Did a great steak and chips last night fair play to me. 4 cm thick piece of ribeye cooked for 3 mins either side and then left to rest whilst I finished off the chips. The chips themselves had been part cooked earlier at a low temperature then finished off with the big gas ring on full blast. The recipes tell you to cook the fat at a certain temperature but I don’t have anything I could sensibly use for the measurement and so just used different sized rings with the lower temp one turned down a bit. Caramelised onions cooked for at least 45 mins and a few shrooms cooked on the griddle whilst the steak was resting. Roll in a few peas, some dijon moutard and yer uncle’s name is Bob. I quite like scrunching up the peas onto bread and butter to finish them off.
Early to bed after watching Alumni University Challenge and Have I got News For You Christmas special/best bits of the year. As a result of the early night I’m up at five thirty, partly because I was awake anyway and partly to avoid disturbing THG with my constant shifting of position in bed. Although I am now allowed to sleep on either side there is still a limit on how long I manage to do so in any given position. Getting better all the time.
Finished off my Christmas shopping yesterday. Our John has volunteered to wrap for me. Hannah normally performs that role but she is at her inlaws this year, the first time we will not have a full line up on Christmas Day. A watershed in family life if ever there was one.
Tonight I am making cauliflower cheese with a slight difference. The cauliflower florets are going to be roasted first coated with olive oil, fenugreek, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Found the recipe somewhere in the aether. The cheese is going to be a combo of strong cheddar, gruyere and parmigiano and some smoked bacon lardons thrown in for very good measure. Bought some bacon offcuts from Fosters the other day which when chopped up will do the job nicely. The beauty of the dish is that I can prepare most of it during the day and just finish off in the oven tonight.
Today I am back down to Fosters to pick up the meat. Specifically three ribs of beef that we are having on the 28th December. They have sorted me a piece that still needs a bit more hanging which we will do in the fridge for a few days. Fosters are closed on the 27th which makes sense. They will have been run off their feet in the run up to the big day. Will bung in some bacon, sausages and pigs in blankets while I’m there. I normally make my own pib’s but the ones on display in the shop the other day looked good so figured I’d just buy theirs. There will be a big queue…
THG left the house at around oh seven twenty for her pool training session. Her influence is far reaching. Three out of four of her children plus a son in law are running in the Seville half marathon in January. Hannah is up to 20km I believe though she started a little earlier than the others as she was the first to get registered. THG doesn’t have a half marathon in her sights. There is only so much you can do. Christmas will no doubt effect a hiatus in the Seville half training schedule. They will run off the excess I am sure.
The Christmas excess is quite interesting. It isn’t a modern invention. Perhaps the scale of it is modern but the practice is not. St Stephen, St John the Baptist, the Holy Innocents and St Thomas Becket are all going to be feasted over the coming days. Any excuse for a pissup even in medieval times where they probably had to brew their own beer. Although life was a lot harder then it’s interesting to note how many saints days and other days in the agricultural calendar were used as an excuse for a celebration. I guess they didn’t have Netflix in those days and needed other avenues of entertainment. I don’t have Netflix either and so will apply myself diligently to remembering Steve, John, the holy innocents and Tom. Not so sure about the feast of the circumcision which I remember right is on New Year’s Day. Might cut that bit out…
THG and I are heading down to Sincil Bank on New Year’s Day anyway to watch the Imps wallop Huddersfield. Will need to wrap up warm. She is a big fan. The last time we went was with Rhys and Eirian to see the last game of the season v Wrexham. They are Wrexham fans. Wrexham won. We lost. Managed to squeeze in a couple of beers in the Golden Eagle before the game, three pints during the game and a visit to the Everest curry house afterwards. This seems to happen quite regularly when we go out with my old university pals! The Golden Eagle was rammed with Wrexham supporters and the queue at the bar was overly long.
I am reminded that THG wants to go to the Victoria on New Year’s Eve as Hey Dude are playing. They are her fave local band. The problem is getting anywhere near the bar will be a challenge and to get a seat will be near impossible. Seehowitgoze innit.