Day seventeen - Tuesday 17th Feb

With half term in full swing, we've got kids a plenty in the house. Luckily, Mrs P has nothing better to do being on holiday for the week, so has been showing her Domestic Goddess persona by making sure everything is sorted and getting a taste of what it might be like to stay at home with loads of kids. I suspect she may get to like it a little too much...!

But to the food - today was Pancake Day! We had pancakes!

Perfect pancakes are all about practice. The recipe I use is simple and relies on you being able to count to 3. (1) 100g sieved plain flour  (2) 2 eggs and (3) 300ml of milk. Flex your whisking muscles and make sure all the flour is mixed in and Bob's your Aunties Uncle.

If I can give you one tip, it's not to get your pan too hot - use your big hob on half heat and quite frankly, I'll bet you get the hang of it after a couple of go's. Side note: I like sugar and lemon or maybe a bit of maple syrup. Mrs P and the child smear theirs with chocolate spread. Nutella may well perfect for many things but it will never defile my pancake.

At lunch, Mrs P and I had a separate diet, I had a business lunch (the classic sandwich, crisp and chicken-on-a-stick situation) due to an all day meeting, whereas Mrs P kept the dream alive with homemade soup, fruit and a bit of bread. Things got more difficult tonight because I had to host the guests who attended the meeting and take them out for dinner. We went to The Swan at Milton Keynes Village where I had slow cooked beef with roasted bone marrow and mash, whereas Mrs P enjoyed the Cottage Pie that was made over the weekend.

Unsurprisingly she wasn't too happy about the way that played out, but we knew I couldn't escape that part of my job for all of February and it just goes to remind me how awesome she is to take on my suggestion of this challenge even though she knew there would be days like this. She assures me that the pie went down an absolute storm though with empty plates all round. Although I wasn't with them, there were plenty of people eating so the portions were comparable and I'm really pleased with the amount of veg I squeezed into it. 

Fry off your trinity veg (carrot, onion and celery) for ten mins on a medium heat, then throw in your mince. I used 12% fat mince because 20% is just to much to take and 5% fat just doesn't give me the flavour. Add a whole chopped clove of garlic and when the mince is brown add a ladle of stock if you've got it or water if not. I add a beefy stock cube or two depending on how much you've made - I used two with 500g of mince. Turn the heat right down and let the whole thing simmer for at least 30 mins to get the flavours really going and add as many peas as you can handle. I also added sweetcorn because I had some from week one and it didn't look like it was going anywhere else. Meanwhile get your mash on the go and when the potato is soft, mash it up either classic (just butter, milk and salt) or perhaps go crazy with some cheese or horseradish. Not having access to enough or even any of either of those things I had to go for the original version this time around.

Put your mince in the dish and layer your potato on top. This can then go in the fridge for a couple of days or be frozen if you need it to keep for longer - I guarantee you it will always taste better after cooling and re-heating. Then back in the oven for 40 mins and Hello Dinner!