Trying to find anywhere to eat in Lincoln on a Monday or Tuesday is to go on a wild goose chase. Either not open, or only open lunchtime, and find closed.
I tried Bar Unico. Closed. But you close at three. We were not busy, we are closed.
Last resort, The Greek Brothers, no way a flagship for Greek cuisine.
I had to shout my order at least three times, awful music blasting out.
A very long wait for my order to arrive, not the fault of the staff, serfs working for delivery apps granted priority over restaurant diners.
My food, when it finally arrived, was better than expected. They have improved since I last ate there.
I watched the River Witham flowing past. The levels have dropped since Saturday a week ago when it was within a couple of inches of overflowing its banks. Last Saturday had dropped maybe a couple of feet. Today maybe three feet.
Third in the series on Channel 4 of Jamie’s 5 Ingredients.
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I’m no fan of steamed fish, but I have to admit I’m tempted.
I’ve frozen tuna in the freezer. It was fresh, and annoyingly I had to pop in the freezer, but I had other things to eat. Irony, I only bought off the fishmonger because the night before I’d watched Gerrano make tuna risotto.
The flat breads, I’ve seen similar in South Street Kitchen in Sheffield, and in a little Lebanese restaurant hidden in the back streets in Athens.
Speaking of Geranno, his gnocchi looks temping. But is not gnocchi made with flour and potatoes. I cheat, excellent fresh gnocchi from the Coop.
The sausage, remove the skin, flatten out, then fry. But the jarred roast peppers. From M&S and Aldi strips of peppers, not while peppers. From where the whole jarred peppers into which can slip cheese?
I had eaten at Olé Olé tapas restaurante last week, noticed on the specials menu a chicken dish, and decided I would return on Saturday when I visited the farmers market. The dish was excellent.
Will it be on the specials menu next week? The kitchen said yes.
Wednesday this week I returned to enjoy the dish again before it vanished from the menu.
I was pleased I did, as hard to believe, the dish was excellent, even more so than Saturday. The chicken was succulent and tasty. The apple and chilli glaze could overpower the chicken, but it did not. Subtle use of spices, not used to overpower the dish.
Accompanied by a glass of red wine.
Olé Olé is always busy, even mid-week. It is easy to see why, word of mouth, food and service are always consistently of a high standard. Sadly a rarity in England, where no one seems to care. But then this is a Spanish restaurant, run by a Spanish family.
On Friday when Storm Babete hit Lincolnshire, over a month’s worth of rain fell on saturated ground within 24 hours. The water had nowhere to go, hence widespread flooding. Neighbouring counties to the West and North were even worst affected.
Global warming, severe weather events, more frequent, more severe. And we still build on floodplains, still pump carbon into the atmosphere, still destroy carbon sinks.
Lincoln city centre flooded, Brayford flooded.
The River Witham flowing through High Bridge, flowing high and fast, was within centimetres of overflowing its banks.
Ferry Lane Washingborough, Sincil Drain overflowing, River Witham running very high and broad, one field flooded.
North Kesteven in an act of crass stupidity and environmental vandalism, granted planning consent to Sainsbury’s for a large superstore on one of these fields. A grass-grazed meadow, carbon sink, a haven for wildlife, that is liable to flooding.
We need soft flood prevention.
Downstream of Washingborough, return to fenland, the land grazed, the animals moved when risk of flooding.
Upstream of Lincoln, the River Witham catchment, rewild, reafforest, introduce European beavers. This will slow the flow of water downstream during heavy rainfall.
Marinated pork chop with jarred artichokes grilled peppers and chickpeas.
I have adapted pork chop and red peppers from Jamie Cooks the Mediterranean Spain, which I tried a couple of weeks ago Pork chop with artichokes chickpeas and red pepper. The difference, everything jarred, whereas before, canned chickpeas and the red pepper I grilled until burnt.
The recipe in 5 Ingredients Mediterranean is different.
Pour a little olive oil and vinear from the jars, add salt and ground black pepper. Marinate the pork chop both sides and leave for half an hour.
Note: I mistakenly assumed the M&S jarred peppers were in wine vinegar, they are not, they are in extra virgin olive oil. I corrected the mistake by adding a little dash of red wine vinegar to the marinade. But my mistake had the advantage of olive oil infused with artichokes and peppers.
Slice in half, then into quarters, baby artichokes.
In a hot pan, medium high heat, pour in a little of the olive oil from the two jars.
Add the pork chop to the pan, cook both sides for around five minutes each side. Add into the pan the artichokes and peppers. Tilt the pan and spoon any excess fat and oil over the pork chop.
Remove contents from the pan and set to one side.
Thinly slice the peppers. Marinate with a little red wine vinegar, salt and ground black pepper.
Take a couple of the peppers, cut finely, mash with a little olive oil.
Add the chickpeas to the pan. Add the mashed peppers. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Surprisingly different to canned chickpeas and burnt red pepper.
The pork chop was more succulent, juicier and tender than before. This may be because I left to marinade for over thirty minutes, whereas before I marianaded the pork chop then dropped straight in the pan. I may try this next time I cook in the oven.
A blackened pan, no need for washing up, no wastes save for risotto the next day. And use the oil from the jars.
A shame about the let’s bash Jamie column-inch filling drivel in the Guardian and Telegraph that followed the first episode on Monday of last week. The scribblers showed their ignorance of food and cooking. I found all the dishes tempting. Did the scribblers try cooking, then eating, as that would be the proof of the pudding?
When in Athens, I love a lunchtime snack of feta cheese and spinach pie.
I would question the use of self-rasing flour. It would bear no resemblance to the Greek dish.
I once tried self-raising flour for pizza. It was a disaster. Try the frozen pizza flour from M&S Food Hall.
I hope for each of the dishes, Jamie will post videos on YouTube. Easier to find and share than on Facebook.
Oven baked chicken supreme glazed with an apple and chilli sauce served with a salad.
I had eaten at Olé Olé earlier in the week, spotted on the specials menu a chicken dish, and decided I would return on Saturday when I visited the farmers market.
The dish was excellent.
Will it be on the specials menu next week? The kitchen said yes.
Fewer stalls than last month,not many people about.
I had a quick look around, walked through the grounds of Lincoln Castle to Olé Olé for lunch, then on my return found stalls packing up. My mistake, I should have picked what I wanted, to collect on my return.
Lincolnshire badly hit, though not as bad as neighbouring counties to the West and North.
Ferry Lane in Washingborough, one field flooded.
Ferry Lane in Washingborough, Sincil Drain usually a steep drop to the water, today to the top of the banks and not far below the footbridge
River Witham, Ferry Lane, boats tiding very high in the water, the tiver broad and close to topping the banks.
In the centre of Lincoln, the River Witham running fast and very high, within centimetres of topping the banks and flooding the city centre. There were no measures in place to prevent this from happening.
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