Thursday, February 19, 2009

What I've been eating: Feb 19, 2009

Once again I've been remiss in my blogging! My mom and little brother came down for a visit over President's Day weekend and they threw me completely out of my groove. That's ok, family wins out over groove any day! Anyway, the cooking has not stopped completely in the past week or so, so I'll dish out another bullet list of stuff we've been eating around here. Maybe I'll make this a regular thing!

Scotch eggs - Well, it's just me eating these. My husband wouldn't eat an egg if you paid him $20. Basically you hardboil some eggs and then encase them in raw sausage meat. Then you bake them in the oven until the sausage is cooked through. I grab two for a quick breakfast or lunch.

Shepherd's pie - Traditional shepherd's pie has a mashed potato crust. I made my crust with rutabaga and turnip and also added in some roasted garlic cloves. Yum yum. Sautee your veggies in a pan (onions, celery, carrots are good choices) and then deglaze with beef stock or red wine. Add in some ground meat and brown. Add some herbs for flavor (sage is good) arrowroot if you want a thick gravy. Top with your mashed root veggies and bake until bubbly!

Fruit crumble - As previously blogged here. This week's had blueberries, apples, and frozen strawberries. Topping was pecans, almonds, prunes, and a splash of pomegranate juice.

Pomegranate juice - As good as my eating is in other areas, I have yet to completely kick the diet soda habit. This week I finally found a drink that keeps the diet soda craving severely at bay. I fill a big glass up with water and then add maybe 1 oz of pomegranate juice. It's just enough to flavor the water but not enough to be too sugary. This drink helped me cut down from my usual one soda per day to maybe three sodas this week. Maybe soon it will be no sodas at all. :)

Pork chops and mashed celeriac - This is my favorite dinner we had recently. I coated some pork chops with grill seasoning and seared them in bacon fat. Then I made a gravy from the pan drippings with mustard, white wine, and some arrowroot to thicken. On the side we had mashed celeriac (celery root). I cubed a celeriac, boiled it until tender, and pureed it in the food processor with some roasted garlic cloves (I also used a little bit of butter, but if I wasn't going to use dairy at all I would have used more bacon grease or some olive oil). It was deeeeee-licious. The celeriac had a great texture, almost exactly like mashed potatoes but with a hint of celery flavor. We also had a side salad, but it was just filler for this meal. :)

9 comments:

Robin said...

Shepherd's Pie...I've forgotten all about shepherd's pie! I love it and it would be great with the rutabaga/turnip mash topping that you mention. I am going to have to make some.

Flowerdew Onehundred said...

Wow! All those things sound like good ideas!

Anonymous said...

Love the Scotch eggs idea. I *will* try that soon.

Have you considered using kombucha to kick your soda habit? It's what I did. I brew my own for about $1.50/gallon (recipe at my site, if you're interested).

EvlovE said...

Scotch eggs sound delicious. I need to find some sausage. Do you just stick the whole hard boiled egg inside the sausage? It doesn't seem like it would fit.

Elizabeth said...

Robin - Glad to have inspired you!

Flowerdew - Thanks!

FoodRenegade - I've tried GT brand kombucha from the store and I don't particularly care for it. Does home brewed taste different?

Matt - If you buy whole sausages instead of bulk sausage meat, remove the casings and mix the meat all together. Then pull off pieces, kind of flatten them out into hamburger patty shapes, wrap them around the eggs, and pinch the edges closed. The first one will be pretty messy as you figure out what the heck you are doing, but the rest of them go quick and easy. :)

Anonymous said...

I have GOT to try some scotch eggs. How a bout some more detailed "How-to" instructions?

The SoG

Anonymous said...

Nevermind. I figured it out.

Techwiz said...

Shepherds pie with rutabaga and turnip...what a great idea! I wonder how sweet potatoes would taste...

Anonymous said...

Homebrewed kombucha is much, much better than the storebought version. You can control the sweetness when you make it yourself. I prefer it a bit sweeter, and my husband prefers it a bit tarter/vinegary