food-e glasgow

Something of a departure

2010-09-28T22:13:00.005+01:00

Perhaps contrary to my Friday afternoon Champagne drinking ways, I have a much more practical side. The side of me that has to think about how the mortgage and the bills are going to get paid while I'm figuring out just how I can maximise my enjoyment of life - and shopping.

So where do we go for affordable wine...well, other than my trusty Sainsbury's and Waitrose deliveries (which can be very nice by the way), we tend to pop out to the nearby Co-op. I was very disappointed when my local 'around the corner' wine buying options shrank and Sainsbury's petrol station became unable to sell wine (some new law) and left me the choice of Oddbins (sorry, not a huge fan), Tesco (expensive, not very nice wine in the smaller shops) or the Co-op. So, we decided to try the Co-op - and we were oh so pleasantly surprised.

Now, don't get me wrong - this isn't wine that I'm going take to a fancy dinner party to impress someone. I'd take it almost anywhere else though - and we are happy to have some any night we happen to feel like having wine. There is always wine at 'half price' which goes for somewhere around £3.75 or £3.99 - white, red and, pleasingly, usually rose. We've had a summer full of rose bargains that were exceedingly pleasant and have already dug into couple of reds that would do a winter stew proud. Add this to other reasons to like the Co-op, fair trade and the like, and well, it's all good. Give it a try.

Friday Afternoon Champagne (Part 2)

2010-07-07T12:16:00.007+01:00

Last Friday, girl-e and I decided to sample another champagne bar to compare our experience at Hugh's a couple of weeks ago. We decided to visit the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar at Malmaison on West George Street. The champagne bar is downstairs and just outside the bistro - it's really just a clever use of what might otherwise be a foyer or ante-room with ample nooks and crannies to display the distinctive orange-yellow branding of the Champagne House. Archtecturally, it's interesting as this was formally just the space between two buildings that's been enclosed and filled with comfy furniture - but still gives just a hint of the feel of being outside without being subject to the elements. The bar menu was extensive with cocktails and snacks - but we were pretty focused on the champagne. The list was short but nice - two Veuve Clicquot selections (NV Brut and NV Brut Rose), one lesser known Champagne (Mercier) and one prosecco. We splurged on the Brut Rose first (11.95 per glass). This is definitely a splurge - but this wine is gorgeous, elegant and balanced. If you are content to have one of something fabulous rather than several of something so-so then this is the ticket....gorgeous orange-y salmon-y colour, lovely summer berry nose with hints of sweet biscuits baking. Sadly, it was outside our budget to have a second glass but the Mercier NV brut was a very nice stand in at £8.95. Referring back to my comments in the previous post, it doesn't have to be from a well known champange house to be very enjoyable and a champagne bar that gets this wrong is very disappointing. The Mercier was lovely - soft, light and fresh with a more apple/pear/flower sort of personality than the berry fruits of the rose. To add to what was already an exceedingly pleasant experience, we ordered a single order of chips to split (since we sat in the bar for best part of 3 hours!) and these were stellar - crisp outside, soft inside, cut into thin strips, nicely salty. This was a very nice experience that I would be keen to repeat when I want to treat myself to something a bit special.

Friday Afternoon Champagne

2010-06-25T15:10:00.004+01:00

Here I am this Friday afternoon, eating lunch at my desk, thinking about last Friday afternoon when I was sitting in Hugh's in House of Faser on Buchanan Street with girl-e. It was a very warm day and the dark chocolate brown decor of Hugh's seemed a lovely place to hide from the world. As an in-store cafe, it's a rather nice, quiet atmosphere for snacks, teas, coffee, drinks, etc.. Might also be a nice place for your other half to hang out while you get on with the business of wearing out your credit cards. We didn't try the food on this occasion so I can't say much here - but the menu was fairly thorough and I'm sure most would find something here. Some of it seemed oddly heavy (confit of lamb shoulder?) for what must be a lunch or snack destination - but perhaps I was unduly influenced by the heat of the afternoon in forming this opinion!

As a Champagne Bar (it was set up by a company called Champagne Bars Ltd which created a certain expectation), well, it was fine.The champagne section of the menu offered 6 choices by the glass (a not bad number) - 4 non-vintage 'white' champagne and 2 non-vintage rose champagne. For vintage, you need to order by the bottle. What disappointed was that we took our server's recommendation and tried a glass of the Boizel rose champagne. We were entirely underwhelmed - it was indeed pink but it was really rather bland, missing soft summer fruits or floral notes almost entirely. There are plenty of excellent quality wines that would have fit this price point - to have one that was so disappointing just made me wonder if they knew what they were doing. It could have been a less than stellar bottle so perhaps I am not being fair - but I don't really want to give it another whirl at £9.50 for 125ml. To make up for this defeat we had a second glass - Pol Roger non-vintage. This was every bit as lovely as I would have expected it to be so we were significantly cheered up by this (and at only 50p more per glass). All in all, it was pleasant - and I'd go back again if I were in Fraser's. I don't think I'd make a special trip though - and I might just order a coffee anyway. (Or a champagne cocktail, they has a most interesting selection of these!)

Don't get me wrong, a cool glass of Champagne to soothe a weary shopper is a spectacular idea - but every time I hear 'champagne bar' I get rather excited. Usually, though I am disappointed. I do realise that I might be somewhat harder to please than most in this regard and I also realise that restaurants and bars can be constrained in their purchasing by contracts out of their control and based on whatever fickle system of sales and distribution applies. But for me, I'd like to see some really well thought out choices: reliable, big name, non-vintage (they did achieve this) and maybe a vintage or two by the glass at a reasonable price, delightful and expertly chosen lesser known labels by the glass, non-champagne fizz by the glass (it's really about the bubbles isn't it?). I like sparkling wine and I am happy to pay a premium for high quality wine - but a cool glass of lovely prosecco would have done nicely rather than poorly chosen actual 'champagne' that wasn't worth it's premium price. We do know what these bottles cost in Oddbins so we understand the mark-ups - and I do know that we are paying for the location, the experience, the decor, the convenience, the service etc. But I could also just have a coffee. Was I somewhat unfairly put off by mediocre champagne? Perhaps. But while I will settle for mediocre wine in a pub (that's me with the ice in my vin de pays), I'm not there for the wine. I don't go to 'Champagne Bars' to be disappointed.

Warm Quinoa Salad

2010-05-27T15:13:00.005+01:00

Once the weather starts to warm up, we, like most probably, adjust how we eat. Our thoughts turn to the light and fresh and we move further away from the rich and heavy. Of course, this doesn’t mean we are any less time or energy constrained than at other times of the year – and lighter and fresher doesn’t necessarily mean quicker! Sure a bag of salad, some dressing, some protein is easy – but I can’t eat that way every night, especially as this is what often passes for lunch. So my compromise the other night was a warm salad – warm as in ‘not cooled off yet’ really. I put 3 cups of quinoa and 6 cups of water in the rice cooker while I was thinking about what I might do and by the time it was finished, I had a plan….

I divided the quinoa into two bowls (since there was so much!) and gave both a toss with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. (Key cooking tip - things like grains, beans, legumes, potatoes etc. absorb flavours much better when they are warm.) Into each bowl went a generous handful of chopped sundried tomatoes and a drizzle of the oil they were soaking in.

I added to the first bowl shredded courgette that had been sautéed in olive oil and garlic, steamed french beans (chopped into thirds), some chopped fresh green onion and a handful of chopped toasted hazelnuts. I used two medium sized courgettes – courgette is always a favourite vegetable for us. This was an excellent accompaniment to some very thin pan fried turkey breast steaks (seasoned with Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning for a bit of kick) and dash of moisture from a quick deglaze of the pan with some white wine. Even better (almost) was having this for lunch the next with a big dollop of soy yoghurt and a bit of extra oil and vinegar.

The contents of the second bowl went into the freezer. A week later it turned into a very similar meal – without the courgettes this time. This time I took turkey breast chunks and sautéed them with onion, garlic and olive oil, tossed them with the defrosted (and warm from the microwave) quinoa with some chopped green onion, more hazelnuts and a dollop of soy yoghurt. And again, there was enough left for a yummy lunch with some additional yoghurt and handful of sunflower seeds.

Classic gems: Stirred Eggs

2010-03-25T17:10:00.004Z

I discovered the recipe below this weekend when flipping through an old paperback cookbook 'How to Cook and Eat in Chinese' by Buwei Yang Chao. The first edition was released in 1945 and the last edition in 1963 (although my copy was printed in 1972). As it turns out, this is really something of a classic. It is a Chinese woman's (who learned to cook while at medical school in Japan no less) attempt to make Chinese cuisine understandable to an American audience and offers explanatory sections about materials, utensils and preparation as well as recipes and menus. To underscore the classic quality, the preface to this book was written by Pearl S. Buck - within which she 'nominates' the author for a Nobel Peace Prize for the contribution this book has made to peace, friendship and understanding. Indeed, a quick Google search will tell you that Dr. Chao was first to use the description 'stir-frying' to describe the cooking method known in Chinese as ch'ao.

It is a charming cookbook for its simplicity and its recipes as well as its 'of another time' quality (the use of several tablespoons of lard in almost every recipe might be an example of this). The recipe below is more of a description and is credited to the author's husband, identified only as R.Y.C., noting that this is the only thing he can cook well. I've shortened it slightly as it is rather long - but it is hard to edit as the whole thing is so utterly charming:

'Obtain:
6 average-sized fresh eggs (for this is the maximum number of eggs I have cooked at one time)
3g of cooking salt (or, as an alternative, 4 g of table salt)' [blogger's note - the only reference I can find that indicates that there might be a difference between these two types of salt says that cooking salt is a curing salt used for curing meats - unless I've gotten this wrong I wouldn't actually recommend that you season your eggs with it!)]
'50cc fresh lard, which will approximately equal the conent of 4 level tablespoonfuls
1 plant of Chinese ts'ung (substitute with scallion if ts'ung is unobtainable) about 30cm long by 7 mm in average diameter. (This ingredient is optional)' [bloggers note - scallions are what Americans call green onions or spring onions]

'Either shell or unshell the eggs by knocking one against another in any order. Be sure to have a bowl to catch the contents. With a pair of chopsticks, strike the same with a quick vigorous motion known as 'beating the eggs'. This motion should, however, be made repeatedly and not just once. Automatic machines, aptly named as 'egg-beaters' have been invented for this purpose'....

The author inserts a footnote about breaking the eggs at the bottom of the page: 'Since, when two eggs collide, only one of them will break, it will be necessary to use a seventh egg with which to break the sixth. If, as it may very well happen, the seventh egg breaks first instead of the sixth, an expedient will be simply to use the seventh one and put away the sixth. An alternate procedure is to delay your numbering system and define that egg as the sixth egg which breaks after the fifth egg.' ....

'The next phase of the operation is the most critical for the successful stir-frying of eggs. When the bottom part of the mixture becomes a puffed-up soft mass on contact with the heat, the uppoer part will remain quite liquid. Preferably using a thin flat piece of metal attached to a handle, the operator should push the mixture to one side so as to allow the uncooked portion to flow onto the hot fat on the now exposed portion of the bottom. (Sometimes this may be facilitated by slightly tipping the pan.) Quickly repeat this until 90 percent of the liquid has come in contact wiht the hot fat and becomes puffed. Then, still using the flat piece of metal, make the entire content of the pan revolve through 180 degrees about a horizontal axis. This delicate operation is know as 'turing it over', which in the hands of a beginner may easily become a flop. It can be done neatly and without waste only after repeated practice with different sets of eggs.

If the turning over has been successfully carried out, wait for 5 seconds, which is about the time it takes to count from 1 to 12., then transfer the contents to the bowl or platter, when the dish is said to be done.

To test whether the cooking has been done properly, observe the person served. If he utters a voiced bilabial nasal consonant with a slow falling intonation, it is good. If he utters the syllable yum in a reduplicated form, it is very good.' [blogger's note: R.Y C. was acutally a prominent linguist at the time so his identification of a voiced bilabial consonant is less odd than it may seem at first glance.]

I was so delighted by this that I thought it was worth sharing....any errors or misrepresentations are strictly my own.

Curry Wishes and Pakora Dreams.....

2010-03-24T14:38:00.004Z

One of the best things about living in the City Centre of Glasgow is that we are surrounded by drinking, dining and shopping choices. We have been a bit extra lazy (or busy?) lately though and have been indulging more than usual in takeaway meals - and happily we are spoiled for choice. Our local favourite has to be the Balti Club on Woodlands Road, in the shadow of the Sainsbury's petrol station. At first glance, it's just your average neighborhood takeaway shop - but it is without a doubt a great choice for good, fast, fresh food. The staff are so nice and helpful and have been able to answer all my allergy questions. I've also never had anything from there that hasn't been excellent. OK - it's still takeaway food so to be consumed in moderation ideally - but what a great treat for those nights when you just don't have time/energy/inclination/etc. to cook.

We vacillate between the set meal deal for 2 for around £14 - and more food than we can manage in one meal - or a pizza (for him) and a kebab (for her). Don't judge me for the kebab - I get a chicken tikka kebab (chunks of marinated, chargrilled ckicken) served with sauce and salad and no bread (sticking with the gluten free theme). No mystery meat slices for me - just fresh, tasty chicken served with a most excellent chili sauce. The meal deal is a real winner too although hardly revolutionary in a curry-soaked city such as our own - a serving of pakora to split, plus poppadums and onions, plus rice and naan, plus two main course curries. Our favourites are the bhoona and the achari - I particularly love the achari as it has just the right amount of tasty pickley bits and just the right amount of chili goodness.

I would be missing something important as well if I didn't wax lyrical just a bit about the pakora. The batter is crispy and not too thick or bready and the assortment of pakora to choose from is fantastic. You get your 'regular' chicken, mushroom, vegetable type pakora - although the latter is notably more fluffy (this is a good thing) than crispy - as well as an array of unusual choices such as spinach and jalapeno, spinach and brie, caluiflower and cheese, etc. You can also order (with 24 hours notice) a party pack of 50 or 100 pieces (for £10 or £18 respectively) which seems like a great idea for entertaining!

More favourite cookbooks...

2010-03-18T00:09:00.006Z

Since we are on the topic, I thought I'd mention what is probably my favourite Chinese cookbook. I say probably as these things can be a bit fluid - I've got more than a few cookbooks lying around and so tend to shift loyalties a bit as cookbooks move into and out of favour. A sign that it's a real gem though is that I always come back to it.

That's what happened this weekend when faced with a pork loin that I had defrosted but had no solid plans for. I re-discovered 'The Breath of a Wok', a book I have turned to time and again for simple but interesting Chinese dishes. The book focuses on 'wok hay', which is a cantonese expression and, if I understand it correctly, is the secret something that a well-seasoned, well-used and well-loved wok can impart to a dish. There are lots of instructions and anecdotes along the way - indeed the first 50-odd pages of the book detail the selection, seasoning and care of a 'proper' wok in great detail before turning to a large section on stir-frying and a section on other cooking techniques at which a wok can excel such as steaming, smoking, braising, etc.

Each chapter starts with an introduction of several pages and each recipe has an introductory paragraph. These are always my favourite cookbooks as I love these stories about food and family - especially when they come from a culture that is not my own. I love the photos as well - they reflect cooking techniques, completed dishes, family members and famous guests such as author Amy Tan.

So what did I make on Sunday? Stir fried pork with scallions (green onions on this side of the Atlantic) - super simple, no unusual ingredients (assuming you have the basics of Chinese cooking in your pantry such as soy sauce, sesame oil and either rice wine or an adequate substitute - I use dry fino sherry) and perfect. The only change I made is to toss in a bit of extra chicken stock and corn flour to increase the amount of sauce - but, as I've been told by my other half, Sunday is a day for gravy!

P.S. I've gone the 'proper' wok route before and there are many rewards to be had for the love and care invested in a good wok - however, I tend to use either a Le Cresuet cast iron wok or a non-stick'wok-style' pan and am perfectly happy with the results - at least until I can replace the ceramic hob in the kitchen we inherited in a our current flat!

Vegetarian Cookbooks

2010-03-17T14:34:00.006Z

One of my favourite things to buy is cookbooks. I don't necessarily use each one often, and I rarely follow recipes to the letter, but I love having the books to refer to, even when it's one I was slightly disappointed by after I'd bought it.

I use meat cookbooks as well as vegetarian ones, as I can often just substitute the meat ingredient with Quorn or tofu. This works particularly well with certain ethnic foods, where the recipe isn't so reliant on the natural flavours of meat. Some are even more useful to me than actual vegetarian cookbooks. For example, I have Simon Hopkinson's The Vegetarian Option, and though it's lovely and I really like the way it's organised (grouped by ingredient rather than course), it's often far too fancy and involved for my humble ambitions.

By far the best vegetarian cookbooks in my collection are Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (a gift from my sister who accidentally bought 2 copies). They are both visually sparse (Madison's contains some photos but Bittman's is pretty much just text), they are packed full of simple, straight forward cooking and advice, and are equally appropriate for those new to vegetarian cooking as old hands. MBK has given me a copy of Madison's Greens Cookbook, which I haven't had a chance to really sink my teeth into (so to speak).

I tried getting Heidi Swanson's cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, but it was out of stock at Amazon for so long I cancelled my order. Now she's working on a new one, so my interest is piqued again, but her blog is so good, I tend to rely on that quite a bit. Through her blog, I came across Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul Kitchen, which I love for many reasons, not least because of the fact that it has multiple recipes for Hoppin' John, a dish I grew up with (due to my Texan father's influence probably), and find very comforting.

And last, but not least, I love Denis Cotter's Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me. I can only dream of having access to some of the amazing produce he talks about, but now that we have a Waitrose on Byres Road, at least I can have Cavolo Nero, which is one of the key ingredients in the rich butternut squash mole recipe in the book. This mole is so good - I made it for Thanksgiving last year and I think everyone who came is going to probably buy the book on the strength of that single recipe. We had it with cornbread stuffing on the side, and the combination was perfect.

'Pork' fried rice

2010-03-17T13:51:00.004Z

A rice cooker is one of those appliances that I'd considered getting, but didn't think I'd use all that much. My sister gave me one as an anniversary present back in June, and I pretty much never looked back. I can't actually remember the last time I cooked rice - or any grain for that matter - on the stove.

And the beauty is, once you put the rice on, you can then go off and do other things, and you don't have to think about it again until you're ready to use it, because the cooker knows when the rice is done, and will automatically switcher over to a warming function. Last night I put rice on, added some garlic, dried coriander leaf, chile and a bit of tomato paste straight into the rice cooker and the result was lovely, moist, spicy, aromatic brown rice. By the time it was ready, I had decided to make fried rice, and my vegetables were all chopped and my eggs were beaten and ready to scramble.

Sainsbury's had delivered Quorn bacon style chunks instead of bacon style rashers at the weekend, and I had no idea what I was going to use it for, but a last minute I realised it would make a suitable substitute for the meat you find in pork fried rice. As the rice was so flavourful, all I had to do was throw in the veg and add soy sauce, sesame oil, and a dash of rice vinegar. It was one of those lovely, improvised meals that often end up better than the ones I meticulously plan.

Bibi’s Cantina

2010-03-15T15:21:00.003Z

I’ve lived in Glasgow for over seven years and I can only remember a handful of times when I’ve eaten a decent Mexican meal (not including own cooking – which I quite like!). I’d walked by Bibi’s Cantina a year ago and had never motivated myself to try it. But, having decided to go for lunch last Saturday, I was not disappointed.

The Cantina is located on the outskirts of the trendy part of the West end, a few minutes walk from Partick Station going away from town. The outside of the building isn’t particularly memorable, but it is bright and airy for the size of the room. The walls are plastered with the usual kitchy Mexicana pictures and illustrations, but there’s enough white paint and wall space to pull it off.

Eager to try as much as I could on the menu, my partner in crime and I, shared our food choices. Our starters were fried jalapeno peppers stuffed with soft cheese and simple nachos, nacho chips smothered in cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole and jalapeno peppers. The one piece of criticism I would give to the starters was for the nachos. While it was very tasty, with what you could tell was a very flavourful homemade salsa, the cheese wasn’t very melted and was piled in the centre of the dish rather than all over the chips. But, that wouldn’t stop me from ordering it again.

My partner’s main course was chicken burrito, while I ate the chicken fajitas. The burrito was tasty and filling, with a good mix of flavours. There was ample salsa and sour cream on it, but the side salad didn’t quite seem to match food flavours. I think a side of rice and refried beans would have really complimented the food and tied it all together, as long as it isn’t the stodgy lump that’s usually served... so perhaps the side salad was a nice change. The size of the burrito was good for a lunch, but probably not enough for a main meal at night (though we were there at lunch so hopefully a dinner portion would be larger).

My chicken fajitas were excellent. The chicken was marinated in tequila and lime juice and came served on a sizzling platter with a mix of grilled peppers, onions and chilli peppers. At first I wasn’t sure that three small tortillas would be a large enough portion size (I have big eyes when it comes to food) but actually, it was just right. There was a big serving of the usual toppings, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and cheese, and was more than enough for my needs. The flavour of the chicken and vegetables was scrummy and well worth a try.

I’ll definitely go back to Bibi’s Cantina and recommend it to others – whether veggie or meat friendly. There seems to be a good mix of veggie and meaty dishes and the service is fast and friendly, and the prices very reasonable (£8.95 for a two course lunch). Since I was only there for a lunch I can’t offer any opinion on a dinner meal ... but the margarita mixing machine was spinning when I was there and I’m keen to try some. Girls night out anyone?

Bibi’s Cantina
599 Dumbarton Road, G11 6HY
Tel: 0141 579 0179
info@bibiscantina.com www.bibiscantiina.com

Solomon's Mine (so back off)

2010-02-19T19:28:00.007Z

Stop what you're doing! Get off the net! Head down to Queen of Sheba, a new and totally brilliant restaurant in Glasgow's St George's cross. Not hungry? Who cares, you'd be stuffed halfway through the main course anyway.

Me and Girl-e were going to get the usual Friday night takeaway, although we've gone through something of a local restaurant trial seperation since we last dropped in on our local Italian; instead of seafood spaghetti, they gave me a Carbonora which was actually a soup-based dish served in melted Lurpak instead of water. She still likes the pizza.

Last minute change of plan - we head to fast food powerhouse Asia Style in St George's road, but seeing as they're off ushering in the year of the Tiger, we go next door; stepping through a front door straight out of a B & Q sale and into a beautiful, but quirkily unpretentious interior with mushroom-like woven tables and cute stools which leave you only a foot off the ground.

Still reading? Get down there and give them your money before they shut down. The place was deserted but for our smily waitress wearing, presumably, Abyssinian national dress. No alcohol, (byob) so I sip some fragrant black tea with a spoonful of sugar and we order a starter and main.

I never see oxtail on menus; my starter is similar - a clear, oily broth with shreds of lamb on the bone. Girl-e has Sambusa parcels with lentils. Very nice, but the mains are the thing, and I'm disappointed that we don't eat them as intended - everyone present dining off the same giant pancake.

Why did we ever eat anything that was less than 100% meat? Meat which includes not-meat is a sickening thought when you think about it - I've just eaten a plate of raw beef, and now I feel I could fight a cow for more. It arrives on a delicious sour pancake the size of a Turkey platter called an 'Injera'. The waitress warns me what I'm getting, and right enough, it's a mere flash in the pan away from standing round, eating grass and taking few life-changing risks. Has it been seasoned? What is the taste of beef, anyway? Prepared this way, the blood and fat take on a flavour of their own; the texture is only as surprising as sushi.

We get a spoonful of fiery spice, as powder and blended with butter, which we dip as we go along, eating with our fingers. Girl-e orders a combination of lentil stew and spinach on fried onions and can't finish hers, either; excuse the bland description, it was nice when I had a spoonful of the leftovers just now. There are several vegetarian options to run through when we come back.

Why did we eat all those curries and pastas? Why do we even heat things up? Our idea of a guilty pleasure is a plate of meat slurry with mayo on a bun. I get through half of the main and get the rest wrapped up, and I'm still on a protein buzz.

I'm off to Google Ethiopia now, it's gratifying Glasgow finally has one of their restaurants. I do know the Queen of Sheba was married to the great King Solomon. I'm going back with friends, soon. It's the taste of ... civilisation.

What was your special V-Day treat?

2010-02-15T14:59:00.008Z

'Special' days often seem to revolve around food - often, it's not so much 'did you have a nice day', but rather 'what did you eat (or drink) that made it a nice day'. Nothing wrong with this in my opinion; the consumption of food and drink can be tremendously sensual experiences and provide sensory memories that are very evocative of important and enjoyable moments in our lives - and what better day to highlight this than Cupid's own holiday? It's certainly as good a time as any for sparkling rose wine, luscious chocolates, long lingering brunches and aphrodiasic-laced dining.

Seems as if every restaurant in Glasgow seemed to be on this bandwagon with their special menus for lovers over the weekend - multiple courses for inflated prices says the cynic in me - but a lot of people enjoy this no-fuss, save your energy for other things approach to a romantic dinner out so these restaurants must be doing something right. Of course, for some, the important part of the night might not be the dinner but rather a show, a night of dancing, a film or etc.(!) and dinner is just something that you do when you are out for the evening. I struggle to frame the world in this fashion but I realise that this is just my perspective!.

For our part, we had our Valentine's dinner in. I always agree to cook our Valentine's dinner if we can agree something fairly simple that still seems a bit special - and the beautiful flowers I received for my V-Day surprise made me not mind cooking in the slightest. Yesterday's dinner was a lovely beef stew that spent the day in the slow cooker - such an easy recipe: brown beef (1 kilo), throw in chunks of carrots (around 6 medium), chunks of potatoes (around 6 large potatoes) and thinly sliced onions (1 large onion), add several tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary (around 3 - less if you are not so keen on rosemary as we are) and a liquid brew comprised of ketchup (1/2 cup), boiling water (1/2 cup), red wine vinegar (1/4 cup - I acutally used closer to 1/2 a cup as Ilke the tanginess) and soy sauce (about 3 tablesspoons - could also be replaced with worcestershire sauce for those who can) and seasoned with salt and pepper. Sounds odd maybe but it's delicious - the resulting gracy is rich and tangy without any significant tomato overtones. I also threw in about a 1/3 of a bottle of red wine that was left from the previous evening and thickened everything at the end with a cornflour slurry (being gluten challenged) after about 5 hours on high in the slow cooker. Thickening could easily be have been done by dusting the beef with flour prior to browning the chunks as well. No fuss, little muss - and leftovers for at least one more day. Plus I had a happy hubby who got to dip bread into rich, tasty, beefy gravy at the end of the meal which won me the biggest kudos of the day!

Hope your V-day was as nice as ours...If you had something special, please tell us about it the comments - we'd love to hear about it.

Does it have to be Champagne...?

2010-02-08T17:30:00.006Z

Well, sometimes it does - but not always. Being honest, I'm always going to pick a fine champagne, preferably a vintage offering or a prestige cuvee (think Dom Perignon or La Grande Dame), if I'm given a choice. But since the world is not beating down my door to pour me prestige cuvee and I can't afford to buy it myself on a regular basis, I'd rather make 'alternative' bubbly choices than drink mediocre Champagne. Now don't get me wrong, less expensive Champagnes can be wonderful, too. The odd supermarket bottle comes up trumps, such as Oudinot from Marks and Spencer or Waitrose Brut NV.

Winemakers around the world make sparkling wines that are wonderful - if not downright excellent - and I'd rather drink one of these any day of the week than suffer insipid champagne - or worse, never drink sparkling wine unless my budget allowed! Around the world styles differ; many climates for example allow for much riper fruit and therefore produce wines (if you will allow me to generalise) that are softer, more lush and less acidic. For many, this is perfect - my own other half much prefers sparkling wine like this. Some seek to emulate Champagne using the same grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) or using the same traditional winemaking methods (Methode Champenoise) and many have their own long(ish) traditions of making sparkling wine with various grapes and methods of production being employed: to name but a few, Prosecco or Asti (Italy), Cava (Spain), Cremant (some other non-Champagne regions in France), and even Sekt (Germany). The 'new world' gets in on the act, too and countries such as the US (California, mainly), Chile, Australia and New Zealand produce a dizzying array of sparklers to suit many budgets and tastes. Califonia makes some stellar sparkling wines, notably in wineries owned by French Champagne houses for the most part - if you ever see Roederer Quartet, available from Majestic and Waitrose, I'd stock up as it is an absolutely lovely wine. It has the most 'champagne-like' characteristics of any new world sparkler that I've tasted but does not lack it's own particular charm either.

So, what made me think about this today - surprisingly (or not) it isn't the arrival of Valentine's day and the need for pink bubbles - but rather it was the most wonderful glass of Prosecco that I had the other day. girl-e and I went to Nick's Italian Grill on Hyndland Road to celebrate payday and treat ourselves to lunch and we started with a glass of Prosecco that blew me away. It may have just been the right wine at the right time - but I found its fresh lemony-creaminess immensely enjoyable. As for our lunch, it was fine (read: unremarkable) and service was pleasant if a bit clumsy (we seemed to have at least 4 servers). They seem to be going for a New York kind of vibe - but there's no way to replicate the buzz of New York in leafy, west-end Hyndland. It was, however, a nice place for a drink - and probably a nice addition to the neighbourhood. I may not go out of my way again (it's a bit gluten heavy and lacks much in the way of veggie choices to truly please the likes of us)- unless I crave the Prosecco, that is!

Could I have survived January without my rice cooker?

2010-02-04T16:44:00.004Z

The sun is finally coming out.....! Ok, so we had snow yesterday...but today (at least the earlier part) is beautiful. This is the kind of day that re-affirms the notion that Spring will indeed arrive. I do find that Winter in Glasgow is a bit tough for me having grown up somewhere where there is rather more daylight (and sun!) during the Winter. This lack of daylight makes my personal circadian rhythms go haywire and I'm not much use for anything throughout most of January.

One of the consequences of this is that our diet goes out the window - and I don't even mean our good intentions or our January plans to revamp our lives here, but rather our descent into lazy cooking and processed food (which of course as we all know makes things worse!). If it takes longer than 10 minutes to either cook or to toss into the slow cooker, I can't manage it. I've eaten lots of microwaved plates of refried beans with rice, salsa and guacamole, scrambled eggs and rice, refrigerator surprise fried rice, etc. You get the picture - it only takes a minute to get a big batch of rice into the rice cooker - and I can take a nap knowing that it will click over to the 'keep warm' setting until I am ready. What would we have been eating if it weren't for the rice cooker? I dread to think....

As appliances go, the rice cooker is probably the one that I would be most unhappy to live without. Sure, I can manage the absorption method - which makes perfectly nice rice - but it's never as perfect or as easy as the rice cooker. And I don't really like the boil and strain menthod as the texture always seems wrong to me. There's also not very much like that first moment when you open the rice cooker after it's finished and you get that blast of freshly cooked rice smell - the very smell of comfort and warmth. It doesn't matter if it's white, brown or wild (as long as the liquid measurement is right) or even if it's another grain such as quinoa, millet or buckwheat, it's easy and it's always right. I've even made risotto in the rice cooker with a fair amount of success.

There are many different kinds of rice cooker on the market these days. Some are multi-use appliance that may double as slow cookers, steamers or even pressure cookers. Some are very simple with nothing save a button that toggles from 'on' to 'warm' to 'off' - and some operate using something called 'fuzzy logic' and have lots of buttons on the front. Mine is somewhere in the middle - no inserts for steaming or other secondary uses but has fuzzy logic (which if I understand it, seems to enhance the machine's ability to decide when the rice is done with more accuracy) and just the right amount of buttons to be understandable on the front.

If you have a rice cooker and haven't fallen in love with it yet, check out Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann's book 'The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook'. I have a lot of cookbooks, too many for most of them to live in the kitchen in fact - but this one does. I pop it open several times a week.

Do you have an appliance that you would hate to live without?

Do you De-Tox?

2010-01-15T17:02:00.007Z

I don't know about you, but I've already heard any number of colleagues, friends, acquaintances, people on the bus, etc. state that they are doing a de-tox at the moment - what this actually means however is likely to be completely different on a person by person basis.

'Tis the season I suppose - the ritual cleansing after the ritual face-stuffing makes a certain amount of sense - and the start of a new year is as good a time as any to reflect on changes that we might want to make in our lives. I won't admit to a detox programme - but we have banished the sweet treats from our house, lowered our meat intake, backed off on wine with dinner most nights and generally had a think about how to make ourselves feel a bit better during these dark, winter days. A few weeks of carb-craziness is certainly enough to prove that this is not really the best way to weather the weather we are being subjected to at the moment and I do find that it is easier to under-indulge after a period of over-indulging.

My personal plan is to do more yoga - sounds simple enough to start with and has the added bonus of making you more 'mindful'. Carving the time out of each day can seem challenging but even just 20-30 minutes gives a benefit. Paying a bit of attention to how I feel physically and spending time thinking about my body and what I put into it is something I should probably pay more attention to all year round.

So, readers, what is your January plan for health and well-being? Are you off the coffee, banishing the take-aways, living on hot water and lemon juice, on a fresh juice diet ...? I'd be very curious to hear about your de-toxing ideas. Of course, feel free to chime in if you've already fallen off the proverbial wagon as well!

For those of us who could use a little support in coming up with interesting, healthy menu ideas, Cooking Light Magazine comes to the rescue. This is an American magazine but has a lot of information and recipes on its website and manages to promote healthy eating without taking all the fun and pizzazz out of it. It CAN be healthy and still taste good!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-15T14:02:00.003Z

I hope you and yours had a lovely holiday season and ate and drank all the wonderful things that make the winter festivities special to you. We had lovely and quiet (if a bit cold!) holiday season this year. I made a fairly traditional christmas dinner sized for two (no brussels sprouts for us though), baked christmas hams for other family events, baked some cookies (my first tentative foray into gluten free/dairy free cookie baking) and drank some nice wine. The cookies were a mixed success - although I did bake amazing buckwheat based chocolate chip cookies from one of Karina Allrich's recipes (the gluten free goddess).

I hope that you all have a safe, happy and prosperous 2010 and I look forward to sharing new culinary adventures with you!

Why is sausage-meat stuffing different than meatloaf?

2009-12-14T10:40:00.002Z

My lovely (Scottish) hubby, after enjoying cornbread stuffing twice over Thanksgiving week, said in a plaintive voice, ‘Can we have sausage-meat stuffing for Christmas?’ I think my melting pot North American ways, my experimental nature and my need to adjust all foodstuffs to keep dairy and gluten at bay occasionally frustrate the poor man who at heart likes things to be simple. My initial questions as to what exactly it was he was looking for by saying ‘sausage-meat stuffing’ didn’t’ really illuminate anything for me either.

My other problem of course is that I cannot go out and buy ‘sausage-meat’ since all sausage in the UK (almost) comes fortified with breadcrumbs or some such and is therefore not gluten free. So I have to figure out what flavourings make it not minced pork but rather ‘sausage-meat’ and then figure out how to transform this substance into something he will recognise as stuffing. In my experience, sausage stuffing is stuffing (bread-based) with some sausage in it. I could certainly make something stuffing-like from something approximating sausage-meat - but I think he’s looking for a taste from his childhood and not some multicultural or fridge-clearing delight that I’ve been inspired to throw together.

Fortunately, I’ve been saved by Sausagelinks. They’ve spelled out the ingredients for homemade sausages with an understanding of how they work together – the need for there to be enough fat, some grain item (for me probably homemade gluten free breadcrumbs or rice flour) and the appropriate herbs and spices (at its simplest salt, pepper and possibly sage). Sausagelinks seems to be a clearinghouse for information about independent sausage producers and provides a nice set of recipes as well as sausage ‘news’ with notes about new items and details of food events.

Now that I know how to put together ‘sausage-meat’, I have to work out the stuffing part. In a nutshell, it seems as if to make it ‘stuffing’ rather than a misshapen lump of sausage, it needs to be further ‘watered’ down with breadcrumbs, chestnuts or some similar substance to ‘soften’ the meat texture and then bake/roast or steam and then slice (or stuff into a bird). I have to say, as much as I like all kinds of stuffing and as much as I am sure the flavourful bird drippings add tons of flavour, my food poisoning sensitivities are too strong to cook something as dense as another wad of meat inside a bird. It just seems that either the bird would be leather or the sausage-meat would be underdone.

So, what happened when I tried it? Well, first of all, he loved it. It was essentially served as a meatloaf – sliced warm and served with a baked sweet potato and creamed corn (you can take the girl out of America…..). I did make my own gluten free breadcrumbs by toasting slices of gluten free bread in a low oven until dried and then pulsing in the food processor. I made ‘sausage-meat’ by adding salt (actually a seasoning mix called 'Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt’ which also has herbs and dried onion and garlic) and pepper as well as some dried sage and some nutmeg. There was 500g for pork mince so I added 50g of breadcrumbs. Then I looked at the next several recipes and made something up – I added another 40g of breadcrumbs, chopped chestnuts and some olive oil for some additional fat. I moulded it into the bottom of the bowl, popped it out and put it into a small roasting pan and roasted it at around 180 degrees C for about 40 minutes. I left it resting for around 15 minutes before slicing.

I was dubious about the texture of all those breadcrumbs – but it was a hit with hubby. He liked the dense texture and felt that it was nicely moist. I have some adjustments in mind for when I make this at Christmas though – I think an egg or two would help the texture and I think a couple of slices of smoked streaky bacon put through the food processor and mixed in would help. I also think that while I followed the recipe in terms of the percentage of seasoning based on weight, and at the time thought it would be far too much, I would actually add even a bit more. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Light Meals (Tiffin)

2009-12-09T14:23:00.004Z

The other weekend we went for the first time to the newest member of the Balbir empire, the Tiffin Rooms on Sauchiehall Street just west of Charing Cross. We had stopped to look at the menu a number of times since it opened but when one of our friends who lives in Wales (but is from Glasgow and therefore misses local curry terribly) came up to visit we thought this was the right moment to give it a try. The food had been reported to be, as is Balbir’s trademark, on the fresh and light side of the Indian cuisine spectrum. This appealed to me as I am dairy-challenged and it was good to know that I was not getting ghee in my meal or any sneaky butter, cream or yoghurt that I wasn’t prepared for – and that I could speak up about my allergies and get a good reception from staff with proper training. (Thank you, Balbir!)

The interior is modern and spacious and even though it was fairly busy, it did not seem noisy. The menu held a list of smaller size dishes (tiffin), thali choices, platters as well as full sized curries. The items were well chosen however and you weren’t overwhelmed by endless lists of dishes. There is also a specials board above the window to the open kitchen with extra additions to the menu. We chose three starters from the list – mushroom pakora (light and crispy) and two dosas (rice and lentil pancakes) - one chicken and one lamb. They were all lovely although the star was the lamb mince dosa which was rich and spicy. Having ordered a set of appetisers, we thought we shouldn’t overdo it on the mains and we ordered platters rather than ‘full’ curries. These were reasonably priced (around £8) and provided a curry of choice, rice and Bombay potatoes (which were great). This was the perfect sized main course and we went away feeling satisfied and not overstuffed. I chose chicken achari as my curry and while it was delicious it was not very ‘pickle-y’. Personally, the more pickled bits, the better – but everyone may not agree – I may order pickles as a side dish the next time. My dining companions however were delighted with their choices of lamb saag (this was reported to be particularly nice) and chicken karahi. We enjoyed a nice, reasonably-priced Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with our meal, left for the evening only about £60 lighter (for three) and not feeling like we needed a nap before we went onto enjoy the rest of our evening.

Breakfast potatoes

2009-12-05T14:04:00.001Z

I always make a potato dish when we invite people over for brunch. Partly because I just absolutely love potatoes, but also because I actually get quite a few compliments on them. Enough that I thought I would write a blog entry about them.

The important step is par-boiling. I like to use smaller potatoes, the ones where I only have to cut them into about 4 pieces each. I'm not that up on potato varieties (MBK is far more knowledgeable about that type of thing), but Sainsbury's, Roots and Fruits, and Waitrose all have several lovely varieties. Lately I've been eating anya potatoes from Sainsbury's.

After boiling them (with the skins on) for about five minutes, they're soft enough to toss into the mixture of olive oil and butter and softened chopped spring onions I've left in a frying pan on medium heat. Not terribly diet friendly I know, but I don't make these very often. After heating the potatoes a bit, I add some garlic. I like Gia garlic puree - it's the lazy girl's choice, but also it helps the potatoes get that soft fried but mushy texture that I'm going for. For flavouring, I add salt and pepper, a pinch of paprika, and chilli flakes. That's it.

Office xmas dinner hell

2009-12-05T10:04:00.005Z

No, actually it was pretty good. the Grill On The Corner is just along Bothwell Street from bums-on-seats overlord Witherspoons and across the road from dismal booze palace Madness, so I'm sure we weren't the only bunch of office workers on a night out. The bill was a not-exactly-cheap £27 including service charge, not including the decent Chilean wine generously bought for us by the boss, but the food was worth it.

Not crazy about the Grill's atmosphere and ambience; the table felt a tad small, it was super busy, the chandeliers most likely didn't belong to Louis XIV, and the clattering drone of other diners and musak made most of what was said at the other end of our ten-strong table incomprehensible. Plus, I don't like having to fill out a form to get special offer emails before the waiter takes our order for food, and being asked why I'm not going to take part.

Anyway, down to the food. Starter's very nice, crab meat and a generous amount of prawns on noodles with a few leaves of herb salad. Did I mention that Chilean wine? Nice and full bodied it is, and I seem to have my own bottle at this end of the table. Hic. My steak is slightly more done than the rare I asked for but is perfectly nice and well trimmed with fried potatoes and crisp veg. Finallly, although my sample of chocolate tart is as nice as it sounds on the menu, I'm glad that I opt for the apple and summer fruit crumble instead. How long has it been since I had crumble? Why did I wait so long?

Overall a pretty good xmas meal, but it was the food which carried the night out; leaving me with a similar impression of drinking a great real ale at Witherspoons - if you can shut out the oppressive noise and marketing around you, your taste buds will find something to enjoy. As for your colleagues, well, you can catch up with them any time.

I'll have what he's having

2009-12-05T09:38:00.005Z

The wife can't be bothered cooking tonight so like a 1950s patriarch I generously offer to take her out to dinner at the greatest cheap restaurant in Glasgow, Asia Style, going dutch with a couple of friends; one of whom has written a blog entry on it before.

It's busy enough for a Thursday night be we get a table at 7.00 without booking. I've figuratively dined out on the thousand year egg in porridge I once manfully ate here but I'm still trying to work my way through the place's vast menu. Tonight I've been on a long train journey, so I go for something conservative.

The next table has a succulent-looking pile of cubed duck pieces with a pile of sticky white rice, so I order the ginger duck. For starters though, we share tasty salt and pepper ribs. When the mains arrive I'm slightly disappointed that the duck is smothered in a strong, dark sauce. It mixes nicely with the coconut rice to produce a sweet gravy, and slices of chilli give it a spicy edge. As my friend warned, I have to pick the bones individually from the pieces. I get dining envy for my friend's bowl of curried chicken broth, a swirling golden concoction full of deep flavours (Masterchef was talking about deep flavours a couple of weeks back). The wife gets her usual salt and pepper beancurd, a pile of beautiful fried chunks with stinging hot chillis, along with a side dish of garlic choi san. Cheapskates beware, the sides often cost more than the main dishes.

So, not my favourite visit to Asia style, but still worth it. Next time I'll be back on the tripe porridge, I reckon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T10:43:00.005Z

Even if this isn’t one of your personal holidays, take a moment and have a quick think about what you are thankful for in your life. It does feel good to step back and realise that despite the daily grind, there is much to be happy about and thankful for. Next, take a moment and think of your cousins across the ocean stuffing their faces with turkey and more carbs than many of us have ever seen in one place. It’s easy to lose sight of what the day might mean when you are sleepy from your big meal and your attention isn’t really held by parades and football on television. However, the camaraderie of spending the day with your extended family and all pitching in to deliver the crescendo that the great meal provides – whether your role was producing a perfect turkey or showing people where to put their coats – is something to be thankful for in itself. It’s been a very long time since I’ve spent a Thanksgiving with my family – and every year I do miss it just that little bit….

I did, however, as I mentioned last week attend a Thanksgiving-style dinner last weekend. As our hostess was a vegetarian, I brought turkey and turkey gravy as well as plates and utensils with which to serve the beast. I also brought gluten free corn bread stuffing (I volunteered for the stuffing as I could not imagine having a ‘thanksgiving’ dinner at which I could not eat stuffing) and gluten free brownies with dried cranberries and hazelnuts (ditto, comments for the stuffing). Fortunately, I’ve invested enough effort in being gluten free – and have enough memory of a time when I wasn’t – that most people don’t realise that they are eating gluten free when I am cooking (or so they are polite enough to say!).

In true North American style, it was a meal that reflected the melting pot that was our group – delicious vegetarian mole, maple roasted venison sausages, mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, green beans – all yum! We did get through a few bottles of wine as well - and while I had high hopes for the Beaujolais rose (pretty dull really – no hint of that intense gamay grapey goodness), and the assorted white wines that we tried (a couple of richer ones like chardonnay and viognier) were fine, the real standout was the Alsatian Gewurztraminer by Cave de Turckheim. It was dry and richly floral and spice scented but had the weight needed to stand up to meat and gravy as well as the rich spicy mole and enough fruitiness of flavour to complement the wide variety of foods we were eating. Highly recommended!

Carrot Surprise…

2009-11-17T16:40:00.008Z

Since last week I’ve been toying with various elements of a Thanksgiving Dinner – as a transplanted American, I usually do something simple (generally making something involving gravy) to remind myself of the holiday that my relatives on the other side of the ocean are sharing together. It is, after all, one of our nicest traditions – it’s about togetherness and appreciating what we have. Okay, it’s also about food and football – but these are things that people enjoy sharing together and no matter what brings us together, it’s worth appreciating. This year, however, we decided that a more elaborate Thanksgiving meal on this side of the ocean was in order. We’ve gathered a rag tag bunch of assorted nationalities to feast the occasion and we’ve completed all the negotiations about how to make things gluten and/or dairy free (which are my issues) and just how much bird the vegetarians are happy to share the table with (there will be bird but not too much) and very importantly, which wine should we drink with our meal. I’ll happily report on the success of the wine in another post next week…

To prepare, I have spent the past couple of weekends fine-tuning some of my recipes. I’ve been working on the perfect gluten free brownies with dried cranberries, been gradually baking the gluten free cornbread that will be the basis of the stuffing, practicing my turkey gravy and practicing roasting turkey thighs. I think I’m happy with most of my efforts and roasted my final trial run turkey thigh last night. My other half has been more than happy to enjoy these experiments over the past few weeks and has been very pleased to have been the recipient of gravy numerous times. Last night, when asked about his choice of vegetable to go with sliced turkey, gravy and a baked potato – he said he wanted carrots.

Nothing exciting about this request and I didn’t think too hard about it until after they were in the pan (4 large carrots, thick sliced, bias cut), lid on, with a bit of water (2/3 cup) for a light steam (5 minutes or so). Once I lifted the lid to let the water evaporate and the carrots start to brown (adding a splash of oil), I had to make a quick decision - and then one of those amazing things happened, a little light went off in my head and we had a very delicious carrot side dish. Once the carrots started to brown and were nearly cooked through, I added a spoonful of Chinese chili-garlic sauce (comes in a jar, available from pretty much any Chinese grocery) and tossed this with the carrots along with some salt and pepper. I used about a tablespoon of chili-garlic and they were just spicy enough to not overwhelm the other flavours on the plate but still to stand out – chili heat is a very personal decision though so this ingredient is definitely to taste. I tossed these periodically for another few minutes and then added some orange juice to the plan to give a sweet glaze to the carrots, probably not more than ½ to ¾ of a cup is necessary – but again, depends on how much chili you’ve used and how sweet you like your glaze to be. It’s just so wonderful when something so simple turns out to be so delightful. I think we are having carrots again tonight!

Quinoa for Breakfast?

2009-11-10T12:18:00.002Z

First of all, you may ask, what is quinoa? Or you may not as it is becoming increasingly common. For clarity’s sake however I will give you a brief intro - quinoa is actually a ‘psuedocereal’ (being neither truly grass nor grain) whose edible seed was cultivated by the Incas who considered it to be the ‘mother of all grains’ (thank you Wikipedia). More usefully, it has a high protein content, a complete set of amino acids, a range of minerals and is high in fibre as compared to other similar products such as rice – making it a valuable addition to vegetarian, vegan and gluten free diets. It looks a bit like couscous but has a nice toothsome texture when cooked and a slightly nutty flavour. It requires rinsing before cooking (to remove a bitter compound called saponin) and can be cooked and flavoured much like rice (maybe use a bit less liquid). Indeed, I generally use my rice cooker to cook it.

But for breakfast, you ask? Well, yes, for breakfast. I stumbled upon a recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks (The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufman) for Orange Dessert Quinoa – the key to which is cooking quinoa in orange juice - and adapted it into a portable breakfast. I can cook this on Sunday and keep it in the refrigerator and for most of the week take a tasty container of breakfast with me to work in the morning – one recipe lasts me about 4 days. I just eat it at my desk with a spoon when I get to work – no fuss, no muss, nothing to add, delicious and healthy and the short journey keeps it from being too cold to appreciate the flavours. That being said, the week I made some cashew cream was a highlight as a tablespoon of this drizzled over my bowl was very nice – other creams would be nice as well, dairy or soy for example if you are so inclined.

To give this wholesome breakfast a try: Take 1 ½ cups of quinoa and give it a good rinse in several changes of water. You will need a fairly fine strainer to keep your precious little seeds from escaping. Put the rinsed and drained quinoa in your rice cooker with 2 cups of orange juice, a pinch of salt, a generous tablespoon of agave syrup (or honey, or a sweetener of choice) and whatever else strikes your fancy. Just set your rice cooker onto a regular cycle and let it go. If you’d prefer to use a pot on the hob, this is ‘absorption method’ cooking so make sure your pot has a reasonably tight fitting lid, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer (low heat) for 15-20 minutes and then just turn the heat off and let the mixture sit in the pan with the lid on to steam for a further 10-15 minutes.

My best attempt yet included about 50g of dried cranberries, 3 tablespoons (or so) of toasted, chopped hazelnuts, a sprinkling of ground flaxseed and a good sprinkling of cinnamon. In my opinion, it was the cinnamon that was the key to my success with this last batch. I may try some mixed spice on the next batch for an even warmer flavour – although I have to admit that orange and cinnamon is one of my favourite flavour combinations.

Beer beer want more beer

2009-11-04T21:34:00.008Z

To the tune of 'Hail, Hail to Piracy' ... in my inaugural post as a food blogger I hearby plug the latest special offer at JD Witherspoon's, a vastly un-edgy chain pub normally stuffed with office workers and other plebs. Not only do they do a tasty full English / Scottish breakfast for buttons (supersize it into a hard-to-finish Farmhouse version for an extra quid), steak n chips, and perfectly respectable salmon, they do excellent guest ales, and annual beer and wine festivals.

It's the chain's 30th birthday, and this ale fest is even better than usual. For the price of a 1990s pint (£1.69 at my local), you get a beautiful obscurity such as ANKER GOUDEN CAROLUS AMBRIO, a fruity Belgian ale with a reddish colour and slight head. Being dull responsible types 'Spoons only sell you it in halves (it's 8% ABV) for 85p a glass.

A European ale? With foam? Does that happen? By God, I know nothing about beer. But maybe after I've sampled the other 49 I'll be on my way. For extra middle-aged-and-lovin-it fun, rate your ale on the Witherspoons website.

www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/promotions/2009-real-ale-festival/

As a grassroots, hardcore, two fingers to the mainstream type of chap I'm pleased to note that this festival is endorsed by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). Only they've been online already giving their ratings and my lovely Anker Gouden only got 2.8%. Damnit, I will not be an entry-level know-nothing! I'm going to crack this ale lark even if it costs me (reaches for calculator) a further £82.81. Just like I cracked whisky by going to that Whisky Live! fest back in September.

While I'm not a fan of seeing the same chains everywhere you go in every city of the UK, if McDonald's had a one-off Bateman's Iron Lady (based on unfluffy former Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher) on tap I'd be willing to attend their birthday party too.

Is it boring to love penne alla arrabiata?

2009-11-04T12:21:00.000Z

I suppose it is, but I really really do. I use it as litmus to test how good an Italian restaurant is, the same way I used to use grilled cheese sandwiches as an indicator of how good a diner was when I still lived in New York. Arrabiata sauces can range in quality so dramatically, and you can get those thin, watery, not very spicy versions even in restaurants that are pretty good in other respects.

I love the Penne alla arrabiata at Fazzi on Cambridge Street. I don’t know if it’s my favourite, but it’s on my mind because I just had it last night for dinner. The sauce is a bit sparse but nice and rich and full of chilli and garlic. And the best part is, they add black olives! I know olives are one of those things that tend to polarise people, so if you’re looking for a good Penne alla arrabiata and the idea of black olives gives you wiggins, go to Dino’s on Sauchiehall Street.

What’s the secret ingredient in chili?

2009-11-04T11:24:00.006Z

Do you make chili at home? My husband only cooks a couple of things but one of them is a giant vat of chilli that lasts for several days as well as stocks the freezer for those nights when we need a quick dinner. As an American, I am all too aware of the regional battles that rage over what should go into chili – Texans tend to think that chili is meat and chile only (meat=beef) and abhor the use of beans and tomato (but within Texas endless debate still rages on); Cincinnati chili uses spices like cinnamon and allspice as well as tomato but is as much about how it is served (over noodles with garnishes of cheese, onions, beans, crackers etc.); moving towards the south-western states chili becomes more divided between the traditional ‘bowl of red’ and ‘chili verde’ using fresh green chili peppers and more varieties of meats. I’ve even seen recipes for ‘amish’ or ‘pennsylvania dutch’ chili recipes that are based on spaghetti and canned baked beans with pork! This is of course not to forget ‘white’ chili which is mild, poultry-based, leaning more towards the ‘verde’ end and generally to be found among collections of ‘light’ recipes or the endless variety of delicious vegetarian chilis that are based on different variations of vegetables, beans and protein replacements. Whew!

Fortunately, on this side of the Atlantic we are free of these regional battles, as least as far as chili is concerned. At home, we tend to make our chili based on a) what kind of mince is on sale at the grocery store, b) what’s in the freezer at the moment, c) what vegetables need to be used up, and d) what else can we find in the pantry in terms of beans, herbs, spices and in particular chile powders. I do have favourites of course (as does my in-house chili-master), such as the tubs of the chili sauce that our favourite local take-away gives out with its kebabs (we pop in to buy these specially for chili), canned soy beans in sweet chili sauce (the sweetness adds nice balance to the flavours), cocoa power for depth of flavour (my own chili-master is especially keen on this one) and the use of soya mince to bulk out the ‘meatiness’ with something more healthful than beef or pork.

Handy hints: There’s a difference between ‘chili powder’ and ‘chile powder’. The spellings change (and tend to be frustratingly interchangeable) but one (seasoning for chili) is a blend of chile, cumin, garlic and other herbs and spices and the other is pure ground chile. Chile peppers all have different flavour profiles but you can buy a wide variety, such as generic ‘ground red chile’, varieties of cayenne pepper, hot, sweet and smoked paprika, specific varieties such as Ancho chile powder, New Mexican Chile powder, jalapeno or chipotle powder. For the best selection of chiles and chile powders, as well as a wonderland of other Tex-Mex ingredients, head to Lupe Pinto’s on Great Western Road in the West End of Glasgow (see website for other locations). If you want to know even more about American Chili rivalries, see the International Chili Society website.

I’d be very curious to know what our readers think is key to the flavour in their home-made chili – and, of course, I’d love to know your secret ingredients if you’d care to share!

Were you watching Masterchef The Professionals?

2009-10-28T16:50:00.000Z

Well I was – and I thought it was fantastic. I tuned in at some point in the early elimination stages and was riveted. At the beginning, the chefs were nervous and clumsy (not that I blame them, mind you) and struggled with some of the basic tasks they were asked to complete in a nerve-grindingly short time frame and under the hard stare of the judges. Once they got past these initial lumps and bumps though, it was really wonderful. You got a chance to see quite creative minds at play – their ideas didn’t always work and their plates were not always beautiful, but you have to give them credit for trying so hard.

I’m not sure what was more fascinating – watching the precision activity and exacting standards in Michelin starred kitchens, watching these talented pros slice and dice and whatnot with speed and finesse, or watching Gregg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr. savour and comment on all these dishes. I’m not sure what my favourite plate was – there were far too many to choose from, involving too many fabulous ingredients (game and fish galore) and too many colourful garnishes. It seems that the key is the careful balance of simplicity and complexity – great food does (usually, anyway) tend to have an elegant simplicity about it without somehow actually being simple. Does that make sense – if not, I recommend you watch this series and you will understand.

I do, however, know what my favourite moment was. The contestants were asked to prepare dishes that reminded them of their personal heroes or people who were important to them. This was a great round as they all really put their heart into it and produced some of their finest plates. Steve (the eventual winner) made a complex dessert plate based around a simple banana cake that reminded him of his mother. Michel Roux Jr. took a taste of this dessert and actually giggled and said ‘yummy’. Watching this calm, elegant and seasoned professional, who is so thoroughly infused with dynastic culinary greatness, so thoroughly enjoy something, made my night. That’s what great food is about, isn’t it?

A yummy haven on Woodlands Road

2009-10-23T15:19:00.000+01:00

Glasgow is full of those anonymous cafes and restaurants that you pass a thousand times before you notice them, if you ever do notice them at all. And it’s too bad, because at times they can offer the best surprises.

Wednesday night my husband and I decided we didn’t want to cook, but we couldn’t decide where to eat. We wanted to go somewhere inexpensive, but we were tired of our usual takeaway haunts. It’s when I was walking home from work, along Woodlands Road, that I remembered MBK telling me she quite liked Café La Padella, just up the road from the Sainsbury’s petrol station. I had always assumed it was Italian, but MBK had informed me it was Turkish, and that, while not actually a vegetarian restaurant, they do specialise in vegetarian mezze.

The food was amazing. Well, the Turkish food was. We ordered hummus and borek (flaky pastry filled with cheese) for starters. The hummus was rich, with plenty of olive oil and came with freshly made fluffy pita. The borek was tasty too, although it looked more like a plate of spring rolls when it came out. I am used to borek being wee triangles.

The main dishes were enough to fill us up and satisfy (I had a vegetarian lasagne with potatoes instead of pasta separating the layers, my husband had fried cod) but they were a bit stodgy. I’d like to go back and just get Turkish food next time – perhaps share a mezze plate and bring a bottle of wine. I don’t know if they’re fully licensed, I didn’t see a wine menu, but they do let you bring your own bottle, with a very reasonable corkage fee that seems to vary, but stays around a couple of pounds.

The staff were very nice and friendly. MBK tells me the owner says hi to her on the street, even when she hasn’t been in for a while. It’s the kind of place that deserves to be busy every night of the week because it offers real value for money, and something alittle bit different from the typical anonymous café.

What do you crave when you are sick?

2009-10-23T11:41:00.003+01:00

Everyone it seems is sick at the moment. We were visiting friends on Friday night last week and since then, one by one, we have all fallen ill with whatever nasty cold-like bug is making the rounds. So, even more than usual, the topic of conversation in our house this week has been what to eat – what can we be bothered to make, what can we face in our weakened states and what qualifies as true comfort food? While my other half was ill, I was trying to find things to encourage him to eat and that might help. Turns out, his idea of ‘sick food’ is either (a) nothing but milky tea as he’s too worn out to try and feed himself or (b) cream of tomato soup and toast.

My soup preference would be for chicken probably but tomato is a wholesome (if slightly salty) option for those who grew up on tomato soup, who are vegetarians or who don’t mind the dairy in ‘cream of’ soups (which leaves me out). When I started to feel dodgy the other day, however, I immediately sought refuge in our favourite Indian takeaway and brought us home a spicy set meal for 2 (which since we were both sick took us two days to eat). Garlic, ginger and chilli are good for you, right? That’s my theory anyhow.

I think my ultimate sick food however has to be mashed potatoes. My mom always fed me this as a kid when I suffered with sore throats (and this was a lot). I know the traditional remedy for a child with a sore throat is ice cream but the thought of eating something so cold when I had a fever did not appeal to me in the slightest - and this is probably not the best place to start the sweet tooth vs salt tooth conversation anyway. The good thing about mashed potatoes (instant is fine in my book for these purposes) is that you can vary it based on how sick you are – bland with a bit of salt and butter if you are really in a bad way or with other flavourings such as chopped veg, canned corn, pesto, roasted garlic, sun blush tomatoes, etc. if you are needing a bit more oomph. It’s a bit like Chinese jook or congee – essentially a bland rice porridge which is fortifying and bland on its own but which can be dressed up with any number of garnishes to suit. Thousand year old eggs, anyone?

So, readers, what do you crave when you are sick?

Friday Afternoon Wine

2009-10-13T16:43:00.004+01:00

After spending Friday sewing up the details of a project at work, I joined my colleague (you know her as ‘girl-e’) for a celebratory and much deserved glass of wine to wind down a bit. Working in the West End of Glasgow, we found ourselves at Stravaigin on Gibson Street. As they are something of an institution, I won’t take too much time to talk about the food – other than to say that they take beautiful Scottish ingredients and mix things up with fusion-y touches and you can get always get a tasty, reliable burger and chips. What I’d really rather talk about is the lovely wine that we had on this particular occasion. We treated ourselves to a Vina Chocalon, Cabernet Franc Reserva, 2006 from the Maipo Valley in Chile – a large glass to be sure (it was Friday after all). I don’t think I’d ever had a Cabernet Franc from Chile and as I’ve always been a fan of Loire Valley reds (which also tend to be Cab Franc) I though this was worth a try. Well – what a good idea!

Cab Franc tends to be a more medium-bodied wine than, say, its cousin Cabernet Sauvignon (and it is often used in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - think Bordeaux) but this one was dense and rich and perfumed. It was a gorgeous dark garnet colour with hints of purple. The flavour was quite concentrated with deep, dark cherries, a chocolate-y finish and a lush texture. Girl-e commented that the wine made her think of rich, opulent fabrics and cozy winter nights. With time in the glass, the perfume became more vanilla-scented with hints of pencil lead (a trademark of the grape). It had a nice astringency which made me think it would be lovely with food – such as the aforementioned burger, their lovely haggis or with rabbit, duck or a cheese plate.

If you want to try this wine, then head down to Stravaigin – or, buy this wine from Slurp and start accruing their ‘cork points’ now!

The Mother of Indian restaurants

2009-10-09T17:17:00.004+01:00

If you live in Glasgow, and for some bizarre reason you haven’t yet tried Mother India, my advice to you is do it – now. I’ve only been 3 times myself, but every time was consistently yummy. The food was fresh and delicious, and anyone I know who has eaten there has had consistently good experiences.

The place is popular. The last time I was there it was a Saturday night and even though we had booked, we still had to wait in a queue of people, all with reservations. This was quickly resolved, however, when I phoned the restaurant from my mobile outside and said, ‘Hi, we have a party of 10, any chance our table is ready?’ A waitress promptly emerged and took us downstairs to our table.

One bit of advice – don’t book online. The website requires that you give credit card details, but if you phone, they don’t ask for this.

With all the Indian restaurants in Glasgow, a place has to pretty amazing to stand out. With Mother India, you won’t get any of those bright red, obviously dyed dishes with pools of oil resting on top. You’ll just get complex flavours and plenty of fresh vegetables and spice. Delicious!

You can get all the info you need on the website, including menus. Visit www.motherindiaglasgow.co.uk.

How can I choose just one favourite restaurant?

2009-10-09T15:50:00.002+01:00

The answer, I suppose, is that I can’t. There’s far too much to choose from in our fair city – and the choice is constantly changing. That being said, one of my favourite places in Glasgow has to be Asia Style on St. Georges Road. It’s not fancy and it’s not expensive but I’ve never had anything less than a fantastic meal there. It’s a mixture of standard Chinese restaurant dishes like green pepper and black bean sauce, sweet and sour, or Chinese-style curry (all done really well) and Malay, Nyonya and Malaysian-Chinese dishes like Hainan chicken rice, soft shell chile crab, rice porridges, curries, laksas and a number of dishes that are done ‘Malaysia style’. Don’t worry about the distinctions between the different cuisines – they are all delicious. Many people who have had the pleasure of travelling in Asia have sworn to the authenticity of the flavours. All I know is that it makes me very, very happy to have a meal there!

The décor is simple and basic and we are rarely lucky enough to arrive at time when there is no line for a table. Part of the enjoyment of the meal is watching what everyone else is getting and trying to figure out what it is. Staff are very helpful with this, as are your fellow diners generally speaking – it’s definitely the kind of buzzing atmosphere that would encourage you to lean over and ask your neighbours what that wonderful thing is that they are eating. It’s one of the best ways to zero in on something new that you want to try. In fact, one of my biggest problems in Asia Style is ordering something new – and not for lack of choice. Rather I have loved the dishes that I have sampled so much that it seems heart- breaking to try something new and leave a well-loved dish un-tasted for the day.

Another joy of eating here is that the portions are generous and I almost always have leftovers for lunch the next day. Of course, my colleagues are not always thrilled when I use the communal microwave at the office to heat up something that has shrimp paste in it – a common ingredient, rather like the Mediterranean use of anchovies, which can be a bit pungent for some but adds a marvellous savoury quality to everything it touches.

So what’s not to love - this is a stellar place for a meal; it won’t break the bank; it’s a great place for a group meal or a party (book first for this though) to enjoy lots of shared plates and last but not least, you can get take away and enjoy the fabulousness in your own home. Oh – and you can join the Facebook Asia Style Appreciation group if you need to connect with others who understand once you are hooked!

Details: 185 St Georges Road, Glasgow, G36JD, 0141 332 8828

Welcome

2009-09-17T17:02:00.004+01:00

Welcome to Food-e Glasgow – the new blog all about eating and drinking in Scotland’s largest city. We’ll be writing about our favourite restaurants, great cookbooks, pubs, supermarkets – pretty much anything that has anything to do with putting things in your mouth.

We hope you enjoy – and feel free to leave comments.