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put slices of truffle on scallops and top with quails eggs (this is from the Ramsay *** book) you can also make a truffle cream, (mayo, truffle and cream if i remember) Truffles scrambled eggs are excellent

Chorizo lentil and sweet potato soup.

How to cook without recipes by Glynn Christian - looks at pairing flavours / flavour affinity and flavour trails - which is how to link diferent flavours on a plate. Starts off with a quick intro to the tatsebuds and te flavours they can detect. An interesting read.

How about a coffee granita? http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-b...cipe/index.html

Starter: Scallops topped with Quail's eggs. Served with Sweetcorn pureé and truffle cream: Main: pan fried Sea Bass, Cep veloute, artichoke hearts, borlotti beans, papardelle: Dessert: raspberry compote, tarragon custard:

I have a fairly large black truffle in a jar which i am using slowly in small slices or grating. What is the best way to keep it fresh now it has been opened? Should i refridgerate it?

I ate at Tamarind a few days ago (a Michellin starred Indian restauarant in London). As part of the tasting menu we were served black lentils in a wondeful spicy sauce. Apparently a speciality of the North west Frontier, these were fantastic, they tasted so different to what i would think of normal lentils. If you can hunt down these black lentils, they are worth trying.

Thanks for that - they are exactly as shown in that picture. I'm relived to hear they are not a dessert and I did not commit an awful sin by applying some soy sauce Now to try and make my own..

I visited a kaiten sushi bar this week, where the chefs serve their freshly prepared sushi to the conveyor belt and you take what you fancy. I took a plate of what the chef described as bean curd filled with rice, this was delicious but does anyone know what this is called? It was a flat piece of bean curd, filld with rice and rolled, it also tatsed a little sweet. Did I eat a dessert?

Hi All, I made this at the weekend and it worked it really quite well. I used a standard pannacotta recipe (300 ml double cream, 150 ml milk, 3 sheets gelatine, sugar to taste) but i subsituted the milk for coconut milk. I found with using coconut milk the recipe didnt need a lot of sugar. Works a treat - give it a go. I served it with a mango and lime coulis.

I pretty much agree with Jon Tseng here, I prefer to read the blogs and public review sites and get an impression of what regular diners thought. I review every restaurant I visit for one such site and I read others' views on restaurants before I go. Although unless there is a huge negatove majority I will generally visit the restaurant anyway and make up my own mind.

A new device has been announced today that claims to allow people to artificially age wine, the manafacturers claim you can take a cheap bottle of wine and make it taste expensive. It uses ultrasonics and retails at around £350. I wonder if it really can improve wine in such a short time, i would want to see quite a few demos before buying it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...s-inventor.html

Bath Ales, a brewery quite local to me have a numbr of organic ales and lagers http://www.bathales.com/ales/organic_lager.html

Next day's lunch is always a good use, take it to work and eat it for lunch. Thw quicker you use them up the better!

Hi All, Just to remind you the British Cheese Festical takes place this weekend in Cardiff, if you are a cheese lover it is a great event to visit. I attended year before last and for a small entry fee you get to sample a huge amount of cheese and buy from some great small scale and artisan producers from all over the country. They also have a beer tent and last time a mechanical bull (though i recommend riding this before the tasting) http://www.thecheeseweb.com/contentok.php?id=298&section=176

I live in Bristol and would recommend the following Deasons - Whiteladies rd - great food, service can be hit and miss Prosecco - The Mall, Clifton Village - great food, great service Max's Italian Bistro - Worral Rd, Clifton Bells Diner - Montpelier Kathmandu - Colston Towe (indian and Nepalese) The Muset - great cognac flambed steak out of the above Max's is one of my favourites in the city - I have yet to visit Bells but hear great great things about it - their menu looks excellent http://www.bellsdiner.com/menus.php

Pork Pie - Must be cold for me straight from the fridge, the colder the better. the pie should be about the size of my palm - just enough for one - with medium thickness shortcrust pastry and a generous filling of minced pork shoulder. The meat should be delicately seasoned - a little sage and some black pepper. Just a thin layer of the jelly. Sausage Roll - crisp golden flaky pastry, a good quality sausage or sausage meat, plenty of seasoning and it must be piping hot!

I cheat a littile when making sausage rolls but they are good - i oven bake some good quality sausages and then let them cool, wrap them in puff pastry and return to the oven for half an hour or so.

look good, there's pics of my last batch (1 plain, 1 garlic & parsley, 1 black pepper) cheeses here http://cheeseathome.blogspot.com

9/11 caught out by the polish fish and what the Scottish call dinner, kind of like that Polish folklore though!

No sarcasm intended - Don't get me wrong there are some fantastic restaurants in the city but not many and certainly not enough. Not a michelin restaurant in sight, we have 2 or 3 that are regarded by Hardens - any new semi-respectable restaurant that arrives can't be bad. We also have a Harvery Nicholls restaurant opening, though an elite department store I'm not sure what they can offer the restauarant scene.

I've been meaning for a while to make my own, at least then i have complete control over the ingredients and the quality of the meat. I've done it with sausage rolls in the past - tastes so much better with actual meat in them instead of that suspicious grey slurry. I've been sampling pork pies from multiple places trying to find the perfect pie - most shop ies just don't cut it - Dickenson Morris is one of the better ones as is the Waitrose won brand. Chandos Deli (a brand local to Bristol & Bath also make a fine pie)

Antonio Carluccio is opening a new eatery in my city, has anyone visited of his other places in the UK? This is opening along with a branch of Brasserie Blanc so is really adding culinary hotspots to the city. Generally reviews seem positive for Carluccios, has anyone tried the food there?

Is it wrong to like pork pie? I try not to think of what's in them when i eat them, especially the origin of the meat. Does this undermine me as a foodie? I do find there is a gap in the market for high quality versions of snacks of this kind, spare the odd deli pork pie.

If you enjoyed Toast, try his other book "Eating for England", Nigel discusses many dishes and foods from the UK over the last 50 years or so. It's nice to dip into now and again though some of the entries are a little shallow.