Sunday, January 26, 2003

From just about a year ago: Started off very cold, minus 4.2 C on the 4th but finished mild, wet and windy. On the 29th the gauge hit 12.9 C. Similar this year. Minus 4.4 on the 9th and 12 C today the 26th. And the day finished off with this. 10:04:56 PM    comment []

Friday, January 24, 2003

You end up with this. 1:02:46 PM    comment []

Thursday, January 23, 2003

The middle of January, so that means it's marmalade time again. I'm going to slightly change my recipie tomorrow and add one extra orange. 10:00:31 PM    comment []

Obscure, but very influential. he lived, between 1886 and 1914, just around the corner from me, in Bromley, SE London. 8:15:41 PM    comment []

Mutton with flagelot beans. I was lucky enough to buy a leg of mutton from a chap at work who has a small-holding where he breeds, amongst other things, sheep. We don't see mutton much around here nornally. It weighed about 2.5 kg and I cooked it for about three hours, longer than I would cook lamb, along with some flagelot beans. First the beans. Pulses have to be treated before cooking. Here's how. In theory the beans and lamb cook together. In the real world I find it preferable to cook the beans separately. I have cooked beans for 3 hours in the oven before and they still weren't cooked. They do seem to cook easier in water. So I would recommend simmering the beans in fresh water for at least an hour before adding to the lamb. If they are quite tender after an hour, then don't add them to the meat until towards the end of the cooking time. This all just comes down to experience in the end. The freshness of the beans determines the cooking time to an extent I just studded the mutton with garlic and rubbed in a generous amount of salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil and then put the meat in the oven, about 180 C. The beans soack up all the juices the mutton give out as it cooks. The flavour of the meat was stronger than lamb, almost a little gamey, and received a thumbs up from all concerned. 8:13:50 PM    comment []

Saturday, December 7, 2002

Janssons Temptation Just the ticket on a cold winter night. And if you're an anchovy hater try this. Their strong flavour is mellowed when cooked like this. I always use whipping cream in potato dishes like this. It never seems to curdle, although that would only affect the look of the dish, not the taste. 4-5 largish potatoes. 2 onions 100g anchovies in oliver oil 25ml whipping cream Salt and pepper A little butter Peel the potatoes and slice as finely as possible. Peel, halve and finely slice the onions. Halve the anchovy fillets lengthwise. Keep the oil. Lighly butter your dish. I use an oval dish about 27cm*17cm*3cm. Turn the oven on, about gas 4/5. Layer the dish with just over half of the potato, then the onions, anchovies, and finish with rest of the potatoes, neatly overlapping. A grind of pepper every so often, but not too much salt as the anchovies can be quite salty. Pour over the cream and then the anchovy oil and into the oven for a couple of hours. I often cover the dish with some foil for the first hour. Serve with a green salad. Red or white wine. 1:59:55 PM    comment []

Wednesday, December 4, 2002

We booked our holiday in France for next year and celebrated with a French meal. Salad, beef bourguignonne and Lemon tart 2:35:20 PM    comment []

Thursday, November 21, 2002

Lamb Chops. I've been flicking through a book I was given last year called "On Food and Cooking" It's all about, well I'm sure you can work it out. One of the chapters concerns the marinading of food and how it can't possibly work. Evidence is presented and you think "This guy, a professor, seems to know a thing or two. He must be right" But of course, he isn't. Well not always anyway. I've been flicking through this book, trying to find the reference; I can't. So forget the above. And it is a very interesting book. I either dreamt the stuff about marinading or read it somewhere else. Nevermind, I always marinade lamb chops in a mixture of oil and lemon juice, with some crushed garlic and seasoning. I know it makes sense and I can taste the difference. I now marinate legs of lamb as well, after I've studded them with garlic. On a similar theme I was watching a TV program about the weather and the part (quite a big part) the sun plays . The presenter claimed the sun was 100 times larger than the earth. This didn't seem right to me although it turns out to be partly true. The diameter of the sun is 100 times the diameter of the earth but the volume of the sun is 1,000,000 times greater than the earths volume. This surely gives a better understanding of the difference between the sun and earth. Again, you can't help but question everything else the chap was saying. 12:14:47 PM    comment []

Sunday, November 17, 2002

Chilli, the national dish of Mexico and British pubs, is apparently not Mexican at all but Texan. For choice I would use large cubes of meat, but often use mince. The choice is yours. The other thing to decide is whether to use dried or tinned kidney beans. I use dried for preference but if my organisational skills have deserted me tinned will do fine, although I avoid beans with added salt and sugar. Why do they do that? This definitely tastes better the next day, or even the day after. 250g beef mince or steak, cubed. 1 onion, finely chopped. 2 cloves of crushed garlic. 4 red chillies, finely chopped. 1 tbsp spoon ground cumin. 1 tbsp spoon balsamic vinegar. 1 tsp spoon tumeric. 1 small cinnamon stick. 1 tsp spoon oregano. 1 tin of tomatoes or 6 biggish tomatoes. 250g red kidney beans. 2 bay leaves. Oil. Salt and pepper. Finely chopped coriander. Soak the beans overnight, drain, rinse and bring to the boil in fresh water. Boil hard for 10 minutes then lower heat and cover and cook for another hour, maybe even longer. Probably much longer. Funny things beans. When they are cooked turn off the heat, add some salt and leave in the water. Heat some oil in a large pan until almost smoking and brown the meat. Put to one side. Lower the heat, add some more oil if necessary, and cook the onion until soft, adding the garlic and chilli towards the end. Stir in the cumin and cook for another 5 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, along with the tumeric, vinegar and tinned tomatoes. Stir and add the bay leaves and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer, lower heat, cover and cook for half an hour. Add the beans and cook for a further hour, topping up with bean water if necessary. Sprinkle with the coriander and serve with rice and guacamole. 10:04:58 PM    comment []