Finding the chase and cutting to it

Before Covid 19 and lockdown, we spent an eye-watering amount on ready meals and eating out. It wasn’t just speed to table but energy levels. It was just easier – less washing up, less time to table, less effort.

Like many, my home cooking repetoire was pretty limited.

I don’t blame anyone for doing that. I really don’t. But even in that whirlwind of work, raising my kid, and living well, we had three meals we cooked from scratch during the week and everything was home cooked over the weekend unless we ate out.

I now cook wide range of foods, as nutritiously as possible in as little time as possible.

But I still make use of convience. I make my own shortcrust pastry, but by puff pastry. I feel really bad about that, because a “rough puff” isn’t that hard, it’s just time consuming! It’s just being organised enough to make the plan of a morning and stick to it.

I’ve also stopped making my own pasta. I buy dried. The bread is easy because, for a basic loaf, it just goes into the machine. Rolls are a little more involved (I am waiting for a batch to do now), but while it makes washing up, the task is really easy: bung the ingredients into the machine and take out bread.

Pasta is, mix ingredients, chill for 20 minutes, rollout into the shape you want, hang up and wait 30 minutes, then cook.

Pasta shapes are much quicker, but a lot of faff. The results are not as guaranteed either – I know if I practiced this more, I would get better at it, but I don’t enjoy it enough.

Which makes me wonder about the yogurt I make and the bread I bake. The yogurt, on paper, is a great deal of effort: heat milk, allow milk to cool, the heat milk for hours.

It’s easier with the machine, but it’s a big commitment. I love the results mind.

I am making three or four batches of rolls over the next few days for our big barbecue of the year. Because I predominantly now make the brown rolls, this is 3¼ hours of waiting then the last three stages are all done my hand. But they really taste good.

On Sunday, I’ll make the bread totally from scratch for eating on the day. But the rest will be finished off – if I part bake them, they keep really well and taste amazing.

A little salad, hence the yogurt for coleslaw (my favourite salad thing), some freshly made burgers and Bob is your uncle, so to speak.

We have one “emergency ready meal” a week, typically a curry or complicated tray bake thing. Something we don’t cook ourselves very often. We have family favourites we come back to time and again…

It doesn’t look too bad a way to approach life, does it?

Whatever your plans are for the week, bon appetit.