Wanted a small supper this evening, to eat on the train.
Thought about getting a sandwich, but in the end decided to get some sushi to take away from Yo Sushi.
To be honest I have no idea what I had, but it wasn’t bad, very nice.
Final word on nutrition and health
After an exhaustive review of the research literature, here’s the final word on nutrition and health.
- Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
- Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
- Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
- Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
- Germans drink beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
- The French eat foie-gras, full fat cheese and drink red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
Fish Supper
One thing that I cook quite often and enjoy during the summer months (though not that we have had much of a summer) is a fish supper.
This photo is from a recent version and included baked cod, griddled scallops, griddled squid and prawns cooked in olive oil.
The cod was drizzled with olive oil and baked in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes.
The scallops were scored with a checked pattern on one side and griddled on a hot pan.
The squid “pockets” were sliced on one side and opened out. On the inside I scored a checked pattern. These were then griddled inside face down. When cooked on one side, turn them over and cook the outside; at this point they will curl into rolls. Serve with the tentacles cooked as well.
The prawns were simply cooked with a little olive oil and black pepper.
Served with lemon wedges, salad and crusty bread.
Delicious.
Risotto
In a large frying pan, place some olive oil and butter. Then add some finely chopped onion, red pepper, courgette and pancetta.
Soften the onions.
Bring up the heat.
Add the risotto rice and ensure that the rice is coated in the oil and butter.
Add a splash of white wine.
Now add some chicken stock.
Keep topping up with stock to ensure that the rice doesn’t dry out.
Once the rice is virtually cooked, add a large handful of grated parmesan, some chopped parsley and some freshly ground black pepper.
Serve, garnish with a few slices of lemon.
Squid, nicely done
The Guardian has some really nice squid recipes on their website.
Preparing and cooking squid is easier than most fish. The only thing to remember is not to cook it for too long. If grilling, the pan must be extra-hot so the squid cooks in only a minute or two. Otherwise, it goes tough.
If you have read the blog, you will know that I am a fan of squid. There are three very nice recipes in the article.
It’s hot!
I was watching Saturday Kitchen on the BBC and this bit of the show brought tears to my eyes.
Poor Andi!
Noisy popcorn to be banned!
The cinema is suppose to be one place which needs to be quiet so that everyone can enjoy the film.
You are asked to not chat, turn your mobile phone off.
And then….
So why do cinemas spoil it all by serving one of the noisest snacks around, popcorn?
Luckily, sense has come to some of then and they will ban popcorn!
According to a BBC report
It’s been a cinema staple for a century, but now popcorn is being banned by Britain’s biggest chain of arthouse screens.
Can’t wait until others follow suit, can’t stand popcorn, it’s not just the noise, but also the smell!
Photo source.
What a load of crepe!
One of the issues I have with a lot of department store restaurants (and visitor attraction restaurants) is that they cook the food in advance and then keep it warm for hours on end… Now that is possible with some dishes, but with others it just means dried out food.
One of the dishes that you can get at my local John Lewis is freshly cooked to order crepes. They make them as and when needed, rather than make them at 9am in the morning and keep them warm till 6pm in the evening!
We had crepes the last time we were there, one with chilli beef and one with mushroom stroganoff; both were served with salad.
The beef chilli was well cooked and nice and spicy. A little too hot for my tastes, but not excessively so.
The mushroom stroganoff was really nice and went well with the crepes.
The salad though was disappointing, I have had much better salads before at John Lewis, this was in the main lettuce with a tiny bit of red onion and pepper.
Overall for a department store restaurant they were really nice and probably one of the better items available. The fact you can buy wine and beer to go with the crepes makes the place even more attractive as a place to go out and get a quick bite to eat whilst shopping.
Chocolate bars to shrink!
BBC reports on how the credit crunch and rising food and fuel costs are having an impact the costs for snack firms.
Mars has become the latest snack firm to admit the credit crunch is eating into its business.
The Snickers bar and M&Ms maker said it would be raising the wholesale price of its goods to offset rising raw material, packaging and energy costs.
The news came days after fellow US firm Hershey raised its product prices.
Mars also said it would be cutting the size of some of its goods. In the UK, a number of firms have shrunk snack sizes to stave off price rises.
So we can expect our chocolate bars to get smaller.
Jamie Oliver has criticised the UK for its poor cuisine
BBC reports on an interview with Jamie Oliver where Jamie criticises the way in which people in the UK don’t like eating well, but prefer to drink too much…
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has criticised the UK for its alcohol culture and poor cuisine.
In an interview with Paris Match magazine, Oliver suggested people in the UK cared more about getting drunk than they did about eating well.
There is a significant minority in the UK who do eat well, like good food, go out of their way to purchase organic and local produce. Though I agree with Jamie there is a substantial majority who are quite happy cooking from frozen bags of prepared food. This same majority rarely eat together and are more likely to eat in front of the television then around the table.
So is Jamie Oliver correct in his view, or are me and him wrong?