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Archive for January, 2005

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Time for another Tobacco Run

Thursday, January 13th, 2005

Soon it will be time for another tobacco-run.

It is amazing where you can fly to with EasyJet these days. The whole of Europe is opening up. Fifty quid will get you to Slovakia—or I could go to Prague for a day-trip…

However, getting to the airport could cost as much again. Unless John can drive me (not during the week), my budget might stretch to Ljubljana, but it won’t stretch to Luton!

Posted in Neither here nor there | Comments Off on Time for another Tobacco Run

Curry Night (2)

Monday, January 10th, 2005

Lamb Dilpasand
A rich, oniony, nutty curry based on a recipe by Mridula Baljekar, Indian Cooking, Coombe Books (1993, ISBN 1 85813 130 8). A bit of an effort, but well worth it.

500g cubed lamb; 125g natural yoghurt (full fat); 1tsp tumeric; 2 tbsp white poppy seeds; 2cm root ginger, peeled and chopped; 5 cloves garlic, ditto; 2 green chillies, chopped; 3 small-medium onions; 3tbsp ghee; pinch chilli powder; 1 tsp paprika; 1tbsp cumin; 1tsp curry powder; 1tbsp tomato purée or juice from 1 can tomatoes; salt; 25g creamed coconut (or 100ml coconut milk); 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Mix the yoghurt and tumeric and stir in the meat. Marinate 4h to overnight in the fridge.
Dry-roast poppy seeds until just darkening, cool and grind to a paste.
Finely chop 1 onion and process with the ginger, garlic and chilli until smooth.
Chop the remaining onions and gently fry in the ghee until just golden—about 12 minutes.
Lower the heat and add the remaining powdered spices. Stir for 2 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium, add the processed ingredients and fry 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, to drive off the raw smell. If the spices stick, loosen with 1 tbsp of water.
Increase heat to high, add the meat and marinade and fry 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the tomato (purée), salt and just enough water to not quite cover (or the coconut milk, if using). Simmer, lid on, for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently towards the end as the thickened gravy may stick.
Chop up the dessicated coconut, if using and add with the poppy seeds. Simmer another 15 minutes.
Garnish with the coriander and serve.

Potato and Cabbage Curry
1 heaped tbsp ghee or 2 tbsp oil; 1 onion, chopped; 25g ginger, peeled and sliced; 5 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised; salt (use to crush the G&G); 1-2 fresh green chillies, chopped; 1 tbsp panj puran; 5-6 curry leaves; 2 cloves; 2 green cardamons; 1 large cardamon; 2 cm cinnamon bark; 1 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1/2 tsp tumeric; 1 small green cabbage, shredded; 2-3 medium potatoes, roughly cubed and par-boiled 10 minutes (still firm)

Sweat the onion, add the crushed ginger and garlic and fry off the raw smell. Lower the temperature, add the chillies and whole spices and fry 2 minutes. Add the powdered spices, fry another minute, then stir in the cabbage until thoroughly coated. Add the potatoes and a minimum of water, cover and steam (check it doesn’t boil dry) 15-20 minutes until the cabbage is just tender.

Served with Red Lentil Dhal and fresh coriander and lime relish: finely chopped tomatoes (seeded), cucumber and spring onion with lime juice, black pepper (or chilli) and finely chopped coriander (do not add salt as it draws out all the juices).

Posted in 'Round the World Recipes | Comments Off on Curry Night (2)

To Toil or to Travel?

Wednesday, January 5th, 2005

I know, this should be a no-brainer. But my original plan was to find some part-time work and save up for a trip later in the year. However, it turns out that jobs in the village are thin on the ground and even if there’s an opening I’d dread working alongside those spotty teenagers at Sainsbury’s. Also, if I have to stay here for the entire winter I might grow crazy—I’m not really the type for coffee mornings at the local Women’s Institute.

Now it turns out that John will have some money available from an inheritance. I am torn because it is not really morally defensible for me to squander even a tiny bit of it on travel, but then again sod it! It won’t be until March anyhow because of an outstanding court appearance (long story which I will eventually tell on my other blog—if I can psyche myself up for it, that is).

All the while I am toying with a new business idea. It has been staring me in the face all along: the business park where John works comprises dozens, nay hundreds, of companies. Anywhere on the Continent such a compound would have a café with a decent foodcounter at the very least—but there is nothing on-site. There are however empty groundfloor premises in a central location. Now I can’t get the idea of the ‘CALLEVA CANTEEN’ out of my mind. Could this an ‘EATS’ Mark II (also something that will become apparent from my other blog)?

And finally, if I decide to travel in March (and I think I should—if only to think more carefully about any future madcap schemes): where will I go?

Decisions, decisions…

Posted in Neither here nor there | Comments Off on To Toil or to Travel?

Walnut, Roquefort, Pear & Watercress Salad

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005

I’m just tucking into some of our last Christmas leftovers. With our move to Tadley completed, I have been cooking again and it is time to revive my recipe column. So here it is:

Roquefort, Pear & Watercress Salad with Walnuts
1 soft pear (e.g. Williams), cored and chopped; ca 20g Roqueford cheese, cubed; large handful watercress; good tbsp coarsly chopped toasted walnut kernels

Dressing: 1tsp Dijon mustard, 2tsp red wine vinegar, 1tsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1tsp walnut oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together the dressing ingredients, mix salad and drizzle over. Easy starter.

Posted in 'Round the World Recipes | 3 Comments »

2004: a local review

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005

The final edition of the Basingstoke Observer, picked up at Sainsbury’s, carried a review of local events in 2004—”the year of living dangerously”.

Among accounts of vandalism, post office closures, rottweiler attacks, anti-nuclear protests and the (mis-)fortunes of Basingstoke’s seemingly only strip-club, the account reads:

“JULY
ARMS-dealing Chineham Granddad David Tomkins pleaded guilty in a Florida courtroom for attempting to assassinate notorious Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar with a Vietnam War-era ground assault aircraft.
Hart celebrated the launch of the nationwide bat-protection programme ‘Operation Bat’ by accidentally chainsawing through an Odiham bat roost, killing at least one bat in the process.
Oakley residents were grinning from ear to ear when a government survey named the village as the happiest place to live in Britain.”
(Basingstoke Observer, Thursday, December 30, 2004, p. 4)

—Quite a lively neighbourhood then, seeing that aircraft assaults merit no more attention than assaults on bat roosts.

Posted in Tadley Times | Comments Off on 2004: a local review

AWE (Greetings from your Friendly Neighbourhood Atomic Weapons Establishment)

Sunday, January 2nd, 2005

As we stepped through the door of our new home, we were greeted by a local freesheet that had plopped through the letterbox: the ‘AWE Community Link’.
[read on]

Posted in Tadley Times | Comments Off on AWE (Greetings from your Friendly Neighbourhood Atomic Weapons Establishment)

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