Irish Stew
"Beware the barrenness of a busy life." ~Socrates
Irish Stew
For 4/5, 10 minutes preparation, 2 hours cooking
1.5kg neck of lamb, 4/5 waxy potatoes peeled, sliced into circles, 2 large onions, sliced into rings, a good sprig of thyme, as fresh as you can find it, 3/4 largish carrots, peeled, sliced into discs or longways (I like them this way to vary the shapes a little.)
Very Green Soup
In near hibernation since the start of the year, trying to write a 180 recipe book, here's my favourite, fast, minimum fuss recipe I make for myself. It's been a complete godsend in this freezing weather. The courgettes give it a lovely creamy texture I would usually seek from, well, cream - or potatoes, so carbs and calories stay very low.
Very green soup
Makes 3/4 bowls. 15 minutes prep and cooking
50g butter, 300g spinach leaves, 150g roquette, 3 courgettes, salt, pepper.
Cereal killer
In my list of tips for more home-cooking, the one which generated most comment was my downright ban on breakfast cereal. It's all very well for me in France - good, fresh bread is an abundant alternative and my children are only here every other week. (I know they get their fix of the damned stuff at their father's.) Here, then, is a helping hand.
Crazy, stupid, messy, happy Sunday lunch.
Sometimes a dish, like a piece of art, or love (arguably, food *is* both) hits you and nothing is ever the same again. Yet nothing happens completely by chance of course. Epiphanies lurk until you care to allow yourself to see them, 'the dish that changed your life', like love at first sight, is a complex emotional and sensual construct the romantic in us prefers not to unravel (unless you are Alain de Botton) and I knew SOMETHING would happen in New York last year.
