World Takeover fast approaching

The world takeover is two days away (possibly three) and I have little brain space for other things.  There are a few things that I could hash together to see if it makes a full post. Here goes.

1. Sitting at the computer is giving me a bit of a bad back. It’s making me feel old. I’m wondering how soon this would have happened if I’d gone down the office-job route.

2. My NaNoWriMo is behind by about three days. It doesn’t sound much but it translates to about 5000 words. Which I need to do today. So then it does sound like a lot.

3. I’m having trouble working out how to get photos I’ve taken on my phone to all come out the same size on the website. Some come out big and some come out teeny tiny and some are just right. How/why does this happen? Why don’t they all look the same size?

4. Last night, during Masterchef, the contestants had to make something with a random selection of ingredients. Last time I asked Danda what he would have made, this was his answer. This time, they had a mango, some ricotta, a coconut, brown crab, an aubergine and some other stuff I’ve forgotten. I think I’d make something desserty, I said to Danda, what would you make? Danda’s answer – I’d eat the mango and throw the coconut at Monica’s head. Ever the professional chef.

5. I want a cup of tea.

And now, here’s a photo. To try and rescue this non-post. It’s a tiny snail.

I confited a rabbit!

This is exciting. It is very exciting. Why? I hear you ask. Well, because I can pretend I am on Masterchef, of course! They are always making a confit of something. A confit of duck, a confit of vegetables, etc etc.

So, using my fabulous new cookbook I got for Christmas, I bought a rabbit, something I have never done before and followed Michel Roux’s recipe for rabbit confit. It was fascinating. Well, actually, it was opposite of fascinating. I just stood and watched a pan do nothing. You have to keep the temperature at 70 degrees the whole time, which is quite low. It bubbles a little at first, then it just sits there, doing nothing.

So far as I can see, it is a more chic, French way of deep fat frying, minus the batter and bubbling. It is cooked really slowly and then preserved in the fat/oil and will last a few weeks in the fridge.

The rabbit was amazing when I used it to make a cassoulet the next day. Really soft and moist.

Last night I also made tomato confit and garlic confit and used them in my lamb and Mediterranean vegetable dish, from the same cookbook.

I am like the confiting queen now! I will just say one thing though, I’m buying more oil every time I go to the shop and it could work out to be an expensive hobby, this confiting thing.

P.S. Danda would like me to tell you the confit joke he and I came up with…. How do you make a duck confit? Lay it down on the sofa and put a pillow under its head.

Danda and the Masterchef challenge

Danda has been ill lately. It’s this cold that has been going around which is accompanied by persistent all-consuming coughing fits. The doctor says you just have to stick it out and it should be gone in about a week.

I had started buying a few Christmas presents but when he was all sad and ill, yep, you guessed it, I gave him the presents to cheer him up. One was a balloon powered helicopter which I played with for hours.

So anyway, we were watching my favourite yesterday, Masterchef. Danda was watching too but was very distracted by his constant coughing. He was also quite tired from not sleeping that well because of his cold. He had opted for a small nap on the sofa before Masterchef started. I think he was perhaps still a little sleepy.

So there was a challenge on Masterchef where they were given seven ingredients and had to create a dish in an hour. The ingredients were chicken thighs, bacon, tarragon, brandy, chocolate, grapes and something else, I’ve forgotten now. My mind got working. What would I make? Chocolate mousse? Some kind of roasted chicken thing? Most of the chefs started making chicken ballotines with tarragon mousse etc. They created some lovely food out of such limited ingredients. As I marvelled at their skill and tried to pick up tips from them, I asked Danda who was still coughing and spluttering at regular intervals, what he would have done for that challenge.

His answer?

“I’d drink the brandy, eat the chocolate and throw the chicken at the other chefs.”