Mash it up

It's sausage and mash night tonight. Not that we have a special night for sausage and mash, it's just one of my 'can't be arsed' meals, i.e. a meal you cook when you really cannot be bothered will all the flange of proper cooking. Although, I do have Purple Majesty potatoes for purple mash. I got suckered in by the marketing at Sainsbury's you see.

I know to most people the concept of not being arsed to cook manifests itself in the procurement of a take away. A take away meal in our house is like Dolly Parton's husband - rarely seen. I think we've bought one in three years, which was pizza the other week. Actually it wasn't bad, if a tad strange on the topping choices. We had Chinese chicken, pineapple, jalapeños, BBQ sauce and pepperoni. We didn't make it up, it was an actual combination choice on the menu. Methinks the mad professor who works in my staff canteen moonlights at Napoli Pizza in Crystal Palace.

Given the choice of establishments in South London, it's hardly surprising we don't order many take aways. I really want to know what's the unique selling point of Tennessee Fried Chicken vs. Miami Fried Chicken vs. Mississippi Fried Chicken vs. Atlanta Fried Chicken? Apart from the change Southern state or city name that is. The market is literally saturated....in a huge vat of reconstituted deep frying fat!

So, sausage and mash it is with tomato gravy. I know it's not hugely healthy, but the sausages are quality and the mash (the ultimate comfort food, seeing as work has been manic this week) will be soft and buttery......and purple!

So what is your 'can't be arsed' choice?

Girl on Grill Action

I love a good barbecue. I jump at any opportunity to start creating inventive marinades or rubs, slathering them on fine cuts of meat and then whacking them on the grill. The smell of of the meat and sauce marrying together over hot coals gives me an immense sense of pleasure.

Am I the only person who gets excited perusing the vast array of barbecue sauces on the market today? There are so many to choose from! My personal favourite is Cattlemen's, which can be purchased in Sainsbury's or Waitrose. I get equally excited about salad dressings. Try Brianna's Rich Poppy Seed, if you can find it.

Of course, barbecues can also go woefully wrong. This can be the case if you use inferior cuts of meat or frozen burgers and sausages. They just lack the depth of flavour that comes with finer cuts, quality ground beef or speciality sausages.

There are a vast array of things you can cook on a grill, and not all meat based. You can make souvlaki, BBQ maple ribs, grilled sweetcorn with butter and chilli flakes, citrus monkfish, halloumi, blue cheese burgers...the list goes on.

One of my finest memories involves a barbecue. Beth, our friends and I had just arrived at the Moonshine Cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains at the start of our holiday to Dollywood and Nashville. As a pinky orange sun was setting over the horizon, we cracked open some ice cold bottles of local beer, got the hot tub going and struck up the grill. We ate our charcol grilled steaks with salad whilst the eagles flew in the distance and Johnny Cash played on the stereo. Can it get any better?

Dolly Dinners: Touch Your Woman Tuna Sandwich

Touch Your Woman, Dolly Parton

We had a delicious lunch last Sunday after our Sainsbury's shopping spree, which involved making a very special tuna sandwich.

Take two slices of brown or granary bread. It must be brown or granary, white bread just doesn't cut it with a tuna sandwich, unless it's a toasted tuna melt. Actually, I'm a bit anal about which bread goes with what food, i.e. toast with marmite has to be on white bread, but toast with peanut butter has to be on brown. I'm the same with the container from which I drink my tea. It must be a bone china cup. Mugs are only good for soup and coffee.

Anyway....Take two slices of brown bread and do not butter the bread (another thing I am anal about, butter only suits toast). In a bowl mix one tin of tuna with a little mayo, chopped celery, chopped red pepper, gherkin and spring onion. Bind with a little Tabasco sauce and spread over the bread. Slice down the middle and consume.

It certainly has a little bit of bite and a definite kick, guaranteed to touch your woman's taste buds!