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Presto Pasta Night!
2007-05-15 10:48:00
I don?t usually post my supper dishes, particularly if they?re pasta based because I think people might find them a bit boring to read about. However, my recent discovery of foodie event, Presto Pasta , held by Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast, has changed my mind.Pasta can guarantee you a speedy, nutritious and tasty supper and if you?ve had a busy day, sometimes this is all you want. Pasta dishes just tick all the boxes. And the more inspiration I can get for quick pasta dishes the better, so thanks for inventing this event, Ruth!Yesterday, I emailed Paul asking him what he wanted for supper. The reply was brief and swift: ?Pasta?.I like it when Paul wants pasta because it generally means we will eat before 6pm. If I choose supper, we?re lucky if we eat before 8pm.Apart from pasta being quick, it is also a good way of using up the rubbery vegetables shoved to the back of the refrigerator drawer. I remembered that I had a couple of courgettes (or zucchini, if you will) that were well ...
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The Bagel Debargle
2007-05-14 07:56:00
My first encounter with bagels was unpleasant enough to discourage me from trying them until I met Paul, some 2 or 3 years later. My then work colleague, Peter, who lived in London, decided to treat us by bringing everyone breakfast. I was thrilled. The arrival of Peter in the office always meant treats like Easter Eggs or large bars of chocolate or fish and chips, and as someone who is appallingly lazy at eating that first important meal of the day, I am forever devoted to someone who brings me breakfast.I peeked in his little bag of breakfast and saw raisin cinnamon bagels, produced by the New York Bagel company. I hopped up and down a little. Back then, Bagels were prohibitively expensive and the more expensive a product, the more I want to try it.Unfortunately, Peter forgot that we didn't have a toaster at work or any butter, jam or cream cheese so we had to eat them untoasted and dry. I might also mention at this point that Bagels were so unpopular ten years ago that they woul...

Okra - This is Your Last Chance
2007-05-05 12:00:00
This is it. The final Okra recipe to make any non-believer change his mind and follow us to the dark (or should that read ?mucilaginous??) side.You may remember that we have tried out hardest to show glorious Okra in it?s most favourable light: homestyle, simmered with tomatoes, traditional-style in gumbo and given the catfish treatment by coating them in Fish-Fri and then plunging them in bubbling hot oil to produce a fun alternative to popcorn or canapés.I had thought I had seen it all. In what other ways could Okra possibly be served that get the taste buds tingling with excitement just to look at it?Enter cooking hero (at least to Shaun and myself), Tamasin Day-Lewis. With the possible exception of the Sologa (I spent many clumsy-fingered moments slaving over that in my non-artistic way), her second cookbook, Good Tempered Food is a hidden gem of dashingly unusual recipes that are much simpler to prepare than they look. I enjoy tricking people in this way. What cook wouldn?t get...
More About: Chance , Chan

Dinner for Two: A Soldier's Story
2007-04-26 14:22:00
I'm generally barred from using the kitchen for anything other than making my breakfast. That's only because Freya is too tired to interfere first thing in the morning. In spite of this, I know that when the month is nearing conclusion and the cupboards are bare, and payday is 2-3 days off, I will be encouraged to cook dinner. It's really not fair.I wouldn't mind so much, but the reasons for this tradition are completely cynical. Whereas Freya loves having a full stock cupboard, TWO freezers stuffed to the breaking point, drawers with spices labelled A-ZZZZ1, and a fridge with stratified layers of food descending by sell-by dates; I prefer to cook makeshift meals on the fly. I think it's just the survivalist in me. It's the result of too much time in the hot sun of the high desert facing the prospect of a very long hike out for supplies vs. "eating that lizard or cactus and hoping it's not poisonous." Sure, I had supplies buried, but when you're in the desert you learn the b...
More About: Story , Dinner , Soldi , Stor , Soldier

Bread.
2007-04-24 19:28:00
Bread. There is not one country that doesn?t have its own variation on it. Flatbread, Pitta Breads, Naan Bread, Tortilla, Ryebreads, Sourdough, Sweet Breads, Beer Bread, Breads made with vegetables, breads made with fruit.It is one of the oldest food sources, dating back to Neolithic times, indeed to many early civilisations it was their only source of food. It is probably because of this limited diet that we now have bread in so many different variations. The Iberians and Gauls used Wine and Beer to get a successful rise, whilst earlier breadmakers relied on airborne yeasts. Honey was used to produce a sweet bread (and to help the rise) and seeds would have been added. The idea of a starter, made several days in advance was one of the earliest methods of producing a light, tasty bread.Of course, over the years it has evolved. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Ancient Egyptians suffered from bad teeth due to the stones and grit in the poorly milled flour chipping their teeth...
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Sugar High Friday - Flower Power
2007-04-24 08:14:00
Or in my case, fruit and flower water power!Yes, this months Sugar High Friday , hosted by Monisha at Coconut Chutney is themed around Flower s and Flower Waters. Whilst Springtime brings forth a surfeit of daffodils and tulips, we have to wait a few more weeks for the more 'edible' flowers. Primroses are starting to die off, as are violets, so these are no good to use now, especially as we had rain yesterday which resoundingly spoiled any yellow or purple stragglers.My botany is not good enough to know whether or not bluebells would be OK to use because we have a surplus of them around these here parts.Not to worry. As a compulsive buyer of unusual spices and flavourings, I have unopened bottles of both Rose and Orange Flower Water both crying out to be used.As of last night I had no idea what I was going to make. I only knew one thing: I had a deadline I was going to miss if I didn't start thinking pretty hard about those flower waters.I remembered seeing a beautifully fragile fi...
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Any Excuse to Make Muffins...
2007-04-22 14:01:00
But this particular excuse is Muffin Monday 02 held by Elena at Experiments. If you enjoy baking but find you don't always have the time, muffins (or indeed cupcakes) are the perfect thing for you. It takes no time at all to knock up a batch and - given the opportunity - they last several days in the cake tin.Elenas theme this month is "Muffins That Make You Go Ooooh". In other words, no straightforward ingredients are allowed. This means no bog standard bran, no common chocolate chips. Basically, no mundane muffins. With that in mind, I thought I'd try a couple of recipes, one savoury and one sweet.When I made the Rhubarb Mutton, I wanted to have something bready with it, but I had no pita bread or naan bread and white sliced just wouldn't cut the mustard. I got to thinking. What ingredients do I have in my cupboard that are sort Persian and sort of Muffiny? I came up with Chick Peas and Fresh Mint to highlight the mint in the stew. So, how about Chick Pea Muffins? Designed to b...
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Weekend Herb Blogging
2007-04-19 20:43:00
Because of my intrinsic need for food that makes me feel cosseted and safe, I adore anything that is stew-like. This includes braises, curries, ragus and tagines. Whatever country you happen to be from, you will do a slow cooked rich meat dish that I would probably fall in love with.Whilst I also long for the spring and consequent summertime, I miss these bolstering, stick to your ribs meals that send you to bed happy, contented and full. So, utilising the ?winter? meat that I still have left in the freezer (which includes, mutton, shin of beef pork hocks and sausages), I have been experimenting with ways to, quite conversely really, bring a touch of winter to these warm Spring days, if only for the benefit of our bellies.A slow cooked dish that I have been thinking about for some time, after reading about it in The Fish Store by Lindsay Bareham, was for shoulder of lamb cooked with saffron and rhubarb. I didn?t have any lamb but I did have a shoulder of mutton in the fridge and sev...
More About: Blogging , Weekend , Week , Blogg , Herb

Is There Such a Thing as a Healthy Chocolate Mousse?
2007-04-18 20:14:00
Helene at Tartelette was the proud winner of last months Hay Hay It's Donna Day competition with her beautiful cheesecake. She has had the unenviable task of choosing the theme for this month but fortunately she chose something that is close to most peoples hearts (and if not, why not?) - Mousse.Mousse is possibly the easiest dessert to eat, it can be luxuriously dense or as light as a cloud. It can be savoury or sweet and it can be baked or, um, not baked.I wanted to do something slightly different from the norm, i.e. omitting the egg element from the mousse purely because I was running low on eggs AND time AND finances so I turned to the web for help (as usual).A startling solution stared up at me: Tofu Mousse. Wait. Did that say Tofu? Isn't that coagulated Soy Milk? The original vegetarian food and possibly the sole reason why I gave up vegetarianism as a kid? How can this be utilised in a mousse without it tasting like a health shop smells?Actually, Tofu gets a bad press but i...
More About: Chocolate , Cola , Here , Healthy , Late

Big Burger Ballyhoo 2007
2007-04-16 18:51:00
bal-ly-hoo [n. bal-ee-hoo] -a clamorous and vigorous attempt to win customers or advance any cause; blatant advertising or publicity.We here at Writing at the Kitchen Table have no interest in duping the public. You won't find bait and switch here folks! We're unashamedly promoting a food event in an attempt to hype our own profile. And as if the event itself weren't enough to draw a crowd, we're even giving away a prize!Freya has authorised this event, but I don't think she approves. It's no secret that I choose to express my American patriotism in the form of the occasional cheeseburger (or hot dog, or taco, or...) and I'm about half way through my quest to find the perfect burger (+/-20 years, dependant on future coronary surgical technique). I've never found a burger to compare with the Grand Daddy from JJ's, but that hasn't stopped the search.Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are fortunate to be a few short weeks away from barbeque season. I'm hoping that ...
More About: Burger , Bally , Ball , Big B , Ally

Brownie Babe of the Month...
2007-04-16 16:01:00
Chocolate Brown ies. Possibly the most perfect of all the ways to indulge in Theobroma Cacao. The chocolate hit in a well made brownie is so strong it can feel like you?ve just downed three double espressos in less than 10 seconds flat.And there?s the non-prep side of things. It takes no time at all to whip up a batch of brownies and even less time to devour them. The only difficult part is melting the chocolate...and how difficult is that?Of course, there is a down side to such a simply wonderful cake. Brownie s don?t really look like much other than brown, heavy, stodgy bits of brick. But think again! There lies within a simple, evil genius. People unfamiliar with the Brownie may overlook it once, but once bitten, never again shy.Myriam at Once Upon a Tart has decided to tap into the part of us all that adores Brownies with a new event called Brownie Babe of the Mont h . This is one event I couldn't pass up on.The characteristics of the brownie, whether it?s chocolate or otherwise (b...

A Roast Chicken Lunch
2007-04-15 20:12:00
...on a curiously hot spring day.As you know, I buy one organic chicken a month. I am on a never-ending quest to find the perfect way to roast the faithful hen and I think I may have found it. I had previously thought that the secret lay in cooking the chicken bosom side down so all the juices flood straight into the part that can be driest. That was before I read the Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. You will recall that I have taken to her ?salt meat at least 24 hours before you cook it? mantra with all the fervour of a fully paid up cult member. The results that I have had have just been too good to think that her ideas are mere bunkum. It really does work.Now, I?m not talking about submerging meat in liquid brine, simply rubbing the meat with salt (the amount is roughly ¾ teaspoon per 1 lb meat), pepper and perhaps some herbs for extra flavour, and leaving it, covered, in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours. Your meat will then be tender and flavoursome. With chicken or turke...
More About: Lunch , Chick , Chicken , Roast

And Now For Something Completely Different...
2007-04-13 21:34:00
Weekend Dog Blogging! A non-food event held by Cate over at Sweetnicks that we've never participated in, yet I couldn't resist when I found this picture of Coney taking charge of my blog recently...she hates to be left out of anything and I have many pictures 'enhanced' by her big boisterous beak poking in the shot!Also, note that A Cooks Tour is on the TV. Remember? The one where Anthony and his brother eat oysters in France. At least, that's what it looks like. It could be a home improvement show too!
More About: Comp , Methi , Something , Rent , Thing

And After All That....A Gentle Supper
2007-04-13 08:41:00
After working on something challenging like the Cochon du Tete, not to mention the surfeit of food we had over Easter, I placed a moratorium on stodgy food. So, whilst you guys have been reading about us being elbow deep in pig head, we have actually been treating our stomachs to lighter fare. Pasta with Cauliflower, Stir Fry and last nights cholesterol friendly dish.I have raved about Lindsay Barehams latest cookbook, The Fish Store, for some while now and each time I read it, I find another exciting and quick supper dish.Paul and I love Puy Lentils, we had some packets of herbs wilting in the refrigerator (do we have anything that isn't wilting in the fridge?) and some frozen cod. This particular dish, Poached Cod with Puy Lentils and Salsa Verde had our name written all over it.Ahh, about the Cod. I had seen it lurking in the freezer a few weeks ago and presumed that I had bought it a few weeks ago. When I read the Use By date it said 20th June....no year mentioned but I optimis...
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Diary of a Pigs Head - Part 2
2007-04-10 17:20:00
After 72 hours in a bucket of brine, William no longer had that pink ?alive? look. He looked pallid, and slightly greyish, as you would imagine anything would that had spent time immersed in salt water. I don?t like using Saltpetre as the pink-preserver because it seems like one chemical too many in a life already filled with unseen chemicals hidden in our foods.I am always curious about the long line of lineage of preserving food. I wonder how long it took stone-age man to realise that eating spoiled meat would consequently spoil him (and his family) too. And how many more years before salt became the chief preserver of all meats and fish?Either way it was of little or no consequence to William. He lay submerged in the brine, his empty eye socket filled covered over with a dried bay leaf and his skin (skin? I suppose at this point it becomes rind) pitted with peppercorns.I removed William from his briny depths, knowing this would be the last time that he would bear any resemblance ...
More About: Diary , Part , Head , Pigs

Easter Cooking
2007-04-10 08:34:00
Don't worry, the pigs head post is coming but as you can see from the following pictures, things have been culinarily hectic this weekend - and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! I hope that everyone else had a wonderful time over the break too.FRIDAY:Paul and I don?t observe the East er break in the same way as our families because we are not religious. To us the break signified something well deserved: much needed time away from work, court cases and bank letters dropping on our doorstep, reverberating with the all the power of a 20 kilo weight in my overly sensitive brain.True, we did eat fish on Friday, in the form of fish and chips with my grandparents, but we also consumed pork and chicken cooked in a most novel way at our friend?s house - on a Raclette.Raclette is actually a Swiss cheese, not dissimilar to Brie, that is melted over boiled potatoes, gherkins and dried meats. The word Raclette is derived from the French Racler, to scrape, and this is how it was served or...
More About: Cooking , King , Cook

Diary of a Pigs Head - Part 1
2007-04-07 10:35:00
Day 1. The arrival. When my arrival from Graig Farm Organic Meat arrived, for a brief moment I wondered if I had made a mistake, exchanging the out of stock and ubiquitous oxtail for half a pigs head. Elaine, the nice lady at the other end of the phone sounded slightly aghast but was accommodating nonetheless. I also wondered if I was slightly touched by the madness. After all, did anybody eat pigs heads anymore these days? According to my middle-aged work colleagues, it was something that their parents ate as a treat during the war but what housewife knows what to do when presented with the head of an animal? Yet still I persisted with my slightly unnerving idea and armed only with Jane Grigsons indispensable Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery and Fergus Hendersons Nose to Tail Eating, I felt suitably buoyed to complete the task in hand, whilst giving the beastie the dignity that it deserved. He had unwittingly given his life to me and I felt the least I could do was to mak...
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A Traditional British Dish - Curry and Rice
2007-04-04 08:51:00
Whilst the phrase English Cookery rustles up visions of Toad in the Hole and Steamed Puddings, Blancmanges and Roast Dinners, food from other countries have been on the British menu for almost as long as these classics.Italian inspired Spaghetti Bolognese, Mexican influenced Chilli Con Carne and Meat Stews with Wine for the French touch are still served up on a regular basis in English households throughout the country.The most popular of these foreign influenced dishes is the curry.Like most kids in the 70s, I grew up on a diet of true British classics and a foreign mish-mash of experimental dishes but my favourite was always the curry.Back then, curries weren?t prepared in the same was as they are today. There was no such thing as Lemongrass or Thai Green Curry Pastes, Ginger was strictly in powdered form and people thought that Tamarind was just a cute breed of monkey.My mums curry got its flavour purely from Curry Powder, onions, and garlic, stewed for a long time with chicken. ...
More About: Tradition , Rice , Al B

Food in Unusual Colours
2007-04-03 08:31:00
I love food that comes in unusual colours; particularly bold, startling hues.I was enamoured with Black Sesame Seeds when I first saw them used, on a fellow food bloggers site, many months ago. I also love the contrast, the pop-art confliction of black with yellow.I fell in love with yet another Rick Stein recipe over the weekend. It wasn?t for purely aesthetic reasons that I was hypnotised by the recipe, but I won?t lie: looks played a huge role in it.There are certain puddings that are like big, warm, enveloping blankets of love and comfort. They kiss you on your forehead at night with vanilla scented lips and tuck you in with creamy, gentle hands. In particular, to me, Rice Pudding will always be that dish. My mother has made Rice Pudding for as long as I can remember and no one makes it quite as well as she. She doesn?t use Vanilla or cream or fancy sugars. Just milk, pudding rice and granulated sugar. I always stir in a rosy dollop of strawberry jam into my bowlful and pour ext...
More About: Food , Colours , Colour , Koban

Jhiva for Tomatoes....and Paul's Interesting Use of Crusts
2007-04-02 07:59:00
I used to love tinned soups. I would come home at lunchtime and crack open a can of Heinz Beef Broth or Minestrone, pour it into a bowl and microwave it (and I admit it, I used to enjoy seeing the peas explode), then devour it with several slices of thickly buttered bread.That was until I decided to make my own soups. It started some years ago when I first Paul and I made him a Wild Rice Soup. I was discussing this very first soup with Paul the other night and I came to the conclusion that it was a forerunner for my Risotto making frenzy of 2004, so thick and creamy it was, that it barely resembled soup.After that, I have made many types of soup. It can be a quick supper or a slow simmered make-ahead meal. It can be restorative or comforting or perhaps both. It can be thick or thin, chunky or smooth, healthy or rich with cream.I know what you?re thinking: ?But she said after her Soup Week that she had sworn off soups for probably life.? Ahh, but I cannot resist the seductive lure of...
More About: Interesting , Inter , Interest , Sting

Unusual Ingredient of the Week-Goat Saliva (YES, GOAT SALIVA!)
2007-03-31 20:21:00
Judging from the rumblings in cyberspace over the past several months, goat meat is about to become the next big thing. I have eaten some wonderful goat dishes prepared by my Haitian friends in Central Florida. Freya, however, hasn?t had the opportunity to try this Caribbean favourite, but she was determined to make some after seeing Hugh F-W prepare curried goat on his show. Curried goat is delicious, so naturally I was excited when Freya decided to purchase some goat meat so she could weigh in on the issue.I may have mentioned this in the past, but we live in a cultural wasteland. I can only imagine the look on my local butchers face if I were to go in and ask for a kilogram of goat, thank you very much! It would probably be akin to the time I walked into a Lakewood, Colorado liquor store and asked for a case of Guinness that hadn?t been chilled (I love very warm stout you see). The guy at the counter, obviously well versed in customer relations, said, ?This is America, son....
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A Tale of Two Mojos
2007-03-30 08:12:00
You will recall that I have enduring and ongoing love of anything written with Elisabeth Luard. I enjoy her books because she is not promoting a lifestyle like many current celebrity cooks. Whilst we all love to daydream that we can be as glamorous and affluent as insert celebrity cook of choice> if only we can perfect their wobbly creme brulee or learn to chop herbs with trendy ambivalence; in truth what they are selling is as far detached from the kitchen as a hammer drill.This ongoing trend (in both the UK and the US) for producing attractive, slim, sassy cooks, putting them in front of a camera and giving them numerous designer kitchen gadgets to promote, whilst cooking painfully basic food is unnerving. On various cooking forums I have actually read people note that Tamasin Day-Lewis is ?too dowdy? to watch cook despite her impeccable culinary skills and that Sophie Grigson (yes, THE Jane Grigsons daughter) is ?so unattractive that I forget about the food?. Ina Garten is consid...
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Unusual Ingredient of the Week - Laverbread
2007-03-29 08:14:00
Anyone who has experienced the sheer joy and exhilaration of walking along the beach will be familiar with the ozone, salty smell that accompanies such visits. You will probably have pretended to have been sea monsters by putting sea weed over your hair, running around and gurning madly, or spent ages just popping the seaweed or making sand drawings with washed up seashells.I don’t think at any point during those youthful shenanigans that I still partake in when I get the chance to visit the seaside, that I considered eating the seaweed. Gritty with sand and small aquatic life (probably), I can't say that I have would have thought a fish flavoured vegetable would pique my appetite.Laverbread is seaweed. I used to think that seaweed was inedible and existed for the plankton only until I met my husband. He is a huge fan of sushi, and whilst we can't get good sushi without hopping on a train and riding to London, what he did make me try was a revelation.Who would have thought that ...
More About: Read , Week , Bread , Brea , Ingredient

Waiter There's Something In My....
2007-03-28 08:11:00
...Easter Basket!I eagerly await the Waiter There 's Something ...events each month. So far we have had Stew and Pie, both of which were great successes. It was amazing to see how creative everyone was.Whilst Pies and Stews are fairly easy to reinterpret, Easter Basket is a little different. Hosted this month by Johanna at The Passionate Cook, it has proved to be another food event to literally AND metaphorically get our teeth into.I got to thinking. Paul and I are not religious so, theoretically, we can use Easter celebratory food from any religious denomination that we choose. Typical British Easter foods (from the Christian denomination) include the Simnel Cake (a light fruit cake adorned with the eleven marzipan balls to signify Christs loyal disciples) and Hot Cross Buns (the 'cross' on these spiced dough buns once representative of the crucifixion, now just a supermarket staple at this time of the year). Of course, we also have the Roast Lamb which once represented the sacrif...
More About: Methi , Here , Thing

Introducing...The Daring Bakers!
2007-03-25 21:31:00
And this month's baking challenge is....RED VELVET CAKE!W-wait...let's rewind that a bit. Firstly, just who are the Daring Baker s ? Well, for any frequenter of food blogs (see list of blogs on left if you are in any doubt of who they/you are), you will be familiar with a baking event that has been taking place for the last few months. Last month it was the Chocolate Intensity Cake (and if a post ever put pounds and ounces on by viewing alone, it was this one) and prior to that, some amazing Croissants. Jenny, Mary, Ivonne, Peabody, Brilynn, Hester, Lisa, Tanna, Helene and Veronica have all been wowing us with their delicious write-ups and accompanying photos.Last month, along with Jen, Elle, Valentina, Mary and Morven, I was lucky enough to be asked to join the baking circle, which has since been officially named the Daring Bakers. This is somewhat of a dubious honour, not for me but for the other members, as I am not a hugely adept or experienced baker but I am at least enthusiast...
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SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY #29 RAW CHOCOLATE
2007-03-23 22:25:00
If you thought that Meeta's latest Monthly Mingle was head-scratchingly taxing, then you weren't prepared for the evil brilliance of Emily Stone over at Chocolate in Context and her Sugar High Friday Theme: Raw (that's right, RAW) Chocolate.What this loosely means is chocolate in its most natural form: pods, nibs, cocoa butter, unprocessed cocoa.At first I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to source any of the above raw chocolate ingredients anywhere, but, as usual, good old Ebay came to my rescue. I hate being a slave to that faceless online bidding meat market, but damn, if they haven't scored me some good bargains and paid for some bills too!So, I managed to find a supplier of Cacao Nibs (which apparently go hand in hand with current new superfood, Goji Berries) and eagerly awaited their arrival.I admit, being a major chocolate fan, that I was incredibly excited about trying the nibs. I had read such wonderful things about their health properties but more important...
More About: Cola

Carter Is My Hero!
2007-03-23 19:34:00
So, Freya mentioned to me earlier in the week that the Kitchen Wench is hosting a food nostalgia event. She said this sort of thing is right up my alley and to start thinking of childhood foods to cook and write about. Every evening after work I have asked if I should make the nostalgic meal and every evening I have been told I couldn?t because there was something else on the agenda. Well, you can imagine my frustration when this morning Freya said, ?The post about food nostalgia has to be submitted today to be eligible.?Fortunately I?ve had the menu planned for a while. The food was easy and quick to prepare and it satisfied the requirement for nostalgia. Just thinking about the menu reminded me of the days when kids flew box kites and a crazy new horseless carriage was all the rage. That?s right, it reminded me of watching the Waltons in the 1970?s.There was so much more to the 70?s than anachronistic melodrama though. One mustn?t forget the significance of lick and stick t...
More About: Arte , Hero , Cart , Carter

Monkfish for Tea
2007-03-23 08:27:00
We are just about getting to the end of our freezer supplies, which coincides, quite neatly, with payday.The Monk fish extracted from our freezer last night was saved as an end of the month treat, and last night seemed a good night to cook it. We had received notice from the courts that our case against the bank is proceeding as it should, and slightly swifter than we dared hoped. From this point on, all we do now is wait.So, I felt that a tentative celebratory meal seemed in order. I have been itching to make Polenta for ages but have been unable to get hold of any decent cornmeal.I finally managed to score some extra finely milled cornmeal (used for the Duckanoo, amongst other recipes) and some coarse organic so I decided to use a combination of the two and see what transpired.I have only made Polenta one other time, it was an Quick Mix brand and the flavour was dreadful: bland, flabby and it stuck to the griddle when I tried to fry it. I have since learned that Polenta needs a lot...
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Everyone's Cooking Purple Sprouting Broccoli...
2007-03-22 08:48:00
Picture courtesy of www.thinkvegetables.co.uk...so, I'm cooking Spring Greens! Not a deliberate act of culinary defiance you understand, it's just I had a huge bag full of Spring Greens in my fridge that have been crying out for use. However, people do tend to overlook the humble Spring Greens, simply because they don't have the fancy purple flowers or are under the misconception that it tastes just like cabbage. This is a huge shame because, in my opinion, the Spring Greens have a richer yet Spring-like flavour than the Sprouting Broccoli . Broccoli is Broccoli after all. This particular Brassica are very tender, and when finely chopped, require little more than 3 or 4 minutes rapid boiling to retain their vivid emerald colour and slight chewiness. Not only this, but they are high in Vitamin C, Folic Acid and fibre, so are an excellent source of nutrition. Kids that normally balk at cabbage might also prefer this milder version. Because Paul and I are always trying out different ...
More About: Cooking , Outing , Purple , King

It's Ok, It's Just Okra!
2007-03-20 07:57:00
Okra. We don?t care what anyone else says about it, we love the stuff. Its gentle bite, the taste of green iron, the depth it lends to dishes, its beautiful shape that in cross section resembles the lotus root. Why do other people still not see its versatile, good-naturedness? Okra doesn?t want to be a fighter, he wants to be a lover and that is why he works so well with bolder flavours like tomatoes and chillies and peppers.Fortunately, the West Indians and the Cajuns and the Middle Easterns know a thing or two about utilising this under-used and nutritious vegetable. In India, it is shredded, coated in highly seasoned gram flour and deep fried, similar to an onion bhaji or pakora.The Cajuns have long used it as a thickener in Gumbos and Jambalaya or serve it deep fried.Furthermore, a pickled Okra pod can be used in a Martini, thereby making an Okratini.However, I wanted to use Okra in a slightly different way, making it the key ingredient of a dish, and not just a thickener or bol...
More About: Just , Okra