FatGeekUK

I am a bit of a geek. Ok, yes, I admit it. I am a LOT of a geek.

But I am not just ONE sort of geek.

In part, I am a bit of a language geek.

I love Pulp Fiction (the film) and Deadwood (the tv series) and Kings (another tv series).

And sometimes I play about with trying to put the good words in the right order.

So, with that in mind, here is another attempt.

The meals at The Empress are balanced soo well and prepared with such attention
to detail and professionalism that it is not apparent upon their consumption just how spicy some of them are. Once passed through the alimentory canal however, the bal
ance is destroyed and the power revealed. Thus I suffer, but with joy at the memory.

I was recently introduced to SoundCloud, specifically, through the music of NathanQ

Now, while listening to the interesting dance beats of NathanQ, I also noticed the UI of the site.

In doing so, I realised it was a nice implementation of some of the ideas that I had been involved with while working on a project for one of my clients.

The soundcloud implementation was much simpler and lower function than our attempts and in thinking about it, I realised that it satisfied the requirements very cleanly. A bit like how twitter and facebook are both in the same space, but are trying to satisfy different levels of result.

To me(being older) I feel that twitter is more successful, at least in part because it IS simpler, and it could be that there is a lesson here. If you can’t get all of your ideas just right, step back, pick one aspect and try to satisfy that one aspect simply and cleanly.

Something to ponder.

I have been following Kitchen Criminals . The first week brings us a recipe from John Burton Race(of The New Angel) FOR French Toast with Apples and Calvados sauce

Well, we tried that for breakfast this morning and the kids loved it.

A few comments however, the first one prepared is not the same as successive ones, because its cooked in a fresh pan, instead of one with remnants of sugar, I had the last one (as always) and must admit that the caramel browning on the bread was not overpowering, and in fact, I quite liked it. Though purists would probably suggest a fresh pan for each.

I did not have any calvados, so used some brandy, I don’t think it detracted from the sauce too much.

Sardines, Sauted Courgette, well buttered toast.

Wonderful.

The courgettes cut on the bias, lightly scored (Thankyou Jamie, it does make a difference), salt and fresh pepper and squeeze of fresh lemon juice while in some nice hot olive oil.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the sausages that Howarth and Sons produce, they never disappoint.

A local restaurant I liked a lot, called ‘The Greyhound’ closed several months ago.

When we where last there, I had these chips that where wonderful.

Since then, I have been trying to duplicate them, and tonight, I came close.

Read on for details.

Bacon Ribs, boiled with cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

Truely wonderful basic cooking, simple, wholesome, filling and tasty.

As anyone who has known me for a while, you will probably know I like my food.

I am not a pretentious cook, quite happy doing burgers and chips, just as much as doing a rack of lamb with celeriac mash.

Well, this lunchtime, I started with SPAM.

That specially pressed american meats that has been soo vilified by cooks since its creation.

From then, things took an interesting turn.

Rice noodles, red chillis and cabbage. topped off with a dash of soy sauce and a splash of sesame oil.

Wonderful.

For my current contract I have to do a fair amount of travelling.

The client requires me to be onsite in their offices for two days a week.

This means I get to stay in a hotel for one night a week.

As you probably know, I am a bit of a foodie.

I LOVE steak, steak cooked well that is.

Whenever I stay in a new hotel, I try their steak (cooked rare).

Up to now, I have been forever disappointed.

No hotel cook seems to be able to get this right.

Its rare alwright, but so is the ‘rind’.

A good rare steak should be bloody as hell, but the rind of the meat, the connective tissue and fat surrounding the muscle, should NOT be. It should be seared, slightly crispy, and this partially rendered of its fat. This is not to reduce the fat, but to make the fat that IS there a juicy and tempting accompaniment to the protien of the muscle. NOT a tough rubbery shield protecting the meat from your knife.

Alas, I am yet to find a hotel that gets this right. And yet, I continue to try.

Anthony Bourdaine in his book ‘Kitchen Confidential’ gives lots of advice about restaurants.

One of the main ones is “Don’t order fish on Mondays”.

The idea is that its probably been around since the friday produce delivery.

But Tony ALSO says, food is risk, you have to try things.

Well, last night I sat in a restaurant in Wembley just north of London and read…

‘Deepfried Oysters in Batter’. Fish, SHELLFISH! on a monday. But, never had deep fried oysters.

Dare I risk it?

Hmmm.

I was recently back in London. Staying near Earls Court.

On my last day of stay, I found a little Thai place that was truely excellent.

I had these boned, stuffed chicken legs for starters and followed it up with some soft shell crabs in a red curry sauce and coconut rice. Very Nice.