#424 Tapas

#423 Flu

#422 Cassoulet (My Way)

This is my Faux Cassoulet made from leftovers and a jar of white butter beans.

One jam jar of Tomato Salsa de la Casa*
One jar of Butter Beans
4 Rashers of Bacon
4 Sausages
4 Pieces of Black Pudding
Half a bag of Parsley
Olive oil.

Method
Fry the bacon, when crisp remove and continue using the bacon fat to cook the sausages then the black pudding. Dice all the meats into bite size pieces.

Heat a big pan and slowly warm the salsa and beans. After 5 minutes add the meats. Then gently stir in the parsley and maybe some olive oil. That's all.
 

Salsa de la Casa.
Fry a big diced onion until transparent, add 3 cloves of diced garlic.
Add one tin of tomato pieces. (In Spain I use Tomate Pelado Troceado).

Optional additions: 
A couple of spoons of concentrated tomato purée or some squirts of Heinz tomato sauce.
Chili pepper (fresh or powdered) or quite a few drops of Tabasco
One cup of stock or a glass of red wine
Sliced red bell pepper
Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper and two tea spoons of brown sugar.

Cook on a low heat for half an hour or more - until the consistency is not wet and the colour is a nice dark red.

#421 Crisis Menu

We went out for lunch, not something we do that often, but at 8€ how can you refuse?

To start we had a big plate of rice with pieces of sausage, black pudding, chorizo and rabbit. Then a very acceptable chicken dish cooked in herbs & beer with fries. It was all so delicious and copious that we refused the dessert (various flans or ice creams) and had coffee instead.

Included in the set price was bread, a bowl of olives and a bottle of red wine. Total bill for two 16€. . . . . .

When you go to a very expensive restaurant you have a level of expectation equal to the prices on the menu. Here there was nothing to spoil your buzz, even if the food and service had been crap for 8€ you wouldn't complain (too much ;-)

As we left, at about 3 pm, it was just starting to fill up, it was a bit like the old Les Routiers restaurants in France which served the working man and truck driver with good French food at economical prices. What ever happened to them?

#420 Brilliant Blumenthal

This is Heston Blumenthal's top tip for making consommé.
It is simple. It works.

You wonder why it's not common practice. Instead of boiling your pot of stock and then adding egg whites and stuff in a laborious clarifying process, Heston recommends just freezing overnight, then next day (or whenever) thawing in a muslin covered sieve. The clear consommé drips through and the gelatinous solids stay in the sieve. Simple.

He made his consommé a little more chi-chi by adding jasmine flowers, I didn't have any to hand but dropped in a jasmine tisane tea bag for a similar effect.

Even if I say it myself - it was all right :-)

#419 With Captain John Paul Jones.

Posing with Captain John Paul Jones
(and three months with new hip).

#418 More Soups

I'm in a Manic Soup Making Mood!
I've got stock pots on the go night and day.

Here is a Swede Soup, I got most of the recipe from a Gordon Ramsay link. But as you can tell, I added far too much cardamom, much as I like cardamom in my Hot & Sour Curry today's soup was over cardamomed.

(All my life I've been spelling and saying cardamon with a final N - spell checkers aye?)

#417 Jazz

There are a few dozen versions of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. A very Spanish classical version by Paco De Lucia, a really nice jazz track on Chet Baker & Paul Desmond's Together (which I can't find on YouTube) but this version by Jim Hall is 99% there. Enjoy!

#416 Spring Clean

Bike spring cleaning time:
pic 1 - in bits
pic 2 - together

#415 eBay Pot

Back in the 1970's we supplied dairy products to Cranks Health Food Restaurant in Soho in London. Next door was a shop called The Craftsman's Potter Shop selling all sorts of nice hand-made pots and ceramic art and stuff. We bought most of our tableware there including half a dozen bowls, cups and mugs by a potter called Owen Thorpe and we still have most of the pieces in regular use to this day.

I don't know what succession of mouse clicks brought me to an eBay page selling an Owen Thorpe coffee pot, but being overwhelmed with nostalgia I bid and bought the pot (and a similar milk jug).

So, 40 odd years later we can make our coffee in a matching pot, jug and mug while we nibble on our organic nut rissoles :-)

Peace.

#414 Soups (various)

I just bought this super-duper new stock pot (as recommended by Raymond Blanc).

For its maiden voyage I filled a third of it with a mix of chicken bits, a selection of vegetables and some spices, another third with water, then simmered the lot for about five hours.

Result - a stock you could eat with a knife & fork!

Using the stock as a base I've made three soups:

Sort of Bortsch. Red Vegetables, including a Beetroot

Channa Dhal - seen here as thick lentils but it will be a smooth soup as well

Pea Soup (with a bit of Mint)

#413 Five Christmas Books.

Two Wheels over Catalonia by Richard Guise.
Blokey bloke rides round Catalunya and gives a bit of interesting local info on the side.

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.
I *think* I've read this many years ago, but I'll still enjoy it, I hope.

Born to Run by Chistopher McDougall.
Some American writers think they're Ernest Hemmigway, but still . . . .

Moneyball by Michael Lewis.
I know nothing about baseball, but this is a good read, apparently.

One on One by Craig Brown.
Picked this as a present from my Mum, so it better be good!

#412 Making Progress

First ride - 10km :-)

#411 Pieds de Cochon Farcis

Having nothing better to do after Christmas, I decided to have a go at making a classic French dish as described in (one of) my Marco Pierre White cookbooks. He says to allow three days for the preparation for Braised Pig's Trotters 'Pierre Koffman' - and he's right!

I laboured and laboured  but after two and a half days I came to a halt (I have to say I wasn't helped by my Spanish butcher slicing them on the wrong side). The feet are supposed to be emptied of bone and gristle leaving the skin to be filled with a mixture of sweetbreads, morels (I was using setas instead) and  chicken mousse. This takes a lot of cooking and cutting and slicing and dicing and blending and boiling and somewhere I went off course.

Setas and a big Sweet Potato

Anyway, I finished up making the stuffing into a passable meatloaf, the sweet potato planned as an accompaniment made soup (with a bit of ginger for luck) and I also have a litre or so of stock that you could use to stick back your broken bathroom tiles. I don't really know what to do with the remains of the trotters . . . . .

On the positive side the egg poacher from Father Christmas works a treat and makes a satisfyingly symmetrical egg, now all I need to do is get the bacon into nice straight lines :-)

#410 Crappy Christmas!

We are in Barcelona. We went for a walk down Las Ramblas and saw these Caga Tios for sale. Apparently it's a Catalunyan traditions for kids to have a Caga Tio, translated into English as Uncle Crapper!

It's a festive log with a happy face, held up on front legs and covered by a blanket. The idea is to feed it daily throughout December with sweeties so that on Christmas Eve the lucky children can beat it on the back, forcing it to crap a load of presents (cunningly concealed under the blanket).

We were a bit late to get one and feed it enough to excrete anything worthwhile, but we did go into the huge Boqueria food market and bought a kilo of fresh tuna for a mere 8€. It was delicious.

Continuing the crap theme, another Catalan tradition is to put a little figurine in their nativity scene of someone having a shit. All sorts of figures are made from President Obama to the entire Barcelona football team. It's not considered rude . . . . . . . I don't think - just a fecal thing.

pic from caganer.com

#409 This is London 2011

In Muswell Hill (London N.10) to pick up my Mum, on Friday we fly to Barcelona for Christmas.

Boxing Day we lunched by the sea, with Sally, Tom and Carrie, at restaurant Can Majó in Barceloneta.

#408 This is England 88

I liked the original Shane Meadow's film, This is England. It was about a group of skin heads who went their own ways for various reasons. It was absolutely believable, a bit gritty and nasty but overall - good.

Then came a follow-on as a tv series  (This is England 86). Same cast, same grit, added nasty rape scene but overall - good

Now we have just watched Episode 1 of the next incarnation This is England 88. I'm sort of sorry to say I won't watch any more. It's just too depressing and lacks the redeeming spots of humour from previous stories. Why would you want to watch an hour of miserable people being miserable?

Not so good.

#407 Aprofiti !

#406 Belgium to Barça then home.

Belgium to Barça (got buzzed going through airport security).
Dined on Senegalese with Carrie and a group of her friends.
I don't think they know about spice in Gent, but they do here!

Few more days in Barcelona. Had the best paella for a long time (botifara y langostinos) at a restaurant called 7 Portes. Very traditional, all the waiters looking the part in starched white jackets.

Then home: Taxi to Sants Station, Talgo train top Valencia, local train to Gandia, bus to Denia and a lift with Chelo to our front door. Six and a half hours more or less non-stop.

It's oh so nice to go traveling - 
but it's so much nicer, yes it's so much nicer to be home :-)

#405 New Hips for Old

Dr Koen Desmet, best hip surgeon in the world!

 This is the hip story:

I had pain in my hip such that I couldn't throw my leg over the saddle to get on my bike. I had to lay it down and do a very careful baby step over it and then haul it up under me. Riding was all right but walking became a real pain and I started to walk fewer times with shorter distances.

After 6 months on meds I got to see a Spanish orthopedic surgeon who confirmed I needed surgery and would have to go on a waiting list for a Total Hip Replacement (THR).

I did some investigation and asked advice from old friends in the medical world and decided I really wanted a Resurfacing Procedure. Resurfacing is a more expensive and technically difficult operation but its unique selling point is that you can carry on with normal sporting activity. Apparently with a THR I could ride my bike OK  but not run or lig about that much.

I honed in on Dr Koen Desmet in Belgium who seemed to be the top man for the job and started plying him with questions. On Saturday 18 November I asked what sort of dates he had available, telling him I was ready now but expecting a date next January or so. He replied on Sunday and agreed January but said he had a spot next Wednesday!

Excellent! No time to think (always the best way). Monday cranked up the computer and booked flights, train tickets and a one way car hire to the airport. Then to the bank and sent a vast wedge of €s to Dr Desmet's ANCA Medish Centrum.

Tuesday Sally and I travelled to Gent, booked in to the hospital at 16:00 had all the pre-op stuff, X Rays etc. Wednesday morning operation (don't remember any of this) back to the ward and in the evening was invited by the nurse to take a little walk round the ward. Thursday more physio and Friday I was chucked out and sent over to the Holiday Inn to stay for the next week.

At the Holiday Inn I'm being visited daily by Dr Desmet's physio for PT and nurse for medical supervision. I'm doing so well that I'm only using one crutch by Saturday and Sunday walking stairs normally - not one step at a time.

This is my left hip - I'm going to change it for a nice new one.

Physiotherapy and compression socks.

Now with add cup and ball

On Tuesday we had time to go into Gent and buy chocolate, drink chocolate, visit the Museum of Contemporary Art and eat some (lots) of Mussels.

Mussels & Chips 10/10

At the Museum of Contemporary Art 10/10

Drinking chocolate 3/10

Wednesday can walk without a crutch (but not too far) and Thursday, up and down stairs without holding the banister :-)

Friday - last day in Belgium and goodbye to everyone, including my physiotherapist Linda, who has been marching me up and down the Holiday Inn's corridors and stairs for the last week.

#404 Films

We watched two films recently:

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. I wanted to like it, the photography was excellent, really made Paris look like you want Paris to look like. The story was sort of OK but I couldn't believe the characters (except maybe Salvador Dali). The leading actor was an Allen clone (but younger) which was a bit spooky. It could have been  . . . . . but it wasn't.

The Way was a nice surprise, also with excellent photography. It's the story of a father walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in memory of his son and the three friends he picks up on the way - that's it! But very believable. Nice.

#403 All Saints Day

As it's a holiday here in Spain we went out for lunch. First we had little clams and braised vegetables, then a big dish of mixed fish and shellfish. White wine and finally some strong coffee . . . . . . . . :-)

#402 Hard to Believe!

I just bought a pair of Vans slip-on sneakers from an internet site in the USA for only €14.12 - delivery to Spain included!

How can that be?

++++++ update ++++++
Because it can't. Should have investigated a bit more before placing order. Google search resulted in many scam complaints :-(

So, canceled PayPal payment and will have to look elsewhere for some new daps.

++++++ update ++++++
Result! Just received a similar pair via the UK,
40€ this time, but that's not so bad :-)

#401 Mérida y Madrid y Arquitectura Moderna

We are driving (a long way) to Mérida in Extramadura. Sally and her friend Christine will then walk north along the Via de la Plata. I'm taking my bike and will ride somewhere . . . . . .

I went for a ride over to Olivenza, stayed in a hotel, rode back a different way, then drove to Trujillo for the night. I called my friend Chus in Madrid and asked what was happening. He said he was having a barbecue with a group of his friends and I should come. So I did :-)

Sunday morning into central Madrid for a short guided bike tour "En Bici por la Arquitectura Moderna en Torno al Madrid Río". Interesting modern landscaping in the new park with some fun metalic bridges and a look at a bit of brutal "a machine for living" influenced apartment blocks.

#400 Feria in Denia

This weekend our high street is full of stalls selling artisan foods and the like.

We bought Gruyère cheese, Membrillo (a solid quince jelly that goes with cheese), a slice of horse ham and a pot of plump olives. (I think we are becoming Spanish).

#399 Someone to Watch Over Me.

I made a compilation of nice jazz tracks sometime ago and replaying it the other evening I have to say this track must be my Number One.

As she scats the last few bars you have to almost have to clap and cheer along with her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga-cBEPtzE0