Mr Pie

Brew Dog (Scotland) - Punk IPA. A cracking IPA, just as they should be. Crisp and refreshing as a dip in the North Sea (OK, skip that bit).

A friend of mine that lives in the Canaries once gave me a gift of some small white truffles that he had picked himself in the woods nearby. There must have been a couple of pounds of them! He mentioned that they are so plentiful when in season that his family just boil them up like potatoes. Blackberry picking has always been a popular event in our family. They usually go into jam. I remember my Dad making wine from elderberries that we would pick from the hedgerows.

"Why can't you ever learn to clean up after yourself!" - everyone I have ever shared a house with.

The phenomena of auto-condimenting was humorously discussed in one of Terry Pratchett's hundreds of Discworld books. Its discovery is said to have saved the catering industry thousands by not adding any salt in the first place.

I still dream of an afternoon when we ate porchetta while wondering around a wine festival in Chianti; the local jazz band tuning up on a small stage in the corner of the piazza, while the sun gently set over the vineyards surrounding the village....

That is one BIG recipe, a hogshead is around 50 gallons!

I can second punnet, always used for soft berries (in the UK at least). Its bigger brother is the chip. You can get around 6 punnets in a chip. It is a minefield of units over here, we have sort of gone metric, but still stick with imperial when we can (just in case metric doesn't catch on?). Large quantities of vegetables (particulary root veg) can be purchased by the stone, which is 14lb. Onions are often purchased by the net. Cooked shellfish is often purchased by the pint (or half pint).

Interesting, chips and cheese seems to be the thing to eat in Leeds. We could make Poutine if only we could get Lancashire and Yorkshire together. Oh well, nevermind. On a trip to Mayo in Ireland, the locals ate chips, curry sauce and coleslaw. Yes, it was as tasty as it sounded.

Black Sheep, Riggwelter and fruit cake.

Cheese & onion. A mature tangy cheddar and a large mild onion. (Accompanied by some pork pie and maybe a pickled egg if you are buying)

It's super quick to prepare. Brown the lamb and onions in oil in a large pan for a few minutes. Then turn the heat right down, throw in a handful of cardomon pods and a splash of water to ensure the meat doesn't scorch and you are done. Cook for a couple of hours on the first night, a an hour or two on the second and then heat and serve on the third night. Sorry I can't offer any more specifics, I am not one for writing recipes down (or following them either if I am honest) By the time you get to eating it, it has a really intense meaty flavour. Just the thing as Autumn closes in.

Agreed. I believe it is possible to starve to death inside Subway. A documentry on fast food a while ago highlighted that a foot long meatball sandwich from Subway had as much salt as 17 packets of crisps.

This is my first post and what better way to start than with lamb shanks. They are an all time favorite in our house! We only cook them one way and that is in a pan with onions and cardomon. Most importantly they are cooked for a looong time. Typically we will cook them for 2hr stints for two or three nights in a row. The result is a meaty, sticky stew that you could literally eat with a spoon.