curlywurlyfi

there's an article in this month's new Waitrose Food Illustrated about lovely things to do in Leeds (and not just have lunch) - click

guess that makes me Curlywurlyfay

Boris, thank you, and the Lacemarket Hotel in Nottingham thanks you also!

can anyone help? I know 'ombre' is 'grayling' in English, but 'ombre chevalier'? thanks in advance! Fi

dinner for six, shopped for and cooked in the time between leaving work (6pm) and guests arriving (7.30pm). so the new thread on quick afterwork cooking came in handy... - Parmesan wafers whilst lolling on sofas (them not me, I was a blur of motion in the kitchen) - chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto, baked with chunks of red pepper, whole cherry tomatoes, whole garlic cloves, rosemary and a slug of EVOO - Puy lentils simmered in stock with spinach, garlic, lemon + EVOO stirred in at the end - creme fraiche let down with a little natural yoghurt, with chopped spring onions, mint + parsley stirred in Followed up with perfect figs, runny Brie, Lindt chocolate eggs and baby marshmallows. oh yes, dead sophisticated, me.

have thought of another one: Trixie's Bean Soup fry an onion in olive oil till soft and floppy, add some mulched garlic, stir about a bit, add a tin of chopped tomatoes + a tsp of Marigold bouillon. Fill the empty tomato tin with water and pour that into the pot. Bubble away for a bit. Meanwhile rinse a tin of canellini beans; finely shred some green cabbage; chop some salami. Add the beans + greens, when greens cooked + beans heated through stir in the salami and lots of black pepper. Serve at once with olive oil for drizzling + maybe some parmesan for grating over. Can substitute pretty much everything in this soup: use chickpeas; use chorizo or prosciutto or cubed pancetta (in which case obviously add it with the onion); use spinach or kale or finely sliced mushrooms. I often add thyme or a bay leaf or some red chilli flakes at the tin of tomato stage. this is deceptively filling - it looks like it will only just serve two but if you eat it all between you, within 20 minutes you'll be lying on the sofa with your eyes bulging from the internal pressure. don't say I didn't warn you.

OK, me, I'll go first. Emergency Salmon take salmon fillet. Sear in frying pan then cook to how you like. when seconds away from serving, pour over a tbsp of soy and a tbsp of balsamic, swirl about, dust black pepper, go. Meanwhile you will have steamed some sugarsnaps or broccoli. Emergency Cod take cod fillet (line caught of course). dust with flour, then fry in quite a lot more olive oil than you would normally use. When seconds away from serving, chuck over 2-3 tsps drained capers (I use the nonpareille little ones in sherry vinegar), couple of tbsps chopped parsley, and the juice of half a lemon (or slightly less). Swirl about in the olive oil to make yummy sauce, dust s (takes quite a lot of s) +p and go. Meanwhile, you will have steamed some tiny potatoes or nuked a bag of spinach. Also this one for garlic greens + soba noodles I have to admit, I keep a list of quick supper ideas in my PalmPilot so if I'm stuck for inspiration I can remind myself.

strips of candied orange peel are great in fondue; also shortbread fingers, gingersnaps, brandysnaps or Amaretti biscuits (the little crisp ones). And I sometimes add a pinch of cinnamon to the chocolate. As for proportions, when I do it at home, 200g of dark chocolate melted in 250ml double cream feeds four, because it is super-rich and coming at the end of the meal. And I second the comments about not needing a heat source. if you really think they won't snaffle up the chocolate quickly enough, what about putting the chocolate pots over bowls of warm water (not hot, or at least not hot enough to scald anyone)? mmmm, chocolate fondue, drool drool.

stir fry lots of chopped bok choi or cabbage greens in duck fat (or peanut oil in the unimaginable event of not having any duck fat) with masses of roughly chopped garlic, some red chilli flakes, some coarsely grated ginger. Add a little stock, fish sauce, soy to be about an inch deep on the bottom of the wok/pan. Meanwhile, cook soba noodles, drain, then toss into greens, add sesame oil if liked, swish about, serve. should be like a soupy stew. Can add tofu at stir-frying stage.

indulgent dinner for me on my own on the sofa: a huge heap of steamed purple sprouting broccoli, a dry Riesling, and about half a crackly baguette to mop up the oh-dear-I-seem-to-have-made-rather-a-lot-of-hollandaise. Fi

I can't believe you got there before me! I'm going on the 18th (combining it with a trip to see my goddaughter, rather alarmingly referred to by her mother as 'The Screamer'). Fi

what about an amazing picnic, but at home? we call this 'carpet picnic' in my house. either do the Villandry thing and build your own hamper with lots of good little bits + pieces, or Mosimann's (and hundreds of other places) do day packs. Push back the furniture, put a picnic rug in the middle of the sitting room floor, and picnic ahoy. and no dramas about forgetting the corkscrew, either. or book yourselves into a central London hotel (because there's something amazingly decadent about staying in a hotel in the town you actually live in) and have dinner downstairs or very very nearby (so you'd have to pick somewhere like, ooooh, the Charlotte Street Hotel? or the Mandarin Oriental? or what about a mega-walk somewhere (if you can both get the day off) like Whitstable or one of the seaside resorts with really, really good oysters/fish - walk for miles on blowy deserted romantic beach, end up at quiet restaurant? (logistics problems taken care of by training it down and then taxi from restaurant back to train station?) out of season fish restaurant on Monday might be tricky though. PS congrats on (upcoming) anniversary!

got home late from visiting a poorly friend and the cupboard was bare apart from the shrimps I'd intended to have for lunch but had forgotten. So, raid the fridge and voila - shrimps tossed with pineapple, celery, soy, chilli flakes, coriander, lime juice. Not bad at all! And I've discovered, if you slice celery thinly enough, you can hardly tell it's limp... piece of indifferent supermarket Parmesan to finish.

Alex, you are a god. tried this the other night and now can never go back to normal ice cubes. I think I am approaching perfection! LOTS more experimentation needed of course, tee hee.

yay! so pleased for you. no more danger of electrocuting yourself with the knife stuck into the old one! Fi

Still more friends over to admire the newly refurbed flat (stop me if this refrain is getting boring). Slow-cooked shoulder of lamb - roasting tin, inch of water, garlic cloves (unpeeled) + a couple of bay leaves, tented with foil, into the oven at 8am at 130C, I skipped off to work all day. Don't you just love the effort? Out of the oven at 7pm. Soft enough to cut with a spoon. Shredded it onto a serving plate, sloshed a littled de-fatted roasting liquid over, and served with Puy lentils with spinach + olive oil; and green beans roasted with anchovies, garlic + cherry tomatoes. Delicious. But maybe a little heavy on the garlic. The last of the homemade redcurrant jelly. Followed up with the now legendary apricot raspberry + almond frangipane crumble, with double cream. Fennel tea for our little digestive tracts afterwards (lentils plus lamb = eek!)

golden syrup is, ahem, look away now calorie police, delicious on buttered white bread. Cornish ginger fairings - delicious gingery chewy sticky cracked-top biscuits, I defy you to have only one, perfect with a cup of tea. have got recipe at home (of course) but this one looks pretty similar to my version. Would use butter rather than marg (bleaargh), though. or Anzac biscuits - sticky coconut oatmeal + raisin biscuits, crisp round the edges. my boss, who is Australian, makes these. I haven't the heart to tell her that my friend Judy's are better, and Judy's never even been to Australia... again, my recipe is at home, but this one looks pretty much on the money. they burn easily though so watch them. or my Auntie Maisie's Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce. just add vanilla icecream. or a spoon. Fi

Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce Serves 2. I got this from my great-aunt Maisie. Not a speck of real chocolate in it, but it's still delicious. 1 oz butter 1 oz cocoa 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 2 T water 1/2 oz sugar (optional - depends how sweet you like your sauce) 1 T golden syrup Combine ingredients in pan over low heat and whisk till melted. Increase heat to boiling. The longer you boil it, the fudgier it becomes, but I've never managed longer than a couple of minutes. Break out the vanilla icecream and go. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Chocolate, Ice Cream, Sauce ( RG1154 )

Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce Serves 2. I got this from my great-aunt Maisie. Not a speck of real chocolate in it, but it's still delicious. 1 oz butter 1 oz cocoa 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 2 T water 1/2 oz sugar (optional - depends how sweet you like your sauce) 1 T golden syrup Combine ingredients in pan over low heat and whisk till melted. Increase heat to boiling. The longer you boil it, the fudgier it becomes, but I've never managed longer than a couple of minutes. Break out the vanilla icecream and go. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Chocolate, Ice Cream, Sauce ( RG1154 )

11 colleagues came round to see my refurbed flat - halved plum tomatoes, tossed with thyme, whole unpeeled garlic cloves, olive oil + balsamic and slow-roasted - Puy lentils + spinach with garlic + olive oil + cubes of feta scattered over - red yellow green and orange pepper strips, hard fried till caramelized - tuna + cannellini bean salad with red onion + parsley - 'Thai' slaw - carrot, red pepper, green mango, courgette all grated then tossed with lime juice, chilli flakes, soy sauce, fish sauce, a little dark brown sugar - cold sausages - green salad - bread, butter, olive oil, mustard then, a bit later, the most delicious apricot, raspberry and almond crumble, and a lime + ginger cheesecake. A good time was had by all, as they say, except for this morning of course when no-one is having a good time at all.

had lunch here last Sunday with my two ex-flatmates. Lived in Clapham Junction for six months and never went once, so now that I'm back in Notting Hill trekking to Wandsworth on a hot Sunday with a mortal hangover was just what I needed. Picked up the boys, both also feeling frail, and tootled to restaurant. which was HEAVEN. it was cool, it was dark, it was soothing, nobody laughed at our trembling hands and wan faces. when we explained that we weren't going to have any wine, perhaps never again, they did not mock, but solicitously brought mineral water and poured it ver-eeee ver-eeee quietly. Our only gripe was that the table was very small - we were tucked in by the wall, both of the boys are 6ft3in, and to be honest if we had ordered wine we'd have needed a sideboard. Mark and I started with half a roast quail with stuffed cabbage, foie gras and tarragon. beautiful brunoise of carrots which were so tarragony and delicious; little hunk of perfect foie, Brussels sprout-sized morsel of cabbage, juicy quail. Matt had shellfish bisque which he hoovered in the time it took me to draw breath, and then said 'oh my god, they must have squeezed the juice of 20 lobsters into that soup'. he borrowed my bread to wipe the bowl clean. Next up, sea bream with creamed cauliflower, cucumber and oyster beignet for Mark; roast cod with olive oil mash, grilled courgette + red pepper compote for Matt; and halibut fillet with baby vegetables, shrimp beurre blanc + chives for me. Again, in the time it took me to inhale to say 'please can I try...', the fish was gone - it was like having lunch with sea lions. Matt's cod looked particularly enticing, big juicy flakes. My halibut was good but the real star were the mini vegetables - broad beans, carrots, leeklets, green beans - each one tasting entirely and deliciously of itself. Finally, pudding. Look, this was not the time for restraint, we were hungover, we needed to eat our way out of danger. Bramley apple crumble for Matt; apricot and almond tart for Mark; summer berry compote with mandarin sorbet + ginger shortbread for me. This time I was wise and shouted "Look over there, is that Elvis?" and while their attention was distracted I launched myself, spoon first, at their plates. Mmmmm. Apple crumble in particular was very good, nice and sharp, with buttery crumble. But my berry compote was sensational, with a hint of rosewater in there, and the mandarin sorbet really was that, perfectly sharp against the berries. ginger shortbread slightly irrelevant. but what was nicest was the atmosphere. Happy staff, delightful service, chatty eaters, smily people. Everyone was happy to be there, no-one was trying to impress anyone else... it was great. I loved it. I can't believe I hadn't been before. and so reasonably priced! (£29.50 for three courses). Even more delightful, I emailed them (via the website) to ask for a copy of the menu and have been having the nicest conversation with Eva, the restaurant manager. so add me to the Chez Bruce fan club please.

big article in today's Independent about vanilla which brings another substance to the debate The bitter taste of vanilla

Do follow the link for an entertaining and worthwhile read. How extraordinary, GG, I was reading that issue in bed last night!

friends of mine had a lucky dip of their booze cabinet at their leaving party (they moved to Hong Kong from London). Wrapped up all the bottles and put them on a table and you got one as a party favour when you went home. Could be anything from half a bottle of 15-year old Glenmorangie to a bottle of Jacob's Creek to some utterly random lizard liqueur from China.

I second that. their 'healthy lunch' option (either vegetarian or carnivorous) is a tenner for more mezze than you can fit on the table. even cheaper, but a bit of a walk, is the Buddhist caff up the top end of Soho Square. or the legendary Indian canteen under the YMCA on Tottenham Court Road (details escape me)? cheapest of all is to buy nosh from M&S and sit on the cobbles to ingest, I suppose...