Day twelve - Thursday 12th Feb

A Mrs P Takeover!

So… Mr P has up sticks and gone off on a business trip!  That’s all well & good, but on this particular occasion he’s gone and signed US up for a certain little experiment. Mr P going away with work is certainly nothing new in this house.  But, I am no cook.  I love food.  I like to talk about food and even better to eat it.  BUT - I don’t like to cook.  I don’t like the kitchen!  I married a man with kitchen talent for a reason!!!  When he leaves the house… I lean for the phone and ring the takeaway (or in budget times, to the secret emergency frozen pizza stash I keep in the bottom of the freezer!) And so it is, that on this occasion he has gone, and signed me up to cook.  But thankfully, he’s left full instructions.  How tricky can it be… right?! 

On consideration, I think perhaps that this goes right to the heart of Rob’s experiment.  For me it’s about whether you have the interest, motivation and know how to get the best out of your food. And so it is with little interest and very little know how but a rumbly tummy for my motivation, that I get going with my instructions!

Breakfast was easy.  I opted for toast.  I had jam.  The Child had chocolate spread.  Standard. 

Lunch: My work saved me in the form of a one off catered lunch!!! Some will call this a get out.  I think it would have been rude not to!  I had considered a tortilla wrap with cheese / tuna and salad (all leftovers from earlier in the week).  But really, there was no other option. The free, catered buffet at work won the day. 

So.  On to the challenge of the day - dinner.  To give Mr P credit, he had left a rather large bowl of chicken stock and the chicken ready shredded in the fridge ready to roll.  I even managed to lay my hands on half a ready chopped red onion (leftovers from the salsa earlier in the week)! I took a gamble on this.  The instructions said ‘dice half an onion’.  I paused, staring into the fridge trying to puzzle this out: would red onion taste different from white?  Would it make a difference?  Would it ruin the recipe?  Did the lack of colour description on the instructions mean it didn’t matter?  I threw caution to the wind and felt the gamble was worth not getting oniony fingers, trying to figure out if I had the correct chopping board (anyone having been in the kitchen with Mr P when he’s ‘in the zone’ will know he is VERY particular) or worse suffering stinging onion teary eyes! I took a deep breath, gathered my arms full of ingredients and set to it! 

In to the frying pan the chopped onion and knob of butter went.  I fried it off for a few seconds whilst I halved all of the mushrooms and then threw them in too with some salt.  I sweated them off for a few minutes or so and then poured in the risotto rice.  Mr P did not leave instructions on how much to add.  This was problematic!  Best foot forward, more is ALWAYs more - right?!

I stirred in the rice and cooked it off with the onion and mushroom for a few seconds.  Then as the rice soaked up the butter and juices and the pan became dry and as per the instructions, I ladled in the stock one spoon full after another.  Every time the rice soaked up the liquid, or it boiled off (I am not sure which, or perhaps it’s a bit of both??) I ladled in a bit more.  I went back to the pan every now and then for a good 15 mins to keep topping it up.  Then I tipped in the shredded roast chicken leftovers, stirred, gave the rice a bit more stock and a bit more salt. 

My last instructions were to keep checking the rice and when it was really nearly ready with a very little bite to it add a splash of cream and the spinach. I’ll be honest.  Mr P’s not home & I’m not a lover of the greens. In went the cream, but the spinach? I don’t think so!  I served it with a token handful of rocket in my bowl. 

The result?  Surprisingly tasty comfort food!  Oh, and it turns out, for those like me not in the know, the red onion was a safe bet!  I really was quite proud of the outcome.   I can’t pretend I particularly enjoyed the cooking experience (I just find getting it right a bit stressful!) or that I’ll be jumping up and down to fight Mr P out of the kitchen.  But, we ate a really rather delicious dinner, made with almost all leftovers and very cheaply… and I made it.  If I can do it, really, anyone can! … Mrs P says so!