Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
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Puy lentils with toasted cumin
Serves 4 people
- 200g green Puy lentils
- 1 red, orange or yellow pepper
- Table spoon cumin seeds
- A dash of red wine
- A dash of balsamic vingegar
There was a time when I was growing up that whenever my mother said that we were having lentils for tea the rest of the family would moan and make jokes about Neil from The Young Ones. Though we all secretly loved her lentil concoction.
This dish is a slight variation on my mother’s, removing the turmeric (which only served to stain the saucepan!). I’ve also changed the method slightly in cooking off the lentils with first in water, bay and garlic.
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Penne pasta with grilled courgettes and pine nuts
Serves 4
- 4 lrg courgettes (zucchini)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 red chili
- Juice of 1 small lemon
- 150 gms grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tbl sp olive oil
- 400 gms Penne pasta
- lrg handfull of pine nuts
This pasta dish is a great one for when I’m stumped for something to cook. Other than the courgettes the rest of the ingredients are usually in the cupboard. It’s reasonable simple to prepare as well - not to mention really tasty.
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Smashed celariac with chili, garlic and thyme
Firstly skin the celeriac by cutting the root off then cutting from the top down to the bottom In inch wide strips reapeat this al the way round the celeriac. Once skinned chop it into 1cm squares. It’s easiest to do this by cutting 1 cm thick slices lengthways then into strips and further into cubes. Once chopped start to gently fry in a generous amount of olive oil on a very low heat, adding the chopped garlic, chilli and stripped thyme leaves. Season with salt and pepper.
Continue to fry gently for about 20 minutes until the celeriac begins to soften. Then add a small amount of the chicken stock and let the liquid cook down, continue to add a little more stock, cooking for a further 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently Once the celaric begins to break up remove from the heat and serve. Note that this is not meant to be mash, there should still be some texture to it.
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Oven temperature conversions
I’ve been caught without a gas mark conversion chart too often so I decided to put one up on here for reference.
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Steak with honey-glazed root vegetables
Serves 2
- 2 ribeye steaks (2cms thick)
- 3 med waxy potatoes
- 3 sml parsnips
- 1 med turnip
- 3/4 sprigs of thyme
As I walked past the butchers this evening I first reveled in the fact that they were still open and then at the wonderful looking piece of ribeye steak (you can tell a good piece by the amount of ‘marbling‘, the fat is where the flavour comes from), I thought some root veg, glazed with honey and thyme - Nice! And not much fuss either.
Read full post -
Roast sirloin of beef
Serves 4-6
- 1.5-2 kg boned sirloin of beef (fat left on)
- 4 lrg parsnips
- 1 gls red wine
When it comes to a traditional joint of roast beef nothing beats a good piece of sirloin. It is a little extravagent at £20 the kilo, but well worth it in my opinion! For this roast you’ll need a joint of at least 1.5 kilos to cook properly - this should be easily enough for 4 or 5 people. Read full post
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Yorkshire pudding
Serves 4-6
- 200g flour
- 3 eggs
- A pinch of salt and pepper
- Up to 400ml or 3/4 pint of milk
- Beef dripping or lard
This is a recipe that I have adapted from Jane Grigson’s English Food - I can’t recommend this book highly enough as a wonderful celebration of English cooking. It is true that, as a nation, we did once have something to shout about when it came to food.
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Happy 18th birthday The Eagle
The Eagle’s 18th birthday was marked by a few drinks last night with staff from over the ages gathering to take over the pub.
A great evening catching up with long-lost former colleagues, some of whom I’ve not seen for over 10 years! Sadly there were some who, given the short notice, could not make it - notably David Eyre, one of the original founders. Still, it was great to see those that did make it.
One thing that struck me last night was how the Eagle has not changed in the years that I’ve known it - going on 13! - This is a perfect example of a winning formula - but then they did create the ‘Gastro Pub’ genre.
Happy Birthday, The Eagle, you’ve come of age!
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Marinated Leg of Lamb
Serves 6-8 depending on size of leg
- 1 Leg of lamb (butterflied)
- black olives or olive paste
- 2 Anchovy fillets
- Rosemary
- 5 Cloves of garlic
So simple to prepare and always a big hit, this dish was a useful one in our armory at the Eagle and is a perfect alternative to the usually dull bbq staples of sausages and burgers.
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Move on, there’s nothing to see here (yet!)
Too busy! Though I thought at least a preview of what will be.
Code
- XHTML/CSS tricks
- jQuery plugins
- General rambling on the state of front-end technologies
Food
- Recipes: from my catering years and family cookbooks
- Reviews and opinion: places I like to shop and eat
Oh, and of course a rather un-conventional approach to building a website.