Food

My mum makes this, it's awesome.
Instead of the green onion (spring onion) - try leeks. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/tour/food/chinese-cooking/green-onion-pancake.htm

Or burn them with fire.

The spaniards of Valls do this once a year at the Calcotada and it looks delicious. On my food to-do list.

Calcots are slightly different to leeks (I've been)

The sauce is essential too

Problem was the girl who was supposed to tell us what everything was, struggled...
"Er, this is a sandwich, a sweet scone, a savory, brownies..." So awkward that we were like "oh ok. thanks"

Three layer mini ciabatta sandwiches - salmon, avocado, cress
Three layer mini ciabatta sandwiches - goats cheese, peppers
Sun-dried tomato mini-scones with cream cheese and chutney
Sweet scone - pistachio(?) with cream, crusted with brown sugar, I don't really remember this because I inhaled it!
Mini passion-fruit panacotta
Chocolate brownies with cherries - perfect texture
Something else I'm forgetting...or maybe not...

Seems like they need to train the FoH on the menu!! That was really my only qualm with the team when we went... they also sent the wrong dish.

Anyway - my friend is the pastry chef there so I'm glad to hear the food was pretty decent!!

Would hurt if it was chucked at your head.

This is how I judge food to be worthy or not.

I made leeks last night in a proper roux sauce with some Dijon mustard stirred through and it was top notch.

What? Just leeks and sauce? Sounds heavenly, could work to this evenings fish

Slow cooked leaks with creme fraiche and a bit of grated nutmeg. Delicious.

What? Just leeks and sauce? Sounds heavenly, could work to this evenings fish

Yeah. Put something in the sauce though or it will be bland. I had it with a roast so it was fine.

With fish, maybe some parsley and lemon zest.

Anyway - my friend is the pastry chef there so I'm glad to hear the food was pretty decent!!

That is a good friend to have! Lucky bitch... :)

in other reviews...The Clove Club.
£47 tasting menu, not bad. Nothing blew our minds. Everyone loved the bread - we were all starving I guess.

--amuse bouche--
Oak smoked cod roe on rye cracker - my highlight of the meal
Crispy chicken feet - meh, would prefer pork crackling. I call gimmick.
Artichoke - not bad.

--courses--
Bream sashimi with satsuma, celery and cob nuts - nuts added nothing to flava just bland crunch - sashimi was wonderful.
squid, tarragon and green radishes - warm but crunchy mandolin-ed radishes were great. well seasoned and perfectly cooked squid.
nice mallard, pumpkin (boring, take the skin off!), juniper, turnip tops (bit bitter)

--desert--
ewes milk mousse with berries and a biscuit - nothing outstanding, fine
Poached pear william, chestnut, honey granita - all separately amazing. Put together - trying too hard to capture "Autumn just before Winter". Chestnut was kinda warm, pear - there was too little of it to make an impact, granita I wondered how it stayed solid on the warm chestnut.

tl:dr - wouldn't pay £47 for tasting menu

Slow cooked leaks

Plumbing problem?

I saw a recipe where they used sections of leek as a replacement for pasta sheets in a low carb/wheat free lasagne.

^ That's a "Hairy Biker's" recipe.

You can make crispy leeks - matchsticks, covered in some flour/seasoning, tossed in a shallow fry.
Or you can dehydrate them to keep longer - slow, low roast.
or you can pickle them - maybe with some carrots and beets.

They're great to put under some roasting chicken/fish as they soak up the flavour and can be processed into a great sauce/gravy.

is this at that modern pantry shitcastle? i've had better pub food. in a wetherspoons.

Really? I didn't think you were allowed out without Joe...

Plumbing problem?

Auto correct problem. Stupid software engineers.

..yadda..Moscato was fucking delicious, despite being hungover, I could have easily sunk a bottle.
Moscato D'Asti 'Bricco Quaglia' 2011,. La Spinetta. Piedmont, Italy.

is indeed delicious and at 5.5% eminently quaffable!

search out the nearby moscato d'alba for a subtly different flavour

Got a couple of smoked ham hocks on my way home. Any suggestions before I just do something I saw on Jamie Oliver and boil them with some veg then put in the oven for four hours?

slow cook the fuckers in a pint of apple juice. jamie oliver wants eating by wild boars.

If they are smoked, then the split pea is your friend. I'd do ham and pease pudding: soak a big mugful of them tonight, then tomorrow tie in muslin with bouquet garni and clove of garlic, then simmer in a big pot with the hocks, a carrot, clove-stuck-onion, stick of celery. When done, take the peas out, mash with salt, pepper and butter, serve with the ham, moar veg and stock. Leftovers? Instand ham and pea soup.

slow cook the fuckers in a pint of apple juice. jamie oliver wants eating by wild boars.

I'd need a gallon. They are each the size of a child's head.

I'm going to go for this from Mark Hix...

Ham hock cooked in cider with potatoes and green onion sauce

Serves 2

Cooking ham in cider imparts it with a flavour that is both delicious and sutble. In the restaurants we have also recently been experimenting with cooking small, peeled potatoes in cider which has gone down a real treat with the customers and also makes a great accompaniment to meat or fish. And a simple, creamy sauce made with the addition of spring onions finishes the combination off perfectly.

1 ham hock, soaked overnight in cold water
500ml medium cider
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
A few sprigs of thyme
5 juniper berries
6-8 small waxy potatoes, peeled
150ml double cream
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

Rinse the ham hock in cold water, then put it in a saucepan with the cider, bayleaf, peppercorns, thyme and juniper and cover well with cold water.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 1 -2 hours, skimming every so often, or until the meat is just coming away from the bone. During the cooking, add the potatoes and cook for about 10-12 minutes until tender, then remove from the pan.

Strain about 100ml of the ham cooking liquid into a small saucepan and simmer until it has reduced to about a tablespoon, then add the cream and simmer until it has reduced by one third then add the spring onions and continue simmering until the sauce has thickened then season if necessary.

To serve, reheat the potatoes in the cooking stock, cut a couple of chunks or slices from the hock, arrange on warmed serving plates and spoon over the sauce and serve with the potatoes.

Can't go wrong with Mr Hix

jesus what a fucking ball ache.

get a pizza.

I'm in Vietnam. Have been for 10 days and will be for another week. That is all.

So we were in Vietnam at the same time? For about the same amount of time. Food was amazing. Everything was incredibly fresh.

Highlights were steamed buns with pork and quail egg, all the baguettes with pate, bbq pork, ham, salad, and chili. Those were amazing...!
All the seafood was so good too.

There was one dish I really liked, minced shrimp cooked on sugar cane. The shrimp is then cut off the sugar cane and you wrap it up in rice paper with salad to make summer rolls. They just call them fresh spring rolls there.

Also Cambodia, had a steamed bun that was dyed with dragon fruit: