This morning I woke up early, brewed myself a coffee and proceeded to catch up on episodes of MasterChef and Iron Chef from last week. At some point in my viewing I had an urge to eat. I was sitting where I sit now writing and thinking predictably about food. Like a flash it comes to me. “I have an idea,” said Mark. It was decided I would cook banana bread. And I wanted it now! So my challenge began. I would have some fresh banana bread in my paws in 90 minutes time. The race was on. Below is a summary of my progress. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Cakes, Cooking and Recipes | 18 Comments »
With the World Cup over you would think it was time to return to normal sleeping patterns. However, this is not the case. Each year in the month of July the Tour de France cycling race is on. This race involves 21 sleepless nights on my part watching 198 guys on bikes riding between 170 and 220 kilometres a day, at speeds up to 100 kilometres an hour all in pursuit of the converted Maillot Journe (or yellow jersey in English). These cyclists are crazy and although they wear tightly fitting lycra and shave their legs they are the toughest sportsmen on the planet. You will never look at a football player the same again. Cycling is indeed a real tough guy sport.
You may ask why I speak of a cycling race on a cooking blog. Firstly it is in France and French people love good food. Secondly each night on SBS’s TdF coverage of the race they have a small 5 minute segment hosted by renowned chef Gabriel Gaté called Taste le Tour. Each day he describes some of the foods of the region they are cycling through. I call it late night food porn. Even if you have no interest in the race it is well worth watching. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Dinner, Veal | 19 Comments »
We all get a little sad when we hear of animal species on the cusp of extinction. Often this can be due to the influence of humans in over fishing, hunting or destroying their natural environment. We are reminded that once the damage has been done it cannot be reversed and we will have lost something of value for ever and the only place we will see these animals, fish, birds or insects is in a museum or a text book.
The same occurs with food. Mass produced and low quality food threatens the rich culinary culture of many countries. If people do not learn to cook the recipes, capture the experiences and the food culture will not be passed to the next generation and effectively dies. The only place we can learn of these foods and traditions is through food. Effectively resulting in culinary extinction. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Chicken, Cooking and Recipes, Lunch | 15 Comments »
afternoon tea
(noun)
A light midafternoon meal of tea and sandwiches or cakes; “an Englishman would interrupt a war to have his afternoon tea”#
I think afternoon tea is probably one of the most likeable meals (if you could call it that) of the day. It fills that expansive period between lunch and dinner. At my work the dedicated lunch time is 11:30 and due to my culinary ambition or laziness I usually eat dinner at about 8pm. This means there is eight and a half hours between meals. This is way too long for my liking. By about 5:30 my stomach has started consuming itself. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Cakes, Cooking and Recipes, Mum's Recipes | 26 Comments »
I like cooking and eating sweet things as much (or maybe even a little more) as the next person. A little morsel of un-adulterated sin in ones mouth will cheer you up no matter what the mood. Unfortunately I have one issue. I have no finesse in the field of baking. It’s as if a sledge hammer is a cooking utensil. I can make things that taste great but I can’t make things that are visually appealing. All my desserts look kind of weird and deformed. As a result I have a serious case of dessert-envy-itis.
The symptoms of Dessert-envy-itis manifest themselves in many different ways in a somewhat random and sporadic manner. These include:
- An unhealthy obsession with anything in the window of Adriano Zumbo;
- Every attempt at macarons resulting in failure;
- Severe jealousy over bloggers sweet creations;
- Cookies that look and taste like ice hockey pucks; and
- Acute onset of anxiety when cooking anything with copious quantities of sugar.
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Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Dessert | 31 Comments »
