then drain. Make a paste of garlic, ginger and sugar and chilli flakes and massage into the cabbage and also some sliced radish and onions. Pack into a jar and keep forever.