Food

Wow!

(book now taken by Olly)

Me getting my bake on yesterday for a dinner party. Only two of the cakes here but I made many more and loadsa food.

Lust

Got my Mum over for the weekend and my veggie Mrs is out all night

Belly pork for us tonight!

I had a whole hog roast last night

510g of awesome meaty goodness resting after I cooked it up.

perfectly pink in the middle and I served it up with a baked spud and mustard sauce.

Bread for Plowmans,

Please stop it.

Oh I just rustled up these two lamb steaks. Ive had them marinading in Garlic, Rosemary & Olive Oil for the past 24 hours. Absolutely fucking delicious

One of the nicest meals I've done recently was lamb. Ordered some cutlets from Lidgate's, whose idea of a cutlet is much different to mine - got more or less the same as that, chump-cut or something they call it. Tender and succulent, treated it the same as that, with a few Moroccan spices too.

I love lamb

lamb is awesome. I want some lamb now.

'Approved by LFGSS'

Hell yea!

Disclaimer: don't watch this video if you are squeamish and going to moan.

Another disclaimer: the butcher in this video is American and the cuts will be from slightly different places to British cuts with the same name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InFgwUMBO4o

My birthday present that ive asked for is to go on the butchery course at The Ginger Pig. Really hope I get it. I really quite enjoy it. Is that disturbing?

http://www.learnbutchery.co.uk/ButcheryClasses/tabid/57/Default.aspx

Not at all, this may sound a bit dark, but I find that there is something very therapeutic and relaxing about breaking down an animal into different lovely bits of meat, it is especially rewarding if the animal in question is game that you have bagged yourself. It's always best to learn from a good butcher and from what I understand the ginger pig course is very good, if you do not get it let me know and I can recommend some books that you should be able to learn a lot from.

1kg for my tea tomorrow

I ate Pappa Al Pomodoro whilst in Florence. It's fucking delicious. Piece of piss to make, well tasty. You can follow the recipe but you can tweak it how you want, it's just stale bread soaked in tomatoes. Great for lunchtimes or as a side dish. Try it.

this page is knocking my balls off

that butcher woman is a fucking mental case

"i'll push my hips against it"

fuck my socks

xander that seafood bruschetta thing looks amazing.

Prancer and I went to Ottolenghi, Ledbury Road today.

Having chopped, sliced, ground, squeezed, grated, mixed, sautéed, baked, grilled and chilled my way through nearly all of the veggie recipes in their books over the past few months, I felt as if I was on a pilgrimage to my kind of food heaven. Hell, even James was looking forward to it.

Alas, nothing though could prepare us for the disappointment we experienced. How quickly and completely were our expectatations shattered.

The front of shop, where mounds of beautiful food is laid out (not that we could can actually see it past the crowd of gormless Notting Hill trendies there today), is so flippin' small and poorly designed you have to shout, elbow and point somewhat blindly to get your order taken.

The staff are snooty and impatient to the point of rudeness. I even got a sigh when I asked for a top-up of one of my salads. We felt so rushed we literally gave up adding to our orders.

After managing to make my way to a till (without even a fleeting look at all the other sweet and savoury goodies avaliable) I was quite frankly shocked by how much two average sized takeaway boxes and a slice of cheesecake came to - 35 quid! That's roughly £15 for a glorified salad for Christ's sake!

Having paid and grabbed some wooden cutlery (which incidentally snapped in my mouth while I was eating) we retreated to the nearest park to eat. In fairness, the food was mostly delicious - a variety of vegetables tossed and cooked with distinctive blends of spices, yoghurt, lime and herbs. James' only complaint was about his solitary bit of chicken, which was totally over cooked.

So that's my rant over. Although I will continue to use the books, I'm sure as hell not going back to the shop any time soon.

^Sorry to hear your ottolenghi experience wasnt great. I have found that the one in islington is much much better. They have more space and its just a much slicker operation.

Also you should check out his new restaurant Nopi on warwick street. It isnt vegetarian but is delicious, slightly more pricey than ottolenghi tho.

xander that seafood bruschetta thing looks amazing.

It is delicious! Its wild mushrooms (chanterelles, trompette de mort) fried with garlic and fino sherry, then just add prawns and chopped parsley and serve on toast.
Best thing ever.

Oh I just rustled up these two lamb steaks. Ive had them marinading in Garlic, Rosemary & Olive Oil for the past 24 hours. Absolutely fucking delicious

this does look, and sound great. i do the same thing pretty much once a week. i may challenge you to a lamb off.