Food

...my better half's brother in law in town...

Your brother, you lead an exotic swinging life, or mistake?

nice work, did you get the crab live ??? or was it already cooked. also don't mean to be rude but what in the body??

Crab should only be cooked if it's alive. I did pierced it with a kebab skewer right before boiling it, just couldn't bare to chuck it alive, if not only because it's dangerous (it can crawl out of the pot).

Crab cocktail (portuguese):

• Crab insides (from the head) chopped
  
• tbsp of mustard (not english)
  
• chopped capers
  
• chopped mixed pickles
  
• tbsp of garlic mayo (homemade)
  
• dash of lager
  
• grated Pecorino (or any mild cheese)
  
• 2 hard-boiled eggs chopped
  
• chili sauce
  
  

All mixed, served on toast.

amazing! also if you just chuck them in they can shed claws.
saw this the other day may give it a go. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spider_crab_gratin_34417
but honestly you cant beat crab meat bit of mayo and lemon on toast.

Sorry sorry, I was just wallowing in my........ VICTORY!!!!
Thanks for all your suggestions and help. Really! So...

Cook:
50% Sirloin, 25% Chuck, 25% Brisket (500g, 250g, 250g) and 100g smoked bacon fat - Ginger Pig. Course grind.
Pressed into metal rings for shaping
Seasoned one side
Pan, basted with butter as it cooked under a cloche - one turn only
Ogleshield cheese - Neal's Yard Dairy on top
Manchet rolls from Quo Vadis, pan toasted with a bit of butter - unfortunately I had to buy them on Sat for use on Sun. Would have been better if I steamed the buns then toasted, but I had limited stove-space.

Assembly:
Home made Shake Shack sauce on bun - I think this (and the bacon fat) is what won it!
Refreshed in ice water, gem lettuce leaf

Patty with cheese
Disappointing beefsteak tomatoes from Borough Market
French sweet onions Cevenne
Sliced Dill Pickle - which I forgot to put into but didn't need it. Served on side.

My greatest rival did a Ginger pig rump mix with a bit of marrow in the middle. Found it to be too marrowy in flavour. My smoky bacon was a clear winner in the judges mouths.
Also his was a fine grind and felt a bit too processed meat-like. He also baked his own bread which was really awesome.
He also cooked on a charcoal bbq and served his pretty raw which was unintentional! Boom!

NB: This was also the burger favoured by my Sat taste testers.

Any chance of putting up the shake shack sauce recipe?
Made a mock big tasty sauce with ketchup, mayo and liquid smoke which was no bad

thumbs up for liquid smoke...so many restaurants are cheating with that these days...

1/2 cup mayo*
tbl spoon ketchup (add more to taste)
tbl spoon keens mustard
garlic powder 1/4 tsp
paprika 1/4 tsp
pinch cayenne pepper (i like a kick so added bit more)
dill pickles blended separately - added to taste

• So the mayo, you can make it or buy. I did a bought combo:
  
• hellmans (was basically a filler mayo as i find it a bit bland but good as a base and readily available) - 65%
  
• praise (oz mayo which preferred over uk mayo's, gives a bigger vinegar kick) - 25%
  
• kewpie (japanese mayo, very creamy) - smaller amount, maybe 10%
  

I made this at the weekend:

It's a chicken, stuffing and sausage meat "picnic pie". It was massive (22cm cake tin).

It looked like this on the inside...

It tasted amazing.

It was my first attempt at making short crust pastry as well. What was all the fuss about? It was pretty pain free although I should maybe have made about 20% more as the sides were a tiny bit thin.

Dayum.

I LOVE Praise Mayo cause it's so vinegary..... can't to Hellmans.

Your brother, you lead an exotic swinging life, or mistake?

my life is def not exotic or swinging, much to my annoyance! my miss's sisters husband is what i meant.

i made this at the weekend:

it's a chicken, stuffing and sausage meat "picnic pie". It was massive (22cm cake tin).

It looked like this on the inside...

it tasted amazing.

It was my first attempt at making short crust pastry as well. What was all the fuss about? It was pretty pain free although i should maybe have made about 20% more as the sides were a tiny bit thin.

epic!

pie! amazing.

Five Guys burgers and fries are coming to London. With Shake Shack also coming this way we're gonna see some decent fast food landing in London soon, hopefully without the ridiculous waits.

The 'shack over 5 Guys and In n Out EVERY TIME.

I have prepped everything in the slow cooker for 'Maple and Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin' It'll get turned on when I leave for work at low for 9 hours.

Pictures tomorrow... (after I've eaten some with oven roasted sweet potato wedges!)

pie, good first try, just remember the jelly next time!

Iskele is the very good Mediterannean place next to the bookies at the start of Whitecross St. They have a stall, 2nd on left as you go on to the market....can't miss it, geezer givin it "Chicken wrap, meatball wrap...."

Am heading down to Whitecross tomorrow... thinking about what I want already...

Thinking either this ^ Iskele place, or one of the places at the opposite end that do the tikka wraps. Both of the latter had massive queues and the wraps looked rammed full of goodness when I went for a recce today. Will still be massive procrastination when I get there however.

Any other reccommendations welcome

after eating this in alba last week going to try at home:

gamberoni (big 6-7" fuckers), tails de-shelled and veined, wrapped in lardo, baked in chickpea and garlic puree, then served with a little lemon, parsley and chive

a take on this recipe

gamberetti = camaron = crevette = shrimp
gamberi/oni = gamba = crevette = prawn
scampi = cigala = langoustine = dublin bay prawn/scampi

^ That is really making me look forward to Australia this summer... All the giant prawns, in my belly...

Tomorrow is pulled pork day. Am wawiting a joint that I shall collect from chadwicks in balham. Then in the slow cooker.

after eating this in alba last week going to try at home:

gamberoni (big 6-7" fuckers), tails de-shelled and veined, wrapped in lardo, baked in chickpea and garlic puree, then served with a little lemon, parsley and chive

Not gamberoni IMO no claws. But liking the coating.

So... Say there was this person who had no food in the house except for some left over Chinese. Now, suppose that in retrospect, that Chinese food was purchased 6 days ago.

Now...say there was not that much Chinese, but there was the left over curry from the night before and that was all cooked up into a nasty (fry)pan-asian feast. Is this person fucked?

In which sense?

Mentally or physically?

...'cause you're definitely fucked in le brain.

6 days old take-away?

Has this person put the waterproof valence on, got some dioralyte in and put NHS direct on speed-dial? Then this person should be fine.