Wednesday, December 26, 2012

#498 7 Portes BCN

Seven of us went to lunch at 7 Portes restaurant in Barcelona. On the way we passed another restaurant serving tapas with a top of the list item "Snout Pig Fried" - we didn't stop as we were already booked in for paella at 7 Portes . . . . pity.

Six Lillies (Jin's pic)
7 Portes house white

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

# 497 Chilli Variations


















Ancxo 3/10
Kashmiri 3-4/10
Smokey Cxipole 5/10
Aji Amarillo 6/10
Birdseye 8/10
Naga Ghost 10++/10

Friday, December 21, 2012

#496 Pub Lunching

The Red House, Marsh Benham, Nr Newbury, Berkshire
Mick, Jas, Me, Lorraine, Kev 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

#495 Christmas Light


Chez Ferris.

Friday, December 14, 2012

#494 Tapas

Hungry in Barcelona?
May I recommend La Vinateria  Del Call for top tapas.



Friday, December 07, 2012

#493 Kitchen Stuff.
















I went mad and spent a fortune buying some new Joseph Hoffmann cutlery, from the David Mellor shop in Chelsea, to make up for the pieces that have gone missing over the years.

Where do they go to these missing knives and forks? Do they get swept up and scraped into the rubbish bin with the chicken bones and lost forever.  Do they become souvenirs for our visitors that have dined with us over the last 25 years. Have they escaped from the dishwasher and are hiding somewhere behind the sink (a place that I wouldn't dream of examining) . . . . . . . ?

Also, our stock of Portuguese recycled wine glasses came to an all time low. After a couple of hours interwebbing I found a manufacturer, La Mediterránea in Spain, and as luck would have it not far away, in a little village called L'Olleria.

So we took ourselves for a day out; on the way a light lunch at a friend's restaurant in Rugat and then a tour of the factory shop and outlet store. We came away with some bowls and new glasses for a mere 2,50€ each :-)


















PS 
I found in the David Mellor box, by mistake, that an extra knife has been sent, now I've gained a piece of cutlery! - If you're American you might say "Go figure".

I don't know whether to send it back, the cost of postage would be quite a bit and then there would be the hassle of being recompensed. Plus, it might get the packer into trouble. So for the moment I've got a knife which I don't really want - perhaps I'll have to buy another fork to keep it company.

Monday, December 03, 2012

Saturday, December 01, 2012

#491 What Stock?
























What is it?

It's a block of frozen stock. I'm going to let it thaw it in a sieve lined with a cheese cloth. What drips through is a perfect Consommé.

And for that extra je ne sais quoi I'm then infusing it with Jasmin Tea.
Parfait!