Mezzy Chrimblenast.

Well that's it over for another year. We had a good one. I was delighted that the boy broke the "no more cookbooks" rule and brung me "Ottolenghi: The Cookbook" for Chrimblenast. I've long been an admirer of Yotam's weekly recipes in the Guardian; he cooks a lot of wonderful, inventive veggie food, but he isn't actually a vegetarian and the cookbook contains lots of great meaty recipes. He focuses on a few "star ingredients", including salt, garlic, lemon, olive oil, coriander, mint, yoghurt, pomegranate, tahini, sumac and Za'atar and feta cheese. What's not to like? I will be cooking something speshul for NYE out of this book, I am considering the seared duck breasts with blood orange and star anise, I'll keep you posted.
As well as a foody book, the boy's sister brung us a basket full of tasty bits and pieces, with the emphasis on spices, including caraway seeds, green cardamon pods, cinnamon, lime leaves, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, pomegranate seeds, kalonji onion seeds, saffron,and dried birds eye chilis. All of which will come in well handy for making my Yotam Ottolenghi recipes. I haven't got around to mentioning the fascinating book she gave me for my birthday, also a foody present. It's called The Flavour Thesaurus and is by Niki Segnit. It is a study of taste and an exploration of food combinations; those that do and don't work. Bacon and banana anyone? It is a really fascinating book and useful if, like me, you want to break free from slavishly following recipes and develop your innate sense of what works in the kitchen.
We stuck to the traditional flavour combinations for Christmas day, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Grilled streaky bacon cobs with bucks fizz for brekko, then a steady drip of olives and gherkins kept us going until the main event. As there were only two of us we didn't have a whole turkey, but a free range stuffed turkey joint from Sainsbury's was very good quality and loads of meat, enough for boxing day curry and sandwiches on the train up to mum and dad's on Monday. Trimmings consisted of pigs in blankets, sage and onion stuffing, honey and thyme roasted carrots, roast parsnips, crisp fresh sprouts and divine, garlicky, buttery roasties. A few hours after this delight we were tucking into the third bottle of red and a smorgasmic cheese board. The day was quite sedate apart from a short, late visit to see the smoggy round the corner, a far cry from last years pineapple mojito fuelled mayhem!
Leftovers fuelled hangover dispatching bubble and squeak patties served with bacon and eggs. Toast and honey? Nah! We revisited the cheese, and are about to tuck into a classic boxing day turkey curry. The boy's folks gifted us with a spice grinder, and the brother with an ingenious chopping device so it has been an all mod-cons curry, so convenient we've hardly had to cook! Well, I've been sitting here typing to you and swilling down shiraz; nice work if you can get it, and still more than a week off. Cheers, and Merry Christmas.

Another day, another dinner, well lunch actually.  Saturday 11 December was my actual birthday and the boy took me for a decadent, multi course, late French lunch. We went to Le Bistrot Pierre in Derby; yep, I know it's a chain but I wanted French food and they do it darn well, and it is really good value.  Plus, I didn't want the Christmas menu, and this is one of the few places they do a normal menu too. I have been to this restaurant many times over this years and have always enjoyed a fine meal.  The place was RAMMED, with it being Chrimbo an all.  Fortunately we managed to wangle a table tucked away in a corner, away from the paper-hatted hoi polloi :-).   We started with the obligatory basket of fresh bread, with lovely creamy pats of butter to slather on it.  This was followed by the Gousse d'ail roti; a whole roasted garlic bulb with (more) artisan bread, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping.  That wasn't even the starter, which came next and consisted of goats cheese, rocket, sun dried tomates, and more toasted bread (may have gone overboard on the bread).  Mains were Supreme de Poulet for me, and roast pork for the boy.  Again I couldn't manage a cheese board...what's wrong with me?!  Lunch was lovely, and at £9.75 for two courses,cheap at the price. We washed everything down with a few glasses of sauvignon and came over all sleepy like, we had to retire to the bat cave before an evening session in the pub.
http://www.lebistrotpierre.co.uk/userfiles/files/LunchPrixFixe3.pdf

Pampered at Perkins.

Last weekend was my birthday and I had a totally gourmetastic time.  Friday night I started the party in Nottingham town with the my good friend Joe, who treated me to a visit to Perkins restaurant in Plumtree, bookended by before and after drinks in Escabeche.  (Escabeche is buzzing and doing amazingly well, check it out). 
http://www.perkins-family.co.uk/restaurant.perkins-restaurant
I mentioned Perkins a while ago when I blogged about Escabeche and promised a bit more blog on this particular aspect of the Perkins empire.  Perkins is the original family restaurant, and has been open since 1982; that is centuries in restaurant years.  Despite this, it has a fresh, contemporary feel, you can see the same attention to detail as at Escabeche, little touches like fab toilets, and a welcoming bar which is the focal point of the restaurant.  Plumtree isn't far out of Nottingham but has a rural, off the beaten track feel to it.  However the quality of the food means that people make the effort, the restaurant was fully booked tonight and most nights into the foreseeable future.  We were seated in a conservatory area by a very pleasant and friendly member of staff.  A bottle of rioja was on the table as if by magic as we perused the special Friday "Steak Night" menu.  One thing which Perkins specialise in that I absolutely love are their "Sleepers"; railway sleepers converted into taster boards for two to share.  Perkins, as previously mentioned, have their own smoke house, and we went for a Christmas Sleeper, which consisted of in-house cured whiskey and fennel gravadlax, deep fried camembert with a homemade cranberry jelly, and a mustardy, hammy, leeky concoction which was a delight.
Next course was the steak and my rib-eye was spot on, cooked to medium rare perfection.  It was served with half a grilled, garlic rubbed tomato, a grilled portobello mushroom, chip-stick thin fries and a glorious, whiskey coloured home made peppercorn sauce, very far from the grey, packet concoctions that grace steaks in many a pub.  Plates were cleared and we were so full we couldn't manage a cheese board, which is quite unheard of.  Perkins isn't cheap a la carte, but they do loads of special offers and menus and it is so worth going for a special meal, there is a real sense of occasion, it started my birthday weekend in style.  Thanks Joe.

Laabour of Love....

Laab, or Larb, or Larp / Laap is a Thai minced meat salad.  Sounds a bit grim doesn't it?  Or even a bit boring and tasteless.  Minced chicken?  Bit too healthy.  What, no lashings of coconut milk?  Well, if you've never tasted this on your travels in Thailand, or your local Thai restaurant doesn't serve it (many don't, my favourite Thai restaurant in Derby, Thai Boran, does a pretty good version; maybe not as good as mine though), I have an easy peasy recipe to share with you.  I cooked this last Friday as a starter and it fed 5 of us, with a beef Mussaman curry to follow.  However, I have often had this as a main meal, serving two greedy people with lots of jasmine rice.  I started out just using minced chicken and have even experimented with mincing my own.  I find the packs of minced turkey you can buy work really well.  You can also make this salad with minced beef, minced pork, minced squirrel...whatever minced protein you can get your hands on.  Veggies could even try making it with minced Quorn or tofu; I've never tried it but both of those pick up flavours really well.
There are loads of different laab recipes out there, the one I give below is a sort of bastardised hybrid recipe that works well for me.  Really authentic recipes use roasted rice to give a nutty, smokey flavour, but this recipe uses sesame oil, which I find works just as well, and saves you messing about roasting rice.
This has so many levels of flavour and texture.  Hot chili, pungent lemongrass and lime leaves, the salty savoury kick of fish sauce, aromatic herbs, the crunch of lettuce leaves enclosing a parcel of tender, meaty morsels.  You suck all these flavours out of the stir fried meat.  Mouth.  Watering.  Quantities are ball park only; adjust according to taste.  Rick Stein uses 5 sticks of lemon grass with the same amount of meat.
Laab:
2 or 3 lemongrass stalks.
4 lime leaves
2 or 3 red chilies
3 garlic cloves
knob of ginger
Roughly chop the above then chuck into a food processor and blitz as fine as you can to make a rough paste.  Take the lid off the processor and inhale; it should be so strong and pungent it hits the back of your throat and makes you cough.
500g minced whatever
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1tsp chili powder
50ml fish sauce
A couple of shallots, chopped finely
1 lime
A handful each of basil, coriander and mint, finely chopped.
Baby gem lettuce leaves and cucumber cut into strips, to serve.

Heat a wok over a high heat and add the vegetable and sesame oils.
Chuck in the paste and fry briefly before adding the minced meat and chili powder.
stir fry for 4 minutes then add the fish sauce.  Turn down the heat and allow to bubble for another 4 minutes.  Add the shallots and allow to cook a minute longer.
Turn off the heat and stir through the herbs and lime juice.
Serve with lettuce and cucumber, and preferably a crisp, cold bottle of Singha beer.

Winter Stodgefest.

Winter has truly set in during the last week or two.  Snow and everything!  So much snow in fact, that the country has (as usual) just about ground to a halt, and the 10k run I've entered for this Sunday (foolish, I know) has been postponed until 9 January, meaning I've been carb loading for nothing!  (Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).  I just want to eat spuds and stodge at the moment, and lurk around the house in a hooded dressing gown when I'm not out running in the snow.  I have eaten some magnificent stodge in the last couple of weeks, including a plate-piled-high carvery at this place:
http://www.thespottedcow.co.uk/
I have been a few times over the years but I really don't remember the carvery being as delicious as it was last Sunday.  The Kir Royal I had as an aperitif certainly put some extra bubbles into the proceedings, followed by a nice glass of shiraz with my carvery; a mixture of gammon and beef, so nothing wrong with a red.  If you want a cosy, family orientated pub in the Derby area this is miles ahead of any of the city centre pubs serving roast dinners.  Booking is advisable, especially as there were close to fifteen of us meeting and greeting the latest addition into the extended family of reprobates, baby AnnaWilliamson-Bach-Nielson, all of 8 weeks old.  What a cutie!

I actually did some cooking on Friday and set out on a rather ambitious mission to make Choucroute Garnie, aka sauerkraut garnished with loads of pork products.  There are a multitude of recipes out there and each one is different so I came up with my own broad interpretation, maybe not strictly authentic but really delicious.  I limited the pork products to two, some have about 5 different types.  First of all you want sauerkraut, I bought a kilogram of it from the Polish stall in the market hall (not the Eagle Centre).  If you go into the entrance where the Tiger bar is and turn right the Polish stall is the last stall on your right.  They sell loads of excellent pork products, including, oddly, the best Chorizo sausage in Derby.  I picked up some smoked pork belly while I was there.  A kilogram of sauerkraut is enough for 4 people easily, although I cooked it all there was loads left over.
I sliced an onion and cooked it gently in butter (lots of recipes ask for goose or pork fat, which I didn't have to hand; like, who does.....!) then added the sauerkraut with the chopped pork belly, bay leaves, juniper berries, garlic and salt and pepper, and poured a couple of glasses of white wine over the lot (and one for me, I used Pinot Grigio although most recipes ask for Riesling, but I doubt one could tell the difference) this simmers away for as long as you've got, anything up to two hours.  Word of warning, don't bite into whole juniper berries, unless you really really like straight gin.  Served with grilled sausages - I used  Toulouse, and sliced fried potatoes, this was Christmas Market type street food-tastic.

Finally an honorary mention to Helen G who served up totally wonderful and hearty Caribbean fare at book club on Saturday.  Mutton curry, yam, rice and peas, washed down with a little bit of wine, helped to fuel plenty of book related ranting and later some hazy gyrating to Salt n' Pepa?  Oh dear.....

Hot and kickin' Puerto Rican Chicken

I had to blog this recipe just as an excuse to show you this perfect example of a Scotch Bonnet pepper....beautiful!

Yep, the whole of that bad boy went in, along with another hot red chili which had taken up residence in the crisper.  This is one of my favourite recipes of the year, we have made it several times with excellent results.  It cooks itself.  It is a Levi Roots recipe, and apparently one if his favourites too.  So here goes, for once I am going to give you the whole recipe:

Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice (serves 4)
175g (6oz) basmati rice
3tbsp sunflower or groundnut oil
8 chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, whatever)
2 tbsp all-purpose seasoning
salt and pepper
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, as above
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 allspice berries, crushed
1.5 tsp turmeric
2cm piece of root ginger, finely chopped
1 hot red chilli (ideally scotch bonnet) sliced into rings, or more if you like it fiery, like me
600ml chicken stock (I use Kallo organic free range chicken stock cubes, they are ace)
3 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
100g pitted green olives, ideally stuffed with pimento
lime wedges to serve.

Phew!  Now do the following with the above:

1. Wash the rice lots, until the water runs clear, or as much as you can be bothered.
2. Season the chicken with the all-purpose seasoning, salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken on all sides.
4. Remove the chicken from the pan, add the onion, peppers and garlic and saute until peppers soften. 
5. Add the allspice, turmeric, ginger and chili and cook for a minute longer.
6. Put the chicken in a casserole dish, big enough so it can all fit in one layer.  
7. Add the veg.
8. Pour the rice round the chicken, add the stock, thyme and bay and season well.
9. Oven cook for 40 minutes at gas mark 5/6, no need to stir or anything like that.
10. 15 minutes before the end of cooking time add the olives.

When it is done there should be a golden crust of rice on the top, the stock should be absorbed and the chicken cooked through, check this by piercing to make sure the juices run clear.  Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over.  I'm starving now I've written that; tea time!

Ciao Bella!

This is just a little heads up for y'all, to check out a new, authentic Italian street food eatery in the Eagle Centre Market Hall. Run by Manuele Schiavone, his father Beppe and mother Rosetta who hail from near Lake Garda in Italy, the stall is named Ciao and is open 6 days a week during the market hall's opening hours.  If you walk up the far left side of the market hall, looking to the right, you will find Ciao.
Ciao has only been open for 10 days but things were bustling when I took a look.  As well as serving great Lavazza filter coffee, Manuele spends half the week making the food that they sell; delicious pizzas and paninis made from scratch, including one with a potato topping; truly authentic and last encountered in Sardinia (on a gastro holiday of magnificent proportions, how I wish I'd been blogging then!)  He also makes his own ice cream, which I have yet to try, but the Zuppa Inglese (trifle) flavour certainly caught my eye.  Manuele greeted me with a huge smile and a true Italian generosity of spirit.  He has big plans for Ciao, with Porchetta (roast suckling pig) coming soon, as well as liqueur coffees to warm your cockles (whatever those are) after some Christmas shopping. 
I really urge people to support small businesses like this, so much care and attention has gone into Ciao.  If you work in Derby city centre it is a really convenient place to grab lunch.  You would be mental to go to Greggs (or one of many other bland, generic high street snackeries) instead, but sadly so many people do...why not add a little Italian to your afternoon instead?

Falafel King.

After having massive pork chops for dinner on Friday I felt the need to embrace my inner veggie last Saturday, so turned to an old favourite, Falafel burgers.  Falafel are a delight, but fiddly and demanding of large quantities of oil to cook; these burger versions are simpler and just as tasty.  They are probably healthier too as you use a lot less oil, and the mixture sticks together really well (just add a little water if it seems too dry.  If you are a purist, you can soak / boil your chickpeas, it does taste better, but it takes away the instant store cupboard ease of this recipe.  The recipe is a BBC Good Food one:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5605/falafel-burgers
I use / modify a lot of the recipes from this site as they are nice and simple, sometimes too simple, but there are lots of winners on there.  I stick to this recipe pretty faithfully, but I always add lashings of greek yoghurt to the finished product, sometimes tahini and always, always gallons of the to die for harissa I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs.  I love this recipe for being really easy, tasty and satisfying whilst having no meat and no cheese in it, as I find that cheese is my default setting for protein if I'm not careful (and I'm never careful where cheese is concerned.)

I must also mention the meal we had last night, and by proxy the fabulous fishmongers in Nottingham's Victoria Market.
http://www.thefishmongers-nottingham.co.uk/
lucky me, I work close enough to nip there in my lunch break and on Friday I picked up two fat and fresh tuna steaks for a fraction of the price they would have cost across the road at Waitrose (although their fish counter is quite nice as supermarket fish counters go).
I had the basic ingredients for a mean salsa hanging out in my fridge at home, red onion, red chili, garlic, lime juice, diced tomatoes and avocado, finished with a pinch of sea salt and a glug of olive oil.
I marinaded the tuna in sesame oil, lime juice, ginger and garlic, it only needs half an hour or so as the lime starts to cook the tuna.  I ditched the marinade and pan fried the fish in a smidgen of olive oil; it only needs about 3 minutes on each side, if that.
Served with a side of diced and roasted potatoes, this was Friday fish 'n' chips with a difference.

I've Bean Away....

Well no I haven't, I've just bean lazy, and a bit busy.  It's over two weeks since I last blogged, so let me update you with some of my most recent culinary escapades.

A mooch in Waitrose, where everything is packaged so alluringly, and lit so beautifully, inspired me to purchase a bag of mixed dried beans, just because they were so pretty.  Look at that, ten kinds of bean in a bag, like shiny pebbles.

 The obvious choice was a bean chili, a decidedly non vegetarian one, given the addition of organic beef stock. 

This behemoth of a con carne encompassed 3 different types of chili, one grown by my own fair hand.  Totally tasty, the one issue was cooking so many beans in one go, with all the soaking and boiling that entails, meant that the biggest beans remained a bit tough.  Still gorge though, perfick Autumnal grub. 

From Autumn to winter and the dark evenings are already getting seriously depressing.  Earlier in the week I felt the need for some pure escapism, an edible vacation.  I often browse the aisles in Lidl, I like it for a number of reasons:
1. It is the closest supermarket to work, allowing me to pop there in my lunch hour and avoid miserable after work shopping.
2. It stocks lots of German things which I like and it makes me nostalgic for Deutschland.
3.  It has the cheapest and best veg around and often stocks unusual things.
I struck gold and found bags of fresh Padron peppers, which I waxed lyrical about in my Escabeche blog.  Basically Spain on a plate.  I also found Serrano ham on special offer, at the bargain price of £1.49.  Low price doesn't equate to low quality here, like budget supermarket "value" ranges.  Around Christmas you'll find dirt cheap Stilton cheese, with the name of some implausible sounding dairy emblazoned across the packaging.  Check the small print though, and you'll find it's from the Long Clawson dairy.

Anyway, I digress about cheese (often).  Obviously it was going to be Tapas:

A delectable nibble of cornichons (that should be the collective noun), afore mentioned ham and Manchego cheese, sourced dirt cheap from the brill cheese stall in the Eagle Centre market.

Padron peppers and crisp, cold lager.  Heaven, I am in Spain.

 Fiery Gambas Pil Pil, using fresh raw prawns and gallons of olive oil, garlic and chili.

That's better, for a while :-)

I've had some Confit du Canard (duck legs preserved in duck fat in a tin roughly the size of a Quality Street tin) since last Christmas, and I have been waiting for the nights to draw in again before using them to full effect.  I'm planning a proper Cassoulet in the next couple of weeks, and I promise to include an actual recipe.  This is gonna be BIG. A table, tout le monde.

The Fat Texan.

This is really a guest blog, as El Hueso is across the pond in Texas at the moment and has been keeping me abreast of the culinary delights he has been sampling.  The only other photo I've seen, apart from those I'm posting here, was of the interior of a gun shop.  This paints quite a scary picture, but El H assures me that the locals are awesomely friendly!

This first delightful ensemble consists of a triple beefburger combo.  Nuff said.

 Deep fried Catfish, with fries, beans and 'slaw.  Breakfast of champions.  Or morbidly obese Texans.

 The piece de resistance....the holy grail, Chicken-Fried-Steak!  It looks like there are two on the plate.  When I questioned El Hueso about why he ate two of them, when he described it as "like eating a heart attack covered in baby sick" he replied that one of those is actually a pile of mashed potato; you get the choice of two sides, and it just didn't seem right to eat veg.... he has done us proud.

Fortunately for his arteries, El H is coming back to Blighty this weekend.  I'll be advising a strict diet of wholesome and healthy fish and chips after that lot.

I promise to actually do some cooking this weekend, I've been incredibly lazy on that front recently.  October is in full swing so I plan to galvanize myself into creating some Goulash (or something) this weekend; watch this space.

Escabeche.

Escabeche is a typical Mediterranean cuisine which refers to both a dish of poached or fried fish that is marinated in an acidic mixture before serving, and to the marinade itself.  Escabeche is also a new Tapas restaurant and bar in West Bridgford, Nottingham which opened this week and is run by sons of the Perkins family, Jon and Dave Perkins.  Folks local to Nottingham will probably have heard of Perkins in Plumtree, a well established family run restaurant (it opened in 1982, that's some good going).
http://www.perkins-family.co.uk/?i=68808&
Perkins  is extremely well deserving of a blog entry in itself but for now I'm focusing on the new kid on the block.

Jon Perkins is marrying a very dear and lovely friend of mine, who has kept me updated on progress over the preceding months whilst Escabeche has been coming together.  You can imagine how excited I was to be dining out at the finished article with said friend.  At first glance I could tell that the blood, sweat and tears (figure of speech) had been worth it as Escabeche cuts a very fine figure indeed.  A living wall adorns the attractive facade, with big french windows leading out onto a terrace which has great potential for summers to come.  Frustratingly for the brothers, a building site sprung up next door, just as the restaurant opened earlier this week, which is a bit of a blot on the horizon.  However it is early days and once the venue is established it will be a tranquil, relaxing and very European place to hang out.
Inside, the restaurant is roomy and airy, one large room with stairs up to the well appointed rest rooms and what will probably become another bar and dining area.  The feel is very bistro, with a wide bar down the length of the left wall.  On the bar sits a princely Jamon in its ham holder.  A serving hatch adorned with beautiful blue patterned tiles is situated at the far end of the room, with leather banquettes down the right side and tables dotted throughout the room.  Lots of little, personal touches and attention to detail add up to an idiosyncratic sense of style which is wholly charming.

Upon arrival we took a seat at the bar and refreshed our palates with a Sauvignon spritzer, and some almonds smoked in Perkins' very own smokehouse.  We were then presented with some sea salted Padron peppers, a really impressive addition to the menu I thought, something I've not seen in another tapas restaurant in the UK, apart from Pinchito in London.  Close my eyes and I could have been perched on a stool in Barcelona's Boqueria.

I'll just digress a moment to point out that although there is plenty of authentic Spanish fare on the menu, this is not strictly Spanish but world tapas.  The name Escabeche  is especially fitting as this is a dish that although Spanish in name, can be found in locations as diverse as the Philippines, Provence and Jamaica.
So, enough about the ambience, how about the food?  The menus are printed on paper table mats which is a nice touch, meaning you can sit and chill with an after work beer and peruse the menu at your leisure, without having the formality of asking for a menu and then being expected to order.
The menu is divided into 6 categories, covering snacks & breads, charcuterie, cheese & cured fish, seafood tapas, meat tapas, vegetables, eggs & salads and puddings.  Prices range from around £2.50 for snacks, to £12 for a plate of high quality Iberico ham.  Most dishes come in around the £6 mark.There is a £10 set menu of two tapas of your choice, bread, pudding or coffee, which is available Monday to Friday, 12 - 3pm and 5 -6.30pm, as well as a Sunday set menu available up to 9pm, which includes 1 tapa, roast of the day, pudding or coffee, 2 courses for £12 or 3 for £15.  That's right, Sunday roast!
We tried to sample a dish from every section of the menu, washed down with copious amounts of Rioja.  We started with a cheese board complete with quince jelly, an unctuous goats cheese, Manchego, blue Picos and a crystalline Cheddar.  This was complemented by a jar of escabeche cured fish with lemon mayonnaise, which was a vinegary delight.  Next we ordered light and crisp tempura fried squid with a garlic mayonnaise, and smoky meatballs in a rich tomato sauce.  As  a side we went for the classic patatas bravas.  Although I must say I was hankering after french fries with Parmesan, the patatas were spot on with just the right amount of spice.  Finally we appeased the 5 a day demons with a superfood salad, a concoction of broccoli, sweet potato, roasted beetroot, seeds, sharp feta cheese and rocket, who knew virtuous could taste so good?
As neither of us are particularly sweet toothed we skipped pudding (although later on I noticed Churros with chocolate sauce on the menu, again, nice touch) and returned to the bar for an Amaretto enhanced coffee instead.

It was Friday night, the first Friday Escabeche has been open.  By the time we had finished our meal there was a real buzz about the place and bookings were no longer being taken, although capacity hadn't been reached the brothers want to ease in their new staff and get them used to the place and working together.  Sitting at the bar we got chatting to a few people as staff whizzed up cocktails (they've all been put through their cocktail making paces).

I know that you may think I'm biased due to my "connections" but I had a really fantastic time at Escabeche, the food is really well done and delicious, the atmosphere is welcoming and I felt relaxed happily into the vibe.  (Possibly helped by the Rioja).  There have been a couple of teething problems such as the building site next door and a team of new staff finding their feet, but this is definitely a venture to watch, a refreshing change from the uniform, freeze-dried La Tascas you can't seem to get away from these days.  Tapas wise there is stiff competition in Nottingham with Iberico and Bar de Nada, but I think the Bridgford location and versatility of Escabeche (it serves continental breakfast fare daily as well as the aforementioned roast dinners)  will allow it to flourish.

A Glut(ton)

Arabian nights was a resounding success.  Some excellent grub, ladies, and much vinos had by all (well, definitely by me).  The bread from Murat was fabulous, just like the Turkish bread I remember eating in Germany years back.  We salvaged one and the boy and I made gorgeous lamb kebabs in it on Saturday.

Saturday night called for some slobbing but after a visit from Maryanimal, who went AWOL from book club, we sampled the dregs of wine from Friday and were whisked out to This Is Control....peeled from the sofa, stinking of garlic after eating said kebabs, for a dance and a shandy or three. 

Sunday morning called for something fried, and I had a lightbulb moment.  The boy had picked a bucket full of green tomatoes on Saturday, so I looked up recipes for... Fried Green Tomatoes.  I had thought this entailed nothing more than slicing, seasoning and frying the tomatoes, but it is actually a wee bit more complex than that:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/season-taste/green-tomato-recipes_21898.html

You dip the sliced tomatoes in milk, flour, egg and breadcrumbs before shallow frying.  The result was really delicious, the slightly unripe, green tomatoes are firm enough to take the frying.  The film title "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" has circled at the back of my mind for some years now, wondering what they actually taste like, so now I know, and a satisfying little box has been ticked. 

As an aside, who knew there were so many things to do with green tomatoes?  (See link).  I might do the salsa this weekend. 

Yummy!

Arabian Nights

Sorry, I forgot the potted shrimp.  I didn't have much time for gourmet shopping oop Morecambe way, too busy extreme rambling, thigh deep in freezing water, all for a good cause!
Nothing gourmet of note, in fact, until today when I started preparing for the Arabian Nights themed book club I'm having tomorrow night.  Hosting a book club makes me sound terribly middle class, and the fact that it is themed is even worse, but screw you.  It's something I've been doing with a close bunch of like-minded girls for several years now.  It actually takes shape more along the lines of a bacchanalian feast, not an orgy but in terms of the gluttonous, wine fuelled aspect.  After we have eaten and drunk our fill, or during, we see who can shout the loudest about a book that they have read recently and can remember the title of.  Richard and Judy it ain't.
Initially we just brought along some nibbles but eventually decided to plump for a theme so we got some variations on the grub.  Don't ask me why I came up with Arabian Nights; Morrocan, Turkish and Lebanese etc.  Perhaps because I've eaten some nice food along these lines this summer (Turkish in York, Lebanese Mezze at the Big Chill).  Perhaps because the nights are drawing in and I wish I was in Arabia.
I've heard lots of rumblings about what people are going to cook, one young lady was even going to create her own Turkish cheese!  (Labneh).  I purchased some Za'atar from Soundbites the other day on a whim, so decided to base a dish around that.  Za'atar is a condiment made from the dried herbs, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices. Used in Arab cuisine since medieval times, it is popular throughout the Middle East.  I found a nice and simple Nigella Lawson recipe so I've just put my chicken in to marinade:
http://www.food.com/recipe/nigellas-zaatar-chicken-378600
I also made a most exciting gourmet discovery today, thanks to Nottingham gourmet Andy.  He used familial contacts to locate an authentic Turkish delicatessen.  It is called Murat and located on Gedling Street in Nottingham, at the bottom of Hockley / in the Sneinton area.  Incidentally lots of other interesting food shops in the area but I didn't have time to explore, will come back another time.
Murat has it's own bakery, selling Turkish flatbreads, freshly made Baklava and other delights for sod all basically.  It also stocks a huge variety of olives, cheeses, meats, stuffed vine leaves, Turkish Delight, Halva, Tahini...it is the last word in Turkish wonderfullness and I will certainly be returning.  I bought massive, freshly baked flatbreads for 65p each, blow your head off pickled green chillis, dates and Feta cheese (they have Feta cheese from every feasibly cheese producing animal out there!)
The above picture depicts one of the best things I saw in Murat today....

Yes Pieminister....

As I said in my York blog, the weekend was really hectic, we made homemade pizzas on Friday night when I got home, but this was interspersed with cleaning skirting boards and taking shelves down etc.  So it was more fuel than anything.  Saturday night we went round to El Hueso's for some birthday Tapas action, there was gourmet promise there but it got obliterated by drunken Beatles rock band!
By Sunday evening, hangover minimised, I was craving a proper wholesome meal.  I had some puff pastry left from the Chorizo Empanadillas I made to take round to Bone's, so the logical choice seemed to be a pie.
I found this recipe on the ever reliable BBC Good Food website:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1765/chicken-and-mushroom-puff-pie
It was quite a time consuming affair as there are a few steps involved in the recipe, but it was easy to do, and so worth it.  Chicken thigh meat is tastier than breast and stays tender, as well as being cheaper.  Don't omit the bacon, it adds so much to the complexity of the flavour.  I couldn't get Thyme; Sunday evening in Derby, fresh herbs?  No chance!  But didn't miss it.  My only criticism is that it didn't need nearly as long as the recipe said for the final stage in the oven, resulting in a rather singed top to my pastry, so no photo!

I have spent much of this week in York again, the last session of training thank god.  It's too tiring going up there every week.  We had a last night out and a meal at Zizzi's, which I am not going to write about except to say I was pleasantly surprised.  I know this is a chain restaurant with one in every city, but the quality of the food was really a lot better than I expected.  We got a cheap deal with 2 mains for £12, but I think they make up for this with an overpriced wine list, especially compared to Kapadokya's.

That's me up to date, I'm going even further up North today, to walk across Morecambe Bay for my parents charity Abana tomorrow:  see their blog for more details:
http://rwanda-adventure.blogspot.com/
I'll bring you back some potted shrimp!

The Good Life.

We grew these!  Yummy!  I think I'm going to try growing some mushrooms in the cellar over the next few months...

Turk in York

I've had a really hectic week or so since I last blogged.  I've been in York twice for two days (work) and at the weekend Dennis the oldest Decorator in Derby was here painting all weekend with all the upheaval that decorating entails.  However I've managed to have a few nice meals out and even managed to cook a couple of times, just not had chance to blog.
The first visit to York was last Thursday and Friday.  We had the option of eating in the hotel but it's pretty uninspiring, and our trainer had recommended this Turkish restaurant:
http://www.kapadokya-restaurant.co.uk/Kapadokya.aspx
I've never been to Turkey, although I love the food, a side effect of living in Germany for many years I think, as there is a lot of Turkish influenced food there.  Anyway, Kapadokya is apparently a region of Turkey, hence the name, not sure why they've added the 50 though.
I went out to eat with Andy, who I work with, Maria, his lovely Brazilian girlfriend and Jamie, a friend of mine from university who lives in York.
The restaurant has a big open grill in the middle of the room, I love this.  I went for a dish called Adana:
Minced lamb with herbs, onions, parsley, spices and a little chilli on skewers, char-grilled served with rice and salad.  Andy, a notable Nottingham gourmet in his own right, said he thought the food at Antalya was better, but I've not yet eaten at Antalya.   (Why are all Turkish restaurants named after places in Turkey?)
 http://www.antalya.co.uk/
I thought Kapadokya was really good, the meat was tender and juicy, and not too salty as this type of shish can be.  It came with a side of fresh Turkish flatbread.  The wine list was really cheap too, we shared a nice bottle of shiraz for £12.50.  It was over a week ago and I'm afraid I can't remember what everyone else had, the Old Rosie cider we got into the habit of drinking in York has played havoc with my recall.

After dinner Jamie took us to a really interesting bar:
http://www.evileyelounge.com/
You might miss it as it is fronted by an off licence, but go through the shop and you will discover a hidden bar.  A massive wall of spirits promised every kind of cocktail you could imagine, but the atmosphere was rather spoilt by the screeching harridans on the next table to us, I think they'd had a few too many Woo Woo's!   A fun night though.

Monkfish Madness

The boy has been off work this week, and therefore has been able to do luxurious things like go to the fishmarket.  He picked up some Monkfish on Wednesday as he'd never had it before.  Monkfish is a firm and meaty fish which stands up to a bit of cooking and is very versatile.  We fancied something with cous cous and I googled up with this recipe for Monfish with Saffron Cous Cous:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article4868422.ece
We already happened to have green beans in the crisper and some Saffron that Nico brought us back from Spain.  This is a really tasty, easy midweek recipe which tastes like you've been cooking far harder than you have.  I actually left out the wine and used more stock just because I'd have been tempted to drink the rest of the bottle and had to get up at 6 the next morning to travel to York, so I bet it's even nicer with wine :-).
I have another monkfish recipe I want to try, with samphire like we had with the swordfish.  I'll keep you posted.

Monday Massaman.

This week has been a pretty super gourmet week.   As far back as Sunday we were treated to a homemade Tapas feast, courtesy of the boy's lovely mother, but I can't really blog about someone elses culinary skills, so I'll just say it was phenomenal.

We finally did some Thai, a cosy Monday night Beef Mussaman curry which we cooked ever so slowly in the oven.  I did use a paste; I haven't got as far as making Massaman from scratch yet, alhthough I will, and I have a recipe in mind (thanks Rick Stein.)  We tend to buy Mae Ploy pastes and the Massaman one is really good and has no added shite in it.
http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Mae-Ploy-Masman-Curry-Paste.html
We buy these from http://www.chungwahderby.co.uk/ which is a wicked little chinese supermarket in Wilmot Street in Derby (off The Spot).  They sell Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indonesian produce, including lots of fresh stuff which is high quality.  They also sell really cheap woks and stuff.  I've been to bigger Asian supermarkets in Nottingham etc, and this one is better.  They are also really friendly.  Anyway here is a link to the recipe we (sort of) followed since I seem to be forgetting to put recipes up on here!  This is a really rich, hearty curry, great for an autumn night.  You could make it with chicken too but beef is really good and tender cooked this way.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/420631/beef-massaman-curry

Everybody Need a Potnas...

The bank holiday weekend entailed a visit from our Manchester Potnas, and we got stuck in to the aperitifs with gusto.  The Potnas turned up on Friday evening bearing shrimp and white wine, a hilarious reference to the Beaver Boys and a source of much amusement: 
http://video.adultswim.com/tim-and-eric-awesome-show-great-job/beaver-boys-emergency.html
We enjoyed a fun and functional supper of moreish honey, ginger and soy sauce marinaded chicken wings, home made coleslaw and potato wedges, and stodgy Sainsburys garlic bread.  Perfectly nice, but really just ballast for a Friday booze-fest.

On Saturday the gourmet element deteriorated further, with a suspicious amount of scotch eggs and wotsits hanging around.  Following my traumatic experience of having my hair curled by a bloke called Barry whilst enduring a not insubstantial hangover (note to self, don't go to dodgy local hairdresser's for the first time after a heavy night) we retired to The Greyhound on Ashbourne Road; an appropriate location for some hair of the dog.

The Greyhound is a recently refurbished boozer on Friargate, run by the Derby Brewing Company.  
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Greyhound-bites-brewery-completes-facelift/article-2184974-detail/article.html
After a few restorative shandies, our thoughts turned to food.  All the Potnas had burgers, which looked delish, whilst I went for ham and gruyere cheese on a Spanish style baguette, served with a side salad and a bowl of chips.  The unanimous verdict was thumbs up, not the cheapest but a hand cut chip above standard pub grub.

Sunday was the highlight gourmet wise.  The boys foraged for a beautiful slab of topside beef from the Bryer's Heritage Farm on Markeaton Lane (Tel 01332 343689).  The farm shop is a hidden gem open 7 days a week and well stocked with farm reared meat and other quality produce (the pies are good).  There is also a Team Room, where they apparently do a very good breakfast, and you can also take a trip around the farm and look at the little piglets and baa-lambs you're about to devour.

The preparation of this roast was one of those day long affairs, helped along by a couple of crates of wife beater.  The ladies did offer their assistance, but spent much of the day guzzling gin and tonic in the garden.  The weekend finale was a resounding success, see picture for some happy Potnas.  Please come again!

Chop House Delight...

This was a totally unplanned gourmet extravaganza.  I should really have gone to kickboxing tonight, but was feeling a little tired after the midweek fun last night, so I decided wholesome grub and chilling was the way forward.  I felt like making the boy a nice tea, as I'd abandoned him to fend for himself (ie get a battered knob from the chipper) the night before.
We had some corn on the cob knocking about so that got me thinking about jerking; that is, jerk seasoning, as corn on the cob is often the happy partner to some tasty Caribbean creations in this house.  A bit labour intensive for a school night but as I strolled past the wonderful Caribbean stall in the Eagle Centre market hall (no link sorry, you'll have to go and look yourselves,) I spotted some jars of Walkerswood Jerk seasoning:
http://www.easycaribbeanshop.com/index.php/caribbean-food-uk/food-brand/walkerswood-brand/walkerswood-traditional-hot-spicy.html
This is the best shop bought jerk seasoning I've found, there are no additives, it tastes really authentic, and you can see the scotch bonnet seeds in it.  Ooh, and it's HOT.  It was only £2.20 from the market stall by the way.  (Go there, it's great.)
I marinaded two juicy pork chops, (gotta be chops, for the on then bone-ness) seared them in a pan and finished them off in the oven for 20 minutes or so, this is the boy's favourite; Jerk Pork :-)  the corn on the cob was taken to the next level with some homemade garlic and herb butter, and just wilted spinach on the side, no carbs needed.  Picture to follow when I can be bothered to upload it....aaaaaaand relax...........could only be bettered if we were going to the Notting Hill carnival this weekend, but alas it is not to be, the Big Chill has cleared out most of the party funds for the time being.  Still, a bit of sun, an impending visit from some silly Mancunians, some Red Stripe and a whistle, and we'll be irie.

Midweek Mexican

I wasn't really planning on blogging during the week but I've had some good grub so far!
I threw caution to the wind and went out on a school night, to cook some Wednesday night fajitas with El Hueso, my brother and Pid.  The Mexican idea was prompted when I popped into Sound Bites in Derby and bought some Rico brand Salsa Verde:  http://www.ricomexicankitchen.co.uk/Products.aspx?id=2
Rico make seriously good salsa and I've been hankering after trying the Salsa Verde for a while.
I must digress a moment to mention how amazing Sound Bites is; a really high quality independent wholefood / organic shop.  I often wonder how Derby has managed to sustain it but happily it has been here for a good few years now.  Check it out here: http://www.soundbitesderby.org.uk/
So I had to make some fajitas to honour the tasty salsa.  El Hueso has a thousand useful kitchen gadets of every description, so we dusted off his panini press to seal off the fajitas, a great finishing touch.  The filling was turkey, which I find works really well in a fajita, with El Hueso's special seasoning, peppers, onion, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, extra hot jalapenos and some homemade guacamole; delish!  We polished off two each, allowing us to get through several bottles of wine and have a thorough thelogical discussion whilst watching the God Delusion.  I'm afraid I didn't take any photos as I was too busy eating / debating.

Summer on a Plate

Shame the weather didn't emulate the concentrated summeriness in this recipe; Saturday was a wash out so we didn't BBQ.  The swordfish steaks cooked beautifully brushed with olive oil and chilli flakes and pan fried for 4 minutes each side.  The  zesty, bright green Salmoriglio worked so well with the fish, and I suspect would work well with a lot of other stuff.  The sauce consists of olive oil and water whisked together with lemon juice, crushed garlic, chopped oregano and parsley, simple but a total flavour bomb.  The samphire I just steamed for 2 minutes or so then stirred a good dollop of butter and some lemon juice through.  This stuff is made to go with fish, you can taste the sea in it.  Dished up with some plain boiled potatoes to soak up all those lovely sauces and juices, and a nice chilled glass of pinot grigio.  Typically, one glass wasn't enough and we were still up watching The Shining at 4 in the morning being very silly, but that's another story; it was Saturday night after all :-)

The Raw Materials

Two lovely swordfish steaks for about a fiver; what a bargain!  (This is a budget-gourmet we're doing).

The Finished Article.

Drawing my Sicilian Sword...

We decided to work backwards from the fresh fish.  Being situated in a rather central location, geographically, one can't rely on consistently plentiful seafood, it's touch and go what the nice smiley fishman will have.  Got lucky with some swordfish today though, and the bonus of some samphire to go with it.  Rick delivered the goods and as we're not going out in public tonight I am going to unleash the garlic; Seared Swordfish steaks with Salmoriglio.  Salmoriglio is Sicilian in origin, a combination of olive oil, chillies, lemon juice, garlic and herbs.  We have the luxury of fresh oregano at the moment, ours is growing really well.  A big bunch of flat leaf parsley from Ted at the market and we're good to go.  Might even crack the BBQ open for that authentic, chargrilled taste....I'll let you know how it goes :-)

Welcome to Peckishism

I decided to start a blog today, and what could be more endlessly fulfilling and fascinating to write about than something that takes up a lot of my attention on a daily basis, ie.  eating / food / where my next meal is coming from / cooking / generally being gluttonous.  So here we go.  Off to buy some fish from the fish market, was going to do Tom Yum but the boy and I both think we have over-Thaied it this week with a Laab and a Mussaman....so we have turned to the supreme fishy powers of Rick Stein for some inspiration.  Laterszzzzzzzzzzzz