As if by magic...

Bean Curry–adapted very slightly from Madhur Jaffreys Ultimate Curry Bible.

2011-05-09T04:52:00.001-07:00

Get yourself some fresh curry leaves. Really nothing like them. Although they did lead to a week of Curry.

No great harm in that.

Probably takes about 20-30 mins all in.

Ingredients

1 can of beans – drained and rinsed (Black Eye were good, Kidney if you must)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 whole, dried, hot red chillies
1 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
A generous pinch of ground Asafetida
15 fresh curry leaves, if available
3 medium tomatoes, grated on the coarsest part of the grater (or just chopped up a bit if you think life’s too short)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
3 fresh, hot green chillies, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp peeled fresh ginger grated to a pulp
1 tsp sugar
1½ tsp salt

Method

pour the oil into a medium pan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the curry leaves and tomatoes. Stir once, then add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, green chillies, garlic, ginger, sugar and salt. Stir and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Pour the beans into the pan with the spiced tomato mixture. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, on a very low heat, for 10-15 minutes.

Pineapple Curry

2011-05-04T03:56:00.001-07:00

Didn’t make this myself, L did, but brought back fantastic memories of our trip to Sri Lanka in January and a very welcome ice cold drink and fan at the Sun House in Galle at the start of the Galle Literary festival.

From their kitchen via Rick Stein and the BBC.

For this recipe, you only need a small amount of the roasted Sri Lankan curry powder. The remaining curry powder can be stored in a screw-top jar for up to three months and used in other recipes.

If you are in Sri Lanka pick up a bag of this and the unroasted kind as well and this curry can be ready before the rice is cooked. Pandan Leaf not that easy to come by, but you can get essence in Asian food shops.

Great with a Sri Lankan cooked salad (and maybe some chicken curry too if you eat meat)

Ingredients

For the roasted Sri Lankan curry powder

1 tbsp uncooked long-grain or basmati rice
50g/2oz coriander seeds
25g/1oz cumin seeds
25g/1oz fennel seeds
1 x 7.5cm/3in cinnamon stick
1½ tsp fenugreek seeds
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp cardamom seeds (from about 10 green pods)
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
3 dried red Kashmiri chillies
1 tsp ground turmeric

For the pineapple curry

4 tbsp vegetable oil
25g/1oz finely chopped garlic
100g/3½oz onions or shallots, peeled, finely sliced
1 x 5cm/2in cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces
24 fresh curry leaves (available from some Asian supermarkets)
6 x 2.5cm/1in slices pandan leaf (available from some Asian supermarkets)
3 tbsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder (see above)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 x 400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk
650g/1lb 7oz pineapple chunks
4 green cayenne chillies, peeled, finely sliced
1 tsp salt

Preparation method

For the roasted Sri Lankan curry powder, heat a heavy-based, deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat. Add the uncooked rice and cook for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan regularly, until the rice is toasted and pale golden-brown. Transfer the toasted rice to a large mortar or spice grinder and set aside to cool.
Repeat the dry-frying process with the spices, then tip into a bowl and set aside to cool.
In the same pan, repeat the dry-frying process with the dried chillies, then tip into a bowl and set aside to cool.
When the toasted rice, spices and chillies have cooled, add the remaining spices, dried chillies and ground turmeric, and grind to a fine powder (do this in batches if necessary).
For the pineapple curry, heat the oil in the same frying pan. Add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the onions or shallots, cinnamon stick, curry leaves and pieces of pandan leaf and fry, stirring regularly, for 2-3 minutes.
Add the three tablespoons of the roasted Sri Lankan curry powder and the ground turmeric. Continue to fry for a further minute, or until the spices are fragrant.
Add the coconut milk, stir well and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering, then continue to simmer for a further 1-2 minutes.
Add the pineapple chunks, green chillies and salt and return the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat again until the mixture is simmering and continue to simmer for a further 4-5 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Chipotle Smoky Beef–best easy recipe yet

2011-04-20T06:55:00.001-07:00

Easiest Chilie beef ever.

Chipotles add a smoky flavor but aren’t that hot…..probably.

Prep Time: 10 minutes (max)

Cook Time: 4 hours ish

Feeds a lot, 6 as a main I reckon – especially if you turn it into burritos then probably about 10 or more.

Ingredients:

· Anywhere between 1kg and 1.5kg of beef – ideally in one piece and the kind that will respond to long slow cooking. Buy quality, but no need for a quick roasting joint or steak.

· 1 can of chopped tomatoes

· 1 can full of beef stock (put stock cube – the knorr jelly ones are good into the empty tomato can, fill with boiling water, stir, add to pan)

· 1 can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce ( you can get these in Picante next time you go) or you could use some dried chilies(10 or so depending on heat) and a large slug of smoked paprika ground together and some tomato paste– but that’s a lot harder than opening a tin and not as good.

· Peppers (two – red and / or orange Ideally) chopped into smallish bits

· 1 tablespoon cumin (maybe more if you feel like it)

· 1/2 tablespoon oregano

· 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped or crushed

· Optional (1 or 2 large dried ancho chilies toasted and ground)

· Some fresh chilies – depends on you really how many – Scotch Bonnet or The Thai ones are good here but any will do.

· A large onion, peeled and medium chopped

· Optional (if you must have beans in your beef, use a tin of rinsed black beans and stick them in for the last half hour after you’ve shredded the meat)

Preparation:

1. Turn the oven on to about 130 – 140 for non fan.

2. Boil Kettle for the stock

3. Get a big lidded casserole dish

4. Stick the beef in it fat side down

5. Pour tomatoes and beef stock over the top.

6. Pour tin of chipotles over and add the remaining ingredients so they are all poured on top of the beef.

7. Stir everything together

8. Cook for 4 or 5 hours.

9. Turn the beef over every hour or so if you remember, but at least after the first hour.

10. Could be ready after 3 if you are in a hurry – see if you can easily shred the beef into the sauce if you can, then do so with a couple of forks and then stir it all together and give it another hour ideally.

Serve with some or all of Rice, Salad, pickled Jalapenos, fresh tomato salsa, avocado slices, tortilla chips, Tortillas etc etc.

Oh – and Fresh Coriander and Lime wedges

Gets better over a couple of days.

Bloody Good Coriander Chicken

2011-03-15T02:52:00.001-07:00

Make more than you need because it's great reheated the next day or shredded into flatbreads with salad leaves a drizzle of minty yoghurt or tzatziki and some extra fresh chillies.

Either way, pretty much a 30 minute meal once you start cooking.

Adapted from From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail. © 2003 by Madhur Jaffrey. Published by Clarkson Potter.
Serves 4

Ingredients

3-inch piece of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped (a big thumb)
5 good-sized cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice (a large squeeze)
4 chicken legs, skinned and separated into drumsticks and thighs
1 medium to large tomato, chopped
a big bunch (90g) of coriander leaves and small stems
3-4 fresh hot green chilies, coarsely chopped (or more if you are addicted – Scotch bonnets also work well here – about 4 or 5 as the yoghurt tempers the whole thing)
2-3 teaspoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons oil
1 cup plain yogurt, lightly beaten with a fork

Instructions

Put the ginger, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the lemon juice into a blender. Add about 2 tablespoons of water and blend, pushing down with a rubber spatula if necessary, until smooth.

Place the chicken pieces in a stainless steel or non-metallic bowl. Pour the ginger mixture over the top and rub it in. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or for up to 24 hours. Without bothering to clean out the blender, put into it the tomato, cilantro, chilies, tomato paste, the remaining 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Blend until smooth.

Pour the oil into a large, nonstick, lidded pan and set over high heat. When very hot, put in the chicken pieces, together with the marinade. Fry, stirring, until the chicken pieces are light brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato mixture from the blender. Continue to cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick and clings to the chicken and the oil separates from it, another 10 minutes. Add the yogurt. Stir and cook until the yogurt disappears and leaves a thick sauce edged with oil, 4 to 5 minutes.

Cover, reduce the heat as low as possible, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. If you think that he pan is drying out too much, stir in a tablespoon or two of water.

Summer….

2010-08-05T01:34:00.001-07:00

Seeing as it's chucking it down with rain i needed a bit of sunshine...

This is it on a plate.

I didn’t have any chicken, but was just as good with rare beef left over from the weekend

Vietnamese chicken salad with Chinese cabbage and bean sprouts recipe

This recipe is from Rick Stein's book, Far Eastern Odyssey

Spicy, sweet and sour salads, such as this recipe, appear all over Southeast Asia in one form or another.

You will need:
750g chicken thighs and/or breasts on the bone
100g shallots, very thinly sliced
400g Chinese leaf, core removed and the leaves finely shredded
100g bean sprouts
1 large carrot, halved across and finely shredded
15g Vietnamese mint, or a mixture of coriander and mint, or Thai sweet basil leaves, roughly chopped
40g roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp very finely chopped garlic
2 red bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped

Put the chicken pieces into a saucepan with 1 teaspoon salt and enough water to just cover. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and leave to simmer gently for 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the cooking liquid. Then remove and discard the skin and bones and break the flesh into long thin strips. Save the stock for another dish.

Put the shallots into a large bowl, toss with half a teaspoon salt and leave to soften for 30 minutes. (skip this bit if you forget, which I always do) Mix together the ingredients for the dressing. Just before serving, add the chicken to the bowl of salted shallots with the Chinese leaf, bean sprouts, shredded carrot, herbs and most of the peanuts.

Pour over the dressing, season generously with black pepper and toss together well. Mound the salad decoratively on a plate and serve sprinkled with the remaining peanuts

Asparagus is here

2010-04-30T01:32:00.001-07:00

Of course there’s not much better than just butter, lemon and maybe a scraping of parmesan, but this recipe from Le Caprice looks pretty good. Maybe one for the bank holiday.

Serves 4

400g sea trout fillet, skin off and kept aside
300g green asparagus
20ml olive oil
1 head dandelion
60ml vinaigrette
10g chervil
10g tarragon
10g chives
20g baby watercress
Rock salt and freshly ground pepper

Season the trout skin with sea salt and place between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and then between 2 baking sheets. Bake in a 90°C oven for 55 minutes, or until crispy. Remove and leave to cool. Cook the asparagus in salted boiling water for 4-5 minutes until tender. Season the trout fillet with salt and pepper and coat in the chopped herbs (chives, tarragon and chervil). Fry the fillet in a pre heated non stick pan until golden brown, the centre of the trout should be pink. Dress the asparagus with vinaigrette and serve with the flaked sea trout and crispy skin. Finish with dandelion and baby watercress.

Bloody Good Tofu

2010-04-20T02:10:00.001-07:00

This came from a small book of Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes that was free with a national newspaper this weekend. L was making Vietnamese Salad and this was fantastic with it, especially with some spiced roast chicken pieces on the side.

Black pepper tofu. Photograph: Colin Campbell / Guardian.co.uk

This tofu dish is a veggie version of a Chinese classic, best served with plain steamed white rice. If you have an Asian grocer nearby, get the fresh tofu that's set in a tub. It has a wonderful silky, light texture. Serves four.

800g firm, fresh tofu
Cornflour, to dust the tofu
Vegetable oil, for frying
150g butter
12 small shallots (350g), peeled and thinly sliced
8 red chillies, thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped ginger
5 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce / Kecap Manis
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
16 small, thin spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long

Cut the tofu into 3cm x 2cm blocks and toss them in cornflour, shaking off the excess. Pour in enough oil to come 0.5cm up the sides of a large frying pan, and bring up to frying heat. Fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel.

Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan and throw in the butter. Once it has melted, add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, and sauté for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the contents of the pan are shiny and totally soft. While you wait, crush the peppercorns, using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. They should be quite coarse.

When the shallots and chillies are soft, add the soy sauces and the sugar, stir, then stir in the crushed pepper. Warm the tofu in the sauce for about a minute, then add the spring onion and stir through. Serve hot with steamed rice.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi in London

Technorati Tags: Vegetarian,Tofu,Vegan

The Conversation Prism – Brian Solis

2010-03-09T04:47:00.001-08:00

Very nice visual by Brian.

Dim Sum for 7

2010-03-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

2 Pork Sui Mai

3 Prawn Har Gau

1 Char Siu Bun

2 Shanghai Dumplings

1 Turnip past

1 Scallop dumpling

3 Crispy Wonton

3 Spring Rolls

2 Choi Sum (garlic)

2 Beansprout Fried Noodles

1/2 Crispy Duck

Technorati Tags: Dim Sum,yum cha,victoria

The Radio Magazine

2009-12-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

Adrian Juste writing for The Radio Magazine

A PERSONAL MEMORY OF BRMB’S JOHN RUSSELL

by Adrian Juste

I was saddened to hear of John’s death last week. Back in 1974 it was he who gave me my first big break in commercial radio

A slight, sometimes theatrical man with large gestures, blessed with a ready smile that revealed a set of perfect white teeth, and a trademark trimmed black beard, he cut an almost piratical figure along the corridors of the old ATV studios in Aston.

As one of ILR’s founding fathers, and programme director of the new Birmingham station, John breathed life into this peculiar radio hybrid, having opened the ambiguous instruction manual you got in the IBA box along with your licence: ‘Er, we want a.. um - sort of BBC local sound with added pizzazz, self-op and ad breaks.

Ooo, and you can play a bit of that noisy pop music too - but not much.’ And if you can make a few quid .. all well and good.’

In those days of course it was ‘Independent Radio’ - not commercial radio - that would have been just too, too vulgar!

Despite this daunting edict from Brompton Road, John used his forces radio background to breathe life into the cheap ‘n’ cheerful mix of features, talks & phone-ins that we had to do to flesh out our meagre 9 hours a day needle-time.

And by crikey, did he make it work - After a few months on air I seem to recall we had a market share of 56%! - here in 2009 you could put a decimal point between the 5 and 6 and most stations would be delighted. We beat the BBC hollow, both local and national.

Wherever you went in Birmingham in those early days, BRMB was on. I smile as I recall Les Ross walking down his road during the hot summer of ’76, and thinking: ‘Why’s Adrian got all that echo on his mic?’ He soon realised that I hadn’t - it was just that every house had their windows open and I was rattling all the way up the street!

We did Outside Broadcasts in abundance - ‘You have to be out there, meeting the audience’ was Russell’s philosophy.

And we were; our OB truck had more miles on it than Paula Radcliffe’s trainers.

If it was in Brum, so was BRMB: Pancake races, theatre premieres, sporting events, even ghost hunts, the cheery red & white logo was always prominent. I recall one afternoon when Jason King (alias Peter Wyngarde) was appearing with us the police were forced to close the Bull Ring as the overcrowding was getting dangerous.

All good stuff for a fledgling station!

After a very enjoyable year doing the afternoon show, John promoted me to breakfast, and I still have fond memories of watching the sun rise over Saltley gasworks as I woke up Birmingham. No idle boast that - we really had a huge audience.

But there was no way I could cope with the 3.30 alarm call that accompanied the breakfast show, and I had to quit, screaming ‘Get Les Ross!’ ... so the poor programme director didn’t really have anywhere left to put me.

It’s no secret that John and I didn’t get along too well during that time, and after three very enjoyable years with some really wonderful Brummies, I was ‘let go’. To be fair to him I don’t suppose I was one of the easiest turns to get along with either!

I’m very glad that he and I patched up any remaining differences we may have had at a Radio Academy seminar in the mid-80s. We parted that day on extremely good terms, our paths never to cross again.

I was doing rather well at Radio 1 by then, and think John was secretly proud that he’d discovered a little Station Assistant from BBC Radio Leicester - and let me loose on BRMB to cultivate my radio eccentricities. Well, broadcasting six hours a day, as you often had to, soon knocked you into shape!

As Robin Valk commented last week; in BRMB’s early years us jocks were a bunch of young, rather insecure types with egos that needed more than a little massage, but the fact that, armed with those decidedly dodgy components, John forged a cohesive and successful team who bonded well, is to the man’s eternal credit.

“I believe I hired presenters with not only engaging personalities, but above all with brains so they did not sound like ‘I speak your weight machines’. Many of them were deeply rooted, born and brought up in Birmingham and those that did not have that background were encouraged to become part of the community and the area’.

That’s true. When I started at the station I was commuting from Leicester, and John told me; ‘It’s important that you move to Birmingham to get the feel of the city and its people’. And he was right. It did make a difference. Oh dear, that must all sound rather twee to the voice-track & plug-liner brigade of today!

Here’s one of John Russell’s final thoughts on UK radio when speaking last year: ‘In my view the path of over-formatted sound, often produced centrally for a group of radio stations presented by anodyne presenters, was and is a grave mistake and has contributed to the decline of commercial radio today.”

When I left BRMB, as a joke, a couple of the jocks bequeathed me a large publicity photo-board of John as a ‘keepsake’.

What they don’t know is that, after all these years and three different houses, I still have it - in the roof of my garage.

You know, I’m going to dust it off and have a quiet reminisce about a man who, despite our occasional personal spats, had faith in me as a presenter ... where many hadn’t.

Hot Lunch

2009-03-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

Image by specialkrb via Flickr

When a recession hits, its time to think about what's most important. We need to feel like we still have a place in a civilized world, and a proper lunch goes a long way to instilling a renewed sense of hope.

In that vein, we'll be sampling some of the best offers available around London over the next few weeeks. The main requirements are to try and come in around £30 per person including at least one glass of wine. For civility's sake.

First up (well second - but more on that later) Corrigans in Mayfair

The Bill

32.50 per person including service (there were 4)

£24 3 courses - including a 250ml carafe of wine
£2 Cover Charge (a bit crap)
Sides - some small money

The Food

Lambs Heart and Onion - 7
Monkfish Cheeks - 5
Blue Cheese Bavarois -6

Staff - Bloody lovely - 9

Value - 7

Overall - 34 / 50

The Stag

2009-02-27T02:36:00.001-08:00

Weird Victoria pub, good friend leaving for Middle Eaast

Late late night.

No sausage this morning.

It hurts.

2009-02-26T03:53:00.001-08:00

Got home late - needed something quick and hot and that would feed the Vegan.

Indian, South East Asian and Chinese vegan food can be good as long as its hot.

We've always got a block of tofu in the fridge and a massive bag of Szechuan peppercorns in the cupboard and the rest anyone who cooks Chinese food regularly should have.

This version is hot but no long term burn. Upweight the chilies if you want it hotter. I used a mix of dried and fresh because it's what I had to hand, and I prefer it that way, but one or the other will do.

Tip: Dry roast your peppercorns in a frying pan and grind them to a fine powder. It can be a bit gritty otherwise.

Serves 2-3 depending on hunger and side vegtables etc.

Some salad leaves with lemon juice or some steamed greens, pak choi is good. Plus lots of steamed basmati rice.

Recipe: Ma Po Tofu

Ingredients:

1 block tofu (firm is easier)
150 - 250g of Quorn or Soya mince
3 dessertspoons spicy bean paste
1large scotch bonnet chilli shrerdded or 1-2 birdseye chillies finely chopped
Couple of dried chilles broken up
1 dessertspoon cooking oil
3 dessertspoons chili oil
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (roasted and ground to powder)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon fermented black beans (these last forever in the fridge, but soak / rinse them before use as they tend to be very salty)
3 large spring onions chopped into 2-3cm chunks
3 gloves garlic (chopped)
1/2 mug of water

Method:

First roast your peppercorns in a medium size dry frying pan (big enough to put the tofu in later) then grind in a pestle and mortar.

Cut the tofu into chunks put gently in the frying pan and and simmmer for 5-10 minutes. This firms it up a bit. Drain the water from the tofu.

Heat up a wok and pour in the cooking oil and chili oil. Add the chopped garlic, quorn or soya mince, spicy bean paste and stir-fry for a few minutes until the mince is mostly cooked.

Then add the fresh and dry chillies, soy sauce, drained black beans and stir-fry for a minute or so. Add in the tofu and the water, be careful when stirring through as the tofu can break easily. It's not the end of the world, but you want some big chunks left at the end.

Reduce the heat and simmer for about 3-5 mins or until the sauce thickens. Add in the roasted Szechuan peppercorn powder and chopped spring onions.

Gently stir and serve with rice - or noodles if you want.

(With thanks to www.rasamalaysia.com where the above is adapted from)

Some things are worth avoiding.

2009-02-06T02:29:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Nandos

Don't go till it's free range.

This is one of their suppliers. Now the situation may have changed since these pictures were taken, but this is a company that is incredibly hard to find information about.

http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/chickens/faccendainvestigation.htm

I wonder why.

St George's Day 2008

2008-04-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Nice to see a bit more enthusiasm for St George's day this year - maybe it's the separation from Paddy's day and Easter, but still feels right.

More importantly, what to have for lunch?

Simple really - Ploughmans.

Brays farm pork pie (30 seconds in micro to take the cold off it - minor sacrilege but time constraints and all that), montgomery cheddar, granary bread, Branston pickle, mustard, salad and tomatoes - oh and an apple.

No pickled onions today, but would have been one with a touch of chili.

Just need to hold out until 6pm for a couple of pints of Addleston's and all will be well with the world.

Random Thought

2008-04-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

Why don't sandwich shops have real specials which only appear once a month?

And if they did, they could have a specials's club with alerts and everything.

I'd like that.

Vegetarian Rant

2007-03-11T01:21:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to have a small rant about vegetarians.

You know who you are, yes the ones that don't even eat fish.

To be honest I don't care if people want to just eat vegetables. Don't get me wrong I like a vegetable just as much as the next man but, as I may have mentioned to one or two people, the human race didn't spend the last x million years evolving to reach the top of the food chain, just for the privilege of eating more wheat grass.

On the face of it our lofty foie gras munching position is pretty precarious and is increasingly looking like a fleeting moment in time - Global warming, nuclear weapons, bird flu etc etc.

I live with a vegetarian, doesn't make her a bad person, in fact in many ways she's more of an omnivore's vegetarian than most you have to make risotto for in restaurants ( I blame vegetarians for the current risotto plague, but that's for another day).

L just doesn't like animals, thinks they are disgusting, you know they don't have showers ,or clean themselves after a poo. - it's a fair point.

But then you are down to just eating plants. No fun at all.

They deserve to be part of the symphony but not the 12 minute Steve Vai guitar solo.

Try this.

Rosemary and Garlic Pork loin steaks
Braised Fennel
Steamed Carrots
New Potatoes

Weekday supper - 3o minutes

The sweetness of the pork and the carrots balanced with the fennel and the acidity of the lemon juice is great.

It doesn't have to be complicated just good.

Mash up some rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper in a mortar, add olive oil mix and smother over your pork steaks.

Get the potatoes on

Throw a large chunk of butter into a pan, more than you'd think, enough to melt and cover the bottom of the pan. -Cut the fennel into quarters roughly. Cook them for a bit in the butter until they show bits of colour here and there then pour in water to come about half way up the fennel pieces. Add juice of a lemon and some sea salt flakes. Lid on simmer for a bit (10 minutes) then take lid off and keep cooking. Should be done about the same time as the potatoes. Add a large handful of parmesan at the end of the cooking.

I'm sure you can work out how to cook the pork steaks yourself - Use a griddle pan if you can.

Steamed Carrots - see above.

Pour the juice from the fennel over the carrots and potatoes.

Pig - bad for vegetarians, and some religions. Good for the rest of us.

See you in the queue for black pudding.

Mixed Blessings

2007-02-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Looked out the window this morning, sunshine and the park

Good combination.

Left the house 20 minutes later. Wind, Rain, Crap. Might as well have been in Prestwick airport.

This sort of day leaves you confused.

Part optimism (no doubt bolstered by thoughts of 'The Matador' arriving tomorrow, now the next orderer in the Cirle of Trust has got his act together)

Part Depression (could be something to do with the bad meatball wrap at lunch - shop on brewer street which is generally ok - as if meatballs were going to be good - schoolboy.)

The cure is Szechuan Pepper.

Try this Spicy Eggplant with plain rice and steamed chinese greens.

If you don't eat meat, add spring onions, red peppers and more aubergine.

In fact add the spring onions and red pepper anyway for colour against the black aubergines.

If you don't like spicy food, don't make this - in fact sod off entirely.

Pie review tomorrow....

Hard Life.

2007-02-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Tuesday.

Sunshine demands thinking of summer food

So, Forman and Field Smoked Salmon, granary bread, salted english butter, pepper, unwaxed lemons. Salad. New Potatoes

Hard Life.

Slow Food

2007-02-26T13:41:00.000-08:00

So, start a blog.

Easy - now I suppose you have to keep writing the damn thing.

So here goes, last post was a while back, and what memorable things have I managed to stick in my face since then.

Eat's French Onion Soup - always slightly disappointing I feel. Needs some kind of booze in it.

Certain nondescript sandwiches from Tesco's. Always too cold but I never have time to leave them to warm up.

Friday night started well with a brief cider tour of Soho (Addlestones, Old Rosie, Aspalls), small pitstop at the Tappit Hen for a birthday drink with The Hobbit and ended up at Aintnothinbut on Kingly Street with a man of slim stamina we'd not seen in a long time. We = me and The Hunter of Lucky Charms. Great band, mad crowd, Charm hunter got Lucky, nightbus home.

....

Sucked in by that purveyor of fine Friday night fare, The Chick King.

Lovely guy on the counter provided chicken that was probably fried on Monday - still it hasn't killed me yet. - Five spicy wings, fries and a chicken portion for £3 at 3am. Not bad at all really.

My latest not hating myself strategy is to only eat as much as I can before I get home (generally about 50%) then put the rest in the bin.

Cider £??

Nightbus £1.50

Hangover reduction therapy £3

Not smelling/seeing fried chicken carcass on Saturday morning... well you can guess the rest.

Meaty Goodness

2007-02-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

I just managed to tear myself away from another pint of Landlord in the Blue Posts on Friday to return home to bake the day's pie deliveries.

Oh and a pizza.

Cooking was as easy as described with the jelly injection providing satisfyingly chemistry lesson feel to the process.

Anyway - due to spending Saturday having lunch at Villandry (not bad but out of the way and the service a bit crap) and having a very good dinner at a friends house on Saturday - which ran into brunch and dinner again there were no opportune moments to sample the pies.

Until today.

Fantastic.

Accompanied by green salad, vine tomatoes, spicy peppers, Granary Roll, Olives, Branston, and English mustard. Oh and a small slice of Lincolnshire Poacher

So hat's off to Nell's pork pies they have indeed in the words of one taste tester 'set the bar very high'

Cost - All in about £5 I'd guess. Pies are 2.40 plus about 1.10 / 1.50 postage.

And I could have had piccalilli.

BTW - much thanks to M&J for looking after us so well for so long

Soft Centre

2007-02-02T07:29:00.001-08:00

Slightly following on from yesterday, and in discussion with today's lunch companions the future direction of this blog is forming.

It's not just about life, it's primarily about the lunch you live.

What, where, how much, would you go back, some kind of rating system.

If anyone else was reading this then I'd ask them for help in devising the ratings.

hello....

hello.....

Bugger.

Anyway.

Today's lunch.

Probably one of the best pies in central london.

Location: At The Windmill with two very good friends.

The Food: Beef and Mushroom pie (short / puff pastry), mash, mushy peas. - Pretty much perfection where steak pie is concerned with amazing gravy that escapes across the plate to merge with the potato as you cut into it.

Cost: £8.50 but was kindly bought by I for R and me.

Service: Grumpy as ever - but not in a bad way

Drinks: Bombardier

BTW- more on pies on Monday as I have just taken delivery of what are supposed to be the best pork pies in the country.

Now eating crapo gum - supposed to have a liquid centre - What is the point of that in a chewing gum?

And vanilla? - what were they thinking.

Links: http://www.windmillmayfair.co.uk/

Not Born Evil

2007-02-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Some are born evil, some become evil and some have evil thrust upon them....

Well yes to the last two, but no to the first. I'm pretty sure that there are people who are perhaps born genetically predisposed to act on impulse.

Combine those impulses with poor control, a certain moral turpitude and the right set of circumstances and all the ingredients are there for a lovely evil soup for the soul.

But, same person, different upbringing, different circumstances - maybe they just kick the dog every now and again. Bit wrong, but probably not evil in the grand scheme of things.

Just for clarity - I saw this evil / not evil thing on a site run by Toshiba to win a laptop.

I'd like a new laptop. - Not evil

BTW - just ate a lovely yellow plum, now eating rubbish chewing gum.

Wish I was still smoking.

Welcome

2007-02-01T06:40:00.001-08:00

I guess most people know what they are going to write here.....

I'm not so sure I do, but I'm sure a lot of it might involve food.

Be back when I do.

BTW - Lunch today

Baked Ham, Montgomery Cheddar and Imaginary Piccalilli toasted Sandwich (£5) - Fernandez and Wells on Lexington Street. (Nice Deli - shame about the owner? -miserable guy with a beard? ) Anyway at £5 the promised piccalilli should have been in the damn sandwich.

Couple of gherkins on the side helped a lot.

Ho hum

As if by magic...

Bean Curry–adapted very slightly from Madhur Jaffreys Ultimate Curry Bible.

Get yourself some fresh curry leaves. Really nothing like them. Although they did lead to a week of Curry.

Pineapple Curry

Ingredients

Preparation method

Chipotle Smoky Beef–best easy recipe yet

Bloody Good Coriander Chicken

Adapted from From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail. © 2003 by Madhur Jaffrey. Published by Clarkson Potter. Serves 4

Summer….

Vietnamese chicken salad with Chinese cabbage and bean sprouts recipe

Asparagus is here

Bloody Good Tofu

The Conversation Prism – Brian Solis

Dim Sum for 7

The Radio Magazine

Hot Lunch

The Stag

Some things are worth avoiding.

St George's Day 2008

Random Thought

Vegetarian Rant

Mixed Blessings

Hard Life.

Slow Food

Meaty Goodness

Soft Centre

Not Born Evil

Welcome

Adapted from From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail. © 2003 by Madhur Jaffrey. Published by Clarkson Potter.
Serves 4