Day 13: The Nutellvis

I’d been thoroughly enjoying the variations on savoury oats that had become a breakfast staple, but I’d also been craving an Elvis for a few days now.  I avoided it because I didn’t just want a repeat of the first one.  Enter nutella (properly pronounced as “new-tella”, not “nuh-tella”).  While looking in my pantry the other day I noticed that I had 3 full jars of nutella.  How does such a stockpile of the chocolaty hazelnut spread develop?  Well, it’s a well-known fact that nutella is highly addictive, and sometimes you have to trick yourself into thinking you don’t have any by tucking jars of it in the recesses of your cupboards… out of sight, out of mind right?  But then you go to the grocery store thinking that you’re out of nutella and buy a couple of jars to replenish your stash and BOOM! instant stockpile.  This situation had to be remedied and I thought that nutella would add one final layer to the Elvis that I first made on day 5.

I have the same kind of problem with potato chips; if they’re within reach, I will devour them.  That’s why I keep them in my cellar, and once opened, I never eat them out of the bag.  If I did, they’d be gone in mere minutes.  Instead, I place a small amount in a bowl and stick the rest in the freezer.  Chips out of the freezer; it keeps them out of sight and makes them taste even better… trust me.  But such are the coping mechanisms of a guy who still has fears of returning to his “fat kid” days.  Even now, I can put on weight with amazing speed if I don’t watch my diet.  But I’ve countered this by embracing my inner chef and making most meals at home while avoiding processed food at all costs.

The nutellvis went together quickly, and went down just as quickly.  Try as one might to savour it slowly, you’re essentially powerless in the face of its textural and tasteful charms.  It turns you into a glutton…and you automatically forgiven for giving in, because let’s face it, you’re only human.

Peanut butter, banana, bacon, honey...and nutella

Sweet lord, where is this paradise?

Lunch was a repeat of last night’s pork loin and chops with some of the white beans and a radicchio salad.  I’m ashamed to admit it but I ate in a hurry and it amounted to no more than sustenance…it’s a shame when food is reduced to mere fuel.

For dinner I cooked the remaining loin chops that I had defrosted yesterday, this time with a coating of wasabi powder and paprika.  A lot of people recoil at the thought of wasabi powder on their meat, but the truth is that the heat of the barbeque really calms it down the feared green powder.  I decided to cook some wild mushrooms that I had in the freezer and combine them with some peas.  The trouble is that I had waited too long to cook the mushrooms, they seem to have suffered a slight case of freezer burn.  When I think back on the hours I spent roaming the forest floor for the only type of wild mushroom that I know is safe, and the additional time to clean them, I have to kick myself for waiting.  But that often happens when you have something special like that; you wait until the right time to use it, and by the time the moment arrives you’re too late.  I’ve got to stop doing that…and by “that” I mean waiting; maybe I’ll start with a couple of wines I have in the cellar that are ready to be opened.  No sense in waiting for the “right” moment…that moment is already here.

A fantastic pork loin chop with mushrooms eaten only out of obligation