sheepish

Yep, I checked. It's another thread but I'm all for including service in the price of the food. I don't get to discretionarily award who cooked my food, and I think their job is more critical. Not that I'm dissing good service. Not always. I noticed on Y Polyn's website (place I want to try in Carmaerthenshire) that they cannot accept tips by card.

Blend your own? Recipe stolen from David Everitt-Matthias 15g cumin seeds 5g fennel seeds 10g coriander seeds 4cm piece of cinamon stick 1 dried chilli 5g cardamon pods 5g ground ginger 20g ajowan seeds 7g medium curry powder 6 cloves 20 dried rosebuds I don't live too near anywhere cosmopolitan, and the rosebuds and ajowan seeds I needed to get mail order. In the UK I got them from www.thespicery.com

Which is all well and good. But the other problem is that I suspect no one gets anything at all a lot of the time. I know I'm not the only person who usually has very little cash with them. It's a payment for a service, so why shouldn't it be taxed?

Went to the Hardwick in Abergavenny today for my birthday lunch. Very good pub food. My wife and I agreed her steak was the best either of us had ever tasted. Service wasn't perfect, we sat in the "back room" so towards the end of lunch we were alone with no opportunity to catch anyone's eye from front of house. But never the less I'd have been happy to leave about 10%. Paid by debit card, but no opportunity to enter a gratuity. I've found this at a few places recently. Is this becoming normal? Some days I have cash, some days I don't. And if I have cash I may not want to leave the £20 note in my wallet. So what to do? Carry a petty cash reserve?

I often cook veg suitable for boiling by boiling until just done and then dropping into iced water. Just before serving toss in a bit of butter to warm through. This works well when cooked 1-2 hours before serving. Ideal to get out of the way just before guests arrive. But what if your guests are with you for the day? As a host I want to minimise the amount of cooking I do when my guests are with me. Could I apply this approach to veg cooked the previous day? If so would I need to try and keep the water iced? Or would a bowl of water in the fridge be OK. How about veg purees? Again how long? Braised veg like onions? I have a vac pack machine which I think might help with purees, if I can get it to seal without sucking up the puree! Any guidance much appreciated. Thanks

I'm not a great follower of politics but it doesn't strike me as something the current lot will try and force through. Too close to the nanny state of the mob we've just got rid of. And smokers were easier to victimise, because they cough and smell and get ill in more obvious ways than drinkers. If it does come in all the more reason to desert the supermarkets and stick to a wine merchant or two you trust.

Gorgonzola ice cream with pear tarte tatin. Recipe from Gordon Ramsay's recipes from a 3 star chef is good. My wife made basil ice-cream last weekend. It's too unusual for my taste. Not wretch inducing but I can't picture it complimenting anything.

I too would like to like them, but I find them too glutinous and fatty. Mine go into stocks or brawn to add gelatin.

There seem to be some very expensive models out there. I got mine from my local kitchen store. It's only about 7" diameter but fine for prepping for 4 people. It has "GP&me" and "18/10" (I think the stainless steel grade) stamped on the side. Can't say it gets used everyday, but it works and was less than 10 quid. You might also like to look at moulis. My sister has one for prepping baby food and it seems to do a similar job for less effort.

Wow, that was an impressive wine selection! Liked the look of the pic titled CIMG8174. Do you recall what it was?

For some ideas of what you might expect to be served in the swankier places take a look at http://truetraveltreasures.blogspot.com/2010/05/london-restaurant-reviews.html Find the menu thingy in the bottom left of the page and click on "London Restaurant Reviews". She takes the vegetarian option frequently. The blog is from a egullet member, Loving Annie.

Berry Brothers (who know how to mark up wine prices) reckon 2011-2016 http://www.bbr.com/product-73865B-alter-ego-de-palmer-margaux?mode_prices_F=RE Wine Searcher is a good site to find wines and look for merchant's recommendations for drinking dates http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/alter+ego+palmer/2004/uk Where did you find it? I found 2003 Penfolds Grange for £99 in Tescos in Bridgend last year. That's Tesco. In Bridgend. Possibly the least likely combination you could think of to find that bottle.

Have a look at http://forum.sausagemaking.org/ I've seen people on there working with domestic fridges where they need to install fans to maintain airflow. I assume that's already there on a walk in. Some very knowledgeable folk anyway. I hang my salamis and hams in a barn but I suspect environmental health would have a fit if I tried to sell them.

I've never tried veal breast, but I use the veal breast recipe from the French Laundry Cookbook with lamb breast and it's very good. Essentially simmer very gently in stock for a few hours, chill under a weight and then cut into discs dipped in fine crumbs and fried to serve. I do take the skin off. It (lamb) is something that needs a good 3-4 hours gentle simmering.

Ate here on Friday night. I don't have oodles of experience at this price / star level. Maybe 5 or 6 places. But I was impressed. We had the tasting menu and matching wines. First impression, the room isn't particularly intimate. Few people talking on mobile phones. Not the most romantic setting. Glad we chose a glass of Manzanilla as an aperitif, because amuse bouche arrived almost at the same time. Would have been a shame to be stuck with something refined and fizzy. Very light crisp cone of fois gras parfait - for me better than Keller's salmon cones I assume it sort of copies. Good gougeres died with squid ink. Taramasalata with black rice crisps that my wife remarked very favourably on before realising it was taramasalata which she ordinarily wouldn't go near. And something that resembled a straight battered squid ring. But no chewy squid inside. Nothing inside, but a realy deep fish flavour. A very good start. First course was a salad. My expectations were modest. "Salad of Spring Vegetables with Goat's Curd Crostini, Charolais, Watercress and Herbs". If the jersey potato in there wasn't over salted this would be the best dish I'd ever tasted, but as it was, it's still second. I've read favourable reviews about the vegetarian taster menu here, and I'd be tempted to try it based on this. The crab lasagne mentioned by others was next. I thought the accompanying shellfish cappuccino was overly salty. Like when I make a mediocre crab bisque and try and boost it with a splash of fish sauce. I'm sometimes accused of oversalting and I've never found high-end food oversalted before. It was good but not up to the amuse and salad. Next was langoustine with gnocchi and potato and truffle emulsion. This was pared with a 2002 Puligny Montrachet Folatieres Louis Jadot. The best match on the menu, and I'm not usually overly impressed with white burgundy. The age of the wine seemed to lend it a mushroomy element that went really well. The sommellier wasn't the easiest to understand but I liked the way she explained why she felt the wines matched the food with each serving. Foie gras terrine was ok. I thought a little bland, and the toast a touch stale. I've never been wowed by foie gras. This was reasonable, but that's all. Roast sea bass was good. The pairing with 2005 Chambolle Musigny Christian Clerget wasn't. Wine was nice. But not with a white fish. I enjoyed drinking this after I'd eaten. "Herb Crusted Loin of Lamb with Creamed Potato, Grilled Asparagus and Artichokes" was another highlight. The best lamb I've ever eaten. And I eat a lot of lamb, although not spring lamb which given the melt in the mouth quality this had it must have been. The cheese course was very generous. Typically I've found cheese in high-end places a cost option. And often a not insignificant cost. And then you get 4 little segments of cheese. Here we had a dinner plate of choices between us. Almost too much. And a very generous measure of Grahams 20yo Tawny Port. Next came a Brillat-Savarin cheesecake with wonderful lime icecream. Not sure how you infuse so much lime into a cream. I'm not a desert person. This was impressive. Finally a rice pudding souffle flavoured with orange and a ball of chocolate ice cream to melt into it. Not lime icecream good, but pretty decent. Finished with a coffee. I think 5 quid for a single espresso is steep! Some nice petit fours and chocolate truffles we couldn't manage so they returned them in a little box. Service was fine. The waiters didn't have accents so strong I couldn't understand what I was eating, not always the case. Anyway, they left a card telling us what we were eating and drinking which I liked. Overall, food as good as anywhere I've eaten with a couple of superb dishes, and those amuse. Service not as friendly as Gordon Ramsay at Hospital Road, but that was exceptional. When we win the lottery and get a pad in Mayfair I'd be happy to go back.

I butcher my own lamb, so end up with a lot of this. I cook roast potatoes in it, to accompany roast lamb. The rest gets poured into half coconuts and hung in the trees for the birds. The confit idea must be worth a try though. I've made lamb shoulder confit a few times with duck fat, plus garlic and thyme. Shred it, moisten with fat and form a ballontine with clingflim. Refrigerate. When firm slice and fry to crisp. Gordon Ramsay lists this in a couple of his recipes from the 3 star chef book. I wouldn't worry about cubes of it on a kebab. I might not eat them but they'd moisten the other cubes as they cook. I've seen references to using the fat from the tail to do this on north african kebabs.

Haven't been there for about 18 months now, having previously been multiple times over a couple of years. My experience of the food is that the offally stuff has always been extremely good. The more normal fare much less so. I recall my wife, who is not an offal fan, chewing her way through a slab over over cooked pork costing close to 20 quid. I don't mind paying a markup on chitterlings or tripe because you just don't get the opportunity to eat them in a restaurant normally, but for a slab of roast meat or game bird I think they're taking the mickey a bit. Service has always been just OK, IMO. I'd still go back, but I like the food I think they do well.

I'm usually very much a wine man, but I really like the idea of matching beers and other drinks with food. Hey, even non-alcoholic drinks! :-) I have found some pairing suggestions before. See http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=181004. My big problem was matching the styles to bottles on the shelf. If I go out looking for a "floral-hopped bitter" or "nutty, malty ale" there's nothing on the bottle that matches those descriptions. The picture is a bit rubbish, but the best combination I've found is a Belgian fruit beer, this was a Bacchus Frambozenbier, and a caramelised red onion and fennel tarte tatin. This is good enough to serve as part of a smart dinner party, and I like throwing in a beer match for some added interest. The recipe and beer suggestion were from Michel Roux Jr's "Matching Food and Wine" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Matching-Food-Wine-Classic-Combinations/dp/0297843796/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269936702&sr=8-1 which does contain a few beer suggestions too. I look forward to seeing any dinner party friendly combinations people may have. I had a look on your blog but I couldn't find a lot on the subject. Can you direct me to anything you've written? Thanks Rob

This was shown in the UK on BBC4 last night. Not sure if it'll get to BBC America, or whatever our license fee funds overseas ;-) But also noticed it's been at a few film festivals http://kingsofpastry.com/ If you get a chance I thoroughly recommend it. So much better than 99% of all the dreary celeb-chef or amatuer cooking competions, Masterchef, et al. I could précis it but the URL covers that really. Stayed up well past my bed time to catch the end! Don't regret today's tiredness.

I use a blowtorch to singe off hairs. Never had much luck with trotters other than a gelatin giver to stocks.

I'm distraught that a food agency anywhere has banned lungs. These are the kind of arseholes who stop me taking sheeps heads back from the abattoir. I don't think the spongey lung texture makes that much difference to haggis, but the problem will be getting some protein based mildly livery taste in there which lungs do have. Very fresh liver would approximate the taste. The bit I've never used is the stomach. My haggis goes into ox runners, or just vac packed - then microwaved and added to mashed potato and swede for a winter lunch. I should read the thread about smuggling food stuffs on aeroplanes and become a contraband lung importer to the US. Lungs chopped and ready to go : My haggis tip - load of dried mixed herbs and black pepper. Taste it after you add the pinhead oatmeal to make sure there's enough.

Ah, the steam is from the eggs. I suspect if you soaked yaki-nori it would be quite similar. I've had it snipped as a garnish on noodles and when it soaks into the broth it's not dissimilar.

This laverbread was tinned. It does show up on the deli counter of some local supermarkets when in season. As far as I understand it it's just been picked from the shoreline and boiled for 4 or 5 hours. I'd describe the taste as slightly glutinous spinach with a hint of sea water / iodine. Not sure about yaki-nori, I've only ever seen/tried toasted nori sheets. I don't heat it up, just slather on hot toast. No butter. Whatever bread my wife made the previous day. She made a new year's resolution to stop buying bread and make her own with a mother starter everyday - the best new year's resolution someone else has ever made :-) Eggs. White wine vinegar in the water - just a glug. Really helps firm the whites. And I think fresher eggs the better. The lemon, embarrassingly a left over ingredient from last night. And I really did clean up the kitchen before starting on breakfast.

A bit late, but had laverbread and eggs this morning. I know it doesn't look much but I love it. This my own lazy creation. I've only ever seen it in Welsh cafes mixed with oatmeal, formed into patties and fried in bacon fat. Which is pretty good too, but I prefer this.

Some very interesting posts and pictures on there. I confess to being a bit of a meat and wine man on my rare adventures in high-end dining, but I like your approach lots, and unusual to see reports from the less artery hardening side of michelin stars.