Quarantine cuisine

By Mrs Robot 

I guess we’re not going to be able to avoid updating this blog while we’re on lockdown, eh? To be honest, being shut up at home isn’t having too detrimental effect on our diets. Because of how we shop – milk from the milkman, organic vegbox from Riverford, meat, fish and cheese from Walter Rose – we haven’t yet encountered any difficulties in getting our usual fresh foods, and our diet is so varied we already had various rices, pastas and noodles in the cupboard. (Incidentally, Walter Rose is now doing veg deliveries as well as meat, across the south of England and into London, so they’re well worth taking a look at, or you can try looking round your own local small shops if you're having trouble finding what you need in the large ones.)

I’ve been really grateful for having a well-stocked spice and condiments cupboard, because making decent food has become an important part of daily life. Stepping away from our computers (we’re both currently still working full time from home) and making something is a good brain-refresher; plating it nicely and taking care with presentation reminds us we’re not just existing, we’re still living.

And so I made scones during one lunchbreak. Another time, I grabbed my usual salad ingredients, and instead of just bunging them all into a bowl, added some rice noodles and a lime/fish-sauce dressing to make something much fancier-tasting, and presented it all nicely on a plate. I charred aubergines during one lunchbreak, then left them in a plastic tub in the fridge to drain, and turned them into baba ganoush with home-made roti a couple of days later. I’d been meaning to make baba ganoush for ages, and being shut up at home gave me the kick up the bum I needed to get on with it.

We do have foods in the freezer in case we both get ill at once and neither of us can cook. For now, we’re focussing on eating well, with a decent quantity of fresh veg, to stay healthy. I hope you stay healthy too! Have you tried anything new, or made anything you're especially proud of?

Burmese Mutton Puffs

By: Mrs Robot

Ooops, Christmas came and went with no Greedybots. (In case you’re wondering, this year’s trifle was inspired apple crumble, with lightly poached apples, brandy and cinnamon cake in the base, custard, whipped cream and then crumble fragments on top.) BUT you’re getting a post in January, and you had to wait till February last year so…

We’ve accumulated many cookbooks over the past year, and one we’ve used a lot is Mandalay by Mi Mi Aye. We went to the launch of her first book, Noodle!, which we loved, and were invited to the launch of this one, but my job got in the way. I’ll do a proper review of that in coming weeks, but over the last weekend I made something which didn’t make the cut for Mandalay: seik-thar puffs, or mutton puffs in English. The recipe’s online at Great British Chefs.

The method is interesting, as you fry the onions and garlic first in spices, then do the mutton (okay, I used lamb) and more spices separately, adding cornflour and water and thickening it, then adding the onions later. I’ve learned the hard way to make sure I cook onions properly for Asian dishes, and I know the value of properly browned meat. I was a bit dubious about the cornflour stage – mutton in glue? – but it works brilliantly. I had a bit of meat left over, so ate that on its own. Delicious!

The garlic and turmeric made it taste really Burmese to me. There’s potential here to vary the dish. I think a pork mince would be really interesting, or you could use finely-chopped mushrooms, carrot, water chestnut or other veg with a bit of bite if you want a veggie option. Changing the spices would also make a big change.

Anyway, another great recipe from Mi Mi Aye here!