barnescubed

spiced chicken and lentil soup

2012-01-26T21:45:00.002Z

Hmmm, experimental warm beetroot and squash salad guaranteed to annoy Mrs Barnes or experimental chicken and lentil soup guaranteed not to annoy Mrs Barnes? Choices choices...

Ultimately it's soup, and not just because I don't fancy sleeping next to the world's biggest chastity belt that tuts every five minutes for the next 12 months, but because the chicken is closer to going off than the beetroot and pomegranate. Yes, I said beetroot and pomegranate.

Anyway, chicken and lentil soup. I was a bit sceptical whilst it was bubbling away because it looked a bit thin in flavour, being mainly carrot, lentil and leek (we didn't have celery), and having only one chicken breast I though it just wouldn't fill us up. But I was pleasantly surprised!*

It was really earthy from the cardamon pods and ginger, and hale from the lentils. It could've done with some more juice in mind, and maybe next time I'll add some peppers and chopped cherry tomatoes? Delicioso.

* Well, partly because I've been craving one all day, I still managed to squeeze in a post-soup cheese and tomato sandwich. Don't follow my lead though, I'm an oaf.

sources
spiced chicken and lentil soup - Waitrose Kitchen - January 2012, p89

nasi goreng with fried egg

2012-01-22T22:03:00.000Z

Having been to see my family and some friends back home today, tonight we have culinary trip down memory lane. Well for me at least as nasi goreng is one of those dishes I remember my dad cooking loads when me and my brother were growing up.

He used to claim it was a recipe he learned whilst he was in the Army, but he's since admitted whilst that's where he first encountered it, he mainly made it up from packet mixes when were kids. Illusions shattered. Still, they were amazing and memorable Saturday-night dinners that have stuck in my memory.

Having spotted this version in the latest version of Waitrose Kitchen, featuring zero packet mix, galvanises me to try and recreate some of my youth for Milo, with the added benefit of containing his current ingredient du jour, Prawns. Loads of prawns, and in a nod to my dad, I also add some chicken:

I think it's probably an amazingly versatile recipe. I remember my dad's version was much more tangy and spicy (probably not so good for him yet), and had bacon and celery in as well a sort of omlette accompaniment. So scope for change, which is just as well as it's totally wolfed down by all and sundry.

sources
nasi goreng with fried egg - Waitrose Kitchen - January 2012, p86

mediterranean halloumi salad

2012-01-18T21:52:00.000Z

Tonight I really should make the shepherd's pie with kale mash I'd mentally scheduled, (and had been thinking about for pretty much most of the day), but by the time I'd dragged myself out of Milo's bed I really could not be cracked.

This sleepiness is mostly due to an afternoon spent tasting Sancerre in a basement at the RSA, stood next to Oz Clarke in fact - he's got a very deep voice btw - followed by a trip to Lord's for some more French wine.

Whilst I learned a lot about Sancerre, as well as discovering an amazing Chiroubles, this has come at the cost of any sort of gumption, so once again it's a post-tasting edition of Ana's favourite halloumi-based salad:

Brenda I think I've finally managed to nail the key to admittedly not my favourite salad. The trick is to leave the tomatoes out for a couple of days so they don't taste of the fridge and have less structure to the flesh, and to pretty much drain the peppers from Sainsbury's poisonous sunflower oil. Crusty bread with butter would probably help, as would a pint. Or two.

As I say, not my favourite but a definite improvement, and at least it meant I didn't have to watch DIY SOS/One Born Every Minute which I notice you all watching via Facebook.

sources
mediterranean halloumi salad - Delicious, June 2010, p24

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's roasted parsnip, lentil and watercress salad

2012-01-17T21:37:00.000Z

Having totally failed to make this last night due to a disappointing lack of parmesan, tonight we make like Blue Peter with our "Here's some we chopped earlier" parsnips, and roast the hell out of Saint Hugh's crowd-pleasing salad.

However we're nothing if not keen on a challenge, and tonight we conjure up two:

1. I fall asleep with Milo whilst roasting the parsnips, which then call for careful management once I wake up with a vague smell of caramelising root veg in my nostrils;
2. Ana has a parent's evening at Nursery, which has the knock on effect of not only rescuing the 'snips, but the lentils also need some extra loving to stop them turning to mush. And then it all needs to be kept warmish for longer than anticipated.

Though I say it myself it's a triumph, although I do fall into the trap of thinking I'm actually more hungry than I really am, and eat far too much before bed. It's the not-naughty-but-now-time-out-or-thoughtful-step for me.

sources
roasted parsnip, lentil and watercress salad - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday, p90

bill granger's dhal with tamarind and lime - recipe

2012-01-17T20:55:00.001Z

Mrs White - your will, my command! To be honest I've shortlisted this so many times to try, I can't believe how long it's taken to finally fall under it's umami-spell. I think maybe it looked more complicated that it actually is...

bill granger's dhal with tamarind and lime
serves 4-ish. Let's face it, two with some extras...

200g red lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions cut into wedges
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp tumeric
1tsp tamarind paste
Lime juice, to taste
Small bunch of coriander, chopped for garnish
rice

1. Put lentils and 1 litre of cold water in a large saucepan, cover and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until tender.
2. Whilst that's simmering, heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, and fry the onions with a pinch of salt for 10-12 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another two minutes.
3. Add the lentils and any remaining cooking liquid to the pan and simmer for another five minutes, until thickened slightly.
4. Stir in the tamarind paste and cook for another two minutes, stirring occasionally, season and remove from the heat. Squeeze over the lime juice and serve with rice, and the coriander sprinkled over the top.

sources
dhal with tamarind and lime - bill granger, Delicious 2008, p67

tom norrington-davies' chicken noodle soup with mint and lemon

2012-01-16T22:28:00.002Z

Oooh it's brisk today but we're totally exercising to the MAX! Despite having a steenky cold, Ana manages to power through Bikini Blitzing this morning, and I've just scoured my lungs out on running home on a freezing night (personal best folks) - fitness, YEAH!

In between high-five-ing in the kitchen, and micro-focusing in the lounge (and reading Zest) we're both in the need of something hellishly warming, fiendishly hearty but still delivering a health kick. We started out making Hugh's amazingly brilliant parsnip and lentil salad, until we realise we've got no Parmesan, so Tom Norrington-Davies' experimental chicken noodle soup with mint and lemon it is. Apart from we've got no mint.

Now initially I didn't think this was much cop. Just before it was ready it felt a bit, well thin - and that's despite the honey, chinese cooking wine and soy sauce, five minutes later however - completely different. It's lemony, there's a salty undertone from the soy sauce, and the poached chicken and noodles give it some extra body.

In hindsight it's an excellent base; you could probably throw in some sliced ginger, maybe some spinach, star anise etc to give it some proper welly. Alternatively you could keep it light and elegant (with the addition of mint).

Chest bumps, anybody?

delia smith's lime chicken curry

2012-01-15T20:00:00.000Z

There's an unhappy person in the flat today, somebody who possibly had a leetle bit too much to drink at the New Stepping Stones parents drinks last night. Consequently the menfolk had to decamp to Brentford fountains for a splash, whilst Ana reflected on her evening whilst camped in bed.

We finally drag ourselves out to Richmond en famile so speccy Ana Barnes can get her eyes tested (and consequently buy some x-rays), and even manage to squeeze in a quick reviving frothy coffee and Black Forest Gateau at Patisserie Valerie. Tea Box was closed *sigh*.

Spirits are further revived with a hearty bowl of Delia's Lime Chicken Curry...

...and the Sherlock finale - Yay! Although Boo, because it's finished. But Conan Doyle revived him - Yay! But it's work tomorrow - Boo! This could go on.

sources
lime chicken curry - Delia, How to Cook Book Two, p107

mediterranean halloumi salad

2012-01-10T21:30:00.000Z

For the first time since I became I wine merchant, today I finally experienced the old school tie/ crusty old major culture associated with the industry, and it was amazing!

I spent most of the day in the library of The Traveller's Club on Pall Mall, tasting 115 Burgundies from apparently one of the best vintage for years. Obviously I couldn't tell whether it is a great vintage yet, but the surroundings and the very old bufferishness of it all was just brilliant.

The downside of all this tasting is that my teeth haven't yet hardened yet to drinking that much white wine, nice though it was, and the rest of the day is spent in agony. An agony only relieved by eating a fairly stodgy, but mercifully citrus-free salad this evening:

Whilst I'm in a compare and contrast mood, I don't think Sainsbury's roasted red peppers in sunflower oil are a patch on Waitrose's mixed peppers in sunflower sauce. For some reason the sauce was really over powering, which suggests we may have to do some tactical shopping where anti-pasti is concerned. Because we're middle-class wankers of course.

sources
mediterranean halloumi salad - Delicious, June 2010, p24

moroccan-spiced chickpea cakes

2012-01-09T22:30:00.001Z

Another day, another meal made out beans and pulses - we're clearly playing with fire, or at least a selection of noxious cases and unsavoury miasmas. Lucky I didn't have a massive portion of last night's lentil-based pie for lunch then.

After a fairly crippling run home, hampered as I was by a particularly stodgy hunk of Christmas cake for tiffin, we switch our pulses from lentils to chickpeas, with another helping of moroccan-spiced chickpea cakes.

Strangely they are most definitely NOT as successful as last time, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Okay so I ballsed up my dried chickpea quantities (who knew 400g would double in size?), and on reflection I probably over-blended the mix, so they were more felafel-y than cake-y, and they were maybe slightly too big... I think I may have put my finger on the reasons after all.

sources
moroccan-spiced chickpea cakes - Waitrose Kitchen, November 2011, p103

valli little's hearty vegetable pie

2012-01-08T20:52:00.000Z

Pancakes for breakfast, and now only eight days in to the New Year, it's time to welcome the first pie of 2012, and not before time too if you ask me.

It's not that it's been cold enough recently for big old hearty pie (or stew for that matter), but given the age of austerity we're all enjoying, and the fact you need to use any veg bought from Sainsbury's tout suite before they become useless - what is it with their fresh stuff? Anyway, it seems the sensible option, and I get to use my new potato masher - which is BRILLIANT!

All this practicality doesn't take into account my divine family though, one of whom decides he doesn't like peas/potato/carrots/broccoli/kale (which left only the lentils), and the other only pretended to like it for previously-stated reasons. Apparently the home-made pesto makes it taste funny. Imagine living in SW14 and complaining about homemade pesto? Honestly!

sources
hearty vegetable pie - valli little, Delicious, January 2007, Parsley Book

bill granger's dhal with tamarind and lime

2012-01-07T22:00:00.000Z

For one reason or another, tonight feels like the first normal Saturday for a long time, and it feels goooood!

With Kayosaurus and Mikelodocus staying over, we both get a much-needed lie-in, which is in itself aces. They then Milo-wrangle for the rest of the day while Ana gets to forensically clean the flat and I, whisper it, play rugby for the first time this season.

To be honest I was v nervous which I haven't been about playing since college; I haven't played for ages and I'm completely out of condition but it worked out okay. We stuck 45 points past Purley John Fisher 2s & 3s, I had several rampaging blasts and even came up with a try. Genius! I bet I ache in the morning mind.

To top it off we even managed to squeeze in a really tasty experimental curry whilst watching the last three episodes of The Killing II. Welcome back Saturday nights, it's good to have you back.

Now we've had several dhal recipes over the years, and this is the second Bill Granger recipe that's been kicking around, but despite having my eye on it for ages, it's the first time we've tried it. I wish we'd given it a go earlier as it is really lovely.

The addition of a healthy dollop of tamarind and the lime juice, combined with the caramelised onions, lift it well above the realms of a mere side dish, and into a filling, earthy and tangy delight. We'll be seeing this one again, mark my words.

sources
dhal with tamarind and lime - Bill Granger, Delicious, February 2008, p67

simon hopkinson's tomato curry

2012-01-06T21:00:00.000Z

With a New Year comes a new start and all that jazz, and we're no different at work, and our much-feared new regime began in earnest today. With a 20 wine taste challenge against one of our competitors wines*.

I know, I know, it's a tough job, but together we pulled through and at the end of our afternoon ordeal we were pretty blinking pleased. Okay, so they had a few wines which caught the eye, particularly a Claret, and a massively tropical Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, but pretty much across the board I think we the more interesting, full-flavoured wines.

With our brave work done, I manage to stumble home with a bag full of samples to entertain the in-laws, who are up for some Milo rustling. Handily the booze also takes their minds off the cack-handed, blundering knife-skills being exhibited in front of them.

Narrowly avoiding losing the odd limb, and not succumbing to a take away, I have just enough co-ordination and ingredients in the fridge to make us all a curry.

This time I avoid the usual balancing act of the need for heat versus Kayosaurus' need for no-heat by getting her to choose her own enemy. As it turns out she chooses the wrong chillies, and her dinner comes with a whacking great helping of yoghurt, as that's all we've got by-way-of creme fraiche alternatives. Still, it was very nice for the rest of us who prefer our curry with slightly less vanilla essence...

*Yes Greg, I'm talking about The Wine Society

sources
tomato curry - Simon Hopkinson, Delicious, November 2007, p86

hugh's mushroom risoniotto

2012-01-05T21:04:00.000Z

This is fast becoming a regular in the Barnes household. It's quick, hale and hearty, packed with lots of warming, earthy flavours and, even more importantly, can be pretty much made entirely with cupboard staples. Which is handy if you've run out of nearly-all your fresh ingredients...

And to Kendra's recent point, I use Orzo which you can get in Waitrose - it's in a long, thin packet - and you can usually get it in most delis. Certainly Valentino's in Sheen sell it, so I presume you must be able to find it in glamorous K&C?

sources
mushroom risoniotto - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, HFW, p258

bill granger's chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo

2012-01-04T22:28:00.001Z

Only four day's in and our New Year's pro activity went slightly awry this evening, when I fell asleep with Milo, and then we managed not to apply for his school place in September. Again. I'm fairly sure as I'm married to a teacher, and knowing so many other fine educators, we could just home school him? I did manage to sign-up to our Milkman's website ordering though, so that's one thing. Electronic milk - it's the future!

Whilst all this internet jiggery-pokery was going on, we had a sort-of experimental soup ticking away on the hob. Experimental in the sense I only had one can of chickpeas and had to make it up with the array of 2-for-1 cans of pulses I bought ages ago.

Behold, a strangely super-saturated photo of Bill Granger's chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo AND mystery ingredients.

To be fair you would never know there was flageolet and cannelini beans in there as the chick peas only really add bulk and some texture, but three sorts of pulses? We won't need the central heating tonight, and I apologise in advance to my co-colleagues tomorrow...

Finally, don't forget to ask for any specific recipes you want listed. I won't be cracked to write them up otherwise.

sources
chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo and green chilli - Bill Granger, Delicious, February 2008 p68

donna hay's garlic chickpeas and chorizo

2012-01-03T22:30:00.000Z

Back to work - negative hurrah! Actually, work isn't too bad at all, it's just the getting up early I take issue with.

In fact, other than having to redo the office stocktake (the joy), it was a pretty positive start to the year; I cleared my desk almost completely, our pink fizz was featured in The Independent's Top 10 Sparkling Wines, and my fragrant legacy Glorious Leaderine JoMo managed to supply a medically sound reason NOT to give up drinking for January. So we haven't.

We have decided to be more proactive this year however, so hopefully this will be up-to-date more often, and to get some more exercise. Aren't resolutions just the fun-est things ever? They always make me feel a bit like Blackadder's Puritan cousins, the Whiteadders.

Anyhoo, the kicking off the usual New Year health regime (which is going to be the same as our default less-meat-and-take-aways-more-veg-and-fish, so much so I don't know why I've bother mentioning it), is Miss D Hay's garlic chickpeas and chorizo. This time with the addition of rocket and some crispy-ish new potatoes - both of which are required to remove the need of having to eat two or three side sandwiches to fill up during the admittedly quick cooking process.

The potatoes naturally don't preclude eating chocolate on the sofa whilst catching up on The Killing...

sources
garlic chickpeas and chorizo - Donna Hay, Fast, Fresh, Simple - p14

hugh's squash and fennel lasagne

2012-01-02T21:30:00.000Z

Happy New Year! Please to help me with my rucksack, Beef Jerky! Etc

Having spent a v delightful and sort-of relaxing weekend in the Country for New Year, (if you discount the Dingbats farrago), the drive back this afternoon sapped every last ounce of joy with every passing mile back. Damn you London!

This ennui was compounded on arrival home when every fibre cries out for take away, but you know you can neither afford it financially or physically, and you know for a fact a tarka dhal and chicken chettinand just isn't going to cut the mustard with Milo.

It was at this point I was suddenly reminded of meeting a reader of this very blog on Christmas Eve; a time-short mum, (long-time reader first time caller), who wanted a quick meal she could knock together for her and the kids when they got back from school. Her tearful face as she clutched her bucket of Echo Falls and packet of pork scratchings inspired me to dig this experimental lasagne out of HFW's amazing Veg book and set to...

Yes Sam Anda MacTartlin (name changed to protect innocent - Legal Ed), in just two quick hours (and that's including an unscheduled ride to Sainsbury's to buy the missing fennel), you can create a beautifully earthy, wintry lasagne, with sweet caramelised fennel and creamy goats cheese, that your child will decide they don't like, and your life partner will only pretend to eat as a form of encouragement for the recalcitrant fruit of your loins. But she doesn't really like, not really, I can see it in her eyes.

No, don't thank me Sam Anda, it's what I do... ...Much to Ana's chagrin.

sources
squash and fennel lasagne - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday! p33

hugh's vedgeree

2011-12-19T23:40:00.001Z

Somewhat incredibly I'm super-efficient tonight. Within 10 minutes of walking through the door I've got the oven pre-heating, the rubbish out and the washing on, five minutes later and I've got the aubergine, onion and courgette for Hugh's experimental vedgeree roasting away.

It's just as well I'm on top of things seeing how it's 21:45 by the time I walk in! Sweet Jesus it's busy today, as my esteemed co-colleagues have pointed out. Even worse than being completely shagged, is the devastating news Hugh's vedgeree isn't quite as great as I'd planned. Okay, it looks pretty good, but it was lacking some serious oompf:

Seeing as it's so easy to cook, I'm simply going to try it again (mainly because got another aubergine and courgette in the fridge) but this time with a jazzier curry sauce. And maybe some coriander.

sources
vedgeree - hugh fearnley-whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, p276

donna hay's garlic chickpeas and chorizo

2011-12-15T22:57:00.000Z

A super-quick post tonight I'm afraid. In fact I was close to not bothering at all, but because I want to gloat about eating out tomorrow night, I'm merely going to go through the motions tonight. It's not quite "we had this, here's a picture of something I've crafted, and finish with a sign-off that pokes fun at somebody, usually by favourite wife", but it's going to be close.

As we discovered last week, this is one of the little lady's dishes, but despite her expertise I'm somehow in trouble for not noticing from the presence of lemon zest or basil from the 320x240 pixel image on a blog. Wimmin eh? It must be her special time.

Here it is, look at it, marvel at it, and come back tomorrow and let's talk steak. Actually, best make that Monday as I suspect it's going to get messy...

Incidentally, two days in the fridge makes the egg curry even better - FACT!

sources
garlic chickpeas and chorizo - Donna Hay, Fast, Fresh, Simple - p14

tagliatelle with peas and lemon

2011-12-14T22:00:00.000Z

Late again. I'm bored with being too-tired and uninspired to cook when I eventually get home, particularly when there's nothing in the fridge apart from cheese. Mmmm cheese.

Anyhoo, having misplaced the toasted sandwich maker we're down to trying to make something out of pasta, peas, creme fraiche and half a lemon in the fridge. I thought we might be able to make Heston's pea & pancetta spaghetti, but there was no pancetta in the fridge and I figured Ana would draw the line substituting mini pepperami instead. I was probably right.

It was okay.

sources
tagliatelle with peas and lemon - Bill Granger, Holiday, p46

tom norrington-davies' anglo-indian egg curry

2011-12-13T22:11:00.002Z

The Christmas rush is seriously impinging on getting home early, but the up-side is I manage to waft this previously, systematically pooh-poohed curry under Ana's nose whilst she's distracted by tiredness/buying Christmas presents online / sending Christmas cards. And do you know what? SHE BLOODY LOVED IT! I knew I was right...

It's a great autumnal/winter dish with some really earthy flavours, complemented by the creaminess of the creme fraiche and egg. However because it's mainly potato I reckon you could do without the rice as it is quite filling. More for me for lunch then, hurrah.

sources
a very anglo-indian egg curry - Tom Norrington-Davies, Delicious circa 2005, The Parsley Book

moroccan-spiced chickpea cakes

2011-12-12T23:06:00.000Z

It's the beginning of the week, we're all knackered, I've run home in a howling gale, and Milo's had to have a tooth pulled, so what else would you do but attempt to make an experimental, salad-y meal? Particularly one seemingly designed to almost definitely not be Mikelodocus-friendly, and be at least two chickpea cakes too small for a fully satisfying meal?

The are very much like Jill Dupleix's Polpettine, although obviously slightly spicier and a little bit easier to craft. Definitely having again, and definitely doubling the quantities. Incidentally, I think if you made the cakes walnut-sized, they'd be perfect for Festive amuse bouches. I'm here to help.... sort of.

sources
moroccan-spiced chickpea cakes - Waitrose Kitchen, November 2011, p103

delia smith's lime chicken curry

2011-12-09T22:34:00.000Z

Hurrah, it's Ana Louise's birthday! She's off to the country for a weekend of what I can only presume is two days of stitching samplers, reading the good book and singing psalms of salvation with her fellow sisters of the not-at-all fallen virtue - Lucy, Spandy and Kendra.

However, before her weekend of purity she first has to get through a single night of devilment featuring Mrs Sam Carter, Mr Davisss Taylor, Mr Benjamin Jack Taylor, a whole host of booze and Mrs Delia Smith's patented Lime Chicken Curry:

Did she manage it? What do you think...

sources
lime chicken curry - Delia, How to Cook Book Two, p107

hugh's stuffed peppers with new potatoes, feta and pesto

2011-12-06T22:57:00.001Z

Another day, another stuffed pepper recipe - and another one from St Hugh no less!

To be honest, once Ana has crowbarred me out of Milo's bed at half eight, I'm not really in the mood to cook anything. Particularly as this recipe's cooking time clocks in at about an hour and a half - yet is still the quickest thing we've got on the menu this week, and I'm even less enthused with the discovery we've got no pesto. Something I think you'll agree, which is pretty key to this dish.

However you should never underestimate the inspirational effect of knocking together some homemade pesto. Basil and garlic bashed, I'm ready to slather the potatoes and feta in green gloop and bake the peppers, and you know what? It's pretty bloody good!

It's a pretty good variation on the usual cheese and carb stuffing, hearty enough to take the edge of today's frost, and I'm secretly a little bit pleased with the pesto.

sources
stuffed peppers with new potatoes, feta and pesto - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, p256

hugh's cannellini bean and leek soup

2011-12-05T21:30:00.000Z

By cock it's freezing today, with an extra knuckle of lung burn on my run back. Bring on the snow I say!

Anyway, by the time I get back and we've erected the Christmas tree, put the rubbish out, tidied up and Ana's cracked on with her planning for the week, I'm not really in the mood to make moroccan chickpea thingies, or stuffed peppers, or anything on our weekly menu which is likely to take longer than 10 minutes and requires any brain power. Soup it is then.

Actually, this being an experimental Hugh dish we were supposed to have last week but didn't, it does require some forethought, but the trade off means I can luxuriate in the shower whilst it ticks away.

Gallingly, it's a bit of a fail from the Hugh. I suppose he had to at some point. I mean it's okay, but it's hardly packed with flavour; it's wishy-washy and just a bit meh and I suspect the chilli oil is just a ruse to cover up it's lack of va-va-voom. I'd rather have a heartier minestrone, or leek and potato next time...

sources
cannellini bean and leek soup - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, HFW, p165

hugh's mushroom ragout with soft polenta

2011-12-04T22:00:00.000Z

Winter is definitely creeping in. It's cold and wet, and we're all under the weather for one reason or another: Milo is struggling with a cold, and me and Mrs Barnes are hungover from last night's slap-up dinner with The Kings of Kingston.

Nobody wants to get up, so we're obviously delighted to be forced into action early doors. Ana has to go to school to continue preparing for this week's Ofsted inspection, we've got no food and this afternoon it's the nursery Christmas Fair. Woo-hoo!

By crikey we need a couple of cheeky end-of-day drinks whilst getting the kids ready for bed at Sam and Alistair's, and we're more-than ready for something hearty and beefy to take the edge off it all. With the obvious caveats of it being healthy, and vegetarian. Step forward HFW with this brilliant combination of all our current favourite things - juicy mushrooms, red wine and polenta. Mmmmmm:

Even more brilliantly, Ana hates it. So it's lucky I only cooked the polenta in milk which had infused with bay leaves, peppercorns and garlic for an hour, and I only got three different sorts of mushrooms for the recipe. How vexing? She's completely unreasonable, it must be the change.

sources
mushroom ragout with soft polenta - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, HFW, p57

donna hay's garlic chickpeas and chorizo

2011-11-30T22:02:00.001Z

By crikey it's busy today: there are two challenges tonight, and we've had a tasting in the office with the lovely Mr Peter Franus and his Zinfandel, and his to-die-for Merlot. Seriously - To. Die. For.

Not only that, I had to do some white man van-ing on the way home, all of which meant Ana is in charge of dinner, and to be honest the little lady plays a blinder *pats her bottom, but in a supportive feminist manner, thinks about signing her up on a secretarial course*.

The house was tidy, she'd done a full day at her hobby-job, Milo was asleep and there was Donna Hay's garlic chickpeas and chorizo on the hob. Not quite warm on the table, and not quite enough, but she did well. For a woman. Opens a beer, reads Nuts and Zoo...

sources
garlic chickpeas and chorizo - Donna Hay, Fast, Fresh, Simple - p14

hugh's mushroom risoniotto

2011-11-29T21:54:00.001Z

God, I'm knackered today and all I've done is sit in front of a slowly-working computer, chasing wine around Oxfordshire on the phone. Maybe I'm mentally knackered? Anyway, I can't be cracked to do an awful lot tonight, and as Ana's lost our weekly menu my inspiration only stretches as far as another dose of Hugh's mushroom risoniotto.

It's quick, easy, and very tasty and tonight it has a twist: For the first time in three (or four) attempts we've actually had some white cooking wine left in the cupboard, meaning it's prepared as-per the recipe. Makes nix all difference mind, but it's comforting to know you can make-do with red wine...

sources
mushroom risoniotto - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, HFW, p258

moroccan chicken stew

2011-11-28T22:04:00.001Z

Ahh, it's just like the olden days! We've eaten watching Come Dine With Me, it being a Monday there's absolutely nothing on, so I get to finally do some blogging whilst Ana watches something harrowing on TV. The only difference is now we're open-plan, I've got to wear headphones to block the tears, wailing and gnashing teeth. And that's just Kate Bush - boom! Boom!

Anyhoo, we're finally getting our first dose of wintery weather. It's quite-to-fairly parky Bromptoning from work, and we both need a zingy, warming antidote that creates a barrier of golden warmth not seen since the Ready Brek adverts of our youth. Mmm, lashings!

Actually, given the amount of turmeric and saffron in this by-now-classic stew, the orange tidemark turns out to be more than figurative:

It's officially 'Delicious'.

Wine Time
Any keen-eyed readers will have noticed not only a dearth of recipes, but also of relevant wine matches - soz. This is mainly because I've pretty much shot my bolt knowledge-wise. It will return, but maybe in a couple of months when I've got my head around some more vino.

sources
moroccan chicken stew - Delicious, February 2008, p28

hugh's chachouka

2011-11-21T21:24:00.000Z

That HFW, he's blimmin good isn't he? I've always hearted him, but I have never *never* cooked so many recipes from one of his books before. I've always seen them as a lovely lifestyle choice rather than actual cookery books, but this one is amazingly practical in a completely non-Hugh way, so much so that this is my fifth recipe from it. Only Billy G can claim a higher hit rate - but this is a book of solely veggie food... I'm in shock.

I've seen versions of this recipe over the years in Delicious and OFM, but seeing it being made on the accompanying River Cottage show gave me the requisite kick up the arse to make it. Strangely enough for somebody who has actually worked in TV, I failed to take into account the compressed time on a half-hour show. It does not take less-than-five minutes to make, rather an unexpected hour plus, which you don't want to think about having run home. It is marvellous though:

Throw in some salad, a glass of wine, a shower, and 5000 piece jigsaw and it's just about ready.

sources
chachouka - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, HFW, p20

anjum anand's green chicken biryani

2011-11-20T21:23:00.000Z

With Ana due back from Norge this evening, the plan is to loaf around for most of the day before getting a slow stew on the go for a couple of hours. This then leaves plenty of time to give Milo a bath, get him into his rumble suit, pick up mummy from Heathrow, and get back in time for dinner. What could possibly go wrong?

As it turns out, good old British Fog is too 'hard' for the weak-willed Norwegians, and whilst we're playing hide-and-seek in the park, Oslo has shut down. When Ana does eventually arrive home, a full four hours late on the last plane out of Norway, she's less-than impressed and not at all in the mood for an experimental curry. Which is tough as it's spent the last two hours ticking away...

It's only experimental in the sense I've never cooked it before but I have eaten it, care of the divine Mrs Lucy Brenda Taylor Baxendale on our last trip to the Country, and sweet lord it's a good 'un! As is she, of course.

sources

green chicken biryani - Anjum's New India. I found the recipe here, although I'm definitely getting the book. Lucy, you're sooo inspirational!

delia smith's toad in the hole

2011-11-19T21:30:00.000Z

What a great day! Okay, so Ana's in Oslo buying reindeer jumpers in H&M - like you can't get those in Blighty - but despite her absence it's still briliant: It's a beautifully sunny and crisp, Milo's on ace form and Kayosaurus is in town so we can share the childcare in a totally-fair 5-95% split, which allows me to sleep all morning.

We have pancakes for brunch, attempt to tidy the nursery garden in the sun, go shopping, romp around Palewell park, AND we watch Home Alone (which is aces incidentally). We also manage to eat dinner together, which was almost a success but not for any Milo based reasons.

It turns out toad in the hole could well be my culinary bete-noir. This time the batter isn't as blackened as my last attempt, although the sausages are, but it's much more welded to the bottom of the dish. Definitely more oil needed in the bottom next time:

Still, Delia's gravy is blimmin' nice.

Even better, whilst I'm snuggled up with Milo, Kay has done all the washing-up so all I've got to do when I eventually get up, is settle in for the return of Forbrydelsen II. Yay for Saturdays! Not THE Saturday's *obvs*, they're ghastly...

sources
toad in the hole with roasted onion gravy - Delia Smith, How to Cook Book One p164

donna hay's garlic chickpeas and chorizo

2011-11-15T22:22:00.001Z

I love Donna Hay, she's aces! Like a hot Delia, or less-annoying Nigella, her food looks brilliantly impressive but it's always fairly easy, and are perfect for those evenings when you're pushed for time. Tonight's experimental fayre from her new book is no exception - it's quick, hearty without being heavy, spicy and really fresh:

Not only that, I'm laying claim to this being my own version as I - yes ME - decided to par-boil some new potatoes and then fry them with the chorizo. I'm totally like an ugly Delia or really Nigella! No hang on...

Wine Time
I'm conflicted here, and by 'conflicted' I mean 'completely out of my depth'. I suspect you'd want something zingy to balance the lemon juice, but the chorizo generally requires something equally spicy, like a Syrah (or Shiraz to you Antipodeans), which would completely over-deliver on pepperiness. I'm going to go with a chardonnay - but a fresh, buttery Old World one, rather than a big old Aussie classic.

sources
garlic chickpeas and chorizo - Donna Hay, Fast, Fresh, Simple - p14

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's roasted parsnip, lentil and watercress salad

2011-11-14T21:30:00.000Z

Holy Moly - who knew parsnips could taste so amazing, and as a salad?

To be honest we're a bit of a parsnip house; we like 'em roasted with carrots, honey and parmesan, in a curried soup, with of a roast and mashed - but even we baulked at essentially, giant farting white carrots, and leaves. In fact we've had the ingredients kicking around the fridge for the past week or so, before European Economic Meltdown forced our hand. Sort of.

However, Greece and Italy's (and Spain's, Guernsey's etc etc) loss is our gain because this is freaking fantastic!

Who ever new parsnips, lentils and watercress could make the most divine autumnal salad? Well Hugh, obviously *sigh* he's so dreamy! I like his new hair.

sources
roasted parsnip, lentil and watercress salad - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday, p90

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's moussaka

2011-11-13T21:16:00.001Z

After much promising to buy aubergines whilst shopping, today Milo finally gets his wish. He's lucky to get even them to be honest, having spent most of the afternoon breaking down in tears, or being told off and then breaking down in tears. It's his own fault; he should've stayed asleep rather than getting up at 0600 and then burning himself out by lunchtime, but you try explaining that to a four year-old.

Anyhoo, we have aubergines - a fact that pleases me and him more than Ana, who apparently hates them. However, I've *promised* in our first ever foray into the world of moussaka the aubergine will not be slimey, or slippery, or even soggy.

Luckily it's none of these, instead it's luxurious and warming. The aubergine gets a good salting and roasting, which gave it the texture of thick mushrooms, before being covered in a thick lamb stew laced with cinnamon, garlic, sweetened with a healthy dose of tomato puree, and topped with a combination of Greek yoghurt, cheeses and paprika. We're definitely DEFINITELY having it again, and maybe next time we'll use up some left-over roast lamb, as Hugh recommends.

Strangely enough, my mum went through a phase of cooking moussaka when we were at school, but I cannot for the life of me remember what the aubergines were like in it, or if it even had any in. Bonkers.

Wine Time
So what have we got here - a combination of a creamy, cheesey sauce, and a tomato-based lamb stew - a lamb spag bol, if you will. If it was a spag bol we'd be racking up a Chianti or another high tannin red, but it's not, and according to some hurried research, I'm going to suggest a smooth Southern French like a Costières de Nimes. Oh look, there's one, thanks internet!

sources
moussaka - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Meat Book, p503

jill dupleix's avocado, pumpkin seed and spinach salad

2011-11-12T20:30:00.000Z

It's the weekend - hurrah! The perfect time to unwind, relax and shake off the stresses of the week... or to get up early, and spend the day battling a mountain of chores. To be fair, Ana is both up before me, and does more chores, although I do have to attempt some DIY electrickery on our new 'statement' lampshade, and entertain Milo at the cinema this afternoon. We're booking to see this btw...

Anyway, with massive lampshades sort-of dealt-with, knackered computers collected and the house spruced from top-to-bottom, we can't be too cracked to make an awful lot for dinner, so it's a quick and easy salad.

It doesn't look much, but it's a surprisingly hearty concoction, more so tonight because I couldn't get alfalfa sprouts and opted for chickpea sprouts instead. Ana describes it all as 'earthy', which could be good, could be bad. The fact she had seconds, and wanted to know how to make it for lunch this week, makes me think it's possibly a good earthiness.

This is officially an 'experimental' dish, although it's not - we originally road-tested it during the now-lost no-broadband-knackered-computer nine weeks.

sources
avocado, pumpkin seed and spinach salad - Jill Dupleix, Delicious, February 2009, now the Parsley Book

hugh's north african squash & chickpea stew and bill granger's sweetcorn chowder

2011-11-10T22:46:00.001Z

Oooh, a double-whammy today - you lucky, lucky people!

It's my weekly "marketing day" at home, so after a hearty morning tweeting/facebooking/blogging, rather than nipping out to the office favourite purveyors of fine French baguettes, Tray Gourmet, today it's freshly made soup. More specifically it's a chance to use up some of the corn cobs we picked at Garston's Farm a couple of week's ago, in the guise of Bill Granger's fab Sweetcorn Chowder:

Serendipitously the smoked pancetta *really* works in this context; the smokey and saltiness complementing the sweetness of the corn. Clearly the three pens scattered around the table indicate a particularly high work rate.

The other presumed benefit of working from home is that we can have a recipe which takes longer than the usual evening dinner. Assuming I don't fall asleep snuggling with Milo of course...

Tonight it's an experimental tagine-esque stew from my new Hugh book, and despite taking an hour longer than planned, it's farqing excellent! It's well-filling with orzo pasta, lentils and squash zinged up with a healthy dollop of ginger, saffron, and turmeric. Perfect for an autumnal evening!

I reckon you could probably chuck a few dried apricots in if you really wanted to zhush it up a bit.

Wine Time
This stew offers a different sort of spice to last night's curry; it's more elegant and warming rather than "burning", but it still needs a equally-balanced spicy red. There's only one winner, Vina Zaco Rioja, which is so good I've managed to flog a case to DT and Angela - that's how brilliant it is! Seriously though, it's aces.

sources
sweetcorn chowder - Bill Granger, Every Day, p246
north african squash & chick pea stew - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, p30

simon hopkinson's tomato curry

2011-11-09T22:45:00.000Z

Crikey, another late night but this time we're a much happier house: Despite his cold Milo is on excellent form, Ana's lessons were aces even though she didn't get inspected, and whilst manic, work was pretty aces. Even better, Rick Stein came into the office (but my idiot assistant didn't drag me kicking and screaming to meet the great man) and we in-directly sold Dannii Minogue some fizz. Man we're good.

Anyhoo, Ana needs some post-Ofsted reward (other than vino) so we have Simon Hopkinson's very-excellent Tomato Curry. We've had it so often it needs no more introduction - just marvel at its loveliness:

Wine Time
Curry and Tomato, there's a split. If it was a meaty curry, I'd go Carmenere (again) as it's slightly spicy and fairly full-body would work really well, but as the main constituent here is cream and tomato I'm going to go a high-tannin red to cut through the dairy and balance the acidic tomato. We've got two, both from the same producer - Giovanni Viberti: The Barbera is absolutely perfect; rich, acidic and full *and* it's tasting utterly amazingly at the moment. If you don't fancy a Babs, try a slightly softer Dolba.

sources
tomato curry - Simon Hopkinson, Delicious, November 2007, p

hugh's mushroom risoniotto

2011-11-08T22:54:00.000Z

After last night's fairly late dinner, for one reason or another our plans for an early night are shot to shreds by the twin evils of Milo being under the weather, which means he didn't get up until after nine this morning, meaning he's rather awake tonight, the fact we need to go shopping and Ana's looming Ofsted inspection.

So whilst Ana gets down to revising the process handbook for the school she's only taught in for ten years, the boys are sent to Waitrose before it closes. The knock-on effect to all this malarky is that once Milo is in bed, it's almost half nine, we're both starving, and there's only one meal in our weekly recipe choice that is in any way relatively quick - Hugh's Mushroom Risoniotto, from his new Veg book.

Now technically this isn't an experimental dish as I had it whilst Ana was on the Isle of Wight recently, but as this is the first time she's had it, and since we've been online, I'm counting it as 'new'.

Interestingly for a second time running we've got no white wine to simmer the mushrooms in (this time because Ana has drunk all the cooking wine), so we have to make-do with red. It makes the finished dish smell, look and taste much closer to Bill Granger's beef stroganoff than a pasta risotto.

Vexingly Ana points out that it's also quite close to Nigel Slater's mushroom pappardelle, but obviously it's *much* better.

Wine Time
Hmm, this is a difficult one; It's quite creamy, whilst the mushrooms are fleshy and meaty. Now if we'd had a cooking white, I'd have gone for something like a zingy Sauv or a Chablis to cut through the creaminess. As it is, the combination of the 'shrooms and red wine beefs it up slightly, so I'd recommend a Pinot Noir or a similar low-tannin red.

sources
mushroom risoniotto - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, HFW, p258

hugh's chillies stuffed with beans

2011-11-01T22:41:00.000Z

Oh faffy-ness, thy name is Hugh! After last night's relatively painless experimental salad construction (if you discount the physical pain inflicted by the extra chilli), tonight's recipe features maximum faff.

You've got to first source the peppers, which only cost a bargain 80p each plus £6 delivery from Hugh's recommended supplier, then roast them for 20 minutes, turning them regularly, cooling them, peeling them and then carefully de-seeding them, stuffing them with a lovely smoked-paprika, grated tomatoes and borlotti bean mixture, and baking them for 20 more minutes.

Slippy fingers, sticky pepper seeds up the walls, and a big pile of tomato skins, and all for this:

Actually it's quite nice; the roasted peppers compliment the smoked paprika in the stuffing, which is in itself quite meaty and hearty. But it's not worth all the pain, particularly if you've just run home and are slight-to-quite smelly/knackered, and have survived the day on illicit sweets nicked from Milo's Halloween stash.

Wine Time
Brilliantly it's day two and already I'm out on a limb. The tomatoes and the smoked paprika are the biggest flavours here, and the borlotti beans give it some oompf, all of which need balancing in the glass. It tastes a bit like a veggie chilli, so let's go slightly renegade with a Carmenere which is spicy and has quite a full body, but is surprisingly smooth and utterly drinkable. It's a cool grape variety too, which is becoming increasingly popular.

sources
chillies stuffed with beans - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, p36

hugh's tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad

2011-10-31T22:34:00.000Z

False dawn over, we're officially "back" and this time we've got a sponsor! Barnes-Cubed now comes to you courtesy of Kendra & Brian Kats - now with added Finn, for all your Kendra Kats needs.

Not only am I typing on the keyboard of a kindly-loaned laptop (my elegant ballerina of a wife having knocked a glass of wine across the keyboard of our laptop, permanently killing it), but tonight's dish comes from Hugh's new book, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, which the Bolger's bought for my birthday, and Kiki recommended this recipe. Clearly they are the ace-est people in the world, and the quicker they move to SW14, the better!

She's right to recommend it, because it's alarmingly easy but really packed-full of flavours. Perhaps we could've done with slightly less-chilli, and I think my budget tahini-"sauce" didn't exactly have the promised Ottolenghi consistency, but it was still pretty darn tasty.

We would've been even more virtuous if we hadn't spent the hour or so leading up to dinner eating all of Milo's trick-or-treat sweets whilst he was asleep, and that huge packet of crisps I'd manage to save from Saturday...

Wine Time
So, given I now actually work in the wine trade I figured I'd best start trying to put some of my new-found knowledge to good use, by trying to match wine to our dinners. Obviously this isn't an exact science, particularly as I'm still at the stage of taking whatever is in the sample cupboard, but hopefully it'll get better as time goes by, and my liver hardens up. I'll be clear, most of the wines I suggest will be ones we sell, but that's more because I know them, rather than anything more sinister. Although if you do buy any, that will be amay-zing!

Okay, this is quite a power-packed meal with the chilli, smokey courgette, mint, and sun-dried tomatoes all competing with each other, but ultimately the dressing is the dominant flavour. It's an odd combination of very citrusy combined with the tahini's creamy-yet-gritty consistency, so you'd need something equally high in acidity to compliment the lemon and orange juice, and to cut through the creaminess. Something like a Sauvignon Blanc would work really well I think, either the L'escargot at a bargain £7.95, the Morton from New Zealand if you prefer something New World-y, or the Coteaux du Giennois 2010, if you want to push the boat out a bit.

Was that useful at all? We'll see how it goes I suppose...

sources
tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday!, p74

waitrose spinach, tomato and chick pea curry

2011-10-17T22:13:00.000+01:00

And we're back... no thanks for Virgin Media, the fricking idiots! So, what have you missed? Weeeelll, loads to be honest, far too much to spend the next two months catching up on the last two months, but essentially we've moved home (although we're still in the neighbourhood - go SW14!), and we've eaten loads of loads of experimental meals - go figure. Take it as read it was all highly successful, naturellement!

Tonight, we're going old skool as we're both tired after a hearty weekend playing with the Taylor's, and we both fancy an early night. Also, as Ana's got a bit of a persistent cold, I figure she could do with a little extra ginger to combat the snot.

Okay, it's the most exciting return in the world, but it is a return.

sources
spinach, tomato and chick pea curry - Waitrose Recipe Cards, Early September 2010

jamie oliver's chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine

2011-08-08T22:02:00.006+01:00

Tay-Jean! Oooooh, I've been looking forward to cooking this for about two years, since we watched Jamie Does... and then I later got a tay-jean. As with all great stews, it involves a modicum of prep, if you discount the 24 hours worth of marinading, and having to quarter a chicken (thanks knife skills course!), but once it starts ticking away you get an hour and a half to deal with a selection of chores.

Picking up Milo's toys, packing my bag for tomorrow, emptying the dishwasher, doing the washing up, and chilling some wine - check, check, check, check and checkity-check! 90 minutes later, and we're good to go...

It's not as highly-spiced as other Moroccan stews we've had. Instead it's quite fresh, the fennel isn't particularly over-powering, and neither is the lemon, making it a perfect stew for the summer. Even better, there's enough for Milo's tea tomorrow *AND* a hearty and hale lunch for me! Harrumble!

sources
chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine - Jamie Oliver, Jamie Does..., although you can find it right here on The Times.

donna hay's prawn pad thai

2011-08-07T21:15:00.056+01:00

Whilst not wishing to reinforce any stereotypes about being British, what the cock-a-doodle-doo is going on with the weather eh? It's supposed to be freaking August!

Our jolly jaunt to the Wetland's Centre today, for pond-dipping, playing in their amazing playground and admiring rain gardens, is somewhat battered by a Biblical deluge. I suppose an large exhibit of "rain gardens" should've given us a clue. Anyway, there's a definite Autumnal chill in the air, particularly whilst waiting in the queue for coffee, faced with an array of roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes, and with our breath misting in the air outside...

Back home we immediately opt for Jamie Oliver's chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine, which I'd found on the Times website yesterday. Until I notice we need at least 24 hours of marinading, so whilst my newly-quartered chicken does it's thing in the fridge, we take a secondary order of Donna Hay's Pad Thai - this time with Prawns!

Unlike last week's slightly chewy version using chicken thighs, the prawns are bang-on - really juicy, and zesty - but it really does need some extra crunchy greens, like sugar snap peas. Next time I think. Actually pretty soon, as I've got a jar of shrimp paste in the fridge, which needs using up tout suite!

sources
prawn pad thai - Donna Hay, Modern Classics Book 1, p133

take away curry from cochin brasserie

2011-08-05T21:37:00.031+01:00

Crikey, I'm not sure the world of vintner-ing is doing me any good - my brain is fried, my head hurts and I'm absolutely shagged. What better reason to order a curry in, rather than actually cooking it? Okay, we had our best stock-take ever - yay for rewarding ourselves with take-away!

However in a stunning change of routine, tonight we pooh-pooh Tiffin Box in favour of one of our favourite curry restaurants from when we lived in Putney - Cochin Brasserie. It used to be fairly experimental with things like black lentil dhal, and an amazing starter of chicken livers. Literally a pile of livers, cooked in beetroot and spices, which melted in your mouth. We're having none of that tonight though...

Ana opted for Prawn Mango, which actually tasted like a combination of every foreign holiday you've every been on, and a weirdly-not-at-all-off-putting-petrol aroma. Slightly dully, I had a version of my usual take away fayre, Lamb Achari, which was much thicker although not as sour as I like it. Still good though, certainly better than the chicken lollipops we had as a starter.

It's almost the perfect accompaniment to Rick Stein's Spain, without actually being Spanish. Okay, *not* such a perfect accompaniment then, although still v tasty.

warm new potato, rocket and smoked mackerel salad

2011-08-04T20:19:00.049+01:00

First up, having roundly dissed last night's sausage fest (man, it was dense), today I'm going to take it back slightly because it makes a very tasty lunch the next day. Particularly if you slice the sausages up thickly - it's almost like an entirely different meal. Weird.

Anyway on to tonight's dinner, which might well make the cut for Ana *despite* the controversial inclusion of smoked mackerel:

It's one of those strange dishes which really should not work, but the combination of bacon, lemon juice, warmed potatoes, rocket and the smoked mackerel - all big old flavours in their own right - really harmonise well.

Even better, there's plenty to stink the office out tomorrow.

sources
warm new potato, rocket and smoked mackerel salad - Delicious, September 2011, p32

michal symon's bratwurst stewed with sauerkraut

2011-08-03T21:46:00.006+01:00

I can only assume I've been spending too much time with my Polish co-colleagues, because this tasted as bad as it looks.

Angela Hazel White is partially to blame because for failing to meet me for a drink (because she was already drunk in Regent's Park), leaving me to be aimlessly inspired in Fulham Waitrose. With vague recollections of a holiday in West Berlin in 1986 floating about, I thought "Why not?"

It turns out the most obvious reason is that stewed sauerkraut with large, dense vacuum-packed sausages is just a pretty rancid, acrid, sloppy combination, and simply isn't justification enough for my first "german"culinary tag. The fact I didn't have any caraway seeds was probably a blessing in hindsight...

sources
bratwurst stewed with sauerkraut - Michael Symon, Food Network

a slightly drunken burger with lucyfer

2011-08-02T21:23:00.026+01:00

Something tells me spending every waking moment panicking about wine, and then desperately trying to sleep when I'm not, hasn't endeared me to the whanau. After yesterday's post-Southbank coma, Ana's had enough and returned to the IoW for some quality Kay and Mike time. Me? I need a drink.

Luckily Miss Lucy Ferguson happens to be at a loose end and after some random wandering around South Kensington, we alight in the floral splendour that is The Hereford Arms on Gloucester Road. It's a beautiful night, and for one reason or another we're both in need of a debrief. Or a pre-brief you're Lucy.

Both of us at least pretending to have an interest in food, and surrounded by some pretty tasty restaurants, the conversation soon turned to dinner. Naturally there really was only one choice for two half-cut people, one of whom was wielding a folded-up bicycle:

Man I look like my dad (when my photo is taken in an out-of-focus manner, by a slightly drunk woman and I'm stuffing beef into my mouth in what looks a concentration camp)...

sources
burgers - Byron

Vintage at Southbank

2011-07-31T09:01:00.048+01:00

Hmmm, if I ever wanted the definition of 'hubris', remembering this weekend's events might well become my go-to reference point. Well, Friday anyway.

Thursday night I was fairly happy with everything I'd organised, and if not exactly sleeping like a baby, I had a modicum of peace of mind. Little did I know by about 1500 on Friday I'd be close to tears, with no jugs, no glasses (I ordered too late), no staff (sent off to the warehouse to find jugs/glasses), no customers and a very angry man looming over me. I was definitely having second thoughts about this new career.

However, once the cavalry arrived in the form of the boys with the long-lost glassware, Tom and Richie P from the office, and we started selling some booze, I was a much happier bunny. I was also knackered. By the time we finished at 0100 Sunday night/Monday morning, I'd pretty much worked three 20 hour days, and all of them fuelled only by Polish sausage and Breton cider:

In the end, whilst hardly setting the financial world alight, it was a brilliant if painful introduction to the world of events. Running them is totally euphoric, you're pretty much running on adrenalin (and sausage) for the entire time, so you're either massively depressed and emotional (Friday) or amazingly high and emotional (Saturday-Sunday), before hitting a big crash on Monday.

Thanks to everybody who came down to see us: Lucyfer, Tangela, Harry, Sash & Matt, Layla, Edders, Sophie and Emma, Uncle Gerald - you all made my weekend a much happier place - and most of all to Ana who didn't see me all weekend, until Sunday when she, Milo, Kay and Mike came out for fizzy drinks.

If you're interested, and seeing as I didn't have time to take any piccies, here's the official work view of the weekend.

I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the next one.

georgio locatelli's panzanella

2011-07-28T23:19:00.053+01:00

It's Southbank t minus-1, and I'm feeling strangely positive: The bar is up, I've got the glasses on order, I know who's working, the stock is in the warehouse and with super Gregory in the hot seat, we drove Hugo into into position:

It's so hot, I'm thinking about doubling our Prosecco order - whaddaya reckon?

Back at home, despite everything being more-or-less in place, I'm too nervous to actually cook anything, so it's just as well I actually planned ahead this time and had a bowl of panzanella marinading in the fridge:

I've slightly twisted the recipe this time as Ana didn't like the bread being too sloppy, so I put it in with about an hour-hour-and-a-half to go. I also used up some bits and bobs in the fridge to bulk it out - there's a yellow pepper in there, some baby broccoli and some finely sliced french beans - none of it cooked, but all of it cooked in the acid of the dressing.

sources
panzanella - georgio locatelli, The Independent, 30th May 2008

ghillie basan's haricot bean tagine

2011-07-27T22:49:00.002+01:00

Only two days to go until my inaugural event for work, and the Southbank and the possibilities of things going terribly, terribly wrong are beginning to intrude in what's left of my sleep. On the upside, the cricket whites have turned up, and it looks like it's going to be a scorcher...

In better news, I randomly came across a vegetarian tagine in an old issue of Delicious the other day, that not only looked dead easy, but was comparatively quick for a tagine:

As it turns out it wasn't massively flavoursome, even though I whacked a load of harissa paste in and doubled the quantities or coriander and parsley. It was still pretty good mind, although if we have it again (if? when!) I'd be tempted to add some cumin, and finish it with some lime juice. Get me.

sources
haricot bean tagine - Ghillie Basan, Delicious, August 2009, p94

salad lyonnaise

2011-07-25T23:48:00.025+01:00

The sun is out, 'tis a Monday so Ana feels like she should be at the gym, and for we've inexplicably got 2 litres of red wine vinegar in the house. What to do, what to do?

As it happens, what with the salad and eggs over-flowing in the fridge, the answer is staring me in the face: Salad Lyonnaise:

I don't quite get the eggs perfect, I think they're a bit old to be honest, but what with the croutons it's a fairly hearty, if garlicky, salad. There's even bacon in there as well, I promise, but you just can't quite see it.

sources
salad lyonnaise - Delicious, August 2009, p80

Leon's broccoli with sausage, chilli and fennel

2011-07-24T23:29:00.003+01:00

Hurrah - everybody is home! What better way to celebrate than by having a family meal featuring one Milo's favourite things - sausages!

Despite being able to go to sleep with the window and curtains open, listening to music and being able to do pretty much what I want, I have to say it's nice to see everybody again. Apart from the relentless creation of dens of course...

sources
Leon's broccoli with sausage, chilli and fennel - Leon, Naturally Fast Food, p61

donna hay's toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad

2011-07-22T22:17:00.000+01:00

Another day home alone, which has the benefits of being able to watch more, uninterrupted cycling (yay - Schlecks!), but with the downside I've done no shopping and dinner is going to have to come out of the bleak cupboards.

Fortunately there are a couple of tomatoes, as well as a third of a packet of spinach in the fridge. This doesn't bode particularly well until I hit the motherlode of two slightly dessicated sweet potatoes in the pan cupboard. With no pine nuts (Jesus! what kind of house is this?), I have to make-do with sunflower seeds instead - and bish bash bosh Donna Hay's toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad:

Ahh, smugosity and health in one plate, and it makes a change from the constant conveyer-belt of spaghetti with cherry tomato sauce.

sources
toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad - Donna Hay, The Instant Cook, p49

peter gordon's fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad

2011-07-21T22:10:00.000+01:00

Day Three in the Sleepy Russell house, and the housemate is down to whatever in the fridge. Although given "what is in the fridge", turns out to be enough to make Peter Gordon's Halloumi, Spinach, Water Chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-dried tomato salad, I'm hardly on the breadline.

Even better, whilst the chestnuts are marinading I get to watch the most amazing stage of the Tour De France I've *ever* seen, with Andy Schleck attacking 20K out and almost grabbing the maillot jaune at the top of the Galibier. Best. Stage. Ever.

Anyway, here's the grub:

And here's another installment of Horrible Histories Historical Masterchef:

WHAT HE SAID!

sources
fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p65

tesco finest cottage pie

2011-07-20T21:58:00.000+01:00

Can you tell I didn't cook tonight? Admittedly I made a cheese and tomato sandwich (on white bread - you can tell Ana isn't here can't you?) whilst it was "cooking", but it's as far as my culinary whims are stretching tonight.

Basically today started awfully as I copped a flat on the way to work, and then got appreciably worse as I then had to detour via the office before heading out the London's Trendy Shoreditch 40 minutes later than planned. However, it all picked up from there: I had an ace meeting about tentage for next weekend's Vintage festival at the Southbank (you're all invited - come on down!) followed by coffee with Greggy in Liverpool Street, and then drinkies with various SeeSaw legacy co-colleagues *and* (briefly) Miss Sasha Breslau of ITV fame.

Who would want to cook after that? Exactly!

sources
Tesco Finest Shepherd's Pie - Terry Tesco's, Hammersmith Broadway

mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad

2011-07-19T21:25:00.000+01:00

Truly summer has forsaken us this year. Everything seems to be getting earlier; Easter is scorching, June and July are terrible (camping aside), and then it picks up slightly for the dog days of early autumn. Obviously it hasn't stopped me getting my usual cycling tan, but brown arms/face are only so much use in the torrential rain on the Fulham Road.

Tonight is my first night alone this week, with Ana and Milo now in glorious residence on the Isle of Wight, and unlike my usual home alone escapades, I have no experimental dishes to try, and neither do I have many plans. This is due entirely to being completely shagged by the new job, so much so I've hardly had time to plan ahead, let alone sleep. Who knew flogging wine would be so tiring?

All I'm good for tonight is moving all the pot plants out of the way of the scaffolders coming tomorrow, watching the Tour de France entering the Alps, and eating a quick, and easy salad, before collapsing. Not even the knowledge eating this tonight would massively vex Ana as I'd promised to cook it last night, but didn't, is enough to tempt me into any hi-jinks.

sources
mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad - parsley book

donna hay's pasta with cherry tomato sauce

2011-07-18T21:03:00.006+01:00

Ana's out at Bikini Blitz tonight, the last one before the summer holidays no less, so I've got to make an effort to be home in time for her to get changed and go. Other than cycling back in some grim weather, it's fine and dandy, and seeing how I was on the rob for some fridges from the now-defunct Oddbins on the King's Road today, work feel I've done enough for them for one day.

However, on returning cold and wet from promenading around Richmond Park, Ana feels the exact opposite. This is almost entirely due to the fact I'd promised her peach and mozzarella salad, but delivered Donna Hay's pasta with cherry tomato sauce instead. I can't see why she's so vexed as it is one of her favourites, but apparently carbs will undo all her good work this evening. My argument that I'd not eaten since breakfast and was starving, cut little-to-no-mustard. Still, it was mighty tasty, and leaves me something to eat tomorrow night, whilst her mother is feeding her up on the Island.

sources
pasta with cherry tomato sauce - Donna Hay, Instant Cook, p58

persian-style lamb and rhubarb stew

2011-07-17T21:11:00.036+01:00

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day! After yesterday's day out with Kendra, Brian and Finn, today it's my turn to shoulder the burden of entertaining Milo, so Ana can have some precious time to herself, having had him all week.

Feeling slightly better after a much-need lay-in, I put our usual weekend plan into action: Swimming, followed by Waitrose. There's an added twist this time however, because when we get home my mum and Jan are in the kitchen drinking coffee, as they'd come up to collect the tent. Grandparents are a fantastic Milo-distractor!

As it's only looking slightly dodgy, we take our lives into our hands and go for a walk into Barnes, ostensibly to get Milo's haircut but are soon diverted as the weather closed in. Luckily we only get soaked twice, on the way there, and coming home.

On the way we discover our chi-chi sweet shop is somewhat-unsurprisingly closing down. So we fill up with jelly teddies, storybooks, rubber snakes and candy canes before giving the walk up for a bad job and taking refuge in the newly-redone Sun Inn, where Milo has his dinner, and we have a snifter or two, accompanied by some much-needed chips.

With my mum and Jan happily tootling home, I finally get around to cooking. I was inspired by a two-for-one offer on lamb AND rhubarb in Waitrose, and having finally dug out the recipe, figured it was the least I could do. It's also quite warming and quite, quite moorish (oh-ho!). It does take two hours longer than I planned though...

On the upside, I discovered I'd forgotten to add a vital step to the recipe - the addition of the coriander - which I've now amended. Enjoy!

Food of the Milos
After yesterday's burger, and the whitebait on holiday, Milo again surprises us in the pub by having sausages and mash. The sausages aren't a surprise, you understand, but the mash was pea and potato mash, and the whole lot was swimming in thick, onion gravy, all of which he ate with only a modicum of ketchup on the side. Our money is on "Growth Spurt".

sources
persian-style lamb and rhubarb stew - somewhere in Delicious, now right here!

a taste of thailand at l'atelier des chefs, and burgers

2011-07-16T21:26:00.074+01:00

Brilliantly, a full nine months after Kendra gave Brian and myself our combined birthday present, today we finally manage to take advantage of her plentiful cornucopia, viz a morning cooking Thai food at L'Atelier des Chefs.

Partly this has taken us so long to organise as we just haven't bothered (okay, mainly because), but the Byzantine booking system added on at least two months, and then we had to find a non-challenging meal for the B-Dog. Given his well-documented negative-love for shellfish, I was pretty surprised we ended up doing the Thai course, as a quarter of our meal consisted of mussels and fishcakes. That menu in full: Thai fishcakes and mussels in Thai green sauce, Thai Green Curry and pineapple upside-down cakes.

It was quite a good set-up. The kitchen was just big enough for the 25 people in there, the ingredients were pre-laid out (although we had to peel, chop and de-beard), and the chef was really useful and interesting. Although not an amazingly in-depth cookery course, it clearly caters for the swift-cooking of easy-yet-really-tasty-meals, I did take some things away from it:

I feel pretty good about de-bearding and cooking mussels;
I've got a good idea about creating an amazing Thai Green Curry paste;
I now know never never to allow Brian to make any sort of quenelle - his OCD can't take the strain.

Here we are doing various cooking-y things:

Cooking fishcakes:

The green curry paste, pre-blitzing:

Fishcakes and Thai-Green Mussels to start anybody?

Brian and a china leaf of curry:

The quenelles that almost killed Brian:

Replete with Thai-goodness (and loaded down with saucepans, mixing bowls and celebratory aprons), we complete our birthday-thingy with a trip to Brian's new pub, The Warrington. Ignore the Ramsay bit, cos it it ain't no Ramsay pub now, but you should deffo go because inside is amay-zing. It was supposed to be a special brothel for the clergy in the Victorian era, and it really feels lush and Roccoco. I can easily imagine snuggling up next to the fire, with a hearty whiskey or a real ale.

Even better, by the time we get back the girls (and small boys) are in need of both a walk and some food. The day's deluge means the most we can expect is a brief trip to Hyde Park to convince ourselves it's cocking chucking it down, and then a swift run to the pub for a burger-based lunch.

Cooking? Pints? Brief walks? Pints? Burgers? More pints? Hurrah for us! If only it was my birthday again *sigh*. Only three months to go...

actual REAL book club

2011-07-14T21:05:00.008+01:00

Blame it on me joining the ranks of the horny-handed sons of toil, rather than still being a wafty, meeja type, but I couldn't for the life of me work out what we were doing today. Despite being relatively recent in the catalogue of days I've lived, it's remained a black hole.

Until now, when my iPhone helps out (tis the tool all us horny-handed sons of toil use) by reminding me this week was Book Club, not last Thursday, when I originally blogged about it. Doh!

My conversations with Beth now make more sense in the context of it being today, not last week, but it does beg a new and intriguing question; what the hell were we doing last Thursday?

I haven't the foggiest...

jill dupleix's sesame chicken salad with cucumber and celery

2011-07-13T21:40:00.025+01:00

After yesterday's exertions, I'm in the office today, learning the ropes and generally nodding as people talk about vintages and terroir. It's not just the wine that's new, I haven't *ever* had to start work at 0800 before, or indeed work, so by the time we knock off at 1830 I'm hanging for sleep, food and a drink - although I'm not quite ready for wine yet...

Food is easy though because I tactically planned ahead this week, buying a rotisserie chicken, and ready baton-ed carrots. All of which means tonight's zesty edition of Jilly Dupliex's sesame chicken salad is the work of but a moment:

It's just as well it's quick, because I am shagged...

sources
sesame chicken salad with cucumber and celery - Jill Dupleix, the Owl Book

pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs

2011-07-12T21:43:00.059+01:00

With camping's late nights and fires a happy memory, reality bit today as I started my first day at The Vintner at, OMG, 0500!

I'm all for learning the ropes, but a five o'clock start to spend the day shifting what turned out to be 1.5 tonnes of wine and 2 tonnes of water around Oxford's snoozing spires seems a bit beyond the pale. Don't they know I graduated from Harvard College Yale. I aced every semester, and I got an 'A' in typing and mousing? (Page? Page? Page?)

Actually it was a brilliant if thoroughly knackering day, I drove around in a van with a pun on the side to warm the cockles of Dan Watt-Smith's heart:

I read The Sun, talked about the Arsenal, had a snack from a mobile cafe and oi-oi'ed the denizens of Oxon, before collecting the water from Blenheim Palace:

Could this be my perfect job? It's bleeding knackering though.

By the time I get back, I've got just enough energy to go to Waitrose, and then to cook the quickest, simplest dinner my brain is capable of. Lord bless zero chopping, and one pot meals:

It may not look it, but the eggs were the runniest yet, and even better we all ate together before the men-folk took an early night together. Stupidly I then ended up staying up much later than planned, drinking. Will I never learn?

Incidentally, anybody used the search box yet?

sources
pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs - Silvana Franco, Delicious, June 2011, p22

aloo tikki

2011-07-11T21:28:00.035+01:00

Having driven home in the blazing sunshine from East Devon (with both my passengers snoring away I hasten to add), I'm knackered and can't really be bothered to cook at anything, let alone go out and buy any ingredients.

I'm still partially full from our late-lunch in Branscombe to be honest, however I've got a 0500 pick-up tomorrow morning for my inaugural delivery round for work (Oxford here we come!) and I need something both quick, not too filling, and with enough left-over for lunch.

After the success last time, and with most-to-all of the minimum ingredients lurking in the cupboards, we opt for another crack at the aloo tikki.

They are one of those dishes that are perfect for cooking around Milo's bedtime routine, as they need about an hour in the fridge to set once you've made them. So whilst he's watching telly I can crack on and make them, and then pop them into the fridge safe in the knowledge they'll be perfect by the time we've bathed him, read him a bazillion bedtime stories and snuggled up till he's asleep.

I'm right btw, they are perfect, especially with another batch of my mum's chutney:

Top tip though - you really do need to have wet hands when you're shaping them, otherwise you just get all claggy!

sources
aloo tikki - Observer Food Monthly, Parsley Book

thai-style salmon, broccoli, salad and new potatoes

2011-07-07T21:42:00.024+01:00

'Twas the night before camping, and all through the house nothing was stirring, not even a mouse. And neither was a Milo, or even a babysitter - in this case Miss Angela Hazel White - both of whom were firmly asleep when we got home from Book Club.

This week we're at Beth's (or "The Boss' Wife" as she must now be known), for a discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which was a good deal more fascinating than the inevitable three-to-four hour tiresome discussion about school, despite only rating a measly two stars.

Much more welcome is Beth's thai-style salmon, accompanied by salad, broccoli, salad, and lovely, lovely children, one of whom was speed-reading Harry Potter, one of which made us dessert (pavlova) and another of which ate the dessert.

I suppose I was more cantankerous RE school chat as I wasn't drinking, and knowing you've got an evening of school chat between 3-4 teachers requires a minimum of three bottles of wine for any non-teachers in the group...

persian-style lamb and rhubarb stew - recipe

2011-07-06T10:13:00.001+01:00

*Finally* I've dug the persian-style lamb and rhubarb stew recipe out of the god-awful Delicious archive. I still haven't found my copy, though...

Amusingly I note according to Delicious, this takes 21/4 hours to cook, so plan ahead!

persian-style lamb and rhubarb stew
Serves 6

2 tblsp vegetable/olive oil
90g butter
2 large onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
900g boned shoulder or leg of lamb, cut into large cubes. I've used neck fillet before, so basically anything fatty, cos it cooks for a long time and you need that juice;
2 tsp ground coriander
800ml vegetable stock
parsley, chopped
Handful fresh mint leaves, chopped, plus extra to garnish
400g rhubarb, chopped into 2.5 cm lengths

1. Heat the oil and about a third of the butter in a large pan, and gently sweat the onions for 15 minutes, till they are golden. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside;

2. Increase the heat and brown half the lamb, set aside and do the same with the rest. Put all the lamb back in the pan, the onions and garlic, the coriander, and the stock, cover and simmer gently for an hour/hour and a half until the lamb is almost ready;

3. In a smaller pan, gently heat 30g of butter on the lowest heat, add the herbs and cook for 8 minutes, stirring all the time. You may have to add more butter so watch out! Stir the herbs into the lamb stew and simmer, half-covered for another 30 minutes until the lamb is falling apart. I tend to leave it covered so there's more juice for the cous cous to soak up;

4. When the lamb is ready, heat the remaining butter in the smaller pan over a medium-high heat, and fry the rhubarb for 3-4 minutes until just tender. Stir into the stew;

5. Serve with cous cous and scatter with remaining mint. Eat and then wistfully wish you'd made enough for 12 people...

georgio locatelli's panzanella

2011-07-05T22:31:00.059+01:00

Last night turned out to be an object lesson in reading the instructions properly, although it does mean I have an amazing salad tonight.

So, having inherited a couple of tiger bread baguettes from my mother over the weekend, I had my eye on creating a panzanella salad from the stale loaf.

A bit of research at work - in between watching the latest Tour De France stage naturellement - turns up this pretty easy Georgio Locatelli recipe. To be honest there were quite a few different versions out there, some with peppers, some with anchovies, some with ham etc, but this was the closest to one I remember making a few years back, and as I had most of the ingredients it seemed relatively simple to knock-up.

However, however...

I should've paid more attention to (or even read) the bit where it said "marinade for 24 hours in a fridge". Instead, having made it, I realised I can either just eat it there and then, or wait. As Ana was out at a leaving party and Milo was somewhat annoyingly up until 2200, I knocked the whole thing on the head, letting it marinade, whilst I wrestled Milo into bed and had a sarnie for dinner.

Tonight I got my reward. Ana had it for lunch and despite the presence of capers and red onion, she loved it, which suggests to me it's not too bad at all. As she was out *again* tonight, it gave me free range to luxuriate in a double-helping of good-time Mediterranean vibes provided by the hit of tomatoes, onion and garlic, whilst kicking back with another double-helping of Horrible Histories.

I'm so glad I've rediscovered it; it's massively tasty, it's thrifty and cheap, and add a bone-dry glass of rose, and you've got the perfect dish for the summer - what's not to like?

sources
panzanella - georgio locatelli, The Independent, 30th May 2008

international babs cabs weekend

2011-07-03T11:50:00.077+01:00

It's another International Babs Cabs weekend, and this time it's her 70th birthday! Or 71st if you're my brother and completely deluded. Anyway, the usual rules apply - both the weekend the new exciting 'five of the best' style:

1. Scorchio!
Although not as baking as usual. We still manage to get the paddling pool out, *obvs*, and fill a bucket with icy, icy beer;

2. Chilli vs Quiche
Traditionally my mum's birthday lunch is hot chilli (and it is hot), and a variety of quiche, cold meats and cold meats. As ever, there's not enough chilli and about five quiche too many;

3. Being bullied by my mother
When we get down on Friday, my mum is on excellent form. So much so she gangs up with Ana and spends the evening bullying me into agreeing to move in September. Damn their eyes!

4. Funky Folkestone
Once again it's Triennial time, and the upshot is slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y, the hometown is getting cooler, dragging itself out of being a thoroughly depressing place, into a quite cool place to live. Naturally we spend Sunday lunchtime down the coastal path, playing on the Pirate Ships and slides, with Grandpa in tow, and we even manage to squeeze a bit of art into the equation - ringing the church bell on the sea front;

5. Fridge raiding
No trip to the in-laws is complete without several bags of left-overs making their way home. This time we manage a swag-load of booze, some chilli for lunch tomorrow, sweets'n'treats for Milo, some Tiger Bread and two platters of German and Spainish meats. The latter allows us to have an evening snack of Fino's tomato salad (sans chorizo), bread and meat, whilst watching the previously-mentioned Horrible Histories. Ana is now a massive fan.

Wot We Eight
Friday Night: Tandoori King Prawn and Tandoori Mixed Grill from The Prince of India;
Saturday: Chilli, meat, booze, pasties and Singapore Noodles (for Ana);
Sunday: Sandwiches and boiled egg for lunch, pizza for Milo's dinner, and tomato salad and more booze for dinner.

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T12:35:00.031+01:00

"Oh Canada! How free your moose roam, and your beer has lovely foam, erm, and your maple leaf is nice and red, and the Harlock's have nice heads" or something...

In honour of our fine friends in the Hammer, and indeed Mrs Kendra Bolger, the news that we're celebrating Canada Day in Trafalgar Square sends me scurrying down to the centre of town to hail all things Cannuck. More specifically I came because I'd heard a rumour these people were in town:

And the only thing standing between me and a double-double and some Timbits was, a 40 minute queue. Seriously:

It's not as if you can't get a coffee in central London, but this being the only Tim Horton's in 9000 miles, it's swamped. By the time I get there the Timbits have sold out, so I have to make do with a coffee and some ring donuts for the office:

At this point I notice something even odder than a 40 minute queue for coffee, the bar next door is completely empty. WTF? Canadians - hear me now - get your priorities in order! Still, on the upside I was able to swiftly reward myself with a can of Canada's finest brewski in about 1000th of the time it took me to get a non-alcoholic beverage:

Sorry John. Doughnuts, coffee, beer and I got to meet a Mountie - what's not to like about Canada? At the very least, the fact there weren't many Vancouver fans burning the shit out of the centre of town was a blessing.

PS There were no patio lanterns in evidence

jill dupleix's spaghetti alla carrettiera

2011-06-30T10:55:00.048+01:00

After last night's drunken closing-then-saving party, tonight it's Ana's turn to go out. She hasn't got anything massively exciting planned, just going to Wembley to watch some fat, middle-aged men sing some songs that were quite-to-fairly popular back when we were at college. Take that? I'd rather not fanks...

Whilst she's out with menopausal women and the gays (and I'm not referring to Kendra, Lara or Rosie), I manage to squeeze in a powernap with Milo before knocking up Jilly D's classic home alone Roman spaghetti dish. This is the first time I've done it without pancetta - we didn't have any and I didn't think it needed any - but it's amazing the difference leaving out a tiny ingredient, seemingly only garnish, makes to the end product. I couldn't really be cracked with the photo either:

Dinner sort-of done, the rest of the evening is spent finishing the various left-over bottles of cider and rosé in the fridge whilst watching multiple episodes of my new favourite TV show - Horrible Histories.

It's entirely populated by amazing comedians like Alice Lowe, Simon Farnaby, Sarah Hadland, Matthew Baynton and Jim Howick, and is clearly the best thing on telly. I can't believe it's taken me this long to discover it, I wish I was a kid again. Here's their take on Masterchef:

I'M SHOUTING! I'M SHOUTING FOR NO REASON!

sources
jill dupleix's spaghetti alla carretiera - Jill Dupleix, Delicious, May 2007, p80

you say goodbye, we say hello. again

2011-06-29T11:25:00.033+01:00

For the past few weeks we've been entertained by this on the fake hedges at work:

Forget about who on earth populates their offices with fake hedges, more to the point is the signs finally came down. Today was to be our final day at SeeSaw towers, but somewhat incredibly we've been saved quite literally at the last minute, so our closing wake has now become a celebratory shindig at Sanctum's roof top terrace. As you'd imagine this didn't at all get completely messy, given we started at a quite sensible 1400 military hours, and I didn't get home till gone midnight.

It started in fairly jolly form...

...before the booze started kicking in...

...and things started getting blurrier...

...and blurrier (although this is an actual shot of some editorial strategising)...

...and just to prove she's not a massive piss-head, here's a picture of Angela Hazel not getting lairy, not going off on one after two vinos, and not getting on the nearest Boris Bike to drunkenly cycle home:

However, it turns out for me it IS my last day at SeeSaw. I can't quite believe I'm doing this, but after a 15 year career working TV new media, taking in Playboy TV, Flextech, Channel 4, Aol and Kangaroo/SeeSaw I've turned my back on it all to become a vintner. For THE vintner in fact.

I'm swinging wildly between being massively excited, and completely terrified, and it hasn't really sunk in yet. Still, I drink wine and now I'm selling it - what could possibly go wrong?

peter gordon's fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad

2011-06-28T08:45:00.015+01:00

Another day of pleasing 'er indoors, but today it's born more out of necessity than anything else. We've got a random selection of stuff in the fridge, so it's simply a matter of finding a recipe that requires me to pick up the least ingredients on the way home.

Given Ana is never willingly more than three metres from halloumi, and there's some salad and tomatoes lurking in the crisper, Mr P Gordon's most felicitous salad gets the nod. Alongside another bottle of that fine new cider we like from Waitrose.

Incidentally I forgot to mention, this dish has also enabled me to rediscover another one of my hard-earned knife-skills course, with the easy segmenting of oranges. God, that present gets better and better!

sources
fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p65

fresh borlotti bean soup alla maruzzara

2011-06-27T08:44:00.027+01:00

Having worn me down over the past month, today Ana Louise gets her heart's desire with another helping of Carluccio and Contaldo's borlotti bean soup.

Unlike last time, this time we're using canned borlotti beans, which I'm not sure are any better than the dried version. Despite spending a day cluttering up the work surface soaking, I think you get a nuttier, firmer pulse - and more of them - with dried pulses, which outweighs the convenience of a tin.

Despite the picture, we did *not* sit in the garden and eat, we sat in the lounge watching stupid, stupid telly.

sources
fresh borlotti bean soup alla maruzzara - Gennaro Contaldo and Antonio Carluccio, Two Greedy Italians, from Delicious, June 2011, p38

pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs

2011-06-26T12:08:00.031+01:00

We're all feeling slightly jaded today. Ana because she got drunk after the Mortlake Fair with the other Nursery mums, fell asleep in bed with Milo, and had to be forcibly removed to eat her dinner. Milo because he's just tired and me because two days drinking is now just beyond my natural skills. I need to up my rating, particularly as I gave up on a Marple to go to bed last night.

It being the hottest day of the year doesn't improve anybodies mood, although we make a good fist of it over at Chiswick park, splashing in the paddling pool and playing in the adventure playground, before going home and getting our paddling pool out.

We even managed to eat together in the garden, although this time with the slightly less-spicy chorizo than last time:

Strangely it wasn't as moist as last time, possibly because I didn't use as much red wine vinegar as Milo was eating it. I think adding cherry tomatoes to the final fry might add a little something extra as well. Also, didn't bother with poaching the eggs (although I do think they would've been ace), mainly because I couldn't be bothered pfaffing with three eggs, and also given Milo had managed to burn his arms on both saucepans, I figured the addition of further hot pans could only have ended in more disaster.

sources
pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs - Silvana Franco, Delicious, June 2011, p22

simon hopkinson's tomato curry

2011-06-25T12:24:00.009+01:00

Despite the rather patchy beginning to the day, both weather-wise and my post-evening out with Panther and Magnus mini-hangover, it ends gloriously.

To start with me and Milo pick yet another punnet of raspberries and blueberries from the canes in the garden. I think we must have taken a kilo of raspberries this year, with more to come, so they've definitely paid for themselves, and the blueberry has having it's best. Year. Ever. A quick trim of our extensive lawn later, and we're all having poached egg and salmon for brunch. It's the South West 14 way.

Angela Hazel pops over for a tea whilst she's walking her neighbour's dog, and once she's gone we head out to Mortlake Fair for an afternoon's bouncy castle action. This then morphs, as the weather perks up, into an impromptu couple of bottles of wine round one of the other mum's house. Women deal with children's dinner, men deal with several K-bourgs - what's not to like?

This comes back to bite me in the ass later though, as whilst I'm speed-cooking tonight's slightly-squiffy-and-sun-burned curry so as to be ready for the evening's Marple, Ana is going to sleep in Milo's bed. And will she get up? Will she bobbins...

sources
tomato curry - Simon Hopkinson, Delicious, November 2007, p86

jill dupleix's polpettine

2011-06-23T15:35:00.030+01:00

It's rare we have a variation on a theme two days running, or three if you count Ana cooking the left-over potato cakes tomorrow night whilst I'm out with Anil and Pete, so tonight is somewhat of a novelty. This is almost entirely due to the fact I'm out having a sort-of interview in The Sun Inn, meaning I'm later home than usual (and drunker), and therefore the requirement is not necessarily the tastiest dinner, but the easiest to cook... in this case it's Jill Dupliex's polpettine. Or vegetable patties part two.

It's a pretty standard dish in the repertoire by now, but I still managed to forget to add the Parmesan (damn you booze!), and had to put all the ingredients back into the bowl, add the Parmesan, and then recreate the patties. Ultimately this isn't a problem but still, when you're a little squiffy it's the last thing you need. My mum's spicy tomato chutney got a second outing...

sources
white bean polpettine - Jilly D, the Parsley Book

aloo tikki

2011-06-22T12:20:00.009+01:00

With Ana out at the nursery AGM, and a fridge full of food, I'm in somewhat of a quandary what to cook tonight. Nearly everything we've got planned this week requires zero prep, or needs to be warm, so either way I've got to wait for her return before I can start to cook, which could mean eating late - never good on a school night.

However, some experimental curried potato cakes (for that is what aloo tikki are) seem perfect: They need 20 minutes resting time in the fridge after being made, and only a quick 3 minutes on each side in the frying pan. Served with my mum's spicy tomato chutney they are, even if I say so myself, farqing brilliant:

Brilliantly enough, we've got enough potatoes in the cupboard to make this every day, between now and Doomsday... although they are slightly too spicy for Milo. Maybe.

sources
aloo tikki - Observer Food Monthly, Parsley Book

peter gordon's fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad & beth's lemon and thyme drizzle cake

2011-06-21T12:10:00.017+01:00

It's book club, but luckily our recent dalliance with Peter Gordon means we don't have to go through the usual "what shall we give the ladies" conversation. The question is though, which salad? Ana vetoes the courgette and chick pea one because she's bored of it, and the chorizo, olive and potato salad gets the elbow due to the presence of the spuds. Naturally in the end she throws her tiny weight behind anything involving halloumi.

As I've said before, the only issue with these dishes is the fact they involve a fair bit of construction, which should be fine, but I get distracted by wine and a discussion on breast enlargement, and take my eye off the ball whilst the cheese is grilling. Consequently it's slightly crisper than I'd like.

To balance the healthy first course, Beth comes up trumps with an amazing thyme and lemon drizzle cake, and we supply a massive punnet-load of raspberries from our super-abundant bushes. We even have real mint tea - crikey, it's like The Good Life, with Kendra in the Margot role of course...

sources
fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p65
lemon and thyme drizzle - Mrs Bethany Gilbey, she's aces

bill granger's chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo

2011-06-20T14:32:00.004+01:00

Despite it being Midsummer tomorrow (the longest day rather than the 'hit' crime drama), it's absolutely tanking it down today and I get soaked riding home. It's also cocking freezing *and* our cupboards are suffering post-Taylor bareness, so we crank out Billy G's classic soup, mainly because it's almost entirely can/tin-based. Canned food? It's like living in the future!

Sadly we didn't have much chorizo kicking around, but it's one of Ana's favourite things and she's got enough for lunch tomorrow so she's relatively happy.

sources
chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo and green chilli - Bill Granger, Delicious, February 2008 p68

a weekend in worcestershire

2011-06-19T20:58:00.000+01:00

Whilst contemplating writing a post about our amazing Canadian holiday (which I've still not actually written, natch), I came across a new formula for dealing with these multi-day extravaganza's - I'm just going to list the five best things. Simples!

So without further ado, here they are:

1. A run around the hills of Worcestershire, followed by Chicken Dansak
After a slightly fraught journey, involving a sudden panic at work and my decision to go off-road to avoid the non-existent traffic, everybody is still fairly jolly on arrival. An hour or so of combination toddler-wrestling later, Dave and myself leave the ladies cooking a spanking chicken dansak and we head out to battle the hills of Worcestershire. DT immediately puts his local knowledge/longer legs/better fitness to good use to leaves me gasping in the middle of a wood. Despite our laboured breathing, and Dave's curious pickled onion fumes, we still manage to see a deer on the track, no doubt stunned by our majestic bearing as we crested a hill. However our return sees one small blonde boy still awake, and watching Scooby-Doo. Naturally it being beyond his bedtime he's on maximum cuteness levels, so it's not too bad. Strangely we don't drink that much...

2. summer spaghetti
After the usual Saturday shenanigans (rugby for the mini-men, shopping for the slightly bigger-ladies, and a trip to the pub in the rain for everybody), Lucy pulls out all the stops with a summer spaghetti recipe I've had my eye on in the latest Delicious. It's a weird combination of pretty much everything in the fridge, so I suspect it'll be a pretty good user-up-of-fridge-stuff recipe. Despite their carping to the contrary, the Taylors are excellent cooks, I thoroughly Bridport their work should you be in the neighbourhood - particularly Dave's Saturday lunchtime smorgasbord...

3. Father's Day at Cheltenham Food Festival
I like eating, Dave likes eating, so what better present than a trip to the Cheltenham Food Festival? Even better, it gave my wife a chance to demonstrate her X-Man powers of sniffing out free booze at 1000 paces, viz walking through the gates she managed to spot Beth's husband Tom and Hugo the van full of prosecco at an angle of almost 180 degrees behind her.

4. Hugh's baker's oven shoulder of mutton
Whilst we're living it up in Cheltenham, there's a thing of magic going on in the kitchen chez Taylor, as a leg of hogget is slowly roasting over it's own layer of boulangerie potatoes. I love a good roast, and I love boulangerie potatoes, but I've never thought of sticking the two of them together in one dish. It's a thing of unctuous beauty, the meat falling off the bone, the potatoes crispy on one side and soft on the other, and a salty gravy - mmmmm! It's not such a good pre-two and a half hour drive home dinner though, as it does tend to induce sleepiness.

5. The Number One Ladies Running Club
For the lack of anything else to list in an as-ever excellent weekend (why WHY did I pick five things?), I'm going to make cheap jibes at being invaded on Sunday morning by two red-faced, sweaty harridans, who appeared in the kitchen shortly after Lucy and Ana went out running. I know they like to encourage neighbours to pop over in the country, but I think in this case the open door policy went too far...

sources
chicken dansak - Anjum Anand, Anjum's New Indian, p87
summer spaghetti - Delicious, July 2011, p39
baker's oven shoulder of mutton - Saint Hugh, The River Cottage Meat Book, p241

persian-style lamb and rhubarb stew

2011-06-15T10:36:00.041+01:00

Holy Mary, this has to be one of my favourite dishes we eat, seriously, and that's not the three bottles of Honeydew talking either. It's right up there with the meatballs, and various curries, and the lamb and sour cherries stew.

Anyway, with yet another dull half-day at work enlivened by a lunchtime pint with the Panther in The Phoneix, and a frothy-style coffee with Miss S Breslau at ITV glamorous riverside restaurant (well, "glamorous" in the sense a couple of the TOWIE harridans were tottering about reception, in a haze of St Tropez), I get home early to start the two hour stewing process. Although of course I don't start cooking when I get home, I fanny about reading, then have a bath with Milo before beginning, a mere half-an-hour before the start of tonight's Marple. Two hours of premium post-war crime drama later, Ana is starving and the lamb has almost completely fallen apart. As ever, there's never enough.

sources
I *still* haven't found the blinking recipe, so I might have to simply write it out on here to save having to dig through the cocking Delicious website.

pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs

2011-06-14T11:18:00.040+01:00

Another night of report writing ahead for Mrs Barnes, gets off to a semi-slow start as Milo resisted sleeping for longer than is strictly necessary. However for once this isn't particularly vexing tonight as we're all a little tired from holiday, and I'm more than happy to pretend to be asleep in his bed for half an hour. And then to actually be asleep for slightly longer.

Anyway, I've got a fun experimental dish to construct when I do eventually get up. I'm slightly nervous because although on paper - chorizo, eggs, broccoli - this should be right up Ana's street, she's resisted so far. And potatoes aren't her thing. How little I know her - she loves it!

I suspect the difference might be using oh-so-seasonal Jersey New Potatoes, which are creamier than normal new potatoes, and off-set the spicy chorizo beautifully. Also, next time I might make the eggs softer boiled, to provide a bit more unctuousness, and maybe bunging some cherry toms into the mixer...

sources
pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs - Silvana Franco, Delicious, June 2011, p22

blackened fish with mango salad

2011-06-13T12:25:00.034+01:00

Oh Saint Hugh WILL be pleased! Not only is our fish line-caught, but it's an oh-so-sustainable Black Bream. We're a long way from eating megrim though, a very long way...

It was slightly on the fishy-side compared to cod or haddock, maybe like mackerel, but the cajun rub offset it enough for it to be repeated at some point.

It wasn't very filling although it was quick, which give Ana the opportunity to spend the long, summer evening uploading a billion holiday photos to facebook. All night, and in fact she's still going at midnight.

sources
blackened fish with mango salad - Delicious, June 2011, p22

mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad

2011-06-12T12:47:00.004+01:00

After yesterday's street party high jinks, today is very slow. Ana's got reports to do, and a combination of eight hours of bouncy castling and the final dregs of post-holiday tiredness mean Milo is in a right grump today. So much so me and him spend pretty much all day sat in a sleeping bag, with only a trip out to Putney to get the shopping and two films to watch that afternoon - Kung-Fu Panda and Monsters V Aliens. It's all research I *promise*.

Early beds all round beckon, but unfortunately some cider-accompanying salad, and a God-awful-but-eminently-watchable RomCom on C4 mean it's still late. And salad is never enough to soak up a big bottle of cider is it?

sources
mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad - Delicious, 2005 now the Parsley Book

happy birthday cowley road!

2011-06-11T12:59:00.047+01:00

There is slim food pickings today, for today was the Cowley Road 100th birthday street party and other than the take away we had in the evening, I only had one burger all day. And 1000000 pints of larry lager. Which is odd, as I made a kilo of burger mix, and a big bowl of the cherry tomato and chorizo salad...

Essentially Milo spends all day on a Scooby-Doo-themed bouncy castle, dressed as a Pirate, and we natter and gossip with our neighbours and Miss Kate Smither in the blazing sun, with occasional breaks for drinking, egg and spoon races, barbecue duty, and drinking. Voila!

The bouncy castle outside our flat:

Our amazing pirate and nautical flag bunting:

Hot BBQ-action featuring Barnes Vet's least-fastest winger Paul "Robbo" Robinson, and their least effective tight-head - fight the power kids:

Captain Jack Sparrow:

We're all very tired, and only some serious Marple, a take away from Talad Thai and more wine keep the adults going until bed time. Man, being 100 is tiring.

peter gordon's yellow courgette, chick pea, red onion, chilli, watercress and feta salad

2011-06-10T22:43:00.000+01:00

Another day of absolutely naff all today, other than relentless LinkedIn updating. However, the day is enlivened by a massive storm at lunchtime, and even better, the arrival of our bunting for tomorrow's street party to celebrate it's 100th Birthday! I went for pirate and nautical flags with the thought we might get some re-use out of them over the years. They certainly looked pretty cool strung out across our (mainly empty) desks.

Anyway, with a mighty wedge of burgers booked into the fridge for the BBQ tomorrow, we opt for Peter Gordon's healthy, curiously spicy, yet somehow tres filling courgette and chick pea salad:

Bring on the burgers!

sources
yellow courgette, chickpea, red onion, chilli, watercress and feta salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p56

jill dupleix's sesame chicken salad with cucumber and celery

2011-06-09T15:03:00.008+01:00

Ahhh, whilst most people at work are depressed by our having-to-come-into-work-even-though-there's-no-work-to-actually-do pre-redundancy stance, I choose to see the positives.

1. I get to have a leisurely lunch with Worcestershire's finest staple salesman in Pho, followed by a coffee at Kaffeine (I'll miss you...);
2. I get to have a leisurely read of my book in the park, meaning I'm well on track to make up all the novels I failed to read on holiday due to child entertaining / laughing at Hayley's chins / watching hockey;
3. I get home early enough to help out with Milo's evening routine, which means we can have a relatively early dinner.

Point three is important as we're still suffering slightly from out transatlantic globetrotting. And being fat it turns out, so a zingy chicken salad it is!

Incidentally, yesterday was enlivened by this find from Miss Nicola Morris: http://www.doggelganger.co.nz - go on, you know you want to! Here's me and my doggelganger Grace:

And Ana (on her umpteenth go) and Toodles:

sources
sesame chicken salad with cucumber and celery - Jill Dupleix, the Owl Book

pancetta-wrapped salmon with griddled asparagus and jersey royals

2011-06-08T21:21:00.000+01:00

How can we still be jet-lagged? Despite coming home yesterday morning, and having an afternoon cat nap, Ana still manages to fall asleep for the second night running whilst doing the evening snuggle with Milo. And despite eating my own body weight in Canadian sweets at work, by two o'clock closing my eyes has become quite hazardous...

With an early night looming, more unpacking to do *and* a desperate desire to undo ten days worth of chicken wings, booze, sausages, salami and Timbits, we're back on the healthy stuff. Were we ever off it I wonder?

All in all tonight sees a much more successful skinning of the fillet, (there seems to be a weird extra place on salmon fillets where the flesh sticks to the skin more, like an extra area of fibre - anyway, I've worked that out now), and general crisping of pancetta etc etc.

Strange but true - despite being the asparagus season, I noticed Waitrose's asparagus' comes from Peru. Surely that's not right, particularly as the potatoes are also in season?

Massive Canada post to come

sources
pancetta-wrapped salmon with griddled asparagus and lime creme fraiche - Delicious, June 2010, p23

fino's chorizo and tomato salad, with bread and goat's cheese

2011-06-07T23:31:00.021+01:00

Hmmm, night flights are great aren't they? Especially when you don't want to come home...

All in all it's an odd old culinary day. Having landed this morning, which meant we had to suffer the usual slightly stale airline breakfast fayre, we got back home for lunch. However as this got slightly delayed as we all decided to take a midday three hour cat nap, we didn't eat our sandwiches we'd got at Toronto airport, and I ate the last three Timbits, until five-ish. We also had the first of this year's raspberry and blueberry crops:

One panic drive to East Sheen to get the shopping before Waitrose closed later, we shoveled dinner into Milo, gave him a swift bath and got him into bed for erm, 2200 military hours. This then left us plenty of time to eat Fino's by-now-classic chorizo and tomato salad, which had been marinading all afternoon, whilst reminiscing over the holiday snaps with a glass of wine.

Work tomorrow, *sigh*. Oh Canada - HAIL!

sources
chorizo and tomato salad - Fino, Delicious, July 2006, p59

peter gordon's fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad

2011-05-26T23:09:00.002+01:00

Ooooohhhh - only one sleep to go! With most of the packing at least in piles from last night, the plan tonight is to finish everything off so we can make a swift exit to the Hammer tomorrow, and that means something that either takes two minutes to make, or something that can marinade for a while or, both.

Step forward Peter Gordon's halloumi salad. Compared to our first go (which was nice), tonight's is much better mainly due to the extra time I gave the chestnuts to infuse in the lemon water, and it also gets jazzed up with the addition of some cherry tomatoes lurking in the fridge.

Naturally despite the swiftness of construction, and the fact we only need to stuff things into suitcases, we still don't get to bed until midnight.

sources
fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p65

pancetta-wrapped salmon with griddled asparagus and lime creme fraiche

2011-05-25T21:16:00.007+01:00

I have to say, we're being remarkably un-Barnes-like at the moment. Last night we got the suitcases out, hunted down the passports, printed out our reservation, and went washing mad. Tonight we've actually got piles of clothes ready to either be packed, or for Magda to iron, and even our washing stuff is demi-ready. Could this be the new face of us?

This success is partially fuelled by having a dinner which literally takes half an hour to cook:

I still think we need something else to have with it, although given I'm aiming to eat my body weight in maple syrup the day after tomorrow, maybe this is a good thing.

sources
pancetta-wrapped salmon with griddled asparagus and lime creme fraiche - Delicious, June 2010, p23

jill dupleix's lamb tagliata

2011-05-24T22:11:00.000+01:00

With only three sleeps to go until Operation Seeing Hayley, John, Kieran, Sophie & William in the Hammer, there's not time for flim-flammery in the kitchen. Particularly if I want to finish Anna Karenina before we go...

So, with time being of the essence we fall back on an old classic - Jilly D's lamb tagliata. Interestingly now I've used up the phial of dried rosemary my mum gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago, I've suddenly realised how rosemary-intensive this dish is. It needs loads, but it is ruddy marvellous!

Incidentally, does anybody fancy making a Scotch Egg out of this beauty we spotted in East Sheen Waitrose:

sources
lamb tagliata - Jill Dupleix, Delicious, October 2007, p138

ottolenghi's roast chicken and three-rice salad

2011-05-23T21:14:00.001+01:00

You know the only reason we have roast chicken these days, is so we can have ottolenghi's chicken and rice salad the next day? Tonight team work makes the dream work (© B White), though as whilst I'm reading stories and snuggling up with Milo, Ana's cooking the rice.

However, her input means she's more-then-usually keen-eyed and spots the slightly gelatinous cold chicken gravy in the salad, which causes some concern. Usually it melts into lovely juice as the rice warms up, but due to snuggling/story duties, it's a bit too cold to do it's usual work. Still, it's bladdy delish, and Gelatinous Chicken Juice Gate means I've got loads for lunch tomorrow.

Incidentally, inspired by Brenda's impassioned defence of his new book, I've reappraised the recipes in Delicious, and I'm definitely going to give the cucumber and poppy seed salad a go, and possibly the chargrilled asparagus, courgettes and manouri (whatever that is).

Ash cloud permitting - 4 sleeps and counting until TimBit Mountain

sources
yotam ottolenghi's roast chicken and three-rice salad - Delicious, July 2008, p64

chicken, artichoke and crushed potato salad - recipe

2011-05-23T20:14:00.001+01:00

Brenda, as promised here's that chicken and artichoke salad recipe I was talking about over Easter. I think it's from the Sainsbury's Magazine, and I used to make it in Dyer's Lane, but as Ana is anti-artichoke and olive, it's kind of fallen by the wayside. It's great for picnics, and as such I might resurrect it this year...

Chicken, Artichoke and Crushed Potato Salad
Serves 2 as a meal (or one big picnic portion)

2 chicken breasts
280g jar of artichokes in oil
900g small new potatoes, scrubbed
Juice of one lemon
20g chopped parsley
110g jar of cracked green olives in oil
salt & pepper

1. Steam the new potatoes until tender. It should take about 15 minutes;
2. Put the breasts in a pan and cover with 275ml of water, the olive oil from the artichokes, the lemon juice, parsley and seasoning. Slowly bring to the boil, and then simmer for 2 minutes once it's boiling;
3. After two minutes, turn off the heat and leave to poach for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and cut into chunks. Reduce the rest of the liquid by half. They added a chicken OXO cube to the original water, but I'm not sure it needs it, to be honest;
4. Lightly crush the potatoes with the back of a fork, arrange the artichoke, chicken and olives on top, and pour over the reduced juice. Or crush the potatoes and lob it all into a picnic tub, as you feel.

Let me know what you think.

roast chicken and salad

2011-05-22T21:07:00.001+01:00

Ooooh, I'm definitely suffering with a massive case of man flu, which as we know is the worst sort of flu there is. I'm all bunged up, and my head hurts, all of which gives Ana yet another reason not to hold my hand in public just in case she gets it, and our whole holiday is ruined.

Still, it's a fairly nice, if blustery day of activity. We do a massive round trip of tip-Kew Retail Centre-Waitrose, and get back in time for some minor tidying, and getting the chicken in the oven before today's guest, Mr Peter M Leary, puts in an appearance.

Not only that, we manage to sit outside in the garden for dinner, with only minor trips inside to watch The Gruffalo, change the DVD, put the Cbeebies Panto on etc. Minor carping aside, he's been brilliant this weekend, the best boy ever.

Food of the Milos (and Ana and Russell)
Breakfast: Nibbles, followed by his new post-nibbles-pre-breakfast snack, an ice lolly. We then all have some very unsuccessful poached eggs. They were new eggs from the shop, so I can only either assume a) they were old there, or b) my pan was too big;
Late Lunch/Dinner: Roast chicken, with salad and our new crack, potato and rosemary sourdough bread from Gail's Bakery. This was supplemented by two bags of Tyrells and plenty of wine.

Am now officially excited about Canada. I don't know what to have first, TimBits or Wings? Or both? 5 sleeps to go and then we'll find out...

peter gordon's puy lentil, avocado, green bean and baby gem salad & bill granger's chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo

2011-05-21T21:07:00.000+01:00

Sometimes I don't know how Ana copes with looking after Milo all day, it's knackering. Not that he wasn't an amazingly good boy today, really funny and good, but jeez louise I did not stop from the time he got up until he finally collapsed.

Whilst Ana had a tactical hair appointment, taking up most of the day, we cycled to the post office to pick up some parcels. As we were there it seemed rude not to play in Mortlake playground for an hour or so, before cycling back and then going to Brentford Fountains for an hours swimming, diving off the side, and playing total wipeout on the big floats. Only managing to lure him out with the promise of an ice cream, we eventually got home for a late, late lunch - Peter Gordon's puy lentil, avocado, green bean and baby gem salad:

There was a lot riding on this, given our current fixation with the Salad book, doubly so as this was the recipe which finally convinced us to give it the book a chance, but sadly it didn't quite deliver. Fair enough I forgot the sage, and the lentils were still a little warm because we were starving, but it just didn't have as much oompf as the other recipes we've tried. It's particularly odd as it's got pomegranate molasses in, which are really umami. I'll see what two days in the fridge does for the flavours at work on Monday.

Still, it gave us the energy to get an ice cream on the walk to The Treehouse, have a pint (or two) in the baking sun, and eventually get Milo's dinner. With him asleep, we get to have some warming soup whilst watching Wallander on BBC4...

It's perfect - hearty, spicy and filling - which is just as well as I'm clearly not used to daddy care and am suffering...

Food of the Milos (and Ana and Russell)
Breakfast: Porridge all round, with some toast;
Lunch: We had the lentil salad, he was fuelled by post-swimming snacks and crisps, and a plate of spaghetti with veggie sauce;
Dinner: Sausages, chips and broccoli at the pub for him, soup for ice. Incidentally, has anybody tried Lindt's chocolate with sea salt? It's totally dreamy...

sources
puy lentil, avocado, green bean and baby gem salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p48
chick pea and tomato soup with chorizo and green chilli - Bill Granger, Delicious, February 2008 p68

heston's pea & pancetta spaghetti

2011-05-19T21:58:00.000+01:00

Ana's out tonight, whooping it up with the Hurlingham girls at Kate's. This leaves me home alone, with only a bottle of my dad's apricot brandy and my new comedy fixation, Bleak Expectations, for comfort. Harrumble indeed!

However, spoof Dickensian comedy and high proof home brew only feel the soul, the stomach requires something more substantial. However, can anybody tell me what's missing from this by-now-classic Heston dish?

Pancetta is the obvious answer, but I presume you all noticed the lack of egg yolks? I only had one which whilst hardly disastrous, certainly made it less unctuous.

sources
heston's pea & pancetta spaghetti - Waitrose Weekend, 16th September, p10

cheesy gnocchi with parma ham

2011-05-18T21:47:00.001+01:00

Does anybody else have blind spots for things in magazines? My particular one in Delicious is the Assembly Chef section. I don't count A Webb's history of whatever, because I actively avoid those, but Assembly Chef is just meh, and therefore below my contempt/interest.

But, if ever I need to justify this ennui to it I can now simply come back to this dish - an experimental cheesy gnocchi, with parma ham and antipasti:

It was okay *at best* but could've been so much better. However what with the antipasti and it's oil, and lightly oiling the casserole, and melting mozzarella over the top, it just became a greasy, clagfest, and gnocchi doesn't need any extra clag. One to avoid.

sources
cheesy gnocchi with parma ham - Delicious, June 2011, p29

peter gordon's warm salad of chorizo, olive, potato, peas and green beans, with rocket

2011-05-17T20:44:00.013+01:00

Glory be! Could it be another experimental salad from the Peter Gordon book? Lucy you are never getting it back...

Again, it initially looked v complicated, but was actually just a number of smallish prep steps, inevitably involving blanching stuff, and then piling it all on the plate. Another winner - marvellous!

Food of the Milos
Another busy day gymnastic-ing, play-dating-ing, and hiding from Mummy in bushes in the park. I wish I was 3 1/2 again...
Breakfast: Nibbles - the usual;
Lunch: Lunch at James and Ben - macaroni cheese and a rocket ice lolly;
Dinner: Spaghetti and pasta sauce;
Incidentally, Ana has decreed she's fed up of remembering what he had for dinner, particularly as it's broadly the same stuff, so unless something different happens - playdate, eating out, starts chowing down on Kudu, etc - she wants to kill this bit of the blog.

sources
warm salad of chorizo, olive, potato, peas and green beans, with rocket - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p115

peter gordon's fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad

2011-05-16T21:49:00.045+01:00

How about THAT for a snappy title? Having ignored the book Brenda so kindly gave us, for all of a year, we seem to have suddenly gone Peter Gordon salad crazy.

I have to say he looks a complete knob on the flyleaf, and one of the reasons I've steered clear of trying any of his recipes is whilst looking amazing, they all come with a list of ingredients as long as your arm, and multiple, seemingly finicky, stages. However *however* I realise now this is a cunning ploy, because if you ignore the faffy bits (we did not soak our halloumi for 24 hours beforehand), these are some of the easiest salads I've ever made, all of them have looked incredible, they've all been really tasty, and are surprisingly filling:

If the idea of blanching veg isn't scary, and you don't mind doing several different, smallish tasks to construct dinner, these should be a doddle! Oh also, interestingly enough eagle-eyed Ana pointed out whilst the recipe called for hazelnuts, the photo in the book clearly uses pecans - take that celebrity chefs!

Canada Excitement News: After Bikini Blitz, Ana spent several hours choosing some actual swimwear to take to Wolf Creek (or whatever it's called), and I found $19.89CAN in the cupboard. It includes one Looney. 10 days to go...

Food of the Milos
TBC

sources
fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p65

jill dupleix's sesame chicken salad with cucumber and celery

2011-05-15T21:35:00.023+01:00

It's an odd sort of day today. We do a lot of little things, but the weather doesn't really play ball until late afternoon, which makes it seem longer than necessary. It doesn't really matter in the morning because we're visiting the Natural History Museum with Kendra, Brian and Finn, so the weather can do what it wants.

It's fairly blowy during our picnic outside the wildlife garden, but starts raining on the way home. And then stops, so I start doing some gardening, and then it starts again - FFS! However, by the end of the day it's lovely, I've hacked out the dead ivy from the back wall which encouraged our resident robins to spend a good 20 minutes hovering about a foot from me, swooping up insects, and Ana has already begun sorting our her holiday wardrobe.

With monkey in bed we have one of our favourite salads, with an exciting bottle of cider we saw in Waitrose yesterday, and justified buying because we didn't buy any muesli. Hmmm, muesli or cider - should we really have bought the booze?

Food of the Milos
Suddenly his gargantuan appetite has withered slightly, which can only be a good thing as we've mainly got salad on the menu.
Breakfast: Nibbles - ham, cheese, apple, and more ham;
Lunch: A roll from the museum and crisps. Luckily for us (although not our waistlines) he wasn't keen on the blueberry muffin;
Dinner: Veggie pasta sauce made with our remaining passata, courgettes, mini broccoli, onions, tomatoes, garlic and spinach all blitzed together and simmered.

sources
sesame chicken salad with cucumber and celery - Jill Dupleix, the Owl Book