EDF: Days 2 and 3

Day 2: Pasta with meat sauce
Tuesday night's dinner was classic out of the freezer into the frying pan food. Ground beef and leftover tomato sauce were combined with olive oil, a fresh tomato, chopped onion and garlic, a bay leaf, oregano, salt, pepper, a scoop of beef demiglace (Williams Sonoma indulgence that I keep in my fridge) and a splash of white wine in my brand new Calphalon saucepan. I had noticed that the cheap non-stick pans I bought six years ago were peeling. For at least the last two years. Don't tell my mom how long. When I mentioned the peeling issue to her, she suggested that I might be ingesting carcinogens. Since I don't have a wedding registry coming up, I'll have to acquire new cookware slowly, but I bought two new stainless steel saucepans and a new stockpot over the weekend.
I don't know if I can credit the pan, but the meat sauce turned out really delicious over some linguini fini. Too bad I ended up with so much that I had to put some of it back into the freezer. Am I making any progress here at all? Maybe if I had made a salad or vegetable...but I was too tired so I just ate a banana and called it a day.

Day 3: Zucchini soup with rosemary biscuits and brie
I have always loved biscuits. They're bready and soft and savory. Sometimes they're fluffy like cupcakes and sometimes they are dense as scones. They taste delicious with honey butter. Seasoned with herbs or cheese or flavored with pumpkin, biscuits are a satisfying food. And they're easier to make than yeast breads. A child could make them.
As a kid, I spent long summer days alone at home before I was old enough to be employed and I generally kept out of trouble (phone bill incident notwithstanding). But I was intrigued by the kitchen. I poured through my mom's cookbooks looking for something easy to make that would leave no trace behind. I'm not sure why it had to be a secret. Maybe I thought my parents would disapprove. More likely they would think I was a weirdo for randomly making biscuits. In any case, the drop biscuits were the easiest recipe I could find. Flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and milk or buttermilk. No rolling the dough, just scoop out the biscuits and drop them on the baking pan or into a soup or stew. (I also really like eating raw dough, but that's not for everyone.) They bake up in 10 minutes or so and even though there is butter in the recipe, I really can't resist a little more melted butter on top.


Zucchini soup This is an easy healthy soup. I skip the bread and herbs and just make the soup. Add a squeeze of lemon, a dollop of plain non-fat yogurt, or a swirl of buttermilk to elevate the flavor.
Rosemary biscuits (topping for this root vegetable pie, which is a great vegetarian entree)

till we meet again

bgn pagi. sy teman mama pergi ambil air mineral dr sumber mata air berdktn di sini. air itu sgt segar, sejuk, n cam best. bnyk plak tuh. rugi plak air tu just mengalir mcm tu je. tgh main air tuh...tetbe hp berbunyi. BH. dah 9 lebeyh time tu. die leh ckp jmpe d mid 11:30am. sy daa...waaa? x lame je lg. blk umah. trus sy siap2. FYI. sy pakai bju merah mule2. then sy pakai pink. kul 10 lebeyh. sy gerak dr setiawngsa. sampai2, beli ticket dulu. watchmen. sy sampai few minutes awal dr die. then sy duduk d dpn kusi dpn studio R... kusi itu. tmpt last kami lepak time last jmpe 17 june 2008. huu~ hebat x ingatan sy? haha. ok. then...tgh sy sengih2 tgk hp. PAPP~ ade org tepok bahu dr blakang. waaaaaaaa. nasib baik x jerit! terkejut tu mesti ah. die da sampai!!! sy tgh sengih tgk hp sbb die ckp die dkt bandar tasik selatan lg. skali die da sampai upenye n terus ddk d seblah sy. huhu... x leh blaaa. ske sgt terkejutkan org. and... die pakai baju merah~ huk3... kalo sy x tuka baju, da matching da. haha =P

well. borak2 di kusi dpn studio R itu. n bergelak ketawe. ye. sy happy td. = ]] ...n sy bercakap tnpa noktah mcm biase. tgk2 da nak dkt sejam kot. perot pon da lapar. die ajak g mkn. n die nak nando's lg. wakakka...sy lak last2 decide secret recipe. mkn3, then kami mkn cake jgk. same2 x abis cake sbb da kenyang sgt. haha. pastu naik utk tgk wyng. watchmen. cite nihh..lame yg amat. almost 3 hours. and. sgt biase. x best okay ppl. biase gile. x rugi pon x tgk. but, OST die semuaaa best. i like~ pastu jln2 tgk sume area sport shops since die maw cari kasut. n sy tgk flip flop... naik turun bnyk kali. last2 die x beli pon kasut. huk3... sy yg beli flip flop. eh salah. die belikan. sy pilih. hikkk. thanksss !!! then. kami ke MPH. sbb sy maw tunjuk die novel2 twilight saga yg ade 4 series. n bertape kecewa nye sy sbb 1st series twilight itu, da x de d most all of the bookstore in malaysia. da lame kot sy carik... huhu. and sy tunjuk novel lame yg sy nak tp x dpt2 lg. p/s; i love u. mendlm tuh tujuan sy tnjuk dkt die novel tuh! haha...

then. solat pe sume. da maghrib. x seda pon lame jgk kte org jmpe. almost 8 hours. jap je rase. then mkn ice cream @ gelato fruity b4 both of us say goodbye 2 each other. borak2, bluetooth pics n lagu, then kami berpisah d tgh mid. since die x naik ktm same dgn sy kali ni. abg die ambik d mid. die hulur tgn... sy sahut salam die itu. sy ingt pesanan die. "belajar betol2. jage diri". baiklah. insya allah... hurm. time tu. hati sy. mcm2 rase ade. entah. tp sy taw. sy akan rndu die. sebagai teman. buat mase ni. die pon x pernah kate pape lebeh dr itu. but... sometimes kte blh taw dr body language. kan? its ok. we're better this way then b4. just like u said last year 'just go with da flow'. sy pesan dkt awk kan. kalo hati awk da dicuri, bgtaw sy. ermm. and i did tell u, i'll do d same thing too. da dkt sethn sumenye berlalu. kan? glad we're still friend. y not, if that's d best 4 now. =]

"BH... esok awk dah nak balik ke jakarta. awk ckp lg setahun baru awk blk lagi. hukkk. lamenye~~~ seksa nak tnggu rase. haha. erm. kte x pernah gune "sy-awk" kan? sbb kte lagi ske gune name~ nnt akan jd mcm biase. ssh nak contact da. tp. sy. x pernah pon lupe awk. trimasss utk flip flop itu. sy jage betol2. jgn riso. sy akan ingt pesan awk "arap2 kalo ingt2 kt BH or mrh kt BH, jgn la diinjak2 flip flop 2 cm ibaratkn 2 BH". taknyee. kalo sy sdeyh dgn awk pon sy simpan jap flip flop tu. hee. bnyk bnde nak ckp dkt awk...tp x terckp. x pelah. bak kate awk dulu. biarlah mase yg tentukan semuanye..."

ape pon. TRIMASSS bnyk2...
utk flip flop itu.
utk last minute plan ni
utk jmpa sy sehari b4 awk pergi
utk gelak ketawa itu
utk kenangan itu.

sy happy. bnyk lg yg terjd.
tp biarlah antare sy n die je.
dan juge sy n tuhan. =]

Salt & Pepper Oatcakes

I’m slightly concerned that you’ve been subjected to an overly meaty few posts recently, what with cheeks, tails, scratchings and butchery.

So here’s something to redress the balance – homemade oatcakes and a completely meat free post.



Oatcakes are great and are pretty much the ideal base for almost any cheese as well as being perfect for dipping into creamy, garlicky hummus.

They are also incredibly good for you – oats are a slow release carbohydrate and have a very low glycemic load. For a long time I used to have oatcakes and tomatoes for lunch almost every day – fresh, seasonal tomatoes with a little olive oil and a smattering of seasoning. Perfect.

There are plenty of great ones on the market (these made with smoked oats are a particular favourite) but they are also staggeringly easy to make yourself.



Making up your own batch means you can flavour them with whatever you like – herbs, spices, cheese, seeds – anything at all depending on what you are going to be serving them with.

They could be pepped up with a little grated Parmesan, for example, if you wanted them to accompany a broccoli soup or maybe a little cumin and ground coriander for dipping into hummus.

But to act as a base for great cheese, it’s best not to go over the top with flavourings. Keep it simple. So, with that in mind, here is a recipe for:


Salt & pepper oatcakes

Whilst the oatmeal provides a nice texture, the addition of a few porridge oats is a nice little touch, both visually and for flavour.

250g of oatmeal
50g of porridge oats
25g of melted fat (I used rendered pork fat – damn! So not totally meat free then…). Butter or even olive oil would work great.
¼ of teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
salt and pepper
Some freshly boiled water (about 100ml)

Turn on the oven to about 180 degrees C.

Mix the dry ingredients together. A couple of pinches of salt and a few turns of the pepper mill should be more than enough. You don’t want to detract from the flavours of the cheese that will grace these little crunchy delights.

Add the melted fat and start to mix it in. Slowly start adding the water until the dough just begins to come together. You might need a little more or a little less but don’t fret too much. You can always add a little more oatmeal if you get a juicy slop.

Knead the ball of dough for a few minutes. It should be relatively dry and quite hard. Roll it out to about half a centimetre’s thickness and use a cutter to press out the rounds. Bake on a baking sheet for about ten minutes until the oatcakes just start to brown. Let them cool and then top with decadent wedges of your favourite cheese.



This is a Stichelton – an unpasteurised blue cheese made using traditional methods. Allegedly it is everything that Stilton once was before it became sanitised. It’s fantastic and well worth seeking out if you can.


Blogwatch

I read a lot of food blogs but occasionally one pops up on my radar that really makes me smile.

I devoured the whole of Ryan Adams' Nose to Tail at Home in a single sitting. This bold culinary adventurer, as well as being the namesake of one of my favourite musicians, is bravely cooking his way through Fergus Henderson's superb cookbook.

Inspired by the exquisite efforts of Carol Blymire to cook her way through The French Laundry Cookbook, Ryan is taking on the Whole Beast. I urge you to head on over right away.

For more culinary capers, follow me on Twitter.

The Tail Tale - An epilogue

[TUESDAY MARCH 10 2009 7PM. INT. KITCHEN]
THE GIRLFRIEND ‘I liked your post today, it was funny.’
ME ‘Thanks hon.’
GF: ‘The photos turned out pretty good as well.’
ME: ‘Thank you.’
GF: ‘It looked surprisingly appetising.’
ME: ‘It did, didn’t it?’
GF: ‘But there’s one you missed out?’
ME: ‘One what?’
GF: ‘Photo.’
ME: ‘Which one?’
GF: ‘You know that one.’
ME: ‘Which?’
GF: ‘That one.’
ME: ‘Not helping.’
GF: ‘That one of you and the tail.’
ME: ‘Ah. Yes. That one.’
GF: ‘You should post that one up.’
ME: ‘Erm, I don’t think so.’
GF: ‘You should!’
ME: ‘But I look kind of, I don’t know, I look a bit…’
GF: ‘Yes, but it’s funny.’
ME: ‘Not for me it isn’t.’
GF: ‘Yes but for me, and hopefully everyone else who reads your blog.’
ME: ‘I’m not so sure.’
GF: ‘Pleeeeeeease?’
ME: ‘Maybe.’
GF: ‘Go on.’
ME: ‘But it would instantly strip away the veneer of manly bravado that I’ve carefully crafted over the last 12 months.’
GF: (Badly stifled laughter) ‘Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that,’ (more badly stifled laughter)

I gave in. Obviously. Something about oatcakes to follow later but in the mean time here you go:



See what I mean about Alien? *shudder*