What I Need Is A Chip Hoe Or Hook!
I have always liked fried new potatoes. Earlier in the week, I boiled a small packet of Charlottes and fried the remains with my supper tonight.
I’ve always had difficulty turning them in the pan. C used to use a slice and a fork, but that method needs two good hands. And I only have one! So I’ve tended to rely on making sure that only firm chips go in the pan and then using a bit of tossing to turn them.
What I Need Is A Chip Hoe Or Hook!
It was whilst I was frying them tonight, that I felt that a miniature hoe, as used in gardening might do the trick. Obviously, the shape of the end would be the key to a good design. Effectively, it would just lift the chip to see it was cooked on the underside and then flip it. A simple hook in an appropriate material might do the trick.
I am reminded of a very old joke.
A visitor was being shown around a monastery. He came across this monk with a large pile of potatoes, which he was peeling and cutting into pieces, before dropping them into a large saucepan of boiling fat.
The visitor smiled and said to the monk. “You must be a chip monk!”
He got an immediate reply. “No! I’m a friar!”
Haggerston Espresso Room
This cafe is close to my new doctors.
The coffee was good, but the gluten-free polenta cake was brilliant.
Real Michelin Chefs Use Microwaves
I was in Waitrose buying some supper, when the young lady in front at the prepared vegetables shelf picked up some mixed green vegetables and put them down. As I picked up another one, she said that she didn’t have a microwave. I said not to worry, as a friend of mine, who’s a Michelin-starred chef uses one. She smiled and said perhaps she’d get one.
Is This The Best Microwaveable Gluten-Free Sunday Lunch?
I wasn’t feeling too well this morning, as I probably got too hot in the sun at the Paralympics yesterday. It seemed to make my hand and arm go rather cold. So I picked up one of Marks & Spencer, roast pork loin with apple & cider sauce dinners from their Fuller Longer range, as I didn’t want the hassle of cooking properly.
Roast Pork Loin With Apple & Cider Sauce
It really is rather a nice meal for something that you just put in a microwave. I wonder whether when John Randall and Harry Boot, invented the cavity magnetron in 1940 at the University of Birmingham, ever visualised, nearly everybody having one in their homes.
A North South Divide
I went into a branch of a well-known restaurant chain in Liverpool today and asked for a lemonade with my lunch.
The waitress brought a fizzy one, whereas in their London or Cambridge branches, they usually assume that you want a still one! In some places they do ask, which is probably the right thing to do. Just as most places do with water!
So does the north want fizz in their lemonade? And the south doesn’t!
I mst say that some things don’t seem to change in Liverpool though. The waitress was bright, keen and chatty, even if she only scored a small bit less than perfect. I can remember them like that in the 1960s. Although they were much worse trained then!
One in particular brought meals for C and myself on a tray, which she placed on the table, so that one meal was over the table and the other was hanging over the edge. She then took the meal over the table and placed it for C, which meant the other meal upturned the tray onto the floor. To make it worse, it was her first night. So she burst into floods of tears.
The Clock At Waterloo Has Got More Comfortable
The balcony at Waterloo station is now more of less complete and there are now some wonderful places to meet people high up in the station. That’s if you have anybody to meet!
I was in Carluccios, which as you can see from the photo, has quite a few seats looking down on the concourse.
in 1962, the BBC showed an episode of Comedy Playhouse, called Sealed With A Loving Kiss. Wikipedia describes the comedy thus.
Arnold, played by Ronald Fraser, and Freda, played by Avril Elgar, have been having a relationship by correspondence and when they meet for the first time they discover neither has been totally truthful.
They meet for the first time under the clock at Waterloo. Or it could have been Victoria! Now they would meet in one of the cafes upstairs. Although today, there seemed to be large numbers of people underneath the clock. Including one proper gentleman with flowers.
The First English Beans Of The Summer
Today I bought the first English beans of the summer. From Suffolk of course! I used them to cook fish with beans and peas.
I used Carluccio’s lemon olive oil again and it gives a subtle lemon flavour to the fish.
Good Idea, Bad Packaging
It was a good idea of Waitrose to sell prepared onions.
Good Idea, Bad Packaging
But why do they put them in such terrible packaging. It was bad enough before I had the stroke, but now it’s downright impossible.
As they stick two packets together it makes it even worse. I’d just like to buy one prepared onion. Please!!
Look Mum No Hands
This must be the only cycling cafe in London.
The gluten-free cake was nice too. Even if the weather outside was appalling.
The cafe was very busy. It had a buzz about it too. Everybody was watching the cycling in Spain on a big screen.
Cooking Gluten-Free Pasta For One
I haven’t cooked any pasta since I moved here nearly two years ago. But after Saturday’s Times published a list of pasta dishes saying they were the only ones you’d ever need, I thought I had better. Getting the amount of pasta correct has always been a problem and today, I decided that I had better do it by volume. So i carefully weighed out the 100 grams I need for myself of Dove’s Farm gluten-free penne.
100 Grams of Dove’s Farm Gluten-Free Penne
I reckoned it would just fit into a standard John Lewis tumbler and the picture shows I was right. So the dial shows 98, but I won’t argue about 2 grams. As you can see, I find a letter balance much better for small quantities than a proper set of scales, especially if you can adjust them for the weight of the container.
I then put the pasta into boiling water with a bit of salt for 6-8 minutes.
If I have time, I do taste it, but generally a measured cooking time works.
The sauce I used tonight was pea, mushroom and ham. It required.
- 150 g of shelled peas (fresh or frozen) – I used one of those little packets.
- 30 g of butter
- 150 g white mushrooms, sliced
- 200 g ham, chopped
- 250 ml double cream
- 100 g grated parmesan
Firstly, whilst the peas were cooking, I sliced the mushrooms
150 g of Sliced Mushrooms
And chopped the ham.
200 g of Chopped Ham
after draining the peas, I melted the butter in a pan and then added the peas and the mushrooms, giving it a good stir.
After five minutes, I added the chopped ham and stirred it for a few minutes before I poured in the cream. I then added some salt and kept it warm.
Meanwhile, I started the pasta off and when it was cooked, I turned it into a serving dish. I added the grated parmesan and stirred it rapidly.
Finally I added the sauce and mixed it all well.
Gluten Free Pea, Mushroom and Ham Pasta
It was rather nice, even if I say it myself. I have a feeling too that the peas compliment the texture of the pasta.
I shall be trying some of the other recipes from last Saturday’s Times.
The Anonymous Widower 