French(ish) fish stew / stuffed peppers with cheesy garlic bread

I want to get the biggest shock of the week out of the way right at the start: today mum let me have some of her beloved coffee ice cream.

It was the last half a dozen icy fragments in a tub that she was otherwise going to throw away, but mum offered and I accepted, and I can really see why she loves it so much.

Mum then started complaining that her stomach hurt, and I suggested that the coffee ice cream (or at least the milk in it) might be what’s causing the pain. It’s telling of mum’s current (pretty good) cognitive state that she considered this and agreed that it was a possibility. I very much doubt whether that will stop her eating it, but at least the concept is out there.

Dinner yesterday was somewhat hindered by my fingers, which were staging a rebellion and refusing to do what I asked. It’s at times like these that the various shortcuts I’ve introduced in the kitchen, such as pre-chopped veg, really come in to their own.

With them, I was able to produce a creditable fish stew, which was eaten with the enthusiasm that mum has brought to all her meals recently. Personally I think it would have benefited from a bit of chilli, and maybe a few black olives, but I know by now where to pick my battles, and olives are several steps too far.

(The recipe, such as it is, goes: soften washed and sliced leeks in a little oil over a low heat. Then add some chopped garlic and smoked paprika and cook for a few seconds. Add passata, frozen green beans, frozen white fish fillets, and a few frozen king prawns, plus a bit of veg stock or water. Season generously, and simmer until the fish is cooked and flakes when prodded with a knife, and the prawns have turned pink. Serve with bread to mop up the sauce.)

Tonight was another mum favourite, stuffed roasted peppers. Mum spied me taking them out of the oven, and went “ooh, I like those!” Anyone would think that I deliberately cook things she likes or something.

With it I turned a loaf of long-life bread (Tesco Finest wholemeal sourdough with seeds, which I can heartily recommend as a cupboard staple) into cheesy garlic bread. Delicious, as long as you don’t plan on talking to anyone any time soon, as I’m generous with the garlic!

Now I’m sitting on my bed, alternating between writing this and watching the plants blow around, and try to ignore the pain that’s been hanging around since waking me in the early hours of this morning. Chronic pain really is no fun at all. 😫