I can only surmise that this article was published without a byline as no person, male or female was willing to put their name next to such a misguided piece of journalism
Excerpt from my letter to The Times of London, in response to this.
On my recent trip to Denmark I learned that when it comes to Potatoes, the Danes have very strict rules. There will be no deviation from these rules, oh no.
Danish New Potatoes shall not be peeled, but scrubbed.
Danish New Potatoes shall be boiled in salted water. Salt shall not be added after boiling.
Danish New Potatoes shall be served with parsley. This parsley should only be added moments before serving.
And so it was, and so it shall be.
Filed under: Obeisance at the Altar of Gastroporn, Restaurants, Safaris, Uncategorized
“a happy collision between a taxidermist’s and an art installation”
Time Out London
Passed this while going to this yesterday. Must go here as soon as possible. Tasting menu: £68. 2 course prix fixe menu: £27.50. Not bad.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’ve never been a baker. It has never spoken to me like other cooking has – don’t get me wrong, I love bread, but I think at the tender age of five I decided the ‘in-between’ stage of bread – when its not dough, and not a runny mixture, was gross and messy and that was that.
Although I have worked in an industrial bakery – it was much easier than baking at home. There was a giant mixer with a bread hook, and everything was easy after that. I did love our fermenting sourdoughs, rosemary and sundried tomato foccacia and baking big sheets of cookies. But at home, I never was a baker.
Filed under: Source of Smugness
“Charities are surprisingly easy to start (but surprisingly difficult to run)”
Stefan Salgmeister, graphic artist and wunderkind has written a book on what he has learned in his life so far – and turned each lesson into a work of art captured in an individual booklet contained within a box with his face on it. I bought it for my friend L 30th birthday.
L is Danish, and the idea of buying him gifts always intimidated me incredibly. It must be functional, well-designed and if possible, also art. I’ll let you know how the gift goes down.
I have an obsession with fake food.
“In the window of the museum shop, I spotted a stack of pancakes on a white plate, butter melting on its syrupy surface. Was it a Lichtenstein? I wondered. I went inside. No, it was a ceramic object, made in Taiwan. It cost $25. I bought it. I fell in love.”
Like Mameve states above, mine came on slowly – beginning with a sushi magnet bought in a food district in Tokyo, and in its current manifestation it leaves me longingly staring at catalogues and restaurant windows. Its nice to know I’m not alone in admiring these pieces of art imitating life.
Filed under: Uncategorized
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/….
I know that my recent habit of posting a generic photo of one of the ingredients preceeding my recipes is really lame, and that google image searches are what attract a full 60% of my traffic, I’m hoping to get a new digital camera SOON, and then all non-geek approved lameness should hopefully dissapate. In the meantime, another recipe:
This recipe was first introduced to me by my colleague Esther, who used Cumberland sausages, and fewer veggies, but I liked it to much I had to steal it. Of course, in my heart a sausage ain’t a sausage if it didn’t come from East of Belgium, and my local Sainbury’s has finally started stocking Bratwurst, so I thought it a fitting mix. I also needed to use up a bunch of veg before my organic box delivery tonight.
Spicy Bratwurst and Cannelini Bean Casserole
4 Bratwurst sausages
2 leeks, split lengthwise and sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
5 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 bag spinach, washed
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
3 Tblspns (or in my case, like 5) good olive oil
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Bay leaves
a few whole dried chilis
Salt and pepper to taste
Place sausages under the grill (broiler) and turn when brown. In the meantime, saute garlic and leeks in olive oil. Add the bay leaves, cayenne pepper, dried chilis, paprika and season, and allow to fry for a few minutes. Then add the tinned and fresh tomatoes, and cannelini beans. Bring to a simmer for 10 mins.
Remove the sausages from the oven and slice. Add sausages to the mixture as well as mushrooms, spinach and any other veg you’ve got lying around. Allow to simmer again for as long as you want. Serve with couscous, quinoa, or brown rice.
So I’m well into preserves these days, and building on my recent course in chutney making, I thought I’d put the lessons to good use – getting ride of two things I had a glut of: runner beans and sun-dried tomatoes.
There are a few basics to any chutney recipe: veg, salt, sugar, vineager and spices. When you understand the basic techniques of how to assemble these ingredients, you can then experiment at will with varying levels of sweetness, spices and chili.
Here are my basic technical tips:
- All veg must layered with salt in a colander to drain on moisture for at least 3 hours before you prepare the chutney, and potentially overnight for more watery ingredients like apple.
- Sugar and vineager should always be combined seperately into a syrup that is stirred and warmed gently until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Spices should be added to this syrup and simmered for a few minutes to diffuse
- Only then can the veg be added to the mixture. This should then be simmered for up to 40 mins, or until a spoon drawn along the bottom reveals the metal (ie: the mixture doesn’t immediately reform behind the spoon
For my chutney, I used the following:
500 g Green beans, trimmed and chopped into 2cm pieces
500 g runner beans, trimmed and chopped as above
1-2 yellow onions, chopped
400g sultanas or raisons
200g dried tomatoes, rehydrated with boiling water
150g sea salt
25g Cumin seeds
25g coriander seeds
5-6 dried whole chilies
2-3 bay leaves
250ml White Vinager
300g Sugar
Following the techniques above, layer the onions and green beans in a colander with salt. Weigh down with a book and leave to sit for at least 3 hours.
In a seperate large pot mix the vineager and sugar over low heat until completely dissolved. Then add the bay leaves, chili, coriander and cumin (although if I made this again, I might substitute the cumin for powdered tumeric). Let simmer for 5 minutes before adding the sultanas and veg.
Allow the mixture to simmer, stirring constanty for up to 40 minutes or until suitably thick. Spoon into warmed sterilised jars. Although at its best in 3 months, it will probably taste pretty good immediately!
