After months of citrus and winter vegetables, new season vegetables are starting to appear. I stumbled across asparagus last weekend, strawberries are back in the markets, and today I even saw new season mangoes. Although the weather suggests we are still in the middle of winter, spring is absolutely on the way.
This week we ate:
Sunday
Homemade Baked Beans on homemade sourdough toast.
Monday
Chicken and Silverbeet Soup with homemade sourdough.
Fry off sliced onion, finely chopped silverbeet stems, garlic and herbs (rosemary & thyme) in olive oil, then add chicken stock and two chicken breasts. Poach the breasts in the stock until just cooked, shred the meat and set aside. Add 1/2 cup small pasta to the chicken stock, and simmer until just cooked. Stir in the shredded meat and silverbeet leaves, and cook until the leaves wilt. Season with salt and pepper. This was quite good considering I winged it, so it may appear here in a fuller form at some point.
Tuesday
San Choy Bow, stirred through udon noodles.
I keep a box of long-life udon noodles in the cupboard, which are great for whipping up really quick meals like this.
Wednesday
Crispy Baked Fish with a Lighter Tartare Sauce, Easy Baked Sweet Potato Chips and wilted spinach.
To make wilted spinach, wash and dry a large bunch of spinach. Thinly slice a clove of garlic and saute it in a nob of butter. Add the washed spinach. Season with salt and pepper, and dash of nutmeg, and toss the spinach until wilted. Serve immediately.
Thursday
The Ultimate Shepherd's Pie, with kohl rabi chips and salad greens.
Freezer Cooking
I've been slightly more successful at restocking the freezer this week. The Princess enjoys baked beans occasionally for breakfast, so I have frozen the leftover beans from Sunday night's dinner in silicone muffin cups. These are just the right size for her breakfast, and can be readily pulled out the night before to allow them to defrost for the morning.
I used the slow cooker to make chicken stock this week; a departure from my standard method. Whilst I did like the ease of the slow cooker, I think I prefer to make my stock on the stove. Despite using my largest slow cooker, I only ended up with 3 litres of stock, yet I can make at least five or six litres in my large stockpot.
Shepherd's Pie requires a slight time investment, so I usually make a huge batch of filling and assemble two pies. One of these we ate for dinner Thursday night and the other pie was assembled in a foil tray and went into the freezer.
I deliberately made an extra large batch of mash potato for the pie topping, which meant I had some left over. The remaining mash will make a quick side for roast chicken or fish at some point. Whilst initially doubtful, mashed potato freezes very well, and I routinely make extra for freezing. Mashed potato separates awfully when defrosted, but add a little heat and it miraculously becomes creamy once again.
Bon Appetit!