Believe it...

You might wonder what a knitted Ferari has in common with 

a portrait of a South American tribal chief painted on a tortilla (I was going to show Jimi Hendrix painted on dried dung, but couldn't get a good photo of that),

a large collection of belt buckles, 

some sushi made from drier lint,

a segment of the Berlin Wall, 

the Flute of Shame (hung around the neck of bad musicians),

a wedding dress made from toilet paper

and the Last Supper painted on a dragonfly's wings....

The answer is, these items can all be found in the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum in London (other locales no doubt have similar treats in store, though I'm sure they vary from place to place).  Yes, there were also two-headed calves and replicas of extremely fat, extremely tall and/or extremely tattooed people, but I'm more of a fan of the quirky than the outright grotestque, so my photos concentrate on a different segment of the displays.

I have to admit, the museum was more interesting (to me) than I thought it would be. The kids and I spotted it when we were up in Picadilly Circus to see Les Miserables back in January and we thought it would make a nice half-term outing, something which would appeal to all the kids (not always easy with our age and gender distributions), so after searching out some vouches, off we went. And it was a nice few hours - quite a lot of interest in there for pretty much anyone, even those who might be a bit squeamish could find plenty to look at. I thought there was a good mix of types of display, both in terms of content and in terms of media - some photos, some original cartoons (or posters thereof), some video, some actual objects, a handful of interactive things. Not a cheap treat, but definitely worth considering if you need something to do which will interest both a 9YO boy and a 14YO girl, or a similar spread... (the 12YO girl was interested, too). Plus, I reckon dads in particular would enjoy it!

Feb 14th: Calypso Pork Chops with Red, Green and Gold Rice (new!)

Recipe Source: Levi Roots, Food for Friends. 

Tasting notes:  The rice was lovely, despite no "gold" in it (the yellow pepper I had in the fridge was past it - mushy - ick!). I used a normal red chili, not a Scotch Bonnet. The marinade for the pork chops was sweet without being too sweet and cooked down nicely into a glaze. Good, would eat again.

Feb 13th: Artichoke, Bacon and Cheese Tart

Recipe Source: Good Food Magazine, not sure of date

Tasting notes:  We've had this before and liked it; the same is still true. Neither of the girls really like quiches - Olivia doesn't like anything eggy and while Sarah will eat eggs in some forms, she doesn't really like quiche - so as they are both away, we took advantage of the situation to make a quiche. (Alex likes quiche, no problem.) There are leftovers, which will make a nice lunch.

A little baking

Olivia did a little baking today - it's only  mix, but they look yummy!

Feb 12th: Risotta alla Pomodoro (Tomato Risotto) (new!)

Recipe Source: The Top 100 Italian Rice Dishes, by Diane Seed

Tasting notes: (photo taken before basil and parmesan were stirred in). Very nice, light, not overpoweringly tomato-y. I upped the rice a bit to 500g, which is what it takes to feed 5 of us, then realised that Sarah wasn't going to be eating with us (no problem -risotto for lunch tomorrow!) and upped the stock accordingly, but didn't change the amount of tomatoes. Added a little more parmesan and basil, too. 

Feb 10th: Chicken, Potato and Green Bean Curry (new)

Recipe Source: Good Food Magazine, not sure of date

Tasting Notes:  This was a last minute substitution for dinner - I had planned to cook a risotto, but realised I don't have any arborio rice, and it was cold outside so I didn't feel like going to the shops.  I had to find something I had all the ingredients for, in the house.  It was nice, a good, mild, child-friendly curry - you could make it spicier by using a different curry paste if you wanted to.

Friday morning, 7 am

Feb 9th: Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Recipe Source: none - I don't use a recipe for mac & cheese. Added some broc at the end of the pasta cooking time to be healthier.

Feb 8th: Thai Prawn Soup (new)

Recipe Source: Lindsay Bareham, A Celebration of Soup. Modified.

Tasting notes: I added rice noodles and quartered button mushrooms to this, as we wanted something a little more substantial. At the last minute, I also added some beansprouts, as Sarah had a half a package leftover from her DT lesson today. Also upped the number of prawns, again to make it more substantial.  Used vegetable stock instead of fish.

Feb 7th: Minty Lamb Flatbreads

Recipe Source: Good Food Magazine, Jan 2010.

Tasting Notes: I doubled this (more or less) for the 5 of us and served with a salad (this gave us two each - one and a half for Alex, two and a half for Geoff - our supermarket khobez bread comes in a pack of 5 anyway, though our local shop has it in many other guises, as it's Middle Eastern (the shop)). We've had it before, we really like it. Probably need to slightly up the spices, though, as they get a bit lost, I think. 

Feb 6th: Spaghetti with Pancetta, Butter Beans and Rosemary

Recipe Source: delicious. magazine, unsure of date

Tasting notes:  We've had this before and enjoyed it. I doubled (more or less) the recipe, which serves 2. Quick, easy, tasty.

Feb 5th: Chicken soup with noodles and pak choi

No recipe on this one - I was originally going to have cold chicken, fried potatoes and salad for dinner, but there was very little chicken left last night, so it turned into soup instead. Stock from the chicken carcase, then carrot, celery, onion cooked long enough for the veg to get tender. Then some ready-for-wok noodles zapped in the microwave, some chopped pak choi and the small amount of leftover chicken actually in the bowls with the broth ladled over, and hey presto - dinner. Along with some bread, it makes a nice, filling soup, which everyone likes. And uses up some bits and pieces that wanted using!

Birthday Boy

The day started with waffles, and featured various other boy-friendly activities, like 

Lego (a new game, from Grandma Kathy's birthday money), 

a trip to the cinema and then Baskin Robbins with some friends,

and of course, chocolate cake.

9 years ago today...

...more or less. I think this photo is actually when he was a few days old, but the one I have of him as a newborn in hospital is pretty awful, so we'll skip it.   What I need is a companion photo of him with his sisters today - if they ever wake up, perhaps I'll take one...  Happy birthday, little man!

Snow.

Snowing. We aren't supposed to get a LOT, but still, this country is ill-equipped to deal with snow. Alex is terribly upset because he's worried if it snows too much we'll have to cancel his birthday party tomorrow. I'm hoping not, because it's so much of a nuisance to rearrange these things...

Feb 3rd: Black Pepper Tofu (new)

Recipe Source: Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi

Tasting Notes:  This was very good, although a bit too peppery for Alex and Sarah (Olivia is a spicy food fiend). I did use a little less pepper than called for, but next time would cut it back even further - it would still be plenty peppery. We thought the spring onions were a bit large and/or too many, so will cut that back, too, or at least chop finely. Only used 4 chilis instead of 8, which was plenty (ha). Also felt that although the sauce was gorgeous, it could have been just as good with about a third less butter (though again, I didn't use quite as much as in the recipe in the first place).   The tofu is fragile to deal with, so the dish is definitely not a quick weeknight type meal, but it was extremely tasty.  Served with stir-fried sugar snap peas on the side.

Feb 1st: Courgette and tarragon soup (new)

Recipe Source: New Covent Garden Soup Company, A Soup for Every Day

Tasting notes: we liked the tarragon in this, found it a bit creamy without being too rich. Only problem was, the recipe didn't really make enough - next time, I will increase quantities.  Couldn't find fresh tarragon (not usually a problem) but worked fine with freeze-dried instead.

January Roundup

What's was for Dinner, January 2012

• 31st: Goan Prawn Curry
• 30th: Tagliatelli with Sausage and Porcini Mushrooms
• 29th: Deep Filled Chicken and Mushroom Pie, courgettes, chantenay carrots, baby new potatoes.
• 28th: Savoy Pork Rolls, Dumplings, Pak Choi
• 27th: "Cheat's Lasagne" - will blog another time
• 26th: Jerusalem Artichoke and Carrot Soup
• 25th: Linguine alla Amatriciana
• 24th: Chicken Korma
• 23rd: Leftovers
• 22nd: Red pork curry with green beans and hearts of palm
• 21st: Mushroom pie with stilton, courgettes
• 20th: Fresh tomato lasagne with pesto, salad
• 19th: Jacket potatoes with beans, bacon, etc
• 18th: French-style chicken with peas & bacon, mashed potato
• 17th: Penne putanesca, garlic bread (no recipe)
• 16th: Thai style chicken and vegetable soup (no recipe)
• 15th: Cauliflower and Broccoli Canneloni, Salad
• 14th: Coconut vegetable stew (ok, not brilliant)
• 13th: Roast vegetables with feta cheese & cous cous
• 12th: Pasta with garlicky greens (uninspiring)
• 11th: 5-spice chicken stir fry
• 10th: Night at Les Miserables - everyone fend for yourself
• 9th: Broccoli and Stilton Soup, bread
• 8th: Wholemeal spinach & potato pasties, salad
• 7th: Beef stew (in slow cooker, no recipe)
• 6th: Salmon, baked potatoes, peas
• 5th: (leftover) Broccoli bake
• 4th: Chicken with chili and basil, rice
• 3rd: Night at the pantomime - everyone fend for yourself
• 2nd: Crusty pasta & broccoli bake with ham
• 1st: Ham, slow-cooked with coca-cola, potatoes, vegetables

Jan 31st: Goan Prawn Curry

Recipe Source: 30 Minute Indian, Sunil Vijayakar

Tasting Notes:  This is a dish we've had several times before, though not recently as I tend to get complaints from at least one child about prawns (it's getting better, though). It's very flavourful and quite spicy, but in a good way, according to my young critics!

Jan 30th: Tagliatelli with Sausage and Porcini Mushrooms (new)

Recipe Source: Gino's Pasta, Gino D'Acampo

Tasting Notes: Recipe said this serves 4 - we think it might even serve 6, if you used an appropriately larger amount of pasta, as the sauce was very rich and coated the pasta well. A great, deep, earthy flavour, thanks no doubt to the porcini mushrooms. 

Crafty weekend

The kids have been very crafty this weekend (well, two of them. One of them has been away all weekend.). First, Alex and Olivia made these cup warmers to go around their mugs (Alex stitched his, though I helped a lot with placement and pinning). 

Then Olivia used some of the fleece she got at a recent sale to make two cushions and a pillowcase (the other cushion is blue and she gave it to a friend for her birthday, so it's not here in the photo).

And she finished up this owl kit she bought somewhere - can't remember where - which she started ages ago. She put the feet on kind of sideways, but decided she actually liked it that way, so left them (and it's not just laziness - she can be a real perfectionist about these things, trust me!)

Jan 29th: Pears in red wine (new!) with vanilla ice cream

Recipe Sources:  Pears - Good Food Magazine, Dec 2011 (Michel Roux Jr); Ice Cream - Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Dessert Book.

Tasting Notes:  The pears were gorgeous - after this photo was taken, I poured some of the sauce around the pears, which made it look even better. They were just right in texture - lovely and soft (you could cut them with a spoon) while still being a bit resistant to bite.  The recipe only used 6 pears but mine were fairly small and we had more than 6 people, so I just did the number that would fit readily in the pan. I probably could have done two or three more.  We'll definitely do this again.  The ice cream is my standard vanilla recipe, I make it a lot. In fact, it took me a while to find in the recipe book because I never use the book to make it!  I also use this recipe for fruit ice creams - for instance, blackberry in the summer - I just add a bit less milk to the recipe and use the fruit juice instead, maybe reduce the amount of vanilla.

Jan 29th: Deep dish chicken pie with mushrooms (new!)

Recipe Source: The Hairy Bikers: Perfect Pies

Tasting Notes: Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of this one!  It was delicious, though.  We had friends around for lunch, and I simply wasn't thinking about it. Served it with courgettes, chantenay carrots and tiny baby new potatoes. Yum.  I added a bit more chicken than in the recipe and about doubled the mushrooms, as I knew it would need to feed quite a few people. And I slightly increased the amount of liquid as well to compensate for the extra filling. 

Jan 28th: Vietnamese Pork in Savy Cabbage, Dumplings, Pak Choi with Oyster Sauce

Recipe Source:  unknown. I got it off a slowcooker recipe list in 2004 (apparently, according to the printout) but it wasn't an original recipe of the person posting it, and the source isn't quoted, as far as I can tell.

Tasting notes: I've made this about a billion times, as we all like it. However, I've never made it in the slow-cooker; I just use a steamer (so have modified the directions bellow accordingly). I usually add a bit of grated carrot to the mix. And we prefer the sauce with less lemon juice in it.  The rolls work ok cold the next day, as well, if there are any left.  The dumplings aren't homemade; they come from the Chinese supermarkets. And the pakchoi is just stir fried a little then steamed with some oyster sauce.

Vietnamese Pork in Savoy Cabbage

20 Leaves Savoy Cabbage

Filling:

500g lean ground pork

1 medium carrot, grated (optional)

finely chopped Savoy Cabbage (if you have some left after removing leaves) (optional)

1 small tin water chestnuts, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 bunch spring onions, chopped

2 tbsps chopped fresh mint

1 1/2 tsp minced ginger

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp Chinese hot chili oil

1/4 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Sauce:

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp lemon juice (we use less)

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp minced ginger

1/4 tsp chili oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh coriander

1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh mint

1. Drop cabbage leaves into boiling water and cook 1 or 2 minutes until pliable. Immediately plunge into cold water to stop cooking; drain well.  Trim the thick end of the stem where necessary on each leaf, to allow them to roll.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp mixture in centre of each cabbage leaf (or more or less according to size of leaf). Roll to enclose mixture.

3. Place rolls in bamboo steamer (2 tiers of an 8" steamer will fit, if you stack some on top); alternatively place on crumbled foil or trivet inside a large saucepan, stacking if necessary. Add a small amount of boiling water (not touching rolls), pop lid on and steam until cooked, 20-30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make sauce. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 2-3 minutes, pour over cooked rolls or serve in small dishes for dipping.

Jan 26th: Jerusalem Artichoke and Carrot Soup (new)

Recipe Source: New Covent Garden Company - A Soup for Every Day

Tasting Notes: I have another Jerusalem Artichoke Soup recipe I usually use (from Lindsey Bareham, A Celebration of Soup), and although this one doesn't necessarily improve on the flavour (it's a little sweeter, no doubt due to the carrot) we really liked the grated carrot added at the end - nice texture.  As usual, I just scrubbed the JA's - far too much like hard work to peel them and the peel is no trouble, just makes some brown flecks in the soup.  I didn't do the garnishes. But I'm sure they would be nice!

Jan 25th: Linguine alla Amatriciana (new!)

Recipe Source: Gino's Pasta by Gino D'Acampo

Tasting Notes: Yes, the astute observers among you may have spotted that this is actually spaghetti alla Amatriciana - due to my having rather less linguine in the house than I thought I did. Not very different to be honest.   We all enjoyed this - it's quite spicy, but not overly so. Very saucy, but not in an overwhelming way. I might put a second onion in; one wasn't much by the time it cooked down. Of course mine might have been smaller than the "large" red onion specified anyway.