Saturday 12 April 2014

Saturday at home

Well, Heavens to Murgatroyd!  (*)
Today was Saturday and I did not venture out this morning.
What was I so busy doing?  Researching new recipes for my upcoming annual Tea Party and Swap.  I like to try new recipes for this event, I know it's not wise to try new recipes for an important event, but it has worked out fine thus far over the years. I'm sure it'll be okay this year too....knock on wood.
After a morning of looking through online food recipes, I realised around 11am that I was quite hungry.  I don't cook on Saturdays, since I'm usually out on the road and it's convenient to grab a snack on the way home.  I was never a Saturday cook anyway, even when I was married.
I was hungry and I wanted a full meal, and it had to be quick.
I decided on a cod fish sauce with kidney beans with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots.
Years ago when the old cooks prepared cod fish (saltfish) stew, they would boil the salted cod to remove some of the salt, and the house would smell fishy for hours.  No longer.
A few years ago, my girlfriend shared a tip with me and I'm passing it on to you.
Place the codfish in a bowl with some water.

 
 Place a paper towel over the bowl and microwave for 5 minutes.
Throw that first set of water out and refill the bowl with another set of water, cover again with another paper towel (the first one may be soaked) and microwave for another 5 minutes.
When done, throw the water off. When fish is cool, tear it into small bite site pieces.
Add fresh herbs like onions, dill, marjoram, thyme, chives, garlic and prepared seasoning. 
 
  Stir together well.
Place a little oil in a big frying pan, and  sauté the well seasoned fish.
Add other spices if desired like paprika, parsley flakes, pepper sauce, a little ketchup and a teaspoon of sugar if so desired.

 As the fish cooks, add a tin of red kidney beans (or any other beans, I sometimes use butter beans or even baked beans) and whatever veggies you may have laying around that need to be used up.  I used another of my packets of bora bora beans I had stored in the freezer.

Sauce is done.
 


 Next I cut some carrots up with my crinkle cutter and lightly steamed them as a side dish.

Cod fish stew served on a bed of mashed potatoes (from the box, don't tell anyone), with a healthy helping of steamed carrots...in about 30 minutes.
Yummy!!!



(*) Heavens to Murgatroyd! = an exclamation of surprise used by Snagglepuss of Yogi Bear fame.
I always thought it was "Heavens to Mercury Troy" when I was a  child.

4 comments:

  1. I was a great fan of Yogi and BooBoo and Snagglepus as a child but I'd forgotten he said that. That lunch looks yummy

    ....and I'm pleased to see Brownie is getting a break from typing. He does well though and his spelling is spot on. Missy gets me to do her typing for her. She's nowhere near as smart.

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    Replies
    1. The cartoons from back in our day were easily understood and I loved Yogi Bear and his crew. I happened to click on a cartoon channel the other day and was quite bewildered.
      If Brownie could, he would take over the blog...of that I am sure. He always has a lot to say, and I think I will let him write a few more guest posts in the future. It might go to his head though.
      Say "hi" and give Missy a tummy rub from us.....we send our love.

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  2. I was so busy thinking about your starting exclamation that I had to go back and read the post again! I eat a lot of beans and pulses too but not much fish. I can catch, kill, gut and cook fish but I can't then eat it. In fact I love it when people give me fish because I find it hard to eat even if I've only had to cook it. Anyway back to 'Heavens to Murgatroyd'. My parents used it and that was before Snagglepus whom I doubt they ever heard of in their lifetimes. Although I watched some Yogi Bear as a child (The Ranger ain't gonna like this Yogi!) I don't remember Snagglepus. So I discovered that it actually originated in a film from 1944 called Meet The People. It was spoken by Bert Lahr, best remembered for his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Snagglepuss's voice was patterned on Lahr's, along with the 'Heavens to Murgatroyd' line. Apparently!

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  3. Well I certainly can't kill and gut a fish...just don't have the stomach for it, but I do eat a little fish every now and then.
    Thanks for all the insightful information on the origins of Heavens to Murgatroyd!!
    I still like Heavens to Mercury Troy! though...smile.

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