Saturday, 3 September 2011
How many is too many cook books? We have 33.....
Today, I thought I would tally up the number of cook books that we (Jo) have - it was more that I thought.....33 in fact.
Some Saturday musical delights
Some Saturday music for you - Dave Pilla - thisisdavepilla.blogspot.com
At Sea
Lonely Water
Breda Town
Friday Night Takeaway from Rice
Earlier this week, Joe received the following text from his mum (who has obviously been reading the blog!)
That was very lovely of her, but in true FoodandBiscuits style we spent the money on a takeaway from Rice in Roundhay instead! It is interesting timing given the new study being discussed on the breakfast news this morning, which apparently shows that Indian and Chinese takeaways are super bad for you. The story seems to be pretty inflammatory, given they surveyed only 200 restaurants out of about 12,000 and only looked at chicken tikka masalla, which isn't very nice anyway! Sorry, rant over...back to the food...
We have been going to Rice for a couple of years now, and it doesn't let us down. We decided not to be too glutinous and swapped starters for poppadoms and dips which were pretty good (although I think it is difficult to get a poppadom wrong).
We then had Chicken Achari which is from northern Bangladesh and made with a pickle masalla, green chillis and coriander and was pretty yummy. Joe's choice was Bengali Lamb which is made with cloves, green chillis, cumin, black pepper and coriander. Although the menu describes it as fairly hot, we asked them to make it spicy. It was nice, but it definitely could have been hotter!
All in it was a pretty good Friday night treat!
"Hi darlin, have just put £20 in ur acc. Plz get nice
btl vino an flowers. Happy anniversary! Lv 2 u both xx"
That was very lovely of her, but in true FoodandBiscuits style we spent the money on a takeaway from Rice in Roundhay instead! It is interesting timing given the new study being discussed on the breakfast news this morning, which apparently shows that Indian and Chinese takeaways are super bad for you. The story seems to be pretty inflammatory, given they surveyed only 200 restaurants out of about 12,000 and only looked at chicken tikka masalla, which isn't very nice anyway! Sorry, rant over...back to the food...
We have been going to Rice for a couple of years now, and it doesn't let us down. We decided not to be too glutinous and swapped starters for poppadoms and dips which were pretty good (although I think it is difficult to get a poppadom wrong).
We then had Chicken Achari which is from northern Bangladesh and made with a pickle masalla, green chillis and coriander and was pretty yummy. Joe's choice was Bengali Lamb which is made with cloves, green chillis, cumin, black pepper and coriander. Although the menu describes it as fairly hot, we asked them to make it spicy. It was nice, but it definitely could have been hotter!
All in it was a pretty good Friday night treat!
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| Poppadoms and dips |
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| A close up of the dips |
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| Achari Chicken |
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| Bengali Lamb |
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Thursday night thai chicken skewers
Tonight was another long run for Joe (and a pathetic short run for me) so I thought I'd treat him with spicy chicken skewers and noodles. Joe has insisted that I put on the picture of the raw chicken, which I think is a little gross!
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| Pre-cooked chicken skewers |
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| stir fried vegetables with rice noodles |
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| The finished chicken skewer product! |
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Wednesday - Transfer window chorizo!
As happens occasionally in the foodandbiscuits household, I was a little uninspired when Jo got the ingredients out of the fridge to make dinner. We both got home late, and when I am hungry I am grumpy and just want something with chips!! However, once again Jo impressed me with her imagination, and made this speedy chorizo stew with eggs on top!! - yum!!!
We also had the football transfter news on and would like to welcome Craig "hunchback" Bellamy back to the mighty reds;
And say a "bye-bye" to Mikel "lego head" Arteta from Everton (at time of writing this has not been confirmed but I am sure it will happen - ha!)
We also had the football transfter news on and would like to welcome Craig "hunchback" Bellamy back to the mighty reds;
And say a "bye-bye" to Mikel "lego head" Arteta from Everton (at time of writing this has not been confirmed but I am sure it will happen - ha!)
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Tuesday - Little post exercise snacks (well almost)
Ok, well maybe not quite a snack for me...I left work a little later than I had hoped so I went for a quick (ish) 10k home (52 mins which was more of a struggle that I was hoping for!) with a smoothie when I got in. I put milk, chocolate protein, a few strawberries, some oats and whizzed them up until it looked like this;
Even though this was more than it enough, it didn't feel like I was eating a proper meal so I also had this about half an hour after.....fatty Joe!!
Jo was much more refined in her choice and put together a lovely looking bloody mary prawn salad (without the vodka) with a brown pitta - I wasn't a bit jealous!
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| It tasted better than it looked |
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| Cheese and ham toastie with salad |
Monday, 29 August 2011
A good five years celebrated with tapas!
This weekend is actually our official five year anniversary. We haven't done anything special (will save that for next year's wedding!) but I thought I'd treat Joe to some tapas at home. We're thinking of going to Spain for a mini honeymoon next September so this was a warm up!
I have never made tapas so did some searching for inspiration on t'interweb and decided on patatas bravas, chorizo with chickpeas, lemon prawns and champinones al ajillo. I'll admit, they were a bit of an interpretation of tapas, but good all the same! I've put a recipe for the patatas bravas at the bottom of the post, which was the most authentic of the dishes.
PATATAS BRAVAS
Serves two. Heat the oven to 220 degrees for a fan oven
3 medium sized potatoes, cut into rough 1" chunks
half a tin of chopped tomatoes
1 chilli, finely chopped
half an onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove (or 2 if your garlic is not that strong)
large glug of red wine
chilli powder (as hot as you want - that might depend on your strength of chilli powder and how hot your chilli is!)
pinch dried parsley
small handful fresh parsley
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
1. Gently the onions until cooked down and transparent (over a slow heat for at least 10 minutes)
2. Add the garlic, chilli and chilli powder and salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes until softened
3. Add the red wine, and simmer for a few minutes
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and dried parsley
5. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Put the chopped potatoes onto an oiled baking tray and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes (until browned on the outside and soft on the inside)
6. Simmer the tomato mixture for a least 30 minutes until cooked down - there should not be any excess liquid or your potatoes will be soggy! It's also good if the tomato sauce can be left to "mature" for a while - so if you've got the time make the tomato mixture at least an hour before cooking the potatos.
7. When the tomatoes are virtually done, check the seasoning. Sometimes chopped tomatoes can be a bit sour, so add a splash of balsamic for depth of flavour and sweetness. It should be deep, flavoursome and have a little kick.
8. When you are ready to serve, stir the chopped parsley into the tomatoes. Tip the potatoes onto your dish and top with the tomato mixture. Don't add the tomatoes to the potatoes until ready to serve! You don't want soggy potatoes!!
I have never made tapas so did some searching for inspiration on t'interweb and decided on patatas bravas, chorizo with chickpeas, lemon prawns and champinones al ajillo. I'll admit, they were a bit of an interpretation of tapas, but good all the same! I've put a recipe for the patatas bravas at the bottom of the post, which was the most authentic of the dishes.
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| Champinones al ajillo - garlic mushrooms on chargrilled baguette (very Spanish! Ha!) |
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| Chorizo and chickpeas in red wine |
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| Patatas bravas |
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| Prawns in garlic and lemon - I threw some roasted pepper and whole roasted chillis in with this. Poor Joe swallowed a very hot chilli from this dish and is still feeling a little bit warm! |
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| Joe's plate - a small selection of each, and the very hot red chilli! |
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| Our Rioja - and half price in Co-op right now! |
PATATAS BRAVAS
Serves two. Heat the oven to 220 degrees for a fan oven
3 medium sized potatoes, cut into rough 1" chunks
half a tin of chopped tomatoes
1 chilli, finely chopped
half an onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove (or 2 if your garlic is not that strong)
large glug of red wine
chilli powder (as hot as you want - that might depend on your strength of chilli powder and how hot your chilli is!)
pinch dried parsley
small handful fresh parsley
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
1. Gently the onions until cooked down and transparent (over a slow heat for at least 10 minutes)
2. Add the garlic, chilli and chilli powder and salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes until softened
3. Add the red wine, and simmer for a few minutes
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and dried parsley
5. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Put the chopped potatoes onto an oiled baking tray and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes (until browned on the outside and soft on the inside)
6. Simmer the tomato mixture for a least 30 minutes until cooked down - there should not be any excess liquid or your potatoes will be soggy! It's also good if the tomato sauce can be left to "mature" for a while - so if you've got the time make the tomato mixture at least an hour before cooking the potatos.
7. When the tomatoes are virtually done, check the seasoning. Sometimes chopped tomatoes can be a bit sour, so add a splash of balsamic for depth of flavour and sweetness. It should be deep, flavoursome and have a little kick.
8. When you are ready to serve, stir the chopped parsley into the tomatoes. Tip the potatoes onto your dish and top with the tomato mixture. Don't add the tomatoes to the potatoes until ready to serve! You don't want soggy potatoes!!
Bank Holiday Monday - Leeds West Indian Carnival
This afternoon we decided to head to the Leeds West Indian Carnival, which takes place in Chapeltown/ Harehills which is a short walk from where we live - it is now in its 44th year and it's a great place to spend a bank holiday afternoon.
Along with the procession which is lots of fun, the West Indian street food is also worth paying a visit for. We decided to find our lunch, and shared a dish that we had never had before - curried goat. Jo describes it "drier than an Indian curry with less complex favours, but in many ways just as tasty" - it does have bones in which aren't my favourite things but they do add to the experience! We also had jerk chicken which was tender and spicy - highly recommended.
After feasting we went to watch the carnival procession which was great fun!! Lots of dancing, colour and much bigger than I expected.......
Along with the procession which is lots of fun, the West Indian street food is also worth paying a visit for. We decided to find our lunch, and shared a dish that we had never had before - curried goat. Jo describes it "drier than an Indian curry with less complex favours, but in many ways just as tasty" - it does have bones in which aren't my favourite things but they do add to the experience! We also had jerk chicken which was tender and spicy - highly recommended.
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| Some of the delights on offer - chicken and corn |
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| Curried goat with rice n pea |
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| Where we bought the jerk chicken from |
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| Jerk chicken |
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| Some dancers and live action below! |
Bank Holiday Sunday - Dave Pilla @ Limetree & drinks with Rich & Josh
It was an early start yesterday, with Jo and I driving Dave Pilla to his gig on the main stage at the Limetree Festival which took place near Ripon. Apparently the Friday and Saturday of the festival had been pretty poor due to constant rain, but when he took the stage at 12pm the sun was out, and everyone enjoyed his set. See four videos from his set here (definitely worth a look)
You can find his blog here, twitter here and his youtube page here.
Back to the food, we had a great tasting snack from a Tibetan stall selling momo's which are a type of dumpling - one with meat and the other with spinach. Click here for info - Jo is under strict instructions to make some at home soon!
With the weather changing we decided to head back to Leeds for lunch, followed by a couple of drinks with a good friend of our Rich Zach and his son Josh.
You can find his blog here, twitter here and his youtube page here.
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| Dave and Jo |
Back to the food, we had a great tasting snack from a Tibetan stall selling momo's which are a type of dumpling - one with meat and the other with spinach. Click here for info - Jo is under strict instructions to make some at home soon!
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| Momo's with homemade chilli sauce |
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| A bunch of dummies at Limetree |
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| Lunch - left over chilli, salad and pitta |
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| Rich and Josh |
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| Joe's dinner - Special K and fruit!! |
And finally, this is a quick video of me trying to give Jo and piggy back across Roundhay Park yesterday evening whilst a little tipsy....
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