Well, maybe not just yet. It is actually not even 8.00 in the morning as I am writing this, and I have not had my breakfast yet, but since it has been ages since I last posted anything about food here, I think it is about time I add another entry to "recipes".
I have written before about how much of my cooking (especially on the rare occasion when it is just for myself) is based on making do, and the other day, I was doing just that.
There were a few spuds left over from the weekend, and half a length of the goat cheese roll (not a roll as in bread, but because it is rolled up in two different layers), plus the herbs on my windowsill in the kitchen had grown enough to be of some use.
So I peeled the potatos and cut them in quarters, greased an oven pan with a bit of olive oil, put the spuds in facing the flat sides up, sprinkled them with a bit of salt and left them at 200 C (390-400 F) for about 25 minutes. No precise timing there; I just kept checking on them after around 20 minutes and then again a little later.
The spuds and cheese went back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so, just right for the cheese to start melting and the potatos to finish cooking, but not too long; burnt cheese turns bitter and does not smell very nice.
I added some fresh thyme leaves from the pot on my windowsill, a bit of pepper, and my lunch was ready.
For dessert, I had a mug of Cadbury's hot chocolate... it was a chilly enough day, and I had wanted to use up the sachet of chocolate powder for a while (it was a freebie from the bed & breakfast in Ripon where my sister and I spent a week in May).
Looks fabulous. (I am hungry too and about to have my breakfast!) But surely those are not thyme leaves? Or are they another sort I don't know? They look a bit like some sort of parsley to me. I remember when I lived in Germany there was a sort of herb cheese for sale that I loved. Even though I was allergic to it and it made my mouth itch uncomfortably, I still ate it sometimes. It was that good. I've never found anything like it anywhere else and that may be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteKristi, I am by no means sure this is thyme... For my birthday back in March, I was given a set of three paper cups with herb seeds to grow, with the inscriptions "basil", "thyme" and "coriander". Now, even I know what basil looks, smells and tastes like, and I can still see the word coriander written on one of the cups, therefore the third cup must be thyme... I think :-)
DeleteThey do sell many kinds of cheese with different herbs in it here, such as nettles, clover, wild garlic and others. I like them all and thankfully have not yet shown allergic reactions to any of them.
Coriander is the only one that looks like your photo.......It's also called cilantro.........My favorite "sandwich" would be bread topped with mozzarella. topped with a slice of tomato fresh from the garden, topped with basil leaves.And now I'm hungry!
DeleteThen I must have accidentally put the coriander seeds in the cup that said "thyme" and the other way round :-)
DeleteI, too, love mozzarella-tomato-sandwiches, Kristi! Have you seen the one I took to the park here:
http://librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.de/2010/05/day-at-park.html
I hadn't read it before. It looks wonderful. I always read your blog before breakfast and now I'm hungry! Again!
DeleteMost mornings, I read blogs before breakfast, too, while having my coffee (I usually have a gap of about 1-2 hours between my first mug of coffee and before I feel like eating anything).
DeleteOMgoodness, that makes me hungry! Cheese is good on anything, my kind of meal. I wish I could get good goat cheese around here, they don't have it at my Piggly Wiggly grocery store! :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great day,
Dorothy
Cheese is definitely staple food for me, Dorothy! Usually, I get this type of goat cheese (and several others) from Aldi, the supermarket closest to where I live.
DeleteYou too have a great day!
Ah very very close to chips and cheese..! Sold in the best Scottish chip shops!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I go posh and have blue cheese and chips with balsamic vinegar.
Hello Macy! Now that you mention it... I have not made chips in a long, long time!
DeleteThe potatoes sound great. I will have to try that. And how can you go wrong with hot chocolate for dessert? xoxo
ReplyDeleteYou can't, except for on a really hot day :-) And that hasn't been the case in a while, I'm afraid.
DeleteI'm not usually interested in recipes because I am not much of a cook. I stick to my mainstays; thus no recipes needed. But I've always wanted to try goat cheese and I think I could handle this! :) thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comments on my blog; thank you so much.
You are welcome!
DeleteLike you, I usually don't cook according to recipes; baking is different, of course, but I don't cook or bake often anyway.
Looks delicious! Sometimes I'd like a rest from the kitchen... I cook all the time, especially being on school vacation!
ReplyDeleteIt was delicious, Mary! Well, vacation should mean a rest for you, too, shouldn't it? :-) Who says a hot meal is necessary every day? I don't think it is; a nice salad and/or sandwich is just as filling and wholesome.
DeleteYou can make me lunch anytime! Potatoes with cheese, sounds yummy.
ReplyDeleteAnd that Cadbury's Hot Chocolate looks so good!
It was good, Kay. I know there are plenty of people out there who sneer at Cadbury's, since it contains a lot of sugar and milk and not as much cocoa as they deem necessary for a gourmet chocolate, but I happen to like it :-)
DeleteCheese. I cannot imagine life without it. When I had my recent cardiac check-up the Nurse wasn't impressed by my cheese consumption. However my cholesterol count is still low so I shall keep on eating. However as a former chocoholic surprisingly I never developed a liking for hot chocolate.
ReplyDeleteGB, hot chocolate is never going to be my preferred drink. It was more the chocolaty taste that I wanted than anything else. Uusually, when I want a hot drink to warm up, I'll have tea or, in winter, a mug of hot broth. Otherwise, it is coffee in the morning and one in the afternoon, and for the largest part of the day and night, tap water.
DeleteIf I had to cut out cheese from my diet, that would be very difficult - if not impossible! - for me.
What a clever idea - I would not have thought of it and yet it is so simple and looks so delicious.
ReplyDeleteI have found a nice recipe for cold boiled pasta that is left over. Mix it with watercress, capers, a few cherry tomatoes and a lot of pumpkin seeds, and squeeze a bit of lemon and some oil on it. It really is surprisingly good even for someone like me who isn't much of a pasta fan.
Apart from the capers (which I am not too keen on), this pasta salad sounds very nice and refreshing. Actually, Nudelsalat (pasta salad) is the most popular dish served at and brought to barbecues and garden parties here in Germany. There are endless variations, and almost everybody likes it, it can be prepared in advance and is uncomplicated to eat.
DeleteWe eat baked potatoes too, my husband adds cheese, I must use something else, Being dairy intolerant. I have never tried potato slices though, that sound a very good idea, and takes less time.
ReplyDeleteHello Friko, hope you are feeling better today and your dog's health will improve again.
DeleteYes, cutting the spuds up certainly saves time - and usually, when I make something to eat, I am already quite hungry and don't want to wait long :-)
My Mum is lactose intolerant, too, but there is quite a good choice of lactose-free cheese and other "dairy" products here at the supermarket. And goat cheese is, as far as I know, alright for some people who can't eat cheese made of cow's milk.