pumpkinstrokemarrow

A further round of cheese scones on Sunday, with the variation that I used some yellow margarine from Sainsbury's rather than the usual butter. I don't suppose I would have known had I not known already and think of all the furring of the arteries that has been headed off. But the reason for using the margarine was not that; rather that the online supplies of butter were depleted and I could not wait for the offline supplies to be brought online, that is to say thawed. So now you know that we are a household which freezes its butter.

Followed on Monday by a further round of chicken carcase and mashed potato soup. Really can't think why I had a down on putting mashed potato in soup for so long. Presumably a bad experience when very young.

And then yesterday boiled flank of beef. The flank came in the form of two gently curving rib bones, each of which with the covering meat etc was around 10 inches long by 2.5 inches deep by 1.5 inches wide. The plan was to boil rather than to bake and the problem was what to do the boiling - or at least simmering - in. Eventually opted for the John Lewis fish kettle which was just about long enough but just a bit on the shallow side: I don't like cooking with the boiling liquid half an inch from the rim. Pressed ahead though, with the meat snug in the kettle and tricked out with some chopped onion and celery. Bring to the boil and find large quantities of water being dumped on the top of the cooker. This was partly due to the half an inch from the rim problem just mentioned but partly also because the lid of the kettle fits outside, rather than inside the kettle. Something which, despite having possessed the thing for some years, I had not noticed, or at least not worked out the significance of before. So the steam condenses on the underside of the lid, runs down the underside, over the rim of the kettle and down onto the top of the cooker. Lids from the better stores fit inside. After further deep thought lighted upon what turned out to be the entirely effective solution of placing some foil on top of the meat but under the lid, thus trapping most of the condensation inside.

Carried on simmering for 5 hours at which point the meat was more or less cooked but the hour was well short of lunch. So drained most of the liquor off and left the meat to rest on a low heat for a further two hours. Liquor turned into gravy by the addition of some corn flour and gravy browning (the active ingredient of which appeared to be sugar). Serve the two bones tastefully arranged on a roasting dish to the accompaniment of boiled white potato and boiled white cabbage. Very good it was too - provided that is one is not too veggy. Lots of interesting bits and bobs on full display.

Did one of the two bones, with the second reserved for sandwiches. Always a surprise how much well cooked meat firms up when it cools. And being quite fatty, it should make for good sandwiches: cold beef of a better sort can be a bit dry.