Flavour of the Week - Issue #7

September 23, 2022

Welcome to Newsletter #7.

This week has some tasty recipes, two TV series reviews and some thoughts on this week's announcement of support for businesses on their energy bills.

Food

Vegetarian Lasagne

A good beef lasagne is one of my all time favourite meals. Having made a few vegetarian alternatives, I've concluded there's enough going on in there that a beef mince substitute doesn't make it any less enjoyable. OK, maybe slightly, but I still devour obscenely large portions and will happily eat leftovers for every following meal until it's all gone.

It's not the quickest recipe, not because any of the methods are complex, but there are separate elements to cook, before assembling and finally cooking in the oven. The two main components are the tomato and bechamel sauces. Start with the tomato sauce:

Finely chop one large or two medium onions, and roughly half the amount of carrot and celery. Fry in vegetable oil until all have started to soften. I add dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper and tomato puree and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add two tins of chopped tomatoes, a small amount of sugar and Worcestershire sauce, bring it to a gentle simmer and leave for ~15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Use this time to make the white bechamel sauce, aiming for both to be ready at the same time. Most recipes tell you to boil the milk first and infuse it with things like bay leaves and cloves. Ain't nobody got time for that, amirite?

Melt 50g of butter then mix in 50g of plain flour until a paste forms. Cook out for 2 minutes. Gradually add in 500ml of milk (soymilk works ok too), a small amount at a time until it combines into the paste. The whole process requires you to stir continuously and takes around 10-15 minutes (when your arm starts aching, suck it up and think of how you'll have earned those future delicious calories). Once it's thickened to the right consistency, I season to taste, grate in nutmeg and a decent amount of cheddar cheese.

Assemble in an ovenproof dish, repeating layers of lasagne sheets, tomato sauce and bechamel sauce. I did fry off some courgette slices in olive oil, with some garlic and used these to create a surprise middle layer, but that's totally optional and was only another excuse to once again use up the courgettes. Top off with grated cheese and cook in the oven for 40-50 minutes. I take the lid off with 20 minutes to go, to allow the cheese to crisp up.

Coconut milk and Gochujang Vegetarian Curry

After last week's satay, I had half a tin of coconut milk to use up, so decided to experiment and make a cheat's curry. It only took 15 minutes, is dead simple and gave enough for leftovers the following day.

Stir fry whatever veg you have in the house that needs using up. I opted for courgette (of course), aubergine, runner beans, tomato and corn. Season well and add a teaspoon of gochujang sauce, allowing to cook out for a few minutes. Add 200ml of coconut milk and cook until slightly thickened.

The consistency is thin, almost ramen-like, but serving over rice quickly mops up the sauce. I have found in the past that gochujang can be a bit too spicy, but used in this way was ideal for my delicate palate.

Film

We discussed Only Murders in the Building in Issue 4 and this update is to say it continued to grow on me and I can't wait for season 3! Even during the big reveal, there were several twists and turns, keeping the audience guessing to the last possible second.

It's all a bit silly if you think about it too much, but in my mind it's a comedy first and foremost, with a thrilling storyline to keep you hooked. Highly recommended.

The first episodes of the long awaited Amazon series 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' have started to be released this month. Set thousands of years before the events of 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings,' tales of the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth have been brought to the screen in what will be a five-season-minimum production.

I watched the first two episodes this week and after reading a lot of negative reviews online, was pleasantly surprised. There's a lot going on, with several different, currently completely separate storylines to follow, but it looks beautiful and if you can overlook Lenny Henry attempting an Irish accent, it's really quite immersive.

With one episode being aired each week, audiences will have to wait until October 14th for the season finale and I'm tempted to hold off from further watching until then. With so many shows being available to consume in their entirety, I'm not accustomed to having to wait to resolve episode-ending cliffhangers!

Finance

It's not looking good for the UK economy with inflation continuing to run rampant, the pound continuing to fall (currently down to a 37-year low against the dollar) and at last an admission that we 'may already be' in a recession.

While I'm writing this, the new Chancellor is making significant income and stamp duty tax-cut announcements in his 'mini-budget', but one thing that was given a bit more detail earlier this week is the support for businesses on their energy bills. Working in the B2B energy industry, this has meant the scrambling has started to be ready for 1st October when the new rules kick-in.

Similarly to the domestic support announced on the 8th September, wholesale prices will be capped, but this only makes up a portion of your energy bill; third party network costs, social and environmental obligation costs, supplier profits and tax must also be considered.

With declarations that energy bills will be cut by half this winter, business owners may be expecting huge savings, but in reality for most, they just aren't going to go up as much as they otherwise would have. Support will last for 6 months before a further review in the Spring of 2023.

This should be good news for B2B energy suppliers as a hefty chunk of the bill is no longer a debt risk, but it's not clear how and when the Government will top up the difference. I'm also worried we will see a host of propped up businesses, delaying their inevitable collapse further down the line.

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If you have any feedback, please get in touch and I hope to see you again for next week’s newsletter.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Adam

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