Makes me happy when we have this: "Tonight we're dhaling, Darling"
You've got to love this stuff. It costs pennies; you can make more than you need and it will keep; and it is delicious!
It's all about the Dimethyl Sulfide, stupid!
Basically when you cook cabbage it produces Dimethyl Sulfide which is that nasty smell and not a great taste. However all you need to do is cook it properly - either quickly or slowly. Anything in between is pants. I'll put another recipe on for cooking it quickly but this is lovely
If you like cheese, you like peas, you'll love Cheezy Peaz!
Paneer is now widely available in supermarkets and is a bit like halloumi in that it stays together when you cook it, so if you fry it in spices it will collect them like tofu would
It's not exactly cooking
Well, this is predominantly a food site, even if I am using it to blog about spending a couple of months in Spain.
Tomayto-Tomarto
I’ve written about Sofrito before, but I didn’t realise that both the Italians and Spanish use the same word. Well, actually I did know that, but didn’t realise it was for slightly different things.
This is probably the most important thing you need to know how to cook
There are ways of doing it; fresh tomatoes, passata, tinned tomatoes, in my view it doesn’t really matter but let’s face it, most British tomatoes don’t really taste of much; they’re not like the ones you eat on Holiday where the sun shines more predictably so I think it’s always better to use tinned tomatoes or passata.
“We don’t have this in Mexico, it’s an American thing. But if we did it would be like this . . ."
This is a briliant recipe based on a recipe by Lourdes Nicholls who says something along the lines of “We don’t have this in Mexico, it’s an American thing. But if we did it would be like this . . .
Chicken and wine - them Frenchies know what they're about!
Not the best picture in the world I'll grant you but a lovely thing
To do this properly, 1lb of spuds to 1lb of butter. Not healthy but who cares?
Seems silly even putting this is in – how hard can it be, right? Just boil the potatoes – it doesn’t really matter what type but, again, floury makes your job easier.
Can curry paste be religious?
This is translated as “Muslim” curry paste. It may have been brought in by Persian traders. "Mussulman" is arguably another word for Muslim. It’s interesting – either way it feels like it comes from well to the West of Thailand.
Rendag-diggidy-dang-a-dang, baby: Cook beef in coconut milk until there isn't any liquid left
This is adapted from Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook
Named after one of Meg's school friends, its a bit like coq au vin but tarragon gives it a lovely fresh lift
Do this in a heavy-bottomed casserole and if you can get chicken with skin on so you can roast it and get it lovely and crispy on the outside and gives the stock a lovely flavour. Whole legs are good but if you don't like bones then skin-on breasts are ok
Not that yellow stuff, this is much, much better
Don't get me wrong, I love standard paella; the yellow one with seafood, saffron, chorizo and tomatoes. It tastes of sun, sangria and sex
...so we decided to have a roast but not a roast. It didn’t feel like a day for thick gravy and roast potatoes so we went back to the old Bradford spring/summer favourite; crushed potatoes.
Taazi Khumben Alu Mattar Kar - or curried mushrooms, potatoes and peas to you and me.
This is slightly adapted from a recipe in Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook
Ever wondered what tinned peas were for? Well, it's this
Use tinned marrowfats for this recipe. I've used sage because it goes better with the ham or bacon than mint would, but peas and mint go really well. In summer use frozen peas instead of tinned and leave the meat out, swap the sage for mint and you've got something beautiful
I love Massive Attack's Karmacoma.
I think of it when I cook this: Keemakorma (“What? Jamaica and Roma”). No? Just me then
Holy Guacamole, Batman! (As Robin never said)
This is basically Tomato Salsa with mashed avocado mixed in. Don't buy it, there's no comparison to the real stuff
The best soup in the world
This is inspired by a Rick Stein recipe that is absolutely lovely.
Ripped off from Dhal
Another made-up Mexican side dish because I don't really like the limited number I have in my Mexican cookbook
Rice. Lovely, sticky, deeply-flavoured rice. Lick the plate
Risotto is sold to cooks as a dark art that normal people can’t do – it’s all about timing, hot stock and standing around for 20 minutes while it comes together.
Potatoes and bacon with wine, cream and cheese. And not just any old cheese - it's Reblochon!
You can make this as a side dish (this recipe) or you can beef it up a bit with chicken and make it almost like a fish pie (a bit more wine and cream) with the potatoes on the top of a creamy chicken and bacon base
Vinegary rabbit is not everyone’s thing
Umbrian Rabbit is from The Classic Food of Northern Italy (Anna del Conte). I love it but the vinegar hit, and the rabbit for that matter, are not to everyone’s taste so I’ve adapted it by using chicken instead of rabbit and wine instead of vinegar. It’s worth trying the original though.
Super-easy, even if it does take a week.
Make a brine, put some brisket in it, forget for a week and then simmer it. How hard can it be?
The real reason we have roasts on Sunday
There are several ways of making this, but the traditional description of gravy is that it’s made from the juices from the meat. Well, if you’re Achilles on the beach of Troy sacrificing 20 white bulls for the death of Patroclus then you might have enough juices for that but the rest of us use oxo.
Salsa, chatni, it's all the same; fruit, veg, acid and herbs.
This could pas for Asian as well as American but either way it's really lovely
Made it up before I knew it had a name. Not authentic but it went down well
I couldn't anything I fancied in the Mexican cookbook - seems like all the veg had cheese and/or bread of some sort so I thought about ratatouille with Mexican flavours instead. The Spanish do something called Pisto but it's very tomato-ey and I wanted it a bit less gloopy
Don’t use cheap Lager, Not just for this, it's a general rule.
Beef in beer, Guinness works well or anything brown. You can adapt it with Pork and Cider for a nice change
Sunny Sunday in Frigiliana
This is a nice bean stew that may or may not be “authentic” but uses Spanish flavours and since I’m in Spain cooking it with things I bought here, I’m claiming its authenticity.
Anything but plain - you've got to love them Mexicans!
This is the same principle as Plain Rice where you measure the rice and liquid beforehand and cook it until the liquid is gone.