We had friends over for dinner last night. A few weeks ago, I’d torn a scrap from a newspaper and pinned it to the fridge, a recipe involving lamb and purple sprouting broccoli. It sounded hearty, tasty and best of all involved a long, slow cooking time which would enable me to get things pretty sorted long before our friends arrived.
So, the Ocado order came on Friday (no missing items, no substitutions … I totally love it when that happens) and on Saturday morning, I made up a batch of pumpkin & halloumi fritters (to be served as nibbly starters with sour cream, sweet chilli and a glass of fizz and pomegranate) and took the kids to swimming via Flock & Herd for the lamb shoulder I’d ordered on Thursday. Earlier in the week, I’d been to Rabot Estate to buy a selection of chocolate ranging from 50 to 100 percent, which I planned to do with fruit and cheeses from Norbiton Cheese at Brockley Market.
So far, so organised. Until, at some point in the afternoon, I glanced at the scrap of paper on my fridge and realised that it was very vague on quantities. How many anchovies? How many olives? It mentioned the chef’s name so I had a quick google – “Theo Randall lamb shoulder purple broccoli” and got the answers I needed … and the sudden realisation that I should’ve asked for the lamb to be deboned.
Mild panic ensued, and you-tube was consulted to for demos and how-tos. Um, no, not going to happen. So I did the sensible thing: called Flock & Herd. “Come back, we’ll sort it out,” said the jovial chap at the other end of the phone. They did, just moments before closing time. Phew. I mean, lucky it was a slow cook recipe. Imagine if I’d been about to start merrily prepping at 6pm?
Today I Am Happy That... 