Anyone for Squirrel?
I always refer to squirrels as American tree rats, because of the damage they do to trees and because they chase our native and much better red squirrels away. They were one of the first American cultural imports, like burgers and baseball caps, that we can well do without!
So to see that Budgens are now selling them in Crouch End is good. As they say in Suffolk, “Make the buggers work!” That was originally said by a farmer and horse-coper called Dick Freeman, when I told him that my business partner and his wife, had been offered a local speciality in Geneva; raw donkey meat. They had been horrified as at the time, as they had had a pet one called Robin. Dick hated donkeys with a passion, as they give worms to horses.
Our housekeeper at Debach was partial to squirrel and told me that young ones were very nice if fried in a little butter.
Remember though, I am of an age, who was brought up when meat was rationed in the 1940s and early 1950s. As rabbit was off coupon and my father had a customer, who could get it, we had quite a few rabbit pies in those days.
I still like rabbit and would try squirrel in a decent restaurant. After all it’s gluten-free isn’t it?
I doubt I’ll ever go again due to my health, but on Salina in the Aeolian Islands, rabbit is the local speciality, as rabbits are wild and plentiful. The rabbit at the Hotel Signum is exquisite. It’s an ambition to go again and a goal to aspire to.
A Simple Asparagus Risotto
I’ve cooked risotto before, but I had some left-over asparagus and thought it would make good risotto. So I cooked this risotto from Phil Vickery.
The ingredients I used were.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 200g risotto rice (eg carnaroli or arborio)
- 250mlwhite wine
- 500ml hot vegetable stock – I used Marigold Bouillon
- 4 asparagus spears, blanched, chopped
- 25g unsalted butter
- 75g parmesan, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
These quantities make enough for two, but as I was hungry, I made it for one.
The method was as follows.
- For the risotto, heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the shallot and garlic until softened but not coloured.
- Add the rice and fry for one minute, stirring frequently, until coated in the oil.
- Add the wine and simmer until absorbed by the rice.
- Add the hot vegetable stock a ladleful at a time, stirring between each addition to allow the liquid to be completely absorbed, until the rice is cooked and all the stock has been absorbed.
- Add the asparagus, butter and parmesan, season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir well.
I slept well after that last night.
The original recipe also contains details on how to make parmesan crisps. I’ll try those next time.
Cooking Like An Engineer
My culinary skills aren’t that good and as the stroke has left me with a slightly gammy left hand, I have changed the way I do things.
I’m also lucky in that, I’m not hard-up, although I do try to eat fairly economically. So if I see a gadget that might help, I buy it.
Here are a few gadgets and products that have really helped.
- My saucepans have a lid with a built-in strainer, so I don’t burn my hands when I pour the hot water away after the vegetables have cooked. I could use a collander, but that would mean extra washing up.
- I have a large box-grater, which has a big handle on the top. I use this to make my fish pies, just as Jamie said in the original recipe.
- I also have one of Delia’s little Kenwood choppers, as my knife skills may be good enough for peeling potatoes, but chopping anything very small is difficult.
- Some food packaging is difficult, so I always have a good pair of scissors handy! Even with this some foods like pasta and frozen peas are a nightmare, as an out-of-place cut means a kitchen floor covered in food. I now only use one type of pasta, Doves Farm gluten-free pasta and keep it in a storage jar.
- I also buy things like ready-peeled onions. My mother would have been horrified.
It may not be easy for everyone to install, but I have a wooden chopping board built in to the work-surface, where I prepare vegetables. It has a hole in it, with a wooden stopper. Underneath is the bin, so all the rubbish you get when you prepare vegetables, is just chased through the hole and into the bin. The system is also good for disposing of things such as used tea bags.
I also time foods rather than taste them. I have a big clock on the wall and would give something the correct time, rather than taste it. C always felt potatoes, when she baked them in the oven. I don’t, as I just give them an hour on the floor of the oven. Sometimes, they are nhot quite right, but at least, it is a lot easier.
The other thing I do is use the dishwasher a lot more. I know that is not very eco-friendly, but it means I don’t have to wash-up as I cook. Try and do just one thing at a time and you don’t get in the sort of mess,k which means that you drop something and have more work to do.
So analyse how you cook and do things as efficiently as you can. Ignore, what your mother or your friends, who can really cook, might say!
How My Diet is Changing
I do still have a few problems eating, so my diet has changed a bit since the stroke in Hong Kong.
Some foods are easy and others are not. Take yesterday, I cooked a chicken for my son and his friend, and had new potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli with it. I couldn’t carve the chicken, so he did that, but otherwise everything was fairly easy, especially as I’d cut the cauliflower and broccoli into small pieces before I cooked them.
Baked potatoes can be difficult to eat, but they are easy to cook, as I just remove the eyes and put them in the AGA.
Pasta is easy and for this and other foods, I can always use the fork as a spoon in my good right hand. I don’t often, as you have to have some standards!
I don’t eat much red meat and if I want a steak, I generally have tuna, which is very easy to eat and I also have a simple recipe for this, which is very easy to cook. In fact, I probably have fish at least once a week.
But it is not the great change I thought it woiuld be! If I had one piece of advice, it would be to experiment and find out what you can manage.
Geeta’s Premium Mango Chutney
I’m not usually one for pickles and chutney, but I did buy a jar of Geeta’s Premium Mango Chutney from Waitrose. I tried it yesterday with some ham and cold new potatoes. It was delicious! It also revived the taste-buds in my mouth a bit, just like the Waitrose tiffin does.
The product is marked that it is suitable for coeliacs too. The web site has a selection of easy recipes too!
An Affordable Breakfast With Style
When you are a coeliac and like me recovering from a stroke, you have to be careful where you go for a meal. You must be sure of the food and because you might get into a mess and drop something or even everything all over the floor or yourself, it is probably a good idea to go to an establishment with staff waiting at tables.
All of this was illustrated very well, when I turned up at Carluccio’s in Canary Wharf for a late breakfast or was it an early lunch?
It was sunny, so I sat outside and then ordered an Eggs Florentine without the bread and an orange juice. I’ve done this several times now in various of their cafes and no-one has minded, that I have modified their standard menu.
Gluten Free Eggs Florentine at Carluccio's
It was delicious and after adding cappucino, it cost me just £11.95, although I did add a generous tip for good service and such things like an extra serviette to make sure the mess was kept to a minimum.
I’m afraid that I tend to plan my trips around places where I know that I can eat well, easily and gluten-free. Unfortunately, not many places I hope to visit on my travels have one of Carluccio’s caffes. But it’s getting better as Leicester has no joined the list. But I suspect, I’ll be long gone before they reach Midlesbrough. They won’t be there for my trip in two weeks time.
Chicken, Bacon and Potato Pie
This is effectively a version of Shepherds Pie, that uses pieces of chicken breast and bacon, rather than mince. I made it to clear some chicken breasts out of my freezer and also make my left hand do some work by peeling potatoes.
This simple meal used the following ingredients to make three, two of which I froze after cooking.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 4 chicken breasts
- 4 rashers of bacon
- 1 jar Bay Tree Cracked Black Pepper and Mustard Cooking Sauce
- 1 kilo of King Edward or similar potatoes
- Milk and fat to mash the potatoes with
The method was as follows.
- Chop the chicken and bacon into small pieces and fry in the olive oil in a large saucepan.
- When the chicken is brown and the bacon is cooked through, add the shallots and the carrots and continue cooking for perhaps ten minutes, after which you stir in the sauce and simmer for perhaps 10-15 minutes.
- Whilst the chicken and vegetables are cooking, boil and mash the potatoes.
- Pour meat and sauce into an 11-inch by 7-inch baking dish or individual foils for freezing and allow to cool slightly. Top with potato.
- Bake in the bottom of the top oven of the AGA.
For something I made up with what I had available it worked out quite well.
It will be interesting to see how the ones I have frozen turn out, when I eat them in a couple of weeks!
Getting Better All The Time
My left hand that is!
I just ate a whole baked potato and my left hand was so much better, than when I ate the last one a few days ago.
You can’t tell from this typing, but I’m now starting to use my left hand for characters like A, S, W and others near shift.
Could it be, that I’ve been walking around London today with a case in my right hand and this has somehow got the arm to sort itself out, as it’s not doing any work? I don’t know and don’t care, so long as the improvement stays and even increases.
A Simple Gluten-Free Lunch
I usually cook myself, but I am rather partial to Waitrose’s Tiffins for one. They come in a box and all you do is pierce the film and put them in the oven for twenty minutes.
Waitrose Tiffin-for-one
They will just about stretch for two people, unless of course the other is Billy Bunter.
I have found that since my last stroke, they also clear out my mouth as well and make it taste fresher.
The only trouble today, was that I had to share my meal with the large number of accursed flies that were around.
Like most proper Indian food, they are gluten-free as wel and suitable for coeliacs like me.
Stroke-Friendly Food
I just wanted to put up a post about my supper, which was a tuna steak cooked with green beans and tomatoes. I’ve done it many times before, but today it tasted particularly good.
Why?
The wine even tasted better, so perhaps I’m getting my taste back. Could the hay fever be finally receding? I don’t know, but I’m taking some Vitamin C tablets to help.
I do find some food is easier to eat than others. Tuna steaks are easier to cut up, than say beef, so perhaps that was the reason.
Whatever it is, I’m glad I’m feeling better.
The Anonymous Widower 