Chickpea Stew and The Perfect Apron

I am bit late to this newsletter. I have had sick kids at home and quite frankly I have been suffering from self-promotion fatigue and I just could not make myself write. For the most part I have accepted that promotion is part of my job- as much as doing the dishes is a part of cooking dinner- but sometimes you just don’t want to cook because the thought of all the washing up is too overwhelming.

Thankfully, the kids are back at school and my self-induced state of anxiety is mostly done with for now. I’m back and ready to do all the dishes I left sitting in the sink!

Firstly, in case you don’t follow my personal account on Instagram, I wanted to let you know that I also do ceramics, and have somewhat recently launched a website where I can sell things! My pots yes, but also bits and pieces from friends I have made over the years. It’s still fairly rudimentary but I have some beautiful pieces including the perfect apron (!) from Klay in New Zealand. I feel like something of a dare devil having gotten myself a natural canvas one, but there is also indigo and carob that are softer fabrics and very very nice. I have never owned my own apron at home, which is kind of incredible seeing as I’m a fairly messy cook and have been at it for so long. I guess I was just waiting for the perfect one, and this is it! It’s long, has a bib, has plenty of pockets in various sizes. No BS, just really well designed and made.

As a thank you, I am offering 10% off everything on the site until March 19 with the code SPRING24. Website is vernorpot.com;)

Hello! In case we haven’t met, this is me, taking a photo of myself in my bathroom wearing the perfect apron!

As for food, because it was a week where we were all a little under the weather, it was a real chicken noodle soup kind of week. I made a pot of broth by just throwing the whole chicken into the pot with a few vege scraps, removing the chicken after an hour to pull off the breast and thigh meat, before putting the carcass back into the pot and continuing to cook for another hour or so.

After a quick strain, all the lovely liquid went back in the pot to be seasoned with plently of salt. I tossed in some dried pasta to cook and right before it was done added some of the breast and thigh meat, pulled into small pieces, and finished with a big handful of chopped dill and a squeeze of lemon.

I also cooked a big pot of chickpeas (using this method for cooking beans) with a couple of bay leaves and an onion. My plan was to make a vegan chickpea and pepper stew, which always feels luxurious in the winter because I rarely buy peppers out of season, but it ended up with the leftover chicken that did not make it into the soup and a handful of cabbage because I decided we need the extra sustenance. It was delicious before and after the additions so I am putting the chicken and cabbage as optional here. To me this is how cooking should be, always a bit off the cuff, nourishing when and how you need it.

In the past I would have been tempted to jazz this up with some cumin or ground coriander, maybe some smoked paprika, or all three. But I am more inclined to just enjoy the simplicity of the flavours these days. A couple of chopped fresh tomatoes could be nice, or if you feel the need, by all means add a pinch of spice. The most important thing is cook the initial vegetables slowly and with enough oil and salt to make them sweet and deeply flavored.