Flying Spatula

I don’t want you to think that I am a habitual sickie, but today I am at home with a dodgy tummy.  It all started on Saturday night.  I felt really tired all of a sudden at about 10:30 pm (I’m so rock’n’roll on the weekends) and went off to bed.  My hubby decided to turn in about a quarter past midnight at which point I woke up feeling incredibly nauseous (no connection between those two events obviously!).  I then proceeded to throw up on and off for the next 4 hours, with one of our little Westies suffering similarly, leading her to plead for endless belly rubs.  We all managed to get some sleep eventually, but I felt a little delicate for most of Sunday.

Feeling less than 100% was unfortunate really as we had tickets to see TV Celebrity Chef Gino d’Acampo at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge.  Not wishing to be beaten by a gippy tummy, I summoned myself for the evening’s entertainment.  Our trip in was more eventful than it needed to be.  We almost managed to get on the last bus into town, but a rather despicable bus driver pulled away just as my husband drew level with the door of the bus, leaving us to walk 20 minutes back the way we had just come to the house to pick up the car.  Despicable bus driver – you are now on my list.  You will get yours…

After a visit to Carluccio’s for a tummy settling pillow of focaccia and a dish of duck pappardelle, we went next door to see young Signor d’Acampo do his thing.  The show did involve food, and some cooking did take place, but it was also very funny and definitely not meant for a family audience.  UK readers think Saturday Kitchen meets Celebrity Juice with questions from the audience.  Gino was kind enough to explain why gnocchi always taste like crap when I cook them – apparently it is because I have been buying crap gnocchi… A 70% potato content is the key.  So now we know.

  
Anyway, fast forward to this morning.  Still not feeling quite on top form, although all dressed up to head into the office, I was struck by tummy cramps and the feeling that I might need to stay within striking distance of a bathroom.  As someone who frequently explains to colleagues that germs are not meant for sharing, I felt that I should take my own advice and stay home.  Back in the PJs, I flopped onto the sofa with a large bottle of water, 2 Westies and a few episodes of The Pioneer Woman to keep me entertained.  About mid-morning, I started to think what I might be able to manage for lunch.  Chicken soup is normally prescribed in these situations, but with this being an unplanned comfy pants day, the larder was unprepared.  Some limited innovation was required.

Searching through the fridge and freezer I found 2 chicken thighs, half a red onion, a carrot and half a small cauliflower.  I chopped the onion and sweated it off while the chicken thighs were defrosting in the microwave.  I diced up the carrot nice and small and then chopped the cauliflower up too.  I chopped the chicken thighs into smallish chunks and tossed them in with the onion to brown them off, followed by the carrot.  Once the carrot started to soften just a little, I popped in the cauliflower for a few turns around the pan before adding chicken stock (in my case a Knorr Stock Pot and enough boiling water to almost cover the lot) and seasoned.  I brought it just to the boil, popped on a lid and turned it down to simmer for a bit.  Then I returned to the sofa with a cup of tea to feel sorry for myself a bit more.

I returned to the pan occasionally to give it a stir and check on how the vegetables were doing.  Once the veg was nice and soft (yielding under attack from a spoon), I picked out as many of the chicken chunks as I could be bothered to fish out and blitzed the rest up in a blender.   Safety first – it’s best to allow a bit of cooling to occur before blending to avoid being scalded by the very thing which is supposed to make you feel better.   I returned the now smooth soup to the pan and stirred in the chicken chunks to warm it all through.  

This impromptu masterpiece looks almost like popular canned versions of cream of chicken soup, but has the advantage of having no dairy whatsoever in it.  Unfortunately, whilst you may crave creamy, stomach-lining foods when your tummy’s on the spin cycle, this can irritate the lining of the gut, making the situation worse.  This soup gave me a warming, comforting hug and made me feel a bit like I imagine my little Westies feel when I give them a belly rub.  

Not bad for a bit of fridge-freezer surprise…

Off to get better now.

MC

For your shopping list (should you not already have this stuff lurking in your fridge)

• A couple of chicken thighs
• Half a red onion
• A carrot
• Half a small cauliflower
• A little olive oil
• Chicken stock
• A blender (obviously this won’t be in your fridge – if it is you may want to look in your other large kitchen appliances just in case…)