Naomi

They should! It's delicious. Thanks for all the yummy ideas. Lamb season here, so I look forward to trying several of them out. For this weekend I'think I'll either go for Aliwacks idea:

Your pea soup sounds just perfect for a cold wet night.

The addition of anchovies sounds delicious. Gonna try that. The reason I like to cook the veggies separately is that each one sautes, rather than steaming as they are added on top of each other. It makes the ratatouille less watery at the end. Mind you, it uses considerably more oil. But it turns out more unctious and tasty, I think. I had never thought of oven cooking it, but this would probably be a good way to prevent the wateriness with less oil. Fresh thyme and rosemary are always on my windowsill, so these go in, and loadsa garlic!

Like almost everyone else in the UK and Ireland, tea is my comfort drink. It's simply part of the culture. My favourites have all kinds of memories and emotions related to them. 1) Golden Namosa. Blended in Belfast since 1860. It's like "irish breakfast", probably a blend of assam and darjeeling. I love this brewed strong, with milk and sugar, like my Granny gave me every day after school. 2) Lapsang Souchong. I used to cry for a week at the end of every summer when I had to leave my beloved summer camp in County Sligo. As well as not washing my sweater for weeks, to smell the campfire on it, I would drink this smokey tea and imagine I was back with my friends singing round the campfire, on a damp misty mountaintop. It really does smell like a campfire. 3) Earl Grey. First tasted when visiting my mum's posh college friends in England. Felt ever so grand drinking this from a silver teapot and fine china. This was the first tea I bought loose. Still think it's worth bringing out the china for.

I'm looking for some ideas on what to do with a huge leg of lamb for sunday lunch (mothering sunday here) I'd like to jazz it up a little My usual way is to just pierce the lamb all over and stick sprigs of rosemary and slivers of garlic in the holes. Then I roast it and make plain gravy from the pan juices. Any ideas for accompaniments would be appreciated too.

I just love double-yolkers. My granny had a hen that seemed to produce them all the time. I've never had one from a supermarket.

Nigella Lawson's Pistachio Macaroons... from Domestic Goddess. These are quite simply spectacular. Here's her own description: "These are the world's most elegant macaroons. The color alone, that waxy pale jade, perfectly matches the aromatic delicacy of their taste; and their nutty chewiness melts into the fragrant, soft paste with which they're paired. Of all the recipes in this book, this is the one of which I think I'm most proud: cookie bliss." and here is the recipe: Pistachio Macaroons

Some elderly relatives are coming for 'high tea', so we are having pretty much the same sunday tea that my mum and granny always made. It isn't very trendy,and each dish is very simple, but it has been my favourite meal since I was a child. Because my family were quite religious everything could be made in advance and set out on sunday evening... but I've been working at it all day today! cold roast peppered fillet beef, cold ham, spiced pressed ox tongue prawns in lemon mayonnaise, cold poached salmon devilled eggs potato salad, tomato salad, mixed leaves Cucumber, celery and green grape salad carrot and mustard seed salad waldorf salad, coleslaw jellied beetroot mustard, pickles, chutneys, salad cream, homemade mayo. (I cheated and bought the bread from the bakery, because his bread is really good,and I just didn't have time or oven space, but everything else was cooked by my mum and me.) white soda bread wheaten bread (brown soda) potato bread scotch pancakes scones: plain, treacle and date & walnut mini bakewell tarts, mini 'cheesecakes', butter tarts (chocolate topped), coffee sponge, victoria sponge, apple creams, shortbread, lemon meringue pie, sherry trifle, fresh fruit salad.

I'm delighted to see The Oriel on there. It's a fantastic place, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. An oasis in Ulster's culinary desert.

I learnt to cook from Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course and would still recommend it for teenagers or people starting out. Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food, for great ideas when the fridge is nearly empty or when you're short of time. Nigella Lawson and Tamasin Day-Lewis's books for the infectious joy and pleasure in food that comes across.

The bbc food webpage This is definitely my favourite. The BBC makes me feel safe! Delia Smith Delia is great for the basics. Hers was my first cookbook and the one I turn to still for simple classics. Edit: Sorry, I just read back and saw that both of these have already been mentioned..... but I second the recommendations!

I know it's more Swiss really, but I have often eaten cheese fondue in Austria... it's delicious, great for a party and could be made with a veggie cheese.

Forgive me, I grew up Methodist. What's all this about fish in the bathtub?? I've seen Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall do this on his TV show. It cleaned the fish and took any "muddiness" out of it, making it taste fresher too.

Thanks for mentioning those HdT, they sound very useful. I'm definitely going to get the asian book. We have one asian shop here and I have been trying to pluck up the courage to go and do a "big shop" for ingredients that are either too rare or too expensive in the supermarket.

Actually, I cannot stand in judgement of my parents cooking.... As a teenager I inflicted some culinary horrors on my little brother. On our nanny's evenings off I used to cook for him and me. I was always experimenting and often my attempts were assigned to the bin. Still though, the brother claims to have eaten some awful things rather than facing my teenage wrath.

We also had some great food at home and when we travelled my parents would encourage us to sample all kinds of exciting food. But I have a few less fond memories too! Some examples are: 1) I used to get soo tired of boiled potatoes... night after night. This is Ireland after all! 2)"Queen of puddings"... a sickly sweet mess of breadcrumbs and meringue. 3) Bright orange, sticky smoked haddock, boiled in milk. 4) Cauliflower cheese, with a thick sauce still tasting of raw flour.

I'm with you on health grills. And even the large ones are not big enough to cook for four people. Another quite useless item I received was a 'mini-fondue' set, which sits on a tea-light candle. It came complete with hard marshmallows and 1% cocoa chocolate. Like a crappier version of the s'mores kit.

Here is an article with some well known chefs commenting on sherry's increasing popularity: Guardian article on sherry

I can sense the faint glimmer of a sherry revival here in the British Isles. Why not? After all, tapas have become extremely popular. Tapas and dry sherry. yum.

My New Year Diet: Every January I used to dust off my juicer and start drinking things like beetroot and carrot juice, start sprouting beans and spend a fortune on vitamin pills that give me terrible indigestion. I would also consume vast quantities of: miso soup herbal teas linseeds various algae-like substances. The net effect of all this was usually feeling so terrible after four days that I simply NEEDED hot buttered toast. Which heralded the end of my diet. This year I skipped straight to the toast. My point is to keep things manageable, rather than trying a dramatic overhaul. Trying to change your eating habits can be so hard for a foodie. My French flatmate used to lose pounds by simply eating half portions of her usual food. This is what I do now and I am much happier for it.

My resolutions (not so much 'cooking' as general 'food' resolutions):- To extend my "kitchen garden" beyond a few bedraggled herbs. To convince my father that every dinner does not have to involve meat, potatoes and two veg.. (have been trying for years, but this year I will crack him!)

I sent this little piece of opinion to Northern Ireland's only restaurant reviews site. I don't know if it will be placed on that site (or indeed if anyone reads the site... egullet it ain't ) but it was strangely satisfying to make a complaint! "A couple of months ago my family enjoyed a meal at the Buck's Head Restaurant, in Dundrum. My father and brother had oysters as a starter. They both subsequently suffered terrible food poisoning. Whilst not having any scientific proof, it seems logical to surmise that the shellfish caused this, since it was the only dish that they had exclusively. (no other family members were sick) My mother considered it proper form to write and inform the restauraunt. Rather than being grateful that she let him know, the owner replied with a rather defensive and condescending letter. My mother considered the letter quite rude. It was a very disappointing episode, and one which has coloured our opinions of this restaurant."

LOL. Scottish. Cranachan is a dessert with whiskey and heather honey and cream and raspberries and a crunchy scottish oat topping. Very Scottish Clootie dumpling aka "black bun" is a new year tradition. It is a pudding made of dried fruit and spices and plenty of booze. I have made a lighter ice-cream version. Some people carry black bun with their whiskey when they visit friends and family after midnight. It is called "first-footing" .. black bun symbolises that the house will not go hungry in the coming year. The first footer might also bring coal to symbolise warmth and safety. Whiskey... Dunno what that symbolises, but it is the best bit Neeps and tatties are turnips and potatoes... traditional accompaniments to haggis... I'm serving the tiniest cubes of each, sauteed. Haggis. Thats a small scottish creature with one long leg and one short leg so it can run round mountains easily! Just kidding. And back to the kitchen with me. Happy new year to all.

It is a family party and I am keeping it simple, with a real Sottish/ Irish theme. Wild Irish salmon trio: hot smoked, cold smoked and marinated Miniscule portions of haggis, neeps n tatties Locally reared venison, spiced red wine sauce, colcannon(light on potato, heavy on greens) Choice of Desserts Cranachan with rasberries Clootie dumpling ice cream (lighter than the dumpling itself) Plain Ice cream w. my rum butterscotch sauce Dad is sorting out the drinks, so dunno until he arrives. I'm sure both whiskey and champagne will appear throughout the evening!

The rude letter was from the owner! It happened a while ago now. They probably should have made more of a fuss, but they have just decided to remove their custom from the restaurant, and warn off their friends.