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Cooking again:
I did some cooking this past week, if you can call this cooking! Here it is really quite frustrating doing anything connected with food. I have those two "rings" which drive me quite mad! You put one on and you must start with 'high'. When it gets good and red, you put your food on it and it starts to boil madly, so of course, you lower it and when you do that, it sits down and plays dead! So if I do not stand over whatever I am cooking and watch it all the time, I either have something nicely burned, or totally raw! The other 'ring' must be the younger brother, because that one does the same but much slower and much weaker... Well that, I suppose, we could take all into our stride; we are, after all, The Wacky Cook! But it is mostly annoying and infuriating and my love for cooking is over. I now only cook what additional stuff we must have. You remember the L&M gets those trays three times a day; the breakfast and the supper ones have more then enough food on them for the two of us! The dinner, or what is here considered lunch, needs a small additional main course, so that is what my cooking has come down to! I will make a chicken; we will use half a few days and the rest goes into the freezer. As I mentioned before, I will make cutlets from a kilo of chopped meat, which the L&M helps himself to throughout the week when he is hungry and he is a very happy puppy!

We both like chicken breast and have it quite often - just quickly fried with garlic, or some hurbs. This time I tried something quite new and it turned out very well; "oranged" chicken breasts! I had four (I remind you that we always cook "one for the table and one for the freezer", remember? That way we always have an extra meal ready and waiting for us!)... So: the four boobs went into a large pan, with hot oil and quite a lot of chopped garlic; sizzle-sizzle just a couple of minutes one side and then flipped, the same on the other. I then grated orange zest all over the chick. Yes, I used one large orange for that. I then squeezed the juice from that orange all over, added some gin (you may need a small amount of water if you do not add enough gin!)... Salt-pepper, closed it and let it simmer. After 10 minutes I flipped them over and gave them some more simmering time... They were delicious! Over rice, or just with a salad - really, they were very juicy and tasty.

The other marvellous thing I did was a large batch of hamburgers, which we did not need that day! The L&M had enough "snacks" by then! The next day I grated a 'cabanos' (or one can chop up any spicy sausage) into a pan, fried it in some oil and then reheated two hamburgers on that! One must not forget to flip them onto the other side... With the salads from the tray, they were lovely! I really must mention those salads, which come up every day on that tray; there is always a plate of three or four different ones! And really quite a mix if things. I will try to find out about the salads and write a Column about them. Really amazing collection, if they let me into the kitchen. Last time I asked to go in, they refused permission! But maybe they can just tell me how they make them... Of course there is always, but always, fried eggplant and an eggplant salad! Yes, on the same tray!

Sorry, back to the batch of burgers; the next dish I made was with chick peas. I just put the burgers into a pan and poured a can of chick peas in tomato sauce over them. Simmered together, they were delicious! I had three burgers left in the freezer, so I defrosted them and mashed them up; into a pan with hot oil and some crushed garlic it went! Some mashed potatoes were mixed in as well. After a good few minutes, I made four indentations and flopped four eggs into the holes. When they were cooked, but still runny, we just put the pan between us, grabbed a spoon each and dug in! It was heaven! (Oh! The meat from the tray went into the freezer! I have quite a "collection" there by now! Must think of some dish that can marry them all together!)...

You may remember that we used to make a lot of lentils, especially with the "Holy-Three" (fried chopped celery-carrot-onion)... I always used to cook the lentils and divide them into three; two parts went into the freezer and we used one. Suddenly one day, I am serving the lentils for dinner and the L&M says: "I do not like those!" and nothing helped! He would no longer eat lentils. So I stopped making them, but still had one bag in the freezer and I do not think the birds like lentils... Soup! I found a great recipe which Nigel Slater made, but it has just too many ingredients in it! At least a dozen! Four different fresh herbs! How can you taste one if you mix four?... My pet-peeve! I just crushed the lentils and added chicken soup and some water, I fried a chopped onion, added chopped garlic, mixed the two, simmer-simmer, salt-pepper and turmeric! Because I have it and because that was one of the things Nigel used. It was a great soup and the L&M liked that brown stuff - whatever it was - very much!

Send your questions to The Wacky Cook: email: debbiemorgenshtern@gmail.com      

Debbie Morgenstern is the author of "My Life in Israel" and other short stories.
"My Life in Israel" can be purchased by accessing this link: "My Life in Israel"