Was in a rush this morning as I'm going away tonight straight from work. Therefore I decided to wander down the town to the French Connection Baguette House again for the famed Mexican Chicken - not tomato. Same as before so no photo. Much better this time, back to the old baguette sleeves but still the Rizla strength bag... Ho hum.
Must add it's fecking COLD today! Sunday, I was walking round Cheslyn Hay wearing nowt but a t-shirt (and some trou obviously), today I needed more coats! What is going on?
Anyway, have a lovely weekend kids, I'm off!
Thursday 14 February 2008
Wednesday 13 February 2008
Luncheon 13/02/08
Today I thought I'd go a bit unconventional. All morning, I've been craving hummus, don't know why but I have. So I thought I'd get some. What goes well with hummus I thought? Well bread of course! Hummus and bread. That could get a bit bland methinks, so I also got a bag of southern fried chicken strips and a smoothie. Here is what it looks like:
Oddly on the packaging, it was spelt houmous. I've never seen it spelt like that anywhere before. I've seen hummus and humus, but never houmous. Even the Firefox spellchecker agrees with me...
Here's how to make some hummus:
Ingredients:
125g dried chickpeas soaked over night
Juice and zest of one lemon
2 tbsp of sesame paste (also known as tahini)
2 peeled cloves of garlic
100ml Olive oil
salt and pepper to season
Cook the chickpeas in unsalted boiling water for about an hour or until tender. It's important that you don't salt the water as, for some magical reason, the chickpeas never soften otherwise. Drain them and allow them to cool. Whack everything in a blender or food processor and wazz it till its smooth. If you like it smoother, add some water. I like it chunky though =]
Hummus is really good with grilled chicken breast in pitta bread with some roasted veg like onions and peppers and courgettes and maybe a little spinach. Enjoy!
Also, last night I went for that curry, and I must say Quinton Balti is one of the finest Indian Restaurants I've ever been to. the food was excellent! For starter I had an invention called the Nargis Kebab, essentially this is a tandoori scotch egg. It some lovely tandoori keema (lamb mince) covering a whole boiled egg with a small omelette draped over the top. It was most special! I also had some kind of bhuna with chicken and paneer in it. Top Norris!
EDIT: I just found this and had to share: Nargis Kebab Appreciation Society
Oddly on the packaging, it was spelt houmous. I've never seen it spelt like that anywhere before. I've seen hummus and humus, but never houmous. Even the Firefox spellchecker agrees with me...
Here's how to make some hummus:
Ingredients:
125g dried chickpeas soaked over night
Juice and zest of one lemon
2 tbsp of sesame paste (also known as tahini)
2 peeled cloves of garlic
100ml Olive oil
salt and pepper to season
Cook the chickpeas in unsalted boiling water for about an hour or until tender. It's important that you don't salt the water as, for some magical reason, the chickpeas never soften otherwise. Drain them and allow them to cool. Whack everything in a blender or food processor and wazz it till its smooth. If you like it smoother, add some water. I like it chunky though =]
Hummus is really good with grilled chicken breast in pitta bread with some roasted veg like onions and peppers and courgettes and maybe a little spinach. Enjoy!
Also, last night I went for that curry, and I must say Quinton Balti is one of the finest Indian Restaurants I've ever been to. the food was excellent! For starter I had an invention called the Nargis Kebab, essentially this is a tandoori scotch egg. It some lovely tandoori keema (lamb mince) covering a whole boiled egg with a small omelette draped over the top. It was most special! I also had some kind of bhuna with chicken and paneer in it. Top Norris!
EDIT: I just found this and had to share: Nargis Kebab Appreciation Society
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Luncheon 12/02/08
Today I made myself a boring salad with rocket, tomatoes and cucumber and some Sainsbury's organic French dressing (I know I should be making my own!). I couldn't be bothered last night to prepare any carbohydrates to eat. Which means I'm now absolutely starving. I've also eaten today a banana, a carrot, a bunch of grapes and a yoghurt. Therefore, all day peeing and still not full! At least tonight I'm going for a curry at the Quinton Balti, should be ace, I've heard very good things about it. So hungry I even sneaked a bag of Flaming Hot Monster Munch from uncle Parm's Magic Tuck Shop, very bad indeed!
In fact, all I've been thinking about for the last three hours has been curry. I love curry, such a genius invention. I'm going to make one next week I think. I'm off to Wales from Thursday so I won't be updating you till I get back, however I will make sure I keep a note of all of the tasty treats I consume.
In fact, all I've been thinking about for the last three hours has been curry. I love curry, such a genius invention. I'm going to make one next week I think. I'm off to Wales from Thursday so I won't be updating you till I get back, however I will make sure I keep a note of all of the tasty treats I consume.
Monday 11 February 2008
Seafood Sticks
I love seafood sticks, I've just eaten about ten of them. I thought you might like to know how they are made though. It's nasty.
Basically you get some white fish trimmings such as Coley, Pollock, or Cod and you beat the shit out of it until it becomes a gelatinous goo. You then add some egg white, flavourings, preservatives, soy protein, starch, oil and sugar and then cure it. This is called 'surimi'. You then have to flavour it because it tastes of exactly nothing.
The curing process involves heating it up to polymerise the myosin in the fish flesh. Some fish is unsuitable for this such as whiting, which is where the starch comes into play. In the 70s and 80s before the outbreak of BSE, a cow's blood was typically used to set the fish. Now they tend to use transglutaminase which is an enzyme, to set the myosin. The pink colouring that you see on the edge of the sticks is most commonly artificial but sometimes it is achieved from grinding up shellfish exoskeletons like those on cooked prawns or crayfish.
Doesn't that sound tasty? Apparently the art of surimi making dates back 900 years ago to somewhere in East Asia. Industrialisation was realised in around 1960.
Seafood sticks rock!
Basically you get some white fish trimmings such as Coley, Pollock, or Cod and you beat the shit out of it until it becomes a gelatinous goo. You then add some egg white, flavourings, preservatives, soy protein, starch, oil and sugar and then cure it. This is called 'surimi'. You then have to flavour it because it tastes of exactly nothing.
The curing process involves heating it up to polymerise the myosin in the fish flesh. Some fish is unsuitable for this such as whiting, which is where the starch comes into play. In the 70s and 80s before the outbreak of BSE, a cow's blood was typically used to set the fish. Now they tend to use transglutaminase which is an enzyme, to set the myosin. The pink colouring that you see on the edge of the sticks is most commonly artificial but sometimes it is achieved from grinding up shellfish exoskeletons like those on cooked prawns or crayfish.
Doesn't that sound tasty? Apparently the art of surimi making dates back 900 years ago to somewhere in East Asia. Industrialisation was realised in around 1960.
Seafood sticks rock!
Luncheon 11/02/08
Well, first of all, I am very sorry, I've been very busy at work so I haven't been able to keep this as up-to-date as I would have liked. Very naughty I know... Well, to be honest, I haven't really eaten much that's been special. I've made a few salads, done some wonderful things with cous-cous had some Morrisson's salads, you know the score. Here's a gallery of a few of the things I've been eating since last time:
Some very nasty Tuna salad from Benjy's
Something random and slimy from Boots
A marvellous sarnie I made
Liquid luncheon
Porky baps from the canteen
Today I could only be arsed to go to Boots so I had the meal deal which has now gone up to £3.20 I might add! Still cheap though, and I had a 'Tomato and Basil Chicken Pasta Salad', which came with a box of carrots and dip and an Orange and Passionfruit smoothie. The salad wasn't bad, slimy and mayonnaisey as usual but that's par for the course. The chicken was a little dry but the dressing was nice. I even got three whole leaves of spinach as a sort of token effort at justifying the name 'salad'. We all know my feelings on the misuse of that word! Wasn't bad though in terms of flavour though, I'll give them that. Here it is in all it's glory:
At the weekend I perfected my 'Special Sauce for Putting on Pan-Fried Seabass mmm it's Dead Nice'. That's it's official name by the way. You make it thus:
Ingredients:
~6 spring onions or one and a half shallots, finely chopped
4 tbl spoons of sherry vinegar
2 egg yolks
200g clarified butter
7 big fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 tbl spoons of water
salt and pepper to season
Chuck the spring onions and vinegar in a hot pan and quickly reduce. When the liquid is down to about a third, pour out and reserve. clean the pan and refill with some cold water and put on the hob until boiling. On top of the pan place a glass or metal bowl. Chuck in the egg yolks, water and seasoning and heat while whisking until the mixture has gone pale and fluffy then slowly pour in the clarified butter whisking all of the time. This is the difficult part cos you end up with butter everywhere and all down your arm. The mixture should start to emulsify like a hollandaise and thicken. Lob in the chilli, basil and vinegar and onion reduction, and whisk for a little bit, then take off the heat and keep it warm over the water until ready to serve. Don't let it go cold before serving or it'll go proper nasty and congealed, a bit like marzipan but horrible.
Pan fry your seabass (also works well with red snapper, mackerel, and trout) and spread some of this tasty stuff over the top, not loads cos it can be quite tart. Server with rocket and cherry tomatoes and a spoon of mushroom risotto or cous-cous. Absolutely bloody splendid! Very pleased with myself over this one. I also have a tasty recipe for a roasted red pepper sauce that goes amazingly with plaice or skate. I'll give you that another time though...
In closing, I thought you might like this poster I found in a pub in Cannock yesterday, made me chuckle!
Oh yes and...
project:Adonis weight: 14st 1lb
Some very nasty Tuna salad from Benjy's
Something random and slimy from Boots
A marvellous sarnie I made
Liquid luncheon
Porky baps from the canteen
Today I could only be arsed to go to Boots so I had the meal deal which has now gone up to £3.20 I might add! Still cheap though, and I had a 'Tomato and Basil Chicken Pasta Salad', which came with a box of carrots and dip and an Orange and Passionfruit smoothie. The salad wasn't bad, slimy and mayonnaisey as usual but that's par for the course. The chicken was a little dry but the dressing was nice. I even got three whole leaves of spinach as a sort of token effort at justifying the name 'salad'. We all know my feelings on the misuse of that word! Wasn't bad though in terms of flavour though, I'll give them that. Here it is in all it's glory:
At the weekend I perfected my 'Special Sauce for Putting on Pan-Fried Seabass mmm it's Dead Nice'. That's it's official name by the way. You make it thus:
Ingredients:
~6 spring onions or one and a half shallots, finely chopped
4 tbl spoons of sherry vinegar
2 egg yolks
200g clarified butter
7 big fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 tbl spoons of water
salt and pepper to season
Chuck the spring onions and vinegar in a hot pan and quickly reduce. When the liquid is down to about a third, pour out and reserve. clean the pan and refill with some cold water and put on the hob until boiling. On top of the pan place a glass or metal bowl. Chuck in the egg yolks, water and seasoning and heat while whisking until the mixture has gone pale and fluffy then slowly pour in the clarified butter whisking all of the time. This is the difficult part cos you end up with butter everywhere and all down your arm. The mixture should start to emulsify like a hollandaise and thicken. Lob in the chilli, basil and vinegar and onion reduction, and whisk for a little bit, then take off the heat and keep it warm over the water until ready to serve. Don't let it go cold before serving or it'll go proper nasty and congealed, a bit like marzipan but horrible.
Pan fry your seabass (also works well with red snapper, mackerel, and trout) and spread some of this tasty stuff over the top, not loads cos it can be quite tart. Server with rocket and cherry tomatoes and a spoon of mushroom risotto or cous-cous. Absolutely bloody splendid! Very pleased with myself over this one. I also have a tasty recipe for a roasted red pepper sauce that goes amazingly with plaice or skate. I'll give you that another time though...
In closing, I thought you might like this poster I found in a pub in Cannock yesterday, made me chuckle!
Oh yes and...
project:Adonis weight: 14st 1lb
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