Carlovski

I love Aubergines - when other people cook them. Don't get me wrong, there are a few things I can succesfully cook with them, If i'm slicing them thinly and chargrilling them that normally works ok, or making a roasted aubergine puree. But whenever I try and cook something like some of the excellent indian aubergine dishes I have tried they always come out wrong. I finally figured it out, it's the (usually correct) opinion that you shouldn't overcook vegetables. For aubergines you really need to cook the hell out of them. I made an aubergine and spinach curry last night. Started with copious amounts of oil which helps things too but the main point was that I started watching football and cooked it for about 3 times as long as I would normally (Not the spinach - that went in at the end). The aubergines ended up soft, juicy and had absorbed all the flavour from the spices, not spongy, chewy and bitter as they often end up. I think it helped I had a long thin aubergine rather than the bulbous ones I normally get as well. Any other top tips for Aubergines? And I know, what am I doing cooking aubergines in the UK in early March but it was a perky looking specimen and I tried to forget about the food miles!

One use I have found is that it is the 'secret' ingredient to making the Madras curry just like my local takeaway - copious (I'm talking a whole tube here) amounts of tomato paste along with lemon juice and lots of black pepper. The other thing I use it for is a quick sauce for thin pasta of garlic, anchovies, chilli flakes and evoo - normally I have it without tomato but sometimes i'll add a spoonfull of tomato paste.

Also, don't forget that that a cheap battery farmed chicken may not give you the rich stock you are looking for.

Yep, I had the bug too, as did my housemate, my Mum, sister and her kids (Independently as I haven't seen them since christmas) Quite nasty isn't it!

Anything written by Simon Hopkinson or Nigel slater is worth a read. Mediterranean seafood by Alan Davidson treads a fine line between food and biology, but is a genuinely brilliant book (One of the quotes on one edition goes along the lines of 'one of the greatest books ever written, on any subject' - can't remember the source though) I love Sichuan Cookery by Fuschia Dunlop in much the same way as Madhur Jaffery, a great mix of prose, history and recipes.

I have the same issue with recipes too - I've often tucked away a serves 4 recipe by myself.... It depends on the ingredient though - personally I eat a lot of rice, pasta vegetables but not a lot of meat - both recipes and prepared meals seem to be biased the other way - I've seen recipes to serve 6 which require over 3 pounds of meat, but then say serve with less than a pack of pasta or about 300g of rice.

I was watching 'The Ipcress File' again last night. Now Len Deighton who wrote the book and screenplay was a noted gourmet who wrote several cookbooks and had a regular cookery column in the Observer. The food scenes have dated somewhat though, Harry Palmer's cuisine seems to revolve mainly around tinned mushrooms and green peppers - not really two of my favourite ingredients. He does very skillyfully crack some eggs one handed (Apparently after being coached by Len Deighton), and is using a proper sharp chefs knife to slice the peppers though.

Try and see if you can get hold of one of the french brands - they come out looking a rather unappetising greyish colour but have great flavour. Re the noodles, It's not something I have ever really tried, I have loads of old recipe books which recommend buttered noodles as an accompaniment to stroganoff (Now there is a forgotten recipe!) and stews, but I can't say I have ever felt the urge to try it - they don't seem absorbent enough to me. while we are on about tinned products, how about tinned sardines? I know the top notch french and spanish ones are well regarded, but I like decent quality mid range ones as well, Waitrose in the uk do a brad packed with a chilli pepper that make an excellent bruschetta topping, just lighty mash them with the chilli, and they are a great storecupboard staple for a quick pasta dish. And based on a broth I made last week (It was COLD near me!) pearl barley deserves a comeback.

Undercooked green beans are just nasty (Of course overcooked ones aren't great either). Anyway, My usual trick with frozen veggies is to gently heat them in butter and use their own moisture to cook them - you may need a splash of water (Or small glug of white wine if you have an open bottle to hand) for things like brocolli (Not that I recommend frozen brocolli). If it's peas I often fry some streaky bacon or pancetta and cook in the released fat, along with a little butter. Frozen spinach can be a pain if it is the stuff frozen in balls, it takes ages to thaw and if you turn the heat up you just scorch and overcook the outside. I recommend Microwaving and then sauteing with a little butter/olive oil and some garlic.

Slightly OT but using vanilla infused vodka in a white russian is a good trick. Does turn it into even more of a grown up milkshake though....

I've seen plenty of misuse of 'au jus'....

Oh and Bryan, having read the thread on underage drinking in fine dining restaurants in NYC you'll be glad to know that won't be an issue here!

I hope your friend enjoys london, and so do you when you visit. Usual student get together eateries are either Pizza - which your friend as a New Yorker will probably be horrified by, or indian of the neighborhood british kind which will probably at least be a novelty. Students also seem to like bad tex-mex food as well - the sort that comes in a novelty tortilla hat - odd as it usually isn't even that cheap. Probably won't take long until they are initiated into the dubious delight of the late night donner kebab as well. I think the Rules suggestion is a good one - definitely different to what you are doing with your Z-Kitchen! You'll be out of the game season though so it will be a little less interesting. Maybe one of the traditional fish restaurants? J Sheekey or Sweetings (lunch only I believe). Also to be honest once you are in London locality doesn't really matter (Apart from finding a local pub that is) From Marble Arch you can get anywhere fairly quickly.

I remember being rather partial to it as a kid - every self respecting international style bar restaurant in a spanish tourist resort does it. I seem to remember it seeming like quite a sophisticated choice..... I was quite offput one time when it came covered in gravy though - molten cheese and gravy isn't really my cup of tea. Anyway, chicken cordon bleu is far more respectable than the myriad of 'kiev' varieites on offer in your average supermarket freezer - chicken korma kiev anyone?

I think I asked this in another thread, once, but I can't find it... I'm not convinced that the USDA grading (As little as I understand it) would be that relevant - other factors such as upkeep, breed, quality of butchery would be much more important. Also older animals usually yield the best braising cuts which is not usually true for 'prime' cuts. Better ingredients do make better dishes, but the criteria for what makes a cut better will depend on that cut, and the dish you are preparing.

A little bit off topic but I bet most of the service station and railway franchise operators really hate the M&S Simply food outlets - vaguely edible food with no price premiums (Not as far as I have noticed - appears to be the same prices as high street shops).

I've commented on this before in a similar thread - Here the breed, animal husbandry and aging are the key factors - marbling doesn't really come into what is considered 'top quality' meat, maybe it's the lack of a steak house culture. Is it also the feed? I've never seen cuts in the UK with the level of marbling I've seen in some of these meat porn shots. I don't really know - not really a beef guy. Out of interest, is the Prime grading done cut by cut? And do only 'prime' cuts get this grading?

I'm definitely no wine expert but I have been greatly enjoying the 2005 George Deboeuf Regnie. And for once I even like the flowery label! looks like it is available in the states too see here

I hate wasting food too, but some of the things you mention I wouldn't class as food..... I think you may have 'unusual' tastes, I'm sure most people find orange pith completely inedible! The brocolli issue i have comented on before, at least one supermarket sells extra trimmed broccoli and markets it as having 'less waste'. the upside is that stalky (Which I prefer) broccoli gets graded down and is cheaper.

I'm not sure about the whole browning in a pan afterwards technique. A chicken is a fairly bumpy creature - there will be bits of skin which never touch the pan, around the joints for instance. Which surely means there will be patches of soggy flabby chicken skin. I wonder if the ultimate answer is to somehow remove the whole skin and cook separately.....

From what I remember of flicking through the book he did draw on a few more references than a single Naples pizzeria. I did think his pizza looked a little 'soggy' though. And I was a little alarmed when he grabbed what I thought was a solid cast iron pan with his bare hands - his did have some sort of insulated handle but thought he should have at least given a warning.

I was just looking at them and wondering if they were "before" or "after" publicity shots !! ← Along with prawn cocktail 'Gordon Ramsay style, in a glass' - don't think he can really claim that one.... Just watched tonight's episode (BTW the owners menu on the return visit sounded a lot better than Gordons) and noticed something I hadn't picked up on before, the credits listed both a food coordinator and a restaurant consultant. Now I'm not naive enough to think that he single handedly reinvents failing restaurants but that does cast doubt over how much if any of the work he does at all - is he just the presenter?

Some of my favourite bits of the book are where he describes how ingredients that we see as 'Italian' he had never experienced until later on in life as they weren't from Lombardy. And how learnt to incorporate them into his dishes (Probably to the horror of his family!) And as mentioned before, the sections on risotto and gnocchi alone are worth buying the book for.

Seems like a common theme is anything that is savoury, but a bit sweet, with a touch of spicy heat - works for me!

Simply spread on a little tapenade and bake - maybe top with half an anchovy (Salty gets the drinks flowing!) Or how about a mini pissalidiere variation - top with slow cooked onions (they need half an hour min on a very low heat) with anchovies and some little black olives.