The Anonymous Widower

Stewed! For Lunch

For lunch today, I had a Chorizo, Chickpea and Pork Stew from a company called Stewed! in one of my old haunts, Wood Green. They don’t give an address, but it looks like it’s somewhere behind the old Haringey Town Hall and also the Barclays Bank, where my father used to have an account. He once told me that he was also involved in the training of a race horse somewhere in that area.  Rumour has it, he was warned off for painting on the blaze  of the horse with Meltonian. But then racing at Alexandra Palace was very dodgy between the wars.

The Stewed! was very good with some large pieces of sausage and meat and I’ll certainly buy some more.  It was labelled gluten-free and now a couple of hours later, I’ve no reason to doubt their assertions on the packet.

I also liked the cooking method, which for someone with a slightly gammy left hand was easy, as the lid was simple to remove.

So good luck to them!

I bought mine from Waitrose, but I think Sainsburys stock them.

June 28, 2011 Posted by | Food | , , , | Leave a comment

A Visit to the London Wetland Centre

I’d been wanting to go for some time and felt that as this morning was hot, it might be a bit cooler to stand amongst the old reservoirs, that now make up the London Wetland Centre. So I took the North London Line to Gunnersbury, then a few stops back on the District line to Hammersmith and then a 283 bus to the centre.

283 Bus at the London Wetland Centre

It wasn’t a difficult ride and using the Overground to go from North East to South West London is preferable than the Underground, as the views are better and  the trains are a lot more comfortable in hot weather.

The Peter Scott Visitor Centre

The centre is impressive and very much worth a visit.  I stayed for a couple of hours and walked around the site observing the various birds.  Not that I know much about what is what without a book and some binoculars, which I had forgot to take. Although the signage was good and very much in a style that Sir Peter would have approved of. Ponds are laid out by habitat and country or continent, with a large wild area that attracts all of the birds that either live in or visit London.

When it started to rain, I had a coffee in the excellent cafe, which I checked as to whther they knew their gluten-free or not!  They did incidentally.

I then left on the bus to Hammersmith, before taking the Metropoitan line to King’s Cross to get the bus home.

Hammersmith Station on the Metropolitan line

The picture shows the Metropolitan line station at Hammersmith, which has been refurbished since the Undergound reorganised the Circle line. It certaining looked better than it did, when I went with my father from Wood Green to Earl’s Court avoiding the deep Tube lines. Anybody in their right mind would have used the Piccadilly line all the way.  But my father had a phobia of deep lines, so went by steam train to King’s Cross, Metropolitan line to Hammersmith and then back to Earl’s Court on the District.

June 28, 2011 Posted by | Food, World | , , , , | Leave a comment

Gluten Free For Players At Wimbledon

According to The Times today, gluten free food is there if the players want it.

Very good!

June 27, 2011 Posted by | Food, Sport | , | 1 Comment

Lindsey Bareham’s Upmarket Fish Fingers

This is part of one of Lindsey Bareham ‘s recipes in The Times on Friday.

She suggests.

  1. Taking sole fish fillets and cutting them in half lengthways and patting them dry on kitchen paper.
  2. Smear one side with mustard.
  3. Put some flour on a plate, whisk an egg in a shallow bowl and make some fresh breadcrumbs from bread without crusts.
  4. Dip the fillets into the flour, shaking off the excess, swipe through the egg and then press into the breadcrumbs.
  5. Layout on a plate, cover with cling film and chill until required.

I think I’ll try that sometime. Here’s the full recipe.

June 18, 2011 Posted by | Food | , , , | 1 Comment

Barry’s Gluten Free Muffins

Barry, the chef in my local pub, the Northgate Arms in Southgate Road, is a coeliac, so he knows his gluten-free well.

As today, it was raining when I got my paper from next door to the pub, I popped in for a drink. They were offering a Brunch Menu, which contained Eggs Royale, which is a poached egg on top of smoked salmon and a muffin.

I decided to have one, whilst I read the paper with a drink.

For me, instead of a muffin, Barry grilled a slice of aubergine, added a slice of a large tomato and some spinach to the top as a delicious substitute.

June 18, 2011 Posted by | Food | , | 2 Comments

It Pays To Complain

A couple of months ago, I bought a Genius loaf in Waitrose in Islington Upper Street and it went mouldy almost immediately.  I think it might even have been mouldy when I unwrapped it. I did post details here.

The outcome was better than I expected.  I complained to both Genius and Waitrose and got a voucher for five pounds from Genius.

And then today, I got another five-pound voucher from Waitrose.

On the bread side though, the last Genius loaf was more or less fresh to the last slice.

So it’s a result in all ways.

June 15, 2011 Posted by | Food | , | 4 Comments

Is This How To Educate Teachers About Gluten-Free?

Adam’s Gluten-Free Surprise is a book written about a coeliac child by a teacher.

I hadn’t been diagnosed as a coeliac when I was at school, so it couldn’t have helped me, but it might help all of those gluten-free children, who suffer in an unsympathetic school.

June 5, 2011 Posted by | Food | , | Leave a comment

The Only Way is Essex!

I bought some Tiptree Barbecue Sauce today and notice that each is individually stamped.

Tiptree Barbecue Sauce as Finished by Linda

Obviously, Essex has different ways of doing things.

It doesn’t say so, but I think the sauce is gluten free.  As it’s not for me, I’m not bothered, but none of the ingredients seem dodgy. This page gives all the ingredients of the various Tiptree sauces.

June 5, 2011 Posted by | Food | , | 2 Comments

How The Turks Deal With Pollution

This horrific story is in The Times today, although I’m pointing to a green web site, so evryone can read it.

Turkey may well have nine percent economic growth, but at what cost?

So is it right,  that we increase unemployment, because of imports from Turkey?

In my view it isn’t!

C and I once had a holiday in Turkey and in some ways we weren’t impressed.  Luckily we could afford to go somewhere better.

As a coeliac, I starved in Turkey, as they just couldn’t get the idea of what gluten-free was! Despite the fact I had an excellent translation.

May 31, 2011 Posted by | Health, News, Transport/Travel, World | , , , | Leave a comment

Two Greedy Italians

Antonio Carluccio has said tonight, that his religion is food. So tonight he and Gennaro Contaldo are exploring Puglia looking at religion and food.

But Gennaro did come up with this glorious recipe. I’ll try it sometime. It’s gluten-free too.

Antonio seems to be rather dismissive of the religion and is much keener on the food.  I’ll drink to that!  As I sip a gluten-free beer!

May 25, 2011 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel, World | , , | Leave a comment