Category Archives: cooking

my cheesy apron!

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

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I have bought an apron! It’s not my first apron to be sure, but it’s the first one I’ve ever used. Or even bought. Over the years I’ve been given aprons by friends, by event organisers in their swag bags, by cooking schools… and they have all been politely folded in a kitchen drawer and forgotten. Because… well I don’t know! It just always seemed like that ONE EXTRA THING to have to deal with. And frankly, I’ve always been quite a tidy cook and don’t end up getting splashed with sauces, grease, etc. That is, UNTIL…

Yep. Lockdown. During the past year I’ve been cooking up a storm, as many you who follow my personal @azahar Instagram will have seen. Just home style cooking stuff, often using up leftovers, fridge foraging, and sometimes trying out dishes for the very first time. Much of which also gets posted on Azahar’s Kitchen.
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the kitchen

26 Tuesday Jan 2021

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espinacas 2 (1)

If you haven’t been to Azahar’s Kitchen for a while, go check it out. New recipes have been added and #homecooking photos are also posted on my azahar Instagram account (along with cats and city pics).  I was actually quite excited about this new spinach with garbanzos version. A bit like making it up as I went along, but it turned out great. Honestly, making lunch has become the highlight of my day.

thumbs up!

03 Tuesday Nov 2020

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thumbs up

It’s been close to three weeks since THE MANDOLINA INCIDENT and although I removed the steri-strips the other day since they were mostly falling off on one side, I kept a bandage on the still-healing thumb. Until now! The severed flap of skin has totally reattached itself and although it is still quite pink and the area still feels quite tender, it feels great to be able to use my thumb again. Amazing how you don’t miss something until it’s gone.

NOT a chicken sandwich

19 Wednesday Aug 2020

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So this was supposed to be a grilled chicken sandwich on crusty bread with grainy dijon and paper-thin raw sweet onion underneath, and piles of chopped romaine and salsa az on top. Never happened. Because when I opened the packet of free-range chicken breasts I’d bought on Monday (expiry date TODAY) there was a… smell. It wasn’t strong, or even particularly unpleasant. It just shouldn’t have been there. And so I got on Twitter and asked what I should do. Meanwhile I started cooking the fuckers, since I had paid for them and, you know, maybe after cooking they’d be fine?

Well can I say? I’ve never had such a response to one simple question on Twitter before. Hours later people are still replying. Who knows? I may start trending!

Bottom line, I cooked them and then tossed them. As my pal Edward pointed out, the chicken might be fine but I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it because I’d be worried about whether it was okay or not, so why go through that. And he was right. So out they went, with me slightly annoyed that I now had extra washing up and that I had wasted perfectly good seasoning and olive oil for nothing.

Had a ham sandwich instead. Actually it was the SAME sandwich, but with sliced ham instead of chicken. And it was actually really good. So the moral of the story is… well nuthin really. It’s Wednesday! What do you want?  😉

dilly

29 Monday Jun 2020

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dilly
It all started when I had a hankering last week for some tzitziki, which I hadn’t made in something like 35 years. So I got online, found a few recipes and, as usual, patched a couple together to make my own. Most called for fresh mint and/or dill, but I don’t like minty food so I went off to buy some fresh dill at the supermarket – and they were sold out! Instead I got some dried dill and well, it was just okay. So this week I was determined to try it again with fresh dill and it was heaven. A perfect summer dish, so light and fresh. You can find the recipe here in Azahar’s Kitchen.

Anyhow, this left me with a surplus of fresh dill, which I could tell wasn’t going to stay fresh long, even sitting in a glass of water in the fridge. But short of making tzitziki for the third time in a week, or dill pickles (something else I haven’t made for over 35 years) I didn’t know what to do with it. So I got back online and found this…

20 Bright & Fresh Recipes to Use Up a Bunch of Dill

dill feta

Which inspired me to make something completely different. But there are actually quite a few great sounding recipes there, so I expect my newly rekindled love affair with dill will continue throughout the summer. I also love how it feels so soft and silky when you run it through your fingers, though this could just mean that I’ve been in Lockdown too long.