Day 29

Remember Dear Husband’s friend who loved the mussels? Well, Dear Husband invited Dear Husband’s Friend to dinner again. Now, this could get confusing if I keep calling him Dear Husband’s friend so I’m going to give Dear Husband’s friend the initials – UC. Furthermore, Dear Husband also invited UC’s brother so instead of calling him Dear Husband’s Friend’s Brother, he is herein referred to as DMB. So, that made Dear Husband, Dear Son, UC and DMB for dinner. Oh, I almost forgot, we had an unexpected visitor so I’ll just call him John. That really is his name. Now that I have all that cleared up, it’s time to get down to the recipe and tonight it was a variation of Fish baked with potatoes except, instead of the cubed potatoes that were in this recipe, I made the Paprika potato wedges as they would be quicker to prepare and I had to up my game to have the dinner out on the table for 8 o’clock.

You know how I loved the paprika potato wedges last time? Well, I was really looking forward to making them again because they are super easy and super quick to prepare. Plus, they are de-lic-ious! Instead of 4 large potatoes which the recipe calls for, I used 8 instead. That’s the thing about feeding Donegal men – one should always double the quantities because they like their grub. Big time. Each potato was halved and each half cut into three wedges. In a large bowl, I mixed rapeseed oil from the Donegal Rapeseed Company that I always use. I then added paprika, caster sugar and salt into the oil, gave it a wee stir and threw the wedges in on top. I made sure that the surface of each potato was coated and then put them onto a baking tray. The recipe said to tip the wedges into a roasting tin, cook for 10 minutes, then turn them and cook for a further 15 minutes. However, what always happens when I have to cook something and turn mid-way is that I forget unless I set a reminder on my phone so, instead, I set them all upright with the skin of each wedge in contact with the tray. That way I didn’t need to turn them.

The fish I used for the recipe was haddock. Preparing it was the least bit taxing. I drizzled some oil on a roasting tray and put some salt and pepper on top of the oil. I then placed the three slices of haddock on top, drizzled with oil and seasoned. Into the oven they went for 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, in honour of UC’s brother coming for dinner, I made the mussels again to see what he thought of them. I followed the same procedure as per Day 15 but I must say that I have gotten quicker at scrubbing and de-bearding the mussels.

The verdict…

Dear Husband gave the haddock and wedges 9 marks out of 10. UC and DMB both gave the meal 10 out of 10 – yay! John gave it…well, I didn’t ask John as I only met him for the first time this evening and he left while I was settling Baby Daughter in her cot. Gone are the days when she used to settle in her cot at 7 o’clock and go to sleep within 5 minutes. As I’ve said before, no matter who comes into my house, they have to get fed before they go and John was no exception. From what he said, I did pick up from Dear Husband that he definitely liked the mussels and wedges.

All in all, I would put tonight down as a success. It’s a good job I always make larger portions; otherwise, the three boyos could have had less to eat with our unexpected visitor. Better to make too much than too little is another rule I live by in the kitchen but I don’t like wasting food. Thankfully I am married to the equivalent of a human bin and I mean that in the nicest possible way!!! It must be the good old Donegal air that gives them such a hearty appetite.

To conclude, although I feel unsure when I cook something different that I’ve never cooked before (such as the haddock), that’s the thing about this challenge. It forces me to make things that I would normally flick past in a cookbook until I find something more familiar. And that my friends is the nearest thing I get to living on the edge these days. Stay tuned…