QFD Week 4 (6-12 April): A system emerges

By now, we were getting into the routine of producing two meals a day, but the mental juggling act of keeping on top of best-before dates, leftovers, half-empty tins needing to be used and fridge/freezer space was taking up a good deal of processing power. The solution: in lieu of a whiteboard, sheets of A4 paper taped to the kitchen cabinets, containing meal planning notes, freezer inventory, lists of things to be used and by when, and ideas for upcoming meals.

Monday's dinner: kale stamppot as suggested by my Dutch friend Gerard: basically sausage, mash and kale.

Tuesday was chicken rice day: a Proper Food Project! Using Thorfinn's famous method, with the added tweaks of frying the rice in the chicken fat and cooking it in the stock, yielded very satisfactory results plus plenty of leftover chicken and stock.

Wednesday was pizza again, using the yeast culture that had been happily bubbling away in the fridge, with an occasional 1:1 flour and water feed.

On Thursday, leftover pizza dough became focaccia to go with minestrone for lunch; adding miso paste to the leftover chicken stock produced a soup for ramen noodles, topped with more sliced chicken and gyoza.

Then it was Good Friday, so I mixed up an experimental batch of hot cross buns using my yeast culture and adding egg, butter and spices together with a packet of fruit&nut trail mix. Dinner was broccoli and cauliflower cheese plus roasted vegetables.

Saturday: Hot cross buns were a success! As it was a sunny day, we decided to have a living room picnic featuring grilled halloumi, a roasted vegetable and quinoa salad and various deli-style goodies.

Sunday featured the becoming-traditional cooked breakfast, and a quick sticky pineapple chicken for dinner.

QFD: Week 3. "In which we take a suitcase to the supermarket..."

Essentials such as food shopping only, they said. Try to limit shopping trips to once per week. There was a debate over whether more than one member of a household should go to the shops. But with two of us, we thought, we could stock up on a month's worth of food and not have to leave the house until May! Hence the suitcase...

The Royal Mile, deserted

AAA....

The shopping trip itself was a slightly hair-raising experience, since at this point very few people were taking seriously the lockdown and especially the social distancing measures. We returned both physically worn out by hauling half our bodyweight in shopping across cobbled streets, and psychologically exhausted from playing Pac-Man up and down the supermarket aisles. Next time, grocery delivery!

Having survived this harrowing venture out of doors, the next day (I have no memory of what we ate after coming home from shopping...) merited some comfort cooking: specifically, a Thai Panang curry with fried tofu and pineapple -- spicy, sweet, rich and full of vegetables -- and a fresh crunchy salad with chilli, lime and garlic dressing. Plus the only rice we'd been able to buy at the Chinese supermarket was Thai sticky, so this fit the bill.

Leftover sticky rice became cheesy rice cakes with nuoc cham sauce and salad for lunch the following day; and as local businesses shut their doors and turned to the online market, home delivery G&T started to become A Thing...

Weekend lockdown breakfasts also quickly became established as a thing: when you're spending every day at home, it's nice to have something to mark out the weekend.

I really like spring onion pancakes but almost never order them in restaurants, because there's usually something more exciting I want to eat instead. Knowing in theory how to make them was one thing, but it took lockdown to give me the time and inspiration actually to try. Fortunately they were very easy! (Understanding a bit of the science behind hot-water vs cold-water dough and the limits of lamination was useful as well.)

I was also interested to try out this version of Kung Pao Chicken from NoRecipes.com. Verdict: tasty, but the dark soy was a touch overpowering. One to keep experimenting with!

And finally, because there's nothing like a good plate of leftovers: kung pao fried rice with salad and that classic SE Asian street food bonus topping of a fried egg!

The Quarantine Food Diaries: Weeks 1-2, "And so it begins..."

The last photo from the Before Times

I was on the last leg of a Maldives liveaboard when everything started shutting down around the world. The day we returned to port, 15 March, was the day the Maldives shut to new incoming travellers; arriving visitors were refused entry and put back on flights home; instead of disembarking and heading to town for the day, we were asked to remain on board until departure and then go straight to the airport; and instead of readying the boat for the next week's group of passengers, the crew prepared to stand down operations.

The conference I had been heading back to in Cambridge had been cancelled two days earlier; by the time I landed in London on 16 March and waited for the flight I'd booked back to Edinburgh instead, all my events that week had been cancelled. 

By the end of the following week, everything was cancelled.

Zooming each other from different rooms

Looking back, those early days of the lockdown are slightly blurred, unreal. Although the official UK lockdown didn't begin until 23 March, it was clear that we were in a state of emergency. The University closed its doors the day I got back, with working from home the new standard. We learned to use Zoom, set up virtual social events with friends and calls with family, somewhat tickled by the strangeness of it all even though we were taking it Very Seriously. We counted our toilet rolls, fortunate in having just received a large order; and made plans to keep ourselves fit and strong without having to leave the house.

Toilet paper stocktake complete!

The lockdown diver's weights workout

And, of course, I cooked.

Being home for long enough to cook properly, as well as being forced to cook through not being able to go out or order takeaway, was something of a novelty. I cleaned the kitchen, defrosted the freezer and finally sorted out the store cupboards into some sort of sensible order -- the value of having a clean, tidy and workable space rapidly grows when you are using the space several times a day every day, rather than once every few weeks.

What did I cook? For the first couple of weeks, I don't really remember. It wasn't particularly important at first; we had various things to use up. No takeaway though, so I decided to try making pizza. The sachets of yeast in the cupboard were best-before dated variously from 2013 to 2017, and the last time I'd tried to use one, the dough had simply sat there and done nothing for two days before going in the bin. Wise to this, I tested them by mixing with warm water and sugar; it took three packets before one finally "doubled in size and became frothy". Yeast and flour shortages were already rife in the shops, so I figured I had better keep some of this batch going. Treating it like a starter, I kept back some of the dough, mixed in extra water and flour, and popped it back in the fridge...

... where it led to early experiments with crumpets and focaccia, amongst other things. (The same culture is still alive in the fridge today, over four months later.) Working our way through the odds and ends accumulated in the fridge, freezer and cupboards, I came up with some inventive combinations: a "lemon and lime" chicken made with the end of a jar of Rose's lime marmalade, kaffir lime leaves and frozen peas, the last green vegetable available to us. I also appealed to friends on Facebook, not because I didn't know how or what to cook, but because I wanted to cook what they were cooking -- to eat the same foods they were eating, even if we couldn't eat together. Some 133 comments later, I had a long list...

Lemon-lime chicken

Lentil soup, from Catherine

Un-photogenic but tasty!

And thus we muddled on randomly for the first two weeks, virtuously using up our old supplies and planning towards a more organised shopping day. The lockdown had begun...

Oyako-don, as suggested by Jayne

Griller warfare, Or, The woes of a new kitchen

One of the terrible jokes I remember from my childhood involves a nearsighted old lady who walks into a pet shop by mistake for a kitchen store, and asks to buy an infra-red griller. The pet shop salesman replies solemnly that they are out of stock on those, but he can offer her an ultraviolet chimpanzee...

So, why grillers? Well, in March, after more than a year of peregrinage, we finally moved to our new flat in Edinburgh. This meant a tremendous amount of sorting, discarding, packing, transporting and unpacking, including deciding what from the kitchen should come with us and what should really have been thrown out years ago.

It also meant a new kitchen. The new kitchen is equipped with a fridge that is less than half the size of our previous one, a range hood and exhaust fan neither of which work properly, and the induction stove from hell. The combination of the latter two factors resulted, the first dozen times I tried to cook bacon, in the flat filling with smoke and the alarm going off. Worse still, none of my large pots, deep skillets or my wok would work on the stove.

The net effect of this has been that my cooking has changed considerably. Stir-fries are right out; simmering anything on low heat is a dubious prospect, to say nothing of the pan size problem, so stews and curries are likewise off the menu. In place of these, however, the oven and griller (infrared or otherwise) are getting a good workout, as a way of putting a nice browning on things without burning them to all hell and causing the fire brigade to come. Roasted vegetables tossed with some sort of dressing are pretty much my go-to weeknight dinner, when it's just me.

Of course, it usually isn't just me, and most people don't share my love of roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts. So how does one entertain, when one's usual methods of cooking and repertoire of dishes have gone out the window? Clearly, one invents a new dish, and then proceeds to make it Every Single Time people come over. I estimate I've cooked this every week for the last month, but when it's so easy and delicious, it's hard to stop! The sweet-tart juices of the grilled tomatoes contribute to a natural dressing for the slightly-charred beans, contrasting with the salty feta and the fresh mint, with some crunch from the toasted almonds, and the whole thing comes together in less than 10 minutes. Plus it looks great with all the contrasting colours, textures and shapes. You can't do that with an ultraviolet chimpanzee...

Grilled green bean, tomato, feta and mint salad
1 packet (200g?) green beans, top'n'tailed
1 packet (200g?) cherry tomatoes
olive oil, salt, pepper
zest and juice of a lemon
balsamic syrup (optional)
good handful fresh mint, chopped
50 g feta cheese, crumbled
small handful roasted almonds, chopped

Heat up the grill (broiler, if you're American). Spread the beans on a tray, throw the tomatoes on top, drizzle with olive oil, and toss with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place under the grill for a few minutes, until the vegetables begin to brown and char on one side. Turn so the brown bits are down and grill for a couple more minutes, until beans are cooked and the tomatoes are just popping their skins. Transfer to a plate, season with more pepper, zest the lemon over the pile and squeeze the juice on top, drizzle with more good olive oil and balsamic syrup (adds more depth to the sweet-tart flavour, but if you're Lee and don't like vinegar, it can be left out), scatter the mint and feta on top, give it a light toss to combine those flavours and then finish with roasted almonds. Done making!

Bottomless Brunch, DC style

One of the institutions I quickly got on board with while living in DC was weekend brunch. Many places offer excellent "bottomless" deals, whereby you pay a fixed price for the joy of being able to linger over brunch for hours, nibbling at little plates of deliciousness and sipping interesting drinks. I quickly got into a routine of working for a few hours in the morning, then taking my laptop out for a brunch date and a couple more hours of writing, followed by a stroll round a gallery or park while digesting -- or sometimes just back home for a nap!

One of the places I enjoyed was Masa 14, not far from me on 14th just south of U St. The combination of outdoor deck on a still-sunny autumn day, tasty small plates featuring fusion flavours, and a great selection of Asian-inspired cocktails, was just what I needed to finish the paper I was working on!

I didn't order this pork belly and spicy slaw pressed sandwich, but it was very delicious nonetheless.

A couple of bites of sushi roll and a florentine-style egg with mushrooms, together with a lemony lager cocktail -- surprisingly good!

 

Smoked salmon salad and a lychee bellini.

Roasted cauliflower is always delicious; the steamed bun was also very good. I didn't order the plantain either; it just arrived. A banana by any other name...

Underground, Overground: a visit to Toki

Toki Underground is high on the DC food scene hotlist, but over on the NE side it's a bit out of my usual territory. Arriving into Union Station after a trip to Baltimore, though, I headed up to Union Market and found it closed, and by then I was far enough over that a trip across to 12th St NE was only a few more blocks.

I arrived about 4:30 (opening time is 5pm) so stopped in the pub, or rather The Pug, next door. Despite the name, Toki Underground is actually upstairs -- I expected it to be in the basement!

While waiting I read a few reviews and realised it was just as well I was early, since this place is insanely popular. Some of the reviews mentioned a line forming outside prior to opening! This being a Monday it must have been a bit quieter; no line but when I headed up at 5:15 the place was already filling up.

The bar top features quirky pachinko decor, while cocktails are mixed right in front of you.

This take on an Old-Fashioned, the Toki Monster, featured a little garnish of candied, char-grilled butabara.

These gyoza in a tangy soy glaze were toothsome and tasty.

I opted for the kimchi ramen, which were surprisingly spicy with a rich, creamy broth. 

I may not be in Japan any more, but I can still eat ramen!

No cow tipping - Thip Khao

I've heard that cow tipping is a bizarre sport which involves going into fields and tipping cows over on their sides; apparently the cow can't get up on its own and just has to lie there in the field. Having learned about this I then wondered about fly tipping, which it turns out isn't pushing flies over onto their sides. And then there was the lobster tip incident in Santa Cruz...

Anyway, there were no lobsters, cows or flies in evidence when I visited Thip Khao, a Cambodian restaurant up in the Columbia / Petworth strip that gets gongs on the DC food Internet scene.

Dining solo can be difficult when you want to try everything! The portion sizes here are sufficiently modest (and the waiter's advice on that and heat level was spot-on) that I had room for a duck larb salad and an eggplant and hot-pepper stew with snakehead. Both dishes were packed with flavour, the larb seasoned just right with great texture from the roasted rice, and the stew almost like a tangy, zesty, soupy, roasted eggplant purée with tender fish pieces and a soft egg nestled in.

I did eat only one of the compact little packs of sticky black rice that came with each dish, though.