Induction hob update…

Well, I still have absolutely no idea why the induction hob caused me so many problems 2 years ago when I first got it. It is, in fact, very easy to use, will simmer nicely, if a tad gently (which, of course, contributes to the food not sticking and burning). There is simply no problem with it.The problem was with me.

The only thing I can think of, based on how, recently wiped out by pain, I just couldn’t remember how my digital camera worked (when I’d been familiar with it for well over two years), and looking at the date I bought it (the hob, not the camera), October 1, 2012, I was already deep in the crisis that would put me in hospital the following March. I was just too sick.

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Induction perfection…

The induction hob does work!

 

The main problem was that, when I bought it, I was seriously ill with undiagnosed Addison’s Disease and, frankly, getting to grips with this new technology – which really isn’t that hard now I’m functioning properly again – was impossible (well, OK – maybe not 100% properly, but comparatively so – I’m still in a pretty parlous state much of the time), and the problems that defeated me last time have now gone away.

Induction hob revisited…

A couple of years ago I bought an induction hob, see here** and here, in the hope that it would cut my energy consumption. I wasn’t best pleased to realise it didn’t have a simmer setting (80C or 100C, nothing in between), and, after fulminating about it, consigned it to the back of the cupboard.

**I’ve since found out that root veg cooked in a tomato sauce takes forever but, even so, 14 hours!

Chickpea and red lentil soup, with a touch of curry…

For reasons I’m not entirely certain of because, in hospital, my consultant was obsessed with the “fact” that I had colon cancer – I didn’t, as it turned out – to the exclusion of almost every other aspect of my condition, I’m supposed to have a high-protein diet. And, because my diuretics cause me to pee for Britain, I need high calcium, too (a lot is lost in urine).

As I’m a veggie – mostly – that means, for the calcium, a dependence on dairy foods, and that gives me a problem. Ever since I was a little kid I’ve loved cheese. Apparently I wouldn’t eat meat and got most of my protein from cheese – left alone I’d have probably been a natural vegetarian, but this was the 1940s, deep in the post-war slums of Manchester, and I doubt anyone had heard of vegetarians, despite the fact that the movement had gained its first formal existence in nearby Salford.

Anyway, despite my life-long love affair with cheese, I seem, of late, to have developed an aversion to it. This is partly because

A Spanish-inspired casserole of butter beans, fish, and red peppers…

If I say so myself, this, the original version, is a great dish https://ronsrants.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/hake-with-judion-de-la-granja-paella-rice-and-tomatoes/

However, worsening disability requires a simplified version as the prep is just way too much work (and good hake is very hard to get hold of – we ship most of our catch to Spain), so that’s the task for this weekend, using Pollack.

Asda sells decent-quality skinless frozen Pollack fillets at £4 for a 900g bag, so I’ll be using some of that (you need a fish that’s not going to disintegrate in the stew, and I find that cheaper species, like Pollack or Coley, hold together reasonably well. Flavour is OK too – a tad more assertive than Hake, perhaps, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

This was originally inspired

Hake with Judion de la Granja, Paella Rice, and Tomatoes…

First up, beware of Waitrose hake fillets (those in the white, plastic, bag). Why? Well they’re not bloody fillets for a start, just ratty scraps of fish glued together to look like fillets. They’re shit, they’ll bugger up this dish, but they’re all I’ve got.

So, Judion de la Granja, what the hell are they, I hear someone muttering in the cheap seats. They’re large, plump, Spanish butter beans. Except that the 2 kilos I have in stock turn out to be somewhat smaller than ordinary butter beans, but much plumper. Tastier too. Ah well…

Sausage and red pepper casserole…

Sausage and red pepper casserole recipe…

A very quick and simple recipe, but also very tasty.

***

1 pack (6 or 8) decent pork sausages

2 long, pointed red peppers, deseeded and cut into large-postage-stamp-sized pieces

Spoonie kitchen tip – foil roasters…

Not one I can lay claim to, but watching Christmas with Nigella, or whatever it was called, last night, she made the point that while she likes roasting, she hates scrubbing roasting tins, so uses disposable foil ones instead, and I thought, what a great idea for spoonies. Probably too late for this Christmas though.

So, where do we get them?

Making cooking preparation easier for this Spoonie…

I tweeted, yesterday, that I need a wheelie-friendly flat, and I also need to be able to cook when I can, because being able to do so, even if only occasionally,** means a hell of a hell of a lot to me, and I can’t reconcile the two.  Bugger!***

**Because the ability to do almost everything else in my life that I enjoyed has been taken from me by illness.

***Though, it being Twitter, I was rather more succinct.

But, having given the matter some thought, I might have a solution to the cooking problem,. especially the prep. What I need is a small, but robust

On the mend, and back in the Spoonie kitchen…

Well, boys and girls, at the risk of tempting providence, after 3 absolutely appalling months during which, some days, I didn’t eat as even the minimal effort of opening a can of soup was beyond me, I seem to be on the mend.

I know I’ve said this a couple of times before, and have very quickly been proven wrong, usually with 24 hours, but this time I think it’s for real. How so? Well, I had a good day Tuesday, and another, exceptionally busy, one yesterday,** and getting two functional days in succession – DWP snoops please note