The Lakeland Effect

As you might have deduced from reading previous posts, I'm quite a keen cook. What might not be so clear is that I am also a dedicated Bond fan. The former means I use the kitchen... a lot. The latter has given me a love of gadgets. Combine the two and you get to the heart of my love of kitchen gadgets.

Almost a secondary hobby is the collection of interestingly shaped bits of equipment. I love browsing kitchen shops looking at (and buying) various bits of kit. Better still is planning recipes where a new toy piece of equipment is vital. You would be amazed how many uses a mortar and pestle has. If I feel like being particularly challenged then there is always the game of 'guess the purpose' in relation to particularly oddly shaped items on shop shelves.

All this leads me on to one shop in particular. A haven for those of a cooking disposition; Lakeland. For the uninitiated, Lakeland is a chain of shops where it is possibly to buy almost every conceivable type of kitchen equipment and a few inconceivable ones to boot. A particular favourite is some specially domed tupperware designed to store half an onion.

The above example perfectly demonstrates something that I have come to call "The Lakeland Effect". Said effect is the ability of the shop to fill itself with dozens of items that I for one desperately need but didn't know I needed them until I saw them

Don't believe me? How about the pre-cut rings of backing paper for lining cake tins. Or a specially designed banana box. And if that doesn't tickle your fancy, you could always pick up some colour-coded kitchen knives?

Right, I'm off. I've heard there's a sale on!

TFB

The Oakley of Salt

This post is a shameless plug for a particular product so I will make it clear from the start that I am not receiving payment of any kind for this review from the manufacturers and, if they see fit to send me any form of gratuity after reading this (I can be contacted by the email form to the right!!) I will of course publish it.

Anyway, on to the post proper. Almost all recipes call for salt. It's so common that it can become almost invisible on the page. Yet proper seasoning does lift a dish from being a simple cure for hunger to being a delicious delicacy. Salt, in moderation, can be an excellent way to improve do this.

Some say that the only way to get good food is to get good ingredients. I agree with this to a point but I for one am not in the fortunate position to be able to splash out on the best of all ingredients. Some have to be economised on for the greater good of my bank balance. However I do believe that there is one ingredient that, if a bit more is spent on it, can be used to bring out the best in other ingredients you have perhaps saved on. That ingredient is salt and specifically Maldon sea salt.

It sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Brand named salt. The ultimate yuppie accessory. However I stick to my guns. Using Maldon in your day to day cooking makes a huge improvement. Place a crystal on your tongue and you wll get a wonderfully intense salty flavour. So much so that only the occasional pinch is needed to achieve wonderful flavours in your food. Anecdotal evidence backs me up on this. I find I use far less of this than of other brands of sea salt to achieve similar levels of flavour. Compared to ground table salt it's not even in the same league.

There is the secondary advantage of it being available in several high street supermarket chains. This makes it easy to get. While it would be lovely to spend hours browsing in delis and independent markets for the weekly shop, few of us have the time. Supermarkets tend to be the default option so it's availability there does make life much easier.

In fact the only major draw back it the price. At over £2 for 500g it isn't cheap but I still maintaitn that it is well worth the money.

Finally, for those of you interested in the origin of the title of this post: it comes from an incident on a family holiday years ago. I had bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses prompting much mocking from my parents about being a fashion victim. This lasted right up until I went for a swim and gave the sunglasses to my mother to keep safe. She put them on so they wouldn't get lost and realised in an instant that, as well as being expensive, they were in fact brilliant sunglasses and allowed her eyes to relax instead of just dimming the glare. So much so that next birthday, she requested a pair!

Anyway, I digress. Pick up some Maldon with your next weekly shop and give it a try. If you feel like it, you can even let me know what you think

TFB

Pasta a la Funghi (or Pasta with Mushrooms)

In light of the recent searing heat wave I thought I would post up a light, summery recipe to enjoy possibly in the sun. Naturally, since the British weather has a cynical sense of humour, the heavens opened and it started raining as I was typing it up.

Never the less I will give you the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
100g white mushrooms, chopped
100g chestnut mushrooms, chopped
100g shitake mushrooms, chopped
sploosh of whisky
2tbsp lemon juice
large glass dry white wine
150g cream cheese
1kg tagliatelle
salt and pepper
vegetable oil

Method:

Fry the garlic gently in well seasoned oil.

Add the chopped mushrooms in hand full sized batches, stirring constantly and allowing excess fluid to cook off in between adding batches.

Once the mushrooms have cooked, add the lemon juice and stir.

Add the wine and whisky then reduce until the fluids have become syrupy and coated the mushrooms and garlic.

Add the cream cheese and stir gently until the cream cheese has melted and is mixed evenly.

Mix through cooked tagliatelle and garnish with parsley and grated parmesan

Serves 6 as a starter and 4 as a main course.

Enjoy!

TFB

Whisky Kitchen

This might be a first in the world of book reviews; certainly it is for my blog. It's a cookbook review. I can safely say that this book in question is one of the best impulse-buys of my life. It is Whisky Kitchen.

Many years ago I saw this out of the corner of my eye at the Royal Highland Show. Given it combined whisky and cooking (and had a delicious looking delicacy on the front) I had to buy it. Years later I still have it, albeit in a slightly more careworn state, and I still refer to it regularly.

The book was written by chefs Sheila McConachie and Graham Harvey who wanted to share their love of Scottish produce and combine it with their love of whisky. They wanted to show that a wee sploosh of whisky can make all the difference in a meal.

For those of you that don't like whisky (yet) fear not. The recipes are not designed to taste of whisky (mostly). Instead the whisky adds depth and body to the dishes. Don't believe me? I will give you the example of my mother. She is not a whisky fan despite my best attempts to convert her and as a result, viewed the book with some suspicion. After trying a few recipes she promptly decided that it was delicious and she wanted a copy of the book as a present. Enough said!

The layout of the book is fantastic. Recipes are laid out in a clear, easy to follow way with useful hints and tips. These are coupled with spectacular photos that verge on the pornographic and give some excellent guidance on the best way to plate it up.

What of the food? There is a wonderful range of dishes to suit all tastes and seasons. All are relatively straight forward to do and, better still, don't have an exhaustive, bank-breaking list of ingredients They are also broken down into component parts allowing you to combine elements from several dishes. Great fun to play with.

One word of warning. All of the recipes call for different whiskies. Buying bottles of  all of these will set you back many hundreds of pounds. A lot of money you'll agree. The recipes can be made using miniatures of the malts in question. This is better but with miniatures costing £5 and £10 it could still become pricey... and not leave much left over! For most of the recipes, I generally use some generic plonk: whatever is in my decanter which is usually whatever is on special offer in the supermarket. In most cases, the flavours in the dish are bold enough that the flavour of whisky is sufficient to enhance them without using specific malts. Well I think so anyway.

So there we have it, an excellent book for whisky lovers but also for those that love excellent food that is well presented and straight forward to prepare...

JR

Eating to be Polite

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have been fairly busy, not least researching some posts for here. Today however I wanted to have a closer look at a subject that came up during a dinner party last night; namely what to do if presented with something you actively dislike at a social function?

This train of thought was sparked by going round the table recalling times when they had to force down a dish they didn't like "to be polite". Those of you that know me well won't be surprised to hear that, when my turn came, I said rather bluntly that I just wouldn't eat it. For those of you that don't know me, I have always had a bit of a reputation for 'knowing my own mind' as my school reports euphemistically put it. In short, I'm stubborn and have no problem standing out as different if it suits me!

Let's start with the arguments for forcing something down. The logic I was faced with fundamentally made sense: your host has gone to no small effort and expense to provide food. It would be rude to reject it.

Fundamentally I would agree with this. I would like to add that surely the point is not that your host has put effort into the preparation but is in fact that your host has made a meal with the intention that you enjoy it. Certainly I have yet to encounter someone that prepares food for others that doesn't want to give pleasure. Therefore pretending to like something to spare feelings is disingenuous and a waste of everybody's time.

It is also worth noting that, by pretending to like something, you are in essence lying to your host. Put in this context which it more rude; lying to somebody or being honest and saying you don't like something? I would suggest it's the deception. From a personal point of view, I would far prefer someone told me they didn't like something that I made rather than pretending to like it. Then again, perhaps I'm spoiled. Anybody that is likely to cook for me is close enough as a friend that they wouldn't take blunt honesty to heart and equally, I'm confident they would be as brutal with me. And as for strangers, well I don't want to offend them for sport but better that than enduring a meal I don't like.

Perhaps my view is informed by someone close to me (who shall remain nameless for their own protection). On being presented with a dish they made all the appropriate noises of gratitude and praise. Unfortunately the meal quickly became an ordeal rather than a pleasure. Buoyed by it's reception, the host then proceeded to make the same dish every time the protagonist came to visit. You see what I mean? A viscous circle develops where nobody really benefits.

It's fair to say that social interaction is fuelled by minor lies: "I like your haircut", "Holiday snaps. Wonderful" and "Let's go see the latest Rom Com" are ones that spring quickly to mind. I would however suggest that eating an unpleasant meal is so much of an ordeal that an exemption should be granted for food. Plus, in these days of intolerances and dietary fads, it is becoming far more socially acceptable to decline dishes or/parts of dishes, so why not use this to your advantage?

Those are my thoughts. I don't think they're too unreasonable.

TFB

Eden Brewery

I have always loved St. Andrews. As a child, I spent many happy summers there eating ice cream, exploring the rock pools, discovering the secret cold war bunker and generally having fun. Crucially I spent many hours on the beach conducting serious excavations as small (and larger) boys are wont to do. Many years later I had some of the happiest and proudest moments of my life there as a student of the ancient University. It was therefore a fairly foregone conclusion that, when a brewery was opened there, I was going to like the beer it produced.

Well finally such a beer exists at last. Eden Brewery has started brewing craft beers in the old paper mill in Guardbridge; technically not St. Andrews but walking distance away so we'll gloss over that. And anyway, the site is owned by St. Andrews Uni. Anyway, enough about the location. The beer is fabulous.

Before I go into details about the products let me tell you a bit about the brewery. It is truly run on a small scale, the whole process can be seen by swivelling one's eyes. Better still, while the bottling may be semi-automated, the capping is done by hand. Currently, the operation employs a total of ten people. Don't however be fooled by the small scale. Eden Brewery is taking Britain by storm. At the moment, they are supplying pubs across Scotland and making a big impact at foodie fares throughout the country. The products are proving so popular that supply is struggling to keep up with demand. Now, after less than a year, expansion is in the offing.

One thing that struck me about Eden Brewery is the passion that everyone feels for the beer. All the people I have encountered from the brewery love what they make.

Now, the beer. It won instant brownie points when I when I was offered a beer to sup during the tour. A nice blonde if you're interested. We started with a brief history of the site. A brewery existed there in the 1800s which was followed by a distillery. Then the whole enterprise went down hill; it became a paper mill which eventually closed in 2008. It's current incarnation as a brewery started last year and has a strong focus on local produce (most of the malt is grown by a local farmer).

Quite a spectrum of beers are produced. As well as a blonde, I.P.A., porter and bitter, they also produce a range of beers aged in various spirit casks; rum, bourbon and whisky. Currently whisky casks from different whisky areas are being used as an experiment to see if they have any effect on the final product. As someone who loves whisky, this is a bit of a dream combination. I can confidently say that casks from different areas do affect the flavour of the beer. Delicious doesn't quite cover it. Mindblowing is a better word.

I'm going to restrict my descriptions of specific beers to my ultimate favourites otherwise I will bore you senseless. First is the blonde. It is light, crisp and full-bodied. To use descriptions I heard on the tour, it's a quaffing beer. Ideal to drink lightly chilled on a warm afternoon, or evening... or morning at a push!

Next (and slightly left-field given my usual taste in beers) is the porter. It had a beautiful, rich flavour with lots of black coffee at first followed up by good dark chocolate. The colour is an intense brown, almost to the point of being black and it gives a wonderful golden head.

My final entry, and by far my favourite beer so far, is the highland cask aged beer. It has the stunning amber colour of the peaty streams that supply the distillery who provide the cask (and happens to be one of my favourite malts). The beer itself is smooth and velvety with sweet overtones and hints of soft fruits. It slips down beautifully, although it is certainly more of a sipping beer. Something to be savoured gently rather than sunk in volume.

So far I have described my favourites. The others in the range are not far off being equally as good, better to a different palette. I hugely enjoyed all of them as well as the way they're made and the ethos of the brewery.

In conclusion, I can only say that for about seven years my answer to any enquiry about my favourite beer has remained steadfastly unchanged. Since I tried my first beer from Eden Brewery a few weeks ago, it has inhabited poll position and shows no sign of changing any time soon. My favourite among all of these; the highland whisky cask aged beer. It's magnificent.

If you see some, pick some up and give it a try. Let me know what you think.

Cheers

TFB

Beer

"Beer; sweet sweet beer. The cause and solution to all life's problems!" A quote by Homer (Simpson. I'm not that clever). Although I don't fully subscribe to this theory, it does have a pleasing ring to it. And it's undoubtedly true that a beer or two can easily put a problem into perspective.

Beer was one of the first drinks I grew to like. This is hardly surprising since beer is also the only drink it is socially acceptable to order as a young bloke. Much like Will from The Inbetweeners, teenage lads will order a pint in the pub while inwardly thinking, "Gosh that's a lot!" or words to that effect... Not only that but beer is also the ultimate in acquired tastes. Translated this means that one's first pint is always a complete mission (although one of course must act like one is savouring every mouth full).

Despite this, having a pint is still tremendously satisfying. It's a nice volume (the first half slakes thirst, the second cam be sipped and savoured), the glass feels just right in the hand and there is always a slight rush of testosterone when ordering it. There is also a pleasing amount of ceremony in the pouring of a pint especially when completed with the perfect head. It is consistently wholesome and satisfying. While wine is both the fuel and the subject of intellectual discussion and whisky generally aides reflection and camaraderie; beer is undoubtedly the drink of relaxation. The victory celebration after toil and endeavour.

When I was younger, my choice of beer was guided by what was cheap and what was strong. Naturally this made me gravitate towards mass-produced lagers that had to be served super-chilled to mask their lack of flavour. As I grew up and my taste became more sophisticated Stout became my pint of choice (even if it did need to be consumed with a knife and fork). Shortly afterwards I developed a taste for bitter or real ale as it is otherwise known.

This was driven partly out of a desire to appear different and sophisticated but mainly because I loved the deep and complex flavours (and the fact that my tongue didn't get frostbite with every sip). I have been extremely lucky. My taste for ale developed just before it became very fashionable to drink it. As a result, they soon became widely available in supermarkets and pubs rather than exclusively in specialist off-licences.

The other reason I love ale is the variety of drinks available. Breweries can be found in almost every part of the country, all providing beers with their own, unique, character. While some of these are experiences never to be repeated (the chocolate beer was an abrupt shock to my taste-buds) others have become firm favourites. Finally there are the names. Some of them are worthy of awards in their own right; Cornish knockers being a good example. A particular favourite is T.E.A. which allows one to go home and say, "Yes darling, I went to the pub but I only had tea!"

Anyway, all this talk of beer has made me thirsty. I'm off for a pint.

Cheers!

TFB

Restaurant Review: The Merchants Warwick

Things did not start well. We were on a day trip to Warwick which had proved fairly disappointing so far. Now we were hungry. Tempers were frayed and sarcastic jibes were getting less jovial and more venomous. We needed food. She was on the spy for a twee little tearoom with 'lovely' cakes or, failing that, a ghastly chain coffee shop with it's sweaty, plastic sandwiches and gratuitously loud coffee machines. I on the other hand was on the lookout for somewhere with at least the potential of providing a decent feed and maybe even some nutritional value. I do like tea and scones but let's be honest; they're not a meal.

Eventually we ended up going into the Merchants for no other reason than it was beside us when our tempers finally snapped. However it was still not plain sailing. The Merchants is a pub and that meant I had "won". She was therefore determined not to like it! Menus were eyed with suspicion bordering on disdain as flaws were looked for..

Then the food came. Two bowls of hearty soup and a portion of chips later and we were back to liking each other. Not just that; the Merchants had secured it's place in our affections. So much so, my girlfriend decided, virtually on the spot, that she wanted to return there for her birthday.

The pub itself has a lovely, relaxed atmosphere. A feature I particularly enjoyed was the menu; it was displayed on blackboards around the wall. There were also some rather amusing flow charts to help people decide the details of their dishes. What impressed us most was the philosophy with which it was run. Everything about it was truly local from the produce on the menu to the chefs in the kitchen who had trained at the local catering college. That said, it wasn't done in a pious or preachy way. The brothers who own it seem to have a genuine love of their area and care for their community.

Our second trip wasn't quite as much of a success. This time was the birthday dinner mentioned before. The first thing that lost it points was the fact that the Merchants isn't dog friendly which in turn meant that my girlfriend's beloved hound wasn't able to participate in the festivities (read scavenge food off plates). Service was also painfully slow at times. If it has been a busy night then there would have been some excuse but the night we were there, it was very quiet. Now I am the first to admit that near-constant offers of new drinks is a mite irritating, enormous gaps between drinks wasn't enormous fun either. Presenting my girlfriend's aunt with a small glass of wine was a bit of a faux pas too.

Food wise; it was good but not astonishing. I liked that the ingredients were combined in dishes to give a slightly exotic feel and move away from the traditional pints and pies associated with pub grub. However some of the execution left a bit to be desired. For a starter I had smoked trout with parsnip crisps which was rather nice. The only problem was that it was tangled up in a mire of superfluous green stuff which had to be waded through and picked apart. Net result: I was left feeling frustrated and a bit unsatisfied.

Things picked up with my main course. I had a delicious chicken dish with risotto and chorizo. There was just enough spice to make everything interesting and the chorizo was fried to the point of being slightly crispy giving a lovely blend of textures as well as flavours. Critically, there was also a decent amount on the plate and it was unencumbered by rabbit food. I also had a chance to try the herby pancakes stuffed with cheese and mushrooms. I surprised myself by really rather liking the vegetarian option. The addition of herbs to the pancakes made the dish lively and the mushrooms gave a nice texture to it. One down side was that the sweet-potato chips were a bit limp and greasy although they tasted fabulous. Given that the pancakes were very generously proportioned I might also be a bit controversial and say that two per portion was a bit on the generous side!

Desert was, as always, a cheese board. I found the selection of cheese (a cheddar, brie and blue cheese) a bit uninspiring but this was mitigated a) by hearty portion sizes and b) by the fact that I was provided with sufficient biscuits and bread to be able to eat all the cheese. I always find it enormously frustrating when tucking into a decent cheeseboard when I run out of means to eat it and have to try and juggle various morsels to get them to my mouth. My girlfriend had the chocolate brownie and I can only guess from the fervour with which it was demolished, that it was quite nice!

So overall conclusion? Despite my grumblings, I would strongly recommend this place for a decent plate of food at a reasonable price. Yes the wait was a bit irksome but ultimately it was good food and enhanced by the fact it was sourced locally and prepared by locals not microwaved from the freezer.

TFB

Prawn Pasta

It's been a while since I posted up a recipe so here's one I learned from my Italian flatmate a few years ago. This is perfect for a quick dinner on a week-night since it's quick and easy. As an added bonus, it's easy to prepare in bulk so there will be enough for lunch the next day. Enjoy:

Ingredients:

1 big clove of garlic (diced)
3 large courgettes
1 pack of prawns (150 - 200g)
1 tbsp cream cheese
1 large glass white wine (use the 1:1 ratio. One glass for the dish: one glass for the chef!)
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper
pasta enough for 2 people (I'm deliberately avoiding giving measures since the volume of pasta used generally varies with appetite/waist size)

Method:

Place crushed garlic in a large frying pan or wok with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and a little salt and pepper. Cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes so the garlic infuses into the oil.

Add the finely sliced courgette and fry on a high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring vigorously. The aim is to get the courgettes to break down into a pulp so slice them as finely as you can and stir them regularly to get them to break down.

Once the courgettes have broken down, add the prawns and stir through.

Allow to cook for a couple of minutes then add the wine. Allow the wine to reduce over a medium heat until the wine is thick, syrupy and coats the rest of the ingredients.

Add the lemon juice and cream cheese and stir briskly to ensure everything is well combined.

Stir the final mixture through some cooked pasta and serve immediately, topped with some freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Whatever is left over, put in tupperware and have the next day for lunch.

The original recipe omitted the cream cheese but I think this adds a layer of depth to the flavour.

Enjoy

TFB

Whisky

This post was originally intended to be my first post on one of my greatest passions; whisky. The word whisky comes from the corruption of the Gaelic term Water of Life. I can't think of a better description. This golden liquid has got heart and soul!

I have "liked" whisky ever since I can remember. By this I mean I decided that I was rather fond of it before I tried it in any great quantity or quality (aside from the occasional hot toddy). Fortunately, when I did get round to trying it, I loved it! Unlike beer, I didn't even need to acquire the taste for Scotch. The rich, electrifying flavour had me captivated at once. The burning sensation from drinking neat spirit took a bit longer to get used to.

It's nto just the flavour of whisky I love. I find the lore and legend that has built up around whisky charming and enchanting too. I know the hills and heather imagery is tourist and a bit cheesy but I still love it. This is in no small part because these images aren't entirely inaccurate. Even the biggest distilleries with the most modern equipment occupy ancient buildings in remote glens.

There is also an almost endless amounts of variety in the whisky world.  Subtle variations in the manufacture process or slight geographical differences in the distilleries combine to give a wealth of different flavours in the glass. It's fun learning about all of these nuances and trying to pin down the different flavours.

Beyond all of this though, whisky is a catalyst for experiences. A tour round the Highlands with my father when we explored the whisky trail remains one of the happiest memories of my late teens (despite the locals in the pub beside the hotel being a bit over-friendly). Bonding over a shared passion has also made me several new and dear friends. The influence of whisky has also lead to some great adventures and exploits with old friends.

However, there is one feeling above all others that describes my emotions towards whisky; bloody tasty.

Sliante

TFB