A Jamie Kind of Weekend

Well, it was a Jamie Oliver weekend! We watched him on Oprah, then the premiere of Food Revolution, and I cooked two recipes. Food Revolution was great and I loved watching Jamie in action as he ruffled feathers all through West Virginia. I've been thinking a lot since Friday about his Food Revolution. It sounds so simple but it was so hard for him. Our house has grown to think of Jamie as an honorary family member and it was hard for all of us to watch as he battled his way through the town. My daughter cringed at his little defeats (the doubtful DJ and the tough lunch lady) and we cheered for his little victories (the first grade class that learned the names of their vegetables and getting to stay another week). We also loved to watch his work with the family in the show; the "intervention" with the mom, burying the deep fryer and the cooking class with the son. On Oprah, Jamie made chicken nuggets with the same bread mixture as our "green chicken." Daughter laughed when she saw that Jamie's wasn't quite as green as ours.

So, Jamie was "all over" our weekend and feeling very much in a "Jamie" kind of mood, on Sunday night we made the "Everyday green chopped salad" (pg. 120) to go with our dinner. It was so easy to make and great for practicing your chopping skills. It was a perfect first chopped salad for us with ingredients that everyone in the house likes, lots of cucumber, avocado and sprouts. It was looking like quite a bit of food and I knew once I added the dressing I wouldn't be able to save it so I didn't put in all of the lettuce I was suppose to and so it was a bit too "wet." I would definitely make it again and play around with the ratios.

Still giddy and pumped from our Jamie weekend, I let my husband pick a recipe to make for Monday night. He's a meat and potatoes kind of guy and he LOVES his beer so I wasn't too surprised when he picked the Basic Stew Recipe (pg. 180). I have to say that this one I've been dying to try also and yesterday was the perfect day for it. It was cold and damp all day and reminded me so much of my semester in London which of course also reminded me of Jamie. All throughout the morning, I was thinking of London and the warm soups and stews that my host mother used to make. (We'll have to save her story for another day). So, the weather, along with the big Jamie weekend, made me really get excited for the smells of the simmering stew and a warm and cozy house. One thing I love about this book is that occasionally he will give a "basic" recipe and then about four versions of the basic recipe. He does this for the stew, and I selected the Beef and Ale version. The recipe was so easy and I felt like such the cook as I chopped and sampled. It was so much fun! After I'd sautéed the veggies in the pot for about ten minutes I was getting all of the ingredients ready for my next step and realized that I was out of diced tomatoes. Oh no! My husband had used them all the day before so I had to make an emergency run to the store. I got in and out of the store in no time (and actually was thankful for self check out for once) and home to my pot and preheated oven. Into the pot went the tomatoes, beef and beer (I used Sam Adam's Brown Ale). Then I popped it into the oven for three hours. On the few pages after the stew recipe there are all of these yummy toppings for your stew like how to make it into a pie, adding dumplings or putting on a mashed potato top. They looked so good and as the smell drifted around the house I was wishing I had picked up some potatoes at the store. I decide that the add-ons will need to wait for next time, I'm not up for another run to the store . Three hours later I pulled the pot out of the oven and it looked great. I must say, once again, it looked just like Jamie's picture and it tasted delicious. I can't believe how simple it was and with hardly any ingredients! I'm already excited for the next time I make this and thinking that it may have to be the "topic" of my first Revolution Cooking Party.
Recipes cooked: 10
Recipes left: 163
Days left: 342