Blossom - Day Nine, Pot Luck with Churchill

All in together.

Tuesday 9 Frocktober

Outfit

• Black trousers, green Argyle jumper, Union headband, comfy black shoes.

 Menu

• Breakfast - toast, coffee, fruit
• Lunch - salad, cuppa tea
• Afternoon tea - fruit, tea
• Dinner - pot-luck casserole, rice, broad beans

Mood

• Lucky

I am taking a little break from the factory this week. Alas, work never ends - well why should it? There's a war on - so I was back at the shop today although it was closed. Book-work, accounting, book-work, banking, postage, more book-work and a spot of dusting.

Working hard at Darling Central.

I was feeling patriotic again - hence my Union flag headgear.

There'll always be an England part II.

After a morning of working I raced out to take Darling Dog for a long walk - lucky, because it started raining not long after we made it home - and then was feeling a bit weary.

What to do for dinner? I have to confess that always being seventy years behind the times starts to wear a bit thin after a week or so. I was about ready to just give in and just do a stir fry.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE SPIRIT THAT SURVIVED THE WAR.

Did my grandparents just give in and do a stir-fry? No! Did the Womens' Land Army just give in and buy frozen veg at the corner shops? No! Did the British Army just give in and collapse on the sofa with a cuppa and Sooty and Sweep? No!

And neither would I. I am determined to do this properly. Think of Mr Churchill! What would he ask me to do for my country?

And then I was inspired.

That casserole dish ... looks so familiar ...

 Better pot-luck with Mr Churchill? Then pot-luck it is! This recipe is based on an oldish one via my mother, it's a nice old-fashioned cooking method perfect for those days when you really would rather just do a stir-fry (hint: this one is just as healthy, if not more so ...)

Into my cupboards I went and unearthed a lovely big casserole dish. What did I have in the fridge and larder? Stewing beef! Vegetables! And yet another Magical Ingredient ...

Blossom's Pot-Luck Casserole (in honour of Mr Churchill)

 

Chuck on the oven at a moderate heat.

Like a true Englishperson, my meals are based around a source of protein. In this case, a bit of minger old beef (well, okay. Actually, locally-grown cruelty-free free-range grass-fed beef, fabulously tasty and not at all minger, but - you know - a tough cut.)

Cube the beef, toss it in seasoned flour and bung it in a casserole (for Mr Churchill).

Do this for Winston.

Chop up an onion - not too finely - and bung it on top.

Oh dear ... it's already looking a bit brown.

Chuck on top some chunkily-cut carrots and swedes.

Oh GOSH!!!! Carrots.

And over this I chose to chuck some other seasonal vegies: zucchini ...

Zucchini ...

... And mushrooms ...

... Mushrooms ...

... And ... Oh, okay. It's full now. Well, keep adding seasonal vegetables until the dish can take no more.

Over the top, pour the juice of half a lemon, some

WHAAAAAAH. Er, as usual.

(About a cupful.) And if you have any left, a bit of red wine. Pop the lid on and stick the dish in the oven for an hour or so, or until the meat is lovely and tender and everything tastes like wonderful vegetables.

All vegies are lovely in this casserole. Really, whatever is in season and inexpensive. Just put meat, dusted in seasoned flour, in the bottom, then put the vegies in, slowest-cooking first. I make this one ALL THE TIME and it hasn't failed to be delicious since nineteen (coughety)one.

But where is the Magical Ingredient? It's in the side dishes.

The first side dish, I decided, would use up something wonderful that has been sitting in my fridge for a few days.

These.

Ergh! What is that?

I love, love, love these. Just pop open the pods and what do you find?

Magic.

Broad beans. Best fresh but nice enough frozen. Often I steam them for 10 minutes, slip the cooked beans out of the tough outer coating, then reheat the tender green bits inside. But these are so young and fresh they are sweet and tender just as they are, steamed for 5 - 10 minutes and served piping hot.

And the discarded pods are good for something else ...

Darling Corella says "OOOOH!"

Not to scale.

Part food, part chew-toy.

However the true Magic Ingredient is actually something very modern - in fact brand-new - but very much in the spirit of the forties.

This is my new favourite modern foodstuff. It's called "Rice Plus" and it's actually a mixture of different types of rice, quinoa, barley, sesame and other grainy delights. It is chockers with an awfully good sort of fibre, and tastes like ... like, heaven. You cook it just like normal brown rice.

In spite of its newness I think it is a very forties sort of foodstuff. The usual refined grains just were no longer available during the war, and the Ministry of Food in Britain encouraged people to eat different sort of grains such as oats, barley and millet. Very old-fashioned, when you think about it, but ignored for some time as suitable mainly as animal feed. However these old, wild grains were extremely nutritious and could be cooked in the same way as the old boring polished rice, so housewives were encouraged to find nice ways to serve them, and extract the last scrap of nutrition out of them.

So this is what Rice Plus actually looks like, uncooked.

Like a jar of YUM, that's what.

I cooked it in boiling water for 25 minutes. It was ready right about the same time as the Pot-Luck Casserole.

So this is what we had for dinner.

With chopped parsley. Do you think Mr Churchill would have approved? Lord Woolton? I'd like to think so.

And this.

And the broad beans, which are my all-time favourite vegetables, so I didn't stop to take a photo of them before I ate them.

Actually a very delicious meal, and I'm thinking probably ridiculously healthy. And apart from shelling the beans, very easy and low-stress. I'm all ABOUT this forties caper!

Frock you later.
Blossom