Arabian Nights

Sorry, I forgot the potted shrimp.  I didn't have much time for gourmet shopping oop Morecambe way, too busy extreme rambling, thigh deep in freezing water, all for a good cause!
Nothing gourmet of note, in fact, until today when I started preparing for the Arabian Nights themed book club I'm having tomorrow night.  Hosting a book club makes me sound terribly middle class, and the fact that it is themed is even worse, but screw you.  It's something I've been doing with a close bunch of like-minded girls for several years now.  It actually takes shape more along the lines of a bacchanalian feast, not an orgy but in terms of the gluttonous, wine fuelled aspect.  After we have eaten and drunk our fill, or during, we see who can shout the loudest about a book that they have read recently and can remember the title of.  Richard and Judy it ain't.
Initially we just brought along some nibbles but eventually decided to plump for a theme so we got some variations on the grub.  Don't ask me why I came up with Arabian Nights; Morrocan, Turkish and Lebanese etc.  Perhaps because I've eaten some nice food along these lines this summer (Turkish in York, Lebanese Mezze at the Big Chill).  Perhaps because the nights are drawing in and I wish I was in Arabia.
I've heard lots of rumblings about what people are going to cook, one young lady was even going to create her own Turkish cheese!  (Labneh).  I purchased some Za'atar from Soundbites the other day on a whim, so decided to base a dish around that.  Za'atar is a condiment made from the dried herbs, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices. Used in Arab cuisine since medieval times, it is popular throughout the Middle East.  I found a nice and simple Nigella Lawson recipe so I've just put my chicken in to marinade:
http://www.food.com/recipe/nigellas-zaatar-chicken-378600
I also made a most exciting gourmet discovery today, thanks to Nottingham gourmet Andy.  He used familial contacts to locate an authentic Turkish delicatessen.  It is called Murat and located on Gedling Street in Nottingham, at the bottom of Hockley / in the Sneinton area.  Incidentally lots of other interesting food shops in the area but I didn't have time to explore, will come back another time.
Murat has it's own bakery, selling Turkish flatbreads, freshly made Baklava and other delights for sod all basically.  It also stocks a huge variety of olives, cheeses, meats, stuffed vine leaves, Turkish Delight, Halva, Tahini...it is the last word in Turkish wonderfullness and I will certainly be returning.  I bought massive, freshly baked flatbreads for 65p each, blow your head off pickled green chillis, dates and Feta cheese (they have Feta cheese from every feasibly cheese producing animal out there!)
The above picture depicts one of the best things I saw in Murat today....

Yes Pieminister....

As I said in my York blog, the weekend was really hectic, we made homemade pizzas on Friday night when I got home, but this was interspersed with cleaning skirting boards and taking shelves down etc.  So it was more fuel than anything.  Saturday night we went round to El Hueso's for some birthday Tapas action, there was gourmet promise there but it got obliterated by drunken Beatles rock band!
By Sunday evening, hangover minimised, I was craving a proper wholesome meal.  I had some puff pastry left from the Chorizo Empanadillas I made to take round to Bone's, so the logical choice seemed to be a pie.
I found this recipe on the ever reliable BBC Good Food website:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1765/chicken-and-mushroom-puff-pie
It was quite a time consuming affair as there are a few steps involved in the recipe, but it was easy to do, and so worth it.  Chicken thigh meat is tastier than breast and stays tender, as well as being cheaper.  Don't omit the bacon, it adds so much to the complexity of the flavour.  I couldn't get Thyme; Sunday evening in Derby, fresh herbs?  No chance!  But didn't miss it.  My only criticism is that it didn't need nearly as long as the recipe said for the final stage in the oven, resulting in a rather singed top to my pastry, so no photo!

I have spent much of this week in York again, the last session of training thank god.  It's too tiring going up there every week.  We had a last night out and a meal at Zizzi's, which I am not going to write about except to say I was pleasantly surprised.  I know this is a chain restaurant with one in every city, but the quality of the food was really a lot better than I expected.  We got a cheap deal with 2 mains for £12, but I think they make up for this with an overpriced wine list, especially compared to Kapadokya's.

That's me up to date, I'm going even further up North today, to walk across Morecambe Bay for my parents charity Abana tomorrow:  see their blog for more details:
http://rwanda-adventure.blogspot.com/
I'll bring you back some potted shrimp!

The Good Life.

We grew these!  Yummy!  I think I'm going to try growing some mushrooms in the cellar over the next few months...

Turk in York

I've had a really hectic week or so since I last blogged.  I've been in York twice for two days (work) and at the weekend Dennis the oldest Decorator in Derby was here painting all weekend with all the upheaval that decorating entails.  However I've managed to have a few nice meals out and even managed to cook a couple of times, just not had chance to blog.
The first visit to York was last Thursday and Friday.  We had the option of eating in the hotel but it's pretty uninspiring, and our trainer had recommended this Turkish restaurant:
http://www.kapadokya-restaurant.co.uk/Kapadokya.aspx
I've never been to Turkey, although I love the food, a side effect of living in Germany for many years I think, as there is a lot of Turkish influenced food there.  Anyway, Kapadokya is apparently a region of Turkey, hence the name, not sure why they've added the 50 though.
I went out to eat with Andy, who I work with, Maria, his lovely Brazilian girlfriend and Jamie, a friend of mine from university who lives in York.
The restaurant has a big open grill in the middle of the room, I love this.  I went for a dish called Adana:
Minced lamb with herbs, onions, parsley, spices and a little chilli on skewers, char-grilled served with rice and salad.  Andy, a notable Nottingham gourmet in his own right, said he thought the food at Antalya was better, but I've not yet eaten at Antalya.   (Why are all Turkish restaurants named after places in Turkey?)
 http://www.antalya.co.uk/
I thought Kapadokya was really good, the meat was tender and juicy, and not too salty as this type of shish can be.  It came with a side of fresh Turkish flatbread.  The wine list was really cheap too, we shared a nice bottle of shiraz for £12.50.  It was over a week ago and I'm afraid I can't remember what everyone else had, the Old Rosie cider we got into the habit of drinking in York has played havoc with my recall.

After dinner Jamie took us to a really interesting bar:
http://www.evileyelounge.com/
You might miss it as it is fronted by an off licence, but go through the shop and you will discover a hidden bar.  A massive wall of spirits promised every kind of cocktail you could imagine, but the atmosphere was rather spoilt by the screeching harridans on the next table to us, I think they'd had a few too many Woo Woo's!   A fun night though.

Monkfish Madness

The boy has been off work this week, and therefore has been able to do luxurious things like go to the fishmarket.  He picked up some Monkfish on Wednesday as he'd never had it before.  Monkfish is a firm and meaty fish which stands up to a bit of cooking and is very versatile.  We fancied something with cous cous and I googled up with this recipe for Monfish with Saffron Cous Cous:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article4868422.ece
We already happened to have green beans in the crisper and some Saffron that Nico brought us back from Spain.  This is a really tasty, easy midweek recipe which tastes like you've been cooking far harder than you have.  I actually left out the wine and used more stock just because I'd have been tempted to drink the rest of the bottle and had to get up at 6 the next morning to travel to York, so I bet it's even nicer with wine :-).
I have another monkfish recipe I want to try, with samphire like we had with the swordfish.  I'll keep you posted.

Monday Massaman.

This week has been a pretty super gourmet week.   As far back as Sunday we were treated to a homemade Tapas feast, courtesy of the boy's lovely mother, but I can't really blog about someone elses culinary skills, so I'll just say it was phenomenal.

We finally did some Thai, a cosy Monday night Beef Mussaman curry which we cooked ever so slowly in the oven.  I did use a paste; I haven't got as far as making Massaman from scratch yet, alhthough I will, and I have a recipe in mind (thanks Rick Stein.)  We tend to buy Mae Ploy pastes and the Massaman one is really good and has no added shite in it.
http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Mae-Ploy-Masman-Curry-Paste.html
We buy these from http://www.chungwahderby.co.uk/ which is a wicked little chinese supermarket in Wilmot Street in Derby (off The Spot).  They sell Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indonesian produce, including lots of fresh stuff which is high quality.  They also sell really cheap woks and stuff.  I've been to bigger Asian supermarkets in Nottingham etc, and this one is better.  They are also really friendly.  Anyway here is a link to the recipe we (sort of) followed since I seem to be forgetting to put recipes up on here!  This is a really rich, hearty curry, great for an autumn night.  You could make it with chicken too but beef is really good and tender cooked this way.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/420631/beef-massaman-curry

Everybody Need a Potnas...

The bank holiday weekend entailed a visit from our Manchester Potnas, and we got stuck in to the aperitifs with gusto.  The Potnas turned up on Friday evening bearing shrimp and white wine, a hilarious reference to the Beaver Boys and a source of much amusement: 
http://video.adultswim.com/tim-and-eric-awesome-show-great-job/beaver-boys-emergency.html
We enjoyed a fun and functional supper of moreish honey, ginger and soy sauce marinaded chicken wings, home made coleslaw and potato wedges, and stodgy Sainsburys garlic bread.  Perfectly nice, but really just ballast for a Friday booze-fest.

On Saturday the gourmet element deteriorated further, with a suspicious amount of scotch eggs and wotsits hanging around.  Following my traumatic experience of having my hair curled by a bloke called Barry whilst enduring a not insubstantial hangover (note to self, don't go to dodgy local hairdresser's for the first time after a heavy night) we retired to The Greyhound on Ashbourne Road; an appropriate location for some hair of the dog.

The Greyhound is a recently refurbished boozer on Friargate, run by the Derby Brewing Company.  
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Greyhound-bites-brewery-completes-facelift/article-2184974-detail/article.html
After a few restorative shandies, our thoughts turned to food.  All the Potnas had burgers, which looked delish, whilst I went for ham and gruyere cheese on a Spanish style baguette, served with a side salad and a bowl of chips.  The unanimous verdict was thumbs up, not the cheapest but a hand cut chip above standard pub grub.

Sunday was the highlight gourmet wise.  The boys foraged for a beautiful slab of topside beef from the Bryer's Heritage Farm on Markeaton Lane (Tel 01332 343689).  The farm shop is a hidden gem open 7 days a week and well stocked with farm reared meat and other quality produce (the pies are good).  There is also a Team Room, where they apparently do a very good breakfast, and you can also take a trip around the farm and look at the little piglets and baa-lambs you're about to devour.

The preparation of this roast was one of those day long affairs, helped along by a couple of crates of wife beater.  The ladies did offer their assistance, but spent much of the day guzzling gin and tonic in the garden.  The weekend finale was a resounding success, see picture for some happy Potnas.  Please come again!