Posted by: AM on: July 30, 2009
Oddly for a vegetarian, W is not keen on pasta. It’s nutritionally indistinguishable from white bread, she complains. She is bemused by the way it’s embraced by people who would look down their noses at a supermarket shopping basket full of processed white bread. But this is just a little pasta (vermicelli to be precise), [...]
Posted by: AM on: July 26, 2009
This salad recipe was in the Guardian recently, and the only thing I did differently, in typical middle class foodie fashion, was buy the broad beans fresh from my gal Caroline at Cork’s Saturday farmer’s market. W shelled them while she watched the Tour de France. We also didn’t bother blanching the beans, but were [...]
Posted by: AM on: July 26, 2009
Same story with the salad recipes from here. I’ll never remember to look for them when they’re buried in a list of a hundred, so here are the ones that caught my eye.
37. Cube smoked tofu, then brush it with a mixture of honey and orange juice; broil until browned. Toss with chopped cucumbers, radishes [...]
Posted by: AM on: June 21, 2009
I want to make a note of this recipe. It’s simple, delicious and versatile. Yesterday I used it in a cold buckwheat noodle salad with radishes, but it would also be lovely with a stir-fry. I suppose it’s pretty much a standard recipe for thai food, but I took it from here. Consider it noted.
Spicy [...]
Posted by: AM on: May 17, 2009
Cork city has a farmer’s market every Saturday, on Cornmarket, opposite the TK Maxx. It’s an extension of a much older market. When you walk from the city end towards the river you pass stalls selling mobile phone covers, seriously cheap tracksuits and framed pictures of Roy Keane, Bobby Sands, Michael Collins and the Pope [...]
Posted by: AM on: April 19, 2009
I’ve been unwell. Easter should be a time for eating chocolate rabbits, contemplating Christ’s death and resurrection, and maybe taking a trip to the coast. Instead, from Maundy Thursday onwards I was confined to my bed, with a fever, a tight dry sinusy headache, and a stack of readings for work.
Fortunately I have a wonderful [...]
Posted by: AM on: February 24, 2009
I only made saag paneer for the first time a few weeks ago, but this recipe has already made it into the rotation. Of course, it doesn’t taste the same as it does in restaurants, but that’s for the same reason everything tastes different in restaurants: they put pounds of butter in your food. In [...]
Posted by: AM on: December 31, 2008
Christmas in Cork lacks a certain magic that I romantically associate with the season. The lights are tacky. The streets are full of yellow-jacketed charity beggars. There’s no snow. And worst of all, there’s no mulled wine.
The Christmas market is more or less indistinguishable from the summer markets. Lots of home made jam, cheese, breads, [...]
Posted by: AM on: December 31, 2008
Inspired by (or poorly imitating) the fish tacos at the lovely Agua Verde in Seattle, this is a staple in our house.
Pretty much any fish will do. The original Agua Verde tacos were halibut, but we usually use mackerel. I’ve tried it with monkfish, which is easier to handle because it’s so firm and meaty, [...]
Posted by: AM on: December 25, 2008
Christmas tradition decrees that on the night before Christmas, we all eat chowder. Christmas in my wife’s family’s house, that is. And just because we’re thousands of miles away from Seattle doesn’t mean we can’t recreate the traditional yuletide fish soup.
Most of the American recipes call on ingredients I can’t easily get here in Cork, [...]
