Category Archives: food+drink

food+drink

Recipe: Pasta with Antipasto

Today’s evening meal made up as I went along from a vague idea!

For 2 hungry persons or 4 with a small appetite you will need:

  • enough Pasta (any variety, preferably fresh)
  • 2x 200gm tubs of Antipasto and/or Roast Peppers in marinade (or equivalent; you can even do your own!)
  • 1 medium onion, preferably red, thickly sliced
  • enough garlic, thickly sliced
  • 4 tomatoes, quartered
  • 6 medium button mushrooms, thickly sliced
  • 10-12 black olives
  • a handful of pine nuts
  • some basil leaves
  • olive oil
  • Parmesan cheese
  1. Put the pasta on to cook. When cooked, drain and keep warm.
  2. When the pasta is almost done, fry the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent and just starting to caramelise.
  3. Add the tomatoes, stir for a minute or so then add the mushrooms and olives.
  4. Cook for 2-3 minutes, and add the tubs of antipasto with their marinade/oil . Cook for a further 2-3 minutes until everything is hot through.
  5. Add the basil leaves and pine nuts. Stir.
  6. Add the pasta and mix all together for a minute or two ensuring the pasta is well covered in the flavourful oil and vegetables.
  7. Serve with the Parmesan cheese and a robust red wine.

Yes, it was rib-sticking and yummy!

food+drink, thoughts

Head Cook, Restored

I’m really pleased. This weekend I’ve managed to get back to doing the cooking — something I always used to do the vast majority of. I set myself a challenge last Thursday: cook two meals in the next week. So far I’ve done three main meals (although one of them was a salad). We’re eaten:

  • Friday: Fusilli with asparagus, smoked duck and beans
  • Saturday: Pasta and chicken salad á la maison
  • Sunday: Cheese and rocket omelette with tomato, avocado and onion salad

Now all I have to do is to keep it up.

(If anyone wants the recipes — well some guide as to what I did anyway — ask and I’ll post them.)

books, food+drink, memes, topographical

Friday Five: My Life Wouldn't be the Same Without …

Apologies to everyone for the long silence: been very busy at work in the last few weeks; just now beginning to surface. So let’s catch up with this week’s Friday Five …

My life would not be the same without this…

1. Song/movie/book:
Well as you’ll all expect by now I’m going to be very predictable and nominate a book: Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time. Now there’s a surprise! But I could almost as well have chosen one of any number of albums or classical pieces.

2. Person:
Dare I nominate anyone except my wife? Yes I dare, but I won’t! Noreen has to be the nomination, although clearly my parents have to be a very close second.

3. Place:
Now this is really difficult. Much as I moan about it my first inclination is to say London — ‘cos it’s where I was dragged up and the place I know best. But there are other places where “I’ve left a bit of me”: Forde Abbey in Dorset would be one, and Lyme Regis another.

4. Event:
Another difficult one! I’m going to have to think about this for a minute or few. Strangely I don’t remember events well, perhaps because I don’t have a highly visual memory. There aren’t too many events which stand out and probably none for which I can replay the whole video in my head, only odd snapshots. Even things like our wedding and my doctoral graduation are fairly fuzzy memories. Clearly our wedding would have to be high on the list, as would the Anthony Powell Centenary Conference in December 2005; also the funeral for our friend Robbie at which I was the “celebrant” and my father’s funeral. Probably in that order.

5. Self-indulgence:
Don’t think I have too many doubts here. It has to be beer. I always enjoy good beer — by which I mean traditional English real ale, or quality Continental lager and white beer. My second choice would be food. No real wonder I’m the size I am!

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Five.]

books, food+drink, memes, people, thoughts

Getting to Know Me Better — A Meme

2 Comments

I’ve just come across this meme lurking on my machine — see they never die out! I’ve no idea where I got it from, but let’s see if we can start it off again.

Getting to Know Me Better

What time did you get up this morning?
As it’s Saturday I had a nice lie in, following a late-ish night. Didn’t get up until about 09.45. On work mornings it is anything between 6 and 8am depending on what my schedule is.

Diamonds or pearls?
If I must, pearls, but I’d much prefer tanzanite or amber.

What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
I keep telling you I don’t do films, so it’ll be no surprise when I tell you the last time I recall going to the cinema was to see Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Pictures at an Exhibition in 1973! It was on with a film by The Strawbs which was really why we went.

What is your favourite TV show?
Channel 4 TV’s Time Team. Three days of serious archaeological investigation condensed into an hour of TV. Usually interesting even if they do dig too many Roman and pre-Roman sites for my interest.

What do you usually have for breakfast?
I used not to do breakfast, other than a large mug of tea. However since I’ve been told I’m diabetic I do try to have something, even if not the ideally balanced breakfast the medics would like. So now it’s that large mug of tea with some fruit, yoghurt or toast.

Favourite cuisine?
It’s probably a toss-up between Indian and Italian.

What food do you dislike?
Egg custard is my biggest hate. Not over keen on milk puddings. And I don’t like meat and sugar (meat and fruit is OK as long as it isn’t sweet as well).

What is your favourite CD at the moment?
Pink Floyd; Wish You were Here. But you could choose almost anything from late Beatles or 70s Pink Floyd, Yes, Caravan.

Morning or night person?
Neither. I don’t generally survive much past 11.30pm, though I can get a second wind after midnight. And I’m useless at getting up in the morning, as was my father before me.

Favourite sandwich?
Whatever I fancy at the time. Choose from: smoked salmon, chicken & avocado, bacon, prawns.

What characteristic do you despise?
Most of all management lies and politics. Being a cynic I see through it all. I also hate people who know it all, who have to be right, or think their God’s gift.

Favourite item of clothing?
Nothing. I wear as few clothes as I can as much of the time as I can. We both spend a lot of our time at home wearing nothing; or a t-shirt and jeans in the middle of winter. Fortunately our house is naturally warm so we don’t have to waste energy on heating it; the heating thermostat is set at about 20C. But then I’m not one to feel the cold and never have been; when I was young and playing cricket I was always the first to discard a sweater and the last to put one on. Now I have a good covering of blubber.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Difficult. For a “do nothing” holiday I fancy a naturist village by the sea in a nice sunny area of France (and I mean a real village; none of this Cap d’Agde rubbish). For a sightseeing holiday I rather fancy Japan. And travel has to be by magic carpet, door to door.

What colour is your bathroom?
Ivory.

Favourite brand of clothing?
I’ve already told you I don’t wear clothes if I don’t have to. In consequence I don’t couldn’t care less about brands. Vain I am not.

Where would you retire to?
Probably Dorset, South Devon or Norfolk, although I suspect we’ll stay where we are.

What was your most memorable birthday?
My 21st. It’s about the only one I do remember. I was given a coffee percolator and in road testing it got caffeine poisoning.

Favourite sport to watch?
Cricket, as long as it isn’t this one-day rubbish played in pyjamas. But then I’ve lost tough with cricket as I got disillusioned quite a few years ago with the way the game was being run and bastardised as a marketing exercise.

When is your birthday?
11 January

What is your shoe size?
10 or 11 depending on the cut; I have very broad and deep feet.

Pets?
Two cats and lots of fish (tropical and pond).

What did you want to be when you were little?
When I was really little I hadn’t got a clue; I was always worried that my friends all knew they wanted to be engine drivers or whatever when I didn’t even know how to start thinking about the problem. By the time I was 15 or 16 I knew I wanted to do scientific research, which I achieved if only briefly.

What is your favourite flower?
Hmmm, probably daffodils and lilies.

What date on the calendar are you looking forward to?
The one when I get that big lottery win and retire.

What music do you like?
Almost anything before Bach and 60s/70s pop/rock.

Your Favourite Book?
Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time. But then you knew I’d say that.

That’s it. I’ll tag Kelly, Jilly, Sue, Noreen, Misty, Chris. Either post your answers on your weblog and add a pointer in the comments here, or post your answers as a comment.

Enjoy!

food+drink, memes

Friday Five: Weekends

1. What do you like most: Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays (and why)?
I guess probably Saturday: usually don’t have to get up early, can stay up late, and there’s another weekend day to come.

2. What was the best weekend of your life?
I really don’t know. I should of course say the weekend Noreen and I got married (27 years ago) but as we’d arranged the whole wedding ourselves we were so knackered the whole thing was just a blur.

3. What weekend of the year is your favorite?
Easter is always good ‘cos it’s a 4 day weekend. Bank holiday weekends are good too. Otherwise I really don’t tend to differentiate between weekends.

4. Do you have any weekend routines?
Yes, too many. Noreen and I still treat weekends much as we did when we were students. Switch off on Friday night; have a few beers. Saturday is for shopping and the such like with decent food (whether in or out) on Saturday evening. Sunday is for working; not now doing coursework but for doing housework and similar chores. I tend to use Sundays for fish maintenance, paying bills, doing literary society paperwork, etc.

5. Describe your ideal Saturday night.
Relaxing with good food and wine in a quiet Italian or French bistro with Noreen and possibly a couple of friends.

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Five.]

current affairs, food+drink, thoughts

Brain Abdication

Oh dear. I saw an item on yesterday’s Breakfast (BBC1 TV) about food labelling which contained the usual snippets of vox pop. One female delivered herself of the opinion

It’s the government’s responsibility that we know exactly what we’re eating.

Spherical things that come in pairs! If she is bright enough to understand the words government and responsibility, how is it she cannot see that what she eats is absolutely zilch to do with the government and everything to do with her. Isn’t it our own responsibility to know what we’re eating? And if we think we don’t like it (for whatever reason: taste, look, hygiene, pesticides etc. etc.) then don’t eat it. Or does this female believe that the government should tell her when to change her socks and knickers?

This is more than just idle non-thinking, this is willful abdication of brain-power and is tantamount to criminal stupidity. It should certainly be classed as using the brain without due care and attention — £200 fine and 3 points on the licence; after 12 points they shoot you. On this showing it would do wonders for world over-population. 🙂

Why is Britain in the state it is, with a government who do whatever they like and no-one much apparently noticing? Because the great British public can’t be assed to think! I somehow doubt you’d catch Joe Public in any of our European neighbours caring so little. But then they do say

  • 5% of people can think and do
  • 5% of people cannot think
  • the other 90% of people can think and don’t

And doesn’t it just show! Is there any hope for us? Or is it my job to turn the light out?