Four Veggies and a Pudding

The storm last night was Shakesperean.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some people were shipwrecked and didn’t recognise each other this morning.

It’s so cold I don’t want to do yoga in the mornings.  I just want a hot shower and a hot breakfast.  For the last two days, breakfast has been a ‘BT’ and a cappuccino.  It would have been a ‘BLT’ and a cappuccino, but I used up all the ‘L’ in a Caesar salad on Monday.

Staying in, candle-cozy, catching up with the batch cooking has not been an unpleasant way to spend tempestuous days.  Today I cooked a large pot of mince with sixteen vegetables.  It doesn’t actually have sixteen vegetables, that’s an old ‘Vicar of Dibley’ joke I still think is funny.  Apologies.

Today, it’s mince with nine vegetables; garlic, onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes*, red pepper, yellow, pepper, courgette and the most important ingredient, a tin of marrowfat peas.  Has to be marrowfat, no fancy-shmancy garden peas.  If there were several other vegetables that needed to be used up, then they would go in too. 

I dream of the sixteen. 

One day.

This mince base gets frozen into individual portions.  By zhuzhing up herbs, spices and potions, and remembering to defrost a portion, I can compose 1001 different dishes.  I am the Scheherazade of mince.  Step aboard the magic carpet; Rub a lamp, command your genie to add a small tin of potatoes, opened first, and a spoonful of curry paste, appointed by the Queen of Sheba herself.  Abracadabra, keema peas*.  More peas?  Your wish is my command.

Blustering all morning, the day contained itself a bit by lunchtime.  After soup (four veggies) and a pudding, donned the big coat for a sea-sprayed walk.

Pondering a recipe for Sinbad.

Bought some ‘L’.

And more peas. 

Credit: BBC ‘Vicar of Dibley’, Dir. Richard Curtis Series 1, Episode 8 25/12/1996

*Three of these are classed as fruit, not vegetables. I can only beg forgiveness and assert artistic license.

* Authentic keema peas (proper name, keema matar) has no potatoes.  Scheherezade must embellish afterall.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keema_matar

Images for this journal have been posted on Insta @purplehaze_journals