insanefountain

Loin of Pork with a Fig and Balsamic and Cider Sauce with some Pimientos and roasted Cauliflower de Padrón

2011-10-09T00:00:00.001Z

So this is my conception for a really great meal.

In many ways the Pimientos de Padrón could be served as a Tapas starter

The sauce is one of the nicest balanced sauces I have ever eaten and would go with many different cuts of pork or also rabbit.

First prepare the sauce as it takes the longest

ingredients

Balsamic 150 ml
Normandy cider about 150 ml
Chicken Stock ( the Knorr bottle stuff is grand for this, not the cube shite)
4 of the freshest figs you can find Sliced finely
4 very finely sliced shallots
a dessert spoon of brown sugar

fry the shallots in some olive oil
add the balsemic and sugar
reduce to at least half on a low heat
add cider
add stock
add figs
cook for another half and hour, you want it sticky and viscous like this

for the Pork loin season it with salt ,pepper and a little bit of crushed caraway seed. Tehn let it get up to room temperature. cook ion a hot griddle, sear on both sides so its still a little bit off done and pop it onto an oven tray in a low oven to finish.

Roasted Cauliflower is something I have really been getting into recently.

two options i enjoy but for both cut the Cauliflower into medium florets and then toss in olive oil and add some seas salt and either cayenne pepper or parmigiana or both if you were born on the wrong side of the tracks.

Pope into a med/low oven Gas mark 4 for 40 minutes.

Pimentos

well these are a doddle,

clean the pork griddle and about 3 minutes before you serve the meal as a whole
clean your pimentos
throw them on a hot hot oiled griddle
toss in some nice flaky lumps of sea salt
agitate
and serve when they have blistered on both sides
Totally gorgeous

IMAG0146

2011-10-08T23:52:00.001Z

IMAG0146, originally uploaded by harumscarum.

Review: Sugar: A Bittersweet History

2011-09-20T17:25:00.001Z

Sugar: A Bittersweet History by Elizabeth Abbott

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Test

I enjoyed this book immensely and only gave it three stars due to its lack of breadth and a certain creeping naivety that came in towards the end. However the scope was great and it made me want to investigate the social history of the Caribbean islands especially Haiti much more. The highs and lows of sugar as a commodity on the world market have had a much more immense effect on world history than other similar crops in that the production of cane sugar is extremely hard on the humans who produce it. In a way I think a certain creeping fatalism you see in some Caribbean cultures could be a by-product of having such a short expected life span as a field slave in Jamaica and Haiti 4-7 years for strong healthy males. An interesting if slightly flawed read.

View all my reviews

Provençal Octopus Stew

2011-08-21T22:45:00.000Z

Hum I am enjoying myself on holiday and thought I would add this way of dealing with a southern French Classic without the resources of a french chef. The Recipe was superb and I will do it really properly in the future.

I had picked up 3 frozen smallish Octopus in Lidl's Spanish Week and thought what to do.
So I turned to the ever succinct Larousse Gastronomique
which suggested a Octopus a la Provençal

the recipe for this, done in the brief and in the very impresise terms of Larousse is.

Cut and tenderise the flesh and cut into chunks of the same length. Blanch the Pieces in a Court-Bouillon, drain and pat them dry. then brown them in oil w chopped onions. then basically add 4 peeled and seeded tomatoes and half a btl of white wine and the same of cold water and simmer for an hour with a bouquet garni and a garlic clove and cook covered for at least an hour. Serve with saffron rice

I want amounts and times ( pah)

Sounds great but truth be told I had a few issues with the recipe

what is a Court Bouillon
oh its a stock, again needs a lot of white wine and ingredients I do not have
with all this talking of tenderising and chunks I know they mean the recipe is for big bad ass Mediterranean octopus, not the Slim Jim Lidl ones which are from the Indian ocean.

So here is my recipe with amounts that captures the spirit of the other recipe and delivers a good result based on the ingredients to hand

Firstly the Court-Bouillon problem

1 fish stock cube ( yes yes I known esp as its not a fish based stock)

add 1 litre of hot water

150 ml of white wine vinegar

a glass of wine

2 pieces of star anise

simmer for 15 mins to remove the alcohol

add 1 finely sliced leek

cook for another 5 mins

Drain and retain the leek separate from the liquid

While this is doing prepare your tomatoes boil water and add sea salt then cut the skin on the toms and place them in the boiling water to remove the skin from the best quality toms you can get. Use 4 beef tomatoes or 8 normal ones. they must smell great and be on the vine. However just remove the skin and central core of the Tomato leave the seeds I do not know what the French have against these.

Blanch the octopus in the liquid for 1 Min as its small see I think I had 500 g in three of them I would say that a med octopus weighs about 1.5 kg on its own

then drain and retain the liquid again and the Octopus separate. dry the octopus pieces and fry on a low heat with a Spanish onion ( or similar) add the tomato and add a good handful of fresh thyme and salt and a good hunk of parsley. Simmer. Then the wine that remains from you bottle until you have less than half the bottle left. and then add a similar amount of your fish stock/para court bouillon I think in the other recipe they were wasting the rest of the bouillon which is criminal and very French. Also add then the remaining leeks (from the stock) and 150g black olives and 1 gram saffron and cook on a v low heat for 40 mins. serve with lots of fresh parsley

The reason I added saffron to the dish is saffron rice is too heavy in the summer and the colour saffron gives the dish itself is superb.

so its a bit of cheats recipe but with a bit of crusty bread (to soak up all the fantastic broth) it really is a superb , appetising and light really delicious dish that just smacks of the sun and being abroad I felt this in my garden in York on a mediocre day with the rest of the wine.

The interpaly with the Herby saffron tomato broth is really a base for almost any good fish broth

in fact add almost any fish and shellfish to this dish at the end and you will have a cheats Bouillabaisse.

however I will be making a big batch of Proper Court Bouillon for the freezer as its sounds an absolutely top notch Poaching liqueur for all types of fish.

enjoy folks comments welcome

My version of provençal octopus

2011-08-21T22:33:00.001Z

My version of provençal octopus, originally uploaded by harumscarum.

slow roasted Pork belly w veg

2011-05-30T13:15:00.033Z

Well I went to the farmers Market on Friday and found a stall from Redhill Farm and decided to buy some of their great looking Pork belly on the bone.

Heres my recipe of what I did with it. Very pleased with the results but I really need to work on my food photography. tasted much better than it looks in my lame ass shot. Warning this recipe calls for the most precious ingredient of all Time, thus you need to plan it at least a day in advance.

4 thick cut Pork Belly ribs on the bone

Dry mix
2 ish table spoons of Smoked paprika
1 table spoon fine ass Salt crystals crushed with pepper
2 teaspoons of 5 spice mix

5 large cloves garlic finely shredded
100 ml artisan cider

in essence first apply the dry rub all over the meat and then put it in a large lunch box and add the wet mix marinate the Pork Belly ( on the bone if possible) overnight or up to 24 hours.

the next day plan in advance when you want to eat as it takes about 4 hours 20 minutes before the meat will be ready.

Using baby leeks or mini carrots or celery create a sort of shelf for the meat and place this in the middle of the roasting tin. Place the meat on this and then add about 3/4 of a pint of artisan cider in the roasting tin. the meat should not really be touching the cider but you don't have to be anal about this.

preheat the over to 100 c ( this is about 0.8 on the gas mark scale) and cook for 3 and a half hours.
Turn up the oven to gas mark 3 and cook for an additional 30 minutes. This will ensure you have delicious skin on your pork belly. you can leave it at the low temp if you do not feel like eating the Skin ( why!)

Let the meat rest for 20 minutes ( v important) and sieve the cider stock into a pan and reduce it gradually as a sauce.

serve with hasslebad potatoes ( use new potatoes for this though) and roasted mini turnips and new season English asparagus ( i just love this stuff at the moment) . I used my top oven for these as 100 c is just too low for roasting.

drink wise a good german Gewürztraminer or more cider is perfect.

Enjoy

Pigeon breasts and Lentils with Asparagus and Broad beans

2011-05-28T23:08:00.001Z

Tried this last night really pleased with the results however the pigeon breasts were slightly overdone but I will fix that as the tasted combination is superb.

Dinner for 4
ingredients
2-3 Pigeon breasts per person season w salt and pepper

Lentil Bed
400g Lentils Puy if you can but green is fine
75 g of pearl barley ( great for the overall consistency)
200g Pancetta
significant handfull of wild dried mushroom I had some great ones from Poland but failing that Porcini and Chantrelles would be great
2 large garlic cloves
1 Med onion
Chicken stock
Fresh herbs Thyme, Rosemary at the start and Parsley at the end
half a bottle of red wine wine.

Sauce
Simple red wine reduction so
other half of the bottle of wine
6 juniper berries
handful Brown sugar

200 g Broad beans
Cook in advance and then pop out of their skin
add frest mint
And creme fraiche

Mix Blend all of this as a coarse paste

Fresh English asparagus

just boil for 2 minutes and serve with butter

So start with the Lentils, chop the onions and garlic in olive oil and then add the herbs and the the stock.
Have it bubbling away and then slowly start adding in the wine gradually. As it is absorbed keep adding wine and stock. in this time you can prepared the broad beans. It will be ready in 30-40 minutes ( you are looking for a al dente lentils )

Make the red wine reduction at this point as well.

Just add all the ingredients together and reduce. however remember you will deglaze the pan which you cook the Pigeon breasts in with this sauce so do not have it too reduced.

Have everything ready and plated before you start with the Pigeon breasts.

I.e make a mound of the lentils on each plate. Put the Asparagus on it as well. Add the spooned Broad bean butter with a dessert spoon as a roll to the side of the Lentils

Then cook your pigeon breasts. I think they only need 20 seconds per side for a rich bloody result and place them on top of the Lentils.

Remember to deglaze the pan to complete your sauce and pour it on immediately .

the rich earthiness of the Lentils with the wild mushrooms complements the iron rich taste of the pigeon and the asparagus and the broad beans lift and compliment the dish.

Absolutely great dish, impressive and much easier that it looks.

have it with a knock-out Rioja

Enjoy.

Great dip for the potentially lean

2011-02-17T12:52:00.000Z

I am losing weight at the moment (booooring) so I have eschewed some of my more fattening favourites foods and I wonder about the recipes I will be putting up for the next while. I may eat and live vicariously through my guests and family. I do hate low fat foods etc. but I have found something I would happily serve up to anyone. This is a low fat, tasty combination of my two favourite bits of Lebanese cuisine Baba Gnoush and hummus.

Need 2 aubergines
250g dried chickpeas soaked and fully cooked (i.e. a days prep)
Garlic
Seasoning
Juice of 3 lemons
4 tbl spns Natural low fat yogurt, Greek style is best

Basically you roast two aubergines in a medium oven for half an hour to 40 mins. Prick them all over with a fork.
The Aubergine should feel very soft. Allow it to cool for and then peel the skin off.

Put it in the food processor with the garlic. Blitz and add the rest of the ingredients add the rest of the ingredients you can also add any of
Chives, harissa paste, mint, parsley , coriander, fresh chillies, sun dried tomatoes, and seasoning at the end to finish.

You end up with a runny humus mix which is delicious with pitas or dips. I did add a little bit of olive oil and tahini but I feel confident it does not need it. You can also go all out add load of olive oil and tahini if you want to you know rub my nose in it, but its is honestly lovely (sniff, sniff) without it.

Kindle

2011-01-20T17:07:00.008Z

So I bought a Kindle and I would like to talk about that for a little while.

First I wanted to talk about why I got it.

I am a fairly heavy reader and I get through 20- 25 non trashy books a year books a year however I did not really think about a kindle until I saw one in the wild. What I really liked was the fact that the 3rd generation one really only has the profile of a moleskin journal when its in a case and the fact that it is not back lit. I suddenly felt that my days of hoiking war and peace and new released hard backs to work every day could be a thing of the past. The other thing I really thought would be great is that I no longer have any shelf space and have piles of books littered around upstairs and around 600 books lurking in my small sized ex council house. Also I liked the idea that it did that one thing really well i.e. it was great for reading books and almost useless at any of its other functions i.e not the distraction wagon that a net book or ipad would be.

So I dived in and asked for one for Christmas because that’s how grown up I am yeah!!

So first things first

The Product itself

The look is a bit grey but this is softened by the use of a nice cover which I would say is a completely vital purchase.
The first thing you need to get over is your hi end smart phone touch screen ways, this is Baxter basics . I kept pawing the screen to get it to do stuff but you get used to the cursor really quickly.
Its great to read with I do wish I had bought a case with a light built in such as this

My boss has hand made a really nifty looking case from a moleskin which can be found here Link

The words are put on the screen in a way that seems to be like they are printed onto the screen itself and it is not back lit at all. This is just like reading a book and is a nice comfortable size. My wife who is a complete techno agnostic loved it and really appreciated the look and feel of it and got to grips with it in seconds.

Function: Lovely to read and it does that thing that all tech should i.e. its brilliant at what its primarily designed ie its not an ipad you are not going to go off and grab your emails and mess around on the internet while you are using it. This is actually what I want in an reader to crack on and read without interruption. I have laptops and smart phones for the rest. You can use the internet on it but its all very 1991 black and white and v slow. Its grand for Wikipedia but that’s about it. But for me that’s a bonus

Notation: Its great to make notes or underline segments of a book and have them saved in the cloud you can also choose to upload these on Twitter of Facebook. You can bookmark the list of principal characters which is a total boon for most large Russian books. It stores all your own notes in the cloud associated with your amazon account and this is a feature I love.

Dictionary: it comes preloaded with the oxford dictionary and whilst I have good diction if you move the cursor in front of any word it shows the definition at the bottom of the page. This is great when novelists are using arcane or archaic language or even talking about very specific Victorian items of clothing for instance. I have looked up more words in the last 2 weeks than at any time in the last 10 years.

Variety of free books : especially good on works of 19th cent fiction and also Philosophy. I stopped acquiring them once I hit 36 but have really enjoyed Thomas Paine’s ‘The Rights of Man’ and Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and I have plenty more in reserve.

Samples: this is just brilliant you can receive a sample of anything up to to 5% of the start of any of the books on the kindle catalogue. I have sampled 10 books before I have shelled out on one. By then I am very happy to have shelled out in that I know the book I have bought is exactly what I want to read and that I am enjoying it. I did shell out on a book from my wish list that I had my eye on for a while and did so without trying a sample. Big mistake turns out it was written in a very discursive journalistic style and was not really as hard hitting as I hoped. I decided against it and as far as possible sampled many of the books on my Wish list which I then changed based on my reception to the sample.

Returns:

Amazon have buried the information about returns and I did end up buying one or two books by accident *(this is related to my nonstop sampling)
Essentially you have 7 days from purchase to return a book and to do so you need to email amazon in your country with the order details saying you want to return the book. However they have set the system up to be deliberately obtuse in that there is not a one click solution for digital returns unlike other Amazon items. But they are quick to deal with it if you do email them.

Cursor: I have a suspicion about the cursor. If it goes I really am going to be out on a limb when I need to highlight text.
Battery : The life of the battery once charged and with the wifi off, it’s refreshing as a smart phone user to charge something and then get a week’s solid use out of it why is this a con you ask well it states that its good for 1000 hours use so I figure that it will degrade after 2 years of constant reading and there does not seem to be a way to replace it. I don’t like the gimmickiness of that.

With regard the availability and choice of paid books I would say it has its ups and downs. Currently I think there is just shy of 600k but when it comes to lets specifics there is not really an even spread. For instance its terrible on translated modern fiction. Thus no Murakami or Mario Vargas Llosa or Gabriel García Márquez, Orhan Pahmuk this seems just plain strange and points to some Publishing issues. Also for my Russian and french 19th c classics I favour specific translations for this they are good. Non-fiction my tastes are a bit specific but I would say from my wish list I could find about 50% of mine. I was disappointed not to find Orlando Figues ( the dirty slanderer see here as its hilarious http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/16/orlando-figes-fake-amazon-reviews) new book on the Crimean war or Dominic Levins France against Russia but Mansells recent book on the history of The Levent there as are many other gems. You can take it as read that most of the top 100 books at any one time will be available detective novels, airport fodder and the occasional shoddy Booker winner but there is enough variety out there to slake the lust of most bibliolibertines.
This brings me to the vexatious issue of Price. Digital format books unlike printed ones attract VAT and this means that as publishers are being squeezed so hard by Amazon that many books will cost a little bit more on a Kindle. This seems counterintuitive to me. Also the price of a paperback title drops slower on kindle than its paper and ink cousin. However if you really look you can find some bargains i.e. newish books that are cheaper on Kindle that in the rest of Amazon and this is the same with newly released hardbacks. The sampling and care I now devote to buying a book is much higher as I am such a notorious tightwad.

Study and reference: whilst not formally studying at the moment I was interested in how Kindles might be used in a University setting.

My big issue was there is no proper pagination just location numbers, which are static but would mean nothing to someone without a Kindle and thus it would be hard to reference the work in an academic paper… stop press firmware 3.1 is dealing with this issue so get over it already http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/02/amazon-adds-real-page-numbers-to-kindle/
Phew so that conquers that pressing issue so now this is a big plus. I purchased Gibbons Decline and fall of the roman Empire to re-read ( I’ll get there in time honest) and now that I can both do a search for terms and names and reference this and then add it to a cloud environment I see this as a really first rate academic tool for most traditional humanities If you are doing history, English Literature, Philosphy, and politics in particular its great in that you have access to a vast range of out of copyright 19th and early 20th century writings for free of for very cheap. The sheer number of out of copyright books gives the keen student a vast armoury of offbeat sources which could prove a real boon. For example I travelled in Sikkim several years ago and was thus delighted to find the Victorian botanist and explorer J. D. Hooker’s long out of print Himalayan Journals. This is an example of the type of difficult to find book which the kindle acts like a massive portable academic library.

I would not recommend getting the 3G version as its not great for internet browsing and you only need the connection for downloading content so getting it on a wi fi connection is easy.
And as its not great on browsing or emails you are only going to need the 3g version if you read really really fast and impulsively. If I am desperate my phone acts as a wi fi hot spot so I can be sanguine about this.

My main grip about the kindle is almost a philosophical one that involves the ownership of the items on my Kindle. Recently I have been selling a lot of academic books on Amazon marketplace. Most books value depreciate very quickly and really you need niche books and specific editions to make enough money to cover the faffing around. However my kindle paid content is mine forever and I cannot transfer it to anyone else thus I can’t lend editions to people and I can’t sell editions. Its just static and in fact the only shift could come if Amazon simply deleted books in my account as they keep doing. Thus there is a feeling of things not being in your own hands which is odd. This is especially true when it comes to lending books I like to others I usually give my houseguest a book or two and now I can’t I can still buy ones I really enjoy as a gift but this is something I don’t particularly enjoy and I may end up buying second hand copies of favourite kindle books in charity shops to give away and have on my library. This more or less defeats the purpose of some of my main reasons for getting a kindle but hey that’s the way us humans roll. The other related issue is the loss of conversations instigated by people browsing through your library or seeing the title of the book you are reading. In public the bland exterior remains inscrutable and besides the flicker of interest caused by new tech there is reduced interaction ( this is why I also thing the sale of Erotica has gone through the roof). This I don’t like, I have made many friendships though such discussions of books both low and high but perhaps as I am no longer a vexatious attention seeling git ostentatiously reading Gothe sighing and flashing looks at any woman walking into the bar this might not be an issue.

Who knows>>

In essence for all its flaws I love my kindle and as long as it does not have some shoddy lifespan I feel I will be using this for many a year to come. I ask for no changes in it and am happy with the black and white screen. A nicer non grey corporate colour is about the only thing I would want as a difference.

Scallop and King Prawn Gratin

2010-10-04T11:54:00.006Z

This was Friday night’s dinner I had some frozen Scallops lurking in the Freezer and even though they were small Pacific jobs I wanted to do them some Justice. Sniffed about in the Cupboards and the shop and came up with this Recipe. For it I made a rather odd béchamel sauce, as I ran out of Butter so you may want to just make a normal béchamel sauce as a base for the gratin and add the cider and stock to it.

Ingredients

12 Med/Small scallops
250 Grams shelled King Prawns
1 cup good quality Chicken stock
1/4 Glass nice cider. Westons etc
Seasoned Breadcrumbs
Strong Brown flour go white for whiter look but I think the Brown has a nicer taste.
Olive oil or butter
Good quality heavy cream

Method

simmer the stock and then add the Scallops and prawns . Simmer for 3 mins remove all with a slotted spoon and retain the liquid.

To make the sauce use the olive oil or butter and flour to make your roux. i.e. gently heat up the 60 gm of butter or similar amount of Olive oil and then add the flour and whisk so that it is a ball, then add the liquid of the flavoured stock and a little bit of the cider gently heat and whisk to make sure it is all smooth and not lumpy. I am not sure the technical name for the sauce. Add 75g heavy cream towards the end. a lot of this can be variable in that you might need to add more luqid or butter according to the way it looks. unfortunatly its just one of those things you get a feel for.

then add the Shellfish to the a buttered dish cover with the cream sauce and then add the breadcrumbs on top and finish with parmesan and a few knobs of butter.

Then put under a med grill turning frequently and watching it doesn't burn.

Serve when the top is crunchy and golden. with salads and a nice Sauvignon Blanc. This is sheer fatty indulgence and you will die soon if you keep having this as your supper, however it fucking rocks and is easy to make yet sophisticated and so so delicious.

Enjoy

chorizo chard and Feta Spagetti

2010-10-04T11:39:00.003Z

Came home on Thursday night to a fairly empty fridge and 2 hungry girls and had to plan
something quick which I wanted to be a delicious ending for a long annoying day.
However the results were so delicious I thought I would share them here. Yes it does involve Chorizo again and that makes it 3 in a row I believe, but its my store cupboard ingredient and delicious so screw you haters.

Ingredients

4 small raw Chorizo (the type that need cooking)
2 cloves garlic
2 slices Smoked bacon
Good Quality Olive oil
1 200g block of a Feta type cheese (sorry Greeks for the Purposes of this recipe all are good)
Mixed Chard about 250g you can use Spinach but it’s less robust.
12 on the vine tomatoes
250-300g spaghetti

Serves 4 perhaps more

Method

Halve the Tomatoes and place them in an open oven casserole dish, drizzle in good olive oil and place in a preheated oven Gas mark 5 for 35 mins Add the Chorizo after 20 mins.

Meanwhile

Take the central stalk out of the Chard, Discard it and and then clean and then finely slice and shred the remaining leaves it with a sharp knife. I am looking for 1mm thickness if poss.

cook the spaghetti, al dente, get this right its important.

Have your garlic roughly crushed and ready alongside the feta which should be in small cubes.

Whip the tomatoes and chorizo out retain the Juices from the bottom of the dish. Let the Chorizo cool for 2 mins and then slice it thick or thin according to preference.

Fry the Garlic and bacon in good quality olive oil

Now add the retained juices and add the chard cook, and the sliced chorizo, until the chard has wilted a bit about 3 mins season with black pepper.

Add the pasta and the feta and the cooked tomatoes and a bit of fresh basil

Toss all together and serve immediately

No pictures as all were too keen to eat but a very tasty recipe that I can't wait to try again.

Fixed pimientos de Padrón

2010-09-11T20:07:00.001Z

Fixed pimientos de Padrón, originally uploaded by harumscarum.

Another Recipe that for everything it lacks in ingredients makes up for it in taste. This simple dish can be done as a starter or as part of a general tapas platter.

20 pimientos de Padrón

1 Chorizo

Thats it folks. Slice the Chorizo in 1 cm thick rounds cook for 2-3 mins on a med heat in goodish olive oil (ie not your cold pressed single estate Tuscan extra virgin). Then add the whole pimientos de Padrón and cook until they blister slightly. season with sea salt and Black pepper

Serve immediately in a big bowl and give everyone a toothpick for the Chorizo and they can pick up the Pimentos using the stalk.

This is so pissing easy but it really has an impact when you serve it up and the reason for this is its delicious.

Quick note About Pimetos de Pardon. Sapnish large perppers that are v mild but 1 in 10 have a bit of heat but they taste great. follow the title link to buy in the ul but the ones I used were great were from http://www.yorkshirechillies.co.uk/ which are great but seem to be out of stock.

Spicy Hot Prawns

2010-09-04T21:52:00.004Z

Originally I thought I would be making the dish in the title link but I had to deal with the actual ingredience I had and the results were so good I thought I could share.

Prawns

well I went for 15 fantails and 5 size 8-9 Asian full on prawns (essentially the best in your local Chinese Delhi)

1 spoon Smoked Paprika

A combination of 1/4 dried Habenero and 1 smoked Chipolate and finally 1 dried long red chilli, all made small and then tossed with the chillies.

Then I tosses said mixture with the Prawns and a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper and leave.

now get 15 curry leaves if they are not fresh ie dried, you have soaked them in water for at least an hour. and then with said leaves you add the same amount of fresh basil.

finally prepare 2 gloves of garlic, finely hand chopped and then 2 tomatoes really finely choped, (go to town )

Then to actually cook it up.

heat a good slug of peanut oil or rapeseed oil in a wok

add 1 tbs (or two) of dark mustard seed

Add the garlic then the whole prawn chilli mix then finally add the tomatoes and then reduce the heat and cook for 10 mins stirring continuously. Then add Two glugs of Armatillo sherry and finsh with that and Parsley.

Fuck yeah that tastes real good.

I serve on top of some royal umbrella rice.

Very very nice

Finally the low down on Coq au Vin

2010-09-04T19:16:00.003Z

Here we have the continuation of the Cooking project from the pages of the Gruniad which I have actually been beavering away with and refining for the last 18 months. I have used this recipe about 8 times and thus while I am fully indebted to the recipe I can offer some idiosyncratic variations and also a clarification of a typo in the original recipe. Thus I give you the recipe verbatim and add my own comments in bold and I will then add an addendum at the end regarding finishing the sauce and tasting notes.

44. Raymond Blanc's coq au vin
Chosen by Rebecca Seal

This dish demonstrates what is truly great about French cuisine.

Preparation time: 1 hour, plus 24 hours' marinating . Cooking time: 1 hour (bollox)

< 1.5kg organic or free-range chicken, cut into 10 pieces - you could ask your butcher to do this 10 is traditional but 8 works great, 1 heaped tbs plain flour for variation I really Recommend using spelt flour 2 tbs olive oil sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the marinade:

1 litre full-bodied red wine, such as Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon
3 medium carrots, cut into slanted slices 1cm thick
2 celery sticks, cut into slices 1cm thick
20 baby onions, peeled but left whole
1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
1 bouquet garni (a few parsley stalks, 2 bay leaves and 6 sprigs of thyme, tied together)

for the garnish:
1 tbs olive oil
200g smoked streaky bacon, rind removed, diced
400g small button mushrooms, trimmed
1 tbs fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Again Leave this well alone

To marinate the chicken, bring the red wine to the boil and continue to boil until reduced by a third. This removes the alcohol and concentrates the colour and flavour. Leave to cool. In a bowl, mix the chicken pieces, carrots, celery, onions, peppercorns and bouquet garni. Pour on the cooled red wine. Cover with clingfilm, refrigerate and marinate for 24 hours.

Place a colander over a large bowl and put the chicken mixture in to drain off the marinade. Leave for a minimum of 1 hour to remove excess liquid. Separate the chicken, vegetables and herbs, and pat dry with kitchen paper. Season the chicken with four pinches of salt and four pinches of freshly ground black pepper. Keep the liquid.

To toast the flour, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Sprinkle the flour on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until it is very lightly coloured. Set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C/gas 2. That cannot be right it needs 4 I believe this is a missprint.

To fry the chicken: on a high heat, in a large, heavy-based casserole, I think a heavy bottomed griddle is perfect for this, heat the olive oil and colour the chicken pieces in it for 5-7 minutes on each side. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the drained vegetables and herbs to the casserole. Lower the heat to medium high and cook for 5 minutes, until lightly coloured.

To make the sauce, spoon out most of the fat from the casserole, add the toasted flour and stir into the vegetables for a few seconds. On a medium heat, whisk in the wine marinade little by little - this will create a sauce and prevent lumps forming. Bring to the boil and skim any impurities from the surface. The wine marinade will be slightly thickened and have the consistency of a light sauce.
Add the chicken pieces and return to the boil. Cover with a lid and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Check the chicken thoroughly before serving check the amount of pink blood flowing especially near the leg bone. it should be falling off the bone without too much blood at all. essentially this is one of the most succulent chicken dishes you can eat.

To finish the sauce: if you wish you can serve the coq au vin as it is. Never, persevere for an absolute knock-out But should you prefer a richer, more powerful sauce, drain it through a colander and, on a high heat, boil the sauce until it has reduced by a third. It should have acquired more body and become a rich, vinous colour. Pour the sauce back over the chicken and vegetables.

To cook the garnish: over a medium heat, in a medium nonstick frying pan, heat the olive oil and cook the bacon for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix the bacon and mushrooms into the coq au vin. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve piping hot, straight from the casserole.

Here I add my main variations for the sauce

At the stage when it is 5 mins from finishing gently spoon in 124 ml of Soured cream into sauce and then when it has been incorporated add 2 shots of sloe gin. then when you have cooked off the alcohol strain the mix through a sieve. This is the the rich velote sauce that I served up at Christmas. jaw dropping taste

Recently I went for a super luxurious version of this recipe where I used 2 black truffles grated in the marinade (from frozen, the slightly affordable Chinese version I'm afraid) and then added another 2 sliced at the cooker stage. v intense and luxurious esp with the sloe gin finish.

I have done a version of this where the marinade is done for 2 days highly recommended but avoid with truffles as it might it get a bit too much.

The real joy in this dish is the play between the lighter colour of the marinated chicken against the intense full on smoke on the water level of deep purple in the sauce. Please try the absolute paired down version of the recipe before you mess with it as you need to know the base point for this quite simple but absolutely memorable dish of French cookery. I want to highlight this recipe even accepting its mistakes as it is the best.

Comfort food for the soul brothers and sisters

I like to serve with a fantastic red wine and fresh new potatoes

Divine Salad fun

2010-08-16T15:58:00.001Z

IMAG0020, originally uploaded by harumscarum.

These are not too complicated and the ingredients are all just right at the moment. have them together for lunch or with some grilled fish as main course.

Green Bean and Red Onion Salad

Top and tail 250g Green beans

Finley slice Half a red onion into half rings

Boil the beans for about 2-3 mins and then cool under a tap and then place in an iced bowl of water. this means they will be super crunchy.

toss with best olive oil you can afford and some white Balsamic vinegar.

Goats Cheese and Beetroot Salad

The Recipe comes from the farmers cart and came with the Yorkshire post. typically I have messed with it somewhat

ingredients

2 whole Beetroots
2 spring onions
1/2 red onion
Chives
50 ml Balsemic viniger
1 tbsp of caster Sugar
a dessert spoon of Mango chutney
Some Goats cheese in a log the french ones rolled in ash would be ideal but whatever you can get your hands on will work.

Method
cook the Beetroots skin on for about an hour. the skin will come off really easily once they have cooled down. Once cooled cut them into 1 cm Squares.

Finley chop the onions and the chives

make a glaze by heating the Balsamic, caster sugar and chutney in a pan an d thicken this but keep it moving as it can burn easily.

Add all the ingredients bar the Cheese together and then plate it up.

Slice the cheese log and place 2 slices on top of the Beetroot.

Have with some nice crusty fresh rolls and if the budget all lows a bottle of Sancerre.

Ghormeh Sabzi fantastic Persian Casserole

2010-08-15T21:14:00.008Z

This is a fantastic hearty dish that is widely popular in Iran. The recipe comes from the excellent Persia In Peckham cookbook which can be purchased here. I have done this many times and its really an instinct recipe in that follow a few basic principles and see whats available and base it on that. The one piece of advise I offer is go heavy on the herbs I mean use them like spinach or some such. what you are looking for is a really rich green colour. the recipe is a modified version of the one in the book

Ingredients

1 shoulder of Lamb
you will need to trim this of as much fat as possible today I used a filet of shoulder and a fillet of spring lamb leg on the bone. the Quality of the leg was absolutely the best I have had in the UK and it was just a Morrisons Job. Total weight of the meat was about 2 Kg inc a bone

2 large onions finely chopped
15 Dried Limes. Awesome ingredient you will need a middle Eastern Dehli or you can get them here. you will need to prick them all with a fork. These actually look like poppy pods and they give the dish a distinctive back of the tongue moderated tartness.
1 tablespoon of Turmeric
1/2 a kilo of Red Kidney beans either soaked overnight and added early or from cans and added near the end.
I bunch of Fresh Coriander, Parsley, Spinach, Chive, Fenugereek, really with this lot go with what ever you have and the taste will come form this so please do lots I filled a complete salad bowl to the top with herbs for this amount.

Method

Really this is idiot proof just awesome. for me its a kind of 4 season comfort food.

Put the Onions and the trimmed lamb, turmeric and the dried limes in a pan of water, you want it 2 inches above the top and set to simmer and the kidney beans if you are cooing them from scratch (as long as they have been soaked otherwise add them in 20 mins before the end .) . After its been in for an hour you will need to prepare the herbs. fry them off in some olive oil for about 5-7 mins add this to the mix otherwise again after stirring it well. Really the optimum simmering time is 4 hours in total but you could get away with 2. The finished product should have a rich green sauce but should be fresh tasting but because of the strong lean aromatic meat and the lack of oil and fat it will be light and filling at the same time. do not be afraid to alter the water level, in that it should be liquid like a really stocky soup. fear not if its you go over as this is real slow food and excess can be simmered off.

Serve with Jasmine Basmati Rice This Just happens to be the best in the world. When the rice is ready put it in a bowl with some butter (to taste) and tossed with some Barberries (about 75 g) which are a small rose hip like berry from Iran.

Finally serve with wedges of Red Onion and Plain Yoghurt, this sounds like a pointless flourish, beware its not; this dish is a beautitful combination of a thin incredibly tasty non fatty broth combined with rich buttery slightly tart rice (barberries) and the taste of plain Greek style Yoghurt and red onion, both salted as I hardly season anything I am cooking is sublime. on paper I think this dish sounds slightly dull in reality its a complete crowd pleaser and you will make it again and again.

This recipe would feed 10 so adjust accordingly but you will really love eating it the next day also.

Thanks to Rowland for buying me the recipe book which led to this gratification of my palate.

Picture tomorrow folks as there is loads left but really this is one of my absolute favourite recipes.

My version of Potato Bravas

2010-08-06T13:33:00.002Z

This is Just soo easy and delicious it is almost too simple to put up here but try it and you will love it

Ingredients

About a Kilo of New potatoes

250g Piece of Chorizo

1 dried habanero or Chipolate chilli (optional)

Loads of olive oil

Garlic

For the garnish

Fresh Chives

Soured cream

Well par boil the potatoes best if they are almost straight form the ground. Then cut them into thick chunks, circa an inch thick. Do it what ever way you prefer. Now fry them in a wide heavy bottomed frying pan. After about 3-5 mins add the sliced chorizo (normally about a cm thick. Keep the food moving in the pan so it does no burn. Meanwhile mix some freshly cut diced chives with a jar of Soured cream. When the potatoes and chorizo are less than a minute off being ready add as much garlic as you would like make sure this does not burn ( ie pan is not too hot as this will ruin the taste) serve immediately as a supper for 2 or tapas for many. Try this without Chilie the first time you have it as the smoked paprika and oil and garlic are a wonderful combination any way. Enjoy. This certainly is not rocket science but you will be left craving this comforting dish all year long

Wee Cooking project going on over the last while

2009-12-03T23:29:00.004Z

in Feb I spotted a great cooking supplement in the observer. the 50 favourite recipes of 50 Chefs or some such stick. they were all given a level and I really like the look of the last 8 in the master section. This where I came across the previous recipe for the Harricot and Truffle Soup. last weekend in the supermarket I came across some Oxtail's and I thought hey oxtail soup there is something I have never cooked or tasted . I used to like the disgusting powder version as a kid. First I'll give you the recipe and then give you my thoughts and pictures.Coneect to the link above for al the others. I want to do Pierre Kaufmans morell stufed pigs trotters for Christmas but my darling wife is unsure.

45. August Escoffier's oxtail soup
Chosen by Gordon Ramsay

Serves 10

1.8kg of oxtail, browned in the oven
900g gelatinous bones, broken small and browned in the oven
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 medium onions
one faggot [a bundle of parsley, bay leaves and thyme, tied together]
butter
2.5 litres ordinary broth [stock]
1 litre water
450g lean beef mince
1 leek
½ an egg white
1 small carrot, cut into small dice
arrowroot if required

Brown the oxtails and the gelatinous bones in a roasting tin in the oven. Remove and cool.

Garnish the bottom of a small stockpot or stewpan with one finely chopped carrot and two medium-sized onions cut into thin rounds and browned in butter and one faggot.

Add the oxtails. The tails should be cut into sections, each of which should contain one of the caudal vertebrae. Also add the 900g of gelatinous bones, broken very small. Add 2.5 litres of ordinary broth [stock] and one of water. Set to boil very gently for 4½-5 hours.

When this is done, strain the broth, which should be reduced to 2.5 litres, and completely remove its grease. Transfer the largest sections of the tails, by means of a braiding needle, one by one to another saucepan. Cover them with broth, and keep them warm for the garnish.

Finely chop 450g of very lean beef. Put this mince into a saucepan with the white of a leek cut into dice and half the white of an egg, and mix thoroughly. Add the broth, the grease of which has been removed, set to boil, stirring constantly the while, and then leave to simmer for one hour, which is the time required for the beef to exude all its juices and for the clarification of the broth.

While the clarification is in progress, cut a small carrot in brunoise [small dice] fashion, or turn it by means of a very small spoon. Cook this garnish in a little water with butter, salt, and sugar.

A few minutes before serving, strain the oxtail broth through a napkin, put the sections of oxtail and brunoise into the soup tureen, and pour thereon the prepared broth.

This soup may be flavoured with port or sherry, but this is optional. Please note: if a thickened oxtail soup is required, add to the broth per every litre of it 10g of arrowroot diluted with a little of the broth or some cold water.

• This is taken from a 1909 translation of the original French version of Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire. Metric conversions added.

well it has to be said this took me 2 days to cook and I had a few little changes.

Firstly I only made about a third of the amount. I browned the oxtails but did not have any of the other bones. So I used some bone gelatine which I think worked.

I cooked the original mixture for 5.5 hours and and it had lost about 60% of its liquid. I then put the concentrate in a tall thinnish container and it naturally separated with all the fat going to the top. At this stage it would be great to have a baster or v large hypo and simply let it settle and then pull off the fat. What I did was put it in the coldest part of the fridge overnight. Then as the non fat bit had "set" I scraped out all the fat very carefully.

I then did the rest of the recipe as requested but I filtered it twice and thought of doing an ice filtration but thought even though I really want to do an Ice filtration I would just do it as per normal first.

I took the meat off the oxtail bones and shredded that and threw away !! the other boiled meat.

I finished it with a bit of Amontillado Sherry and served with some bread I baked. With all my fussing I got a really clear broth with a very subtle and clear flavour. Absolutely divine but a starter really. Also it felt wasteful throwing away the meat I had used. This takes a long time but if you did a lot more and froze it you have a super stock to use for other recipes. I am sure this is almost 0 fat as well.

if anyone else tries this please give me your thoughts

Also please ignore the fact that the carrots make it look like someone has sicked up

A quick note

2009-11-20T19:00:00.001Z

Apologies for my almost total absence recently but I have been working like a dog without a moment to myslf however I will be churning them out now for the next while.

Ta da

Old Fritzy shows how its done

2009-11-20T13:09:00.003Z

Here is a quote I came across when I was reading Christopher Clark’s history of Prussia. It comes form my favourite autocrat Fredrick the Great writing in his political testament of 1768 when he had already been emperor for some time. He described Christianity as “and old metaphysical fiction, stuffed with miracles, Contradictions and absurdities, which was spawned in the fevered imaginations of the Orientals and then spread to our Europe, where some fanatics espoused it , some intriguers pretended to be convinced by it and some imbeciles actually believed it”

This is quite staggeringly ahead of its time especially from someone at the very apex of power. I actually think there are not many of our leaders who would actually come out and declare such sentiments quite so strongly. Frederick was a good musician, supporter of Philosophy and of Pornography, bisexual and on top of it all kicked seven shades of shit out of the Austrians. It’s a pity the Prussian reverted to a rather dreary types after he died.

Some of the basic facts about him can be found here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II_of_Prussia of course i am much too old to have hero’s and the world is mush more nuanced than we can ever imagine however I would love to see some modern politicians who were as talented and iconoclastic as Old Fritzy.

Tombelaine

2009-10-24T20:05:00.001Z

Tombelaine, originally uploaded by maxhomand.

I just absolutely Love this photograph. Its a glimpse into the Abyss

Keith Hellawell, where is he now

2009-07-28T11:39:00.005Z

Just like to talk about the later career of one of new labours most anti drug servants good old Keith Hellawell, former miner, Drugs Tsar and the man who resigned from his 106K per year as he was so appalled about the reclassification of Cannabis in 2002. This was because of his moral issues with cannabis here is some old hokum that he quoted to the Observer in 2002. We will leave to one side the fact that the Dutch “started experimenting in this area” nearly 30 years ago and still have one of the lowest rates of cannabis use amongst the under 18’s in Europe.
In a way it just shows up his prostitution of statistics of which he was justifiably famous

“Well the evidence from elsewhere is that it does. The people who have been
deterred from taking cannabis because it is illegal will certainly now have the
impression that it alright to do it. The police officers on the street, and this
is from a number of police officers in a number of forces, don't like it because
when they stop kids on the street they say "Oh, I thought it was alright now". I
think it's difficult for the Government. How can you say this is an issue, that
this is a serious drug if the Government are telling the police to do nothing
about it. The police also think that. When they started experimenting in this
area in Holland, cannabis taking remained fairly flat and has only started
climbing now. But there has been a sharp rise in the last two years, a far
sharper increase than ours”

However His moral backbone it seems is rather more flexible one would say almost double jointed when he uses the skills gained in his time in his old position ion his new position as the Non Executive Chairman of Goldshield PLC. Humm so what you might unless you have been following the papers very closely you probably will not know that this organisation was at the centre of one of the largest and most costly investigations ever launched by the Serious Fraud Office. The investigation was into the issue of price fixing by a cartel of pharmaceutical firms for certain Generic medicines. The SFO felt the evidence was strong enough to bring to trial since they had forensic evidence of the generation of memos’ and meeting minutes which they could prove had been produced after the SFO began its investigation. However the SFO made a serious legal error in that their original indictment only related to price-fixing, which alone is not an offence and not to the more serious conspiracy to defraud the NHS resulting in the abandonment of the case. Total cost for this error to the Tax payer is over £26m with another £14m in legal fees for the companies involved because any company that can afford Champagne Keith as its Non Exec director can afford the very best in Legal representation. It is interesting to note that in 2007 Goldshield agreed to pay £4m to the NHS to settle a claim related to the price fixing of certain generic medicine. While heads might roll in the SFO it also now means that they are unlikely to get the green light for any such high level costly investigation into white collar crime. Thus it can be said that certainly for those comapnies who want to try it (high level unproven fraud) that it certainly is all right now Keith.

I will of course point out that Dr Hellawell as he styles himself on the the companies home page was hired by the company as the inquiry was drawing to a close and it seems he was brought in as a "clean" pair of hands with which to bring the company forward and also a integral spokesman who was media savvy.

My issue besides the corruption of buying moral cleanliness with Dr Hellawell is that he utilised his leg up from his utterly ineffectual "war on drugs" to enrich himself personally by adding his pure white raiment to a company which has evaded going to trial on a legally technicality. I would suggest that once the work in Goldshield dries up he can move onto Union Carbide and landmine purveyors. However it may be that some start to view him as shoddy goods but it would seem that Andy Brough thinks he is doing great. It would seem that he can facilitate his need for attention by justifying his companies past supposed transgressions or railing against our permissive society. Meanwhile he can walk away from all of the complete mess his tough on drugs policy has left in the U.K .

If you can stand it you can listen to this and here Keith stand up for both the company and denigrate the SFO's investigation.

PS Keith if you ever reading this, you have an Honory doctorate from Bradford University and it is considered bad form indeed to actually use an honorary degree in their official title.

2009-06-23T08:45:00.001Z

I know its cheesy and inevitable to have a Fail post entry but this is hilariously and serendipitously inappropriate.
see more Fail Blog

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world

2009-06-15T16:11:00.004Z

I read Taleb’s excellent book back in Fed 2008. Taleb loves teasing economists however he has made a lot of money in dealing with the consequences of unforeseen events and thus is very in right now. However he a very interesting mind and I recommend his work wholeheartedly. He decried the cult of the financial expert long before the shit really hit the fan.

This is an article from the New York times. Click the title for links to his purposely appalling website.

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world

By Nassim Nicholas TalebPublished: April 7 2009 20:02

Last updated: April 7 2009 20:02

1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail. Evolution in economic life helps those with the maximum amount of hidden risks – and hence the most fragile – become the biggest.

2. No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains. Whatever may need to be bailed outshould be nationalised; whatever does not need a bail-out should be free, small and riskbearing.We have managed to combine the worst of capitalism and socialism. In France in the 1980s, the socialists took over the banks. In the US in the 2000s, the banks took over thegovernment. This is surreal.

3. People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given anew bus. The economics establishment (universities, regulators, central bankers, governmentofficials, various organisations staffed with economists) lost its legitimacy with the failure of thesystem. It is irresponsible and foolish to put our trust in the ability of such experts to get us outof this mess. Instead, find the smart people whose hands are clean.

4. Do not let someone making an “incentive” bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financialrisks. Odds are he would cut every corner on safety to show “profits” while claiming to be“conservative”. Bonuses do not accommodate the hidden risks of blow-ups. It is the asymmetryof the bonus system that got us here. No incentives without disincentives: capitalism is aboutrewards and punishments, not just rewards.

5. Counter-balance complexity with simplicity. Complexity from globalisation and highly networked economic life needs to be countered by simplicity in financial products. The complex economy is already a form of leverage: the leverage of efficiency. Such systems survive thanksto slack and redundancy; adding debt produces wild and dangerous gyrations and leaves noroom for error. Capitalism cannot avoid fads and bubbles: equity bubbles (as in 2000) haveproved to be mild; debt bubbles are vicious.

6. Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning . Complex derivatives need to be banned because nobody understands them and few are rational enoughto know it. Citizens must be protected from themselves, from bankers selling them “hedging”products, and from gullible regulators who listen to economic theorists.

7. Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence. Governments should never need to“restore confidence”. Cascading rumours are a product of complex systems. Governments cannot stop the rumours. Simply, we need to be in a position to shrug off rumours, be robust in the face of them.

8. Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains. Using leverage to cure the problems of too much leverage is not homeopathy, it is denial. The debt crisis is not a temporary problem, it is a structural one. We need rehab.

9. Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible “expert” advice for their retirement. Economic life should be definancialised. We should learn not to use markets as storehouses of value: they do not harbour the certainties that normal citizens require. Citizens should experience anxiety about their own businesses (which they control), not their investments(which they do not control).

10. Make an omelette with the broken eggs. Finally, this crisis cannot be fixed with makeshift repairs, no more than a boat with a rotten hull can be fixed with ad-hoc patches. We need to rebuild the hull with new (stronger) materials; we will have to remake the system before it does so itself. Let us move voluntarily into Capitalism 2.0 by helping what needs to be broken break on its own, converting debt into equity, marginalising the economics and business school establishments, shutting down the “Nobel” in economics, banning leveraged buyouts, putting bankers where they belong, clawing back the bonuses of those who got us here, and teaching people to navigate a world with fewer certainties.Then we will see an economic life closer to our biological environment: smaller companies,richer ecology, no leverage. A world in which entrepreneurs, not bankers, take the risks and companies are born and die every day without making the news.In other words, a place more resistant to black swans.

The writer is a veteran trader, a distinguished professor at New York University’s Polytechnic

Bored of Swine Flu, Bring of the Black Death

2009-06-12T15:40:00.004Z

Humm I’m a bit bored with this whole swine flu thing now I think its time to whip up some real hysteria by way of Google searches and ramp it up to a new level altogether

Financial news Sales of stock in Lear Barber of Sheffield have risen 800% on the news that they will now become the main UK government supplier of Body bags.

Breaking news government declares uk a disaster zone.

Breaking news: Uk government requisitions the North York Moors as a open air mortuary. Roads into and out of the North York Moors and closed to all but mortuary traffic. A government spokeswoman revealed that they expect to fill the hole of Horcum right to the top. “ yes it defiantly is a good starting place being 400 ft deep and ¾ of a mile in diameter and near enough to the large population centres of Middlesbrough, Newcastle make it an ideal starting point for the first week”

Weather news: sunny spells but made cloudy by the great black clouds of burning flesh from the charnel pits of North Yorkshire

ps check out the link by clicking on the title fo this post I always wondered where you could get this stuff..

organ knife and disposable brain knife these woudl be excellent band names

Marina AbramoviÄ‡ Presentsâ€¦ | Manchester International Festival

2009-06-09T20:21:00.004Z

Marina AbramoviÄ‡ Presentsâ€¦ | Manchester International Festival

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I will be attending this next month and I am really looking forward to it. I never thought I would get a chance to see Marina Abramović perform as she has been living in the united states for the last decade. I only came across a huge book of her work last year (the Artist Body) detailing her most significant projects since the late 1960’s. Some of these really were quite extreme. During one she sat immobile and allowed the audience to do anything they liked to her with the 72 items she had placed on the table. These included a knife, a gun, honey, a whip she became in a way a living embodiment of Milgrams famous experiment in that the audience in control lost control when faced with a passive subject and soon people were displaying profoundly sadistic impulses. The Show had to be stopped after 6 hours and left her a profound wreck. She has said she would not be able to recreate this ever again in her life as it was too gruelling. In another she placed a prostitute in the gallery and had her answer questions about life and art whilst she then services the prostitutes clients. However her later work including the harrowing yet beautiful film Balkan Baroque show her work has deepened with the passing of the years. In The Artist body she details the her parents both veterans of WWII were so strict she was not allowed out at night on her own even into her late 20’s when she was already working as a performance artist. These extreme childhoods do sometimes produce the most marvellous results, however sometimes they give you Stalin. Just like everything else its hard to work out the exact formula.

Like Leftfield cinema but are lazy and indolent, I have the solution

2009-06-04T11:48:00.002Z

Quick reccomendation for anyone who anyone who likes leftfield cinema. Great new site called http://www.theauteurs.com whcih basically streams extreammly hard to find art house cinema for about $5 and has a free film every week. very slick site and comes highly reccomened

enjoy

Inside the mind of an autistic savant - life - 07 January 2009 - New Scientist

2009-06-04T11:27:00.001Z

Inside the mind of an autistic savant - life - 07 January 2009 - New Scientist

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UNODC mugged by reality

2009-06-02T07:21:00.001Z

UNODC mugged by reality

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STS-125 Atlantis Solar Transit (200905120002HQ)

2009-05-29T11:31:00.001Z

STS-125 Atlantis Solar Transit (200905120002HQ), originally uploaded by nasa hq photo.

Set the contols and all that

awesome picture

Make Heroin Legal

2009-05-29T08:52:00.002Z

I thought I would link Nick Davies work with the excellent post from Hueter Town. . We have to consider the fact that the explosion in drug abuse (obviously caused by our permissive society) which has occurred in the last 40 years experiences exponential growth as a result of prohibition. There will always be those in society who succumb to addictions of all sorts some of the most invidious of these addictions have whole industries based around them Gambling. Alcoholism etc. now my position is if this is what people want to do they will do it. Barring 1940’s China prohibition has never worked what is needed is a harm reduction strategy . Providing medically safe drugs especially heroin will reduce crime and death rates. One would have to do the same for cocaine which is a much more toxic drug and this would cause more fatalities than a Heroin program . However prohibiting it would just cause the same problems with crime etc However the effect on crimes such as street robberies and Burglaries would be phenomenal

Also one could in a way help third world Pharmers (farmers) ,, ho ho by buying products direct from them instead of Coca beign processed in highly toxic labs ruining delicate ecosystems in South America it could be processed cleanly and responsibly. The South American farmers would receive a good market price for their Coca.

Long term I think their might be a slight increase in “take up” at the start but eventually this would pan out Just in the same way that most returning Junk addicted Vietnam vets were able to drop their prodigious habits and get on with their lives.

Britain used to have the most enlightened pragmatic drugs policy for class A drugs in the western hemisphere up to the early 1970’s Addicts in the early 1960’s ere given the dose they needed and also an amount of cocaine ot keep the useful. The majority of addicts were from the upper classes or were musicians . Due to outcry regarding the cocaine this was changed to methamphetamine in the later 1960’s. After that was discontinued one could still be prescribed legal diamorphine for addiction up to the early 1970’s. However due to tabloid “outrage” about this whole situation and under pressure from the Americans the British stopped prescribing heroin and moved to the vastly unsatisfactory and much more toxic Methadone model of treatment. This then led to the instant creation of a black market and it was in this period that we then saw the “explosion” in heroin use but this time the users were the poor and unemployed in the northern hinterlands of Britain and with the majority of these people having limited access to funds to support the black market prices we then had an increase in drug related crime.

However the genie is well and truly out of the bottle by now and thus a step back towards this enlightened pragmatism could free police resources and remove the power of the traffickers. The same black market is directly responsible for some of the worst political instability in the world . the situation in countries such as Columbia and Afghanistan which are bywords for random murder and oppression . I f one moderately sized western county would make the brave decision and give It the 5 years necessary to see results I am sure others will follow. Typically that country will not be Britain with its suspicion of pleasure and its grim determination to punish the lotus eaters and wish for those same lotus eaters to eke out a living as drunken gambling wage slaves

Hey but at least we own all these banks

Hell ya

Make Heroin Legal

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what I am reading at the moment

2009-05-18T22:01:00.005Z

the angel of History

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

Finished the Kindly ones quite recently Best Nazi porn I have read in a while…. no really enjoyed the first three quarters of the book the writing was lucid but not quite a "difficult " as thought it might be but if you grow up with a steady diet of Burroughs this level of violence and homosexual couplings are like water off a sodomised ducks back. The book is well researched and was written out by hand in only 6 weeks. Initially its novel and very good I found myself rooting for Herr Aue to get a promotion and advance along the Nazi corridors of power. However the book has two problems the last 20% feels very rushed and then the plot holds together less well the sub plots involving the detectives fell contrived and a bit desperate . I feel Littell is rushing to have his climax in Berlin and to my mind he may have envisaged the final scene much earlier than the rest of the book. However that is to quibble as the end is not terrible and 80% of the book is an unputdownable literary journey. The Author asked himself the question what would he have been like if he had been an early convert to national socialism and how would he have acted in the Nazi machine. As someone who has worked in the Congo and in Chechnya Littell is far from removed from the nitty gritty of the human soul and that’s what makes the book interesting. By far the strongest sections are those in the Crimea, esp the scene with the Jewish mystic. Littell dose not dwell for too long on the Einsatzgruppen but does show the dull horror of killing thousands in occupied soviet Russia.

Incidentally there is a Belarusian film from the 1980’ s called come and see which is an excellent depiction of the horrors of the Einsatzgruppen. This film, certainly not Littell’s novel fails to address the fact that the Einsatzgruppen predominantly killed Jews as is par for the course in official Belorussian history, however that was and to a large extent is the official line in soviet era history books i.e. the Nazis predominantly killed “peaceful Soviet citizens” their ethnicity is left to one side. This is perhaps why the partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, is not honoured in her native Byelorussia and in Russia the fact she was a Jew is ignored. The death photograph of Zoya was one of Littells main inspirations to write the book. See below and forms part of the compelling scene in the main square in Minsk. I thought of come and see as I was reading this because of one key scene in it. The Scene for me encapsulates some of the deeper horrors of WWII and mans inhumanity. The main character returns to his home village and the only noise in the house is that of flies and there is a real feeling of menace in the scene the two characters suddenly decide to flee not due to any external reason but they just know what has occurred. The boy never looks behind but the girl does glance behind her and see’s a pile of naked corpses stacked outside one of the huts. History in a way is that backwards glance at the horror. As humans we have a tendency to glance backwards and plough on regarding the event as unique and un repeatable.

An essay I read recently by Walter Benjamin on the anglus novus and the theory of history

A Klee drawing named “Angelus Novus” shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe that keeps piling ruin upon ruin and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress.

— Walter Benjamin,
Ninth Thesis on the Philosophy of History
The one thing I would like to say about Littell is that in a way he is at least aware of the true nature of the “storm from paradise” and how we are not separated by a gulf from the seeming madness of the past.

For information about the film please go to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/

I found an interesting site regarding anti-Semitism in the Ukraine today and also the information about the Einsatzgruppen’s actions in the Ukraine. the site is unusal in that it is set up by an american teacher who lived in the ukraine for some time. it has some good background information

http://tiny.cc/COgwo

Cappuccino of haricot and truffle

2009-05-18T21:37:00.003Z

Great yet surprisingly easy soup, a Gorden Ramsey borrow

400 g dry cannellini bean or haricot beans, haricott are best

soaked overnight and drained

1 med onion , roughly chopped

2 small carrot , roughly chopped

2bay leaf and a sprig of fresh thyme

1 l very good veg vegetable stock

1glugs of olive oil

25 g butter , plus an extra knob of cold butter from the freezer

142ml carton double cream or half double and half creme fresh

2 tbs drops of truffle oil

if you got the cash fresh truffles slices to finish

soak the beans overnight

put them in water with the bouquet garni and onion and carrots

boil vigorously for 10 mins and then simmer for 1 hour and a 1/4

drain but keep the liquid it has been cooking in

separate 5 tbs of beans the rest blend with a hand blender use some of the liquid to help it get a good consistency

now the boring bit pass the pure through a fine sieve.

put the new bean pure in a large pan and add teh stock either use ahome made one or make up and use the liquid the beans were cooking in to make the stock

add cream
add truffle oil

use a hand blender and add in frozen butter just before serving

serve in large cappuciino cups

put the whole beans on the bottom and ladle soup on top, if you are feeling pimped out add truffles on top

makes one of the most sopishisticated starters I have ever tasted. serves 6ish

sure to impress

really good truffle oil goes really far and is only a tenner a bottle

the fresh ones are £4000 a KG and you would need to be going to Sir Freds pensioners meals on wheels to afford it.

Farndale Walk 21st Feb 09

2009-02-22T19:27:00.001Z

Farndale Walk 21st Feb 09
Originally uploaded by harumscarum

Finally a sunset photograph worth it

Stepping out

2008-07-30T10:46:00.001Z

More creepy vistas from yorks shops

Winter

2008-02-19T16:01:00.001Z

Burr its cold

Coffee Files 3

2008-02-02T18:21:00.000Z

Yemen Mocha Mantari

This a a great and fiddly coffee I have only discovered in the last 6 months. When Roasted properly it has the longest most chocletty finish of any coffee I have ever tasted.

Grown in the higlands of yemen have a look here.

Pennine have the best but their supply is limited

http://www.pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk/commercialcoffeeingredients/Yemen_Mocca_Matari_Green_Coffee_Beans_(1kg).htm

Hasbeans version is just a bit off but nice all the same

Creates a lot of smoke and tons of chaff

however its worth it

this the roast profile I find works but I am open to any comments

basic trick is you want a nice long rolling roast

(poem potential)

Nah

Stage 1 160 Deg C for 4 minutes

Stage 2 204 Deg C for 4.30

Stage 3 236 Deg C for 4.30

Qutie a bit fo Trial and error involved in that one but enjoy kids

and remeber you don't have to take your clothes off to have a good time but it helps if you drink a bit of coffee and are awake.

nothing else I roast fits this profile

More Coffee Files

2008-02-02T18:05:00.000Z

Yeah sure I have a life

Mysore/ Lighter Roast with Bite

Again this particualar Mysore comes form the Excellent Pennine company.

see http://www.pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk/commercialcoffeeingredients/Indonesian_Coffee.htm

the great thing about this company is that there is no delivery chage one your order is over £50 and that means I normally buy at least 10 Kg from them.

Stage 1 160 Deg C for 3.15 again add 2 deg if tempeture is a bit on the cool side.

Stage 2 230 Deg C for 4 Minutes

Stage 3 236 Deg C fpr 4 minutes

This is my basic roasting curve for a lighter yet still punchy roast

The Mysore itself is a great indian Coffee which goes well as a binding background taste in a blend.

The Coffee Files

2008-02-02T17:47:00.001Z

As I am nervous of ahaving all my coffee information in a rather dilapated notebook I am transferring them here more for my own use than anyone elses.

All roast curves relate to my Hearthware I-roast ( not the latest editon)

Kivu From Democratic republic of Congo. This is a dark peppery coffee that is amoungst my favorites. In the Uk You can only really get it from excellent Pennine Tea and coffee Company

http://www.pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk/commercialcoffeeingredients/Green_(raw)_coffee.htm

This stuff must be far form fair trade but I figure any money going into the country is a good thing. I once found shotgun pellets in the coffee itself. I use it as a dark base for Expresso mixes and combined with a milder roast a Mysore as a day to day cupping coffee at work.

Roast curve

Dark

Stage 1 160 Deg C for 3 Min. I up the tempeture by 2 if the weather is colder

Stage 2 238 Deg C for 4 Min.

Stage 3 244 Deg C for 4.15 Min

However this if you minus 15 seconds form stage 3 this is my basic roast profile for Expresso.

Howver when I am using the excellent Single estate Hondouran Cup of Excellence "La fortuna"

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=985

I have change the Tempeture to 242 and drop 20 seconds for stage 3.

Also note to coffee lovers. La fortuna is one of the nicest cups of expresso you will ever have in your life.

St Pancreas

2008-01-15T11:32:00.001Z

The new station is really great. 800 million well spent.

Am ducked

2007-06-10T05:04:00.001Z

1 kilo pure beans. The results of the days roast.

2007-06-03T21:54:00.001Z

Nice roast. 20 per cent robusta

My new temple

2007-05-30T17:39:00.001Z

Further updates

2007-05-30T11:08:00.000Z

I have been using this blog as a kind of meta server for sending photos from my phone as it does publish them automatically and then auto updates my facebook account with an RSS feed and boy that kind of functionality gets me hot.

Some of the main things going on in my life at the moment.

I finally after years of wishing have a proper espresso machine. its a gaggia Classic and even though its second hand it works like a dream. its so sweet starting the morning with a couple (6 ) shots of caramel tinted full crema espresso's. too long have i waited for this world of pleasure.

I am reading Potemkins biography,

interesting guy (for a niece shagger) but he has that combination of Russian and 18th century heightened emotion which is a tad too much. Weeping and intriguing 24/7. Everyone relax. It is quite good but I wonder will I Read it right to the end.

Music Wise

Bit of a quandary at the moment I am downloading a lot of music but struggling to find something that truly blows me away. "the Rapture " come close but are3 not quite the real deal.

I have downloaded an unexpurgated version of "the God Delusion" and am listening to that instead on the way into work. Excellent writing, v. good literary style bit of a Renaissance man and the letters he is sent are a veritable goldmine of material. Yes yes I know he is very very anti religious but there is a need for such a stand as I see fundamental values creeping into such traditionally liberal countries England.

He's very funny as well.

I heard an Interview last night with Charles Webb, author of the Graduate, which was amazing. He seems a really singular kind of person. he gave away many of his possessions in the early 70's and lived in Britain in a state of poverty especially quite recently where he was almost evicted from his home. his wife suffered a nervous breakdown and has now two distinct personalities one of whom is a 5 year old girl. he has cared for he on his own and when asked if he would use this as material said he did not think he could as he did not know how to make it entertaining. this is because the believes the role of the author/playwright is primarily to entertain.

Such a great non stuck up his own ass writer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Webb

have a look at this for further information

2007-05-30T11:07:00.000Z

Yes yes I have not updated in awhile,

Truth be told I am limiting my screen time at the moment and the fact is any screen time is spent watching the Wire.

Oh lordy what a good show. I spoke to a guy at the weekend who is trying to write TV drama and he says that whilst the show inspires him it borderline depresses him as he feels the level and the quality is what he wants to create but its so hard.

To synopsise what makes it truly great

1. great attention to detail

2. very very slow building plots out a a typically 12 episode season the plot is not actually in place typically until ep.6

3. Fantastic characters, I've seen a few of them in other stuff and they never are as good (except the Mcnulty guy was ok in the 300,but that's just being an evil character in a great big silly neo fascist epic). incidentally has the best and most complex gay characters that I have seen on the small screen besides "are you being served",(joke) of course no really it has.

That's it really watch it lose your life, love it.

Glasgow high

2007-05-28T10:04:00.001Z

Colin Joins Barry Scotts Church

2007-05-26T22:53:00.001Z

Honest recruitment drive

2007-05-24T14:43:00.001Z

Done by me

Bird flu takes hold

2007-05-22T21:14:00.001Z

2007-03-26T20:59:00.000Z

I've gone Spartan mad after watching The 300 ( not blind mind, apparently they had a lot of slave fighters who don't really get a look in) Laconia is the region around Sparta and that got me to thinking about the meaning of laconic and I found this great quote.

concise, abrupt," 1589, from Gk. Lakonikos, from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece in ancient times, whose inhabitants were famous for their brevity of speech. When Philip of Macedon threatened them with, "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground," the Spartans' reply was, "If."

I watched a pretty good quality Screen grab of the film and to be frank I really enjoyed it, it appealed to my more baser martial instincts but it did so fantastically well. With regard the Iranians complaining about the film as western propaganda I feel they are falling into a predictable trap. The idea of brave fighters who are fighting a seemingly unwinnable war against a superpower and who essentially commit suicide and all want to die a glorious death which will be remembered forever and will inspire others against this enemy seems on reflection a cause that would be much more redolent to those engaged in such struggles today.

Love the diffuse light in the film and Xerxes harem of disfigured women is the kind of luxury a real god king would have. They portrayed him in a very strange get up which you just have to kick your inner historian (we've all got one) and accept. I agree with the guardians summing up as a neo facist, future camp classic.

ohh i gotta blab away

2007-03-15T21:08:00.000Z

Well the computer was out of action for a while and then I was up the walls so felt I had little time for this so I want to cover a lot.

Starting with Films and media I have been watching I have watched recently in no particular order. Thankfully no more gobbling turkeys like the Black Dahlia.

1. Hard Candy. I had misgivings about this one and if you except the premise that a 14 year old can be so super organised its a treat. I love the way the action is really contained and it felt more like a fantastic play than a film. Great use of the colour red and peachy cinematography.

The Wire Season one. we are up to about ep.7 on this and with all the hype surrounding it I was a bit under whelmed at first but its a grower as the writing and plotting are not like anything else coming out of America. Apparently one of the reasons for the difference is that the writers have never written for television before and thus they are not trying desperately to fit everything into a 1 hour slot. V. cutting edge.

Pbs documentary on Meth. a bit of drugs porn for me. oh yeah!!

The Prestige. had my misgivings about this one but it held out and became a good film by the end, bit mainstream but a lot of money well spent, but overall good,engaging and David Bowie was good as Telsa.

Babel I really enjoyed it was not too compromised by the appearance of Brad Pitt. the Moroccan segments were the strongest I felt and the overall film was great. The overall message that life is shit if you are poor and live or are from in the third world was layed a bit thick and it did confirm my suspicions in this regard is not really to take away from a marvellous film.

Puttering through season 5 of Curb your enthusiasm which although generally broader than the other series is still fantastic

have played a bit of Neverwinter Nights 2 looks good but hardly have any time for it.

I finished the book I was reading on the History of Opium by Martin Booth. It was quite good but was a bit skin deep at times I believe the definitive book on opium is yet to be written. He was good on the Chinese aspects of it and again highlighted the absolutely nefarious practices of the Japanese and their involvement in specifically using heroin as a weapon of war by having a specific policy of having a huge number of bogus clinics in China dispensing heroin to such a degree that China had a huge heroin addict population. one could argue that they were adults and could make their choices, however as any Japanese/Korean citizen faced a death sentence for possession one can believe they had an racist view that the Chinese were there for exploiting. its quite strange they were able to give it up after the war as in another book I read about cocaine the were the main suppliers of that in the late 20's up to the end of the war. essentially its as if N. Korea went totally legit. one could say their chickens came home to roost with the meth epidemic in Japan in the 1950's. And to be fair the Japanese were only at the end of a long line of mercantile adventurers who saw the Chinese as a means to a quick buck and sidestepped any issues of morality. In that sense all of our chickens are coming home to roost, one only has to look at Chinese diplomacy in Africa to they are turning into a old school colonial power hungry for natural resources and markets for their produce.

My next book to read was going to be read Abraham Eraly's book on the Mugahal Empire; The Mughal throne. I say was as my darling wife has fucking nicked it and even though she has never read any history in her life professes that she will sicken and pine away without this one. thus ensued a battle of wills and I caved in and now will have to root for somthing else. makes the Mughal throne seem all the more interesting.

keep up the comments folks.

Ha fucking ha

Other Recomendations

2007-02-27T08:27:00.000Z

http://homepage.mac.com/russellhunt/iMovieTheater30.html

Here is a link for a Canadian film company whose work I came across on You Tube. Really good stuff.
they did a series of films on this gay couple who are Methamphetamine addicts and collect Junk on the streets on Montreal. Its really left field and is the kind of thing that really shows You-tubes strength. i.e a great production that would rarely get the green light from a commissioning editor.

rougemont films

Enjoy

Quick recomendation

2007-02-27T08:15:00.000Z

http://www.shareup.com/Startup_Optimizer-download-47143.html

Just wanted to reccomend this piece of freeware. gets rid of all the crud that attempts to start up as you are starting your PC.
Really easy to use and it helped me identify a back door trojan that had been disguising itself as Steam.exe. As it was pretending to be Steam i was giving it access through my firewall. duhh. you will really notice a difference in you performance once you have this baby installed.

Last night

2007-02-27T08:00:00.000Z

Last night watched a very ropey film, the Black Dahlia, it was so bad that at times it seeemed to teeter on the the brink of high farce without ever being actually that entertaining. I stuck with it as I really enjoyed the book it seemed it was directed by an adolesant who had a great cinamatographer. One for the bin I'm afraid. Also Scarlett Johnason plays the dumb blond suspiciously well, there is somthing she does with her mouth that makes me feel that she is doing more than mere acting she may actually be semi retarded. I am going ro redownload Babel today and hopefully I'll have more luck with that.

Spelt Bread

2007-02-26T19:43:00.000Z

I love this stuff. I Only discovered it in the last 6 months. its an ancient form of wheat and makes the most amazing type of Brown bread that I have ever tried in my my life. Must cut down on the word amazing as I feel its popping up with a dull regularity.

any way back to the bread. I use a recipe which is called Roman army bread recipe

Ingredients:

500g spelt flour
1 tsp sea salt
3 tsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
15g fresh yeast (if available) (works fine with dried)
400ml warm water

Method:

1. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.

2. Blend the yeast into half the water and roughly mix into the flour.

3. Dissolve the salt in the remaining water and add to the flour, followed by the oil. Knead for 15 minutes.

4. Leave the dough dusted with flour and allow to rise in a warm place (best covered with a towel to avoid draft) for 20 to 25 minutes.

5. Divide the dough into two large greased bread tins.

6. Preheat the oven to 180C, 370F, Gas Mark 5 (4 is better) and bake for 40-45 minutes.

thanks to www.naturalife-wholefoods.co.uk for the text but its essentially the one on the back of the doves farm packet.

Tips

First thing yes the quantities look all fucked but they are not. you get a very wet dough which really does need 15 solid minutes stirring however the upshot is you get a fantastic structure to this bread, and also a bit of a workout. it becomes very elastic an super aereated. Reduce the cooking time if you don't use tins to about 25 mins. apparently it has good health benefits but who cares as its delicious...or amazing..

Once Upon a Time in Iran

2007-02-25T23:56:00.000Z

Have just rewatched this amazing documentary which was on Channnel 4. It seems fair to say that David Sim portrayed a slightly ofically sanctioned version of events but the power of the material was amazing. i spent the day on line trying to track down more of the music of SadeqAhangaran and consquently ended up on a lot of shia religious websites which was interesting. the footage of the build up for the battles was very intense with almost all of the people crying and singing and some fo them were so young. I do wonder if their will be a war, are the Americans stupid enough to attack? yes, the way they are going they could end up being viewed as the evil empire of the early part of this century. Iran has a shakier government that most would belive but i feel that an attack would unify the country together and I then think we could be looking a future of a constant war of attrition in the whole region.

book on the There is a real Shia theme theme going on for me at themoment as i am reading Bernard Leavins book on the ismaelite sect of the Assassins at the moment. i really regret not traveling into Iran when i was in Armenia when i had such a clear opportunity.Would have loved to travel in the northern mountains. i would have also liked to visit the grave of Hulagu Khan, the khan who sacked Bhagdad and by doing so could be said to have brought and end to a golden age in the region. he is buried on kaboudi island in Lake Urmia in northern Iran. looks like a wild place when ilook at it on google Earth perhaps i would come over all shelly whilst looking at the grave of a man who ruled half of asia in the middle of a wild and desolate landscape...

or perhaps not, first post so bear with me whilst I find my feet..

insanefountain

Loin of Pork with a Fig and Balsamic and Cider Sauce with some Pimientos and roasted Cauliflower de Padrón

IMAG0146

Review: Sugar: A Bittersweet History

Provençal Octopus Stew

My version of provençal octopus

slow roasted Pork belly w veg

Pigeon breasts and Lentils with Asparagus and Broad beans

Great dip for the potentially lean

Kindle

Scallop and King Prawn Gratin

chorizo chard and Feta Spagetti

Fixed pimientos de Padrón

Spicy Hot Prawns

Finally the low down on Coq au Vin

Divine Salad fun

Ghormeh Sabzi fantastic Persian Casserole

My version of Potato Bravas

Wee Cooking project going on over the last while

45. August Escoffier's oxtail soupChosen by Gordon Ramsay

A quick note

Old Fritzy shows how its done

Tombelaine

Keith Hellawell, where is he now

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world

Bored of Swine Flu, Bring of the Black Death

Marina AbramoviÄ‡ Presentsâ€¦ | Manchester International Festival

Like Leftfield cinema but are lazy and indolent, I have the solution

Inside the mind of an autistic savant - life - 07 January 2009 - New Scientist

UNODC mugged by reality

STS-125 Atlantis Solar Transit (200905120002HQ)

Make Heroin Legal

what I am reading at the moment

Cappuccino of haricot and truffle

Farndale Walk 21st Feb 09

Stepping out

Winter

Coffee Files 3

More Coffee Files

The Coffee Files

St Pancreas

Am ducked

1 kilo pure beans. The results of the days roast.

My new temple

Further updates

Glasgow high

Colin Joins Barry Scotts Church

Honest recruitment drive

Bird flu takes hold

ohh i gotta blab away

Other Recomendations

Quick recomendation

Last night

Spelt Bread

Ingredients:

Method:

Tips

Once Upon a Time in Iran

45. August Escoffier's oxtail soup
Chosen by Gordon Ramsay