Meal planning

Last night was a disaster. I had defrosted some diced turkey, but it seemed a bit 'off' in the middle and the sauce seemed designed for three times the amount of meat. I got a takeaway. Sigh. I really enjoyed the takeaway as well. Poor darling father got a meal to himself and I think it nearly sunk him - it was huge and he just seemed to keep going and going.

Tonight is mince and potatoes. Tomorrow I am going to try out my new stockpot and do scouse. Actually, it is more likely to be lamb stew as I plan on putting all sorts of heretical things in like barley, and I am not sure I have the right sort of potatoes.

The UK is a comparatively tiny place compared to the USA, France or Germany, but there really are differences in cooking between the regions. Not in the 'this is a regional recipe from a regional cookbook' type stuff, but just the different standbys that get dished up when mum doesn't want to follow a recipe. The big difference between regions is shown in local markets. When I was young we got cheese and bacon from Chester market. Even now, with the introduction of chilli flavoured cheeses and weird combinations, you still get the slabs of cheese made in farmhouses nearby. You also get all sorts of bacon products, which I just don't see in supermarkets or in the market in Leeds. The thing I really miss from there and from Ellesmere Port is a product I knew as Ulster Fry, which is probably mainly bacon, stuffed with fat and salt and really, really tasty. Leeds has a lot more beef on sale and a lot less lamb, and the pies here are a lot nicer and there are a lot more of them.

So I can't go onto the local market and ask for scouse potatoes, which should be lovely and floury and disintegrating. But I can do a lamb stew that is more or less okay.