Hi guys, hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! I’ve had a great weekend of pretty much doing nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I do love weekends where you go out shopping, or see your friends or do something crazy. But I also thoroughly enjoy doing absolutely nothing. Ben and I got the boring jobs done Saturday morning and then pretty much just chilled. I got some nagging tasks done that had been bothering me for ages (like cleaning the kitchen floor – we have the world’s smallest kitchen so it’s not a big job but still). We also saw both mums (an essential task that apparently can’t be left for long stretches of time…)
I mentioned in my last post that I had been planning a long run for this weekend but…it didn’t happen. Ben and I both did go running Saturday morning but when I started I just wasn’t feeling it. It was a struggle. So I just stuck with a quick sprinting two miles and called it a day.
Not too shabby. Ben really enjoyed his run (this is Big News, people) and said he wanted to go again on Sunday [I love it when Ben enjoys running = happy Anna]. So I thought why not as I hadn’t done the big run I’d planned. And because we’re a boring married couple now and were tucked up asleep by 10.30pm it was easy to get up early and run.
Shaved some time off as well! I’m happy with that 
No Pilates this weekend unfortunately. My one-to-ones are over and I need to wait for the classes to begin…in 3 weeks! Boooo.
On a plus note, this weekend was filled with some good food. I’ve had a recipe for coq au vin sat in my diary for ages. I finally bought the ingredients and then kept putting it off. Neither of us fancied it and it seemed a lot of effort. But I had eight shallots sat in my kitchen that wouldn’t be used and I hate wasting food…I mean seriously, I’ve never bought shallots in my life. What do people do with them?
So I made coq au vin. Actually Ben was quite up for it after I told him there would be a glass of red wine in it. Suddenly he was all keen *rolls eyes*.
Coq au Vin – serves 2 (The recipe’s from Zest magazine which I’d torn out)
1 tsp. oil
2 skinless chicken breasts, seasoned
1 rash lean back bacon, diced
10 button mushrooms
8 shallots, peeled
1 large carrot, roughly chipped
1 cove of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. plain flour
1 tbsp. tomato purée
300ml red win
150ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
– Heat oven to 180 degrees C. In a casserole dish, heat the oil and brown the chicken on each side. Take out of the pan and set aside.
– Sauté the bacon for 2-3min until browned. Add mushrooms, shallots and carrots and put on the lid and reduce the heat. Sweat for 10 mins, occasionally shaking to stop veg sticking. Add in the garlic at the last minute.
– Stir in the flour and the tomato purée and cook for 1 min, stirring. Gradually add the wine, and then add the stock and stir to prevent lumps. Add the bay leaf and thyme and seasoning. Return chicken to the pan and put the lid on and put in the oven for an hour, stirring halfway.
Apparently this is about 390 calories Zest tells me. Not bad for what was a hearty, rich meal. I served mine with Brussels sprouts. Ben had garlic bread.
Very pleased with this! It was so yummy. The sauce was divine. OK it took an hour in the oven which was a pain but while that was cooking away I got on with other stuff and wasn’t tied to the kitchen. Excellent for the weekend!
Only downside was a brief appearance of the clumsy idiot that is Anna. We don’t have a casserole dish so I decided to risk it for a biscuit (or chicken in red wine) and put my actual saucepan in the oven. This was fine. It worked brilliantly. I took it out of the oven and told Ben approximately five times “DO NOT TOUCH THIS PAN IT IS STUPIDLY HOT”. So what does Anna then go and do? She grabs the metal handle of said pan which has been out of the oven, oh I don’t know, 10 seconds. Cue Anna screaming blue murder and then standing with her hand in freezing cold water for the next five minutes. Yes I am that much of an idiot. So I’m sat here typing away but I have to stop every two sentences to hold an ice cold Coke can to soothe my still very painful hand. The things I do for food…
Was it worth it? Of course it was
What have you gotten up to this weekend?
Do you have a clumsy streak like me?
Ow, I feel your pain, that’s exactly the sort of thing I do! Hope it’s feeling better today and wasn’t too bad a burn…
Coq au vin’s something I’ve always wanted to try and it looks amazing in your pictures, I can almost smell the wine 🙂 glad you had a good weekend.
It feels much better now, I just can’t believe how stupid I was. On the plus side, the whole house smelt of wine and herbs…oh it was lovely, especially with it being so chilly.
Oh I love do nothing weekends! I’ve had pretty much two in a row and they have been so needed!
Thy’re just so nice to catch up with the random things that get missed in day-to-day life. So chilled 🙂
“Absolutely nothing” weekends are often the best weekends! I can’t remember the last time I had no obligations on Saturday and Sunday! I’m looking forward to December 18th, when I’m finished with the semester; then I’ll be sure to set aside at least one weekend with absolutely no plans. I love setting out for a walk and going wherever my feet take me! It’s also fun to wander through markets/shops etc. and have all the time in the world to browse. 🙂
Your Coq au Vin looks and sounds amazing! I’ve never attempted this dish, but it’s definitely on my “must make” list.
Happy Monday! xoxo
It’s just nice to once in a while have that time to literally wake up and have nothing planned. Oh I agree, going for walks with no destination planned are lovely! No time constraints, just mooching around. I like listening to a good podcast or some music and just letting my mind drift. Bliss! Coq au vin was really quite simple to make, and very delicious – perfect comfort food!
That looks delicious!! I also love how you said you had to risk it for the biscuit because I thought that was something only my boyfriend and I say. I didn’t know it was a common phrase!! So funny lol
Haha yeah I say it all the time! My family say it a lot as well. No idea where it comes from. Food related phrases are the best hehe.