liuzhou

I've been having little luck with poached eggs recently. Ever since Covid struck. What's the connection? I'm guessing the distribution chain has slowed down so the eggs are not so fresh, but even my previously ever-reliable duck egg purveyor has let me down recently. Not only were the eggs unpoachable, half of them were just rotten! Words will be had tomorrow!

You beat me to it!

Chicken with garlic, ginger, chilli, capers and green olives marinated then cooked in wine, thickened with a little potato starch and finished with coriander leaf. Aparagus and Jade Gill Mushrooms (蟹味菇 xiè wèi gū - a type of shimeji). Couscous.

I think I'd need more than one - or at least double ink. Unless you mean a female swan. Tried that that back in the late 1950s. Horrible.

Spicy shrimp over orzo.

Squash blossom soup with pork. Ready for the pot Ready for my mouth Baguette for dunking. Slow cooked beef and cannellini beans with curry spices (freshly roasted and ground fennel, cumin, cloves, bay leaf, garlic, ginger, chilli and pre-ground turmeric) and Malibar spinach and coriander leaf / cilantro. Rice. Mangoes for dessert.

Not my usual sort of lunch, but was too busy to cook. Grana Padano cheese, industrial ham, cornichons (pickled with coriander and onion). tomato, sea salt and black pepper. There was also bread and butter. The plate was reloaded after I ate this lot.

This morning I needed someting from the same store as in the last post. This time I spotted that the same company with the chilli sesame seed sauce has a companion. On the left is the one I bought last time; on the right we have what is labelled as sesame oil chilli. The on-label image suggests it is intended as a dip. Hmmm. Yes I bought that one, too. Will report back.

This lot just arrived for me. I didn't order them, but they were clearly addressed to me. I can't think who could have sent them. 4 x 250g packs of candied macadamia nuts 2 x 250g packs of salted cashew nuts A mystery.

My brother had a small "greasy spoon" restaurant in a Spanish tourist town, catering to dumb English visitors who complain that the Spanish speak Spanish and eat Spanish food. He served them up dreadfull "English" food and made enough to open a fish and chip shop, too, which did well as the same tourists weren't about to be eating any of that foreign muck! Of course, meanwhile he was eating and drinking the joys of Spain - funded by the idiots. But he had two rules. 1) No salt or pepper or Heinz ketchup on the table. He was tired of the idiots salting and peppering their food without tasting it first, then complaining the food was too salty! 2) No! You can't have your steak well done. You don't need three stars to be sensible! Sadly, Covid has ended all that - at least for now.

...and dessert

Pre-brined pork cutlets with butter, garlic and chive mashed potatoes and some asparagus that was on its last legs, but tasted OK. And don't forget the whole grain Dijon mustard.

The trouble with smoking meat is that the cigarette papers get covered in blood and fall apart!