vietnamese beef noodle soup

*False dawn alert* Oh look, I've updated the blog. Finally. Again. Although I've learned my lesson this time and I'm not promising anything about catching up with stuff between now and Christmas. Maybe after St Michaelmas day I'll get back on it, when everybody's given up the booze for January...

Anyhoo, tonight's super-soaraway update doesn't feature yet another amazing dish by Ana Louise, who's been parachuted in to feed the Barnes clan whilst I'm poncing about the City - although you've got plenty of those to come, don't worry Anagella fans! No tonight, we're rocking a zingy, easy-to-make, flavour-packed soup, that slaps any lurking cold and 'flu germs around the chops, and physically injects healthy good vibes into your system.

Naturally now she's a Masterchef, Ana has many opinions, the least of which she doesn't like the Thai basil in it. God, I wish she'd never learned.

Wine Time
Erm, it's ages since I've done this, so forgive me if I'm slightly out of practice, and as such I'm going to go either with a super-dry Riesling as it's full of the same racy lime flavours and acidity as the soup, with a great bite of minerality to give it some body.


sources
vietnamese beef noodle soup - Waitrose Kitchen, Feburary 2012, p88

Almost 40

After desperately chasing my youth in the pub with Charlie and Gavroche from work - including getting accidentally sprayed with shampagum by a waitress - today I wake up ever-so slightly older.

Sadly Milo doesn't respect my new-found wisdom and a) wakes up heinously early and demands nibbles, and b) tells me he's not going to tell me about my surprise breakfast, which the lovely Ana cooks whilst I have a much-needed post-nibble snooze.

Even better, after a leisurely breakfast/game of Lego, we head out for a birthday Gourmet Burger - which I've craved since he was born - before buying a birthday table cloth (which I've also craved) and some birthday flowers (which I've also apparently desired for ages), and hurrying back to prep dinner.

The thing is I don't really feel a massive urge to go out, but I do fancy a nice dinner, with booze and friends. But I'm not cooking it all as it's my freaking birthday!

Kendra Kats, sans the sickly Brian, turns up with a wooden boat full of crudites, and Hugh's carrot houmous and dukka, which turns out to be almost fatally more filling than we thought.

We weigh in with classic Bill Granger Kashmiri potatoes, dhal with lime and fragrant chicken and spinach curry. Which myself and Greg bravely soldier through for the greater good of the ladies waistlines.

Having eaten our weight in dinner (well, hopefully not mine and Greg's), Spandy comes up trumps not only eschewing her standard Lemon Soup, but turning up with an amazing plum crumble cake AND musical candle arrangement. Luckily off-setting my silly hair.

Happy Birthday me. 39 years and now stone.

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's vedgeree

After the first of the year's Christmas corporate tastings last night (Christmas in October - wtf?), tonight we hit the Hugh double, and it's a controversial number: Hugh's Vedgeree.

It's controversial for a couple of reasons; One, it wasn't the best thing I cooked last time, lacking something and being a bit bland really. I'd confined it to the experimental bin to be honest, so it was a bit of a curve ball when Ana decided it looked delicious - and that's even with her personal kryptonite, aubergine. Even more controversially, I sort of managed to burn the veg...

The egg doesn't look that sharp either does it? As it happens though, it's a marked improvement on the last effort: I used more spices this time, and the poached egg (Ana's was much better, I promise) I think is a better option than soft-boiled, as you can you at least guarantee you've got some yolk to help moisten the otherwise-dry-ish rice dish.

Are we going to have it again? Lord knows - it's probably more likely than it was, but I might have to work on my poaching technique at least. Anybody else convinced?

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

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

Ooooh finally it's getting a bit Autumnal - at least the nice bit of Autumn: It's bright and crisp, clear and erm, even. Well not even, but bright, sunny, and lovely. It's a pleasure cycling in, and even quite nice winging it back, having a quick play with monkey and roasting me 'nips whilst snuggling up in bed with him.

This is definitely not a summer salad: It's earthy and surprisingly hearty (if you eat the whole thing between the two of you, despite the fact it's supposed to serve four people), but it's freshened by the peppery watercress, and the dressing spiked with garlic and mustard.

Wine Time
See what I said above? Garlic, mustard, lemon, earthy lentils and hefty parsnips. Oh and peppery watercress - that's a whole lot of flavours that need taming-slash-balancing.

I'm a bit torn with this one; on the one hand I think something like a warming, white Burgundy would work: It's acidic, warming and has a big enough body to stand up to the lentils.

On the other hand I reckon something juicy with some pepperiness would probably work equally be good, like a Cotes du Rhone villages. Conflicted, or what?

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

hugh fearnley-whittingstall's pasta with raw tomato

Another month goes by, and once more I've failed to do any updates. Hurrah for me, or not - hey ho. What better way to kick-start yet-another second coming, than with another Ana smasher?

Tonight, whilst I'm doing the circuits in the rain, she's gamely de-seeding and de-skinning tomatoes, before pushing it all through a sieve, and then marinading it all. She blinking loves it, although of course she doesn't and finds it all a massive pfaff and will. never. cook. it. again.

I could've told her this of course, having made a similar Bill Granger number when we were in Wundy Wullington, but she needs to find these things out for herself. Plus I was battling burping up snails and Barolo, and trying not to be sick in a park of course, so I couldn't tell her.

It is however, very, very lovely, so she's going to have to make it again next week:

Wine Time
I might have mentioned this before somewhere, but what's going on here - other than spiky garlic and peppery basil - is a whole load of acidic tomato, which as we all know, needs something equally acidic to balance it. The key difference to my amazing video debut, is the tomatoes aren't cooked, and whilst red wine nails a ragu it completely overpowers the raw fruit.

This is a zesty dish, so you'd want something similarly zingy, with some fleshiness to it to work with the weight of the pasta. I thinking a good, bone-dry, Provencal Rose would go down a storm, as would something like an Albarino from Spain or even something like a Loire Sauvignon - or even better, given the peppery herbs, a Rhone pink might just be perfect.

Sources
pasta with raw tomato - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Everyday! p254

nigel slater's orzo with courgettes and grana padano

We're back to a full house tonight as Kay and Mike are up for the night before they skive off to Croatia on holiday, although the squeeze is slightly alleviated as it's a Bikini Blitz tonight. So whilst I'm out working on my running technique (apparently your legs have to cycle like you're riding a bike), Ana is at home getting all experimental with her favourite veg - the courgette.

It's a surprisingly great meal. Not surprising because Ana cooked it I hasten to add, but the way the sweet veg harmonises with the orzo and smokey/salty bacon. She may cook it again, but only if she can find the recipe again.

Here's a thing though, what's the point of The Observer Food Monthly? It just seems to be the personal PR department for Nigel Slater. It's very dull.

Wine Time
Anybody want to guess what the dominant flavours here are? It's going to be the salty cheese or the pancetta depending on how smoked it is, either way you'll probably onto a winner with a lighter red like a Beaujolais or a New World Pinot. If you fancy a white, how about a dry, mineral Riesling to cut through the fattiness?

Sources
orzo with courgettes and grana padano - Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries II, via The Observer

spiced chicken and lentil soup

This looks properly delicious doesn't it?

Okay, so not as delicious as it tastes, but this Waitrose spiced chicken and lentil soup is a properly good meal, and I promise there is loads of chicken and lentils just under the veg, at the bottom of the bowl.

I love making this meal: I love boiling up the chicken carcasses (I use two), I love the earthy flavours of the lentils and spices, and I love the feeling of virtuousness it gives you eating it.

Unfortunately Ana does not love it as much. Well she does, but she particularly does not love the extensive time it takes to cook, particularly as after yesterday's late night back from Dave & Lucy's, and she wants Milo in bed early rather than watching DVDs late, waiting for the soup to cook. Still, carcasses!

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