The final Alack + smoked chicken

It is the day of Doom. Alack the day arrived and L plus CH plus DCs flew off to ne'er be seen again (ok in 7 weeks but i never let that kind of reunion ruin a good moaning blog,,,)

Yes, they left and i am somewhat bereft. Life goes on of course but it is much poorer without Louise, Brian and the DCs.  So the only way forward on this awful evening is with comfort food-how else would i get over the loss?-those of you with suggestions of walks, baths and evening classes-get a life! Food is the only emotional conduit that can fill the hole i am currently feeling.

So i am roasting some free range chicken drumsticks which i bought earlier on a special in Dunnes Stores on the way home from work. i have tucked in cut up field mushrooms, zucchini chunks, halved tomatoes and garlic cloves and am now cooking the bejasus out of the lot of them-as befits my mood.

When they are done i shall sprinkle over some parsley and mint that i have chopped and frozen ( and if you are new to this, read back and get with the programme-yes i am in that kind of fierce humour tonight).

And a bit of balsamic vinegar. Cos i don't care about my WW leader this week(i am in mourning so sue me...), i am also cooking some couscous with the juice that pours out of the chicken dish, topped up with a wee bit of water. When all is done, i will pile it up on a plate and go and watch CSI New York to remind me of my sis and my years there. And I don't care, i fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed (thanks Keats, you said it for me)

Christina

More alack the woe + coriander chicken..

Well, the momnt of doom has arrived and my kitchen is full of my sister's cast offs. Let's get one thing clear-I wanted them. I am innately incapable of throwing stuff out that might, in 5 years, come to useful fruition, and i simply made her give the crap to me. CH was mystified but he just does not understand the Favier squirreling intstinct so here it is and indeed i shall find a home for that medium sized sieve if it bloody kills me.

I will miss them so much and can't wait to head to NY in September. My yearly visits have taken on a regular pattern, most of it cellulite inducing. Manhattan Ave Thai for sesame noodles, Long Island Bar for company and getting gently pissed under the ministrations of Hungary's finest bartender this side of this Atlantic (or any Lantic for that matter) and Eggs Hollandaise in the Greenpoint Coffeehouse-ok, i admit my sister owns this joint but i don't care, the food there is simply wonderful. And the coffee-they will make perfect coffee even for an Irish milksop like myself-the patience and tolerance of these people knows no bounds!

After the excesses of the last few days (Mum turned 80 and we pretty much let rip food wise-commendations to Kevin for his roasted sweet potato and his couscous with whole roasted garlic cloves-I wub woo Kevin....), my thoughts now turn back to healthlier stuff-ie my WW meeting looms large..

So tonight i am simply grilling some chicken which i have marinated since i got home from work in chopped fresh coriander, crushed garlic, chili, ginger and soy sauce. All the flavourings i have in the freezer and i got out the chicken breast this morning. It is well worth buying the fresh coriander, chilis and ginger, chopping it up finely and putting it into Ziplock bags (the ginger into one inch chunks that you can grate from frozen) and then all you need is the meat and garlic I stuck it all in a bowl with some sesame oil and a tablespoon of soy sauce and let it sit. you can put it in the oven if you don't have a grill. Meanwhile, boil some Basmati or jasmine rice and sit the chicken on top. Steam some broccoli florets or baby spinach if you have it to hand. Yummy. Easy food to have in the mourning period!

Christina

Alack the woe! plus fishcakes

When we were wee bairns in school studying the good books (aka Shakespeare), there was always a fierce amount of oh woe is me, alack the day, oh woeful day etc going on. We shorthanded this amongst ourselves to alack the woe to describe any terrible situation. And lo, it has come to pass. My sister Louise, her current husband (CH) and the kids (aka Dreadful Creatures) are moving back to Brooklyn in 10 days. Only my therapist really knows how to handle traumas like this and i shall be wringing €60 of comfort out of her the minute they depart. For those of you who have not been following CH's take on being a Yankee in-law in Ireland for the last year, i heartily recommend his blog: http://travelingaway.blogspot.com/

For those of us left rebuilding our shattered lives-and seeing as this is MY blog  I shall make it all about ME, I can only say they shouldn't have come in the first place. Better we would have remained in our little Irish lives with no furriners coming in with their furrin good cheer, furrin lovin' and furrin ways. I shall stand forlornly on the Musgrave terraces watching Munster storm to yet another victory all on my onyo, with no FH to share Laura's hipflask or to explain what the hell is actually going on (as opposed to my own slow backwards version). No popping over from the hospital to have coffee with Louise and assorted DC's. No Friday nites after work for a V & T with FH and herself accompanied by the comforts of the mini off license they always kept in their flat. And most of all, no laughing with Louise til we almost choked, the way we've been doing since we started sharing a bedroom at age nought.

It's rough lads, rough.

To comfort myself, i am having some comfort food tonight-fishcakes to be precise. These are dead easy to make, and if you have been brought up like me to act, culinarily speaking, as if the next famine was just around the corner, can be made with stuff you already have lurking uselessly in the fridge.

First of all, have some mashed spuds from another dinner left over-now, once you've dished up your dinner, WALK AWAY FROM THE SPUDS, JUST WALK AWAY.  Cover them up quick before you can go back with a teaspoon and, when cold, refrigerate. I eat a lot of smoked salmon, partly cos it's good for me, but mainly cos Weightwatchers doesn't have the word "Eveeel!"" asterisked beside it in the book like the way it does lamb chops, sadly.

Chop up the smoked salmon fairly small-you can be liberal with the amount-no you can, really. Check your spuds for flavour-don't eat them!- and add a good tablespoon of chopped capers, some fresh herbs (parsley and mint is good-i hate dill but it would be perfect for this)-see my post re freezing fresh herbs- and grate in finely the zest of half a lemon-you then juice the rest onto the cooked cakes.

Roll them around in Matzo meal or breadcrumbs or cornmeal or nothing if you have nothing to hand. Let sit for about half an hour. Add a beaten egg if, when mixing, it all seems very crumbly.

If you're not afraid of your WW leader (as i am), put 2 tabs of sunflower oil in a hot hot pan and heat well. Add the cakes and turn down the heat to moderate after a minute or so. Otherwise, spray some oil on. Turn over after about 5 minutes and the same on the other side. Meantime, make a yummy dressing with some natural yoghurt, garlic oil, and some fresh herbs like parsley etc. Prepare and dress a green salad. Serve and eat straightaway. Lots of cut lemon on the side.

Christina