Thursday 18 June 2009

Comfort eating

We've had a couple of very tough weeks in Ample Cook Towers. I've had a couple of unusually mammoth catering jobs and on top of this we were burgled and have spent so much time making endless frustrating telephone calls arguing the toss with insurance co over values etc* (see below) organising for replacement double glazing etc and quite honestly we've had enough. So, a bit of comfort food was required. No matter how busy I am in the kitchen we always eat properly. Thems the rules. To be fair it's not always down to me, Mr AC isn't a slouch in the kitchen either.

I'm also one of those people who is always planning their next meal whilst still eating the previous one and I look forward to my evening meal probably more than is good for me. Anyway, here are a few photos of some of the food we've been comforting ourselves with. The last of the British asparagus (a couple of weeks ago) covered in butter and parmesan with some reduced balsamic and some great Parma ham. We polished this lot off with some crusty bread and we followed that with.......


A warm salad of scallops wrapped in smoked bacon. I swilled a bit of mustard and white wine vinegar in the bacon fat and that just slightly moistened the salad leaves.

The ultimate comfort food of course - pork belly (we have moved on to another night now. Even we couldn't eat all of this in one night, although Mr AC would bravely give it a try if allowed) We had that with mash and onion gravy.

Then another night we had slow roasted shoulder of lamb. I think cuts of meat that lend themselves to being slow roasted or pot roasted are ideal for times when you're busy because you just bung them in and forget about them.Whilst the lamb was resting, I halved some charlotte potatoes (which were off my sister's allotment) and added them to the pan. They soaked up the lamby juices and went a little bit crisp. They were very yummy. Spring pointed cabbage, roasted pumpkin (again, courtesy of my sister's allotment) and carrots completed the meal.
*Just a bit of advice my fellow bloggers. Do check your house insurance policies. We hadn't realised that when replacing my stolen items of jewellery, our insurance co will be issuing 'vouchers' to be spent a very small collection of specific jewellers (crap ones in my opinion). If we want the cash and to have the freedom of spending it in jewellers of our choice we will have to take a cut of around 35%. What a con.

10 comments:

  1. Ooh I am drooling ..... belly pork is one of my favourites and don't you find the cheaper cuts of meat are usually the tastiest! Sorry to hear of your burglary too .... horrible business .... it happened to us a long time ago and I wouldn't want to repeat the experience.

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  2. Blimey Jan - you eat very well in Ample Cook towers!! Hard to pick a dish out of that lot - especially when there's seemingly hefty chunks of roast meat on offer. I think I'm going to have to go with the Pork Belly as well - looks fantastic.

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  3. Oh lovely, although for a second I did think the belly was the third course! (Not a bad thing mind.)

    Shocking tip on the insurance. Just about to renew so will bring that point up. What a swizz.

    Brilliant blog. Financial advice too!

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  4. It all looks so wonderfully yummy!! Just the sort of things that we love to eat. You have a lovely blog. I hope you are over your upset - I think it must be awful to be burgled.

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  5. Thanks for popping by and leaving a message.
    All your food looks so scrumptious, especailly the cakes!
    Hope you get all that insurance business sorted soon, must have been so distressing.
    Take care
    Lisa

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  6. Im coming round your house right now - oh how delicious!!
    Im one of those people who enjoys cooking and eating good food too, its one of the pleasures each day brings isnt it!

    Im sorry to hear you are having such a tough time with the insurance, that must be a real pain - I hope you soon get things sorted.

    Sending love
    Julia xxx

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  7. Hello!
    I'm sure you've already tried Parma ham with melon or with figs!
    Have a great week

    Michela

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  8. Sorry to read that you're having a tough time. Hope all is sorted soon.
    My mouth is watering looking at those pics.
    Cal :>

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  9. Oh my goodness - just came back to blogging and read your post. Nightmare! Hope you are getting it sorted and the comfort food is having the right effect?

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  10. Thanks everyone for all your kind comments. Really lovely of you.

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