sheepish

There are two adults and two little'uns here but I'm the only pate eater. But I can comfortably make small amounts, and I'm happy to eat a lot :-) I do find it keeps very well under a seal of clarified butter. Much longer than a week. Perhaps not something for one of those huge multi-meat Jane Grigson recipes though. I make a lot of chicken liver parfait because I love it, and I don't trust the provenance of the chickens who gave up their livers anywhere I can buy the ready made stuff. Mayo I always make, and usually throw out a lot. But anything I can buy in a jar doesn't really come close in taste. Thinking about what we buy ready made and I can only think of cheese and butter and a bit of dried pasta for quick meals for the kids. I'd love to make cheese but I don't have a supply of unpasteurised milk. Mrs Sheepish keeps threatening to buy a house cow, or some goats, and I keep reminding her I won't be doing the milking!

What a good thread! I had a bit of a salad epiphany at The Square restaurant in London last year. An early summer leaf and vegetable salad with half a quails egg and a goat's cheese emulsion as the first course of their taster menu. Possibly the nicest thing I've ever eaten. Went home and tried to recreate something along those lines, with much inspiration also from Michel Bras. What this highlighted to me was that really fresh produce is essential to the extent that I don't think I can buy good enough produce to do something like this justice, which kicked off me digging up the garden and trying much harder this year to grow my own. I produce lamb and pork, but honestly, you can get great lamb and pork without too much effort. You may have to order it, and get it sent to you, but it doesn't degrade from the day it's picked. Most vegetables do. Also a salad has the potential to be the prettiest food you'll ever see as the pictures in this thread prove. My efforts so far below, but hoping to have a wider range of ingredients to play with this summer. Testing, testing by *Mrs C*, on Flickr

Buenos Aires does midnight eating like nowhere else I've been to. We arrived late and thought we'd try and get something to eat at around 10:30pm. We assumed the half empty asado restaurant was winding down, although oddly a lot of families with small (under 7) children. When we left at around midnight there were queues outside to get in. Mendoza seems pretty similar. For several reasons, including food, the country I'd most like to revisit.

+1 for dal. My favourite comfort food. For something a bit more dinner party, I like breast of lamb cooked as for breast of veal from The French Laundry Cookbook. No alcohol in the sauce. Very normal root veg accompaniment. I'm a bit out of touch with lamb prices because I grow my own, but I know breast is about as cheap as it gets - here in Wales at least. Don't be put off by my attempt. It's prettier with smaller cut veg and when you've avoided the beetroot bleeding into the rest of them. Breast of Lamb - attempt 2 by *Mrs C*, on Flickr

While I remember it, don't forget the best bit of the head. The brain. My saw skills aren't up to removing it whole, but it's not a big deal to withdraw it in two parts. Soak in lightly salted water, peel off the membrane, dust in flour and fry. Very, very good.

The harsh truth is there isn't much meat on a head bar the cheeks. You'll end up with a lot of soft fat and bone. That's going to appeal to some folks a lot more than others. Fergus Henderson thinks it works. I'm not so sure. Nice write up here http://www.nosetotailathome.com/2010/02/guest-post-pot-roast-pigs-head-by-russell-everett/ Cut the skin and meat off in one piece and you can scrape out a lot of the fat and roll the meat in the skin. Thomas Keller and Tom Kitchin both have good recipes for this. I like brawn. But you get a lot from one head. You need others who share your passion, although it freezes quite well. I had a bash at a chinese influenced twice-cooked preparation. A few mouthfuls in amongst a few other dishes and I like it a lot. Again, a whole one to yourself is an effort.

Looks fantastic, and a lot less than 5 hours from me. What does one do to get the multi-course treatment? Other than some recent iffy reviews, one thing that has put me off what would be a once or twice a year special meal (sans enfants) is "only" having 3 courses.

I put a good dose of it in a chicken tagine, or in a split-pea soup. Or make caramel flavoured with it and layer between scallops, apple and cauliflower, a la David Everitt-Mathias.

I generally aim for 1 meat and 2 veg when cooking from this, or the Revolutionary Chinese book - I frequently combine the two for a single menu. But I have often made quite a few more - especially veg dishes. All the prep is done in advance, then I just try and work out what is likely to hold in a low oven the best. Veg and fish I try to do after meat. Where dishes need deep frying and then braising in a sauce I do the deep frying first and make and stir in the sauces as close to final plating as I can. I'm not sure how much "wok hei" I lose but I don't notice much difference. My hob isnt big enough to take more than a single wok. I will sometimes be frying something like green beans in a frying pan whilst using the wok to cook other stuff.

ScottyBoy : your ideas already stolen, but that dried iberico, is that something you have further dehydrated? Wish I could persuade Mrs Sheepish to make mussels but I think I'll attempt the pasta for myself anyway! robirdstx : is that seasoned flour coating the quail, or something else?

Those aubergine slices look very small. I've always done this as half an aubergine long. They shrink a bit when you cook, and they are slightly unweildy, but as I read it this is "correct". Or use whole slender aubergines, which I suspect may be more correct. Might also be why they came out over mushy? My green beans tend to look a lot more marked and wrinkled after cooking than yours. No idea which it's supposed to be. I prefer the version without the minced pork, and loads of szechuan peppercorns, chilli and garlic. I reckon I must have gone through about 90% of this book now, and the twice cooked pork is probably my least favourite, but then belly pork without crackling always seems a disappointment to me!

1968 : Jane Grigson, Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery. I'm probably a bit blasé compared to some eGulleters about saltpetre, but all of the recipes just feel right. I don't think pork preservation has gone to very many useful places since this was written. From a time when people didn't have humidity controlled drying chambers. 1978 : Delia Smith, Complete Cookery Course. Still where I look to remember how much lard I need in shortcrust pastry. Great for British comfort food. Not so sure about her curries! 1999 : Thomas Keller, The French Laundry Cookbook. OK, only 12 years old, but high end cooking has moved on a lot. But nothing beats cooking meat in a frying pan, and boiling veg in salt water. Still the most accessible 3 star recipes. Tells you how long each component of a dish will store for. So while it may take you a few days to make dinner, it's still very achievable, and to my mind gives you the best chance of nailing a dish on your first attempt.

I bought half a dozen very average bottles of 2009 Bordeaux en-primeur. My son was born in 2009, and I bought half a dozen much pricier bottles for my daughter's birth in 2008. I know 2009 is likely to be a much better vintage but I think something broke on my car the same month as the en-primeur offers were out too. Bought much less game and venison over autumn. I farm sheep and pigs so we've been eating even more lamb and pork in lieu.

Yesterday was Mrs Sheepish's birthday. Tomorrow is Valentine's. Next week is our wedding anniversary so something special in order. And a chance to try out 5 dishes I haven't made before. Started with Pea and Coconut soup with Coconut Milk Foam. From "Essence". Made the coconut milk from a coconut. Another first for me. Lovely depth of flavour. Easy to do. Will do again! Bad Beer by *Mrs C*, on Flickr Next up, Anglesey Seas Bass with Parsely Coulis. The same recipe as Fish & Chips from "The French Laundry Cookbook", but with sea bass. And having (over)cooked the garlic chips I chose not to use them. Having had a snoop at the French Laundry at Home this morning, I see I'm not the only one to make that mistake. Fish and Green Stuff by *Mrs C*, on Flickr Moving on to Fillet of Roe Deer with Butternut Squash Gnocchi and Butternut Squash. From "From Nature to Plate". The gnocchi were too hard, I think because I didn't have enough squash in the mixture, and too much flour. I was trying to halve portions and halving an egg and a yolk wasn't very accurate. The squash goes very well with the venison, but like fillet of everything it doesn't have loads of flavour and I slightly over-cooked it for my taste. Bambi by *Mrs C*, on Flickr Cheese course was Parmesan Custard, Parmesan Crisp and Anchovy Dressing. The Caeser Salad recipe from "The French Laundry". OK. I prefer the Roquefort trifle from the same book as a cheese dish. Actually, I prefer a couple of hunks of cheese. Cheesy Custard by *Mrs C*, on Flickr Finally desert. I never do deserts. As Mrs Sheepish remarked, "Oh my God, you can cook a desert!" Please with this. Confit (how is it confit with no fat?) of Rhurbarb, Candied Fennel, Orange, Strawberries, Mascarpone Sorbet and Pirouette Biscuit (that I wrapped incorrectly before studying the picture). Fruit Salad Thing by *Mrs C*, on Flickr Wine. Always tricky for just two. We worked round the issue by drinking quite a lot. I don't like Champagne with food, but didn't have any half bottles of any appropriate white so we muddled through! < Vino by *Mrs C*, on Flickr

Best beef I've ever bought was a Longhorn rump steak from these people : http://www.carnedward.co.uk/ Didn't seem particularly marbled but the taste was a leap above anything I'd ever eaten, and melt in the mouth tender. Mrs Sheepish had "Johnny Morris" rump steak at the Hardwick in Abergavenny, which was possibly even better. Couldn't tell you how marbled it was, and stupidly didn't ask what breed it was.

Just spotted on Andy Hayler's blog that reservations for Heston Blumenthal's new place can be had on ebay. And low and behold, valentines lunch for 2 currently yours for £122. Not the meal. Just the reservation. I wonder if restaurants know about this, and what they think? I've happily bought rugby and music tickets from touts in the past, but something seems very wrong to me about restaurant reservations. Perhaps it's because they are free. And perhaps it's because it's something that really matters, like eating!

Not sure about the US, but quail isn't really classed as game in the UK. It's commonly reared in very cramped conditions. So in terms of price variation, perhaps provenance is everything? A red leg partridge is about £5-£6. Grey legs closer to £10.

Grouse. Either carpaccio of the breast, or roasted fast with back fat over the breast, removed for the last couple of minutes to brown. Served nice and pink. Partridge I like very much spatchcocked, marinaded with oil, lemon, onion and a pinch of cayenne, then barbequeued.

I'd be fairly sure L'Arpege could accomodate you, even unannounced as a veggie. But better still to check when you (try and) book. It's a bit above a single star though. "Loving Annie" who posts on here is who to ask for recommendations, although I don't seem to be able to get onto her blog at present without signing into something I don't have a userid for. http://truetraveltreasures.blogspot.com/

Why is the garnish added? Well, I guess because it alters the taste. Hendricks gin does seem to work well with cucumber, the gin doesn't seem as "junipery". I like it, but only as an occasional variation to Tanqueray with lime. If you can get it in Oz, Fever Tree tonic water is excellent. Seems to have bigger bubbles which hang around longer and for me is worth the extra cash. Schweppes seems to go flat much quicker by comparison.

I find British supermarkets get all excited about goose and duck fat for Christmas. And then in January they decide it's not likely to sell and discount it heavily to clear the shelves. The tinned stuff usually has a 3 or 4 year life, so I pounce when I find it. Still working my way through a dozen 500g tins bought from Tesco at 30 pence each last year. I render quite a lot of lard, and although i haven't tried it for duck confit it's pretty neutral tasting and I imagine it would give respectable results.

If pushed for something, aduki bean "cakes". Like mashed baked beans with icing on. Oysters have never done it for me, but because they're supposed to be some amazing food I persevere from time to time. Natto, yum.

Would it work as a base for a pea soup, in the way you might otherwise use a ham stock?

Depends how much of a palate you have for fat and skin :-) I like brawn, but if I butcher 3 pigs I only use about half a head for that. You could try something like this, My link but I don't yearn for it. I tend to cut out the cheeks, and remove the brain because they're delicious, and the rest goes for stock.

I keep pigs so I make lots of this when I've butchered a carcass. Use it where a recipe calls for chicken stock, and I have none. Or not much and I want to save what I have for something specific - a particularly delicate sauce perhaps. I make lots of Chinese influenced stews and broths and it's great for that. Or, of course, the jelly for a pork pie. Me, I'd just chop everything up with a cleaver, to get more surface area of meat/bone to water. I usually roast pork bones first, otherwise I'd boil then discard the water and start again to get rid of the scum that'll come with raw bones. Chuck in "some" onion and carrot. Celery if I have it. Few black peppercorns. But as has been stated earlier, it may not make much difference, I just haven't tried without. If I know I'm going to use it for Chinese style dishes I'll just add a bashed knob of ginger and maybe a few spring onions.