East Coast Didn’t Impress
It had been a long time, since I travelled all the way up from London to Edinburgh in one go. Once a few years ago in the days of GNER, I did a trip from Peterborough to Edinburgh and back in a day. That must have been after I had been diagnosed as a coeliac, and I can remember discussing my meals with the on-board chef.
As it was I didn’t get any breakfast on the way up, as they had nothing that was gluten-free. So I might as well have saved money and travelled in Standard Class. Compare this with Virgin Trains, who now serve an excellent gluten-free breakfast.
I also had a seat with a table that rattled a lot and shook tea everywhere. I just think it needed the tightening of a couple of screws.
I think that next time, I go to Edinburgh, I’ll combine it with an intermediate stop like Liverpool or Newcastle or perhaps take the soft option and fly.
Mainly because I was getting distinctly hungry by the time I finished my journey.
I could have taken a packed lunch or bought sandwiches in Marks and Spencer in Kings Cross, but that really nullifies the advantage of First Class. Obviously with a shorter journey to say Leeds, York or Newcastle, this lack of food is less of a problem, as I can eat well at both ends of the trip.
As I Can in Edinburgh, but surely one of the reasons to take long distance trains, is to enjoy the travel and the views and hopefully some well-served food.
Off To Scotland
I’m off to Edinburgh today by train to see an old friend. Then it’s over to Glasgow and on Saturday down to Bolton to see Ipswich play.
I’ll be having a good breakfast at Leon in Kings Cross, as it would appear that gluten-free food on East Coast is a bit thin. I may be wrong, but we will see!
Memories Of Williams Brothers
Williams Brothers, was the grocery shop of choice of many in North London, in the 1960s. They had the odd supermarket, but most like the one I used to go to for my mother in Cockfosters were ones, where the assistant did the fetching and carrying.
What singled out Williams Brothers from other stores, was that for every pound you spent you got a token, which could be exchanged for money, when you got to a particular value.
Children loved all this and used the tokens, which were available in various denominations, in all sorts of games.
It does puzzle me, why this simple but probably expensive to run loyalty system, hasn’t made a comeback somewhere! After all, every coffee shop seems to have a loyalty scheme, for which you always misplace the card. Perhaps plastic tokens would be easier to collect.
In the end, Williams Brothers was taken over by Budgens.
Waitrose And Gluten Free Sausages
If I go to Sainsburys or Marks and Spencer, and stick to their own brands, it is difficult to find sausages with unnecessary gluten.
However in Waitrose you have quite the opposite, as all of their own brand ones, have the unnecessary gluten. I don’t like their Cambridge own brand gluten-free sausages, but it may well be the name, as I lived in the home of Musks Newmarket sausages for nearly twenty years.
I don’t do barbecues, but the head sausage maker at Musks told me, that gluten-free sausages don’t spit on one.
A Meal To Pair With Lindsey Bareham’s Pasta
I like meals that pair up, where you use the same ingredients in separate meals, so that one purchase does two totally different meals. I cook the pasta with pulled ham hock, peas and yoghurt regularly and always have pulled ham hock in the fridge and frozen peas in the freezer.
So when Lindsey Bareham published this Dijon Ham And Pea Gratin, with the same main ingredients of pulled ham hock and frozen peas. I just had to give it a go.
I started by switching the oven on to 200°C and making a sauce for the first time.
I melted about 15 g of butter in a saucepan and stirred in some flour and mustard. Milk was added gradually, stirring constantly to make a thick smooth sauce, which I simmered gently for 5 minutes.
Grated Emmental cheese was then added and a smooth sauce was made. As Lindsey said, I seasoned it with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
The Mustard And Cheese Sauce
The ham hock and the peas, were then stirred into the sauce and thoroughly mixed.
I then put it in an oval dish and covered it with a mixture of gluten free breadcrumbs and grated cheese.
Ready For The Oven
After 20-30 minutes in the oven, it was ready for eating.
Dijon Ham And Pea Gratin
I enjoyed it immensely.
Last Week Was Chocolate Week
last week was Chocolate Week and Lindsey Bareham celebrated with five recipes using chocolate of which four were savoury.
I cooked this Catalan Lamb Stew With Almonds on the sixteenth.
Catalan Lamb Stew With Almonds
I had a problem in that I couldn’t find any blanched almonds, so I had to use plaked ones and it was a bit gritty. My little chopper also made a bit of the mess with the sauce, so I can’t say it was a great success. I’ll try it again sometimes, with the blanched almonds.
And then on the nineteenth, I cooked Chicken Chili With Chocolate.
Chicken Chili With Chocolate
It was good and I put half in the freezer for later. I did cheat though, by using microwaveable rice.
Next time I’ll cook it with proper rice.
Learning With Lindsey Bareham
I’ve been meaning to put this up for some time, and only now I’ve had a bit of a think, have I found a handle to hang the post on.
It started by Lindsey’s recipe for bangers and mash.
Her method for frying sausages worked well.
Four Of The Black Farmer’s Finest
I just fried them in a little oil for thirty minutes. I think in the past, I’ve always tried to cook them too quickly.
I used four of the Black Farmer’s finest, as like all good sausages they are gluten free. I met the actual Black Farmer once and what a gentleman he is. Long may he continue to be successful!
Lindsey also taught me how to cook the onions.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a second frying pan and add the sliced onion. Cook briskly, tossing constantly for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until slippery soft. Add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp water. Let it bubble away. Turn off the heat.
They were delicious, but so was it all.
Bangers And Mash A La Lindsey
Perhaps, I did cook too much potato, but it was the first time I had cold apple sauce with hot sausages.
If the recipe had one problem, there was a lot of washing up.
Too Much Washing Up!
But I’ll forgive Lindsey that!
After Too Many Foxes And Badgers, Now Too Many Rabbits
This is actually quite an old story from the BBC, but it turned up in today’s Times.
At least though, when compared to foxes and badgers, you can make the buggers work, as after they’ve been strangled and skinned, they make an excellent supper.
The best rabbit I’ve eaten was on the island of Salina, where they are one of the few sources of local fresh meat. In one case, I had rabbit, with the other local delicacy; capers.
I’m sure if foxes and badgers were a source of food, they wouldn’t be such a pest to so many.
Unacceptable Food Waste
Tesco are reporting that large quantities of good food is thrown away. The story is covered here on the BBC.
The problem isn’t that we waste food, but that supermarkets gear us up to buy large quantities of everything in a weekly shop.
I live in the city and although, I do have a mid-sized Sainsburys in walking distance, I prefer to take a bus to the Angel, when I need food.
I generally food shop two or three days at a time, planning what I need.
I use a lot of multi-use food, like Rachel’s yoghurt, that goes on my muesli and also acts as the sauce for my pasta.
I also buy what I need, like a single onion, three bananas or a ready prepared pack of potatoes. Only last week, I found a sandwich-sized pack of salami in Waitrose.
We need more small packs, so we can buy what we need.
As for salads, which is one of the biggest sources of food waste, I rarely eat them at home, but regularly I will have a salad for my lunch in a convenient Carluccio’s. As an example, their mozzarella fusa, which is a meal in itself, is £6.75. It probably isn’t much more expensive than buying the ingredients in a supermarket and making one myself, if you count the amount of food that will be wasted.
in some ways my biggest food shopping problem, is that I have a small badly-designed kitchen, with a fridge sized for a bed-sit, It doesn’t have a freezer, which is downstairs in my garage. This state of affairs, is because Jerry felt an enormous cooker was what was needed and much more important. I had hoped by now, that the kitchen would have been properly rebuilt.
And of course, I still throw away two much food.
Sandwich-Sized Salami From Waitrose
I bought this salami on Friday.
Sandwich-Sized Salami From Waitrose
There was just enough for one gluten-free sandwich.
The Anonymous Widower 