Monday 14 January 2013

It Turned Out Edible



I kind of like cooking. You start with a bunch of ingredients that by themselves don’t really amount to a hill of beans. Well, unless of course they are a hill of beans. I like to follow recipes and up until lately I won’t vary that recipe. Recipes are like shopping lists, you buy what is on the list and just what is on the list. I know that’s not the way that women shop, but it is the right way.

I think I learned to follow a shopping list in the days when munchies would take over the shopping if it weren’t for the list. Yes, almost every time I come home from shopping Louise will ask me if I picked up this or that and I give her the stupid husband look and say “Was it on the list?” She rolls her eyes and goes over to the list and writes it down for the next time. I just read that lists are actually bad to use and will help your brain deteriorate. The premise is that if you use lists, then you are telling yourself subconsciously that your brain is unable to remember four or five items. This use of lists compounds and eventually you will be like me and end up standing in the middle of Superstore having forgotten the list and not having a clue what to buy.

The way to wean yourself from lists is to take the list, but try to get everything without taking the list from your pocket. You may not remember everything, but those items you do remember will boost your confidence in your memory and eventually you will be able to shop without a list. Well, that or you could become a woman. If you are a woman, there’s a very good chance that you don’t use a list anyways.

So, I like to cook. Nothing fancy you understand, but simple, plain peasant style food. I like to cook stews, soups, nearly burnt meat and plain salads. Whenever I make a stew I think I am living hundreds of years in the past with the big pot over the fire all day long and every now and then something gets added to the pot. I kind of have to squint so that I don’t see the electric crock pot sitting on the ceramic stove top beside the refrigerator, or the iPad with the recipe on the counter. Other than that however, I feel like I am living hundreds of years ago. I don’t think they had indoor plumbing back in the day either. Their loss I suppose.

Tonight I used a recipe that came from an app that was free for the iPad over the holidays. I do like free! The app is called “The Photo Cookbook – Quick and Easy 6.2” and is broken down into Meat, fish, vegetarian and desert sections. Hey, I just realized that it also has Italian, Asian and Baking sections, it is far better than I thought! Tonight’s meal was Egg Tortilla with Feta and Sweetcorn. I did some substitutions, but it turned out to be edible for a vegetarian dish and I recommend you try it.


Egg Tortilla With Feta and Sweetcorn

Serves 3 – 4

Ingredients
350 G./ 12 oz of potatoes                                 6 eggs
2 tbsp. of olive oil                                             100 g/3 ½ oz of Feta cheese, crumbled
1 onion Chopped                                              salt and pepper
1 zucchini coarsely grated                                 Paprika for garnish
200g / 7 oz of sweetcorn (drained)

I didn’t have zucchini so I used carrots, green pepper and broccoli stalks. Really what ever you have

1)      Peel the potatoes and cut into ½ inch diced
2)      Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain.
3)      Heat the oil in a large oven proof frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion for about 5 minutes, until softened.
4)      Stir in Zucchini and potatoes, then cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the sweetcorn.
5)      Beat the eggs lightly with salt and pepper to taste.
6)      Stir the eggs into the pan, then scatter the feta cheese. Cook for 4 – 6 minutes, until almost set. I covered the pan.
7)      Preheat the grill (broiler) to high. Place the tortilla under the grill for 2 – 3 minutes, until set and golden brown.
8)      Sprinkle the tortilla with paprika and cut into 4 – 6 wedges.

Serve either hot or cold.

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