Dark & Stormy

I LOVE living in brighton.I’ve been here for just over a year now and it is probably the best impulsive decision I've ever made. Forever grateful that my best mate sent me a text at 2 am saying to dump the london flat search and we should just move down here. Thanks Louise :) 

The vibes are fantastic, along with the people and the food. I’m incredibly excited for the

summer to come around, which is never something I thought I would say. I’m a cozy hermit at heart, who’s always longed for the winter to come back around. But the long evenings, beer and watching the sunset on the beach with my friends was such a blissful part of last year that I’m longing for the sun to poke it’s head up again. I had some friends stay at our flat this weekend and it made me want it even more.

Although I’m longing for the sun, I’m still very much enjoying the things that come along with the wet ‘n’ windy weather that a Brighton winter has to offer. There is nothing quite like coming home after work or a strong boy work out to a nice bowl of warm goodness. 

On a particularly rainy day I decided to make a spiced winter stew, using up the abundance of parsnips we have. So I set up my camera and decided to try a very different style of filming inspired by some korean evening routine videos I have watched. They are very relaxing to have in the background. No talking, just beautiful snapshots of cooking, shopping and cleaning, and I’m really trying every style  of filming to see what works and what doesn’t. Plus it's way more fun and means both I and the audience never know what’s going to come out of the next week's video.

 It was all going well until I was struck with a thought I had a few weeks back when I was at my friends house. She was talking about a Guinness stew she had made using her slow cooker. When I was walking home from her place, it was all I could think about. It sounded so homely and rich and I made a mental note to make one myself.

 Luckily that thought cropped into my head just as I finished cutting the veg. So I ventured out into the rain, grabbed the goods and splish splashed my way home. I haven’t done a whole lot of cooking with alcohol in my day. I’ve used wine here and there in risottos and soups but never beer, so this was a fun first, and I had added pressure as neither me or Louise like guinness. But I like challenges.

The stew was beautiful. It made me think of sitting in a candle lit pub on a sunday evening. It had a strong, comforting flavour and  was the perfect end to a rainy day as I was a little damp from my Guinness run and Louise was drenched from her run run.

Apart from the Guinness, everything that went in was left over veggies and herbs that I already had in my flat. It was pretty easy to make, just the old peel, chop and stir and it would be even better, left in a slow cooker for a few hours on low or with an added dash of worcestershire sauce ( which isn’t veggie) . But as an impulsive decision maker ( and the fact that I don’t own a slow cooker) this fairly quick bowl of warm goodness was just as good without the fancy cooker or the fishy, hard to pronounce sauce.

The recipe is written here! Please let me know if you make it! Send me pics on my instagram @theuglycrumpet :) I’d love to see your creations!!

Dark Stout Stew

2 Parsnips

1 Large baking potato

1 Large Carrot

1 Can of Guinness

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 Cup Pearl Barley / Lentils

1 stock cube

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp sugar

1-2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp - slurry

1 ½ tsp thyme

1 ½ tsp rosemary

Optional

1 can beans

1 cup mince tvp

Shredded cabbage

1 cup button mushrooms.

As per usual, unlocking the method for this dish is just a click away.

As we are approaching the warmer weather, the season of soups and stews is slowly trickling away, which means I will have plenty of time to focus on them when the autumn and winter come back around, and my hermit ways are back in full swing. But for now I’m still going to film and write about whatever has inspired me that week. :) The motivation is still here and that hyperfixation wave is flickering slowly, but once my camera is out it re ignites and I film EVERYTHING I do that day :) I started filming something that will take over a week, maybe several moths before it’s ready to see the light of day, which I’m very excited about! And once I get some part time work ( So I can continue living in my flat ) I’m going to embark on my hot sauce journey which I’ve wanted to do for a while now.

I hope you are enjoying these little blog updates and the videos I’m producing! Feel free to share these with friends, family, the guy who makes your coffee, LITERALLY ANYONE as it really helps me build my network and ultimately will help me find a publisher for my book when she is ready.

Thanks for reading :) 

Jade x