A flurry of kitchen activity

All recipes copyright Anna Vaught.
 
Above: the tools of my trade: rustic, non?

Late afternoon today saw a flurry of activity in the kitchen.
First, I'll just tell you how we got to this point.
1. Roasted a chicken on Friday night -- a big fat free ranger. I always roast them breast down for the first half an hour: never again will you have a dry chicken if you do this. Served with bread sauce --as I mentioned in the last blog-- which I'd seasoned, as my mother before me, with both garlic and cloves, the latter of which were stuck into half an onion. New potatoes with mint from the garden, steamed carrots and, rather than gravy, just the juices from the chicken poured over. And petits pois -- frozen because, unless I'm growing them myself, there never seems much point....
2. That chicken then did us for Saturday night dinner in bed (see last blog).
3. Captain chicken is still going, because for breakfast this morning, Sunday, I had a sandwich which consisted of the leftover chicken and potato curry. It was slathered in hot lime pickle and I had a mug of hefty tea (as, in proper brewed, like). I was hiding from the children while I was snaffling this. And reading Madhur Jaffrey's The Curry Bible as I hid.
4. Tea tonight for two: found just a few more bits on the chicken and then mixed them up with crushed garlic and ginger, a tablespoon of Teryaki Sauce (I had run out of Kikoman soy sauce, so was improvising), chopped spring onions, a chopped red chilli, seeds and all and half a green pepper, chopped. Quickly cooked up a handful of green beans and some peas and, at the same time, enough basmati rice for two. Fried the vegetables and chicken in sunflower oil for a few minutes until sizzling, added the rice and a handful of mint. Stir fried the lot for a couple of minutes and all was done.
5. The chicken is now spent, so I'm making stock as I write. I've covered the carcass with cold water, added a few peppercorns and a bay leaf. Sometimes, I add half an onion, peel and all, for both colour and depth, but it depends on what you'll use then stock for later. bring to the boil and then simmer for an hour or so. Freezes beautifully.
6. Oh and the boys (7 and 5) and I made pulled toffee, which is as insane as it sounds and had me barking instructions at them all the time. We cook a lot, but the boiling sugar thing is a bit mad. Anyway, they went crazy over syrup on spoons and learning to identify soft ball and hard crack stages! Water everywhere from their test areas! The toffee is delicious -- except it's not toffee, more a sort of crunchy butterscotch. If you make toffee and it goes wrong, here's a tip: stick it in the freezer and you have something you can bash into bits and sprinkle on ice cream. And we made fairy cakes, which are garishly decorated and just gorgeous. Dripping, lopsided and gorgeous.