A rambling change of plan
"The cream of enjoyment in this life is always impromptu. The chance walk; the unexpected visit; the unpremeditated journey; the unsought conversation or acquaintance." Fanny Fern Today I was facing the eternal problem - the dual one of what to cook for dinner, and what to do with a problem ingredient or, indeed, ingredients. Nothing new there. The starting point was romanesco, the end point after an enjoyable ramble around the net which encompassed life, the universe and
Aug 30
Beer cheese soup
"two ingredients that don’t immediately scream soup to much of the world" Felicity Cloake Beer and cheese however, are perfectly common and indeed a winning combination. Well I imagine to the experts you have to have the right cheese with the right beer, but to those with no savvy palate like me, most beers and most cheeses are a perfect match. And in Winconsin - famous for its beer, and for its cheese - it's apparently the dairy king of America - they have used their prim
Aug 29
The English seaside
"salt air, seagulls and unpredictable weather" Georgina Hayden Somewhat ironically this picture which headed up a piece by Georgina Hayden on a trip around some of Britain's beaches, in The Guardian newsletter, may not be England at all. And Georgina Hayden mostly talks about Greek food, but the picture and the words that followed, about British seaside foodie treats, induced such a feeling of nostalgia, that I started thinking about how I could use the photo for a blog. In
Aug 28
Coffee and walnut - a cake to die for?
"No wonder the infallible Nigel Slater has chosen it as his last meal on earth." Felicity Cloake I'm trying to remember whether I have ever eaten a coffee and walnut cake. Surely I have somewhere. It's so quintessentially English. And this version from Karen Burns-Booth on the Great British Chefs website, may well be the quintessential version of Coffee and walnut cake loaded with buttercream and very home-made looking. As Nigel says: "there is a fragility to a well-made
Aug 27
Invasion or evolution?
"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows." Doug Larson Nature is reasserting itself in our garden. This is our back 'lawn' - and as you can see it is very lush and green. But it's not grass - we have struggled for literally decades to grow grass here - battling drought, dogs, rabbits and just rotten soil. But now it is almost covered with oxalis which seems to love growing here - and everywhere else at the moment. N
Aug 26
Mushrooms
“All Fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once.” Terry Pratchett In a completely uninspired moment I thought to open Photos, close my eyes, scroll the library upwards and click on a photo. Then I would open my eyes and write something - foodie associated - with whatever I found. Which is this, stunningly beautiful mushroom photographed recently somewhere near here. A study in beige and brown was my first thought - but how to elaborate? If I had the words I could r
Aug 25
Anna's potatoes - who was Anna and are you up to this?
"the supreme potato dish of all time" Julia Child and Simone Beck I have no idea now how Potatoes Anna, crept into my Ideas list. I thought it might have been a Felicity Cloake 'perfect' dish but no. Never mind I decided I really had to tackle some of these long ago 'Ideas' so here I am with Pommes - or more correctly Pommes de terre - Anna. The picture is from my rather wonderful, but basically ignored by the internet The Cooking of France - published by Bay Books with r
Aug 24
A recipe, Coles and Curtis Stone - this and that
The recipe in question is from Curtis Stone, in the current Coles Magazine - Lemon-garlic fettucine with crisp chickpeas. I started out today thinking I would do a whole post on crisp chickpeas as they seem to be turning up everywhere I look these days, so when they turned up in the Coles Magazine in this very tempting recipe, from a professional chef, such as Curtis Stone - well he does have at least one Michelin star - I'm not sure how many - I thought I might look closely
Aug 23
The joy of the galette
"flat, round and quintessentially French." Great British Chefs This not terribly prepossessing photograph is the remains of last night's dinner - cold from the fridge. I should have taken a photograph last night but didn't. Anyway it was a dish that gave me great joy and satisfaction for a number of different reasons. Perhaps the main reason, was because in complete contrast to my previous night's dinner - the very disappointing pasta and romanesco dish - this was really,
Aug 22
Small fry
small fry - "somebody or something that is not considered to be important" Cambridge English dictionary Well the entire blog is not important - it is to me I suppose - but not to the world in general. Which could of course be said of any number of things from what Prince Harry is doing now, to what anybody thinks about what you are wearing today. So on a dreary and somewhat angst ridden day I am turning to small things to make me reflect on this and that. So small fry in
Aug 21
Abundance - a challenge
abundunce - "the situation in which there is more than enough of something" or "the quality of having what you want in life" Cambridge English Dictionary Yesterday we lunched with our friends with the superabundant garden. We over indulged in the most delicious food and wine, which has led to me feeling marginally poorly - mild alcohol poisoning to be blunt. On top of the wonderful food - the best lamb shank tagine I have ever tasted, and some orangey poached pears, not to
Aug 20
à la barigoule
"One cannot fix one's eyes on the commonest natural production without finding food for a rambling fancy." Jane Austen This is my 'natural production' the Saffron milk cap mushroom - botanically known as Lactarius deliciosus - or the red pine mushroom. But in this case although it is the beginning of the food story here, it is not really the beginning of my ramble today. For this has indeed been a ramble - but it didn't begin with Lactarius deliciosus - no matter how delici
Aug 17
"Live each season as it passes;
Breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each" Henry David Thoreau I'm not going to ask you to admire this painting, and I'm not even going to reflect upon it really - it's just that it's the starting point for today's post. No it's not even that - that's the above quote which accompanies the painting in my desktop diary/calendar - a new painting and quote to consider every day. The painting is by Jan Davidsz de Heem - wh
Aug 16
High-low pantry/cooking
"An extended love letter to simplicity, this book is about finding joy and satisfaction in the tiny miracles of cooking - all of the deliciousness that comes from making something from nothing." Alison Roman Yes it's another book, and this was going to be an overview/review of this wonderful book - Something from Nothing by Alison Roman - a cook of whom I was dimly aware via the New York Times I think. It has been sitting on my desk waiting for its moment for a while now, s
Aug 15
Flapjacks - the British ones
"it's the cellophane-wrapped stalwart of the railway buffet trolley and the conference tea table" Felicity Cloake It's first recipe time and the next in the River Cottage Handbooks - this one is on cake. Which is not really my forte I have to confess. I'm always nervous about cakes, they end up a bit burnt, like Delia's sticky date and prune one did, sunk and/or uncooked in the middle or just dry and pretty tasteless. Moreover I cannot make up a recipe for a cake, or even
Aug 14
Hummus - a problem of overcatering
"Many of us enjoy hummus as a dip but struggle to figure out what to do with it before it spoils" Tasting Table That's me. Last night it was our turn to host the monthly neighbourly get together - last night an estimated group of 14 which ended up as 11 I think. It's not a meal, but sort of is - at the same time. Anyway, as usual, not wanting to disappoint the neighbours - or more importantly my husband - we had too much food. Cold meats and cheese? No problem - they ju
Aug 13
Tussock Jumper - a label leads to ...
"Jump around the wine world" Last night we had this rather nice - not wow I guess - but very pleasant bottle of wine. We think somebody gave it to us. Thank you whoever you are because it's led me to a rather interesting concept in the wine world. I always look at the back of wine labels - partly to find out what I'm supposed to be tasting because I really don't have a disciminating palate. Our friend Stephen George - a more than reputable winemaker - - in the Adelaide Hi
Aug 8
Cooking in a mood
"Cooking is sorcery. Some days we desperately need its magic." Bim Adewunmi/The Guardian 'In a mood'. When we say that, we generally mean in a bad mood of some kind, not a good one - but the phrase technically belongs to both. This post is 'inspired' if that's the right word - 'stimulated' is probably more accurate - by a sad text conversation with a friend going through a bad time who in the course of the conversation said: "the process of cooking will occupy my scattered
Aug 7
Two quotes and a phone call
"A person buying ordinary products in a supermarket is in touch with his deepest emotions" John Kenneth Galbraith I've had that quote from John Kenneth Galbraith in my Ideas list for a long time. I wasn't quite sure what Galbraith meant, and I suspect, being an economist, that he wasn't really thinking the same things as have come to my attention today, from the phone call from a friend. There is so much to say about supermarket labels, and I know I have said lots of them
Aug 6
Liver and onions - ugh?
"There is rarely a middle ground with liver. Either you've turned the page already, or you're a devotee who gets excited about the idea of the exceptionally savoury exterior of a piece of flash-fried or chargrilled liver and its almost jelly-like flesh." Nigel Slater So true, and I'm willing to bet that when you see that title, signalling that this post is about liver, you will go no further. But I'm going to be true to my lucky dip rules, for this is a lucky dip post. Ran
Aug 5