Addicted to iron.....cast that is!

This month I have had an unusual attraction to cast iron cookware...

As we speak I am sipping (good) red wine that comes with cooking in the aforementioned apparatus.

It all begin one sunny afternoon in Sumner about three weeks ago, as my love and I were sniffing around open homes in search of the lifestyle home of our dreams by the sea. Thwarted by another unsatisfactory property we moped into the township and hungry with grief fell upon the Cornershop Bistro. In a bid to cheer ourselves up we feasted on the Boeuf Bourguignon accompanied by other out of town friends who happened to see our sorry faces pressed up at the window.

Bowled over by the stewed goodness I set about procuring a cast iron Le Creuset casserole dish from heaven and replicating the melt in your mouth recuperative hotpot. After many torturous hours of scanning web sites and homeware stores, I settled on the half price MADE IN CHINA lookalike at Stevens as opposed to the four hundred dollar option on Moorhouse Ave.

Set with a Julia Childs recipe and my new pot, I cut, braised, browned, portion after delectable portion of beef, bacon, onions, mushrooms etc and after only about 16 hours of preparation and cooking I had achieved my goal. Exhaustion! Stir frying has got it's merits!

The family did approve wholeheartedly but they can whistle! With my new found casserole methology, I shortened, removed, added and concocted my own recipes for the next seven dishes working the cast iron for all it was worth. It is a pleasure to use and will remain a fixture in my kitchen.

Go the iron!

food...what else

Have just consumed my second vegetarian lunch from Vivace Cafe in Tuam Street. It is my designated coffee shop whilst working in the sweat/spring shop.

Have dutifully made 'him indoors' lunch which comprised of three day old Molenburg sandwich bread found in the pantry on Monday morning, slathered with cream corn remnants (found in fridge - age unknown) topped with a generous slice of Edam cheese then toasted in the factory sandwich machine (dodgy but effective).

Back to my carefully procured mid day snack....the aforementioned vego delight consisted of roasted vegetables; kumara, red pepper, broccoli, red onion, red cabbage and feta cheese all jam packed into a brown bread, multi grained roll emblazoned with a collection of seeds then toasted. Result: loud mmmm-ing noises.

Was compelled to find website and comment positively on my ingestion to it's creators.

Liked it so much, I went back for me the next day....