Monday 27 April 2015

This week in my kitchen :: Fast Food and Home made Rosemary Hair Rinse



On busy days I often rely on store cupboard ingredients to make speedy suppers. I find these staples useful to have in mine:

Bottled olives, capers and sun dried tomatoes.
Dried beans, noodles or pasta (Spaghetti and orzo are favourites) and shitaki mushrooms.
Vegetable basket shallots or spring onions (quicker to prepare than regular large onions and take less time to cook), sweet potatoes, capsicums especially red or yellow ones and broccoli. 
Canned chopped tomatoes, anchovies, tuna or sardines. 
Frozen broad beans/garden peas.

If I know in advance that it's going to be an extra busy week I'll stock up the fridge with things like fresh pasta such as tortellini that cooks in half the time of dried pasta and tastes a million times better. Fresh shitaki mushrooms for deep earthy flavour, cray fish tails or prawns that are peeled and de-veigned ready to cook, bags of mixed salad leaves and herbs if there aren't any in the garden and avocados. I can quickly put together something simple with these ingredients in ten minutes. Other foods like abgoosht and baked rose cocoa beans that I cook this way are also quick to prepare but take a long slow cook. They are great for if you are working in the house so that you can check them every so often. 

Here's a little of the action in my kitchen this week:
  • Tortellini with shittaki mushrooms, crayfish tails and peppery salad leaves. I like a combination of watercress, rocket (arugula) and spinach.
  • Abgoosht (or Obgoosht), Persian lamb and chick pea stew. You can find our recipe here. Traditional accompaniment's are cool cucumber chunks and raw onion. It's sometimes served spooned over small pieces of bread placed in the serving dish in much the same way that bread is added to Italian Panzanella salad to make it more hearty and substantial.
  • Breakfast, oat porridge with banana and berries.
  • Tortellini with shittaki mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes.
  • Fresh duck eggs and my favourite crunchy green conference pears.
  • Dill, garlic and broad bean rice that we served with oven baked sardines and sweet caramel garlic pickles.
  • Poached duck eggs with sour dough rye bread toast.
  • Tasty tortellini with peeled baby broad beans, broccoli and garlic...mmm...
  • Good local bread, like Alex Gooch sour dough rye bread, cotswold's black, or beer bread with almond or peanut butter and fruit.
  • Painting the garden table.
  • Making rosemary hair rinse from this lovely recipe here...So easy. You just have to bring a pan of filtered water to the  boil, add stalks of fresh rosemary. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for about half an hour. Strain off the water and allow to cool before using. After washing your hair whilst it's still wet rinse with the rosemary infused water and allow to dry.The result should be shiny healthy deliciously smelling hair...Mine is much greener than hers. I wonder if that's good or bad...I'll go and try it now and let you know...
...has anything interesting been happening in your kitchen this week?
dx

11 comments:

  1. This is all so lovely! That lamb dish sounds perfect for the kind of wild weather we are having at the moment; I hope yours is more settled. And I hope the rosemary hair rinse was a success! x

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    1. Ho weird...I was just thinking about you Lucy. Wow I always imagine the sun shining where you are with no wind or rain. We've been having a lovely spring with lots of sunshine. There has been a chilly wind or two but lovely blue skies. I let you know about the hair rinse. I'm writing this with a towel on my head!
      Hope the weather improves,
      debx

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  2. "Ho" weird! ahem...that should be "How."
    dx

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  3. I know I've said it before Debby, but I would really love to spend a week with you in the kitchen, I think we would have a grand time cooking, talking, knitting, and of course eating. You prepare the most wonderful dishes. My ducks have been laying again so there are quite a few dishes here that have duck eggs, yum.
    I had forgotten all about using a rosemary hair rinse, I use to use it years ago. I will have to pick some rosemary today and prepare a pot for tomorrow. :)
    I hope you have the best day, We are having strange weather, 90 yesterday, and this week it will only be in the 70's so I plan on being outside as much a possible.
    Oh, do keep me posted on how the drop spindle spinning goes, I have one, but it just sits. :)

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    1. It would be so good Tracey...The rosemary rinse is amazing. It works instantly. My hair has been sadly neglected whilst there's been so much work going on. It has got so dull and dry. Whilst still wet it shined as soon as I used it though! I've just started using coconut oil too that's amazing as well. I'd love to have a go at making soaps and shampoos and all sorts of other natural potions as well.
      I love the egg shaped whites of the duck eggs when I poach them, and the massive yolks!
      My spindles still waiting too...I must make some time to use it.
      Hope the sun is just the right temperature for you today.
      debx

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  4. I love when you share your kitchen happenings!! Please never ever quit. We had curry from the freezer. He makes it with chickpeas mushrooms and potatoes, which is the best combination in my mind. We also had dahl and rice to accompany that. You've given me some new ideas for meals :)

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    1. Thanks Karen. I miss when we used to link over to Beauty That Moves to catch up with everyone's kitchens. It was fun to take a peek and see what everyone else was making, His curries sound amazing. lovely combinations. I love Indian food my favourite is Sag Aloo. Mine are from our local takeaway, which is really good. But I keep threatening to have go myself. I want to grind all the spices and get the fresh roots. I must stock up the next time we are in London and then have a go.
      All this talk of food is making my tummy rumble...I think I'd go and get some breakfast.
      dx

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  5. your meals always stream 'HEALTHY'....you are my kitchen hero!

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    1. Oh that's good Steph thanks...When I look back they do look healthy, which is good because I've gone off the healthy food rail a bit recently. I must be getting back on track!
      debx

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  6. Debby,as usual, I would love to dine at your table. Everything you make looks so tantalizingly delicious! And that little table, it is darling!

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    1. That would be so lovely. I really wish we could. The garden table is cute but really needed a coat of paint. It looks so much better now. I must post a picture of the finished one.
      Take care,
      debx

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