Category: stuff

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ALT-C Gala Buffet Dinner

When I realised that the ALT-C Gala Dinner was going to be a buffet, I have to admit my heart dropped. I had visions of coleslaw, slices of pork pie, pineapple and cheese cubes on sticks, cold indian snacks…

Well my assumptions were dashed and in the end the gala dinner was excellent, if just a little too long!

Produced by students from Leeds City College I was impressed with the quality of catering and presentation of the food. Most of the food was from local producers across Yorkshire which was nice.

For starters we were served with a dish of locally smoked salmon (we were miles from the sea and from Scotland) alongside was a beetroot and potato salad. I had trouble finding the potato and didn’t think too much of the beetroot jelly, but really enjoyed the smoked salmon, which was full of flavour.

#altc2011 Starter

The main course was the “buffet” part and we had to get up from the table. There was a choice of four main courses, roast beef, roast turkey, salmon and a vegetarian “pie” option. To be honest I meant to keep a copy of the menu, but forgot to. I chose the beef with Yorkshire Pudding.

#altc2011 main course

It came with roast potatoes, a selection of steamed green vegetables and some roasted root vegetables (parsnips and carrots).

For desert, I think the best way to describe it was as a posh rhubarb custard.

#altc2011 Pudding

I personally didn’t like it, one part of the rhubarb was rock hard, and the rhubarb jelly cube was not nice. In the end I left most of mine.

The meal was finished off with coffee and homemade chocolates.

Overall I did enjoy the meal, the quality of the ingredients and the cooking was excellent. For me the only downside was the time it took to go through the meal, sitting down at 8.00pm we didn’t get the coffee until after 11.00pm not sure why this happened, but think the buffet aspect may have slowed things down. In the end the length of the meal was a minor annoyance, and the eating experience was excellent.

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What’s inside your sandwich?

A week or so ago I linked to a site that scanned the inside of chocolate bars, well this week it’s a site that scans the inside of sandwiches!

So if you don’t like chocolate, but do like sandwiches then this site is for you!

Apart from the obvious silliness of the whole affair it is quite useful in some respects in giving you ideas for your own sandwiches.

Go to Scanwiches

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Simple Risotto

Yesterday I made a very simple risotto.

In a large frying pan, place some olive oil. Then add some finely chopped onion.

Soften the onions.

Bring up the heat.

Add the risotto rice and ensure that the rice is coated in the oil and mixed in with the onion.

Now add some chicken stock.

Keep topping up with stock to ensure that the rice doesn’t dry out.

Stir on a regular basis. This will help create a creamy texture.

Once the rice is virtually cooked, add a large handful of grated parmesan and some freshly ground black pepper.

Serve.

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Tartine Marocaine

On a recent lunch at Café Rouge I decided for my main that I would go for the Tartine Marocaine, an open sandwich of sautéed spicy merguez sausages & caramelised onions with houmous and crisp chicory on grilled sourdough bread served with a minted crème fraîche.

Those of you who have read my other blog posts on Café Rouge will know that one of the things I like about the place is that they have the merguez sausage.

This is a different dish to the times I have had it before. The sausage was great as were the onions. I was less enamoured with the chicory, but it was fresh and crisp. The bread was slightly on the thin side, but with the houmous worked well.

I did enjoy the dish and it worked well.

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Fried Eggs on Toast

I have talked about scrambled and poached, but now and again I like the idea of fried eggs on toast.

Very tasty they were too.

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Scrambled Egg on Bagel

A nice simple breakfast that I have now and again is scrambled egg on toasted bagel.

I take a small pan, and turn the heat on. I add a small knob of butter and let that melt.

I slice a fresh bagel and place it in the toast.

I beat two eggs in a cup and pour it into the pan. I don’t add water or milk.

I then push the toaster down.

The way I cook the eggs, is once the bagels are down in the toaster, I stir the eggs with a fork. After about a minute I change over to a spoon. You probably could use a spoon from the start, but as I used a fork to beat the eggs in the cup, that’s what I usually start with!

The key is to keep the heat low to medium or you may find that you have a scrambled omelette rather than scrambled eggs. I then use the spoon to “scrape” the cooked egg from the bottom of the pan, which is then replaced by the liquid egg.

At the point the bagels pop up in the toaster generally the eggs are done. They will keep cooking even after the heat is turned off, but you can use this to your advantage to finish cooking the eggs. You need to be careful not to overcook the eggs as they will become rubbery.

I don’t generally butter the bagels and they don’t really need it. Add some freshly ground black pepper and you’re done!

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Nachos

I do like a plate of Nachos, though due to the salt content they are a rare treat for me.

I take some tortilla chips, I have found it impossible to find unsalted corn chips so I try and find the ones with the least salt. I have once tried making it with proper corn tortillas, which had n added salt, but I had to cut them into the “triangles” and they didn’t crunch up to how I like them. They’re probably more authentic like that, but if I ever go to Mexico then I will eat authentic out there.

Having taken the tortilla chips, I spread them on a baking sheet and then add stuff. This time I added tomato salsa, chopped red and green pepper and then scattered some Monterey Jack cheese on top. Other toppings I like adding include refried beans and sliced jalapeño chillis.

I then place these into the top of a really hot oven for about five minutes.

Nachos about to go into the oven

Serve with sour cream, guacamole and napkins.

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Fillets of Sea Bass

Yup this was one of those packs from Marks and Spencer The Cook Menu range. I have enjoyed many dishes from Marks and Spencer’s The Cook Menu range however this one was a bit of a disappointment.

The fillets of sea bass came with a garden pea, créme fraîche, mint and lemon zest topping. To be honest it didn’t work for me. It didn’t look very appetising and the flavour of the fish was overpowered by the mint and the lemon.

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Not Apple Crumble

Crumble, I think

A pot of Ambrosia Apple Crumble.

Why we bought this, I have no idea…

Why I ate it, I have even less of an idea…

Basically custard with apple and a crumble topping. The kind of dessert you can put in a lunch box.

And yes it was actually the sort of dessert you could put straight in the bin…

The custard was okay, as prepared custard often is, the apple was just tasteless chunks and as for the crumble… well I hoped that would be the bit that made this nice, no luck there! Wasn’t even proper tasting crumble, it was over sweety powdery crunchy stuff.

Won’t be buying that again!