Stew & Lemon Pud

Last night, I went through the veggie crisper and pulled out everything I could possibly throw in a stew.  I filled a bowl with diced veggies, and parboiled some sliced potatoes for a topping.  Then I took chicken thighs and chicken stock out of the freezer, put everything in the fridge, and went to bed.  This morning, it was only 4 degrees Celsius outside.  High time to try out my new Crock Pot!  Unlike the old one (that I swear is from the 70s) this one has a removable stoneware.

I love coming home to the smell of dinner.  Since no one ever cooks for me but me, the only way to achieve that is to be productive before I leave for work.  So about 6 o'clock this morning, I took out my battered copy of Food Revolution to refresh my memory on Jamie's version of a stew, and ran with it.  I didn't have any wine on hand, so I substituted stock with a good lug of POM pomegranate juice.  I didn't have any canned tomatoes in the pantry, so I used the last few remaining ones from the garden and supplemented them with a tin of tomato paste mixed with water, and the remains of a jar of salsa from the fridge.  Instead of fresh thyme, I decided to use fresh sage, since it's growing rampant in the garden right now.  I also opted to finely dice up two fresh jalapeno peppers from the garden and throw them in for some added kick.  I started the stew off in a large pot on the stove, and then transferred it to the crock pot on low heat for the rest of the day.

When I got home from work, I removed the stoneware, and layered the top of the stew with my cooked potatoes.  I sprinkled them with fresh thyme, salt & pepper, and spritzed them with olive oil.  Then I put the stoneware in the oven for 40 minutes.  The aroma was tantalizing, and the stew was even more delicious than I remembered.  I seriously want to drink all of the juices, they are so good.  I helped myself to two large bowls for dinner, and I never go back for seconds.  It was that good.

While the stew was cooking, I started looking through cookbooks, trying to find something quick I could whip up for dessert.  I don't have much fruit on hand right now, so I needed something simple.

292.  Lovely Lemon Curdy Pud (Happy Days With The Naked Chef, page 284)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I've made a simlar version of this dish before, so I was happy to find out that Jamie had his own version.  All I needed to have on hand was milk, eggs, flour, sugar, and one lemon.  Wheeeee!  So I mixed up butter, lemon zest & sugar, and added egg yolks, milk, flour, and lemon juice.  I whisked up the egg whites by hand until almost stiff (no way was I going to hold them over my head though!) and then mixed everything together.  This batter went into a greased casserole dish and into a water bath for 45 minutes.

 

It really crisped up nicely on the top, yet was quite pudding-like underneath.  Not too sweet either, which is nice.  Really, even with the butter, a pretty light dessert.  Yummy.