sparagus

Bounty from the market.

I only went to show KK the sights and came back laden with delights.  First up, the first asparagus of the year.  I cooked it as my Mother did, the first time I ate it - aged 18 and back from university, a rare occasion when there was just the two of us.

Snapping the stalks is my very favourite vegetable prep of all time.

I steamed / boiled them in a little water, in a covered pan, until just short of cooked; drained and dashed with cold water; laid out in a warm bowl with melted butter poured over and a crunch of salt.
Perfect, perfect.



Naturally, woman cannot live on asparagus alone (although I'd give it a jolly good go, if I won the lotto), so I roasted carrots and swede, potato, onion and garlic.  Once done, I draped over slices of Halloumi and put it back in the oven for ten minutes.  Then put on my box set de jour and filled my face with carbs.

arloe + moe

Wonderful coffee with Mrs I, having a chat and watching the rain.
In fact, the coffee was so good, and the rain so rainy, that we stayed for another!

They use Dark Fluid coffee and their cakes are also terrific.  
There is no website for the cafe, however they are on twitter as @ArloeMoe

chicken + rice

A few days in a row I had the ever-faithful chicken stew – so plain, so homely.  Each evening I would take a few ladles from the casserole, into a little pan to heat.  By the last day I had one scrappy portion left, with plenty of stock and vegetables and a scrawny thigh – but no potatoes.  I brought this scrappy remnant to boil, then threw in half a cup of rice and covered it for ten to fifteen minutes, by which time I had perfect chicken and rice.  Some seasoning and a dab of mustard and I had the tastiest, savoury, filling and soul-filling meal ever.  For the absolute minimum of effort.  

Sometimes I pretend someone else has cooked it for me so I can work late, or do battle with a briar patch, then say ‘how glad I am I don’t have to cook!  And can just sit down to some nice chicken and rice!’.

As you can see, I ate it in the patio-jungle of blue weedy flowers, with a cup of mediocre red wine. 

Very. Heaven.