tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388969852008-06-14T17:30:18.416+01:00Abulafianoreply@blogger.comBlogger36125Subscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with RojoSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSatges on life's gastronomic way.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-57246832582292472982008-02-08T22:45:00.000Z2008-02-08T22:52:57.126Z

Ish. Thinking more and more about the theory and thought behind how I cook. This perfection thing is tricky. Thinking about the difference between a good commercial kitchen, and a talented home chef is perhaps useful. Lets put aside the more obvious things. Dedicated staff, equipment. Budget. Prep chefs. These are all limitations that the home chef has to overcome. Repetition. I'm guessing a

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/12/in-search-of-perfection.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-63837910942181222962007-12-05T13:18:00.000Z2008-02-08T22:54:23.455Z

Always an interesting site. Just hit the search button. Shows closure and improvement orders served over the last several months to food outlets around the country. From those fine people at the FSA. Look up and embarass food service outlets in your area with awkward questions. Michael Ruhlman has started up a new blog to complement his just released book, the Elements of Cooking. I've got a

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/12/random-noise.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-16010209880302289222007-09-26T19:36:00.000+01:002008-02-08T22:54:40.547Z

Simplicity itself, lifted straight from the encylopaedic pages of the Silver Spoon. Measurements will be vague, imprecise, and guesstimated wherever included. I'm a lover, not a baker. Ingredients. A packet of leeks. My packet of leeks contained three. For the bechamel MilkFlour (very circa 60g)Butter (again, circa 60 g)NutmegSaltBlack pepperCheese (Emmental and Parmesan),

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/09/baked-leeks-with-bechamel.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-6054598991930798162007-09-26T18:04:00.000+01:002007-09-28T11:17:41.606+01:00

I'm at the circular table, sitting in the two tone cream and burning orange kitchen, my chair jammed up against the corner. The smallest space. Being the youngest I could most easily wriggle into it. My fathers 3/4 pint mug filled. A plate of toast. Pots of Fruitfield marmalade with slivers of zest. Everyday orange juice. A lifetime of sqeez. It's faintly powdery taste remains with me. In the

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/09/memories-mk2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-16099746332568864502007-09-25T18:32:00.000+01:002007-09-25T19:10:33.443+01:00

Reading Nigel Slater's post in this weeks Observer, publicising his new book. Interesting idea - the actual, real food that characterises the British food identity, past and present. Jammie Dodgers, tea cakes - those glutinously addictive marshmallow and chocolate wafer domes. The perfect way to eat a kit kat. Obsessively. Keeping the tin foil perfectly unruffled. And nibbling off the

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/09/memories.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-28923491957480865852007-09-22T10:27:00.000+01:002007-09-22T10:30:28.938+01:00

For my own reference. Me mouthing off on the Guardian website, about this story. It's Ode On a Grecian Urn. And it's no trip through the daisies. It begins with a nascent classical rape scene, which has yet to happen. And it arguably gets increasingly, and cantankerously bitter as it continues, meditating on death, the cold immortality of art, and the essential hollow fleetingness of all

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/09/post-on-guardian.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-32798708008275829992007-09-19T18:15:00.000+01:002007-09-19T20:13:45.444+01:00

Note. Blogger keeps eating my tables, pictures, and formatting. For the moment, I give up. Pictures are missing, spaces magically appear, and my sanity patience and teeth are cracking under the strain of it all. I'll sort it out later. Above, the uncertain results of a weekends worth of foraging in the great Northwest. Pictured, several uncertain varieties of mushroom,

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/09/roving-roving-roving-ill-go.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-53376150886239441812007-08-21T19:36:00.000+01:002007-08-21T20:36:44.435+01:00

Above, photographed is the final course of the dinner cooked for the Gorgeous C's departure from these rain sodden shores. From the top...... Pan fried scallops, with a ginger, lime and olive oil dressing, sprinkled with chives. Insalata Caprese, a firm favourite, made with organic tomatoes, and Mozzarella di Bufala. Black olive bread on the side. Grilled Cep Salad, with a lemon and olive

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/08/on-mission-from-dog.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-73274305888583513412007-08-07T12:17:00.001+01:002008-02-08T22:55:16.084Z

To business. Cooked up by the Gorgeous C....wild Irish mussels, in tomato sauce, with homemade tagliatelle.In a word, superb. Wow, that was weird. Formatting wise. Still. A double dish of sunlit deliciousness, eaten under the blazing sun of an all too rarely idyllic countryside. Recipe. For the pasta, at least. One of these is dead handy. In both life, and pasta making. This is an Imperia

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/08/sing-ho-for-life-of-bear.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-67273954572470857962007-08-07T11:56:00.000+01:002007-08-07T12:11:31.893+01:00

For no known reason, blogger ate my post. Again. Still. Whats time, effort pain and sweat between former friends.Third time lucky eh. Eh?Through gritted teeth....Above, two photos culled from wild ramblings in the great Northwest. First, a clutch of hopefully luscious hazelnuts mere metres from the door of the gorgeous C. Due to ripen sometime in Autumn, a careful eye will need to be kept to beat

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-post.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-71615702829106776182007-07-18T17:37:00.000+01:002007-07-18T18:55:53.963+01:00

Just a quick note about this particularly fine bottle of Scottishly amber and alcoholic ingenuity. It's a 15 year old bottle of The Glenlivet (not the French oaked version, I'm afraid), and a fine thing. It's a Speyside single malt, and a good, solid representative of the breed.We cracked into this at work, at the end of a wearying week, with a somewhat informal tasting. About 10 people in

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/07/just-quick-note-about-this-particularly.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-65749228782579402612007-07-15T15:01:00.000+01:002007-07-15T18:52:35.706+01:00

Todays post, a recipe for baked Chicory, and fried aubergines, is brought to you by the letter C, the number "more than my goddamned life savings you sonofabitch", and a stack of drunkenly inappropriate behaviour. Still, lets cut to the meat of this thing. Todays recipes are for Baked Chicory, and fried Aubergines. Baked Chicory.... This dish was first cooked for me by a beautiful and

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/07/done-and-dusted.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-14477453173086789622007-07-04T10:26:00.000+01:002007-07-15T21:19:02.966+01:00

First off... thirty steps to chocolate connoisseurship, from the Guardian. Scroll down about a third of the way to hit the thirty steps. I cooked up a wintry chickpea soup today, to cope with the terrible weather. This one is taken from "Made in Italy", and adapted slightly to my pantry. To make the base, you'll need, a chopped stalk of celery, a sprig of Rosemary, some sage leaves, 2 bay

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/07/feels-like-winter-chocolate-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-28611659146963059582007-06-24T21:28:00.000+01:002007-06-26T12:09:36.494+01:00

Taken from the Le Gavroche cookbook, courtesy of Michel Roux Jnr. A hearty, hale, robust, honourable way to present a chicken. Northern French style, peasant cooking at its robust best. If you time it right, and buy enough beer, you can also be quite drunk by the time you, and your guests, start eating.Ingredients....Circa 200 g button mushroomsButter1 chicken, preferably free range, organic,

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/06/coq-la-bire.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-88098774182601704242007-06-20T19:39:00.000+01:002007-06-22T22:11:50.178+01:00

A form of perfection. A curiously zen sense of food. Linked from the blog of Michael Ruhlman. Must check out his book, Charcuterie. Any recommendations pro or con are entirely welcome. See edit. Below. I get to look like a complete moron, and kinda cool at the same time. Still aspiring to be a simple craftsman here, I gotta admit. And it's a noble ambition. Speaking of which, as my

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/06/random-mutterings-of-unkempt-mind.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-58150321390556610372007-06-18T18:01:00.000+01:002007-07-15T21:19:20.799+01:00

Pictured, left to right.....Mixed Green Salad, Panzanella, Ravioli with a wild mushroom crostini, Pepperonata. (am utterly hating bloggers inability to wysiwyg pics at the mo...) Pictured above, a quick sample of some of the food made for the recent birthday celebrations of the Gorgeous C. With incredible luck, the weather broke from torrential rain, to clear blue skies, and a gorgeous sun

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/06/pictured-left-to-right.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-73390747797080801292007-05-23T17:35:00.000+01:002007-05-23T18:32:38.590+01:00

Quick link to the cookery section over at Project Gutenberg. Fine people, and a great idea. Some oddities, odds and ends, and plainly weird and wonderful texts available for free download. (The Australian Project has a separate, less comprehensive, but annotated page here. With pics.) Highlights include Mrs Beeton's "Book of Household Management",and The Presbyterian Ladies' Aid "Recipes Tried

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/05/time-has-come-to-talk-of-many-things.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-25407011290828540282007-05-21T22:31:00.000+01:002007-05-21T23:17:13.717+01:00

I cooked up a batch of cannelini beans in tomato sauce, a rough and rude take on salsice fagioli. And not that crudely processed Heinz like super smooth sauced concoction those swine in Dunne and Crescenzi have taken to foisting upon their poor clients. Without the salsice, its a fine thing nonetheless, and perfect for heating up cold souls on the wintry days of an Irish spring. Good for the

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/05/baked-beans-on-toast.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-67827797387450768282007-05-15T22:05:00.000+01:002007-05-15T22:56:11.421+01:00

Over on the right hand side of this raggedly designed webpage, in the links section, is a link to Giorgio Locatelli's webcasts for the UK Observer. They ran a series of 6 podcasts, with Locatelli talking his way through classic Italian recipes as he cooked them, live, with an Observer reporter chatting away happily to him in his kitchen. For the record, we've got him working his way through

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/05/giorgio-locatelli.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-29071713300594709772007-05-02T19:43:00.000+01:002007-07-15T21:19:20.800+01:00

To the left is one of four starters from Dublins Kim Chi Restaurant. Located at the top of Parnell street, and recommended to me as an authentic taste of Korean cuisine, we chose it as a late night venue for a fond farewell to a work colleague. The starter pictured is the rainbow roll, Korean style sushi comprising eel, prawn, salmon and tuna sushi rolls, with a dab of wasabi, and soy sauce on

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/05/kim-chi-restaurant.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-5376315444474521372007-04-25T19:04:00.000+01:002007-04-30T15:01:24.780+01:00

Well, I largely finished off the Juniper Berry cured pancetta from a while ago. I cooked up an Amatriciana with it, and finished off the last of it in some bacon and potato hash, with dried chillies and plum tomatoes. I think I favour the bay leaf cure thusfar. A nice, deep, sweetly subtle taste. Next up is the crushed coriander seed cure. And after that, I think I'll experiment. Black mustard

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/04/raving-about-ravioli-i-know-i-know.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-45325597094818706342007-04-14T23:49:00.000+01:002007-04-21T12:10:57.132+01:00

"It is true that man does not live on bread alone; he must eat something with it" Pellegrino Artusi I just picked up a copy of Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli. The quote is taken from the antipasti section. And it gives an authentic taste of Locatelli's take on food, and on life.The main bulk of the book is a collection of stories, techniques, anecdotes and culinary thoughts, which are

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/04/it-is-true-that-man-does-not-live-on.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-6658774822904610542007-04-12T15:53:00.000+01:002007-04-12T16:54:54.762+01:00

I seem to have changed butchers for the moment. My normal guy can't get in some of the more....arcane dead animal items I'm looking for. And evryone I as recommends the same place. So a quick trip into Moore street, and FX Buckley's butchers, netted me some oxtail(€5.99 each, cut up and bagged), a half kilo of chicken livers(€5.99 a kilo), some more ham hocks (€1.50 each), some belly of pork, a

Abulafianoreply@blogger.comhttp://eat-me-drink-me.blogspot.com/2007/04/chicken-liver-pate.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38896985.post-67379061753233029692007-04-09T20:12:00.000+01:002007-04-09T21:17:30.348+01:00

Easter weekend. A gooses egg, quail eggs, more bacon, and Pesto Genovese. We fried up two eggs on Saturday. A giant, heartstoppingly big, blood clottingly giant goose egg, which took up most of the frying pan. Delivered to Dublin in the gentle care of the gorgeous C. It took up most of my frying pan. Two thick slices of country batch sacrificed as cholestorol soldiers. As it were. Delicious.

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