Home Alone

I put  my wife and daughter on a plane bound for blighty last night for some UK shopping, catching up with family and other things so am home alone. At times like this I always seem to get the same questions from friends asking how I'll cope alone and what will I eat. I haven't thought up a snappy come-back yet to this yet but really... come on! I'm a grown man and can cook. Even if I couldn't its not rocket science to simply open a tin of baked beans and eat them with toast. In fact there's a lot to be said for the humble baked bean. A nice tasty meal with entertainment thrown in when they reach the end of the digestion process. Name that tune with farts instead of piano. Dinner and a show; what more could you want.

Anyway, rather than rocking back and forth in my chair and drooling into my beans I arrived home from work, took the dog for a quick walk, poured myself a glass of single malt, put some Divine Comedy on the stereo and started to cook.

Tonight I mostly had pork with creamy mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. While I prepared this feast I also cooked something for Wednesday and Thursday to save me from cooking after getting home from work. (I get home late you see). I went back to the old favorite of stew made with fresh vegatables and a small quantity of meat and beer. Very simple to make too. Just fry a couple of chopped onions in some olive oil until soft, roll the diced meat in flour, salt pepper and rosemary then fry with the onions. After a few minutes pour in two bottles of beer and your choice of vegetables (and it really is your choice). I used chunky cut carrots, new potatoes, light green cabbage and garlic.

Add a stock cube, top up with water, bring to the boil then turn down the heat, cover the pot and simmer for an hour or so. Fantastic and so easy to make. It will be great tomorrow after resting overnight.

No photos with this one. My wife took the camera with her.

So for all those who doubt a man can cope on his own, watch this space as I blog a variety of easy and practical meals over the next two weeks.