I'm enjoying the routine of buckwheat granola and fruit each day for breakfast.
Not having to think 'what will I eat?' with my morning coffee allows me to move right along to any prep I need to do for that night's dinner.
Today I pulled my crock pot out into daylight, the first time I've used it since last year. It was a gift from my husband back in 2003, and was used almost every day because we lived in a very cold climate and hot casseroles and stews made regular welcome appearances on the dinner table.
Since living in hot climates it's barely seen the light of day, so before the summer arrives I think I'll make use of it a few times.
(Plus, there's a crockpot marmalade recipe I've always wanted to try!)
For dinner tonight I browned some chicken pieces until they were sticky from the caramelisation a slow frying brings about - this assures a very tasty sauce.
I also sauted leeks, garlic and onions...
Into the crockpot it all went, with chicken stock, white wine, thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaves...
Eight hours later we devoured the chicken and sauce spooned over mashed potatoes and served with honey carrots. Beautiful!
The buttermilk I made yesterday turned out perfect, so I'll use it later in the week for scones, and also as a soak for chicken breasts before crumbing. Buttermilk tenderises chicken beautifully!
It's already heating up in the tropics, though we're only a week into Spring, and the sun shines brightly through my kitchen window from dawn. I've noticed that my potatoes are turning green almost overnight, even though I store them in a deep ceramic crock with little air holes around the base.
To extend the life of my potatoes I made a potato sack out of a thick cotton tea towel, securing the neck with some leftover cotton twill from a fat quarter bundle...
It holds 5kgs of potatoes quite easily, and I can now keep it in the bottom shelf of the pantry. From start to finish this took me just 5 minutes! I'm going to buy a few new tea towels and make one for onions as well. I love the ease of using strong tea towels for projects in the kitchen.
My latest sour dough starter is almost ready for use, and I have an idea to use it for a fruit and nut loaf. Will let you know how that goes.
hugs
Jenny
1 comment:
The strawberries look so good. I never tire of fresh fruits, especially strawberries. Crock pot cooking is something I always intend to do and never seem to get around to doing. Cooler weather is on the way so perhaps will make more use of it then.
Post a Comment