Archimedes Lives On

Yesterday morning arrived the organic vegetable box, with potatoes, carrots and onions together with purple sprouting broccoli, 2 leeks, celeriac and cauliflower; the fruit part had 2 oranges, 4 apples, 2 pears and a kiwi fruit. I also had, as usual, the addition of 6 organic free range eggs.

The last time I had celeriac from them, it had sprouting bits (very scientific description here!) like rather sad celery, so it was easy to identify, even although I had never seen (or cooked) one before. This one looked more like a nobbly turnip, so I did not recognise it and had to phone the farm to ask for help. This turned into one of these comedy sketches as I could not hear what she was saying, and she kept repeating herself a bit louder. We got there in the end when she moved on to C for Charlie, E for Echo, L for Lima, E for Echo…. At which point I cottoned on! I love celeriac.

I made a chicken casserole for last night, tonight (and to freeze) made with:

8 organic mini chicken breast fillets from M&S, cut into strips
2 leeks, chopped finely
2½ onions, chopped finely (Because I had a half onion left over from the stroganoff.)
1 large carrot, chopped finely
About 8 mushrooms (of average size, ie not button but closed) mushrooms, chopped

I layered everything into a casserole dish and added stock made from 2 Kallo organic chicken stock cubes, and then added enough white wine to cover (about a medium glassful.)

After that I cooked it for an hour at 375 degrees, gradually turning the temperature down as I could smell it cooking.

I served it with a mash of potatoes, celeriac and crème fraiche – scrummy.

When I was preparing the vegetables, I also prepared the ones for tonight (and this should finish off the crème fraiche). The potatoes I put in a plastic jug covered with water, and I did the same with the celeriac.

Except it floats…

The jug was too narrow to use a plate to hold them down, so I resorted to a glass, which held most of them down…

At this point I rediscovered Archimedes principle (no, not me in the bath, you fools (I wouldn’t share that awful mental picture with you), but that the glass, as I pushed it down into the jug, started to displace the appropriate volume of water.