Carlovski

I eat therefore I Ham

A bit of salt to bring out the flavour of nutritious green vegetables is not unhealthy! You may want to blanch the kale first, it can be slightly tough to just saute. And 5 cloves of garlic seemed a touch excessive! I quite like a touch of nutmeg in my greens too.

A cookbooks collection basically needs a mix of the following An old faithful - something like Delia, things your gran knew how to make but you don't, pastry, puddings etc A good reference or two - Guides to techniques, ingredients, seasonality etc. Something like Larousse or the aforementioned Conran book. Inspirational 'Foody' books. Ones which make you hungry - How to Eat, Appetite, anything by Elizabeth David or Simon Hopkinson. Chef books. Ones where you really do follow the recipe to the letter. The type you break out for dinner parties. Speciality books - It's very easy to build up a huge stock of these! Things like 'The art of the tart', 'In praise of the potato', baking books as well as books on foreign (And specialised local) cuisines.

I quite often use a dry vermouth as an alternative to white wine in many recipes, seems to keep better, and usually has a screwcap lid. Not the thing where the wine is a major component, but for general deglazing purposes it is fine, and for some sauces I think it is better.

I know it is bordering on the heretical, but as much as I love reading her prose, I do not find that many of the recipes that appealing. Some of the rice based recipes sound actively nasty. Good beefy stews though. Oh and I like vegetables and garnish with my food, despite what she says.

I second that. A copy lives by the side of my computer, along with Larousse Gastronomic, both of which I find invaluable for all things eGulet and beyond. Surprised by that Andy - I think it is a great beginners cookbook (So good for me!), but thought you'd be beyond it. The cross referencing is brilliant in it though. A similar, and good one is the 'Modern British Cookbook', not quite as good reference wise, but good recipes (Written by Alistair Little and Richard Whittington) - I got a copy for My sister a few years ago. The only problem I have with it is that it is done in conjunction with the Daily Mail. Surprised it has any 'Ethnic' recipes in it at all....... A slightly more obscure suggestion is any of the little **** Food books published by Murdoch Books (Bowl Food, Cool Food etc) Not a sit down and read type, just lots of recipes, but unusually, pretty full of simple things you might actually want to eat (Some funny australian ingredients though). I used to have a handy book, I think it was by Anne Willan which was handy too, split by ingredients and cooking techniques lots of pictures of various stages of cooking, comparative 'doneness' and how to rescue dishes when they are overcooked/ undercooked/oversalted etc. Can't remember what it was called though.

Whats the availability of that? Do I have to get it from Books For Cooks? Sounds good, might have to make the effort (It's a bit like that How to be incredibly well read in 100 pages book!)

I'd have to second most of the suggestions here, but as well I'd recommend the Conran cookbook, not the newer Classic Conran (Which also looks good) one but one written in conjunction with Simon Hopkinson - good into section with loads of pictures of ingredients, techniques etc. I also recoomend 'The Independent Cook' by Jeremy round, if you can track down a copy. Slightly different, but one I enjoyed is 'Cooking like Mummyji' for brit-indian style home cooking (A lot better than the similar Brit-spice)

I don't consider myself as particularly evil! I am a computer geek (well by profession anyway) though - the original image appeared to be hosted on imagestation (The sony thing), not imagegullet.

I could see it before - Can't now.

Interesting to see that even the italians fall for the big plate and pointless parsley scattering trap as well.

If in doubt, add bacon

Yesterday I was making some soup (Simple one with tomato, onions,smoked bacon, stock, thickend with a bit of rice) while talking to my housemate, and wasn't paying attention when I pored in some rice. Put in about 3 times (At least !) too much. Didn't realise quite how much until it expanded..... My soup basically turned into a bad risotto. I did eat some in the end, and it wasn't that bad, but must remember to concentrate!

Simply cooked ina little water, and then adding lemon zest really brings out the flavor.

hear hear! I have decided that I really can't make it better myself (or not with limp UK tomatoes, at least). Phew, I feel better now - it's not bad is it? Also , scarily enough there is an Asda's own brand one (One of there special range) which is quite good too! Onto 'proper' cooking, some of my favourites are Pancetta, some onion and peas, along with a slug of white wine, and crush some of the peas. Good with linguini. Some people would add cream. They are wrong. Anchovies, olive oil, chilli, garlic,parsley, lemon zest. Good with any long pasta. A long cooked tomato sauce, cooked with a piece of browned, boney meat - ribs, pork chops etc. Shred the meat at the end and return to the sauce. Good with Penne. Clams, if I can get the right type (Tricky near me), with garlic, chilli and white wine. Mussels sometimes cooked as per the clams, or sometimes with pesto. I'm also a big fan of the more classic sauces - puttanesca, carbonara, and if I can be bothered, a good ragu.

How about 'Feasting' at St John?

During a weekend implementation at work, where we normally use it is an excuse to gorge on snack and junk food all day one of my colleagues discovered an 'interesting' combination. Having ran out of tortilla chips and pringles, he dipped a hot cross bun an a container of commercial prawn cocktail flavour dip. He proclaimed it a resounding success, but I am not so sure. I could try and compare it to the use of pain d'epices in savoury dishes, but I don't think it is quite the same.

On the fruity theme Powdered ginger and melon

Keeping in the theme Bacon Butty (With Brown sauce) an overly milky, hot oversweetened tea. From a tea bag. In a mug.

You appear to be contradicting yourself I'm a brown sauce man myself. right, I'm off to get a Bacon Butty.

I think we may need a new topic - Is there anything that bacon doesn't go with?

Pork and fennel- oh yes, but bacon and marmalade? I can see I will have to experiment!

Some foods just go together so well that you can't imagine them apart. What are some of the less obvious ones you have discovered? Some of mine are Bacon and peas - Not that original, but nothing brings out the sweetness of peas like crisp, salty bacon. Pasta and potatoes - The double starch thing does work. Atkins? Bah! Roast Chicken and Mustard

I agree - when they are freshly picked, the grilling treatment is the best. Simply dressed with a little bit of lemon juice is good.

There is a place for mediocre restaurants, as long as they are happy with their mediocrity, and charge mediocre prices. Sometimes you want to be excited, challenged and surprised by food. Other times you just want something to eat. The problem is the number of places that don't even reach the dizzy heights of mediocrity.