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oliver sudden
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« Reply #960 on: 13:17:43, 25-12-2007 » |
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Progress report from Brockley! Enormous slab of beef has been rubbed with a mixture of salt, pepper and crushed star anise and is roasting away merrily. Celeriac has been dug up from garden along with a mutant parsnip. Rolled loin of venison has been brought in from shed where it has been hanging for three weeks and on the basis of an initial tasting lamina promises to be quite spectacular. Shiraz has been decanted. Champers is waiting on the back doorstep. So just a normal morning here really.  |
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Antheil
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« Reply #961 on: 13:40:21, 25-12-2007 » |
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That sounds a veritable feast!! Mutant parsnips are the must have veggie for Christmas but sadly Tesco had completely run out of them yesterday. I settled for some rudely shaped carrots instead. I'm not sure if I have a problem with my oven or the National Grid is on a go-slow but things aren't moving along very quickly here  I fear before the legless bird in the oven is cooked we might all be totally legless and I forgot to buy the chestnuts and trying to listen to Humph in Wonderland on R4 the phone was constantly ringing. Ho Hum, I expect it'll all turn out OK though |
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #962 on: 13:43:08, 25-12-2007 » |
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The aïoli has been broached. I am reminded of the old gag about the name springing from the exclamation of the first person to encounter the breath of one who had eaten some. I may be gone for some time.   |
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Morticia
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« Reply #963 on: 13:51:08, 25-12-2007 » |
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Holy aioli Ollie! Your repast is positively medieval in its grandeur! I think Mark should get several gold stars for for culinary diligence, or at least one of these  |
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Antheil
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« Reply #964 on: 13:57:52, 25-12-2007 » |
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Indeed Mort, positively Mediaeval!! Haunches of venison hung for 3 weeks in a shed in South-East London brings to mind .......... Well, not sure what it brings to mind really but I hope in that there are lusty serving wenches in wimples who will serve this amazing fare to Ollie and Mark as they sit on the top table with their trenchers and pewter goblets whilst throwing a crust to the Serfs  |
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Antheil
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« Reply #965 on: 14:58:09, 25-12-2007 » |
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Oh Buglar, buglar and thrice times buglar!! Me oven has packed up  I wondered why the red light was on and no delish smells was wafting forth. I have now put on another oven but having had the bird sit sullenly in an obviously non-functioning environment I don't know if I fancy it anymore - might be a case of lentil soup? Garnished with the almond and apricot stuffing perhaps? |
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #966 on: 14:59:56, 25-12-2007 » |
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Quick break between courses... the beef is out of the oven and resting and Mark and Liz are buying a travel guide online for Liz's parents who are paying a visit in May. The aïoli has been served with crudités washed and cut by my own fair hand. (Which is the right one in case you're wondering.) I completely agree with John Lanchester that one of the lovely things about aïoli is its inversion of the normal relationship between 'dish' and 'sauce'. Mmm.
Mark rustled up some savoury pikelets (or 'picklets' says the recipe) to accompany the venison for starters. Smoked salmon for Liz.
You may be interested in the champers. We found it at a French grocer called Dégustation down by Brockley station. It's a 2002 blanc de noirs from a viticultrice by the name of Marie-Noëlle Ledru in Ambonnay-sur-Marne. Apparently 2002 wasn't supposed to have been great year and Mme Ledru didn't want to bottle it but the chap from Dégustation visited her and on tasting insisted she issue a few bottles. It was certainly worth it. She hasn't added any sugar and it's marvellously fruity but very dry. Not exactly cheap but as a once a year indulgence well within the reach of a freelance musician.
I know that looks like Pseuds'/Pseud's/Pseuds Corner stuff but it's all true...
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« Last Edit: 15:02:40, 25-12-2007 by oliver sudden »
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John W
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« Reply #967 on: 15:36:47, 25-12-2007 » |
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My daughter was pleased with one of the presents I got her. Background: she has a modern 'degree', a B.A. in one of those subjects to do with the leisure business, including marketing, hospitality, hotel management AND COOKING so she has a minor cheffing qualification and regularly prepares exotic meals and sauces etc. BUT one day she sighed as she didn't know how to POACH an egg and scurried to the internet for good instructions So, I presented her with Delia's Complete Cookery Course in a big hardback book edition with recipes and advice on everything (including poached eggs!) lovely illustrations. I expect there is a DVD version but I know my daughter likes to READ a recipe. She is well pleased! And is already talking about making a little plot of our garden into a Herb Garden ( advice sought - use grow bags? or mix clean topsoil and compost?) |
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thompson1780
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« Reply #968 on: 22:23:46, 25-12-2007 » |
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Progress report from Tommoland
Yum Yum. I am now fat.
Tommo
(Only minor disasters were a) par-boiling the pots a fraction too long before roasting, and b) staring to make the sauce a fraction too late because of a lack of hobs. The two incidents were not connected.).
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Made by Thompson & son, at the Violin & c. the West end of St. Paul's Churchyard, LONDON
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Andy D
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« Reply #969 on: 23:11:53, 25-12-2007 » |
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I succumbed to tradition (sort of) and did some roast pots/parsnips in extra virgin. In the absence of rosemary, added lots of sprigs of sage which crisped up nicely - and seemed to lose a lot of their flavour in the process! Almost buggered it all up by turning the oven off after the pots had been in for about 15 mins but fortunately I noticed in time. Served with peas and brinjal pickle - mmm!
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Antheil
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« Reply #970 on: 00:02:24, 26-12-2007 » |
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After the trauma of the non-functioning oven I turned on the other oven and the house filled with dense smoke. So I opened the back door whilst turning up the Carols from Kings to max vol (just to entertain the neighbourhood, in case they didn't know it was Christmas). However, it all turned out well and was in the end delish. Oh, how we sobbed watching Dr. Who and the really little cute Cyberborg who lost all his energy saving the world and even more sobs as Astrid fell off the edge. Few more tears watching Love Actutally. Love Bill Nighy. All in all, pretty good day |
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #971 on: 00:03:51, 26-12-2007 » |
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staring to make the sauce a fraction too late How many times to we have to tell you, a watched pot doesn't boil? I, too, am now fat. Tremendous roast beef whose tenderness and succulence and flavoursomeness defeat my meagre powers of description. Parsnips, sprouts, potato & celeriac mash, broccoli. 2000 Brokenwood McLaren Vale shiraz (very blackcurranty) which Mark had been hanging on to for just such an occasion. Yummy explode-in-the-mouth pudding. Ignited by this very same Ollie. A couple of hours digestion time before cheesing on a Mont d'or, a Cados and something harder whose name I'm afraid has escaped me. Flatbreads by Mark and some stray 'picklets' from the starter which it would have been a shame to waste. Also a little quince paste to cushion the bacterial onslaught. Cider to accompany which of course went particularly well with the Cados (that being more or less a Calvados-washed-rind Camembert). We couldn't find room for the ricciarelli baked last night so they'll have to await another day. I mashed the mash, ignited the pudding, washed up between courses, washed and cut the crudities for the aïoli and performed other stray tasks as directed. All important work was however done by Mark. To whom hats off. Mine, anyway.  Dr Who here as well - and yes, Astrid's departure also rather touching partly since I'd never seen something like that tried with a teleport system before so it took me rather by surprise. And then North by Northwest which is a riot of course... as is the 'making of' narrated by Eva Marie Saint. Must be time for bed. Merry Christmas again to all! (er, especially those for whom it's still December 25...) Night folks... |
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« Last Edit: 00:10:18, 26-12-2007 by oliver sudden »
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time_is_now
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« Reply #972 on: 00:39:15, 26-12-2007 » |
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Oh, how we sobbed watching Dr. Who and the really little cute Cyberborg who lost all his energy saving the world Oh, wasn't he just! Couldn't get on with Love Actually though, I'm afraid. Too many random famous actors/actresses and I couldn't work out what was going on, but I'd missed the beginning which probably didn't help. Finished transferring another Charles Rosen Chopin lecture to CD then started on my 2DVD set of Angels in America (Xmas present from Mum as requested). Just making a cup of tea then will go back and watch episode 2 before bed I think. |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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Antheil
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« Reply #973 on: 01:23:01, 26-12-2007 » |
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Oh, time is now, to think you fell in love with the same little Cyberborg as I did really means a lot to me I find Dr. Who so emotional at the best of times Love Actually, well after the incident of the non-functional oven even Hugh Grant tends to look appealing! |
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #974 on: 07:26:34, 26-12-2007 » |
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Entire success with the Torheit celebrations, which started very late since so many of the guests were coming on after their shows and concerts. The kulebyaka worked out very well, and the only casualty of the evening was a spinach & mozzarella quiche which got forgotten in the oven until it sent out smoke-signals for rescue. The fried pear, roquefort, rocket & crostini salad was the unassuming hit of the evening. Carriages were at 5am. Does anyone have an exceptionally effective hangover cure? Berocca seems to have bypassed my central nervous system. Perhaps making that 1.5l jug of margarita was, on reflection, not such a good idea after all... I've got up, had coffee, done the washing-up, and I'm now going back to bed |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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