Christmas Message!

It’s Christmas at last! And for your viewing pleasure, here is a photo of me with my hand up the turkey. Woohoo! I’m stuffing it with lemon and orange herb-infused butter. Yes.

Leeds Christmas Market: the Christkindelmarkt.

Having been invited to a Christmas ugly jumper party by Constantine House (the home of mad American archaeologists and medievalists), I managed to persuade Roger on the day of the event to make the trip to Leeds to hunt out a jumper. But before we left the flat that morning, the doorbell rang and the postman held out a giant parcel- for me! I had no idea what it was, with a London postmark, but eagerly unwrapped it to find A FOX ONESIE! Alright, so I may have been reluctant to join the animal onesie craze but being given something is different from actually buying the thing. Turns out I won a Christmas competition that Yo!Sushi had posted on their Facebook page! Feeling a little bad that I’d slammed them in a review, we nonetheless had at least half an hour of excitement trying it on. Cosy.

My French Holiday Diary- Day 12

Our last day in Marcilhac. We go up to St Cirq-Lapopie and have a boss lunch.

My French Holiday Diary- Day 11

Market day! And Roger gets the lurgy. Plus hilarious sheep.

My French Holiday Diary- Day 10

We eat a big loaf of bread. That's about it.

My French Holiday Diary- Day 9

We visit the comic book fair, have another delicious dinner, and the stew of the century begins...

My French Holiday Diary- Day 8

Amy and Roger arrive at last! Renewed cake excitement!

My French Holiday Diary- Day 7

The butcher van has arrived! And farewell to an old friend, the hugging jumper.

My French Holiday Diary- Day Six

One day down due to illness, but back on board with day six! Find out about these beauties here..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My French Holiday Diary- Day 4

Here comes the rain! Oh no! And a cold!

My French Holiday Diary- Day 3

Look at the COLOUR of that honey!

...And those saucy muscat grapes... and the croustade de pommes...

My French Holiday Diary- Day 2

 

 Market day! What will we eat too much of today? Read on Macduff...

My French Holiday Diary- Day 1

Before the MA started, we all went on a fantabulous holiday to the South of France. As things are getting busy right now, I'm going to upload sections of my gastronomic diary. Highlights include LOTS of food, markets and Roger in a hammock.
This is MY little Marcilhac sur Célé kitchen. My empire. Eat your heart out Rachel Khoo.

Yo!Sushi York Review

Now, as much as I love sushi, I have to admit that when I found out there were plans to open a Yo!Sushi in York I was not a happy bunny. It wasn’t because I’d suddenly gone off the stuff, but the planning notice was stuck up on a building on Church Street; and that building just happens to be next door to where I live. We fretted about the possible stench of rancid fish wafting up to us from the courtyard bins that we share with the back of the building, we suffered all summer with incessant drilling and overheard conversations from builders, but now the time is finally here and the noise has gone. The fish smell isn’t there either (though the bins are stacking up...).

Hot Smoked Mackerel Salad

 

Though I love smoked mackerel, it just isn’t the weather for salads anymore. Mum-y and I needed something that would warm us up for dinner, and with our sad packet of smoked mackerel sitting in the fridge only a day away from its sell-by, the time had come for some internet digging. I set about in search of enlightenment but google “smoked mackerel recipes” and all you get is pâté. Chicken liver, yes. Fish on a cold day? No thanks. Nigel Slater put me more in the right direction with something hot, so this recipe is a bastardisation of what I found. I’m afraid to report that Slater’s dressing wasn’t what I fancied, so instead I stole a few ideas from pâté ingredients and knocked up a creamy, herby, lemony number that set everything off beautifully. I wouldn’t have thought that mackerel would go particularly well with a rich, creamy sauce, but that punch of lemon juice is amazing. It works so well with the potatoes too, offsetting their sweetness while teasing you back for more.

Summer Gazpacho

It’s apparently summer. But it isn’t really… the weather now is just spring’s big hangover until autumn hits us. There was however, one blissful week around mid- May where the sun did put his hat on. Not only was it boiling, but the Shouty Man was selling a bag of tomatoes for £1. The Shouty Man deserves his own introduction. I live next to a market in York. Every evening, without fail, a man on one of the fruit and veg stalls tries to fob off all the mushy, sweaty or just plain unloved bags of fruit or veg that didn’t get sold that day at reduced prices. At first, I thought living next to all this discounted food would be a great opportunity but as usual, I promptly became scared of the Shouty Man. I feel awful if I don’t have a pound to pick up something when I pass him on the way home. I avoid his eye, go round the other street to get home, or worse, cave in and break a note somewhere so I have change to buy some sweaty strawberries. But on the days where I do have change in my pocket, I’m likely to spend it there, like I did on that fateful hot evening I made gazpacho.

Spicy Fried Tofu

One might assume that this recipe would be disgusting. Mainly because of the dirty word in the title: TOFU. Heck, a week earlier and I wouldn’t have gone near it with a barge pole. Well, I probably would have, but what I’m trying to say is that you’re forgiven for taking a step back. Now, a few weeks ago my trio of friends, Maddie, Lawrence and Laura came round for a Chinese. Maddie, who is our expert on everything to do with China ordered spicy fried tofu. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wrinkled their nose at her choice but Maddie’s mad, so we weren’t going to argue. Hours later, when everyone had gone, like some sort of animal I snuck a bite at a piece of the tofu that Maddie hadn’t finished. To my horror, it was delicious. So here’s my take on tofu. The recipe is pretty loose so you can add whatever you fancy to it. It serves one, because I didn’t think anyone would like to join me but as the recipe calls for one handful of this or that per person, it’s not rocket science to make things go further.

Homemade Chips

Now I know that making chips isn’t exactly rocket science, but these were so good that me and Roger gobbled these beauties down in next to no time, so I sort of feel that it would be rude not to give them their own recipe. They are extremely simple to make, very sweet and caramelised. In addition, their makeshift aioli makes them irresistible. I love potatoes with their skins on, so you’ll get a few vitamins out of these. Plus, as they’re baked, they’re relatively low fat- but as I’m obsessed with garlic and mayonnaise, the aioli is pretty important for me.

Quick Chocolate Fudge

For YEARS I’ve been eyeing up a Nigella Lawson recipe for chocolate fudge.
But my dad, who loves the stuff, happens to hate any fudge that isn’t vanilla. Then Roger, my boyfriend hates nuts in things, which is something I’m beginning to think all guys hate…