Monday, 27 February 2012

200 HEALTHY feasts


This is a nice little book with clear instructions and straightforward recipes. It size is also very convenient for people on the go and can be perused at ones leisure while making the daily commute into the office, or during a coffee break, or anytime you have a couple of moments to spare, allowing you to review recipes and plan your meals in advance.
There is a good variety of interesting and exciting recipes in the book, divided into chapters covering breakfast, starters, soups, desserts, meals for any time of the day and any occasion, each recipe consists of a page containing a list of ingredients and clear instructions, with a colour photo of the dish on the page opposite.
This book is based upon healthy eating and sometimes this is a subject often unfairly viewed as dull, put please don't let this dissuade you, just skip past the introduction initially and jump straight into the recipes. Once you have cooked and enjoyed many of these meals you will have no problem in understanding and appreciating the message in the introduction, it is not a lecture and makes complete sense.  
This is a cookery book, I have enjoyed using, producing some great dishes which have been completely enjoyed, unknowingly as the Healthy option.

Friday, 17 February 2012

The CHAP in BED on the TELLY!

It has been a long week and this has nothing do with food, but I guess it would if I ate in bed, which I don't. Anyway I was in a local shop yesterday just picking up a few bits and pieces, when I noticed a little old lady staring at me. So I said "hello" and she asked "are you that chap that was in bed on the Telly" to which I replied "yes", she said "it was very good, I enjoyed it". Let me explain, some time ago I was somehow persuaded to take part in a documentary and it was shown on television last Monday night, it was called 'In Bed with the Irish'. I had never dreamt it would be picked up by RTE. So my wife and I reluctantly watched it from behind our Sofa, but glad to say it was tastefully done and thankfully I survived the aftermath in work the next day.

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Don't EAT the PAINTINGS






Two of my favourite paintings, oil on canvas Lemons and Tomatoes, these have pride of place in my home.
I often feel inspired to get into the kitchen and cook just looking at them.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

From SEED to PLATE


This book is a delight, a little confused but in a really good way, an identity crisis, unsure whether to be a cookbook, a gardening book or a guide to Italy. Greatfully it is all of these things. The best way to get fresh, tasty ingredients is to grow your own. Italians have known this for centuries, and no Italian house, apartment, school or office is complete unless it has a little bit of space in which to grow tomatoes, herbs, salad leaves and whatever else can be crammed in. This book covers that very Italian tradition of growing to cook, using recipes handed down from cook to cook, often through generations. Paolo Arrigo shares his family's practical traditions and 'passione' for food, including the best varieties to grow, offering growing tips and explaining how all the resulting delicious produce should be best prepared, cooked and preserved. It Includes recipes from Paolo's own family, delicatessens, favourite restaurants and chefs such as Georgio Locatelli, Antony Worrall Thompson, Rose Prince, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and many more. This is an excellent book, the recipes are easy to follow and they inspire you to want to grow stuff yourself (rather than simply buy it) just to then eat it - the Italian way.

Friday, 13 January 2012

The PAINTER, the COOK and the ART of CUCINA

This is another wonderful book which I received as a gift from family living in Bari in the beautiful region of Puglia.  I really like the painting of the Red Radicchios on the cover. The Painter, the Cook and the Art of Cucina takes you on a gastronomic journey through the lesser known parts of Italy - Puglia, Piedmont, Veneto, Liguria, Le Marche and Sardinia. The food of these regions is being discovered by visitors and cooks for the first time. In a unique collaboration, Anna Del Conte, the foremost expert on Italian cuisine and leading painter, Val Archer, have travelled around Italy using their eyes, ears and taste buds - this book is the result of their journey. Anna observes how passionate Italians are about the flavour and variety of their foods, seasonality, regional specialties and recipes, local producers and local food customs. In each region there are recipes choosen to represent the best use of the local produce, from restaurants or directly from local cooks. Over 100 rich oil paintings are matched with stories about the food and the recipes from the cooks and food producers. The Italians are, of course, as famous for their music as for their cuisine, and it is the inclusion of information about such composers as Rossini - as well as other fascinating nuggets - that makes the journey such a pleasurable one. At the heart of the book though, of course, are the recipes - and these are straightforward and comprehensible. Perhaps all the ingredients may not be available to us, but there is no doubt that most of the results are achievable with just a little effort.

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

The FRENCH Kitchen


I first came across this book in France a couple of years ago, always meaning to get it, but delighted to say very recently received it as a birthday present. This book is a delight in which Joanne Harris shares her family recipes, passed down through the generations. From her Grandmother's 'Festival Loaf', to traditional French classics such as 'Moules Mariniere' of 'Boeuf en Daube', The French Kitchen: A Cookbook is a wonderful collection of casseroles, soups, roasts, salads, tarts and sweets. A collaboration between a writer who loves food and a former chef who loves writing about food, this book gathers together simple yet stylish recipes from the heart of a French family. Even to read it takes you into the heart of France, its markets & kitchens. Magnificent.....


Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Champion STEAK Frites

Champignon Steak Frites, Pour quoi? It seems that these trying times have a lot of people craving meat and potatoes, or as the French would have it, steak frites, that profoundly consoling combo of steak with chips or some other form of spuds. In my opinion one of the best meat and potato combinations of all time is steak frites. This bistro classic is hard to beat for taste, simplicity and food that just feels good. My dish, with the addition of marvelous mushrooms is a simply delicious, wine-friendly union.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

SANTA brought ME a KITCHENAID


I have had my eye on one of these for many years, but for one reason or another I never made the commitment required to owning one. But now I finally have and I wonder why it took so long, it's a dream and takes away so much effort especially when I consider the hours spent kneading dough in the past. Now my trusty dough hook does all the work. But where will it end, there are a multitude of attachments for this baby, one step at a time....

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

UNBEATABLE BAGELS

It’s important to start the day with a good breakfast or brunch, depending on whether you managed to have that lie in or not. It is always nice to spend time over the first meal of the day, understandably this is not always possible during the working week so why not reserve this recipe for the week-end when you hopefully have the time to relax and enjoy them. You can always substitute the bagels with English Muffins which are equally as good, marvellous muffins. Why not try both...



INGREDIENTS: 
                            
Bagels x2 
Streaky Bacon x4
Eggs x2
Butter
Tomato Ketchup
Dijon Mustard
Olive Oil

Thursday, 15 December 2011

FOOD JOURNEY


This long journey started well over a year ago with the ultimate goal of producing a range of fresh produce to supply the family kitchen. I transformed some of our back garden into a Kitchen garden to start growing and rearing some of our own food. When I started growing vegetables,  I spent a lot of time considering what I should grow, firstly what are the things I really like to eat and then tried to determine whether they would all actually grow outside here, needless to say there are many items which you need to grow under cover in a glass house or poly tunnel. So I whittled down my list and came up with the Top Ten veggies to grow, sticking to my idea of planting a little of lots rather than lots of a little. I also looked at veggies that should be planted together and considered rotation for future seasons, putting all this on paper inside, hoping to save me some trouble later outside.  Armed with my master plan I then spent time browsing seed catalogues online, reviewing and assessing the best varieties to grow. Finally I ordered some seeds from various sources and also purchased others in my local garden centre. Then the waiting game started, from sowing the seeds and decisions on staggering the sowings so as to have a reasonably continuous supply of veggies to harvest.