I'm not sure quite how I did it with a clingy little bubby, but today I made some of my best comfort food yet- twice cooked lamb stew and divine home made bread. On top of this, I did a load of washing so I don't have to deal with Mt Washuvius ever again. Then I tackled my walk in robe, which is home to my clothes, a bubby's clothes and chest of drawers, hubby's clothes, and some stored items from my non teen who moved out a few years ago. It's really not big enough to store anywhere near this amount of bodies belongings, so I needed to do something drastic. With big teen sissy attention happening, bubby was content, and gave me time to nearly bleed assembling the 'wonder hanger'. Seriously the hardest things to assemble, but totally worth the red raw hands and serious arm strength I gained from the experience. Oh yeah- the walk in looks amazing already, and that is with a zillion stray hangers and some clothes still on the floor. Now, I'm almost real estate inspection ready for next week, and also, for my personal stylist my non teen gave me for a birthday present. I am now less embarrassed to have her audit a neat walk in.
Now, onto the bread I started last night. The recipe states to leave for 8-12 hours. Due to a cranky, clingy little bubby, I ended up neglecting mine for several hours more. By around 11am, this is what I came up with below.
The dough had risen and became quite aerated and had a slight sour dough smell about it. It had been left in a cold oven and last night got down to 10 degrees celsius, so it can be made at any time of the year.
Cover the work surface with plain flour and a handful of polenta. Turn doe out-, scraping sides of bowl down as you do. Sprinkle a little more flour onto the dough. Knead until stickiness goes and dough is slightly elastic. This took me less than 5 minutes.
Place in a greased and floured loaf tin. I greased it with coconut oil and added some excess flour from the kneading process. Cover with cling wrap and a tea towel. Put aside and heat oven to 240-250 degrees celcius. When temperature reached, place bread in oven and cook for approx 30 mins. Check bread and turn down oven slightly if needed.
Cook until lightly golden and when loaf sounds hollow when tapped. A skewer can also be inserted to check if middle is cooked. Can be served immediately, or wrapped in a tea towel and eaten later. Lasts 2 days or can be frozen and defrosted as needed- best to slice first.
I'm a lot happier with my eating today. Here is a run down of today's menu...
On waking: Cuppa at 7:30am
Breaky: A medium banana, 1 poached egg and cheese at 8:30am
Lunch: Avocado sushi rolls (below) at 11am
Mash 1 medium avocado onto nori sheets, smear with a bit of whole egg mayo, add ham and sliced tomato. So good!
Afternoon tea: 2 slices of cheese. Small cuppa at 2pm
Dinner: Big bowl of lamb stew
Now, for the lamb stew...
In a large pot, saute short crust bacon and diced onions in butter until browned. While this is cooking, wash 1/2 cup of pearl barley in water, then place in a small pot, cover with water and cook for 30mins . Drain and add to bacon/ onions. Stir.
Add a small amount of the liquid stock and work the bottom of the pan to remove the residue from browning bacon and onions.
Ladle the first cooked lamb stew into the big pot.
Turn the heat up and stir the stew. Then turn the heat down and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Perfect cool weather dinner.
That is your lot for today guys. Talk soon :)
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