Skuzz

I had such a rubbish food day this morning that I spent the afternoon making up for it.

The milk was sour at breakfast time, so I decided on peanut butter on rice cakes. But I had eaten all the rice cakes. So I had some trusty ryvita with marmite which, after a bite, I surmised were quite nasty tasting and maybe a bit mouldy, so I ditched that too. I ended up with my head in a tub of cold roast chicken, like your favourite drooling mutt.

At cake time I was pleased with the birthday bakery I had done: one damp lemon and almond cake and one lemon drizzle cake. The latter wasn't as light as I hoped and the top could have been more tart... but it seemed to go down well with everyone. And after yoga I gave in to temptation and strolled the two minutes down the road to my local 'Miso'. Empty as my tum, except for a few couples, I had instant service. Whilst waiting for my food, I sat at the counter swinging my legs and reading the menu. It occured to me just how great it was to live so close to so much different food. I must have finally eaten enough Indian to warrant a break and then had to decide between Thai, mixed-Asian, fish and chips, chinese, non-vegetarian Indian, African (I think), Italian...

Back at home, slimy noodles and vegetables - with free prawn crackers - were the perfect choice. Noice.

Broad beans and pasta

That was supposed to echo the song 'boiled beef and carrots' but I see now it's a bit too obscure. Anyway ...

How happy I was for the broad beans in my veg box this week! Utterly beautiful inside their lumpy pods and just the thing to kick start summer cooking. This is what I did with them:

Cook conciegli (sp?) pasta shapes in boiling, salted water. 3 minutes before ready, throw in a couple of handfuls of broad beans and frozen peas. Then pop in a whole tomato. Leave for 20 seconds then pull the tomato out of the water: peel and chop roughly*.

When pasta and peas are cooked, drain and return to the pan, adding to it:

the chopped tomato
one crushed clove of garlic
grated parmesan
black pepper
virgin olive oil
a modest slick of cream (it really doesn’t need it if you use oil, but I just love cream. So there.)

Swish around until combined and the cheese is melting, then serve with more black pepper and grated pamesan.

The garlic is pretty subtle and the tomato makes it very fresh; it would have enjoyed a handful of parsley or perhaps basil, too. My only tip is don’t make enough for two people, unless you have two people. I had to stretch out on the sofa like a beached whale after.



*this whole exercise is to make it easier to peel, rather than some random, ritualistic act.