curlywurlyfi

am absolutely hypnotized by this thread (all that CHOCOLATE!) but have a question before I make the pudding cookies. is 'pudding' the powdery stuff to which you add cold milk + let set 15 mins or so till you have deliciously spoonable custardy type stuff (UK equiv would be Angel Delight)? anyone? (very sorry if this is rank amateur question.)

friend of mine started a cocktail cabinet specifically to be filled with the vilest imaginable liqueurs + spirits. It became a point of honour to bring him something repellent from far flung places. My contribution was a delightful Italian aperitif (? I'm guessing) called Cynar, made from artichokes. Nice. Other contenders included snake wine from China, 100% proof homemade vodka from Kyrgyzstan, a chocolate cream sherry liqueur from Ireland and some other thing which looked like it included a dead finger. I'm not suggesting that arrack is along those lines, but... who knows, you could give a bottle to a friend of yours and set them off in a whole new collecting direction??

OK, this may be a little unfair since the person concerned is in fact an excellent cook, but one night she managed to make dinner which really tasted as if she'd come home, opened the fridge drawer and thought 'hmmm, now what can I make with THIS'??? except she had actually gone out and BOUGHT all the ingredients specifically! ladies and gentlemen, I give you... lettuce and tomato risotto, with hot cucumber garnish. it was dreadful. thin, watery, slightly cheesy... we still talk about it, ten years and many excellent dinners later, which makes her exceedingly cross.

glad you said that, skchai, I often add half a teaspoon of Marmite (being Brit am resolutely pro-Marmite anti-Vegemite) to savoury meat dishes like stews, chilli or shepherds pie or even (and here's fusion for you) tagines that seem to lack oomph. It just adds an underlying savoury base-note that you can't identify, but makes the whole thing more homogenous. As for actual recipes, Peter Gordon of the Sugar Club (or possibly ex of the Sugar Club) in London has a recipe for his New Zealand granny's savoury bites which, from memory, involves melting Vegemite with butter, soaking fingers of stale bread in and baking off in a low oven till crispy. Apparently the most delicious thing ever, though haven't tried. And Nigella Lawson in How To Eat gives a recipe for Marmite sandwiches which may sound like re-inventing the wheel, but she creams the Marmite with the butter and spreads the resulting paste on the bread, rather than the more usual two-layer approach.

well, after feeling like I ate most of jackal10's astounding dinner SINGLEHANDEDLY (was at serious wedding Four Seasons Park Lane on Sunday afternoon), I spent yesterday recovering, and finally struggled into the kitchen under the weight of my cold compress to make the world's easiest supper: - salmon fillets fried then drizzled whilst still in the pan with balsamic + soy sauce (instant sauce) - basmati rice - steamed asparagus NO wine. god no. fennel tea only.

cheddar cheese and raspberry jam on rye crispbread. cheddar cheese must be insane orange colour.

what about a cocktail my dear old mum used to make (still does) called Mary's Knees? she makes it in a large mineral water bottle (1.5litres) so all quantities approximate. She makes it with normal OJ but blood orange will give the most fantastic colour. Mary's Knees orange juice to 2/3rds of the way up the bottle add an inch (approx) of Campari add an inch (approx) of orange liqueur eg Cointreau, Grand Marnier add the juice of 1-2 juicy lemons top up with vodka shake well and chill. this stuff is LETHAL. and no, I don't know why it's called that. good luck!

had old friend over for dinner so made food easy to eat whilst waving hands around and talking a mile a minute (we have one of those chess timers that is set at 10 minutes so we know we have to move off of Topic A and onto Topic B or we'll never get through our agenda) - spinach + red lentil dhal with 'sweet' spices (ginger, cloves, bay, cinammon, cardamom) - put red chilli flakes on the table to add at will, but we didn't use them - basmati rice with apricots + toasted pine nuts - green beans tossed with EVOO, diced fresh tomato, fresh garlic - natural yoghurt - ginger + rhubarb chutney (not really in keeping with the rest I know but I made it in July when I was at my parents' and she was keen to try) had the leftovers for lunch today, too. mmmm.

bit of a cheat really but every year Books For Cooks (London's finest cookery book shop with tiny + delicious cafe at back, mmmmm) publishes a little paperback digest (excuse pun) of their favourite recipes culled from all that year's new cookery books, tested in their kitchen. I've got all six books and find myself using them at least once a week (last night was carrot + cumin soup with slow-roasted tomatoes).