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Writing At The Kitchen Table Writing At The Kitchen Table Because Writing About Food is Almost as Enjoyable as Eating Food! Articles
A Rejuvenating Supper
2007-02-13 19:10:02 I know that it appears Paul and I are going the way of the Galloping Gourmet: spending our 30s in a hedonistic haze of roux based sauces, rich puddings, dripping butter and a lot of cheese.Of course, being British and with a love of French food, I would like this to be the case but we do have such a thing as cholesterol to think about, not to mention expanding waistlines and hereditary illnesses.So, with that in mind, I have decided that we will be eating (relatively) healthy food for a while. I know, you?ve read this before but this time we are serious. I find myself look at the piles of frozen meat in the freezer, waiting for inspiration that doesn?t seem to come. I finally figured that we?re fooded out. We have eaten too much rich food and we need to strip out eating habits back to basics.Last night I started our healthy eating regime with some baked Sea Bass and steamed Bok Choi. Paul made some of his famous Chow (Lo) Mein for substance. I had never tried Sea Bass until last nig... More About: Juve , Supper , Suppe
SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY #28 Sweet Seduction
2007-02-13 19:10:02 (Or how I learned to mistrust the cookbooks and go by my own intuition. To elaborate, every cookbook I have read (at least those published in the latter part of the 20th century and in the current millennium) have advocated the use of leaf gelatine. After having no more than two crashing failures with this product, I decided to use the more traditional powdered gelatine. And, as you will read in the forthcoming article, it works!)I am not really a romantic person by nature, I don?t wear jewellery (I would much rather have 20 cookbooks than a pair of diamond rings), I don?t think much to red roses and perfume makes me sneeze. I will admit that I enjoy the odd chocolate truffle but I don?t wait until February 14th to indulge myself in those.I don?t want to insinuate that Paul and I have a perfect relationship, but we make sure to enjoy every meal that we have together, whether the food is good or bad, so we don?t need to take one specific day in the year to celebrate our relationship.... More About: Sugar , Sweet , Friday , High , Frida
Weekend Herb Blogging - Disaster in Gelatine
2007-02-13 19:10:02 I don't know why I do it. I have never once succeeded in using sheet gelatine yet I still gave it one more go on the basis that the recipe I was using (by Tamasin Day-Lewis) was sound. This makes the following failure all that much more predictable.Ricotta and Cucumber Ring was this most recent failure. It was one of those recipes that I had mentally tagged: the picture lures you, never mind the methodology. Weekend Herb Blog ging (held this month by the originator, Kalyn at Kalyns Kitchen!) seemed like a perfect excuse to make it: I had a droopy cucumber in the fridge and some herbs looking sad.In theory it sounds easy: chopped cucumber, some tarragon vinegar, herbs, spring onions, ricotta and whipped cream, all held together with gelatin. I know, it sounds terribly 1950s but it looked (at least in the cookbook) summery and sophisticated, pale and cool.I followed the recipe to the letter, aerating the ricotta using a sieve, draining the cucumber so that it isn't completely water... More About: Disaster , Latin
Feast or Famine
2007-02-13 19:10:02 I can count on one hand the number of times Freya and I have been out to eat in the last year. That?s why it seems odd to be posting a second restaurant review this week. It?s true though, just two days after our trip to the Barn Brasserie we found ourselves at another restaurant.It all started innocently enough. My mother-in-law took the week off and as we had booked Friday off as well, we had all decided to go out to a meal together. What Freya and her mom didn?t know was that I had also planned on taking Freya out for our anniversary on Wednesday.I dislike writing restaurant reviews just as much as you dislike reading them, but it was either this or you get an article about my latest food obsession ? smoothies! Fun and tasty, but hardly worth posting about. I will try to make this review seem fun and tasty as well.Our collective love of Mexican food is no secret. ((We have alluded to it on several occasions and, of course, there?s the post I wrote some time back.) I have ... More About: East , Mine , Feast , Famine
Boston Baked Beans
2007-02-13 19:10:02 picture courtesy of www.crabcoll.comWhen I met Paul, way back in those halcyon days of 2000, I had no idea really about global heterogeneity. He lived in Florida which I thought was in California! I thought that Denver was in Texas. And I thought that there was only one Disney (apart from the one in Paris. That's Paris, France, not Paris, Texas). I used to think that there was no disparity between American and British cuisine. The only discrepency, I thought, lay in the different types of chocolate.I used to have dreams about Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, having tasted them for one sweet, fleeting moment in 1985. My friends father worked on the nearby American airbase and he would bring them home all sorts of transatlantic treats. How I envied her, with her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Converse Sneakers and her 'sophisticated' fake American accent.Of course, as the years passed and I became older and the Internet became de rigueur for shopping purposes, I bought myself a pair... More About: Baked , Boston , Beans , Bean
A Surprising Day!
2007-02-13 19:10:02 So today was our fourth wedding anniversary and in anticipation of that, I had romantically prepared Boston Baked Beans and Ham Hocks. I know, Pork and Beans constitutes romance on a Byronic scale but calm thy beating hearts. I had had the hock in the fridge since Friday and it needed to be cooked. There was no room for it in the freezer (and I'm happy to see that other people have 'issues' with their anthropomorphous freezers too) and it had to be cooked.So, romance wasn't foremost in my mind with my food preparation. I've never had Boston Baked beans though, so any new food experience is always special for me anyway.I asked Paul how he felt about that being our anniversary meal and he said, non-commitantly "that will work" so the hocks and beans went in the oven and filled the kitchen with the molasses sweet smell.In the meantime, I made this dish, meatloaf wrapped in puff pastry, for the latest Retro Recipe Challenge, this month Food of Love. The idea is that you cook a reci... More About: Sing
Our Anniversary Meal - An Indepth Review
2007-02-13 19:10:02 You can all wipe the beads of worry from your foreheads: I have managed to borrow a cable for my laptop so I am back in business.Here than is the next thrilling installment of what Paul and I had for our anniversary dinner. The Boston Baked Bean post is to follow.As I?ve noted before, I am not one for restaurant reviews. After all, one mans caviar is anothers Big Mac. I am also not in the position for reviewing food because:a) I am overly critical at the best of times andb) I am a supertaster so even the slightest over-salting of a dish can ruin the whole thing for me.However, because this is an anniversary meal, and because Paul and I enjoy dissecting our daily events in minutiae, I am reviewing our meal and the restaurant just for you.The Barn Brasserie is a converted barn (the name sort of gives that away), set deep in the rural Essex countryside. As with all converted barns, it exudes an air of the old meets the new. There is an off-to-the-side restaurant called the Fish Colony ... More About: Anniversary , Review , View , Meal , Depth
A Sort of Mediterranean Dish
2007-02-13 19:10:02 The freezer and I were in a stalemate situation. There we stood, eye to eye, me with a wealth of recipes that I was dying to cook and there he stood, packed solid with food, not willing to relinquish any of it without a struggle.?Look? I said, ?Either you give me the food or I?ll turn on the heaters and I mean it this time.?He looked at me stoically. The freezer has heard my threats before. He knows I need him just as much as he needs me. I feed him food and he feeds me food.Last night I was faced with the reverse predicament I was in two weeks ago. I had an over-abundance of food. My freezer could barely shut his aching-at-the seams drawers. What on earth was I going to cook for dinner?Sometimes when you are working with the bare minimum of scraps (or leftovers), it is so much easier for you to be inventive. Give me a freezer packed with food, a fridge crammed with vegetables and cupboards stuffed with pasta, rice and seasonings, and my mind starts to boggle.Last night, Paul and I ... More About: Edit , Terra , Sort , Dish , Mediterranea
Weekend Herb Blogging
2007-02-05 01:07:01 Or, how I made a dish and wasn't brave enough to try it.Consider this cowardice on my part, or consider your own personal reaction to raw egg yolk. Perhaps you don't like anchovies, beetroot, parsley or raw onion. If so, this dish isn't for you.Actually, this is a dish of great beauty but in a spiky Egon Schiele way, rather than a voluptuous Dante Rossetti way. After spying it in a Tamasin Day-Lewis book and having a curiosity about it ever since, I decided to prepare it for this weekends Week end Herb Blog ging being hosted this month by Ulrike at Kuchenlatein.This is an event that I really enjoy participating in because I am not a big meat eater but I find some vegetarian food to be dull so this gives me the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen on a quiet Sunday afternoon AND I get to pinch ideas from other people too!So, as I mentioned, this dish combines beetroot, that delicate, sweet root vegetable that stains your fingers deep pink, freshly chopped parsley for it's clean... More About: Blogg
More Fun In The Kitchen With A Deep Fat Fryer
2007-02-04 13:06:02 Or how I managed to get a burnt finger but a happy stomach.After consoling myself with the fact that I am not the only big baby in the kitchen when it comes to deep frying food, I once again swallowed my not inconceivable mistrust of hot oil and made Beignets Souffles with Cinnamon Sugar. Sounds complex? Actually not at all. The souffle element is not a souffle as we know it, a precarious piece of food art involving egg whites and and a large degree of trust in your oven. Instead, this recipe just involves making a Choux Pastry (simple enough but you do get a bit of a workout beating the dough) and dropping little balls of the choux into hot fat. They are then coated in the cinnamon sugar and consumed with the knowledge that you are eating something deep fried with no nutritional content whatsoever. To that end, I served mine with fresh pineapple although the original recipe, taken from Rick Steins Food Heroes, has chocolate sauce drizzled over the little puffs.I'll come clean. ... More About: Fun , Kitchen , With , Deep , More
The Forgotten Dishes
2007-02-03 01:04:01 You know those days when you shuffle into the kitchen and you can just about manage to pour some cereal into a bowl? Or those even worse days when you demand that your other half shuffles into the kitchen and make you a bowl of cereal? Sometimes though you have the wherewithal the cook but then you sit in front of the computer screen with absolutely no inspiration at all. All the words seem like a riddle, but not a clever Lewis Carroll riddle, more like a "why on earth am I mindlessly watching E News?" riddle. And that's if you're lucky to churn anything out at all. Perhaps it's just me that suffers from that...if so, forget I ever said anything.Anyway, whilst flipping through my My Pictures file, originally titled, rather inspiredly 'Blog', I found lots of pictures of food that I had never written about. And the food was good too! Most of the time anyway. So, I thought I would share with you the food that didn't make it. The food that deserved to be given the spotlight alongs... More About: Dish , Gott , Forgotten , Dishes
Two Cakes!
2007-02-03 01:04:01 CAKE 1Ah, the food blogger. By nature a generous person. One who makes plateful of food after plateful of food, shares their experiences with other food bloggers and sometimes even ventures away from the kitchen or computer to meet other bloggers.I haven?t actually yet met another food blogger in the flesh (that I know about) but I have had the pleasure of doing the odd food parcel swap (reaching as far away as Australia and Singapore) which is always great fun and most recently a cake swap with the wondrous Kathryn over at Kathryn Cooks with Jamie. If you haven?t already checked out her blog, you should. Sure, people cooking their way through other peoples cookbooks are ten a penny, but this one is really different. She is attacking Jamie Olivers latest book with a real passion and is working her way through it with such a determination, despite having toothache AND students to deal with, and I just know that she will reach the end!If you enjoyed Julie/Julia Project, then you will ... More About: Cakes , Cake
Unusual Ingredient of the Week - Biga Starter
2007-02-03 01:04:01 For the non-bakers or people that haven?t read the Macrina Bakery and Cafe CookBook - which is highly recommended, though sadly lacking in pictures - a Biga Star t er may be a new term (contrary to popular belief, Biga Starter is not a wannabe ?gangsta? rapper).However, once you utilise the Biga in your baking, it will become part of your daily (or at least weekly) bread vocabulary.The Biga is an Italian starter that only requires a minimum of twelve hours 'prooving' up to a maximum of 48 hours. During this time, the yeasts in the starter go forth and multiply, the gluten matures and the flavours develop.After this period, it starts to go too sour and will spoil the flavour of the bread. It cultivates a light, loose texture and a slightly fermented scent. However, if you?re thinking that this is of a similar ilk to the over-rated minimalist loaf (and click here for the final word on it, from someone who knows his stuff), you would be wrong. This makes bread over 2-3 days so it is no... More About: Arte , Week , Tart
A Heart Shaped Meme
2007-02-03 01:04:01 Valentines Day. The second most money spinning ?special day? of the year, following Christmas.No sooner are the red and green decorations that signal Christmas taken down, than the red ones are hawked back out again, cut into heart shapes and displayed gaudily in shop windows.I think that my own animosity towards Valentines Day stems from the fact that I have never received a Valentines card or gift in all my life (and I?m not counting the pity gifts from my mum). Obviously, as a moony teenager, all you want is some pink and red (and perhaps glittery) card from an anonymous beau. Flowers would be better still and chocolates best of all, particularly if they are heart shaped and caramel stuffed.But no. No anonymous gifts were ever forthcoming. So, to spite the fat, pink symbol of Valentines Day, Cupid, I walk past his tokens of love and spend the money on food or cookbooks instead of overpriced teddy bears clutching pink hearts to their chests.Paul and I don?t need to celebrate Valen... More About: Meme , Hear , Heart , Shape
Blogging Postcards!
2007-02-03 01:04:01 The food blogging community are a sociable lot. It is always bolstering to find that someone has left an encouraging message for you, regardless of whether your dish really, really sucked or was restaurant standard.Whilst we all write for ourselves, we wouldn't be posting our foodie ramblings online if we didn't hope that other people read them, and more importantly, enjoyed them.But it's also good to have some real time communication with other bloggers, and whilst this isn't always possible (food bloggers inhabiting all four corners of the world and probably some planets that haven't been discovered yet), we can take part in food swaps, or this, Meeta at Whats for Lunch Honeys fabulous conception:BLOGGER POSTCARDS AROUND THE WORLD #2!!The idea is that we send a postcard to a fellow foodie somewhere in the world (as arranged skillfully by Meeta) and then we receive one back! The excitement is not knowing who will be sending the card, or where it will be coming from!So, for my ... More About: Card , Blogging , Post , Blog , Postcard
Soup!
2007-01-26 19:03:01 Ah, soup. The great nourisher. It's what I always turn to when I'm cooking for just me.I'm not sure if I enjoy the ritual tearing of the bread most, or slathering it with unsalted butter that hasn't been out of the fridge long enough. Perhaps it's the dunking of buttery bread into the scaldingly hot soup, watching the butter pool, meltingly into the soup.But it can be a thick, bolstering soup, like Jerusalem Artichoke or Gumbo that you swig from a soup mug or a thin broth that makes you feel like a recovering convalescent and that you sip daintily from a teaspoon like some kind of Jane Austen heroine.Soup can be made by anyone with any kind of fridge situation. The soup that I am writing about today was made with very little in the by now cliched store cupboard.I had no onions left. No onions in the house is a very poor state of affairs and a state that no one should ever be in. Thank goodness I had a couple of rapidly shrivelling leeks left. There was no carrots, no peppers, j...
Cupcakes!
2007-01-26 07:02:01 It's very early in the morning. I'm bleary eyed and hungry. My tooth aches. Too much sugar on my cereal. I watched some Fox News (which satisfies my need for sensationalist, crime based stories) and then watched the snow falling outside.I have to go and defrost my car soon. For now though, let us forget the cold weather and the toothaches and escalating crime and gaze instead upon my entry for the Cupcake Roundup being held by Cheryl at the Cupcake Bakeshop and Garrett at Vanilla Garlic.My attention was drawn to this round-up by two mouthwatering entries: Brilynns over at Jumbo Empanadas with her Carrot Cupcakes AND Banana Cupcakes. She really does care that we get our vitamins. And then there's the Gemma at Dressing for Dinner with her awesome Double Seville Orange Cupcakes (although she must have made a pact with the devil to have gotten ahold of some Seville Oranges because 'round these parts, they're as rare as a blemish free McDonalds worker).I had actually decided not to ... More About: Cakes , Cake
Saving the Planet One Meal at a Time
2007-01-24 13:00:01 Humanity has placed a lot of emphasis on the environment over the last few decades. There are those who believe that global climate change will be the end of all life on Earth and that humans and our technology are entirely to blame for this. Others would have us believe that these changes are part of a natural cycle and that the Earth can sort itself out without our help. There is some truth in each of these arguments, but each side engages in plenty of deception as well. Maybe deception is a bit harsh, but there is at the very least some misdirection.Anyone with even a limited education in astrophysics knows that the destruction of our planet and indeed the entire universe is assured. There is no avoiding the inevitable. This is probably (hopefully) not right around the corner, but all life on Earth will eventually cease to exist.On the other hand, there?s no reason why we should artificially encourage this effect. There are measures that we can all take to limit our impact... More About: Planet , Time , Lane , Plane , Plan
One Pot of Ricotta - Two Meals
2007-01-23 18:58:02 It seems to me that the short time at the beginning of the month when we have spare cash is over within 24 hours, a bit like the summer equinox. A fleeting, beautiful time where frivolity and reckless spending is encouraged. And then it?s back to paying with cheques and eating dried pulses and pasta.Yes, that's right. It?s another end of the month post. Fortunately, due to some judicial food shopping during the aforementioned vulgar display of cash spending, we have enough food in the freezers to see us through the next 8 days (and next vulgar display of....)Sometimes though, it?s not just the end of the month that makes me more inventive than usual. Sometimes I forget to take that evenings meat out of the freezer. And when you want dinner in a hurry, nothing takes longer to defrost than a concrete hard block of meat. Last night we were supposed to have chicken. I forgot to remove the chicken from its chilly lair at lunchtime. We don?t have a microwave. We had pasta with peas inste... More About: Meals , Ricotta , Rico , Meal
The Quesadilla Purist is Corrupted by the Pastry Queen
2007-01-23 06:58:01 Yes, another Past ry Queen dish, further experimentation for next Saturdays Tex-Mex Fiesta. Curiously, only two of the recipes I?ve ever cooked from this book actually use pastry. Perhaps I?ll make the Bourbon Apple Pie next weekend to level the field a bit.Back to the meal in question: Brisket and Brie Quesadillas. I am a Quesadilla purist. I like them with cheese and nothing else. This could be down to a bad experience at a restaurant in Door County where I ordered a roast chicken Quesadilla and was served something that resembled an oil slick on a plate. Full marks go to the chef for trying to obscure this greasy mess with copious amounts of grated carrot and other vegetables that should never see the inside of a salad bowl, much less garnish a Mexican dish. However, I cannot forgive a restaurant that doesn?t serve salsa with a Quesadilla and the nearest thing that they have to sour cream is ?mayonnaise or tartare sauce, ma?am??I am a generous person by nature though and I thought... More About: Dill
How Much Butter??
2007-01-13 00:53:01 Flapjacks are a real taste of childhood. I remember standing next to my mum at the cooker, stirring, stirring oats in warm, melted sugary butter, until they glistened. Then we would press the sticky mixture out into a baking pan, baking them until the kitchen was filled with the smell of butter and hot oats. Sometimes we would pour melted chocolate over the top, once they had cooled. Other times we had them just plain, still warm from the pan so they crumbled into your lap as you tucked into them.It seems to me that you reach a certain age when you ?grow out? of the treats that you begged your mum to make when you were just that bit younger. They become old-fashioned and are replaced by things like Big Macs.Since reaching 30 though, I have become fascinated with those ?old-fashioned? foods, the foods that my grandmother made and her mother before her. Kathryn at Kathryn Cooks with Jamie recently wrote about a similar phenomenon when she made a beautiful Victoria Sponge, oozing with ... More About: Much , Butte , Butter , Butt
Corn Pudding - The Second in an Erstwhile Series of American
2007-01-12 12:52:02 So. It?s official. I am now musselled out. After two straight days of seafood based food, I can eat no more. I think that the peroxide stench emanating from the Shark (now renamed Marilyn) was the final nail in the proverbial foodie coffin.Time to rethink the menu then, and in the meantime some cosy dishes to make me forget that it?s gale force winds outside and that it?s another whole year until Christmas.Actually, I?m glad Christmas only occurs once a year. It completely discombobulates my cooking routine and it still hasn?t quite recovered, hence the more-than-usual smattering of posts by Paul instead of myself.Also, it is one heck of a long time until payday again (having been paid before Christmas Eve) and we?ve only just hit double figures for the month of January so I?m having to be frugally inventive once again (hence meatloaf). Not to worry though. To paraphrase what should be a Frank Zappa quote but probably isn?t, poverty is the mother of all invention.When I visited Amer... More About: America , Series , Corn , American , Second
Skyscraper Pancakes
2007-01-01 18:45:02 I enjoy those days when you have everything planned in your head. You know what you?re going to put on in the morning to wear for work, what filling you?ll put in your sandwich, how many teaspoons of sugar you feel like putting in your tea and what insults to throw at your boss/annoying work colleague/rude workmen. Most importantly, you have dinner all sorted out. You return home, like a super-efficient human turbine, spinning around the kitchen gathering ingredients up as competently as a squirrel and dinner is served without your breaking into a sweat.Did I say I enjoy those days? What I mean is, I dream of having a day like that. Just one.Unfortunately, particularly at Christmas, common sense and logic seem to go out the window as our thoughts are replaced with giant turkeys, glittery baubles, sky high piles of presents and where on earth will we seat all of our family members.Sometimes it?s nice to suddenly just be inspired, part way through the day, by a dish that looks perfect... More About: Pancake , Skyscraper , Cakes , Crap , Cake
A Couple of Cross Cultural Desserts
2007-01-01 18:45:02 Or how I succumbed - yet again - to my terminally sweet tooth.I love to make sweets and biscuits and cakes above all else, the sweeter the better. This is not a new development.The first foods I ever made were Melting Moments, little buttery biscuits coated in oatmeal and Coffee Cakes, rich with Camp Coffee and Buttercream Icing. My favourite way to eat toast was spread with butter and sprinkled with white granulated sugar. Failing that, it would be golden syrup dripped from a dessertspoon (not a teaspoon) straight from the green tin, skipping the toast, and straight into my mouthAs I have gotten older, my tastes have refined slightly: from Cadburys Chocolate to Lindt 75% Dark Chocolate (although give me a bar of Dairy Milk and I?m happy), Sara Lee Triple Layer Gateaux to Lemon Tortes, from Chocolate Coated Marshmallows to Fruit Scones.These changes aren?t necessarily for the best. My husband says he sometimes feels a bit jaded when he talks food to people because his own standards ... More About: Dessert , Cult , Cultura , Cross , Coup
Cajun Christmas Part 1: Gumbo
2007-01-01 18:45:02 It may seem inappropriate to some, but to me Cajun food will always represent the holidays. It started back in 1986 when I was staying with a friend during Thanksgiving. His family had some Cajun friends who were hosting the festivities that year. What I experienced was the quintessential holiday experience. The food was really sublime and the mood was uniquely festive. I have rarely encountered such genuine and generous people in the years since and I will always remember how great that Thanksgiving was.I have always had a weakness for hot food especially if it was somewhat esoteric. This was probably the result of growing up in a family that celebrated cultural diversity. As a child my parents always had a room to spare for an exchange student and I longed every year for the International Banquet held at the university where my parents were employed. I wish there were still opportunities like that at my disposal!Although Cajun food never had representation at any of these ... More About: Christmas , Christ , Chris , Part , Gumbo
Recipe Archive
2007-01-01 18:45:02 Apples Served in the French StyleAubergine and Black Bean ChilliAubergine MoussakaBaked Pork Shoulder CurryBanoffee PieBasic Family Tomato SauceBechemel SauceBeer BreadBeetroot KnodelBeetroot MuffinsBlue Cheese,Creme Fresh,Broccoli TartBorscht Breakfast Ham and Egg CupsBurmese Prawn CurryButter Shortbread Cookies w/Agave NectarCarrot HalwaCassoulet Cheats Mushy PeasCheats PizzaCheese and Tomato SandwichCheesecake with Fruit CompoteChestnut CakeChicken with Cannelini Beans and KaleChickpea and Courgette Filo PieChocolate Bread and Butter PuddingChocolate Mousse w/Cardamom & LiqueurChocolate Pumpernickel TorteClover RollsCoq Au Vin Coq Au Vin 2 - The Best Ever!Courgette FrittersDukkahEasy Potato DauphinoiseEccles CakesEmergency Chocolate PuddingsEnd of Month Fish PieFreya's MincemeatGoulash Greek Potatoes with CodGreek SaladGumboKale, Smoked Sausage, and White Bean SoupKey Lime PieLemon PossetMarrons GlacesMince PiesMiso SoupMjuk ToscakakaMoussakaMozarella in CarozaMushroom Sandw... More About: Recipe , Archive , Archi , Reci , Hive
Happy Christmax!
2007-01-01 18:45:02 Being a wriggly Jack Russell, we couldn't get the little boy to sit still wearing a costume so a little help was required in the form of Paint. The dogs are both looking forward to their Chris t mas treat of raw chicken wings and a squeaky toy each.Posting will be back to normalcy in a day or two when I will be back with more Unusual Ingredients of the Week than ever!Happy Holidays to Everyone!
A Polarizing Tart...and some Squid
2007-01-01 18:45:02 Apparently there's something big happening in a day or two. I've been reading the odd article about it, watched the occassional advert on TV and have even allowed myself - just a little - to get a bit carried away with it. As you may have guessed, I'm talking about Christmas.I think that most cooks look forward to this time of year because special occasions allow for self-indulgent cooking marathons, that you can pretend are for 'the family'. Of course, if you hate cooking, you will simply eschew the kitchen in favour of the supermarket. If you're not a cook then the added stress of cooking is understandably allayed by prepacked food.Because I love all the Christmas preparations, I am completely up-to-date. Tomorrow night I'll be making the Buche de Noel, which I have never made before. I'm planning on stuffing the yule log with chestnut puree and the Marron Glace that I made a week or so ago (just to prove that there is a use for them!).For now, then, I have temporarily... More About: Tart , Polar , Squid , Some
The Necessary Christmas Update
2007-01-01 18:45:02 After the surfeit of food that accompanies Christ mas , indeed represents Christmas it would seem, I am completely fooded out. My husband?s family are visiting from Wisconsin tomorrow so posting will be sporadic as we carry out the necessary sightseeing and entertaining expected of the hosts. It will give us a good opportunity to wave goodbye to the heavy seasonal food for another 12 months. It would seem that the Miso Soup diet is on the cards. Again. For now though, be bedazzled by the following shots of our Christmas delicacies: the pudding, the cake and the Buche de Noel, all of which were met with great approval. In fact, everything culinary was executed without a hitch ? the ribs of beef were perfectly tender, the sprouts didn?t turn to mush. Almost a perfect meal - quite a rarity when you consider all the trimmings that have to be prepared too. Actually, my mum was in charge of the kitchen on Christmas Day. I have to cook a second meal, this time a Turkey, which I?m going... More About: The N , Essa , Update
An 8 out of 10 Trifle
More articles from this author:2007-01-01 18:45:02 I can confirm that the trifle ? homemade ? is alive and kicking! Forget those dreadful synthetic things that are re-hydrated with some boiling water and then layered up over several weeks before serving. My mum would always serve these trifles and I hated them?awful soggy sponge, the out-of-place jelly and dream topping scattered with Hundreds and Thousands (ok, so the kitsch lover in me can forgive those).The perverse thing is that these chemical trifles always, without absolute fail, were a massive hit at whatever celebration my mum was making them for: birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries ? they were the gaudy centrepiece and the most eagerly anticipated dessert of all. Me, I would be stuck with a bowl of ice cream because ?I?m not making two desserts just because you don?t like trifle, everyone else likes trifle.? It would suit me just fine to nurse a bowl of vanilla ice cream whilst everyone tucked into the mish-mash of jelly, sponge and synthetic cream.I think what people love... More About: Rifle , Trifle 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
