Saturday 23 June 2018

another courgette disguising trick - cheesy green sludge

Friday afternoon and I couldn't think what to make.  The veg drawer contained mainly carrots, courgettes and mushrooms.  Deciding not to take too many risks, I avoided the mushrooms and decided to see if I could do something new with the courgettes.

First I wanted something different with the carbs also, and we've had a lot of pasta and rice, and we don't often have a lot of bread in the house, so I got out the bag of red potatoes and using my Bamix SliceSy I made thin slices of potato.  I steamed them in the microwave for 5 mins and then tipped them into a baking dish.  I got not-so Littl'Un to spread them out, season with salt and pepper, cover with milk and cream and dot with butter.  We then put them in a preheated oven and let them cook while we got on with the courgette transformation.

Now I chopped up half a pack of streaky bacon and got that frying in a pan.  I finely chopped a couple of shallots (because I had them from earlier than the onions - one onion would have been fine also!) and added those to the bacon once it had started browning.

Swapping cutters, I got Big'Un to grate the courgettes in the SliceSy and once the bacon and shallots were cooked the way I like (brown and almost crispy bacon, soft and translucent shallot) we tipped in the grated courgettes, seasoned it all with black pepper, and stirred well.  I lowered the flame and allowed it to simmer with the lid on until it eventually turned to almost mush.  At this point, I added the thicker cream which was still stuck to the pot after adding the liquid double cream to the potatoes, and a good dollop of butter.  Finally, just before serving, I chucked in a good handful of grated cheese and waited for it to melt completely, after stirring it through.

The whole meal was a masterpiece!! Everyone wanted more, and even Tiny didn't patronise me when I called it "cheesy bacon vegetables" - he didn't seem to clock that it was courgettes this time!!!

Mama and Tiny's furter rice

Tiny is 6 now and always asks if he can help me in the kitchen making supper.  His bigger siblings don't always offer, and till recently were busy with revision and other stuff, so weren't always in a position to help in any case.

Many meals just aren't suitable for adapting to his skillset, and there are days when we don't have the time for him to do the things he can do at Tiny-speed, so sometimes I just get him to sit with me and chat, but on this particular day, I thought he could help me, so I got him to get washed and aproned and he was delighted.

I gave him a pack of 10 frankfurters and a chopping board and a small kitchen knife.  I showed him how I wanted him to chop the furters and let him get on with it.  We played a game of number bonds with the furters, and I got on with chopping up an onion and slicing some garlic.

I started by frying these latter 2 in a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan, and when they were soft, I added the chopped furters.  We then added 2 cups of basmati rice, and gently coated the grains in the flavoured butter.  

I then poured in a good portion of frozen vegetables and helped Tiny to stir and mix well.

Finally we added Marigold powder and 3 cups of boiling water.  I put the lid on the pan and once it was boiling again, I turned the flame to low and left it to simmer for 15 mins.  Set a timer!  Tiny and I washed up the prep stuff together and sang songs.

Once the timer went off, I switched off the flame but set a timer for another 5 mins - WITHOUT TOUCHING THE LID.

Once the 5-minute timer went off, it was time to eat, and it was really delicious - not to mention quick and easy and cheap.  You could use bacon, or Quorn or mushrooms or chipolatas instead of the frankfurters; they may need more or less frying before the stock goes in.

You can personalise the flavour at the table with your sauces of choice - we all love Frank's Buffalo Wings Hot Sauce.  

I couldn't get a photo of the dish as we ate it up way too fast!!!