Fondant films

Check out Total Film's feature on Disturbing Movie Cakes!

Tagine dream

I love a good tagine. It was my friend Nicky who taught me that you don't necessarily need an upside-down funnel concoction to create the perfect tagine when she put together a chicken and olive feast (i believe it was adapted from this Hairy Bikers recipe) for me a couple of years ago. By her own admission, this is the one dish which proves to her that sweet and savoury can work well together (coming from the girl who insists that cranberry sauce with turkey is like having jam with your beef). 

But my ultimate tagine experience (so far) was during a lamb-themed evening (yes, you heard right) with my best bud Amy. She'd thrown all her efforts into an incredible tomato-based lamb recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson, which simmered for hours in a huge stockpot. Now when I say lamb-themed evening, I'm clutching at straws. Having had a highly anticipated gig cancelled last minute, our plans changed and Amy was dead set on a night in drowning our sorrows watching Silence of the Lambs with copious amounts of red wine (unfortunately not Chianti on this occasion). 

The tagine to end all tagines tied together this so called lamb theme... Packed with gorgeous lean lamb steaks, apricots, dates, raisins, flaked almonds and perfectly combined spices, topped off with flat leaf parsley and coriander, and served with minted yoghurt and lemon cous cous, this feast might even interest Hannibal the Cannibal's mouth (it was in a red sauce after all). 

Since I've been embarrassing Amy with tales of her cheffing prowess, she handed over the gauntlet to me this Christmas in the form of a huge shiny stockpot. So, last night, I took on the challenge and made my own... in the words of the late turkey monster Bernard Matthews, it was booootiful. Thanks Amy, you big chef you.

Christmas countdown

After another prolonged absence I blame on correcting my back, adapting to the dark and trying not to stare at a screen for more than 12 hours a day, Christmas has completely snuck up on me. In that spirit, it seems appropriate to give a bit of a couple of my foodie highlights.

Warm, spicy red cabbage
Partly memorised and adapted from a Delia recipe, I really miss this if it’s not included with the Turkey at Christmas. If nothing else, it provides some amazing Christmassy smells which swirl through the house as the dinner is cooking. This amount will serve around 6-8 people.

Ingredients
Half a medium sized red cabbage head, sliced
One large bramley apple, peeled, cored and diced
One medium-suzed red onion, finely chopped
Two cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
Ground cloves
Ground nutmeg
Ground cinnamon
Light soft brown sugar
A large knob of butter, cut into diced pieces
Balsamic/red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Simple layering recipe
Using a large saucepan with a lid create a layer with about ¼ of the red cabbage. Sprinkle a relative portion of the bramley apple, garlic, butter and red onion on the top followed by about a dessertspoon of sugar and some salt and pepper. Now for the gorgeous spices… I go a bit nuts with these and use tons, but you should be using about a teaspoon of each spice (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon) per layer. Finally, glug some balsamic (or red wine) vinegar over the whole thing  - just a slosh, or maybe a couple of tablespoons. Then, just repeat the process so you end up with about 4 layers of lovely spiced cabbage goodness. Put the lid on the saucepan and cook on a low heat for at least an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. It will eventually reduce and melt together with an amazingly comforting consistency. Even better, if you don’t use it all up with the Turkey, you can have it cold in your sandwiches – yum!

Easy, customised stuffing for Paxo lovers (other instant stuffing brands are available)
This came from me liking to play with leftovers and experiment with flavours. I love my mum’s homemade stuffing which she makes at Christmas. The recipe is torn from a black and white good housekeeping many moons ago. When I was young, I was incredibly fussy about food and, at Christmas, I’d only eat Paxo. Nowadays, it bores me rigid but is a really good staple to have in the cupboard to liven up any weekend warmer.

Ipso Paxo…
Make up about half a pack of standard sage and onion Paxo (will serve about 6-8 people) according to instructions and set aside. Dice a white onion, a couple of sticks of celery, a peeled, cored bramley apple and, for meat eaters, a few rashers of bacon. Gently fry the whole lot in a good knob of butter in a saucepan until it softens and starts sticking together. Then stir this mixture into the Paxo and blend together. Bake as usual for about half an hour for a much tastier, more textured version of this old faithful.

Please sir, can I have some more…
A few more of my Christmas cooking habits

• Smother your turkey in a mixture of butter and lime zest. It’ll make the leftover meat taste amazing when cold.
•  Knives blunt? Carving a nightmare? I like Jamie’s foolproof dissection technique best which lets everyone get to the best bits of the bird
•  Avoid pastry overload on mince pies. Go for a base only with a Christmas shape on top, or alternatively replace shortcrust pastry with filo layers. 
•  I’ve customised shop-bought stuffing, remember to customise your shop-bought mincemeat. Spoon the contents of the jar into a bowl and add extra cranberries, grated apple, chopped nuts, spices, even brandy – whatever you like most. It’ll make it go further too – more pies!

So, in the immortal words of Shakin Stevens, Merry Christmas everyone!

Food Hell #1

Without getting too Giles Coren on this (despite in fact finding him incredibly delicious), i thought it was time I turned this on its head with some interspersed posts on disgraces to the food world.

Food hell - offender #1: Scotch Eggs (aka EGG HELL!).

Long may meat, eggs and breadcrumbs remain hot, and on separate plates. (Just look at those sad egg eyes)

Nx

Aside: this one's for you Mark.

Bristol bypass breakfast

The Lounge, consider yourself bumped into second place. Today I discovered Lockside, a restaurant hidden beneath an underpass in south Bristol, bursting with atmosphere and serving fan-tastic breakfasts. We chose pancakes with streaky bacon and maple syrup; and a breakfast bagel with bacon, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. Generous portions, family friendly, coffee on tap - it's a little bit of the big apple in little old Bristol.

Look where I've been...

 

Mrs P and I at Park Farm this September for the River Cottage Autumn Fair.

Greece is the word

It’s been a long break from the blog. Since my last post I’ve been to Lefkas, a small island just off mainland Greece which gives me a great excuse to talk about one of my all-time favourite cuisines.

I’m lucky enough to say that I’ve been going to Greece, or Greek islands, for years. Before I was fifteen I’d visited Zakynthos and Crete twice. Last year I spent a week in a small coastal village in Corfu with my boyfriend, and this year I was introduced to beautiful Lefkas on the other side of the Ionian sea. 

Greece for me is about the people – friendly, warm, interested; the climate – dry sunny heat; the landscape – unspoilt turquoise seas, tiny islands, caves, olive and cypress trees, dusty mountain roads… But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the thing that excites me most about visiting Greece is the food.

I thank Greece for opening me up to foods which many people are scared of – squid, cod roe (in taramosalata), dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) and love it or hate it foods such as olives and feta cheese. I’m grateful to my parents for introducing those foods to my diet from such a young age.

On returning from Greece, I almost always fall into a phase and find myself habitually buying Greek yoghurt and sprinkling oregano over everything. Unfortunately making Greek food at home in the UK is almost impossible to emulate. The small, tougher tomatoes we are accustomed to would never be allowed to deform and ripen to the standard which makes Greek tomatoes so sweet, juicy and delicious.

Tzatsiki is so easy to make and using UK produce shouldn't hinder the flavour. A good tip for getting the consistency right is to grate the cucumber and don't forget the olive oil. It's an amazing accompaniment to barbeques. We'd dip our souvlaki (skewered chargrilled meat) in it, and it works just as well with any blackened meat from the back garden barbie. Greek salad ingredients are all freely available here too. Extra Virgin olive oil is essential, as is a generous portion of red onion and oregano. As we can't be expected to mail order Greek tomatoes, beef tomatoes are the closest relative for making this gorgeous dish at home.  

I think it's safe to say Kalamari, battered fried squid, is my family's all time favourite Greek dish. So simple, we thought, that we (or my dad) visited a fishmonger and attempted to emulate this taverna classic in our accommodation (pictured). A worthy effort and gorgeous with plenty of fresh lemon juice and dipped in tzatsiki. We went only one day of the holiday without a portion of this in our bellies - beautiful. Most people I share my love of squid with don't understand how I can eat the rubbery fish. Again, i thank my parents - those who question it are missing out. 

Finally, Greece is full of fish. Natural harbours and fishing boats pop up everywhere, at least on the islands and Lefkas was no exception. On a particularly providential day in Sivota, a natural harbour on the east side of the island, we spotted three men on a boat (not Griff, Rory and Dara) holding up a huge tuna freshly caught that day. After some sweet talking with the owner, we secured ourselves two steaks providing we returned to the taverna that night as customers. Needless to say we went back, the waiters winked at each other, and we were presented with THE best tuna and probably the best fish I have ever eaten. Salty-fresh from the sea, meaty and mouthwatering. The tuna was served simply with lashings of lemon juice and a sprinkling of parsley. Oh, and chips. 

This is just a taste of Greece and its food. I can't recommend it enough.