Carlovski

no great suprise unfortunately prezzo from the same family (the kayes) that started deep pan pizza ( well, city centre restuarants- also fankie & benny's/cafe uno/chiquitos/est,est ,est) and ask central (ask = adam and simon kaye) gary ← Just come back from a team lunch at Prezzo - pretty much as you would expect, apart from I had a salad nicoise (Had pizza last night so didn't fancy another - although it was anchovies again!). Shock horror, the tomatoes were actually pretty decent - ripe, and flavoursome - It shouldn't be a suprise, it is almost august, but in a UK chain restaurant, very unusual. (Bad tuna though!)

If you have a blowtorch handy then it probably is easier. Plus you get to play with fire. Must admit that I'm still not tempted by the whole idea - tenderness isn't everything.

They missed an opportunity for some discussion/argyuments over the beef - last week Heston cooked a Rib of beef for 20 hours, this week Richard Corrigan cooked his for 10 minutes.....

Interesting - that appears to break most of the usual quoted rules i.e no cream, don't overbeat the eggs and you don't really want a flat surface. Wasn't there an omelette masterclass on eGullet somewhere? I can't find it now.

I love that stuff! Also, a bit lowbrow maybe, but maltesers icecream is just the best.

I thought those Pollock and Hoki were usually mentioned as sustainable alternatives to cod? Do we need to find a new 'other white fish'? Is Haddock ok? I like Haddock. And what about Sea Bream - Hardly ever see it but a guy who comes to our local farmers market with the catch off his little boat says he gets loads of them.

Interesting sense of scale I'm getting here - in the UK a 100 Mile radius seems pretty big! For me it would cover most of the south (Including the isle of wight - good for tomatoes and garlic!), most of London and quite a big chunk of the English Channel. I couldn't see any problem in living off that.

How about a thick robust chowder - plenty of corn in it. You could bake some interesting breads to go with it - possibly stuffed/topped with something?

Are we getting mixed up with Chilean Sea Bass, and 'Real' Sea Bass? Our native Sea Bass is not endangered, as far as I am aware. I got some swordfish at the weekend, that's endangered isn't it , I never even thought when I bought it

Probably makes a fine peashooter too.....

Sometimes cheap canned tomatoes are a false economy - it takes longer to cook to get them to reduce down to a sauce consistency, so more gas, and less sauce at the end. The good quality ones just sort of collapse with a minute or two of heating. If I'm chucking them into a long braise or casserole, then it doesn't matter so much.

Here is a controversial one - I quite often buy economy streaky bacon - why? Because the 'better' stuff is often too lean. I do also buy good quality dry cured stuff too though - I'm a sucker for buying interesting sounding bacon. Pasta I usually buy good stuff, but it depends on the type and what I am using it for. Farfalle and conchigle I quite often buy supermarket brand. Orrichiette I get expensive stuff and the same for long pastas, penne I usually get a mid priced one like Barilla or De Cecco. For long grained rice I always buy basmati, but usually a fairly cheap brand (Although I did buy a good quality huge 10kg plastic jar a while back!) Some things I like to buy expensive varieties, just to try - I'm always trying different butters, but often can't tell much difference. Eggs I'm very picky about - won't buy cheap eggs. Cheese - some cheeses I'm happy with supermarket versions, Lancashire (Although I do buy Kirkhams Lancashire when I find it), Cheshire and Wensleydale are fine as they are light fresh tasting cheeses - supermarket budget cheddar is pretty rank though. Soft and blue cheeses I rarely buy from a supermarket unless for cooking with they are never ripe. The best Parmesan and Pecorino I've found without having to go to an italian deli or specialist cheesemonger is actually in the cheapest budget supermarket, so I buy that. In the UK supermarket own label sherry is actually pretty decent so I buy that for drinking and cooking. Vermouth for cooking too (Although I probably wouldn't drink it)

At first I though aubergine involitini - but that overlaps a bit with your courgettes. If that isn't a problem then an alternative is cheats mousakka - instead of fiddling with slicing and layering and making 2 sauces just scoop out the insides of aubergines, use it to bulk out the lamb, top with some yoghurt mixed with feta and give a blast in the oven - actually best served just warm for that taverna feel! Or how about a sort of tagine and some couscous? Could be veggy too. But that might seem a bit 'soupy' after the gazpacho! Or for the full protein hit how about a shouder of lamb cooked in the oven (Don't know why I am feeling so mediterranean today)? lots of garlic herbs and maybe anchovy in there. Not sure if you have time for it though - really needs slow cooking.

Don't forget, these Americans don't get the REALLY good asparagus

Anyone read the "The Food of Love" by Anthony Capella? See Here Full of ideas - well if your intended has a taste for full on Roman style cooking anyway. Good read too.

There are some products where the canning process, and in particular the maturation in the can/jar can improve the product - such as good quality canned tunda or sardines (although I know some people disagree). In regard to the tuna, tinned tuna and fresh tuna are very different beasts - both can be equally good, and equally bad. Other products are probably made worse by the process, but are balanced by the fact that the ingredients are better than what you can get fresh locally or in that season - good quality tinned tomatoes or some varieties of canned/jarred peppers. Then there are the products which are a bit worse than fresh/dried, but the convenience is so much better that most of the time they are fine (Not for some recipes of course)- I'm thinking chickpeas and beans of various kinds. Good french petit pois are good too. Some things are just awful though, and should not be touched, tinned potatoes, tinned carrots for starters. Also remember that a decent supply of tins can get you out of all sorts of no shopping related emergencies.

Yep, I've seen this in two places now in the UK - one place had of all things a baked potato serverd with 'au jus'.

As this is a light oil anyway, so more likely to be used for cooking I don't think it is much of a problem.

On a similar note you could try a sichuan style braised fish in chilli bean sauce.

Anything, with enough wine....

I've mentioned this before, but I often look at mu dinner and think 'That's good, but it would be even better with an egg on top' - so on goes a poached or fried egg (Or 2 or 3). Butter is good (My patented 'Cholesterol' eggs especially) and I'm a big fan of the supposedly passe drizzle of Evoo. If I'm cooking indian I can't help frying up a load of onions garlic and chilli and dumping it on top at the last minute - whether the recipe really needed it or not. Other thing is the crunchy garlic and chilli mix I love to sprinkle on thai curries, noodle dishes, anything actually. Picked it up from a Simon Hopkinson book - simple quickly fry a load of sliced garlic and chillies until crispy, but not burned (You need quite a bit of oil - a small wok is best - or you can make a single serving lot in a ladle if you are VERY careful). Keeps for about a week in an airtight jar (Probably fine for longer, but loses the crunch)

Fish that size I usually like to cook in the oven, olive oil, lemon and maybe some herbs in the cavity - keeping it on the bone might help it. Or you could try coating some fillets in panko crumbs and quickly deep frying - works well with some of the softer flatfish anyway.

Good to hear! I reckon somewhere selling a nice light inexpensive red - chilled, in nice chunky glasses could do well in summer. I could happily lose an afternoon drinking that anyway !

£6.95 for 3 scallops (Plus the rest of the gubbins) doesn't seem to be hiting the food cost/profit formula normally quoted - I'd say they would have to go up - not exactly a low rent location is it?

Salad Nicoise is one of my favourite things to eat in the Summer. I know a lot of writers who prefer to dispense with Tuna altogether - as much as I love anchovies I much prefer Tuna though. As I usually have it as a main meal I like the potatoes, beans and eggs in there. One thing I do not like is peppers in it - I just don't think they fit in. It's one of the few dishes where I will allow cucumber - but if I make it myself I leave it out. I like it fine with fresh tuna, seems a very different thing to me then though, becomes more like tuna and salad then a whole dish. I do prefer good tinned stuff though - but if you really don't like it (I love tinned fish of all kinds) then why force yourself? Young broad beans are a good idea though - have to try that.