Busy Night

Yes, a busy night! Got home from work at the usual sort of time a bit worn out from a basil hunt. I was going to make bolognese but I had no basil!! This would not do so after work I went a-hunting. Here is a list of local supermarkets and the herbs they had:

Lidl: coriander, parsley
Sainsburys: coriander
Spar: nothing
Co-operative: parsley, coriander

Co-op did have some basil plants but I needed a lot of basil so would have killed it. I didn't want to pay extra for the privilege of throwing a pot in the bin. Walked for ages and ages but still ended up having to go to Asda on the drive home.

Got home, started the bolognese (more on that later), put a flatbread in the oven as a cookingsnack and Fran got to work on a reorganisation. She looked out of the upstairs window and then came down to me with an important alert. THE GARLIC HAS SPROUTED:

I had noticed previously that a bulb of garlic in my garlic pot had begun to sprout, possibly due to the slight damp in that cupboard. As I didn't fancy eating it I decided to break up the bulb and plant the cloves in the hope of reaping a harvest of lots of garlic. The results are above for you to see. Free garlic! Assuming they form into proper bulbs, that is.

While I was out there I took the chance to examine my other crops. SPINACH:

Coming up really nice, should get a decent crop there. We have tonnes of seeds left, despite me planting a silly number in that pot. SAGE:

My herbs aren't exactly thriving but the weather has still had a bit of an edge to it. Hopefully they'll be a bit happier once the cold nights aren't so cold.

So, back to the bolognese. The sauce I did was based on one by Gennaro Contaldo which I previously used for a lasagne. It's extremely simple but also extremely tasty. Modifed it into this:

Chop three onions, however you want, and three-four cloves of garlic. Fry in 125ml olive oil - extra virgin is probably worth it as the oil is contributing to the flavour in this. Once soft add four (yes, four) tins of whole plum tomatoes. Once warmed, roughly tear up a whole supermarket pack of basil.

In the meantime fry up about 900g-1kg of mince. Beef, lamb, pork, doesn't really matter. Once browned add to the sauce. Try not to add much of the fat that has come out of the meat - not much flavour to it and it's just adding unhealth and badtexture.

Simmer for an hour or so. Add water if it's dried down to much. About 45 minutes in, taste a bit and check for seasoning - you will almost certainly need some salt in it to lift the flavour. Black pepper - probably just put a little bit in but add more when you serve. Probably good for an easy six portions.

Optional: add some red wine. Not tried this as it's already rich as hell but I'm planning to. Chilli flakes - probably a good idea. More garlic and basil is probably worth it as they do get slightly lost. Bit of fried smoky bacon or pancetta can't be bad either.

Once that was polished off we continued to reorganise. We decided it was a good idea to move the rats up to the computer room. It's our usual hangout and so the rats weren't quite getting the company they need while they were in the living room downstairs. Moved around various tables, there was some hoovering and the rats are now with us upstairs. It's nice hearing them scuttle around all the time and it's a much better way to keep an eye on their condition.

Sansa seems to be improving - she's still not too brave but is getting better again. It's been a bit of a reset but we're gradually building her confidence back up.

After all that, some Mass Effect 2. Phew!! Just went to get a bit of kit for the main mission and it's now being installed. As a side point, I have a new crew member named Legion. Teehee, he's great. I now have him and Zaeed, two killing machines.

Zaeed was entertaining me by using the line, "I shit you not" when telling one of his stories.

Now I'm back to getting more crew stuff so I guess there's something that has to happen before I can continue with the main storyline. Think I only have the Jacob and Legion story missions left - I don't know what Legion's one is yet as he's only just asked to speak to me and I had to get to bed. It's getting exciting!

Tonight is going to be an EVE Online night. Can't say too much, it's a bit hush-hush.