May 2012
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Three cheese and shaved asparagus pizza
(Bigger on flickr)
Longtime readers will know that I’ve been practicing my pizza for a long time. Tonight, inspired by Smitten Kitchen, I unexpectedly made my best one yet: three cheese, shaved aspargus, and spring onion (that’s green onions to you USAians).
As before, I’m still using the Cook’s Illustrated NY pizza dough, although I’ve moved on to using Italian 00...
March 2012
2 posts
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February 2012
3 posts
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A three-course dinner for Pancake Day
Here in the UK (and a number of other Commonwealth countries like Australia and Canada), the Tuesday before lent isn’t Mardi Gras — it’s Pancake Day. For no good reason1, we eat pancakes on this day.
Normally, I make something fairly simple — a big pile of American style thick panackes or British-style thin ones (which are very similar to, although not quite, French...
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January 2012
3 posts
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December 2011
1 post
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Weekend meal planning
Friday night: ribeye steak, mushrooms fried in garlic butter, sweet potato roasted with olive oil and heavily seasoned with cayenne, oregano, thyme and paprika.
Saturday brunch: toasted (English) muffins with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs.
Saturday dinner: roasted cod loin with grilled mushrooms stuffed with n’duja and courgette ribbons.
Sunday brunch: waffles with bananas and maple...
November 2011
1 post
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October 2011
5 posts
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September 2011
4 posts
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Deboning a whole chicken
Last week I chanced across this Youtube video where legendary chef Jacques Pépin demonstrates how to completely debone a whole chicken. “Hmmm,” I thought to myself, “that looks far easier than I would have thought.” So, naturally, I had to have a go at it today — with somewhat mixed results.
First, the good stuff. Without cutting myself more than a little tiny bit,...
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“I think the big misapprehension that people have is that cooking is time...”
– Ruth Reichl, former NY Times food critic and editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, on cooking. (via nprfreshair.)
August 2011
4 posts
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July 2011
5 posts
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It's a Cheese Thing
Typically, the cheese course in a restaurant will come in two forms. First is the traditional, French-style cheese trolley, groaning under an obscene weight of cheese of all types and nationalities, usually accompanied by a waiter who, one hopes, will guide you towards an interesting selection that most suits whatever cheesy mood you may be in at the time. I love the spectacle of it and usually...
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June 2011
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Tuna 'Nicoise'
It’s my wedding anniversary, so I wanted to do something a little special for dinner. I’ve been thinking my way though this for a while, and figured I was ready to make it - an alternative take on Tuna Nicoise.
This is sous-vide confit tuna, egg yolk purée, baked potato foam, crispy pork fat, and olive powder.
It came out pretty much as I’d hoped. The tuna was cooked at...
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May 2011
5 posts
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April 2011
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Tried and tested: New York cheesecake
As Danielle and I were going to a friend’s house for dinner this weekend, we thought we’d contribute dessert. So we made a baked New York style cheesecake from this recipe by the BBC’s Good Food site. It is a fantastic recipe — one of the best I’ve followed, and the results were better than any store-bought cheesecake I’ve ever had (which are often a...
March 2011
11 posts
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N'duja: Porky Spice
When I look back over the years I’ve been cooking and try and think of those formative moments that really stand out, one that continually comes to mind was the first time I cooked with chorizo. Gently frying chunks in a pan so that pork fat renders out with the gorgeous colouring of fragrant paprika, then sweating onions and garlic in that lovely lovely porky smoky oil - brilliant. Since...
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German apple pancake
I owe thanks to Danielle for introducing me to this, which is apparently a staple in German-American households. It’s impressive to look at, exotic (at least to this Brit), and easy to prepare, so it makes a good brunch for when you have hungover guests in the house.
This recipe based on this one by Mowie Kae, but modified a little by me.
Make the batter: in a blender jug, combine...
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On the Food of the UK
There was something in Rich’s last post that I don’t think I could let slip by without passing comment:
British cuisine is (deservedly!) the butt of many jokes across the world.
It’s weird that this is the case. The UK has some of the most astonishing produce, seafood, and meat in the world — whether it’s apples from Kent, crab from Orkney, Scottish beef, Welsh...
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Roast Potatoes
Brits don’t really have the same concept of “comfort food” as Americans do. It’s a phrase with many meanings, some of them – such as junk food or ice cream by the gallon – not particularly admirable. But the nostalgic aspects, the home cooking redolent of childhood, is a powerful and resonant concept. Whether it’s mac’n’cheese or a pot-roasted brisket or a tuna noodle casserole, there is an...