... it's now eight o'clock and the Mrs is muttering about us missing out on our evening walk and how she'll have to go to bed soon. That's woman-speak for "I'm hungry ... are we going to have dinner some time soon?".
Okay, okay ...
When you're absolutely stumped, the best thing to do is put down whatever it is you're doing and go do something else. Cook.
We need something putting together quickly, and I need to get the lunches sorted out too ...
Baked, pan-fried or steamed fish is always a quick meal; the longest cooking time is the veggies.
So, oven on. 180C. Boil a kettle.
Make up a couple of parcels of fish. I used tin foil, a slab of butter sliced off the end of a stick, some shredded fennel, the fish on top and some lemon juice over, salt and pepper.
Fold up the foil and bung them in the oven.
'tis the season for some superb food, most of which is not paleo, just about primal, but since they're fresh from the vine and a variety which we see such a short season of, it's a crime not to ...
Jersey Royal Potatoes, freshly podded peas and stringless green beans. Broccoli and carrots make up the remainder.
Wash and hand peel the Jersey Royals, slice 'em and get them boiling. No Jersey Royals? Use salad potatoes. Don't do potatoes? Swede, turnip, celeriac, the choices are bountiful ... something rootical.
Veggies, just slice, pod, cut, whatever, and choose your favourite steamed veggies.
After about 5 minutes of boiling, sit the veggies over the potatoes in a steamer.
After another 5 minutes, they'll be done, so drain the 'taters and set aside for the remainder of steam to evaporate off. No need for butter as we'll be pouring over the fish parcel butter.
Lid off the veggies to let the steam off.
Plate up! Roots down first, veggies over.
Retrieve the fish from the oven and carefully place over, pouring the juices over the whole dish. Garnish with superfluous greens; parsley, in my case.
Voilà! Simple parcel baked fish an veggies. Naturally, change the fish (if white, keep the fennel and lemon juice, salmon or trout like dill and perhaps even lime?) and make your selection of veggies, but here's a quick 15 minute meal.
After dinner, I mused a little more, prodded my multimeter on that wretched electric blade and figured it out. It was the spring in the barrel which was not connecting the tip properly. Stretched spring, better ... new spring, perfect. Poor do for a brand new fencing blade, though.
In all, a good evening ...
