I know what you’re all thinking ‘Emily’s blog posting schedule has gone out the window!’. Yes, I’m not going to lie, it has. I’m struggling quite a bit with sticking to a dedicated schedule, and I think it’s time I let myself relax it down a little bit (and stop stressing myself out), at least until I’m in a position to sort out the days I can sit down and do some blogging (e.g. the days I’m not working). As of the moment, you should be able to read at least (hopefully) two blog posts a month, which I will be dedicating more time to. But, this isn’t strict. some months I struggle more than others.
Anyway, now all that serious stuff is out of the way, shall we start today’s blog?
If any of you have been following my life – whether it be reading these blogs, or checking out my Instagram posts (I struggling with Facebook posting, I’m not going to lie) – you will probably notice that I have occasionally been talking about cooking. On my Instagram, I’ve even been documenting my cooking experiences for a while now on my stories. Although I only tend to make the same dishes, I try to spice it up over there a bit by adding a little spin on the dishes I enjoy cooking.
My plan with this blog today, is to talk with you all about why I like cooking, some of my favourite dishes to cook, and to share my favourite recipe with you (a recipe for some super cool bean burgers – so you can try them too!).
One of the main reasons I enjoy cooking so much is because I find it oddly relaxing – and I mean the whole experience, from start to finish. The prep, the actual cooking, the serving. I don’t know why, but if I’m in the mood to cook there is nothing more relaxing then doing it. I think the main reason I enjoy it, and find it relaxing, is because of how accomplished I feel. It reassures me that I will be able to survive when I move out of home (which, not going to lie, is going to take at least a couple more years).
I also enjoy cooking because it allows me to help out my mum and dad a lot, especially on days when they’re working and I happen to be home. I’d like to hope it helps give them a break and it makes me feel useful on a day when I perhaps haven’t been both helpful or productive. It also helps make me feel better.
However, I feel the need to make you all aware that I don’t cook as much as I probably should. On days when I am at work, I have no desire to cook (I get it now, mum. I’m sorry), but rather I just want to collapse and be a burrito. (I think if I had a spirit food it would be a burrito with my mum’s homemade chilli – which is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten). On work days I don’t feel like cooking, I’m usually too tired, unless I’ve had a particularly stressful day and want to chop up some veg to get out some pent up frustration.
Cooking is also pretty cool because I love the smell of onions when you fry them, especially with some garlic added. While cutting up onions can sometimes be torture, cooking them is the complete opposite. Add some spice (mostly some smoked paprika because that stuff is so good), and my nose is in heaven. There is probably no smell quite as good while you’re cooking as when you’re frying onions.
On the subject of meals, as I previously mentioned I only really tend to cook the same five (It might be more…?) dishes. Yeah, I’m boring, I know. However, these dishes are truly amazing, and by repeatedly making them I am getting closer and closer to perfecting them. The meals I tend to cook are all drastically different. In fact, the only similarity I can think of between them is that they mostly all have vegetables in. Oh, and that they all taste pretty amazing. Otherwise, they don’t really have much in common.
Saving my favourite dish for last (because I’m going to let you know how to cook them yourselves), we start with my most regularly cooked dish: Paella.
This is my dad’s favourite, and I cook it fairly frequently because of this fact – and because it’s super easy to make. All you’ve got to do is keep and eye on the rice as it’s cooking, because it likes sticking to the bottom of the pan and that’s bad because it will burn… a lot (trust me on this one (I was trying to find the photographic evidence but I must have deleted it. It was bad)). Also, another tip, make sure that you select the correct pan size, because the other day I found out that this is also important, as your food can bubble over – Don’t worry, we saved it.
Another dish I enjoy cooking is vegetable samosas.
The vegetables in the samosas are steamed cauliflower and peas. I have cooked this dish a total of one and a half times (yes, you read that right. I only part helped make them the second time, and there is a reason to this). Both times I had to ask my mum to help me saute the cumin seeds (why is this a thing? I burnt the shit out of them the first time I tried to do this, and now I’m too scared to attempt it again). I also needed some help getting the pastry thin enough. I have this habit of making the pastry too thick (although I don’t mind thick pastry, it tastes so good), which my family doesn’t particularly enjoy. Thin pastry is a disaster because then it’s too floppy to hold into shape and put the filling in. I think it’s going to take me a long while to perfect the pastry and forming part… and the saute-ing the cumin seeds part. Either way, I like making them, and they taste great.
There is also my lentil chili recipe that I (very proudly) made up. I’ve only cooked it once and it was, admittedly, a bit chaotic. However, it surprisingly turned out a lot better than I thought it would, and it did taste really good. I definitely want to try it out again. All I’ve got to do is amend my recipe, and select a bigger saucepan (I’m sorry, I don’t know why I have such a problem doing this), and I’m all good. I think it will be almost perfect next time I give it a go. I’m so glad I had the guts to give it a go.
I regularly used to also cook this really cool lentil bolognese recipe about a year ago, but I have – very sadly – lost it and so can’t make it anymore (I’m genuinely really quite upset because it was really tasty, even though you felt full after the first three mouthfuls. I’ve also been trying out a chili wrap recipe for lunchtime (made with cut up Quorn fillets). They’ve gone down a treat both times I’ve made them, even C liked them, and they’re easy peasy to makes, so that’s a bonus.
As promised, best till last. My beautiful bean burgers.
They’re a struggle to perfect, I usually make them too sticky because I’m bad at binding them together – and don’t get me started on adding the breadcrumb outside, that’s so messy and the egg just is such a hassle. However, despite all this, the end result usually consists of quite crumbly but super awesome burgers. I love every moment of making these (except the part where I forget I’ve cut up chili and put my fingers in my mouth – I bite my nails when I’m nervous). I think these burgers are so good, that I want to share the recipe for them with you – obviously giving full credit to the authors of the book. I’m going to post it in a separate blog post that you can all check out here. If you’re interested, be sure to take a peep! (It took me ages to edit the photos in this one, please check it out).
On the subject of recipes, would you be interested in me sharing the recipes of the other meals I enjoy making – especially my own lentil chilli recipe? Let me know in the comments, so that I can help you all out with some yummy meals!
With that, I bring today’s blog to an end. As always, I hoped you enjoy this read. It’s a little different to usual, and I spent a lot of effort on this masterpiece. I’ll see you in my next blog, but until then be sure to check out my last blog if you haven’t already: Snooping on an updated playlist.
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