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Niamh

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Everything posted by Niamh

  1. I'm a big fan of Denis Cotter, especially Paradiso Seasons. I could spend hours just looking at the pictures in that one! It is fancy vegetarian food from his restaurant Cafe Paradiso, but I have found that a lot of the dishes can be made much more accessible for everyday cooking by just taking one of the more "cheffy" elements out. There are definitely more great Irish books and cooks, but I'll have to have a think about them later!
  2. We are lucky enough to have an electric kettle (a rare enough thing in Spain) which we fill up with water from the dispenser, as the tap water is horrible. Three of us go for tea at about 17.00 every day - two black teas and an Earl Grey. We always use teabags, for convenience, but there'd be no problem with a tea pot if we wanted, I suppose. It is purely for relaxation - the Lavazza coffee machines would take care of the caffeine if that was what was needed! The tea (and coffee) is provided by work, but luckily they buy English tea instead of the Spanish stuff, which is very weak.
  3. I'm a big fan - they are beautifully photographed but at the same time, you're not afraid to use the book like I am with the bigger, shinier ones! They're definitely a little on the fancy side, but we discovered that by removing an element or two from a recipe, you still have a lovely and easy dish for tired, mid-week dinners. The other great thing is that they are very in tune with the Irish seasons, which I like because if you are trying to eat local in Ireland in February - well, the more help you can get, the better!! Glad there's another admirer. I'm still trying to get to his restaurant down in Cork though...did you make it for a meal? Niamh
  4. Hehe, no, no you're quite right, I DID ask for opinions, since I am a. not very up on knives and b. not very up on banks! I can find similar knives to the ones in the bank on the V&B website, here. In fairness though, I can't find anywhere selling them on the net, but if you search in Spanish, you CAN find that they are a fairly popular freebie. Ah well, I've learned a lesson anyway! I'll stick to my one-a-year method...
  5. Just to let you know, I was passing by Gold Gourmet on Ortega y Gasset the other day, and noticed that they now have a fishmongers about 4 doors down from the fruit etc. shop. I didn't have the time to go in, but I got the impression that it was quite new. They looked like they had a good selection, and if the other shops are anything to go by, it should be good quality (if not a little pricey!). Has anybody tried it?
  6. Hi all! My bank has an interesting offer on at the moment, basically standing on the premise that if you leave a chunk of money in an account for a while for them to play around with, they will give you a seven-piece Villeroy & Boch knife set. Alternatively, if you don't have the required chunk, they will do something fancy with your bank account and you will end up paying around €100 ($154) for them. So, has anybody used V & B knifes before? I saw them in the bank and they look nice, and its a well-known brand (for plates at least), so I am thinking it might be a good deal for someone who hasn't quite got the funds to buy good knives at a faster rate than one a year! Any opinions out there?
  7. I have to confess to being a jelly snake addict; in fact, I would probably chose them over chocolate any day (well, I would actually take both, but for arguments sake...). I especially love sour jellies, and the chewier the better. The only problem is that most are FULL of chemicals and colours and E-numbers (and I eat quite a few), so I tend to get a nasty jelly hangover the next day. So, except in times of dire jelly emergency, I try to stick to these beauties. They are obviously full of sugar, but not so many nasties. They are easily available in Ireland, but I've never seen them in Spain, so in with the tea and bread that any poor visitors are made carry, there is always a request for as many of the suckers they can fit. If that means that the packets are stuffed into shoes or used as an airplane pillow, so be it! Does anyone share my obsession? Or maybe you have jelly wonders of your own? Do tell! p.s. If they ARE available in Spain, I don't want to know! It would be jelly carnage!
  8. Wow, thank you all for your replies - even if I don't use all of them this time, they will be great to keep in mind for the future. Just to answer your questions: prasantrin - it doesn't have to be cake-like, that was just the idea I got in my head and that was what I went after. The mango pudding sounds lovely though; I love mangoes and they are easy to get. Domestic Goddess - Thanks for the recipe, I will give that one a try regardless of the occasion. The name is also interesting, do you know where it comes from (I'm a translator, so I'm a bit of a nerd about these things!)? I'll see if maybe a Latin American shop has pureed corn. If it doesn't, do you know how I would go about making it myself? pastrygirl - thanks for your ideas too. You can buy GF biscuits around here no problem. I should be able find digestives in any old health food shop or large supermarket. hummingbirdkiss - we have our winning recipe! I will try that and report back. Terrasanct - its a REALLY low-tech kitchen - no microwave either! Thanks everybody!
  9. Yep, corn is fine - the baddies are wheat, kamut, spelt, barley, rye, oats and malt, or anything that contains them. You can get gluten free flours made of corn etc., but most recipes that use them are for baked cakes - pssh!
  10. Well, I have a bit of a challenge for you bakers. The summer is coming and we have a four-day weekend starting tomorrow, so I wanted to make a cake to celebrate. I'm not much of a baker these days (for reasons you'll see in a second!), but usually I can come up with something. This time, however, I'm making things hard for myself. Problem 1: the cake is for everybody passing through the house over the holidays, including a coeliac friend (no gluten). Oh, and problem 2: I have no oven I was thinking of a refrigerated cheesecake with shop-bought gluten free digestive (graham cracker?) base, maybe strawberry, since they are all over the shops at the moment. I am sure I could find a recipe online, but I was wondering if anyone here had a tried and tested recipe, or indeed a totally different suggestion. Or maybe I should just make cocktails...
  11. Niamh

    Tofu powder

    Well, thank you all for your input. For the record, I went up to the shop yesterday. They had no tofu made on the premises, but a small selection of the juice-box stuff, and no sign of the powder. Right by the door they had a small selection of refrigerated things, and lo and behold, fresh tofu made in Madrid! I know tofu is made everywhere these days, but it still made me laugh to think it was actually Spanish tofu. I had this vision of two old farmers up in some tiny pueblo making it: "Hey, Juanma, what IS this stuff? No freakin' idea Pablo, but those foreigners down in Madrid will pay a fortune for it!"
  12. I suppose it depends where you are. Is that a US dollar sign you are using there, or pesos, or something else? I would imagine a much bigger tip is expected in the US than in many other countries...
  13. Niamh

    Tofu powder

    I have just seen that my local Japanese supermarket sells this tofu powder House Tofu Has anybody tried it? I have only seen the local shop's website (not the one in the link, I included that because it has a little more info), so possibly in the actual supermarket they have fresh tofu, but I'll belive that when I see it. Around here, tofu is in short supply, so if I could have a few packets of this in the cupboard and make up halfway decent tofu when I needed it, I would be very happy! I know I could make it totally from scratch, but I'm still working up to that... P.S. in the taste stakes, please bear in mind that I have never tasted fresh tofu in my life (sniff), so my tastebuds might be a little less demanding than your average tofu connoisseur's!
  14. I love game too, and try to have it whenever possible. I especially love game birds - I had quail yesterday, and saw venison on the main course menu, but passed it over in favour of some really delicious beef. I'm lucky to get a good supply in both Ireland and Spain, but like Simon said, we'll have to wait a while for the next round. Game is one of the reasons that I love winter so much! I've heard of a restaurant in Cork (but there are probably others) that does a special game tasting night in the depths of winter, I'd love to try that.
  15. Really Pax? I don't think I have ever had a sausage that WASN'T pork in Ireland. A sausage made from anything else would be a speciality thing that would be bought from a "gourmet" sausage shop, at at least a fairly adventurous butcher. I don't think anyone buying a sausage would be expecting one made of anything other than pork unless they specifically requested it. I don't think I associate any meat with being the default in Ireland - when I was growing up we had a fairly equal mix of beef, pork and lamb, and called each by their individual name.
  16. If I'm sharing a kitchen it's only ever likely to be at home, with my mum. She's definitely not a hoverer, in fact, just the opposite - she's all action. You put something down, even for a second, and before you know it, schoomp...its in the dishwasher, or worse, in a sinkful of greasy water, "soaking". Fits in well with her general housekeeping motto - if in doubt, throw it out!
  17. That does look lovely! I happened to have my work party last night as well, but unfortunately my camera didn't fit in my teensy, tiny handbag! The event (a sit-down meal for 22), took place in a private club. The service was great - the waiters appeared out of nowhere to refill your glass before you even realised you were coming to the end of it! I tend to eat in more...traditional...places where the serving technique of choice is the "plonk and grunt" method , so I was in awe! We started with the ever-present jamon, manchego cheese, battered prawns, salted crisps (chips) and olives while we "mingled" with a glass of wine. The jamon was delicious, and cut into just the right lenghts for finger food, while the manchego was the semi-cured type. It was tasty too, but I think the cured would have better matched the standard set by the jamon. We sat down to a set menu with no choices, something that idoesn't surprise me in Spain, but probably wouldn't float in other places (but the one vegetarian - the only one in Spain, goes the office joke - did get his own dishes. We started with smoked salmon served on thinly sliced waxy potatoes, sprinkled with caviar and served with a lemon-oil dressing. It was very good, and I was interested to see the potato base, something I have only ever seen before with octopus. The main course was slightly less successful - a beef stew of some sort, seved with rice. In its defense, the beef was tender and tasty, but the sauce was...well...brown, and that's about all that I can say about it!! I gave dessert a miss, because I'm not really a dessert person, but it was a sweet-looking chocolate "cupcake" shell filled with vanilla mousse and served with slices of orange (the Spanish oranges are great at this time of year). Coffee and turron finished up the show - Navidad just isn't Navidad without turron! A lovely night all in all...unfortunately no leftovers though! We proceeded with general merrymaking and technically there was more food, but my 5am snack of cold noodles and Caprice des Dieux cheese wasn't exactly egullet-worthy!
  18. There is a place on C/Infantas in Chueca, it does a good selection of thin crust pizzas. I don't think it's a very comfortable place and it's a bt pricey, but the pizzas were good! I can't think of the name right now...Casa something I think.
  19. Is "guts" a really bad name to substitute for "intestines"? ← Really bad, no, but it wouldn't be my first choice. I'm all for people actually knowing and accepting what they are eating, but in my book "guts" has some very definite collocations that I would stay away from on a menu - "steaming guts", "gut trouble", "his guts came spilling out".... At the very least "intestines" is neutral and straightforward. Granted though, if English isn't your first language you might not immediately recognise the difference between the two.
  20. "Cooking in Spain" by Janet Mendel has a good introductory section where she discusses all food types, giving a translation, description and any tips she might have about the food. The rest of it is just a Spanish cookbook, so it might be a lot to buy for just a small part of a section. I have found it useful though, especially the meat and fish sections. No diagrams to the best of my knowledge. She is American, but aware that the majority of her readers will be European English-speakers, so she is quite sensitive about using terms that both groups will be familiar with, which is useful for meat.
  21. A great but basic Chinese restaurant at home has several "guts" dishes that we haven't quite got around to trying...Fried Guts with Special Sauce, Steamed Guts with Mushroom....
  22. Niamh

    Braised Radishes

    Sorry to intrude with my ignorance, but are we talking little, round pink radishes here, or the bigger white-ish ones? Or does it matter?
  23. Yeah, you are probably right, I should start my own taste-test of the tinned ones, brand by brand! I might turn myself off them though, so I would have to be careful I cooked them very simply. My grill is a bit dodgy, so I blistered them on a hot frying pan and served with rice and a tomato salad. It was my first time cooking them, so I was being cautious. At that price though I don't really need to be...sardine ice cream, anyone?!
  24. Inspired by this thread I decided to pick up some fresh sardines in the market on Saturday. I love tinned and fresh, but didn't really have access to the fresh before, except on holidays to Portugal! The market is about a 20 second walk from my front door, so I hopped on over and asked for 4. I missed the price the fishmonger said, so I just gave him a 5 euro note. He asked me if I have the 50 cent in change, but I only had 41. I asked him if he wanted it and he said yes, so i handed it over, expecting 2 or 3 euro change back. I was mortified when he handed me back the 5 euro note - my shopping had come to 41 cent AND I bargained with him about it!! I felt like such a cheapskate! They were delicious though Can anyone recommend a particularly good brand of Spanish tinned sardines?
  25. It's interesting that you mentioned the impression of your last Cabrales. It's probably been my overall favorite since I first discovered it, but the last time I had it, which was a month or two ago, I was terribly disappointed. You described how it was for me. What's up with that? Just a coincidence, do you think, or is there something vulnerable about Cabrales and I never had the bad luck before? ← I'm glad this wasn't just me, I was beginning to think I had some faulty Cabrales gene! The first and only time I had cabrales it left a very unpleasant aftertaste, but after reading some other comments, I might go and track down the leafy one and see if it's any better. Until then it will be Cashel Blue and Stilton, my old reliables!
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