I turned on the radio, emptied the dishwasher and began to cook lunch and supper.
When I do a postnatal job like this the first challenge is to work out what to cook. So, I opened the fridge and saw chicken, grapes, cucumber, spring onions, single cream, fennel, celery, mushrooms, feta, milk and eggs. In the cupboard there were chick peas and kidney beans alongside rice, couscous and pasta.
I can see you all trying to work out what you would have made. Well my first thought was "Hmm... chicken with grapes, no wine... um..." My second thought took me to my secret weapon, Lady Calm.
Lady Calm is my chef extraordinaire. She is amazing!!! She can create a menu out of anything. I list the ingredients in a text, she replies with menu suggestions. She'll even text me the recipe if I ask sweetly. Of course the wonderful thing about my cooking relationship with Lady Calm is that she rarely gives quantities and I rarely ask. We must cook in the same way... a bit of this, a dash of that, a quick dollop here, season, good to go!
Today's menu was baked fennel and cream with chicken and rice plus a bean salad with feta. So that was supper sorted and after thinking about the mushrooms for a while I text for a simple mushroom soup recipe.
"Sweat off onions, garlic and celery in butter, add mushrooms and herbs (thyme or rosemary are good). Top up with stock bring to boil and simmer for about 30 mins. Puree and add seasoning and some cream to finish" came the reply.
Gotta love her. Yesterday it was chickpea cakes and couscous for supper and a feta and broccoli frittata for lunch. I also made a cherry cheese cake (Thanks Lady Calm). On the first day I made a vegetable pasta bake and a lemon drizzle cake.
I've been banned from making cakes more than once a week because they're too delicious! My bad!
My ladies think I'm wonderful because I can create something out of nothing from their food stores. Of course I agree but then I know my secret!
Yum! Sounds wonderful. I still remember how comforting and nourishing your jerk chicken was in the days after Lachlan was born. Can you post or send Lady Calm's cream fennel and chicken recipe? Katrina x
ReplyDeleteWell... here you go (as per Lady Calm's instructions):
ReplyDeleteJust brown the chicken legs, add sliced fennel and some onion, a dash of white wine would be good if there is any, add a bit of stock if not, add cream and seasoning. Cover and bake in the oven for about 45 mins at a med/low heat.
Isn't she clever? :D