We are off to the UK at the weekend for five weeks, so we’re really looking forward to that lovely moment when we step off the plane on Sunday evening into the cool climes of Birmingham Airport. I will probably be the only passenger who will be delighted if there’s a bit of summer drizzle going on. Only for ten minutes, mind you, I’ve got walks along the canal in mind, and I’m definitely a fair weather walker.
This week we are racing about like idiots, trying to finish all the last bits and pieces before we go. I think the more time you have, the more you faff about, then always end up running out of time at the last minute. I’m clearing out fridges and cleaning cupboards, while trying to simultaneously pack my suitcase and get things ready for our visitors. Continue reading “Sweet and spicy baked beans”
Sausages are not common around these parts. The Turks make sucuk (pronounced ‘sujuk’), which is like a cross between pepperoni and chorizo, though obviously no pork is involved. It comes in two forms – sweet and hot – which refers to the heat level of the paprika which forms its main flavour. It appears with alarming regularity on pizzas and in toasted sandwiches, as well as being the main ingredient for sucuk yumurta, a breakfast dish where beaten eggs are added to sliced sucuk which has been fried in olive oil – you end up with a kind of hot, oily, spicy, sausagy scramble. I’m not a fan of either eggs or sucuk, so that particular combination of ingredients would definitely constitute my Room 101 breakfast. What’s wrong with a bowl of cornflakes? 
No posts for 18 days, now two come along at once.
Whenever I’m stumped for ideas for what to make for dinner, there’s quite a good bet that we end up with roast chicken in one form or another. There are so many variations – sometimes we have classic French-style poulet aux herbes, others we go a bit more exotic with Thai or Chinese flavours, and then there’s the good old British roast with stuffing and roasties. 
When I have a weird collection of vegetables in the fridge that need using up, my thoughts immediately switch to one of three things: soup, curry, tart. I bought a big bunch of spinach at the weekend, not really knowing what I was going to do with it, and there it was, still glaring at me when I opened the fridge to get the milk this morning.
It’s Tuesday so it must be a 5:2 day. Oh joy. And it’s residency permit renewal week for us, so we’re spending the day gathering the several thousand pieces of paper required to show that, since this time last year, we haven’t been in prison, haven’t become bankrupt, haven’t radically changed our appearance, have health insurance, still live at the same address and haven’t been out of Turkey for more than 120 days. Every piece of paper has to have an official stamp, so we are trawling around from office to office, dragging our feet like a couple of slothful teenagers. 
Although I love to potter about in the kitchen when I’ve nothing else pressing to do, there are times when I just want something really easy to throw in the oven while I get on with other things. 
aviewfrommykitchen.com 