The Food Of Jeff!

Chish-A-Fips Again

2012-01-31T20:49:00.000Z

What sort of food blogger would I be if I were not to give a big shoutout and warm welcome back to my friends Jamie and Liz Entwistle, who are the owners of St. Michaels Fish and Chips! I say welcome back because, if ya didn't know, they have been busy since October moving into their new premises (the St.Michaels Post Office, of which Liz is the new postmistress. The right-hand side of the building is now the chippy) and doing it up, ready for business. Including the car park, which they improved and expanded. As a thank you to all their loyal customers for waiting so long for their favourite chippy to reopen, Liz and Jamie are offering half-price fish and chips today and tomorrow. I nipped in there at lunchtime and purchased some noms for myself, Laura, and Josh, and they are as good as ever, if not better. Well done to you both!! Get in there and grab yourself some, people. You won't regret it.

Name This Food: C'mon Guys...

2012-01-30T20:20:00.001Z

...you're not even trying. The last Name This Food! asked what this was...

and despite its slightly odd appearance, I cannot believe that none of you even took a guess. This is that favourite dish beloved of most people over the age of about 2 - PIZZA. Yes, pizza. I know, the ingredients look a little unfamiliar, but there it is - some kind of meat, cheese and veg on top of a round of dough. Pizza.

OK, I made it tough because it would have been way too easy if I'd just used a shot of a Domino's or Papa John's. Speaking of which, all you American types that are fancying a visit here to the British Isles - we have Papa John's here. Yes. I mean, we've had Pizza hut and Domino's for years, but I was taken aback when I came back two years ago (has it really been two years? Yes folks, it has) and saw a Papa John's not far away in Ashford. But I digress. Would you like to have a recipe for the best and yummiest pizza dough ever? Wouldya? Huh? Of course you would. I found this recipe years ago in a copy of Woman's Day. What was I doing reading Woman's Day, you ask? Never you mind. OK, I'll fess up. I was clipping recipes. In my frilly apron.
OK, the best thing about this recipe is that it's freezable. Just pop the dough into a Ziploc and freeze for up to three months. I did this very successfully. I made some memorable (this had to be about 1995 - yes, that memorable) calzones and a huge veggie pizza with this the first time round and it was fab. OK, here's the link... http://www.womansday.com/recipefinder/easy-pizza-dough-recipe-120432

So, now I have to decide on the next Name This Food! food. Hmmm.

Name This Food!

eat @ the Stade

2012-01-30T20:01:00.000Z

Last week we had occasion to visit the sunny seaside resort of Hastings-by-the-Sea. Of course, it being January, it wasn't very sunny. In fact it was overcast, very cold and windy. But did that dampen our spirits? Did it heck! Not only did we have a jolly whizzy time investigating all the shops in the Old Town, after an hour or two we were downright hungry. As chance would have it we stepped into the shelter of a place known as...

What a lovely place this is. Friendly service, which can make or break a dining establishment, was much in evidence. It was clean and light and airy, and the menu was full of interesting food and good information. Pretty much everything is locally sourced, locally grown, free range... even the margarine they use is vegan.

And so the food came out. I had ordered the veggie version of the full English...

Two eggs, rye toast, hash brown, sauteed mushrooms, beans, veggie sausage and veggie bacon. A lot of people I know personally would not eat veggie bacon purely because it sounds wrong. My approach with veggie versions of meat is to treat it not as if it is pretend meat, but as if it is a whole new food that tastes a bit like meat. Much better approach.

Sis had the ham, egg and chips, which came with a side salad. Nice.

Laura's burger was epic. So epic, in fact, I had to take two pictures of it.

They ran out of chips while making her food, so they brought out a bowlful a bit later.

Lovely cheesy bacon burger.

For those that are unfamiliar with Hastings, The Stade is a shingle beach, situated in Hastings Old Town. It has been used for beaching boats for over a thousand years, a use which continues to this day: it is now home to Europe's largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats.
The word ‘Stade’ is an old Saxon term meaning "landing place", and dates from before the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
It was originally a small landing area, hence the small footprint of the net shops. However, the building of the 1887 groyne at Rock-A-Nore and the 1896 harbour stopped the eastward longshore transport of shingle along the coast, which is the function of groynes. As a result, the Stade steadily grew out to seaward, providing new room for the fishing fleet and many amenities. A car, coach and lorry park was built at The Stade and eat@ The Stade is adjacent to the new Jerwood Gallery, both of which appeared after the demolition in 2010 of Tom's Cabin, an old place that sold ice creams and candy floss to summer visitors for many years.

The interior, as I said is light and airy and spacious.

And the coffee? Well, it's damn good. That counts for a lot in my book.

Can't wait to go there again and try some more menu items... maybe something from the specials board next time.

Dark Chocolate Mocha

2012-01-30T19:24:00.002Z

Caffe Nero, Dark Chocolate Mocha. That is all.

Soup of the Day

2012-01-30T19:17:00.001Z

It was a rainy day in Tenterden and Laura and I were not only feeling damp and a bit cold, but also in need of some sustenance. We were, as you might say, a bit peckish. So we stopped into Zest (which I've mentioned before in these hallowed digitally-created pages) for a light bite. We both plumped for the soup of the day, a very yummy leek and potato with a fine selection of breads, and decided to also split a serving of some of the chippiest chips ever. Quite delicious and satisfying!

Scrummy.

If you're in Tenterden and you're feeling a little esurient (Google it, people), look no further. Tenterden has some lovely eateries and among the best is Zest. Delicious stuff.

Worry No More, Coeliacs

2012-01-30T19:09:00.001Z

These days the problem of gluten intolerance is becoming more and more prevalent, it seems. Years ago nobody had even heard of it, but lots of people were getting sick or feeling just lousy all the time and no-one knew what the heck it was all about. Then research into food allergies revealed just how widespread this particular problem was. Trouble was if you wanted to find gluten-free foods you had to go to freaky little out-of-the-way health food shops and oddball grocery stores (I kinda prefer those, frankly - they make shopping for groceries into an adventure). My friend Jeremy, whose celiac (or coeliac if you're British - we like that Latin spelling) disease was diagnosed a few years back, used to order his gluten-free stuff in bulk from Amazon. Then you started to see these kinds of things on your regular supermarket shelves - just a few at first, then more and more, until now you go into Tesco and there are two whole sections of wheat-free and gluten-free foods, and as you can see by the pics below, it isn't all hippie food - there's lots of chocolatey thingies too. Take a gander. Click on the pics to see them full size.

Well done, Tesco. I for one salute you.

Get Corny Now

2012-01-14T23:05:00.000Z

So like I said, it's been a while, and folks, I haven't forgotten - Name This Food needs to be continued. I just cannot leave you all hanging. Of course I am sure most of you knew the answer - it's good ol' CORN.

Corn, or to be technically correct, maize, is a grain which has been domesticated and grown from prehistoric times. And no wonder - it's dead easy to grow, and simple to prepare, and wonderfully versatile. I mean, I could go on and on about what can be made from it or with it, but I'd probably be preaching to the choir. As a plant it is the most widely grown crop in the Americas.

In fact, it is so easy to grow you can even grow your own. That's what I'm planning to do this year. No land? You can grow it in a big container on your patio. C'mon, I dare you to do it. It's pretty much foolproof, so why not? What's stopping you?

I'll just leave you with the next poser...

Name This Food!

Oh... and Kooshti Sante!

We Be Gammon'

2012-01-14T22:38:00.001Z

Oh Gawd, I am seriously slacking. It has been weeks since I put anything on the blog. I wouldn't want you all to think I'd somehow given up, quit, gone and left you for some other blog somewhere, it's just been a combination of factors - a deadly combination at that, of too much other stuff to fill my head, too many distractions (damn you Angry Birds!) and a serious case of can't-be-arsed.

So let's start off the New Year with a food review shall we?

Now, I've been to the White Lion a good few times since the blog's inception and made mention of it often. However, I am gonna do it again simply because I went there the other day and despite the 2 for £10 menu being conspicuous by its absence, we hooved heartily on some fine noms and it didn't break the bank.

This was on the 30th December and people were there in force, still having big get-togethers that they hadn't managed to squeeze into the rest of 2011, so the place was busy. We didn't have any trouble getting a table though, and so we perused our fine choices.

Now I am not the sort of person that decides ahead of time what I am in the mood for - I just know when I want to eat. I know some people will choose an eaterie purely based on what they feel like eating, but I cannot narrow it down like that. I'm wide open when it comes to making a dining choice. Wherever I go to eat, I look at the menu and can narrow it down to at least three or four options before the wait-person turns to me and gives me that look that says, "Whattya want mister?". The challenge then is to make a snap decision and not make them wait forever. Luckily, though, I had made my drink decision early, and ordered a pint of Redbreast Ale.

Laura had decided on a burger, but not just any burger. The Lion does two burgers - the Classic, which even though it's just a basic burger is no slouch - it's always frickin' huge for a start - and The Works, which has everything on it, including bacon and mature Cheddar, and comes with a side salad, chips, onion rings and onion relish. Massive, and she struggled with it a bit.

Myself, I had narrowed it down to three items and blindly picked one, which was a good move - the 10oz Horseshoe Gammon Steak, which comes with chips, a fried egg and a slice of roasted fresh pineapple. Now personally I like the pineapple, but I know some people loathe it. I am also aware, having lived in the States for a considerable number of years, that Americans may be scratching their heads and saying - "What is Gammon Steak?"

I know you can't see the chips, but trust me, there's a huge mound underneath that big slab of Gammon.

Well, as you might have guessed, the word Gammon comes from the old Northern French word jambe, meaning leg, referring to the hind leg of the pig. That's right, we're talking ham here. Gammon steak is a thick cut slice of whole ham, which in this case was grilled (to perfection, I might add) and laid on top of a big mound of fries (beautifully cooked also). The fried egg was just heavenly, not too done, nice runny yolk, and the roasting of the pineapple brought out the sweetness just nicely.

Now I know the Lion is in the habit of changing its menu quite often, but this baby is usually a mainstay. Unsurprisingly.

A definite four and three-quarter yums out of a possible 5!

Bread Sauce = Heaven

2011-12-25T18:04:00.002Z

I am a big fat lump of humanity stuffed full of Christmas yummies. I made Christmas lunch today, which consisted of the obligatory turkey, roast potatoes and parsnips, peas, swede, brussels sprouts, carrots, corn, stuffing, gravy, mini sausages wrapped in bacon etc. However I decided I was going to make my favorite turkey accessory - bread sauce. I tweeted and updated my Facebook status accordingly. My buddy Marissa was perplexed as to what this was, and since I am in the mood, and it's a simple recipe, I will provide this recipe forthwith. It's very simple. All you need is:

Onions
Cloves
Milk
White bread

I took three medium-smallish onions, cut off the tops and bottoms and peeled them. Then, I take some cloves and stud the onions in a ring around each one, about a third of the way up the side. Sit the studded onions in a saucepan and fill it with milk to about two-thirds of the way up the side of the onions, and then simmer on a low heat until the onions are soft. This is the bit that throws people off now - discard the onions. What you have now is hot milk infused with clove and onion flavour. Take some slices of white bread and remove the crust, then break the slices into little pieces and add to the hot milk. Stir every so often till you get a sort of thick lumpy custard consistency, then what I did was take a potato masher and mash the mixture a few times to break up any larger bread pieces. Et voila! Bread sauce! The best thing for turkey and taters, believe you me. Try it, you'll wonder how you ate turkey without it.

Bit(e)s and Pieces

2011-12-13T19:45:00.000Z

"It's been a long time
I shouldna left you
Without a strong rhyme to step to..." -- Eric B. & Rakim

Yes, I apologise folks. I really do. I simply have not had that much to write about recently, foodwise. Not that I haven't been eating, mind. Oh, don't fret about that. I've been eating alright. Perhaps a little too much.

That's the trouble with this time of year, isn't it? As soon as the weather turns cold and the clocks change and it starts getting dark around 4 pm, we just want to go home and stay warm and consume mass quantities of comforting noms. And they're not always the healthy kind, are they? Oh no! It's like bring on the sugar and carbs!! load me up! and before you know it your favourite trousers are, well, a little snug, shall we say.

Anyhoo, I just wanted to write a little bit about some of the new and delish morsels I've recently consumed with so much gusto. First up is a new flavour of yogurt, kindly provided by the yogurt boffins over at Ski Yogurt. It's a limited edition pack containing two flavours - vanilla (which I actually found to be a bit insipid) and Toffee Apple, which kicks butt!!

Very nice balance of the caramel toffee flavour and sweet apple. Delicious. Good one, Ski. Need to work on that Vanilla though.

Next is something I discovered a few weeks ago, in the pub of all places. Brannigan's Crisps are made by KP snacks, which became part of United Biscuits back in '68. United also manufacture McCoy's Crisps, which are ridged, and very nice, as well as usually cheaper than most other brands. But I digress. I like Brannigan's because they are a nice thick cut, and the flavours are fab. The two I've tried so far are...

Lovely Roast Beef and Mustard...

Smoked Ham & Pickle - yum.

However, there is one variety I have not yet tasted and I cannot wait to get my hands on a bag.

Oh my.

It's the little things in life, I know.

Lastly I had this little titbit brought home for me from Waitrose the other day...

Yes, it's a brioche. But when I bit into it, a sweet pocket of raspberry jam was inside, oozing with fruity yumminess. Oh heck yeah. If you're in Waitrose, ya gotta get some of these 'brioches a tête' as they are known. But wait until the end of the day when they start marking stuff down, because Waitrose is great, but expensive.

Kooshti Sante!

Sacre Beaujolais

2011-11-22T19:57:00.001Z

On the 17th of November the 2011 vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau was released. Our local wine shop Liquid Pleasure was lucky enough to procure 20 cases of said beverage and they sold out in a matter of hours. However, this was not before we had purchased one of the few remaining bottles. This is a lovely exuberant red wine, and I think probably the best Nouveau I've tasted, and believe me - I've tasted a few.

Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the Gamay grape. The 2011 vintage, a year characterised by unusual weather leading to relatively early harvests, appears to have provided higher quality wine from fewer grapes. The 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau was harvested early and could mature a bit longer until the traditional third Thursday of November.

A decree in 1951 allowed the sale of wines from the same year. At first the starting date was in December and Beaujolais growers managed to get that pushed back to mid-November.

In the beginning, the new Beaujolais was mainly a festive event in the wine bars of the city of Lyon, just 30 km south of the growing area and still the epicentre of the increasingly global Beaujolais bash with a midnight party that sees 400 litres of the wine being served in just half an hour.

In 1966, the 250 stores of the wine retail chain Nicolas in Paris started a special Beaujolais Nouveau operation and later firms such as Georges Duboeuf took the wine to export markets.

Duboeuf, born in 1933, earned the monickers "King of Beaujolais" and "Pope of Beaujolais" for his efforts in promoting the wine that makes up one third of the production of the Beaujolais area - the rest is sold at a more mature age.

Duboeuf still runs the firm with his son Franck and will be present at a Beaujolais party in the United States, a key market.

In 2010, 35 million bottles of the wine were put on the market. Some 7.5 million were sold in French supermarkets and 15.5 million were exported, the rest went to bars, off-licence stores and restaurants.

The biggest consuming region in France is Paris with 1.3 million bottles.

Japan was the biggest export market with seven million, followed by the United States with 2.4 million and Germany with 1.2 million.

There are many other "new" wines in France or Italy, but the phrase 'Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrivé" remains the clarion call in France for the first taste of the vintage year.

Well, all I can say is, it's a damn tasty bottle and you should get yourself some while there's still some to be had. You can get it from Ocado here in the UK for £5.99 a bottle. http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/show/18516011

In the States, try http://www.winechateau.com/sku1698831_GEORGES-DUBOEUF-BEAUJOLAIS-NOUVEAU-750ML-2011 for $8.89 a bottle.

Kooshti sante!

Rovin' At Rolvenden

2011-11-11T21:22:00.001Z

Yesterday I went to Rolvenden. My Grandad lives over there and we had cause to go see him. When we got there, he'd already been to the Thursday morning Farmer's Market that takes place in the Village Hall and the church of St Mary the Virgin. I hadn't been to the Farmer's market for a long time so Amy and I slipped up there for a good snoop around for some yummy treats.

The first stall I came across was the wonderful locally produced veg stall which as always was right inside the door of the village hall in the lobby. I didn't procure anything from them but their veggies looked fab, and the size of their parsnips had to be seen to be believed!

As I entered the main part of the hall, the first stall I encountered was the one of Cranbrook Conserves. Not content with displaying their jams and chutneys etc, which were delicious as well as wide-ranging, they also had fresh English apples, locally grown, including my absolute favourite, the Russet. Apple lovers believe that Russets are the best tasting apples. They tend to have a spicy, nutty, pronounced and sweet flavour and a slightly dry texture. A truly amazing eating and cooking apple. Unsurprisingly, they have “russeting” on the skin – patches that are a different colour from the rest of the apple, and that give the apple a sandpapery, leathery texture. The colour of the russeting can be golden brown, burnt umber, silvery or grey.

The lady at the stall was giving out samples of the Russets and so I greedily gobbled them up. I am not ashamed to admit it. This is one of the reasons I like to go to Farmer's Markets - there are always samples to try, and you never know what you might find.
The lady also had freshly picked salad leaves in little plastic bags. I'd had some of those before and they are so much better than ones you find in the shops, and because they're picked locally you can rest easy knowing they haven't had to travel hundreds of miles from where they were grown to get to your dinner table.

The next stall I stopped at was Catherine Jordan Cakes, run by Catherine, an ex pastry chef lecturer, who bakes cakes, scones, biscuits, tarts and pies using seasonal local ingredients. She also makes special cakes to order. What caught my eye was an apple pie. It was a small one, but for an individual pie it was a corker. Here's me about to tuck in...

A pretty decent sized pie, I trust you'll agree.

She has no website as yet, but you can get a hold of her at 07528 458444. Catch her at various farmer's markets including Warehorne, Hythe, Elham and Sandgate.

Moving along past the lady from Appledene Alpacas with her wonderful Alpaca wool products (those socks are amazingly soft!) we happened upon the folks from BubbySue's who, well, do a bit of everything! As well as a fine selection of preserves they had locally made booze including Damson Gin, Damson Brandy, Cherry Brandy, Orange Liqueurs and a liqueur made from bullace, which is a kind of wild plum. They also had a ton of cheeses and meats including a hench pack of bacon for £10 that weighed a staggering 2.268 kilos. That's pretty much 5 pounds of freshly made, unadulterated, unfooled around with bacon for only ten notes. You just can't find deals like that every day, unfortunately being a little brassic I decided maybe next time. They also had homemade sausages and some fantastic looking pancetta and prosciutto.

We stepped over to a bakery stall (can't remember the name now) and bought some lovely bread, then went over to the stall of Daisy and Polly's Apple Juice. They make their juice from their own orchard in Hawkhurst, using Bramley apples for a Dry taste and Golden delicious for a sweeter juice. I tried both and picked the Bramley apple (pun intended) which was lovely and sharp.

We then walked over to the church to see the other stalls and it was a good thing we did. First of all it is quite something to see this 14th Century church (well, the chancel was completed in 1210 but the rest is 14th Century) being used for market stalls, it's unusual but it works.

The stalls in the church included our old friends from Silcocks, as well as the lovely people from VJ Game (contact: Dawn & Vince Elliott, Shaun Hull 01424 883060/01580 200516 / 07788 ) and Farmer Palmer who both do lovely meats. Farmer Palmer had a nice sample of chorizo while VJ were handing out samples of their new Wild Boar Black pudding which was fab.

But as I turned around I met a wondrous sight. Lots of lovely baked goodies including quiches, pies, pasties and sausage rolls...

and some seriously big-ass samples, proper mouthfuls. This was the stall of Frasers from Egerton near Ashford. The lady serving was Jo Morrin and she sold us some of the most humongous sausage rolls ever.

I'm not kidding, these were some big sausage rolls. Wanna see?

Big as your fist. And tasty too!

Next to Jo was a lady from Woodside Farm in Benenden, selling air-dried lamb. This was kinda like a softer, moister version of jerky but waaay more delicious. It was sold in different sizes from different cuts of meat. I particularly liked the idea of the salad sprinkles - it was like a more sophisticated version of bacon bits.

Last but not least we sampled the wares of The Artisan Chocolate Workshop. Need I say more? Just click the link.

All in all a good morning, with some stellar buys and more to put on our wish list.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

2011-10-16T22:48:00.000+01:00

Those were the days. Back in the 70s and 80s my sister and I would at times go on little excursions with our Mum, either to Maidstone or Ashford, usually on the bus. Usually these trips involved lots of tromping around shops and were quite tiring. I think these little shopping trips were the genesis of my and Sis's great dislike of shopping in general. However there was always light at the end of the tunnel - there was usually food to be had at some point. In both Ashford and Maidstone there were (and are, still) plenty of eateries, but the one that endures in the memory for me at least is the Wimpy. Nice burgers, breakfasts, chips etc. and a wonderful dessert menu that included such decadent delights as the Banana Boat (a version of the banana split), the Knickerbocker Glory (sadly no longer available) and my favourite, the fiendishly simple, er, sinful Brown Derby, a fresh doughnut topped with Tastee-Freez ice cream and chocolate sauce, and a sprinkle of nuts.

You may now drool.

Well, on Saturday Laura and I went to Maidstone and I was craving Wimpy before we even got off the bus. I knew what I wanted. But let us flash back a little in time...

The Wimpy brand was created in the 1930s. The name was inspired by the character of J. Wellington Wimpy, the perpetually hungry "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" character from the Popeye cartoons created by E. C. Segar. Eddie Gold was running 12 restaurants by the early 1950s, when the concept of fast food came to the attention of the directors of J. Lyons and Co. Lyons licensed the brand for use in the United Kingdom and in 1954 the first "Wimpy Bar" Lyons was established at the Lyons Corner House in Coventry Street, London. Originally the bar was a special fast-food section within the more traditional Corner House restaurants, but the success soon led to the establishment of separate Wimpy restaurants serving only hamburger based meals. By 1970 the business had expanded to over a thousand restaurants in 23 countries.

In 1974 McDonalds opened their first UK restaurant, and by the late 70s Wimpy was beginning to feel the pinch. United Biscuits acquired them in 1977, and so began the conversion of some of the 'table service' restaurants to counter service. In 1988 Grand Metropolitan acquired Burger King and Wimpy was acquired the following year. After a couple of management buy-outs, Famous Brands, the owners of the South African franchise, acquired the UK restaurants in 2007 and thus began another re-branding. However, a lot of the old favourites are still there as well as some new classics.

A few weeks back I went to the Wimpy in Tufton Street, Ashford, and it was like being ten years old again.

Ketchup and vinegar on the table at all times!

The Country Breakfast. I must go for that sometime.

A new dessert entitled the Eskimo Waffle. Read the description.

Laura in burger heaven.

My Spicy Bean Burger, which is fab. Wimpy is the only UK fast food franchise that serves Quorn burgers.

So there we were in Maidstone yesterday, and we entered the Wimpy on Gabriels Hill, and here are the resulting pictures...

Very light and airy, not like some other fast food places we could mention.

Americano!

One thing I like is that you get to see the food being cooked to order in front of you.

The Wimpy Club - a new twist on an old classic. Burger, cheese, lettuce and relish on the bottom half, bacon and egg on the top half. Mm mm mm.

I also love that 'wheatmeal' bun on the regular burgers.

So it was that we left Wimpy with a deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that here was still in existence a burger joint in the traditional, non-fast food sense of the word, a place that was around long before Ray Kroc and his clown-burger emporium, a place that still knows how to do justice to a circular slab of minced beef (and their coffee's not too shabby either). We would have stayed for dessert, but we were stuffed to the gills. Maybe next time. Maybe we're just too wimpy.

Kohl's Law

2011-10-08T21:42:00.000+01:00

Hey guys, how about I give you the answer to the Name This Food! food?

As you might recall, last time I asked what this was...

And surprisingly, I thought, nobody was able to supply me with the answer, which was

Kohl Rabi!

So naturally I was concerned. Kohl Rabi (or kohlrabi) was one of those veggies in the 70s and 80s on telly that they kept trying to introduce to the British palate in TV cooking shows and programmes like Blue Peter and Magpie, and we all thought it sounded decidedly foreign and weird and it was expensive to buy in the stores and so nobody bought it unless they were a hippie type that knitted their own yogurt and had hessian wallpaper.

So what the heck is it?

Well the name comes from the German Kohl ("cabbage") plus Rübe ~ Rabi (Swiss German variant) ("turnip"), because the swollen stem resembles the latter, hence its Austrian name Kohlrübe. Actually it's nothing to do with turnips, and is a cultivar of the cabbage. And it'll grow almost anywhere.

It was artificially created to look like that. Yes! Kohlrabi has been created by artificial selection for lateral meristem growth (a swollen, nearly spherical shape); its origin in nature is the same as that of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and Brussels sprouts: They are all bred from, and are the same species as, the wild cabbage plant (Brassica oleracea).

The taste and texture of kohlrabi are similar to those of a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter, with a higher ratio of flesh to skin. The young stem in particular can be as crisp and juicy as an apple, although much less sweet.

Except for the Gigante cultivar, spring-grown kohlrabi much over 5 cm in size tend to be woody, as do full-grown kohlrabi much over perhaps 10 cm in size; the Gigante cultivar can achieve great size while remaining of good eating quality. The plant matures in 55–60 days after sowing. Approximate weight is 150 g and has good standing ability for up to 30 days after maturity. It can be eaten raw as well as cooked, and there are several varieties commonly available, including White Vienna, Purple Vienna, Grand Duke, Gigante (also known as "Superschmelz"), Purple Danube, and White Danube. Coloration of the purple types is superficial: the edible parts are all pale yellow. The leafy greens can also be eaten.

The other reason you guys probably didn't get what it was is because of my choice of picture. By the time Kohlrabi gets to the shops the leafy stems have been removed, leaving it looking like this.

However, when growing on the garden, it looks like this...

This is obviously one of the purple varieties.

So, we need a recipe, don't we?

Try this for a nice bit of comfort food.

Kohl Rabi and Potato Gratin

Serve as a main, with salad and a dollop of tomato chutney or pasta sauce - or as a side to roasted meat. You can use other vegetables as well - like courgettes, mushrooms, beetroot, fennel, or parsnips.

Serves 4-6

25g butter

3 medium onions (1 minced, 2 chopped)

3 tablespoons plain flour

350ml milk

1/2 teaspoon English mustard

Pinch of ground nutmeg (or to taste)

1 tablespoon oil

1 kohl rabi, peeled and chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

400g potatoes, chopped (peeled or unpeeled)

150g red lentils

2 medium garlic cloves, crushed

420ml water

2 tablespoons fresh or 2 teaspoons dried parsley

100g cheddar or Gruyere cheese, grated

1-2 handfuls wholemeal breadcrumbs

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add 1 minced onion and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until just soft - about 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir to form a paste, for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking or stirring constantly. Add in the mustard, and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the kohlrabi and 2 chopped onions, and sauté until just soft. Add the carrots, lentils, potatoes, garlic, and water. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10-15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Combine with the white sauce and parsley. Season to taste. Transfer the mixture to a large shallow oven dish. Combine the cheese and breadcrumbs, and sprinkle over the top. Bake 45-55 minutes, until the top is golden and the vegetables are soft.

Or how about a nice salad?

Kohlrabi, Apple and Creamy Mustard Salad

Try with slivered almonds or raw sunflower seeds sprinkled on top. Serves 4 as a side dish

60 ml double cream (for whipping)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 heaped teaspoons wholegrain mustard

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cut into julienne strips (keep the leaves to use in another recipe!)

1 apple, cored and diced

In a bowl whisk the cream until it holds soft peaks then whisk in the lemon juice, mustard and sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the kohlrabi and apple, and serve.

OK, folks, what's the new Name This Food! food?

Memories Are Made Of... Beer

2011-10-08T21:07:00.000+01:00

Tonight I took a trip back in time, all because of a bargain. Earlier today I ventured into the hated halls of Tesco, in order to purchase some household essentials - bread and the like. As is my wont, being as I am a born bargain hunter, I ventured toward the reduced-price section to see if there were any stellar offers I could not live without.

As it happened, there were. Among the few beverages (which usually get reduced because a can is missing from a 4-pack, or similar) was a box of Tesco's own brand of French lager, Bière Spéciale. They usually come 8 to a box and there were only six. No biggie. The reduced price was unbelievable. £1.22. You read that right. One pound and twenty two pee, for six bottles of beer. That, for my American friends, is about $1.90. And this is not weak beer either. It's 4.8% alc/vol. So I purchased said item.

Later, after dinner, I decided a cold beer might be just the ticket. So I cracked one open and drank thereof. Instantly I was transported, back to 1982.

Back in 1982, as I believe I may have mentioned before, I was in a dreadful rock n roll combo known as The Grass. One sunny summer afternoon we were rehearsing our 'set' and the day being terribly warm we hit upon the idea of rehearsing outside. We were at the house of my friend and our lead singer/guitarist Alastair, and in the back garden was a large caravan which was set up permanently as a spare bedroom-type affair. Trouble with rehearsing outside in the searing weather, other than the guitars constantly going out of tune, was that we were in need of liquid refreshment quite a bit of the time. (I promise I'll get to the point soon).

As it happened, there was a large quantity of a lovely French lager called '33' lying about, as someone in Alastair's family had recently been on a day trip to France and procured vast quantities of cheap liquor, which was the thing to do in the 70s and 80s. So we were all standing about and drinking this fine beverage to refresh our parched throats and other parts of our hormone-enraged teenage bodies. Here's some pictorial proof in the shape of our bass player Nigel...

Anyway, back to this evening and the Tesco beer. As I downed this amber liquid the flavour was so reminiscent of '33' that it triggered all these lovely memories of that sunny afternoon, playing shabby rock and roll and annoying the neighbours in between a caravan and an empty swimming pool, guitars sounding like shit and generally having a ball.

So thank you, hated Tesco, for at least doing one thing that I like. And if you happen to shop in Tesco, and you need some good beer, but money's too tight to mention, try Bière Spéciale. It won't break the bank and it might just send you on a trip down memory lane to those heady days of cross-channel ferry trips to the Calais hypermarché.

Seasonal Rant

2011-10-05T09:55:00.003+01:00

Apparently even though British supermarket giant Tesco have had their worst sales in 20 years, they still managed to rack up £1.9 billion profit. This is why I hate supermarkets. There is something fundamentally wrong with supermarkets and people's attitudes towards them.

We haven't always been as enamoured with them as we are now, but the supermarket companies created the mentality by providing consumers with the ability to get produce from around the globe, so you could always get asparagus or plums whenever you wanted them. Sounds like a great idea, huh?

"Oh," says Joe Consumer (who, generally speaking, is a bit of a thickie), "that's brilliant, I can get whatever I want whenever I feel like it, just by not going to my local farmer or greengrocer and going to Sainsbury's instead. How convenient!"

That's the key word right there. Convenient. See, human beings are essentially a bunch of lazy bums at heart, and if Joe can avoid all those tricky extra steps to get what he wants, he will. This is why drive-thrus are so popular. Automatic car washes. Microwaves. It's all bullshit.

Because in order for those things to work, the companies behind them have to know they are on to a winner before they even start. Which they do, because they are human too, and as I said, humans are essentially lazy creatures.

But what then happens is that these things become popular - supermarkets, fast food, car washes, microwaves - and the things that were there before them - locally based food producers, mom and pop restaurants, home cooking, washing the car by hand - slowly but surely get eased out and disappear.

There is a commercial on TV here in the UK at the moment, for some supermarket chain or another, I'm not sure which one it is, in which a little girl holds up an apple and asks the kindly supermarket employee, "what's this?" to which the genial man replies, "That's a delicious British Cox's apple!". And we're all supposed to think, "That's great! they have British apples in their store! How wonderful! Save the British apple!" but the harsh reality is they also stock apples that have come from far-flung corners of the world like China and Japan, and they're probably cheaper than the Cox's Orange Pippin, to give it its full monicker.

The trouble with all this convenience is that it has stopped us humans from doing what we used to do which was eating with the seasons. Back in the day people knew that it was impossible to get plums in the depths of winter, and they ate what was locally and seasonally available. Which was good for them, good for the local farmers and gardeners, and nutritionally sound.

What happens to food after it's picked? The quality of the nutrients packed therein slowly begins to degrade. The further an item has come to get to your dinner plate, the less nourishing it will be. Some plants, like broccoli, asparagus and spinach degrade very quickly so the health benefits can almost completely disappear over time.

'Modified atmosphere' packaging, used to help fresh veg travel further, has been shown to degrade the nutrients in salads. Seasonal creatures such as lamb, wild game or some wild fish will have eaten a natural diet and thus be more wholesome. 'Food miles', such as those used in air-freighting out-of-season produce, are a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. Glasshouses and polytunnels heated to provide out-of-season produce also add to global warming.
Lambs that are bred and raised in their natural season do not need the same amount of specialised feed and housing as those bred early for Easter eating.
Salmon aquaculture has contributed to a devastation of the wild, seasonal stocks of salmon and sea trout.
Seasonal food has also been shown to be gastronomically superior. Produce that is designed to have a long season and withstand packaging and transporting is always inferior, e.g. strawberries and tomatoes. Most fruit and veg picked and eaten close to the source will taste better: the shorter the season (asparagus, plums, strawberries) the more important this is. Seasonal creatures such as lamb, wild game or some wild fish will have eaten a natural diet and thus be more tasty.
Eating seasonally means maintaining a sustainable food chain. You remember the food chain, right? High school Biology? Well...

The supermarket-driven insistence on predictability of supply and 'permanent global summertime' has made Britain's food chain very oil-dependent and has radically reduced our self-sufficiency. Producing and eating seasonally insulates the food chain against fuel shocks and works towards guaranteeing a sustainable food supply.
Producing food seasonally reduces the need for artificial, resource-intensive inputs such as shelter, heating and special feed.

Back in the day, as I said, folks knew what was in season without the need for enormous reference tomes, but the supermarket, and before that The Industrial Revolution, changed all that. We became a mechanized society, things started inexorably to speed up, and we lost touch with nature. So where can one go in this day and age to find out about eating with the seasons?

http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/ is a good place to start. Don't worry, it has a North American site as well!
There's also the Center for Urban Education about sustainable Agriculture, who have a seasonal chart at http://cuesa.org/page/seasonality-chart-vegetables

Also, I'm not sure that many of you even paid attention, but for at least a year, my Name This Food! section has been based on things that are in season. Just sayin'.

So what do we need to do? Avoid supermarkets wherever possible. Grow your own fruit and veg. Support your local farmers market, your local greengrocer. And ...

Kooshti sante!

Drink Up Thy Zider

2011-09-20T21:39:00.000+01:00

Something amazing happened to me the other day. Something you may not think was all that interesting or stunning, but when one discovers an entirely new flavour one is compelled to say that it is somewhat of a revelation. Such was the case on Saturday when I came home to find that Laura (who had been with my sis to the Smallhythe Apple Day) had purchased a present for me in the form of a carton of Blushing Old Wife. This is a cider made in the village of Old Wives Lees near Canterbury, A brilliantly named beverage from an interestingly named village. So what's so great about it? Well, two things.

It's made with raspberries as well as apples. Not just raspberry juice blended with cider (as some products may be) but made with apples and raspberries together.
The resulting cider is then left to mature in oaken barrels which had previously been used at the Bruichladdich whisky distillery on the island of Islay in Bonnie Scotland.

So what you get is a fruity, sweet, whiskyish tasting cider. And here I must pause to explain another one of those lovely cultural differences for which the Brits and Yanks are so noted.

See, in most parts of the USA, 'cider' is just a synonym for apple juice. So if you are in Oregon, say, and someone offers you some apple cider, it will NOT, repeat NOT get you rat-arsed. It's just juice. Why this is, I cannot say. It is a most perplexing conundrum.

Anyway, back to the cider. The Blushing Old Wife is the fruitier version of (wait for it) Rough Old Wife cider, made at Cork Farm and you can see the website at http://www.rougholdwife.com/. Fantastic stuff and the fact that it comes in a quart milk jug, just right for popping in the door of the fridge, is even more reason to love it.

An (English) Apple A Day

2011-09-16T22:45:00.000+01:00

It's OK folks, I am still here. I haven't forgotten you. I haven't been very inspired lately and I've had a lot of stuff to do with my Transition Town Project, so all I can say is a big fat hairy SORRY for leaving you all hanging. So, where were we? Ah, that's right...

This, mes amis, is...

the famous Cox's Orange Pippin!

So what is the difference between a Cox's and any other apple? Well, how silly. You might as well ask what's the difference between Tesco Value Bitter and a pint of Boondoggle? Because this is no ordinary apple.

Cox's Orange Pippin is an apple cultivar first grown in 1825, at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, England, by the retired brewer and horticulturist Richard Cox. Though the origin of the cultivar is unknown, the Ribston Pippin seems a likely candidate. The variety was introduced for sale by the 1850s by Mr. Charles Turner, and grown commercially from the 1860s, particularly in the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire, and later in Kent. A number of crosses and sports from the Cox's have been discovered over subsequent years, and these retain "Cox" in their names, e.g., Crimson Cox, King Cox, Queen Cox.

When shaken, the seeds make a rattling sound as they are only loosely held in the apple flesh, whereas other apples have their seeds contained as part of the apple flesh.

According to the Institute of Food Research, Cox's Orange Pippin accounts for over 50% of the UK acreage of dessert apples.

Cox is highly regarded due to its excellent flavour. The flavour and texture of the variety changes from complex acidic and crunchy in early September to more mellow and softer after storage. However it can be difficult to grow in many environments and tends to be susceptible to diseases such as scab, mildew and canker. As a result, apple breeders have hybridized Cox with other varieties to improve yield without too much loss of flavour.

Two characteristics tend to be apparent in the Pippin to a greater or lesser extent. Firstly the relatively pronounced and complex "aromatic" flavour which elevates it above most other varieties. Secondly, the striking and attractive orange-red colouring.

It is the range and complexity of flavours which makes Cox's Orange Pippin so appealing to enthusiasts of the "English" style of apple. This is a variety for the connoisseur, who can delight in the appreciation of the remarkable range of subtle flavours - pear, melon, freshly-squeezed Florida orange juice, and mango are all evident in a good example. Almost all other apples taste one-dimensional alongside a good Cox's Orange Pippin.

Jamie Oliver has a great recipe for Fried Cox's... http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/recipes-view.php?title=fried-cox-apples-with-cinnamon-sugar

On the BBC website, Cox's are paired with lobster and veal... http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rosevealwithlobstera_91248

And despite being almost unwatchably simperingly daft, Sophie Dahl has a cracking crumble recipe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/toffeeapplecrumble_93626

So what's the new food?

Name This Food!

iBooze

2011-09-13T21:53:00.000+01:00

I was thinking the other day, probably out loud, about drinking. Specifically, alcoholic beverages. I was actually thinking about the nature of inebriation and the various stages thereof. I am sure there have been hundreds of things written about this topic before, but I have never read what I am about to say.

There comes a point after a couple of drinks when a person feels a nice buzz. You're still in control, you know what you are doing and what you are talking about but you just feel... nice. However, bitter experience has taught you that this feeling will eventually fade and you'll go back to feeling your normal, humdrum ordinary self. Now, this may be a wonderful feeling to be yourself, sober. But I doubt it. Most of us, I am sure, feel fairly dull and drab most of the time. We do not walk around all day feeling like Mr. Motivator. But I digress.

So, back to what I was saying... we're at this point where we're feeling a bit mellow, and we think how nice this feeling is, but we are all the time aware that we are not going to feel that way for long, so we drink more. This is where the problems start. If only some clever boffin could invent some device that could calculate at what speed we would need to continue drinking in order to maintain the happy feeling we have without getting silly-drunk, he'd be sitting on a goldmine. Because silly-drunk leads to stupid-drunk, slobbering drunk and eventually blind-drunk. And this is not good.

I like a drink as much as the next guy, but I hate feeling like I'm talking too loud and starting to totter. Not that I'm worried about hangovers, mind. I have never had one, I'm happy to say. Had plenty of mornings where I hadn't been drinking the night before and woken up feeling like a sack of sludge tied up with string, with no real reasonable explanation as to why.

So please, if you're out there, unemployed-science-whiz guy, invent an iPhone app that would regulate our drinking in order to maintain our pleasant buzz. I'm sure all the clubbers out there would go for it in a big way.

It'll Be All White On The Night

2011-08-20T22:41:00.000+01:00

This, my friends...

is The Whitecurrant.

Sometimes referred to as the pink or yellow currant, it is a member of the genus Ribes (This is why Ribena is called Ribena). The flowers are a pale yellow-green, maturing into translucent berries with a pink to white hue. White currant berries are a bit smaller and sweeter than red currants. They are sometimes used to make "pink" jams and jellies (a mixture of white and red). The white currant is actually an albino cultivar of the red currant, but is marketed as a different fruit.

So what can one make with whitecurrants? Well, pretty much anything you can make with blackcurrants. I bought some a few weeks ago and made a raspberry and whitecurrant crumble, which didn't even need any extra sugar, the berries are that sweet.

Gordon Ramsay may be a loudmouthed obnoxious arrogant prick to some, but he does know his nosh. Here is a link to a recipe for his Redcurrant, Whitecurrant and Cherry Fool. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article1962827.ece

And here's a recipe for Whitecurrant Wine...

WHITECURRANT WINE

3 lbs whitecurrants

2¾-3 lbs finely granulated sugar

7 pts water

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 pkt Burgundy wine yeast

Put the fruit in primary and crush. Add 1 quart water and crushed Campden tablet and stir. Cover and set aside for 12 hours. Strain pulp through nylon straining bag, squeezing firmly. Suspend a jelly bag over a bowl and pour the strained juice into the bag. Allow this to drip-drain without squeezing. Do not rush. When all juice is through, pour into stainless steel saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and hold for 5 minutes, removing any scum that rises. Meanwhile, add half the sugar to 1 quart of water and bring to boil while stirring to dissolve. Pour both the sugar-water and boiled juice into clean primary, stir in yeast nutrient, cover, and set aside to cool. Add activated yeast, recover and stir daily for 10 days. Bring another quart of water to boil and stir in remaining sugar until dissolved. Set aside to cool and then add to primary. Cover as before and set aside another 3-4 days. Transfer to secondary, top up with water and fit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 30 days until wine clears and leaves no further deposits. Stabilize, bulk age 3 months under airlock, and rack into bottles. Age 6 months before tasting. WARNING: Do not boil juice until it has passed through jelly-bag without squeezing or wine will not clear.

Note: Campden tablets = sodium metabisulphite.

And how about some preserves?

WHITE CURRANT JELLY

4 pounds fresh whitecurrants

1 cup water

7 cups white sugar

4 fluid ounces liquid fruit pectin

Directions

Place the currants into a large pot, and crush with a potato masher or berry crusher if you have one. Pour in 1 cup of water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the fruit through a jelly cloth or cheese cloth, and measure out 5 cups of the juice.

Pour the juice into a large saucepan, and stir in the sugar. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat, and stir in the liquid pectin immediately. Return to a full rolling boil, and allow to boil for 30 seconds.

Remove from heat and skim off foam from the top. Ladle or pour into sterile 1/2 pint jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of the top. Wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth. Cover with new sterile lids and rings. Process covered in a bath of simmering water for 10 minutes. Makes 8 x 1/2 pint jars. Goes great with duck or venison, apparently.

OK, so what's the new Name This Food! food?

Yes, they are apples, I know. But which variety? (I know my peeps will know this one...)

Sippin'

2011-08-20T22:09:00.001+01:00

Readers, I ask you - is there anything better on a hot summer's day than a cool, refreshing beverage? Especially when it is of the alcoholic variety? Further still, when it is served in a pint glass or a 500ml bottle? Debate all you will, but I say that a fine pint of ale or cider goes down a treat any time. Take for example the lovely pint of Larkin's ale you see before you.

Does that not make your mouth water?

Sis and I made a small excursion to Brabourne Lees yesterday to pick up a mower. Long story. But on the way back we decided not to take the route recommended to us by the kind sat-nav lady, but to go off the beaten path somewhat, through the villages of Aldington, Bilsington, Hamstreet and so forth. We made a further detour out to the village of Stone-in-Oxney, where we first tried The Ferry Inn for some noms. On entering the Ferry (a beautiful pub, by the way - no disrespect) we perused the Menu board and promptly changed our minds. The food there may be excellent, it may even be exquisite, but sorry, £9.95 for Ham, Egg and Chips? You're having a gee-raffe. That was the cheapest thing on the menu and it was hidden under Snacks. £9.95 for a snack-sized portion of Ham, Egg and Chips. You can go whistle, mate.

So we ventured further into Stone and found that The Crown, which had been closed for something like three years, was under new ownership and was open for lunch. So in we went. We were not hopeful, based on what we had seen at The Ferry, but after looking at the menu we were pleasantly surprised. There were Main dishes as low as £5.50. Vegetarian options, too. So we settled in for a nice lunch.

The place has been refurbished, and looks quite posh.

Here's the menu. Not sure what you can make out, but click on the pic to make it larger.

My sis ordered the Cheese & Ham Omelette and chips, which was not the cheapest thing on the menu at £7.45, but was quite substantial, and as a nice touch, the chips came in a paper cone a la seaside fish'n'chips.

Mine was the £5.50 Stuffed Courgettes, a Middle Eastern dish with rice, tomatoes, broad beans, cumin, onions, garlic, coriander and sweet paprika, served with a decent sized salad.

All in all a good place for lunch, and not too hideously priced. Unlike The Ferry. Sorry, Ferry Inn fans (or owners) if you're reading, but if the average price of an entree on your menu is £13, you aren't gonna get many takers, at least not in this day and age, unless you have managed to find yourself a niche market of local Range-Rover-driving-landed gentry gentleman farmers with more money than sense.

Anyway, back to what I was saying about cooling beverages on a hot summer day. My mother and stepdad came back from their vacation in Somerset a couple days ago and brought me back a prezzie, which was a lovely bottle of cider made by Sheppy's, based in Bradford-on-Tone, about halfway between Taunton and Wellington. This cider was different though - a bottle of cider blended with blackberry juice. I put it in the fridge when I got home and there it stayed until this afternoon when I broke it out and sat with Laura in the back garden in the bright sunshine. Now I'm not normally big on ciders but this one is lovely. And just look at that colour.

I wholeheartedly recommend that you rush out and buy a case or two.

I Never Harmed An Onion

2011-08-01T20:32:00.001+01:00

Down Mexico Way

2011-07-29T21:14:00.000+01:00

This...

is Pico De Gallo.

What is it?

How very good of you to ask, dear readers.

Pico de Gallo (literally, rooster's beak), also called salsa fresca, is a fresh, uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, white onion, and chiles (typically jalapeños or serranos). Other ingredients may also be added, such as lime juice and/or apple cider vinegar, fresh cilantro (coriander leaf), cucumber, radish or firm fruit such as mango.

Pico de gallo can be used in much the same way as other Mexican salsas, Kenyan Kachumbari or Indian chutneys, but since it contains less liquid, it can also be used as a main ingredient in dishes such as tacos and fajitas.

In some regions of Mexico, a fruit salad (watermelon, orange, jícama, cucumber and sometimes melon and papaya) tossed in lime juice and hot sauce or chamoy and sprinkled with a salty chili powder is also known as pico de gallo; it is a popular snack and usually sold outside schools, while the tomato-based condiment is better known as salsa picada, which means minced or chopped sauce, salsa bandera or salsa mexicana, because the colors red (tomato), white (onion), and green (chili) are the colors of the Mexican flag.

And let me tell you what - it's awesome! I love it. I just eat it by the spoonful. Never mind about chips or soft tortillas or whatnot. Just a big ol' spoonful is good enough for me. Yeah, that's right - I'm a classy guy.

So you want a recipe so you can make it for yourself? Happy to oblige.

Pico de gallo

Ingredients:

2 cups ripe red tomatoes diced (about 4 medium tomatoes)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 small diced onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 jalapenos (stems and seeds removed) diced

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients and let it sit for half an hour or more in the fridge to let the flavours get happy.

2. Serve immediately.

Will last a day in the refrigerator, though it may get extra juicy. You can drain some of the juice if you like.

Makes 2 cups

However, you can use it as an ingredient in some recipes - add a couple of teaspoonsful to burritos when filling them or throw some in tacos. Add it as a topping to a salad. A big spoonful stirred into chilli while cooking can really lift the flavour. Add some to a vegetable or tomato soup for a kick. Get creative. Plop some on to a baked potato. Go nuts.

Anyhoo... what's the new food?

Name This Food!

Crop Swap

2011-07-28T11:51:00.005+01:00

At last night's Transition Town Tenterden meeting Lizzie Power, owner of Number 75 restaurant (where the meeting was held) unveiled her new 'Crop Swap' scheme, which we are proud to be helping to launch and publicise. This morning's Kentish Express contained the following article. Please read and enjoy, dear viewer (reader?).

Click to enlarge!

Random Tuesday

2011-07-19T21:34:00.002+01:00

Some points to ponder:

Aren't the 'good things that come to those who wait' just the leftovers from the people that got there first?
Why does the last piece of ice always stick to the bottom of the cup?
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"?
Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken over there ... I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out if its butt"?
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet soup?
Why is it that if something says, "do not eat" on the packaging it becomes extra tempting to eat?
Wouldn't it be smart to make the sticky stuff on envelopes taste like chocolate?
What happens if you put 'this side up' face down while popping microwave popcorn?
Why isn't chocolate considered a vegetable? Chocolate comes from cocoa beans, and all beans are considered vegetables.
Why does shaped macaroni taste better than the normal kind?
Why is vanilla ice cream white when vanilla extract is brown?
Why is a square meal served on round plates?
Why do people say, "You can't have your cake and eat it too"? Why would someone get cake if they can't eat it?
What would happen if you were to feed a pig some bacon?
Since bread is square, then why is sandwich meat round?
Why do they call the small candy bars the "fun sizes"? Wouldn't it be more fun to eat a big one?
Does Hawaiian Punch actually come from Hawaii?
If your name is Mr. Crunch, and you joined the Navy, would you eventually be Captain Crunch?
364 days of the year, parents tell their kids not to take candy from strangers, yet on Halloween, it's encouraged! Why is that ?
What do vegetarians feed their dogs?
Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
What did cured ham actually have?
If people say if you eat dessert before dinner it will ruin your appetite, won’t eating dinner before dessert ruin your appetite for dessert?
If you drink Pepsi at work in the Coke factory, will they fire you?
Why do they put Canadian bacon on Hawaiian Pizza?
If you eat regular Rice Krispies with chocolate milk, will it taste the same as eating Coco crispies with regular milk?
On a hamburger bun, why is the top bun always bigger than the bottom one?
Can angels eat devils food cake?
Why do black olives come in cans and green olives come in jars?
Why do they call them "Animal Crackers" when they're not even crackers...they're cookies?
How fast do hotcakes sell?
Why does Grape-Nuts cereal contain neither grapes nor nuts?
If you accidentally ate your own tongue, what would it taste like?
If Pringles are so good that "once you pop, you can't stop" why do they come with a resealable lid?
What came first, the fruit or the color orange?
Where in the nursery rhyme does it say Humpty Dumpty is an egg?
If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?

Dining Out

2011-07-13T22:25:00.001+01:00

Well, it's been a bit hectic recently what with one thing and another so I have not been blogging as frequently as I could have been. However, whenever I've been out to eat I've been taking pics, so now I need to sort through what I have and publish a few, along with some recommendations. Here goes!

On Father's Day we had a cracking lunch at a pub in Great Chart called The Hoodener's Horse.
A 'hoodener', by the way, is sort of like a Morris Dancer, but also a tad like a Mummer. In Hoodening the plot of the play-acting-musical-thingy always involves a horse, usually portrayed as a tired old nag exhausted by the farm labour. For more insight, see http://www.dealhoodeners.org.uk/

Chris had fajitas! Ay caramba!

My spicy Mexican omelette which had peppers and onions and mushrooms.

Roast beef and all the trimmings.

Individual Banoffee Pie

Spotted Dick and custard!

A few days later we had occasion to stop in at The Bull in Rolvenden, which is under new management. The decor was great, the food was pretty tasty, but the atmosphere I found a little stilted, which was a pity.

Another omelette, mushrooms again.

Big cheese and pickle baguette!

Matt had a burger.

Loved the loo!

At Tentertainment I was given a couple of Cafe Rouge vouchers, and so a few days later Laura and I stopped by there for a bite of lunch...

Laura had the Chicken Caesar Salad...

Mine was the baguette with hummus, rocket and raosted red peppers. Yum.

We have also eaten (again) at The William Caxton (twice). Can't help it, it's just so good...

Fish and chips!

Spicy 3-bean chili, with rice. They are not kidding. Whoo it's spicy, but delicious.

And again...

Laura's ginormous Caxton Club Sandwich, which I had to help her with, being eyed up by Tikki the Malamute.

I had the amazing Fish Finger Buttie. Two doorsteps of granary bread and homemede fish goujons inside with tartare sauce. Wow.

Well folks, that's got you all caught up. Kooshti Sante!

Broader Than Broadway

2011-07-13T21:39:00.002+01:00

So last time I asked the question... what the heck are these?

Both Patricia Wilson of Passionate Food (who should know, really) and my sister Carolyn correctly answered

"Broad Beans!"

Now, I can hear some of you saying hang on a minute Jeff - whaddya mean Broad Beans? Well, the broad bean, or Vicia Faba to give it its Latin name, is also known as the Field Bean, Fava Bean, Bell Bean or Tic Bean. As it happens, the word 'fava' is Italian for 'broad', so there you go.

What can one do with a jolly old broad bean? Well, I suppose I could do a Hannibal Lecter and give you a recipe for Fava Beans with Liver. (As you may or may not recall, Lecter told FBI Agent Clarice Starling in 1991's The Silence Of The Lambs that he had once eaten the liver of a census taker with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Well, why wouldn't he? He was a nut job. He was also a psychiatrist, and a very clever one at that, because he knew that fava beans, liver and Chianti are three of the 'forbidden foods' for patients taking MAO inhibitors. Clever clever.)

But I will do no such thing. Let's do something altogether more exciting, eh?

Broad beans gravitate towards pork, and are often found mingling with bacon and luxurious hams like pancetta. Vegetarian beans like a bit of wine and butter, and maybe a sprinkling of parsley or mint. Baby beans are boiled for 5 minutes and eaten with the skin on, but older ones like to cook more, then have skins peeled. Try this: toss cooked broad beans, boiled potatoes and pasta, and some green pesto in a pan, then drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with some hard cheese.

How about a bit of seafood?

Broad Bean and Tiger Prawn Pilau

225 g shelled and cooked tiger prawns

280 g shelled organic broad beans

225 g long grain rice

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 large organic onion, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Lightly fry the onion and garlic in the oil in a large pan. Add the spices and cook gently until the onion has become tender. Stir in the rice and cook for another minute. Add 600 ml of water, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil. Next add the broad beans and reduce the pan to a simmer. Cover and leave for 10 minutes. After this time add the prawns and then leave for another 5–10 minutes, or until the rice has become tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Add more hot water to the pot during cooking if necessary. Stir in the coriander and adjust the seasoning.

Okay folks, what's the new food?

Name This Food!

Ooh La La

2011-06-28T21:59:00.000+01:00

Well way back in the mists of time (June 14th - can you remember that far back?) I asked you a very important question. "What", quoth I, "what, I say, is this?"

Well, I'll tell you, if ya really wanna know.

The above dish is none other than Crêpes Suzette. Yes, we've all heard of it, but how many of us have actually had it? Very few, I'll wager.

So what does Crêpes Suzette actually consist of, apart from crêpes, that is? And who is Suzette?

Crêpes Suzette is a French dessert consisting of a crêpe with beurre Suzette, a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and Grand Marnier or orange Curaçao liqueur on top, served flambé (i.e. on fire!)

The most common way to make Crêpe Suzette is to pour liqueur (usually Grand Marnier) over a freshly cooked crêpe with sugar and light it. This will make the alcohol in the liqueur evaporate, resulting in a fairly thick, caramelised sauce. In a restaurant, a Crêpe Suzette is often prepared in a chafing dish in full view of the guests.

As to the name, there are two conflicting stories. One story is told by Henri Charpentier in his autobiography. A pretty far-fetched tale of an accident that occurred while he was serving pancakes to the Prince of Wales (future Edward VII) in 1895 in Paris. According to Charpentier, the cordials caught fire and he was worried that the resulting mixture had ruined the pancakes, yet when he tasted it, "...it was, I thought, the most delicious medley of sweet flavors I had ever tasted. I still think so. That accident of the flame was precisely what was needed to bring all those various instruments into one harmony of taste..." However, he was fourteen at the time, and so it was pretty unlikely that he was serving a royal instead of the Head waiter.

The other story comes from Larousse's Gastronomique and sounds a bit more likely.

It states that Crêpes Suzette was named in honour of French actress Suzanne Reichenberg (1853–1924), who worked professionally under the name Suzette. In 1897, Suzette appeared in the Comédie Française in the role of a maid, during which she served crêpes on stage. Monsieur Joseph, owner of Restaurant Marivaux, provided the crêpes . He decided to flambé the thin pancakes to attract the audience's attention and keep the food warm for the actors consuming them. M. Joseph was subsequently director of the Paillard Restaurant in Paris and was later with the Savoy Hotel in London.

So, a recipe, you say? Why the heck not.

Ingredients

For the crepes

100 g plain flour, sifted
2 eggs
200 ml milk
1 orange, grated zest only
50 g caster sugar

For the syrup

75 g caster sugar
50 g unsalted butter
150 ml orange juice
1 lemon, juice only
splashes Grand Marnier
icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. For the crepes: whisk together all ingredients then use a hand blender to blend to a smooth batter.

2. Pour a dollop of the batter mix into a hot pan and swirl it around the pan so it spreads out to the edges. Cook for about 1 minute or until the base of the pancake is golden.

3. Carefully flip the pancake and brown the other side, then slide onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep the pancakes warm by stacking on a plate and covering with kitchen paper.

4. For the syrup: wipe clean the frying pan and set over a high heat. Add the caster sugar and as it starts to caramelise add the butter and stir well. Pour in the orange juice and bring up to the boil. The mixture will turn syrupy.

5. Skim the top, then add the lemon juice. Cook over a high heat to reduce the syrup a little, than add a generous splash of Grand Marnier.

6. Add one pancake at a time to the pan, dipping them on both sides into the syrup, then folding in half. Remove the pancake and fold in half again on a plate. Repeat with the remaining pancakes. Line them up in a flameproof dish.

7. Add a generous splash of Grand Marnier to the pan, and tip into the gas flame to ignite (or carefully light with a match if you have an electric cooker). Pour the flaming Cointreau over the pancakes and dust with icing sugar.

OK, so what's the new food?

Name This Food!

Brighton Rocks!

2011-06-27T21:30:00.001+01:00

Laura and I recently went down to Brighton, Why is this, you may ask? Because Laura's favourite musician, Ryan Adams, was playing an acoustic set down at the Brighton Dome. She got tickets. A couple of years back he was scheduled to play the Dome, and she had tickets then too, but Ryan, silly bugger, went and fell off stage the night before and broke his wrist and so the show was cancelled. So she had been looking forward to seeing this show for A WHILE.

We got the train from Appledore to Brighton and on the way, the excitement was starting to show somewhat.

Yippee! We were finally on our way to see Ryan Adams, and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we would see him later that night.

When we got to Brighton, our first priority was getting checked in to our hotel. That way we could drop off our overnight bag and go scope out some shops and food etc.

We got checked in to our room, and we were hungry by that point. It was mid-afternoon and walking down towards the hotel we'd walked past an interesting place on North Street called Foodilic, which looked fabulous and smelled good too. The place is an all-you-can-eat joint where the food is interestingly tiered in the front window so that all can see, and the smells that waft out the front door are enticing, to say the least. So we decided to head back there once we were checked in.

So, so glad we did.

As you can see Foodilic's food is not only affordable at £6.45 to stuff yourself silly, but the colours, smells and textures on offer were simply amazing...

I was blown away by the sheer deliciousness of it all, not to mention the cool-looking tiered dishes.

Without a doubt, my two favourite dishes were the pesto-flavoured pinto beans with red onion, above bottom left, and the sweet potato, butternut squash and caramelized onion in the second pic, top left. I could have eaten that sweet potato dish till the cows came home, I'm not kiddin' ya. Let me tell you something, I lived for ten long arduous years in the South, where sweet pertaters are a BIG DEAL, and I never once felt inclined to eat them there as they tend to smother them in either heaps of butter and brown sugar OR f***in marshmallows (toasted), neither of which are what you might call a "taste sensation". More like like hot vegetable candy goop. But these sweet potatoes were literally to die for.

I also liked the tabbouleh-ish salad I had heaped on my plate, apparently entitled Parsley Salad with Cracked Wheat and Olive Oil.

I would say there was a lot of Mediterranean/Eastern European influences in the food. I could find nothing there I did not like, and there were plenty of amazing choices.

In addition to all that, they also do amazing-looking desserts...

However, I stuffed myself to the gills, and so I have yet to sample them, but that tiramisu calls my name. Next time I go to Brighton...

I also snapped a quick pic of this banner near the hotel. Another date to put in the calendar.

Oh, and the Ryan Adams show? Pretty darn good.

A Bit Of Turkish

2011-06-14T22:16:00.000+01:00

Turkish delight

(also known as lokum) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon. The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of Tartar, to prevent clinging.These would be the ones we are used to seeing in the stores. Other common types include such flavors as cinnamon and mint. In the production process, soapwort may be used as an emulsifying additive. Recently a French Market in the town had a stall selling some of the more exotic flavours.

It's been around since the 15th century, originating in the Ottoman Empire. Originally, honey and molasses were its sweeteners, and water and flour were the binding agents.
It was introduced to the West in the 19th century. An unknown Briton reputedly became very fond of the delicacy during his travels to Istanbul, and purchased cases of it, to be shipped back to Britain under the name Turkish delight. It became a major delicacy in Britain and throughout Continental Europe. Nowadays a British Christmas is not complete without at least one box of the delicious sweet cubes.

It was Iris yet again who triumphed... clearly her culinary knowledge is quite excellent. Well done Iris!

So... what's the new food?

Name This Food!

This Week's Eats

2011-06-10T12:58:00.000+01:00

So it's been a few days since I last posted, and in that time a few things have occurred. Let me start with earlier in the week when I managed to harvest some produce from my garden! Yes!

Some early spuds, some rocket and a couple of radishes. OK, I know it's not much, but it's a start.

So I decided to make a salad, and have the potatoes with it. As chance would have it both Laura and I had purchased some lovely tomatoes the other day at the Taste The Best Of... event at Biddenden Vineyards, so I used some of them too.

I hard-boiled some eggs and threw together some salad...

Topped with a drizzle of olive oil, some cracked black pepper, and some chopped lemon balm and applemint fresh from the garden.

Yum!

Yesterday we went to The William Caxton pub in Tenterden for a spot of lunch. Great decision, as it turns out. The new landlord Debbie seems to have really done a great job on the place. It was closed for a long time last year after the previous tenants moved out and there were rumours flying about what would become of the place. It's had its troubles over the years, but now seems destined for success if the food is any indication.

This is Laura's burger. That's it, sitting under that pile of massive onion rings and next to the mountain of enormous hand-cut (and very delicious) fries. It looks small comparatively speaking, but it was enormous too.

Sis had the All-Day Brunch, which again comes with mountainous fries and thick glorious wedges of toast.

I had the Roast Med Veg sandwich which comes open faced on two ciabatta, with a nice bowl of wild mixed greens...

...with which I had a bowl of cheesy fries. Mm mm mm.

All in all, I'd say a fabulous place to eat. I shall be back...

Quite A Mouthful

2011-06-05T22:28:00.001+01:00

Today was a day I had been waiting for a whole year. Last year I was unable to attend "Taste The Best Of Produced In Kent" which is a real mouthful to try to say. I wrote about last year's event though - my Mum and Sis kindly picked up some samples of crisps and meringues for me to try, and try them I did (http://foodofjeff.blogspot.com/2010/06/produced-in-kent.html). This year, however, unencumbered with work as I find myself to be, I was able to attend this fine event, held at Biddenden Vineyard, in, um, Biddenden. The first great thing about it is that it is a free event, just turn up and explore. The second is that it is held in aid of the Kent Air Ambulance service, which I think we can all agree is a fine and worthy cause. And so it was that Laura, Sis and I toddled on down to the vineyard on this rainy Sunday afternoon. What? You think a little precipitation is gonna put us off? Not on your life.

Dull, grey, overcast, whatever you want to call it... the vineyards still look gorgeous.

According to its website blurb, Produced In Kent is 'a membership organisation dedicated to promoting local food, drink, products and services in Kent'. Once a year they gather some of the finest producers of said services and comestibles at the above mentioned venue and believe me, if you like your grub as much as I do, it's worth attending.

So we trooped into the area where all the stands and booths were and I immediately smelled the amazing aroma of fresh coffee, provided by Luigi Bean.

Here is a van where the back doors open to reveal a full sized espresso machine, fridges and such. All the full works of a proper coffee operation squeezed into a four-wheeled vehicle. Excellent stuff. Sadly the guy running it was not Luigi. His name was Sean, but he tells us his son is named Louis, and his nickname happens to be Luigi. This was the inspiration for Luigi Bean. The coffee was great. Thanks, Sean. However, go to the website and you will read a different story...

We continued on

and met a chap we have been running into rather frequently of late.

This is Neil from The Globe & Rainbow pub in Kilndown, which is near Cranbrook. He and his distinctive blond-and-red-tinted hair are now familiar to us since we first bumped into him at Tunbridge Wells' Farmers' Market last week (can't believe how time flies!). We then met him on Bank Holiday Monday at Finchcocks in Goudhurst. Today this busy man was here cooking up a storm and selling his amazing sauces and marinades as well as some beautiful flatbreads which are as long as your arm. We bought one with a nice red onion, tomato and cheese topping, which he had to cut into four to even get into a bag, for a paltry £3.50 which was a steal! We keep telling ourselves we need to make a point of going to The Globe & Rainbow soon, as the menu (on the website) looks insanely good!

We then encountered Kentish Mayde, who make all manner of pies and pastries.

I had my eye on some delicious-looking tarts...

but eventually plumped for an Apple and Blackberry, and a small Spicy Butterbean Pie which I have yet to try but sounds amazing.

Next were two ladies I'd met a few times before at Sissinghurst Castle Farmers' Market. They actually supplied the restaurant there with their jams and chutneys, but they also do some amazing mustards. The name of the company is Sugar & Spice and I could have quite happily stood there sampling for an hour or two...

They don't have a website yet but if you want to catch them in action just go to Sissinghurst, Penshurst, Egerton and Cranbrook Farmers' Markets, or call them on 01622 880653.

Next up was Angelcakes, which is a lady named Andrea, who does some fab cupcakes and decorated cakes...

Find her website at www.angelcakeskent.co.uk

Next was a lady I had encountered before at last year's Wealden Times Midsummer Festival. She does some amazing Indian and Asian dishes at various events around the county, supplies farm shops and delis, caters garden and dinner parties, holds cookery classes, and manages to find time to deliver her food free within the Faversham area. Her name is Corinne and her website is at Corinnescreativekitchen.co.uk. Corinne won the Taste Of Kent Awards 2010 for Best Kent Artisan Food Producer of the Year. I purchased a couple of her Bombay Potato Cakes and a Veggie Samosa to nibble on and boy were they good! Nice intense spice without burning your taste buds off. Very, very good.

Next we went into the Barn, which we were glad of, as the rain seemed to have intensified.

I found my Sis and Laura at the Kentish Cobnuts stand, talking to a nice man named Alexander Hunt. At Potash Farm in St. Mary's Platt near Sevenoaks Mr. Hunt has been busy building up Potash Farm to its former nutty glory and his website, www.kentishcobnuts.com, sells a ton of the wonderful cobnuts in their green, golden and de-husked states, as well as a lot of other wonderful nut based products. I sampled the fabulous cobnut oil and some terrific marmalade which contained cobnuts and whisky...

The next place we stopped was Alchemy Confectionery who have a wondrous range of fabulous and unusual chocolates...

Pea and mint with chocolate, I hear you cry? Indeed. The pea & mint combo has long been a tried and tested favourite, but the sweetness of the pea and the aromatic mint make really good bedfellows with a bit of choccy too. Oh my, they are exquisite.

Cobnuts show up once again. This is fantastic, by the way...

We then moved on to Cheesemakers of Canterbury and sampled some amazing and delightful handmade cheeses.

"Gruff", as in Billy Goats Gruff... geddit? Nice cheese.

I'm always up for anything with chillies in it.

Moooo...

Then we passed by the Goupie stall. We love Goupie, but we purchased a bunch of it last week at Finchcocks, so we had no need of any. Love it all the same though!

http://www.goupie.co.uk/

The girls moved on while I lingered a minute or two, gabbing with the nice gentleman from the Nelson Brewery which is situated at the Historic Chatham Dockyard. Nelsons brew such fine ales as Spinnaker, Pieces of Eight and the wonderfully named Powder Monkey!

Mmm... beer...

Next was another local company I had seen last year at the Wealden Times Midsummer Fest, Olives R Good 4 U.

At the top left are the Moroccan Dry Olives which have to be tasted to be believed.

They've recently started making their own tapenade which is great stuff.

No website apparently, but you can contact them at olivesrgood4u@aol.com, or call Steve on 0843 2895587.

The good folks at Rentacherrytree.co.uk also produce their own very tasty Kentish Cherry Brandy...wow!

That's right, you can rent a cherry tree and get all the fruit off it when it's ready. Good deal.

There was a stand selling some lovely Venison eats...

however, being a vegetarian, I declined. Even though it smelled amazing.

Next was a gentleman selling some delicious fudge...

I have just finished the bag of Rum & Raisin... too, too good.

Last people I stopped by were the folks selling some honey products.

They were from Beult House Bees, and I had to buy a jar of their Stem Ginger in Honey. Bee-autiful.

I also ran into my friend Nicci Gurr from Home Gurr'own and purchased a couple of delicious Mushroom Scotch Eggs from her. To die for, Nicci - another winner!

We came, we saw, we ate and drank, and we went home well satisfied with our haul of goodies. Not only that but the Kent Air Ambulance benefited too, despite the rain.

Kooshti Sante!

Ice Ice Baby

2011-05-31T22:15:00.000+01:00

Well, this...

is Coconut Ice!

A sweet coconutty confection that I absolutely loved as a kid.

The following is a recipe for coconut ice. It’s ideal for school bake sales, village fêtes, church fairs, that sort of thing. Kids love making and eating sweet things, and coconut ice is one that doesn’t require any cooking or any real kitchen know-how, so it’s a safe recipe for small hands to get stuck into.

If you’re making this with your brood, it’s worth buying pink food colouring rather than just using a teensy-weensy amount of red. Children let loose on red colouring can easily produce coconut ice that looks like the St Valentine’s Day Massacre, so splash out on the pink stuff for a reliably Barbie-pink finish.

To make just over a kilogram of coconut ice, you’ll need:

400g dessicated coconut
400g icing sugar
1 tin (397g) condensed milk
½ teaspoon pink food colouring

In a large bowl, stir the dessicated coconut, icing sugar and condensed milk together until you have a stiff, sticky mixture. Remove half the coconut ice to a clean bowl and add the food colouring, then stir again until the colour is blended in smoothly. (Here you will need to help the kids because it's very stiff and stirring it will require adult muscle.)

Line a small rectangular dish with cling film, making sure there is plenty overhanging at the sides. (Later, you will fold these overhanging bits over to cover the coconut ice.) Grease the cling film with a few drops of vegetable oil. Take the white portion of coconut ice and pack it firmly into the lined dish, making sure you produce an even layer. Pack the pink portion into a neat layer on top of the white layer. They will stick together firmly, thanks to the amazing adhesive qualities of sugar and condensed milk. Fold the cling film over the top and refrigerate the coconut ice overnight.

When the coconut ice is nice and firm from the fridge, turn it out of the dish, using the cling film to help, and peel the film away. Chop into little squares (a serrated knife is useful here), dust with icing sugar and pack in greaseproof paper for the Grand Vicarage Fête.

Okay, what's the next food?

Name This Food!

All's Well At The Wells

2011-05-28T23:17:00.000+01:00

Today Laura and I decided to be adventurous and take the bus to Tunbridge Wells. The great thing about it is the fact that the bus actually picks up around the corner from the house, about a 3-minute walk. The downside is that the bus ride is about 90 minutes, which is a long time to be on a bus (Greyhound riders excepted, of course). A big plus, though, is that the route from Tenterden to Tunbridge Wells takes you through some of the prettiest towns and villages in Kent, nay, in England. Cranbrook, Goudhurst, Horsmonden, Brenchley, Matfield... all gorgeous places. Once there in the town of Royal T.W. we immediately went to the Farmer's Market, which was just off Monson Road, near the Monument, and as it was extremely windy and a bit nippy we were happy when practically the first stall we saw was a man selling apple juice. He had bottled juice of course, but he was doing a roaring trade selling hot spiced apple juice for £1, so we had one each and it was nice and warming. We moved on down through the market and there were, it seemed, a preponderance of stalls selling cheeses, some regular cheese, some sheep's milk, some goat's, all of which looked great, and we did in fact sample and buy some.

We then came to a stall selling home made preserves and mustards, which we had to give a try, and ended up buying a jar of the fabulous Whisky Marmalade.

We stopped at one stall which was Sedlescombe Winery, and in addition to his wines, the man there had some liqueurs. He saw we were sipping on the warm apple juice and he poured in a shot of a liqueur which I did not get the name of, but which made our hot apple juice a real zinger. Woo hoo! Here we were, not even 11am and we were getting tiddly already. We purchased from him a bottle of the Black Cherry liqueur. Mm mm mm.

There was a lady I recognised from Horsmonden Farmer's Market who makes Greek and Mediterranean pastries such as Baklava and Spanakopita. I'd had her Spanakopita last time and so as I knew Laura had not tried it before, bought one to share. Well, as soon as Laura tasted it she said, "Well, you're not getting this back!". I managed to get the last little piece. It was so good.

On our way back along the other side of the row of stalls we came across a lady named Sophie Wood from Mount Pleasant Food Company who makes home made soups which are microwaveable. I tried a sample of the asparagus Soup and loved it. She told me that the asparagus that went in to making the soup was only picked on Friday morning - now that's fresh!

For a complete list of the stallholders at the Farmer's market, click here.

Later on we ate lunch at The Nutmeg Tree which is a place that is supposed to look like a 1930's tea room. The decor and music certainly give it that atmosphere, as do the black dress/white pinny uniforms of the staff.

"One....soup!... and... another.... soup!"

I had the spinach and mushroom lasagne which came with a healthy helping of fresh steamed veggies....

Laura ate the Leek and Potato bake, which came with a massive side salad.

She also had a lovely glass of cherryade.

All very yummy.

When I got back, I had a little tipple with my Indian food from Gram Spice in Biddenden for dinner. A glass of Biddenden Vineyard's Gribble Bridge Rose.

Oh my gosh. I love this wine. It is one of those very versatile rose wines that would be good with just about anything. Not too sweet, not too tart, just perfect. Another good buy from the guys at Liquid Pleasure (plug, plug).

Kooshti sante!

Not A True Nut

2011-05-22T13:09:00.000+01:00

These...

are Almonds.

Almonds don't actually look like this when you get to eat them, of course, so that's why I chose that picture. I foolishly thought that it might throw you off the scent a little bit. But it seems we have a genuine food whiz in Iris, who once again answered the question in record time. I can see I'm going to have to try a little harder from now on.

The almond (Prunus dulcis), is a species of tree that is native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus Prunus, it is classified with the peach in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated shell (endocarp) surrounding the seed.
The fruit of the almond is not a true nut, but something called a drupe, which is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin; and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a shell (the pit, stone or pyrene) of hardened endocarp with a seed inside.
A symbol of hope and prosperity in Eastern cultures, the almond used to be known for its fat content but has now made its way to the top of power-food lists. This nutrient-dense tree nut has become best known for its many health benefits. Eating a handful of almonds a day may lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease, heart attack, and diabetes. They are also an excellent source of vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant) and manganese -- 1 ounce (that’s about 24 almonds) has 35% and 32% of the RDA respectively. And with only 1 gram of saturated fat, 13 grams of healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, 6 grams of protein, and 160 calories per ounce, it's clear that almonds are a friend of any true health nut.

Here's a recipe, of course...

Roasted Curried Squash Soup with Almonds

1 large butternut squash
1 large acorn squash
1 large onion, peeled and cut in half
1 whole garlic bulb
½ tsp olive oil
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted, divided
5 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
½ cup apple juice
1½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup fat-free half-and-half
6 tbsp fat-free sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried chives

Preheat oven to 425ºF.
Cut each squash in half, scoop out seeds, and place cut side down along with onion on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
Cut top off garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil on cut surface, wrap bulb in aluminum foil, and place on sheet with other vegetables.
Roast for about 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool.
Scoop flesh from both squashes and squeeze out garlic flesh from bulb, placing all in a heavy-bottom pot along with onion, ½ cup almonds, chicken broth, apple juice, and spices.
Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Using a hand or traditional blender, purée soup in batches until smooth; return to pot and add half-and-half and cook until thoroughly heated.
Serve immediately with sour cream or yogurt, remaining almonds, and a sprinkle of chives.

Makes 8 servings.

OK, what about the new food?

Name this Food!

The Council of Chow

2011-05-17T22:23:00.000+01:00

Last night was an interesting night. We went to the Town hall to watch my mother become Deputy Mayor. As it turned out there was a last minute challenger for the post but Mum won by 8 votes to 7. She gets to wear an official chain of office and everything! Woo hoo for Mum!

After the ceremony and official stuff was over there was food and wine laid on for assembled guests etc. Food was provided by a nice young lady named Jess from Tea At The Oast, a place on Woodchurch Road that I've been meaning to go to sometime but haven't yet. Well, not to worry. After last night I am officially moving it up on the agenda to somewhere near the top. If last night's food was anything to go by, and I'm sure it probably is, this is a fab place to eat (at least as long as Jess works there). The table was loaded with lots of little nibbles, and as I approached I had a slight feeling of dread that I wouldn't be able to eat much of anything because I suspected that there might be lots of meat-based things on offer, as is sometimes the case. I needn't have worried, however, because Jess did us proud.
First thing I noticed were lots of little thimble-cups filled with a green liquid which turned out to be chilled asparagus soup. What's more, it was damn good asparagus soup. I went back for about 5 more, I have to be honest. She also had miniature cheese scones with a chive butter (divine), cheese sandwiches and egg & cress sandwiches (fab), cheese straws of course, mini Stilton rarebits (to die for), but my two favourites were (a) the little breaded balls filled with an aranchini/saffron risotto (wow. Just wow.) and (b) the little mini bruschettas topped with a purée of peas, broad beans and mint with a mini dollop of crème fraîche on top (no way to describe this but a pure delight to put in your mouth). Beautiful stuff Jess - keep it up and I promise I'll come down to the Oast soon.

Today I popped into Cinnamon in The Fairings, a place I mentioned before in a fairly recent post. I had once again the Mozzarella, Tomato and Spinach sandwich on Granary Bread, and once again it was top-notch. The double espresso I had with it was pretty darn good, too. Love it.

Baby Baby

2011-05-15T11:16:00.000+01:00

So my Sis beat everybody to the punch by correctly naming this...

as Baby Spinach!

Baby Spinach is a lovely versatile leaf and probably my absolute favourite when it comes to salads.

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is actually a native plant of central and southwestern Asia, thought to have originated in ancient Persia (now Iran). Traders took the plant with them to India, and from there it moved into China via Nepal. The Saracens introduced it to Sicily and by the Tenth Century A.D. it was popular throughout the Mediterranean. Betcha didn't know that!

So what exactly is BABY spinach?

"Baby spinach" is a term typically used to describe spinach that has been harvested during a fairly early stage of plant growth, usually between 15-35 days after planting. We're usually familiar with baby spinach in the grocery store because of its small leaves, tender texture, and sweet taste in comparison with mature, fully formed spinach leaves. (For these mature spinach leaves, the harvest dates are usually between 40-65 days.)

Okay Jeff, how about a recipe?

Okay, if you insist.

Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

4 (1 inch thick)slices bread (something nice and crusty)

3 tablespoons olive oil

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 spring onions (green onions), thinly sliced

1 pound baby spinach

1/3 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (3 ounces)

4 large eggs

Directions

Heat broiler/grill, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Place bread on a baking sheet, and brush both sides with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toast until golden, 1 to 3 minutes per side; set aside.

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium. Add spring onions and as much spinach as will fit; season with salt and pepper. Cook until wilted, tossing and adding more spinach as room becomes available, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain off excess liquid; mix in goat cheese. Transfer to a bowl; cover to keep warm. Set aside.

Wipe out pan; heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium. Gently crack eggs into pan; season with salt and pepper. Cook until whites are almost set, about 1 minute. Cover, and remove from heat; let stand until whites are set but yolks are still soft, about 3 minutes.

Top each piece of toast with spinach mixture and 1 egg; serve immediately.

Okay folks, what's the next one?

Name This Food! (hint: it doesn't look like this when you get to eat it.)

Pad Thai

2011-05-10T22:06:00.000+01:00

Yet again Iris triumphs by correctly identifying the last Name This Food! food as...

Pad Thai!

Or phad thai as it is sometimes spelled, a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime. Pretty much THE national dish of Thailand, and darn tasty it is too.

The dish has been around for centuries. It is thought to have been brought to the ancient Thai capital of Ayuthaya by Vietnamese traders, but it was first made popular as a national dish by Luang Phibunsongkhram when he was Prime Minister during the '30s and '40s, partly as an element of his campaign for Thai nationalism and centralization, and partly for a campaign to reduce rice consumption in Thailand. The Thai economy at this time was heavily dependent on rice exports, and Phibunsongkhram hoped to increase the amount available for export by launching a campaign to educate the poor in the production of rice noodles, as well as in the preparation of these noodles with other ingredients to sell in small cafes and from street carts.

Following World War II there was a recession in Thailand, and the post-war government of Phibunsongkhram was desperate in its efforts to revive the Thai economy. They looked for ways to stem the massive tide of unemployment, and among the occupations the government aggressively promoted to give the populace a way to earn a living was the production of rice noodles and the operation of noodle shops. Detailed instructions on how to make the noodles and recipes were printed and distributed around the country. From these efforts, rice noodles became firmly rooted in the country and have since become a widespread staple food.

So there you have it, folks. History and food on the same page. There's a lovely Pad Thai recipe on the BBC's page.

Next food?

Name This Food!

Gooseberries

2011-05-04T20:59:00.001+01:00

I must be making this too easy or maybe you are all just too damn smart out there. These...

are gooseberries.

"Whoa! Hold up Jeff!" I hear you shout. " Gooseberries are green, aren't they? Like this?"

Well, yes. But not all of them. There are in fact several varieties of red gooseberry. Google it if you don't believe me. Thing is, gooseberries are very tart, but some very smart scientific types decided to develop some different types that were a little sweeter, and, well, reddish. There's even a funny little fruit named the Jostaberry (pronounced 'yostaberry') that is a hybrid of a gooseberry and a blackcurrant. I'll have to see if I can find some of those.

But what can one make with red gooseberries? Well, of course there's pies and crumbles and fools, but how about something a little bit different for this blog? How about a clafoutis?

A what?

A clafoutis. The classic dessert of the Limousin region of France. Cherries arranged in a buttered baking dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter, baked and then served lukewarm, covered with confectioner's sugar.

Nigella Lawson, she of the annoying voice and perky boobies, has a recipe for a red gooseberry clafoutis in 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess', apparently, but technically that's not really a clafoutis but une flaugnarde.

Do what now?

A flaugnarde is a sort of second cousin of the clafoutis. It’s where you use other fruit instead of the cherries - apples, figs, pears, peaches or what I'm using, les groseilles rouges – red gooseberries.

Perhaps clafoutis recipes are as wide-ranging as ones for Languedoc cassoulet or Dublin coddle, hence all the flaugnardes. Even for a “proper” cherry clafoutis, people’s recipes for the batter mix will vary wildly too – from a Yorkshire pudding type gunk to a refined custard or even a light soufflé.

Clafoutis is comfort food, and as with most comfort food it’s really up to you which way to go, and how custardy, cakey or puddingy you want it to be. And, of course, whether to have plums or red gooseberries instead of dark cherries.

So anyway, whatever you want to call it, try this...

Ingredients
1kg red gooseberries
5 eggs
25g butter
120g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
80g plain flour
500ml full-fat milk
1-2 tsps ground almonds (optional) – or about 2 tsps of flaked (slivered) almonds for a crusty crust
4 drops of vanilla extract (or a vanilla pod)

Method

Lightly grease an oven-proof gratin dish with some butter
Put the gooseberries in the dish, fairly evenly spaced
Beat the eggs and sugar together
Add the flour, then the milk, then the vanilla extract; mix well to get rid of lumps
Stir in the ground almonds if using
Pour the batter over the dish of gooseberries
Sprinkle on the flaked almonds if using
Bake in an oven at 190C for 45 minutes (approx) until golden brown
Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly
Sprinkle with sugar
Serve with cream, vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche

OK folks, next food?

Name This Food!

Apple Streusel Coffeecake

2011-05-03T22:21:00.000+01:00

I tell ya what - one of the absolute greatest things that the USA introduced to my palate was the concept of the coffeecake. Not a coffee-flavoured cake, you understand - in the UK that's what a coffee cake is - but a cake to be eaten with a cup of coffee, somewhat less dense than a traditional cake, more like a muffin in consistency.

The other day I had bought a whole bunch of apples in town. On Fridays Tenterden has a market, which always used to be held in the car park outside the museum. For some reason it is not held there any more, but that is by the by. (I must ask my Mum who is a Town Councillor why they moved it). The market instead is held in various spots along the High Street, and it is quite fun on a Friday morning to wander along the street and investigate all the various stalls. Anyway, one of the stalls is a lady who sells fresh fruit and veg and last week she had 3 bags of apples and/or pears for £3. So I got two of apples and one of pears. I had been snacking on the pears all week (one of my absolute favourite fruits) and yesterday I looked in the cupboard and thought, "I gotta do something with all those apples before they go manky". As we all know, there's nothing worse than having to deal with stuff that's gone manky in your cupboard.

So I decided to whip up a big apple coffeecake. Here's the recipe I used:

3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1.75 cups sugar
1 cup sunflower oil
4 eggs
5 apples, cored, peeled and chopped roughly
a splash of lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon

Firstly I put the apples in a big mixing bowl, followed by the lemon juice (this will stop the apples turning brown and add a nice touch of citrus). Then I added the dry ingredients and the eggs. Using a big spoon or a fork or even your hands (hey, it's OK to get messy in the kitchen. That's why they invented soap and water), mix until combined into a nice stodgy mixture. Get yourself a baking dish such as a loaf pan or preferably a casserole dish...

This sort of thing would do admirably.

and having greased it with some margarine, cooking spray or a smattering of cooking oil, dump the whole shebang into it and spread evenly. Then in a small bowl, take a handful of sugar, a handful of flour, another teaspoon of cinnamon and a splash of oil, combine until this mixture resembles a crumble topping, then spread on top of your coffeecake. Pop this into the oven at 350F for about 55 minutes or when a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean (or almost clean - it's OK to have a little moisture in the centre because that'll be delicious when it's cooled). What you should end up with should look something like this...

Cut the whole thing into squares and have one while it's still warm...

If you were to get a little butter on a knife and smear it onto the warm inside of this cake and eat it like that, I would not think any the less of you. In fact it would probably make you go up in my estimation.

This cake got a thumbs-up from everyone in the house, kids and dogs included.

Whip one up and then invite me for coffee!

Great way to use up fruit and keep 'em all happy.

Kooshti sante!

A Leaf Of Many Names

2011-05-02T13:31:00.000+01:00

This...

is Lamb's Lettuce.

It's also known in different parts of the world as Lewiston cornsalad, corn salad, fetticus, field salad, mâche, feldsalat, nut lettuce and rapunzel. So I actually got two correct answers, from Iris and from Anonymous (whom I strongly suspect is my mum). Well done to both!

Corn salad/lamb's lettuce grows wild in parts of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. In Europe and Asia it is a common weed in cultivated land and waste spaces. In North America it has escaped cultivation and become naturalized on both the eastern and western seaboards.

Corn salad was originally foraged by peasants in Europe, but it was De la Quintinie, Louis XIV's royal gardener, that cultivated it and introduced it to the world.

In Britain it has been used as food for many centuries but has only been available commercially since the 1980s. As to the name, it's called 'corn salad' because it frequently grows as a weed in wheat and cornfields.

Myself, I've only ever heard it referred to as 'Lamb's Lettuce' although at first glance it looks a lot like watercress. I have to say though, I prefer the taste to that of watercress and would go so far as to say it's probably my second favourite salad leaf next to baby spinach.

So how's about a recipe?

Other than uses in salads, it's also good when gently steamed as a side vegetable, but here's a recipe for soup.

Cream of Lamb's Lettuce Soup

150g lamb’s lettuce
200g peeled potatoes, large diced
50g butter
Salt
Ground pepper (preferably white)
250ml double cream

Set aside a few lamb’s lettuce leaves.

Put the butter in a saucepan, add the rest of the lamb’s lettuce and leave to sweat without colouring.
Add the potatoes, season with a good pinch of salt and a few turns of the pepper grinder. Add 1 litre of water and leave to cook gently for 30 mins.
Blend the soup thoroughly in a mixer. Add the cream and check the seasoning.
Serve in medium–sized cups or in soup bowls.
Finely snip up the rest of the lamb’s lettuce and spread over the top of the soup.
Serve hot.

Sounds good to me!

Okay then, how about the new food?

Name This Food!

Later, Tater

2011-04-30T22:49:00.001+01:00

Well, my new friend Iris was once again correct in identifying the Name This Food! item, which was of course

Tater Tots!

Yes, I'm sure all my American friends knew this, but Iris just got in there first. Here in the UK we can't get tater tots, which is a bit sad, really. Waitrose make some nice frozen Rosti which are similar in texture but rounder and flatter in shape. I guess the closest thing to Tater Tots here in the GB are the hash brown patties you get at Mickey D's for brekky. But I just thought it was time to make it easier for the Yanks for once.

Tater Tots is actually a registered trademark for a commercial form of hash browns made by Ore-Ida (betcha didn't know that). They are a side-dish made from deep-fried, grated potatoes. Tater Tots are widely recognized by their crispiness, cylindrical shape and small size.

Tater Tots are commonly found in the U.S. in cafeterias and school lunch-counters, as well as the supermarket frozen food aisle and some fast food restaurants. Safeway Inc. has a generic brand called "Tater Treats". The Sonic Drive-In franchise also features "Tater Tots" as a regular menu item, with the option of cheese, chili, or both as toppings; tots with cheese are branded "Cheesy Tots". Cheesy Tots are coin-shaped and, as implied by the name, contain melted cheese as well as potatoes. Several restaurants in the Pacific Northwest offer a nacho version of tots ("totchos"), covered in nacho cheese sauce and toppings.

Some Mexican-style fast-food restaurants offer seasoned tater tots: Taco Time and Señor Frog's call them "Mexi-Fries", while Taco Bell used to sell them as "Mexi-Nuggets". Taco Mayo in the southwest offers round disc-shaped tater tots called "Potato Locos." Taco John's also has coin shaped tots called “Potato Olés”. In some areas of the Northeast USA, however, they are often called "juliennes" or "potato puffs."

In Australia, they are known as "potato gems" or "potato pom-poms" (also used in New Zealand). In the UK, Ross Frozen Foods once produced "oven crunchies" which are no longer available. In Canada McCain Foods Limited calls their line of tater tots Tasti Taters. Cascadian Farm calls their line of tater tots Spud Puppies.

Tater is slang for potato; Tots may have been derived from their diminutive size, or because they are often served to children. In some regions, the term Tater is informally dropped, and the snack is simply called "Tots". Whatever. All I know is they are just scrumptious. Perfect one-bite satisfaction. Mm mm mm.

One of the greatest things ever invented is the sublime Tater Tot casserole. For this all you need is a bag of tater tots, a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (I've also used cream of celery before with great success), a bag of frozen mixed veg (or veg of your choice - hell, why not use asparagus tips?), a bunch of shredded cheese (the tangier the better), a dab of milk or sour cream and usually some browned ground beef, but since I'm now vegetarian I'd either omit the beef altogether, or substitute veggie mince (Quorn or Linda McCartney do a fine substitute), a splosh of soy sauce to give it a kick, and a casserole dish. Some people like to mix everything up together except the tater tots, put it in the casserole dish and layer the tots on top. Me - I like to just mix the whole shebang together. Hey, it all goes down the same way, right?

Bung it in the casserole dish, chuck it in the oven at 200C/375F for as long as it takes for the mixture to get hot and bubbly, and serve. Yum. Total comfort food.

Alright then. Another puzzle for you...

Name This Food!

Talk To The Palm

2011-04-28T22:27:00.000+01:00

I've been feeling in a right old mood today. There are several things that have been on my mind, some on a personal level, some not so much.

One of the things that affects me on several levels is the issue of palm oil. I had only been vaguely aware of its existence up until a few days ago when something I read prompted me to do some research about it. And what I discovered shocked me.

Firstly, you may be wondering much as I myself was a few short days ago, what is palm oil? Well, who better to ask than the Malaysian Palm Oil Council who have an entire website all about it. According to the website at TheOilPalm.org "The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is an important agricultural crop, which yields three important sources of food and animal feed, namely palm oil, palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake. An average of 3.7 tonnes of palm oil, 0.4 tonnes of palm kernel oil and 0.6 tonnes of palm kernel cake is obtainable from one hectare of land. While the first two products can be used for human consumption, such as cooking oil, margarines, shortenings, bakery fats, vanaspati, ice creams and Vitamin E, and other products, palm kernel cake is used as an animal feed. Palm oil is also a source for biofuels and biodiesel used for power plants and other renewable energy purposes throughout the world.

Palm oil is derived from the flesh of the fruit of the oil palm species. In its virgin form, the oil is bright orange-red due to the high content of carotene. Palm oil is nature’s gift to Malaysia, and Malaysia’s to the world."

Palm oil and its various uses are a huge source of controversy. This is where I come in, because I read a report the other day about the loss of a significant amount of the Orangutan's natural habitat because of the palm oil industry. There are issues surrounding the natural habitat of the Sumatran tiger being lost because of palm oil production also.
Not only that but because many rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia lie atop peat bogs that store great quantities of carbon that are released when the forests are cut down and the bogs drained to make way for plantations, there has been a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Greenpeace, the deforestation caused by making way for oil palm plantations is far more damaging for the climate than the benefits gained by switching to biofuel.

Many of the major companies in the vegetable oil economy participate in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which is trying to address this problem, though their efforts so far have done almost nothing to change or slow the escalating situation and have been likened to green-washing (the deceptive use of green PR or green marketing in order to promote a misleading perception that a company's policies or products (such as goods or services) are environmentally friendly). Even so, in 2008 Unilever, a member of the RSPO group, committed to use only palm oil which is certified as sustainable, by ensuring that the large companies and smallholders that supply it convert to sustainable production by 2015.

Meanwhile, much of the recent investment in new palm plantations for biofuel has been part-funded through carbon credit projects through the Clean Development Mechanism (for a detailed explanation of what this actually is, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Development_Mechanism); however the reputational risk associated with unsustainable palm plantations in Indonesia has now made many funds wary of investing there.

You would think that the problems ended there, but no. There is indeed more.

Palm oil producers have been accused of various human-rights violations, from low pay and poor working conditions to theft of land and even murder. However, some social initiatives use palm oil profits to finance poverty alleviation strategies. Examples include the financing of Magbenteh hospital in Makeni, Sierra Leone through profits made from palm oil grown by small local farmers, the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance's Food Security Program, which draws on a women-run cooperative to grow palm oil, the profits of which are reinvested in food security, or the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's hybrid oil palm project in Western Kenya, which improves incomes and diets of local populations.

The RSPO was established in 2001 as a market-led initiative to reform the way palm oil is produced, processed and used, with clear standards on the production of sustainable palm oil. Members include companies all along the supply chain, from big name companies such as Unilever, Cadbury's, Nestle and Tesco, to suppliers such as Cargill, ADM and Indonesian-based Duta Palma.

Trouble is, the existing standards developed by the RSPO will not prevent forest and peatland destruction, and a number of RSPO members are taking no steps to avoid the worst practices of the palm oil industry. Some like palm oil processor Duta Palma, an RSPO member, are directly involved in deforestation. Worse still, at present the RSPO itself is creating the illusion of sustainable palm oil, justifying the expansion of the industry.

As in many other forest areas around the world, local communities often get a raw deal. Many are totally dependent on the forest for everything they need to survive and although in theory indigenous people have the right to control development on their customary lands, their rights are frequently violated by the government and companies. They are often cheated out of their land, and farmers who sell their forest areas can become trapped in a cycle of debt, effectively becoming slaves on their own land. It's also worth remembering that most players in the palm oil industry are major international companies, so the profits and associated benefits don't filter down to the majority of Indonesians.

In what products will one likely find palm oil used? Probably in bread, margarine, potato crisps, chocolate, laundry detergent, cakes, breakfast cereal, ramen noodles, frozen pizza, chewing gum and frozen fish products. The reason it's used is because it is the cheapest cooking oil in the world, which is fine. I don't have a problem with that. But I DO have a major problem with companies using palm oil purchased from companies involved with deforestation. Many companies have recently gotten on board with the whole 'sustainable palm oil' thing, including Unilever and Nestle.

So what to do? Well, you could try not buying products from companies that do not use sustainable palm oil. But there is no way of knowing that just by looking at the packaging. You'd have to hop online and shoot the company an email, and probably never get an answer. Or a misleading one.
Or you could just quit buying products that use palm oil, but the trouble is, palm oil is not always listed as such, merely as 'vegetable oil'.

In the meantime all an armchair activist such as myself can do is try to spread the word and assist in my own small way the efforts of Greenpeace, PETA and others who are trying to ensure that the rainforests of Indonesia and other affected areas of the world are not decimated by the demand for a cooking oil that may or may not be the next wonderfuel.

Rhubarb Crumble

2011-04-25T21:39:00.000+01:00

OK chaps, my sister scored a double whammy by correctly answering not only the Musical Puzzler over on The World Of... but the Name This Food! as well. Twice in one week, Sis. You're on a roll. Sis correctly identified the lovely

Rhubarb Crumble.

It occurs to me that some of you might have questions about this item. Like "what's a crumble?" and "what is rhubarb?", "what's my name?", "where do I live? Who am I?" etc. Well, let me just deal with the first two. The rest, you are on your own.

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae.

They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles. They have small flowers grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.

Although the leaves are toxic, various parts of the plants have culinary and medicinal uses. Fresh raw stalks are crisp (similar to celery) with a strong tart taste; most commonly the plant's stalks are cooked and used in pies and other foods for their tart flavour. A number of varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are recognised as Rheum x hybridum.

Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the United States, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction in taxes paid. That's a little odd.

Rhubarb is now grown in many areas and thanks to greenhouse production is available throughout much of the year. Rhubarb grown in hothouses (heated greenhouses) is called hothouse rhubarb (well, duh!) and is typically made available at consumer markets in early spring, before outdoor cultivated rhubarb is available. Hothouse rhubarb is usually brighter red, more tender and sweeter-tasting than cultivated rhubarb.

In temperate climates, rhubarb is one of the first food plants to be ready for harvest, usually in mid- to late spring (April/May in the northern hemisphere, October/November in the southern hemisphere), and the season for field-grown plants lasts until September. In the northwestern US states of Oregon and Washington, there are typically two harvests: one from late April to May and another from late June into July. Rhubarb is ready to be consumed as soon as it is harvested, and freshly cut stalks will be firm and glossy.

Apparently, there is a Rhubarb Triangle. The Rhubarb Triangle is a 9-square-mile (23 km2) triangle in West Yorkshire, England located between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell famous for producing early forced rhubarb. It includes Kirkhamgate, East Ardsley, Stanley, Lofthouse and Carlton. The Rhubarb Triangle was originally much bigger covering an area between Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield. From the first decade of the 20th century to 1939 the rhubarb industry expanded and at its peak covered an area of about 30-square-mile (78 km2). Forcing rhubarb is a method of producing sweeter growth by keeping the plants in darkness so that the plant's stored carbohydrates are converted into glucose, resulting in that famous bittersweet flavour.

A crumble is a fruit pie which has a crumbed topping made from flour, butter and sugar rather than a pastry crust.

Recipe, you say?

Ingredients

500g rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into 3cm pieces

50ml water

100g caster sugar

200g plain flour

100g cold butter, cubed

125g demerara sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.

Put the rhubarb in a 1.2 litre ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the water and caster sugar.

Sift the flour into a bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively, pulse in a food processor. Stir in the demerara sugar.

Spread the crumble mixture over the rhubarb - don't pat it down too much. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the rhubarb bubbling through at the edges. Serve hot with custard, cream or ice cream.

OK, what's the next one?

Here's one for my home boys and girls in the States.

Name it!

By George!

2011-04-25T17:09:00.000+01:00

The other day I went out for a drink with my old buddy Andy to The Vine, a place I have mentioned on a few occasions on this here bloggity blog. While we were there having a quiet drink the landlord Steve said hi to me and asked if we were coming to the Beer festival on the 23rd. At this my ears perked up. "What's that ya say?" quoth I. "Beer? Festival? Two of my favourite words together as one? This can only mean good things!".

So, long story short, Laura and I ended up toddling along to the Beer Fest on St. George's Day.

*sound of needle skittering across vinyl*

"Hold up, Jeff! St. George's Day? Was ist das, mein Herr? etc."

Well, to tell you the truth, I always thought St. George's Day was in May, so I need to do a little research.

Saint George is the patron saint of England and as such is celebrated on his death each 23 April. This is also celebrated as the day of birth and death of William Shakespeare.

Apparently, in 1222 The Synod of Oxford declared St. George's Day a feast day in the kingdom of England. Edward III (1327–1377) put his Order of the Garter (founded c. 1348) under the banner of St. George. This order is still the foremost order of knighthood in England and St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle was built by Edward IV and Henry VII in honour of the order. The badge of the Order shows Saint George on horseback slaying the dragon. Froissart observed the English invoking St. George as a battle cry on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).Certain English soldiers displayed the pennant of St George. In his play Henry V, William Shakespeare famously invokes the Saint at Harfleur prior to the battle of Agincourt (1415): "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" At Agincourt many believed they saw him fighting on the English side.

St George's Day was a major feast and national holiday in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century.The Cross of St George was flown in 1497 by John Cabot on his voyage to discover Newfoundland and later by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1552 The Bishop of London tried to suppress the celebration of St George's Day: "wher as it hathe bene of ane olde costome that sent Gorge shulde be kepte holy day thorrow alle Englond, the byshoppe of London commandyd that it shulde not be kepte, and no more it was not" (from the 'Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London'). In 1620 it was the flag that was flown by the Mayflower when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Popularity of the holiday waned during the 18th and 19th centuries but recently it has enjoyed increasing popularity.

So there you have it.

Anyway - where was I?

Ah yes - The Vine.

As we entered I looked down towards the beer garden where the band were playing. I knew they'd be interesting because of their name - "Madame Molotov". I could see that the bassist had a mohawk and the guy standing next to him was playing an accordion. I wasn't wrong. As I watched them later in the beer garden the accordionist switched to sax and there was also a guitarist who also played various percussion instruments and a drummer who had percussion instruments around him too. Their music was sort of indefinable, with elements of rock, jazz, polka, klezmer, African rhythms... very cool and listenable.

Then we saw the small blackboards on the bar displaying the names of the guest beers.

Royal Wedding Ale, a limited edition cask beer, specially brewed by Shepherd Neame to mark the occasion of the Royal Nuptials. At 4.7% it's got quite a bit of poke to it, and it's an incredibly hoppy yet smooth drink and I had downed my first pint before I knew it.

Dragonfire, which was the next one I tried. Special St.George's Day brew.
Very nice beer, a bit stronger taste although only 4.6% ABV.

Canterbury Jack, which at 3.1% was the weakest on offer but nice all the same.

Bishop's Finger, which I have had on several occasions before so I gave it a miss.
Although after what happened later I probably should have stuck with beer.

Because there was a cider called Bushels, made by those sneaky buggers at Biddenden Vineyard. A very pale green, clear cider with a crisp apple aroma. Flavour is sweet and fruity on the finish with a dry edge. Very drinkable. And it's 6.0%. It kicked my arse.

Oh my God did it kick my arse. Laura had had half a pint of it to begin with. She's more of a cider fan than I am and she let me taste a little bit of it and I thought it was lovely. So after my first two pints of beer she suggested I have a cider and I thought, hey, why the heck not? I should have known something was up when she had a latte instead of another alcoholic drink.

I went to Tesco afterwards and cannot remember a thing about it. I know I went in, and I know I came out, and according to Laura I was hurling abuse at pieces of meat on display. Whew. Thank you Biddenden, for proving me to be a lightweight of the highest order.

Grazin'

2011-04-22T22:03:00.000+01:00

I am a snacker. Born to nibble. If it's available, I'll munch on it. And this is my downfall, folks. It does not help my waistline to eat this way. So I thought "If the stuff I munch on is good for me, that would be a step in the right direction, right?" Makes sense.

A while back I discovered graze. They're a company that makes little snack-sized 'punnets' of various blends of nuts and dried fruits etc. and puts them in little recyclable boxes shaped just right to fit through your letterbox and delivers them to your door twice a week (you pick the days). There are four punnets to a box, and you don't always know exactly what you're gonna get, but they base what they send to you on your preferences that you've already told them about. It's £3.49 a box, which includes delivery. If you sign up today at graze.com your first one is half price.And the great thing is, you can cancel at anytime. As soon as you tell them to stop, they'll stop.

So you want an idea of what is in the box? Here's some pics of the ones I took to work with me today.

'Cherish' - apricots, macadamias and cranberries.

'Chanachur panch phoron' - lemon chilli flavored chickpea noodles, with cashews, green raisins and goji berries. Wonderful sweet-sour-spicy combo.

This one is pretty self-explanatory.

They were all delicious, and kept me going till dinner.

If you live outside of the UK then unfortunately you cannot get graze as they currently only ship within the British Isles. If you live within the UK then hooray for you, because I am going to give you a special code which will allow you to get your first box free! Not only that but your second box will be half price! Here's the code which you would enter during the signup process at the appropriate moment.

CXGDC3L

Just go to graze.com and start snacking like a pro!

A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

2011-04-22T21:19:00.000+01:00

We here in the U of K, good ole GB, Henglan' wid a Haitch, have been recently subjected to a series of summer-like days with scorching temps in the upper 70s, endless blue skies, sunsets to die for, flowers ahoy and wittle baby wambkins gambolling in the fields while their thickly woollen mamas look on disdainfully. Young ladies in inappropriately revealing outfits picnicking on the grass while their shirtless beaus play football in a vain attempt to appear manly. Young children saying 'want DAT one' while their harried parents hurriedly try to shovel ice cream into their snot-nosed faces. And of course, old geezers and geezettes waddling around saying 'phew what a scorcher' and other such phrases. And me stuck inside, working, watching it all and thanking the inventor of air-conditioning for, well... air-conditioning.

Of course as the end of the day approaches I view it all with slightly more enthusiasm as the temperature drops to a more manageable level and the sun hangs lower in the late April sky. And when my Laura shows up and asks if I fancy a drink after work, I reply "Mine's a large one!"

Such was the case today. As the White Lion looked to be heaving with merry punters all happy to have a three-day weekend, we chose The Vine as this evening's venue. When we got there we decided to have a bite to eat as we were both a little peckish. The beer garden beckoned.

We chose a table and settled down. The beer garden was actually quite busy, but quiet enough to be enjoyable. Armed with our drinks, a pint of Spitfire and a DiSaronno and lemonade, we awaited the arrival of our nibbles.

Laura had ordered a salad and a side order of chips, and I ordered a Brie and avocado ciabatta sandwich and a side of onion rings.

The Brie slices were pretty huge, and there was a lot of avocado in this tiny sammich. Not complaining at all. Yes, the roll was small, but I was more than satisfied with the amount of filling!

The tomatoes kind of obscured all the onion that was underneath, but this was a pretty decent-sized salad.

All in all, a good way to end the workday. However, we did have to carry three bags of shopping home...

Sippin'

2011-04-20T11:00:00.000+01:00

When it comes to summer I don't do well. I'm a big guy and when the temperatures start hitting the roof I feel like a grizzly that's just been shot by a tranquillizer dart. However, summer does bring one consolation. Summer cocktails.
So with the weather nerds, if they are to be believed, predicting a long hot summer, may I present to you the first in my Summer Series...

SUMMER COCKTAILS

Yeah, whaddya want?

with your barkeep, Jeff

So let's get started shall we?

OK all you thirsty people, when it's hot you want a drink that will not only cool you down but you want VFM, that's Value For Money, right? You don't want a drink that's going to be gone in two or three mouthfuls, you want something that will last a while, preferably in a pitcher, like a Sangria or Margarita or Mojito. Of course here in the UK we have the classic Pimm's which always works a treat, but how about a little adventure? Start by putting a large jug in the freezer, as this will help keep your cocktails chillin'. And let's explore some of the more unusual Pitcher Cocktails.

Have You Got Any Irish In You?

Here's a variation on the classic Moscow Mule that will have you kicking up your heels Michael Flatley-style in no time. It's called the Irish Mule.

Put two shots of lime juice in the jug, add four shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey and three dashes of Angostura bitters. Add three cans of ginger beer, a few lime wedges, top up with ice and stir. Faith and begorrah.

Una Paloma Roja

The Paloma is the true national cocktail of Mexico. It is a refreshing, tequila-based alternative to boring old vodka and cranberry juice. Put eight shots of Patron Silver or other good-qualtiy tequila, one shot of sugar syrup, 400ml of ruby red grapefruit juice (less than half a carton) and the juice of one lime in your ice-filled pitcher, stir well and top with soda water. Serve in a salt-rimmed highball glass. Ay caramba!

And Finally, you need your veggies...

Crush three sticks of celery (yes, celery!) at the bottom of a jug with a wooden spoon, add 12 shots of 6 O'Clock Gin, three shots of Cointreau, two shots of sugar syrup, four shots of passion-fruit purée and 750ml of cloudy apple juice, top up with ice and use more celery to stir. The perfect celery-tini. By the way, you can buy 6 O' Clock Gin (you owe it to yourself, believe me) here in Tenterden where your local purveyor is of course Liquid Pleasure.

Alright, folks. Closing time. Go home now. More next time.

Mushrooms!

2011-04-18T22:17:00.000+01:00

These...

are breaded mushrooms.

Congrats once again to Iris for correctly identifying the Name This Food! food. I can see I'm gonna have to start supplying actual prizes for this contest. Tell ya what - if you correctly identify the next one, I'll send you something. Don't know what yet, but if you're game, I'm game. Jeff's Mystery Prize! This could be fun. Like eBay without the payments.

Anyway, here's the new one...

Name it!

Nibbles & Fruity Beer

2011-04-18T22:03:00.000+01:00

Went on Sunday for a quick nibble at Café Rouge. We weren't super hungry so we chose from the Petit Plats menu, or at least I did. Laura had the Soupe Du Jour which was Sweet Potato and Parsnip, and was fabulous.

It came with some focaccia bread that was impregnated with some rosemary. Yum.

I had two delicious items from the Petit Plats, first was the Feta et Poivron...

Feta cheese, marinated red peppers and some crusty bread.

and Houmous.

Is it houmous or hummus? Why is there no hard and fast rule of how to spell it? It's like Gaddafi. No-one seems to be able to decide whether it's spelt with a G, a K or a Q. Make a decision, people.

Laura had a Coke to drink, but I plumped for a bottle of Fruli, which is a wheat beer that is flavoured by strawberry juice, giving it a sweet flavour and gorgeous colour.

The trouble with Fruli is that because it is such a delicious drink it is very easy to drink, and therefore it could be quite dangerous if one had a case of it. You could easily plough through a few bottles and be drunk as a skunk before you knew where you were. It's very very nice. Hic!

Overkill

2011-04-14T21:20:00.000+01:00

I despair. I truly do.

Is it me or are there too many damn cooking shows on the telly?

"Well, maybe..."

A few years ago when I lived in jolly old Americky, I could not get enough of the Food Network. I loved it. Rachael Ray...

Yes, I like her, okay? Get off me.

Giada of the toothy grin and the overpronounced Italian words...

Paula with her butter and her hey y'all and her sons and her Michael and her more butter...

Nigella with her plummy accent and her... well, her boobs, let's face it. That and the little secret fantasy that we all have that if we could bed this English rose, we'd be doin' it with the daughter of the former Chancellor of the Exchequer under Maggie Thatcher. Yeah, Nigel! You screw with us... we screw your daughter! Heh heh! Okay... just me again, I see.

The Barefoot Contessa with her dinner on the beach and famous guests dropping in and lots of cream and butter and Jeffrey.

Alton Brown, science geek, comic genius, great cook.

Tyler Florence, with his Food 911.

Jamie, Bobby, Emeril with his BAM and his 'like such' and his Doc Gibbs...

I ate it up. Then they started to have competitive cooking shows. Iron Chef was the one that started it all. Then Iron Chef America. Then The Next Food Network Star. Pretty soon everyone was getting in on the act with Ramsay and his Hell's Kitchen,

Yummy. You donkey!

Chopped, Top Chef and all the rest. Food shows were getting to be big business.

Now I am seriously tired of food shows, because they have become ubiquitous. Here on this side of the pond, there are more celebrity chefs than you can shake a stick at. You have your Nigella of course, and your Jamie, but you also have your James Martin, your Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall,

your Nigel Slater, and your Hairy Bikers.

But it's food contests that truly piss me off royally.

You've got your MasterShout, with that bald piggy-eyed nob Gregg Wallace and that Oz wanker John Torode.

I wanna taste the pea!

How far up his ass is that stick exactly?

Then there's the Great British Menu with Richard Corrigan, a fat-faced ruddy-complected Irish wiener who looks like he should be lying on a platter somewhere with an apple in his gob.

Baste me in my own juices. A delicious meal for three hundred.

Then you have Come Dine With Me, a show that is inexplicably in its 22nd series since 2005 (huh? They must be seriously cranking these things out) where four or five amateur people who shouldn't be let loose in a kitchen host dinner parties for the same guests and get rated on their lack of ability in the kitchen. Call me hateful but if I was aware that a person had been on this show I would not let them boil me so much as an egg.

Do you remember back in the day, when you got one, maybe two cooking shows a week? I remember over here there was good old Fanny Cradock, with Johnny at her side handing her spatulas and knives.

"Here ya go, Johnny. Now quit rubbing my arse."

There was Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, who reinvented himself in the late 80s after some heart trouble and lived near me on Camano Island, WA? How I would have loved to have bumped into him while shopping and reminisced about Tenterden and The Woolpack.

Then we had Farmhouse Kitchen with Dorothy Slimetoad, I mean Sleightholme. God, that was the most boring cooking show ever. Pottering about in her kitchen and talking slowly... ugh.

The only other cooking demos we got were on Houseparty or perhaps Blue Peter.

That woman with the black hair always irritated me.

In the States you had Julia Child

"I'm either drunk or high, but at least I'm not a dead chicken."

and maybe Justin Wilson.

I guar-on-tee.

Then in the 90s there were a few more with the Italian guy Nick Stellino on Cucina Amore and that's really about it till Food Network came along and changed everything. And now we have cooking 24/7. Nobody, trust me, nobody, not even Anthony Bourdain, is THAT interested in cooking.

I am not against cooking shows, believe me. I will happily sit and watch an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives till the cows come home.

But the competitive thing has got to stop. There has to come a point where people say "Ya know what - I don't care who wins this contest. They are all assholes." And I am at that point. Whatever happened to just cooking for the sheer joy of it?

Couldn't have said it better myself, actually. Thanks Tone.

This Week in Food

2011-04-10T21:44:00.001+01:00

Okay folks, how are we all this fine and jolly evening? This is going to serve as a 'veggie update' and a bit of a roundup of food news. In other words, what I do best, a ramblin' random post, with lots of digressions and going off at complete tangents.

As regular readers are doubtless aware, I and my girlfriend Laura have been vegetarian for a week now. It's been quite easy so far what with the ease of finding vegetarian food product in the shops these days compared to what it was like 20 or so years ago, something I touched on last week. I've been looking at a lot of websites dedicated to veggies, vegetarian recipes etc. Last night was our first real challenge when we went to the Honeymoon Chinese Restaurant to celebrate my Mum's birthday. We'd looked at some of the menu online beforehand and I'd had a notion I was going to order a Vegetarian Thai curry, but as it turned out, they had a Vegetarian Feast for 2 on the menu that looked great, so we had that. Some stuff in it I'd not had for a while, such as crispy seaweed which is really nice, breaded mushrooms, lettuce wraps, garlic aubergines and some 'pretend pork' made from tofu, which while not quite the same texture as real pork, was quite delicious. So we did really well.
Laura has on occasion mentioned that she wanted some bacon, but she has stayed strong. I'm happy to say that despite craving chips I have managed to stay clear of junk food, which is always a bit of a pitfall for new veggies. Even at work it is hard to avoid sampling the free nibbles of flapjacks and brownies and such, but I feel pretty good about my progress so far.

One of the things that has helped strengthen my resolve is the PETA website, which has lots of funny-serious videos starring people such as Ricky Gervais, Steve-O, Nina Hagen and Pam Anderson. Also a video hosted by Fab Macca Wacky Thumbs Aloft (Paul McCartney, for those of you who are unaware) entitled If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls, Everyone Would Be Vegetarian. Now I am not going to post it here as it is a bit graphic, but if you would like to see it, here's the link.Glass Walls

One of my recent food discoveries is the wonderful range of veg pots made by Innocent who of course are well known for their delicious if a little pricey juice blends. The veg pots themselves are a bit on the steep side at close to £3.50 each, but recently Tesco has had them at half price, only £1.74, and now Innocent themselves have been putting 50p off vouchers on the labels, so theoretically you can get one for £1.24 which is a significant reduction.

Two of my favourites.

The great thing about them is their convenience, of course, but the fact that one of these pots holds 3 full servings of veg is something to rave about. They are made from veg, wholegrains, or pulses and tasty sauce, with herbs and spices. There are 8 to choose from (Portuguese red pepper piri piri, Mexican sweet potato chilli, Thai coconut curry, Indian daal, Indian Masala, roasted aubergine Moussaka, Italian Mushroom risotto and Moroccan giant couscous, in addition to occasional seasonal special flavours) and all you have to do is zap 'em in the micro for 4 minutes. Brilliant. Still have yet to try the Thai curry, the Piri piri and the couscous, but the rest are all fab, with my fave being the Mexican dish.

Another neat thing I came across recently (actually, my sister found it and bought it for me) is a limited edition of HP sauce that contains Guinness. Yes!

Mmmmm.

Now you've got to move fast on this as it's a limited edition, as I said, so it won't be around for ever, but let me tell you - it is heavenly. Deep and rich and gorgeous.

Another condiment I found recently which really floated my boat is Heinz' Twisted Chilli Ketchup. The one I picked up is the Fiery Chilli Ketchup, but there are two other flavours available - Mild Chilli, and Piri Piri & Lime.

Just like the ketchup that you know and love, but with an attitude.

The chilli ketchup and the Guinness HP sauces are both wickedly good.

The company I work for, COOK, has provided me with the last item on my update today. Earlier tonight Laura and I had the Roasted Vegetable Lasagne, pictured below. Unfortunately for me, my branch is closing in June and I am having to look for another job, but the real tragedy is that after our shop closes I'll have to go all the way to Battle (yes, that's where Will The Conk's soldiers shot an arrow into King Harold's eye and won the Battle of Hastings) to the nearest branch so I can find some of this fab food. That's 13 miles as the crow flies, but significantly more when you factor in all the little winding roads I'll have to travel. Phooey.

Nice authentic tasting lasagne with some nice chunky vegetables and a creamy sauce. Very tasty indeed.

Anyway folks, that's all for now. Kooshti sante!

Cobblers!

2011-04-10T14:06:00.000+01:00

This, my friends is a beef cobbler.

Actually that's not quite accurate. It's a spicy Mexican Beef Cobbler, and even though my new friend Iris was darn close with Cobbler, the filling was a bit of a mystery.

So what is a cobbler, I hear you cry? (And yes, I can hear all you smart arses out there saying "A guy who repairs shoes"....)

Cobbler refers to a variety of dishes, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom, consisting of a fruit or savoury filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a pastry topping, then baked in an oven.

So what is the dealio with it being called a cobbler, eh? Well...

It seems the name may have originated in the early British American colonies. English settlers, unable to make traditional suet puddings due to lack of suitable ingredients and cooking equipment, instead covered a stewed filling with a layer of uncooked plain scones/biscuits, fitted together. When fully cooked, the surface has the appearance of a cobbled street.

In the US there are different varieties of cobbler in different regions, with an array of lovely names such as the Grunt, the Sonker, the Pandowdy , the Buckle and the Slump. Whoa. And let's not forget the Apple Brown Betty.

In the UK and the Commonwealth, the scone-type topping is predominant, both for fruity and savoury versions. Along with its counterpart, the Crumble, the Cobbler was promoted heavily during WW2 by the Ministry of Food, since both are filling yet require less butter than a traditional pastry, and can be made with margarine. They have remained popular since, with cobblers becoming a staple of work canteens and school dinners.

Howsabout a recipe, eh?

Try this one, for a Vegetable Cobbler to use up all those lovely Winter Vegetables.

1 small swede - (rutabaga if you're from the US)
2 parsnips
2 leeks
2 carrots
broccoli bunch - broken up into florets
1 cup of whole cranberries - fresh or frozen (optional)
1.5 litres vegetable stock - you can make this up from vegetable stock cubes
1/4 teaspoon of allspice
butter or margarine
plain flour

Peel and dice the swede and parsnips.
Peel and slice the carrots and leeks.

In a large stock pot, make a roux out of approximately 2 oz of margarine and 3 tablespoons of plain flour. Cook the roux for 2 minutes but don't let it brown. Beat in the vegetable stock until it has all been added and add in the all spice. You've now got a pretty good runny gravy. Leaving the broccoli to one side (you'll need that for later), place the prepared vegetables into this vegetable gravy. Cover the stock pot and let it simmer away on LOW heat while you prepare the scones. Don't forget to stir this from time to time so that it doesn't stick and burn.

The Cheese Scone or baking powder biscuit topping.

8 oz or 2 cups plain flour
2 big teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 oz or 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
5 oz or 1/2 cup margarine
5 oz or 2/3 cup milk

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder in a bowl, add in the margarine and blend together until you have it looking like breadcrumbs. Add in the grated cheese and the milk. Make a dough that is not too soft to roll out. If it has become too sticky, just carefully add a bit more flour. Don't worry about the lumps of cheese. Roll out the dough and cut out the round scone or biscuit shapes.

Place the broccoli florets in a pan of boiling water for half a minute to blanch them. They'll look funny when you bake them otherwise. Then drain the broccoli.

Now go back to your vegetables that have been simmering away and remove the pot from the heat. Please be careful with the next step because it's hot.

Dump it all into a very large casserole dish and arrange the uncooked scone shapes on top of it all. Place the broccoli florets between the scone shapes, stem side down. You can choose to grate a bit more cheese over the top at this point if you desire.

Pop this into a medium oven (approximately 180 C or 350 F) for about 40 minutes or so. The scones will have risen and become golden brown.

Remove from the oven, let it set for a few minutes to cool down and then serve.

OK then, how about the next Name This Food! food?

Name it!

The Price Of Prezzo

2011-04-07T21:36:00.000+01:00

So yesterday, we two, Laura and I, met up for a spot of lunch in the town. As chance would have it, Prezzo had one of their special deals running where you just print off a coupon on your computer and hand it to your server, and this time it was 2 Main dishes for just £12, which, considering most of their main dishes are around the £10 mark, is a pretty sweet deal.

We have eaten there before so we knew what to expect. The restaurant is in a building that is quite old and has lots of exposed beams etc., lots of Hockney prints on the walls and a wine list as long as your arm. The menu is what I would term high-end chain-restaurant Italian, so it's usually pretty damn good and the stuff is nice and fresh. However, with it being a chain, it's pretty formulaic. All the same though, it is good tuck.

We entered and a young woman behind the bar/counter bid us good day and we asked for a table for two. She glanced around at the near-empty restaurant and said we'd have to have a table inside as she didn't have any more outside tables. I remember thinking, "Did we ask for an outside table?", but said nothing, though I thought it a little peculiar. It is worth mentioning at this point that all three of the waitresses/managers we came into contact with were all European (could have been German/Serbian/Italian?) and none of them seemed to be in a big hurry to serve us, and we did notice a couple of other tables getting their food before we did even though they came in after us. Anyway. I'm here to talk about the food, though service is a big factor, and having been a waiter and restaurant supervisor, I do know what it's like to work in that environment, and I grant you it's not easy, but the one thing that pisses diners off more than anything else is the illusion that others are getting preferential treatment or speedier service. Just putting that out there.

Anyway, on to the food.

Little tip... when you ask for water and the waitress asks "Still or sparkling?" just reply, "TAP". Otherwise you will find that you are paying almost the same for water as your partner is paying for Coke. Nice though it is, Acqua Panna is for poseurs de l'eau.

On the menu there was a special section of Pizzas created by Chef Aldo Zilli. He calls them his V.I.Pizzas, and this one is the Vegetarian model. Served on a wooden board, with a special sharp pizza-cutting knife. Nice.

I chose a veggie salad called the Arrosto, which contained goat’s cheese and plum tomatoes baked on focaccia bread with roasted peppers, caramelised balsamic onions, chargrilled artichoke hearts, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, marinated olives, mixed leaves (including baby spinach, my favourite) and balsamic glaze. Phew!

Lovely lunch, and not bad value for £16 including drinks. I do have a couple of niggles though. The service was appallingly slow. I realise it was lunchtime but the place was not packed, there were plenty of empty tables. When the waitress finally came to clear our plates she asked if we wanted dessert and we answered in the negative, so that would surely have been an indicator that perhaps the check was due, as we had also finished our drinks. However, I had to make eye contact with two waitresses before one of them brought the bill and again I had to signal someone to come get it as we needed change. I appreciate the difficulties involved in waiting tables (like I said, I waited tables for three years), but it was like waiting for Christmas.

Perhaps Prezzo, like so many other companies, have the appearance of a wonderful company to work for but after a while, the cracks start to show, and for the employees, the honeymoon's over. This never fails to happen in all companies when they get beyond a certain size. They try to maintain their 'one big happy family' ethic but find it difficult to balance that with trying to 'expand or die'. I'm all for Prezzo (which can translate as 'value' but also as 'price') staying alive, as the food is good, but they, like all companies, need to focus more on treating their employees right. Treat your employees well and they will feel better about working for you, and the customers will see and appreciate that.

Embrace The Veg

2011-04-04T21:50:00.000+01:00

I have been meat-free since sometime on Saturday. Laura and I made the decision to go vegetarian a week or so ago and gave ourselves the completely arbitrary day of Monday the 4th to complete the transition. I made the decision primarily because I need to lose more weight. Okay, I know, I know... being a vegetarian and losing weight don't necessarily go hand in hand. Believe me, I know from firsthand experience how that works. I was vegetarian when I lived in Seattle and it is oh so easy to fall into the trap of eating things like nachos and fettuccine alfredo purely because they are easy to prepare. A veggie pizza from Domino's does not a skinny butt make.

However, a lot has happened in cuisine since then, and it is a lot easier to purchase non-boring vegetarian fare from your local supermarket. One can purchase interesting, even quite exotic dishes with very little effort. The produce section even makes available a lot of pre-mixed veggie assortments for stir-fry or microwaving that 20 years ago would have been near impossible to find. Not to mention the fact that there is a far wider selection of veg and fruit anyway - used to be if you wanted to find an item like baby corn you would probably have only found it in cans in the Asian section next to the soy sauce. Looking on the grocery website Ocado.com, I can see 17 - count 'em - 17 different one-portion fresh fruit medleys, incorporating such delights as mango, pomegranate, coconut, blueberry and two different kinds of pineapple (who knew?). And they're all from the one grocery store. Getting hold of a papaya, passion fruit or physalis (aka Cape gooseberry) is now as simple as getting out of bed. So the vegetarian diet has become anything but boring.

That was always the problem in the 80s when I was a young idealistic impassioned vegetarian the first time around. My family tried to accommodate me, bless 'em, but you have to admit, a roast dinner without the roast and the gravy and the stuffing is, well, somewhat less than exciting. Much as I loved my Grandmother's cooking, sitting with a plate of carrots, potatoes and cabbage while everyone else around enjoyed a traditional slap-up was slightly depressing. My forays into vegetarian cookery whilst in my teens were experimental at best, while the worst was best forgotten. It was often too easy to resign myself to beans on toast or a scrambled egg instead of spending time creating something new which might or might not turn out the way I hoped.

One of my favourite meals in the 90s when I lived in Washington State was the veggie fajitas at Ixtapa restaurant in Lake Stevens. The sheer size of it had to be witnessed to be believed. First they would bring out the cruet set with the condiments - sour cream (something I've never really liked, it has to be said... compounded by that horrible ad for Daisy - "do, do, do, do, do, do a dollop of Daisy". I've never liked the word "dollop" - it always sounded too, well, poo-like to be used in a food sense - so that just added to my dislike of the stuff), fresh pico de gallo, fresh guac. Salsa already on the table with the chips. Then a massive plate with beans, rice and salad on it comes out with a basket of steamed tortillas. Then the pièce de résistance - the herkin' great sizzlin' skillet o' stuff. And the veggie fajitas had big chunks of carrot, cauliflower, mushroom, broccoli, and the obligatory onions and peppers. I never once finished it, and I can eat, boy. I can put it away. Ask anyone. But that one always required boxing up and taking home. Which came in handy, because the next night I would add the leftover veggies to a jar of store-bought Alfredo sauce and heat them through, then toss with some pasta. Oh yum.

The reason I thought about doing it again was because I stopped being vegetarian one sunny Sunday morning right around the time I got remarried, and my weight has been gradually going up ever since. At that time I wore a 38 waist in pants which I wasn't happy about, since 9 years earlier at my first wedding I weighed 10 stone and wore a 32. I looked good, too...
I recall the morning in question. I went out to eat brunch at a lovely restaurant in Snohomish, WA called The Cabbage Patch, which is in an old Victorian-era house. As I walked in and smelled the aroma of bacon, sausage, and ham cooking, the vegetarian in me completely capitulated and let my inner carnivore win the eternal conflict. From there, it was a slippery slope. I'm not saying that meat-eating caused my weight gain, but it sure didn't help.

Nope, those days are over for me. Not only have I cut out the meat, but I am trying to cut out the fat. And perhaps when I've cut out enough fat and dropped a few more pounds, I might feel like exercising. But the vegetarianism stays. Third time's a charm.

https://www.vegsoc.org/

http://www.vegansociety.com/

http://www.planetveggie.co.uk/

http://thelazyvegetarian.blogspot.com/

P.S. Don't worry about the blog, though, chaps. Nothing changes. I'll still talk about meat dishes. I just won't be eating them.

En Français, S'il Vous Plait

2011-04-03T22:45:00.000+01:00

This, my friends...

is Cassoulet.

What is cassoulet, I hear you cry? Sounds a bit foreign to me.

Yes, it's French. Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.
The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides. Nowadays cassoulet is enjoying something of a revival and lots of posh restaurants are presenting cassoulets with their own unique twist, such as salmon cassoulet.

There are quite a few regional variations. The best-known of these is the cassoulet from Castelnaudary, which advertises itself as "Capital of Cassoulet", Toulouse, and Carcassonne. They're all made with white beans (haricots blancs or lingots), instead of the medieval broad bean, and duck or goose confit, meat and sausages. In the Toulouse version, the meats are pork and mutton, the latter frequently a cold roast shoulder. The Carcassonne remix of this is similar, but doubles the portion of mutton and occasionally replaces the duck with partridge. Castelnaudary's cassoulet uses a duck confit instead of mutton. Traditionally, the whole shebang is topped by fried bread cubes and cracklings.
You can also find cassoulet in France in cans and these can be found in supermarkets and grocery stores across the country. These cassoulets vary in price and quality. The cheapest ones contain only beans, tomato sauce, sausages, and bacon because it would be cost-prohibitive to include duck or goose. More expensive versions are usually cooked with goose fat and will likely include Toulouse sausages, lamb, goose, or duck confit.
Haute cuisine versions require mixing pre-cooked roasted meats with beans that have been simmered separately with aromatic vegetables, but this runs counter to cassoulet's peasant origins. In the process of preparing the dish it is traditional to deglaze the pot from the previous cassoulet in order to give a base for the next one. This has led to stories of a single original cassoulet being extended for years or even decades. Those crazy Frenchies, eh? Just kidding, guys - we love ya.

Many culinary traditions have similar techniques for slow cooking beans in a covered vessel. Examples include Feijoada, Fabada Asturiana, and baked beans. The Hungarian-Jewish solet and Eastern European cholent are similar bean dishes, and are also frequently cooked in combination with smoked poultry, especially goose leg, but a definitive relationship has not been established.

Anyhoo, who's up for a little recipe?

Cassoulets by their very nature are perfectly suited for making in a crock-pot/slow-cooker. Here's one adapted from the Williams-Sonoma catalogue, with a bit of a Spanish twist.

Crock Pot Cassoulet

1 1/2 c white beans (Great Northern or similar)
2 slices thick bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1.5 lb bones rib end pork roast, cut into about 8 large pieces
salt & pepper
1 large onion, peeled & chopped
1 c dry white wine
2 T tomato paste
1 14oz can whole plum tomatoes, drained & coarsely chopped
1 c chicken broth
12oz chorizo sausage links, cut in half lengthwise & then into bite-sized pieces
1/2 head of garlic, cloves peeled & cut in half
1 T canola oil
1/2 c panko
2 T fresh parsley, chopped plus extra for garnish

The day before making the cassoulet pick over your beans & put them in water to soak for 24 hours. Drain & set aside. Or, if you feel like cheating, just buy the canned ready-to-go version.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan & drain on a paper towel, leave the bacon fat in the pan. Set the bacon aside until later.

Generously salt & pepper the pork. Put into the hot skillet & cook until brown on all sides, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove & set aside. Add the onion & a little salt to the pan. Cook until the onion & starting to brown & soft, about 7 minutes. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Let the wine & onions simmer until reduced by half, about 8 minutes.

Put the wine & onions into the crock pot. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste & chicken broth. Add the pork, sausage & garlic. Set the crock pot to low & cook for about 7 hours, the beans should be tender & the pork should easily fall apart

Heat the canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the panko & cook while stirring until golden brown. Season with salt & pepper. Gently fold the panko & parsley into the crock pot. Turn the crock pot off & let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Serve garnished with more parsley & the crispy bacon.

Makes 6 servings.

Now then, what's the new Name This Food! food?

Name this Scrummy-looking dish!

Endive Right In

2011-03-30T22:37:00.000+01:00

Wow. First of all let me just give myself a big pat on the back because according to my site stats, as of right this minute (10:07 pm British Summer Time, March 30th 2011) this blog has had 4,320 page hits in the past 30 days! Woo hoo!!!

Sorry. I'm calm now.

Another thing to get excited about is that somebody correctly answered the Name This Food! question so quickly I barely had time to blink. A reader named Iris correctly identified this

as Belgian Endive.

So what is Belgian Endive, and why is it Belgian? How does it differ from any other kind of endive?

Endive (Cichorium endivia) is a leaf vegetable belonging to the daisy family. Endive is also a common name for some types of chicory (Cichorium intybus).

Endive belongs to the chicory genus, which includes several similar bitter leafed vegetables. There is considerable confusion between Cichorium endivia and Cichorium intybus.
Species also include Cichorium pumilum and common chicory (Cichorium intybus). Common chicory types include radicchio, puntarelle and Belgian endive. So if anyone had guessed at chicory, they'd also be right.

There is a website entirely dedicated to endives, at http://www.endive.ca/

Belgian endive is also known as French endive, witlof in Dutch or witloof in Belgian Dutch, witloof in the United States, chicory in the UK, as witloff in Australia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France and in Wallonia. It has a small head of cream-coloured, bitter leaves. It is grown completely underground or indoors in the absence of sunlight in order to prevent the leaves from turning green and opening up (etiolation). The plant has to be kept just below the soil surface as it grows, only showing the very tip of the leaves. It is often sold wrapped in blue paper to protect it from light and so preserve its pale colour and delicate flavour. The smooth, creamy white leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or simply cut raw. Slightly bitter, the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste. The harder inner part of the stem, at the bottom of the head, should be cut out before cooking to prevent bitterness. Belgium exports chicon/witloof to over 40 different countries. The technique for growing blanched endives was accidentally discovered in the 1850s in Schaerbeek, Belgium. Endive is cultivated for culinary use by cutting the leaves from the growing plant, then keeping the living stem and root in a dark place. A new bud develops but without sunlight it is white and lacks the bitterness of the sun-exposed foliage. These days, France is the largest producer of endives.

Well, that's all well and good, I hear you cry. But what can we do with it?

Well, apart from all the lovely salad uses for this plant, how about some soup?

Cream of Belgian Endive Soup

serves 4

2 Belgian Endives, cored
1 white onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk or cream
salt and pepper to taste
chopped chives
dill sprigs for garnish

Mince the Belgian Endives, reserving a few small leaves for garnish. Saute the onion, garlic, and minced Belgian Endives in the butter for three minutes. Add the potatoes and chicken broth and simmer for about fifteen minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Put this in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Add the milk, salt, and pepper and blend. Serve hot or cold. Garnish with the small Belgian Endive leaves, chives, and dill.

Meanwhile, over at Food Network, Emeril Lagasse has a lovely recipe for Braised Belgian Endive. BAM!

OK, so now we need a new Name this Food! food...

Name this dish!

Kooshti sante!

Harissology

2011-03-28T20:11:00.000+01:00

Well, I only had one person take a stab at what this was...

Somebody named Iris said it looked like sambal oelek, which is an Indonesian chili paste made by cooking chilies with brown sugar and then crushing and mashing them to a smooth consistency. However, even though this was a damn good answer, it was not the correct one. Sorry about that, Iris!

It is in fact Harissa. Never heard of Harissa? That's why I'm here.

Harissa, sometimes called 'the ketchup of Tunisia', is a North African hot chilli sauce whose main ingredients are Piri piri chili peppers, serrano pepper or other hot chillies and olive oil. It is a standard ingredient of North African cuisine, usually associated with Tunisia and Algeria, but recently also making inroads in Morocco. In fact where I work at COOK we have a delicious dish, one of the more popular ones, called Moroccan Harissa Chicken. It's lovely - spicy, but not overpoweringly so, and tamed by the addition of dates and apricots in the sauce.
Recipes for harissa vary according to the household and region. Variations can include the addition of cumin, red peppers, garlic, coriander, and lemon juice. In Saharan regions, harissa can have a smoky flavor. Prepared harissa is also sold in nearly every style of container, including jars, cans, bottles, tubes, and plastic bags.

In Tunisia, harissa is used as an ingredient in a meat (goat or lamb) or fish stew with vegetables, and as a flavoring for couscous. It is also used for lablabi, a popular chickpea soup usually eaten for breakfast. In the West it is eaten with pasta, in sandwiches and on pizza. In some European countries it is popular as a breakfast spread for tartines or rolls. Harissa paste can be also used as a rub for meat or aubergine.

I always enjoy going to Farmer's Markets and one face that's a regular fixture at both Rolvenden and Horsmonden, among others, is John Milbank of Milbank Olives.
On his stall he usually has a selection of six to eight olives, mostly pitted. The olives mainly come from France, Italy, Spain and Morocco. His Mediterranean Specials consist of Garlic with Herbs and Chilli, Semi-Dried Tomatoes, Artichokes, Antipasto, Smoked Chilli Jelly, Rose Harissa, Green and Red Pesto. He also carries a lovely mixture he calls Johnnie's mix, which came about entirely by accident one day when he was making some Red Pesto and some Rose Harissa accidentally spilled into it. Instead of chucking it out, he tried it, found it was good and figured 'hey - perhaps other folks'll like it too'. It's been a regular product of theirs ever since. You can call him on 01233 732668 or come to one of the farmer's markets - Rolvenden is every Thursday morning in the village hall.

So - let's have a harissa recipe or two, shall we?

There are a ton of good ones here at the BBC Good Food website, and you can customise by calories, cuisine, ingredients... give it a whirl.

Similarly, a search for recipes using harissa on Food.com turned up 187 of them!

OK folks, what's the new Name This Food! food?

Name it!

Al Fresco Lunch

2011-03-24T21:15:00.001Z

Well, well, well. Spring, it seems, has well and truly sprung. Mother Nature has finally decided to get with the program and bring out the sunshine and the warmer temps. Today we even got out in the yard and did a bit of gardening - some pruning and mowing, to be precise. Next door neighbour was in his greenhouse getting his chainsaw cleaned and ready, and we even transplanted a shrub from the front garden to the back. After all that exertion, we decided a spot of lunch was in order, and since it was so nice, we walked up to the town (I was even wearing shorts!) and decided to get a little something we could take away and eat in the rec (that's short for recreation ground, which is a park, for the uninitiated). Situated conveniently close to the rec, in The Fairings, a parade of shops that was originally a cinema, is a little hole-in-the-wall coffee-and-sandwich place called Cinnamon. The place is located at the top end of The Fairings, up a flight of steps, and in fact many moons ago was the location of the local turf accountant. Remember placing a couple of bets there when younger, on the Grand National. I didn't win.

Today was a winner though. Everything is fresh and organic, and locally sourced when possible. But the absolute best thing about Cinnamon is the prices, and the fact that they deliver.

While the sign says coffees from £1.20, that's the price for an Americano. In actual fact a single shot of espresso is a paltry 70p. A double will set you back just 90p. All the coffees are CafeDirect Fairtrade coffees.

As you can see there are a lot of choices. I went for an Americano coffee as I said, which was fab, and a Mozzarella, tomato and spinach sandwich on granary, which also included red onion and cucumber. Laura picked a bottle of locally produced pear juice and a cheese, pickle, apple and salad sandwich, also on granary. Unfortunately they'd had a rush on juices and were out of apples, but no matter - they just made it without the apple and knocked some money off the price. Laura said it was great anyway. She also chose a toffee flapjack and we shared that.

I have to say that the mozzarella in my sandwich was so fresh it just made the whole thing taste incredible. Kudos to the fine folks at Cinnamon. That pear juice was pretty nice too (I had a sip). If they'd had some apple I probably would have had an apple carrot ginger juice as that combo has been a favourite of mine since the days when The Natural Cafe in Everett, WA was my favourite lunchtime haunt. Thanks for the memories.

What's that ya say? Wanting a score? Okay... four and three quarter yums out of five!

Cinnamon
1 The Fairings, Tenterden TN30 6QX01580 765228

Life's a Binge (And Then You Diet)

2011-03-23T21:57:00.000Z

I am cursed (or perhaps blessed, depending on your viewpoint) with an almost total deficiency of willpower when it comes to food. Specifically, the kind of food that is bad for me (well, not just me - pretty much anyone, I guess). I am not addicted to greasy high-fat butter fests - addicted is not the right word. I am just ninety per cent unable to think straight when presented with eggs & bacon, fish and chips or Eton Mess. Not when it's right there in front of me. The YUM response blots out all thoughts about weight loss, counting calories and all those Men's Health articles I've read about Eat This Not That!

My other problem is, I'm a fast eater. Always have been. I seem to have no problem just wolfing it down. Even when I pace myself and deliberately try to eat slower, I still finish before everyone else. It all started back when I was a kid. I could not stand for my once-hot food to get cold. Especially veggies. Nothing worse than cold cabbage or brussels sprouts or carrots. Therefore food doesn't even have time to hit my stomach and send its 'full' message up to my brain before I'm on my second bit of pie.

That's another issue. I am not just hooked on the lard-laden foods. I love all kinds of food. In mass quantities. And I am a sneaky eater. I'll go to the kitchen for a coffee, and snack on whatever while I'm in there. I know this and yet there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

Pshaw!! you say. There must be something you can do about it. Well, at least I recognise that I have a problem. that's usually the first step, isn't it? But don't expect me to exercise. I need to drop at least a couple more stone before I would even dream of hitting the gym. You will not see me in Zumba class anytime soon. P90X is just some foreign code to me. Any sort of organised exercise class looks to me like something I would hate. Just like religion, I am not going to do it in front of others. I might Tae Bo in my living room when there are no children, dogs or other adults within a ten-block radius. But Tai Chi in the park with a bunch of STRANGERS?? No, thank you very much. I am embarrassed by my flabby gut enough on my own, let alone share my disfigurement in public.

And of course, this is all compounded by the fact that I developed a habit of comfort-eating in the States, where misery is around every corner, and two failed marriages will have you pounding down the Super Nachos before you can say I Can't Believe It's Not Fake Butter, especially when one of those marriages is practically alcohol-free. So the slightest little upset will see me reaching for that cookie or slice of cake and before you know it we're back to square one again. I can start every day with good intentions - get up and have a nice healthy high-fibre brekky, but by the time lunch rolls around I'm snacking like a good'un.

If that wasn't enough, I have worked for the past few years in the food industry, where tasty tidbits are always available. Even now I work in a shop where we give out free samples of our cakes and flapjacks and puddings and curries daily. So getting out of the chow business would probably be a plus.

And then, there's this blog. I write a food blog because aside from being a snack-hound, I am a foodie, I love to experience new and different foods and I love to tell you about them so that you may try them for yourselves. So from now on, I shall endeavour in my travels to tell you not only about yummy food, but healthy food also. Because a porky Jeff is a grumpy Jeff, and a slimmer Jeff is what is in store for 2011. And you can hold me to that.

The Nutmeg

2011-03-21T21:44:00.000Z

On Saturday we stopped by The Nutmeg Delicatessen in Sayers Lane for a little light refreshment.

I once reviewed this place in an early post from last year, back when it was still called Anderson & Campbell. It's been the Nutmeg for a while now, but the atmosphere and decor has stayed pretty much the same.

It's quite a small shop, but they get a lot in. Some big shelves on the far side of the shop house a wide array of high-end crackers and teas and preserves etc, and there is a good selection of deli cheeses in the cold cabinet at the counter. Behind the counter a small kitchen the size of a broom cupboard knocks out some fantastic sandwiches and then there is the big espresso machine, where coffee magic occurs on a daily basis.

Something to drink?
Two large lattes, please.

Coming right up!

Laura had a delicious brownie.

I had a sandwich of hummus, sunblushed tomatoes, sprouting lentils and rocket.

Yum!

Some of the delights on offer in the cold cabinet.

Gotta love a place with a disco ball.

The Nutmeg Delicatessen,
Sayers Lane, Tenterden TN30 6BW.
Phone: 01580 764125

Yum rating: 4.5 out of 5!

Little Ears

2011-03-21T21:07:00.000Z

These little buggers are known as Orecchiette, which literally translates as little ears. Makes sense, right? And yes, they are a form of pasta.

Here's a recipe from Food Network's lovely Giada De Laurentiis (she of the astonishing teeth):

Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis, 2008

Prep Time:20 min
Cook Time:10 min

Serves:
4 to 6 servings (about 60 mini meatballs)

Ingredients

1 pound orecchiette pasta
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
8 ounces bocconcini mozzarella, halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the chicken and gently stir to combine.

Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure), form the chicken mixture into 3/4-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll the chicken pieces into mini meatballs.

In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft and meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl and add the Parmesan. Toss to lightly coat orecchiette, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Add the meatball mixture, mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup of the basil. Gently toss to combine. Garnish with the chopped basil.

OK, on to the next food!

Name This Food!