Forgive me for stating the obvious but a big part of the 15 minute meals book is that you are (supposedly) able to cook the meals in 15 minutes. And so it shouldn't really be a surprise therefore, that when I tell people about my challenge they ask me if I'm timing myself and how long they are taking me. It never really occurred to me to time myself - to be honest I'd rather take 20 minutes or 25 minutes if it meant the meal was nicer. This viewpoint was reenforced (subconsciously maybe) when, during one of the early meals, Lolz did, without my knowledge, time me and claimed I took 45 minutes. Now in my defence that did include the time it took to clear away all the washing up and get all of the ingredients out of the fridge, but I think it was pretty clear I wouldn't exactly be smashing the 15 minute barrier any time soon.
The reason I bring this all up is that Lolz and I have gone down to Cornwall for the weekend to stay with my sister and her fiance and after a pastie and a couple of ales sitting on the seafront, someone decided it would be fun to actually time me and provide hilarious and very useful Masterchef-style time warnings. Fortunately I had picked a dish which should have given me as good a chance of any of hitting the magic 15 - burgers. Something I had cooked many times before. And thankfully, unlike my last meal outside of my own tiny kitchen, there was not an aga in sight! And being 15 minute meal fans themselves, they had all necessary kit.
As expected, the dish was very straightforward. The burgers only contained three ingredients and within a couple of minutes were in the pan. The buns went in the oven and the "pickles and things" got prepared. A carrot got lost behind the fridge during the shredding of the salad but nothing more serious happened and everything got plated up at what I believed would be around the 15 minute mark...
As a special bonus I made some sweet potato wedges to pad out the meal a bit and Lolz gave me 8/10 - you really can't go wrong with burgers and salad. The burger recipe is really simple and we thought may have benefitted from some herbs or spices or chilli or maybe even a slice of cheddar. The salad is really a healthy twist on coleslaw and was great - one of the better salads we've made so far. As an extra special bonus, Lolz had a nice view to enjoy while washing up.
Difficulty rating 1/10. So did I make it in 15 minutes? No. 19m 47s.
Did yaself proud there. But NO view is nice when you are washing up...
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