Robin Ellis's Blog, page 21
January 30, 2015
Our black cat, Ben…
For the past few months–it seemed to us to date roughly from the unexpected arrival of the youngster Midnight–we’ve been concerned about Ben, our mercurial black cat.
He licks and cleans himself obsessively and has rendered the back of his long wonderful legs almost furless.
Ben is a busy boy–
–on mole patrol this morning…
and when he’s not busy he can be perfectly still and seem to be meditating.
He can also be loving
appearing out of nowhere to curl himself round your neck as you lie in bed.
He comes into the kitchen at his customary fast trot–pit stop for fuel– looking shiny sleek from the front.
A black thoroughbred:
“…always on the move that man–never without ‘is passport.” *
Always in the moment.
He never demands food; he clocks what’s on offer and circles, letting his nose make the choice and when he likes the message it’s sending he settles back on his haunches, leans forward, head close to the bowl and starts to eat.
He has a penchant for sleeping black on black–disappearing into the material; you can walk past him and not notice he’s there.
But after the fluffy bundle arrived around midnight one night…
Midnight exhibiting a certain entitlement.
…Ben took umbrage and started to sleep in the garage. It seemed he couldn’t deal with the playfulness of the newcomer who just wanted to rumble.
I worried that he might be depressed. The traveling vet, who comes to the house, thought it might be anxiety and prescribed pills.
Big Beau just stood his ground and let the youngster bounce off him.
Beau “sitting his ground”!
Beau and Ben had bonded and I missed their wild chases over and under the furniture.
The mad leaps, the somersaults and the arched backed stand-offs.
By retreating, Ben had lost his playmate. His thunder had been stolen.
He protested all the way to the new vet–but now we know what the problem is.
It’s a wretched little mite called michrosporum canis (round worm).
I’m relieved to learn it’s not the wretched little fluffy mite I suspected.
We now wrap Ben in a towel, then TRY to syringe a tasteless liquid between his gritted teeth– which can cause a smidgen of spousal tension–of minor importance when the goal is to get the magical Ben back on top form…
ps; Things have calmed down down between Mr Midnight and our Ben…
*Mick’s speech from a favorite play: Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker.
“You remind me of my uncle’s brother. He was always on the move, that man. Never without his passport. Has an eye for the girls. Very much your build. Bit of an athlete. Long-jump specialist. He had a habit of demonstrating different run-ups in the drawing-room round about Christmas time…”
Filed under: other sides to this life Tagged: black cat, michrosporum canis (round worm)., the caretaker
January 28, 2015
Chimichuri–a fresh winter sauce for meat, chicken and vegetables
The name alone makes this sauce from Argentina worth a try.
The taste is fresh and piquant.
According to Wikipedia, the origin of the name dates from the arrival of Basque immigrants to Argentina in the 19th century–at least that’s one theory!
Tximitxurri was a Basque sauce loosely translated as “a mixture of several things–in no particular order!”.
It’s appealingly vague–and has the ring of truth.
I had some parsley to spare and a good supply of capers in the fridge–add red or white wine vinegar, olive oil, red onion or shallots and garlic–in no particular order and…
I tried it with the mackerel at lunch.
Meredith thought it overpowered the fish but I enjoyed it–made up a bit for the disappointing mackerel.
Ingredients–(INPO!)
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp red onion or shallots–chopped
1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic–chopped
4 good handfuls of parsley–chopped a couple of times by hand;
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Put first four ingredients in a food mixer and add the olive oil, spoon by spoonful, after each pulse.
The parsley retains its brilliant green better if the leaves aren’t too bashed about.
Season and pulse once more before decanting the sauce into a favorite serving bowl.
Lamb chops with chimichuri or indeed chimichuri with lamb chops next time!
Filed under: Food, other sides to this life, Recipes Tagged: Argentina, basque sauce
January 25, 2015
Baby broccoli and cauliflower gratins–a lunch that evolved…
This lunch seemed to invent itself over the course of an hour.
I was looking for something new to do with eggs.
I wasn’t having much luck–just the usual suspects–but then remembered the cauliflower and broccoli florets–not many–in the fridge.
Steam and serve with poached eggs over them, I thought…. Delicious.
But why not sear them on the griddle after a brief blanching (5 mins)? Even better.
Then I remembered the little individual gratin dishes I’d bought recently.
One each–I love that!
Blanch, sear, remove them to a bowl, season well and sprinkle with olive oil (2 tbs) to coat them, while they are still warm.
Distribute them in two of the dishes with sprinklings of parmesan and left-over breadcrumbs.
I was beginning to feel hungry.
I set the oven to 200C/400F.
I had just enough vegetables for two layers so a sprinkling of the parmesan/breadcrumb mix on each and a drizzle of oil to finish.
Twenty minutes in the top of the oven and the little dishes came out sizzling.
I poached two eggs each.
Thumbs up from Meredith until she started the clear-up.
I am writing this from the dog-house…
[MW writing here: Spilled egg whites all over the counter top and not cleaned up!]
Filed under: Food, other sides to this life, Recipes Tagged: broccoli, cauliflower, dog house, small gratins
January 22, 2015
Sucrine (baby gem lettuce), goat’s cheese and anchovy salad
Sucrine they are called here in France, I guess because they have a sweetness to them.
These tightly packed little tornadoes are known as baby gem lettuce in the UK.
They have an agreeable crunchiness that lends itself to strong contrasts–hence the addition of anchovy.
Anchovies are usually a background sound in cooking but here they solo occasionally. I love ‘em–but they are not to everyone’s taste.
I ordered this a couple of days ago in our new favorite restaurant–Chez Germaine in Gaillac.
A pre-movie (Whiplash) lunch with Donald Douglas (aka Cap’n McNeil in Poldark!) and Emma Temple, his partner.
This place is the French version of a tapas bar–warm and convivial–and the food comes in small quantities on individual plates. I ordered a plate of baby squid persillade (in parsley and garlic oil) and this salad. Perfect with a glass of the local red wine (Gaillac).
The combination of the crispness of the lettuce and creaminess of the goat’s cheese with the occasional bite of anchovy had everyone dipping in!
Meredith–not too sure about anchovies showing up so brazenly–suggested substituting roasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds–good idea.
You could add them anyway–but I like the salad’s simplicity.
for two
ingredients
2 sucrine (baby gem) lettuces–deconstructed and sliced up
half a goat’s cheese “log”–or other shapes–pulled apart to spread its creaminess
3 or 4 anchovy fillets–sliced into smaller pieces
dressing
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic–pulped in a mortar with a pinch of salt
salt and pepper
—————–
Add the lettuce to a favorite bowl.
Add the cheese and the anchovy pieces.
Make the vinaigrette
Add the wine vinegar to the garlic in the mortar and whisk.
Add the olive oil and whisk it in to make the vinaigrette.
Pour it over the contents of the bowl.
Turn everything over carefully until the little lettuce gleams with pride.
Filed under: Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, Robin Ellis Tagged: baby gem, Cap.n McNeil, chèvre, chez germaine gaillac, Poldark, sucrine
January 20, 2015
Borlotti bean and cabbage soup–in three simple stages
A soup for cold January evenings.
Borlotti beans are the speckly ones–mottled white and red uncooked.
Cooking changes them to brown, which is a little disappointing.
They have a nutty flavor that distinguishes them from cannellini beans–and lends an air of gravity to this winter vegetable soup that white beans can’t quite achieve.
You can substitute white for borlotti, of course.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot–diced small
1 onion–diced small
1 celery stick–diced small
1 garlic clove–chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
600 mil vegetable stock (I use organic stock cubes)
400 gms tinned (canned) tomatoes–drained and chopped
400 gms tinned (canned–or in a jar) borlotti beans–drained
salt and pepper
125 gms thinly sliced cabbage–I use savoy cabbage
parmesan cheese (grated for garnish)
There are three simple stages:
1) Heat the oil in a pan and gently soften the carrot, onion, celery, garlic and fresh thyme (if you have it).
2) Mix in the broken-up tomatoes, the beans and the stock and season well–salt (to taste) and plenty of fresh ground pepper.
Bring these up to the simmer and cook on with the pan partially covered for 15 minutes.
3) Stir in the cabbage and cook until tender.
Serve hot with grated parmesan and a swirl of olive oil.
Tastes even better the day after…
Filed under: Food, Recipes Tagged: borlotti beans, simple warming winter soup
January 18, 2015
“Making Poldark” as an audio book…
Just back from UK where I recorded my memoir of Poldark as an audio book–with an extra chapter about taking part in the new BBC/Mammoth version–40 years after doing the original!
Two days in a small, soundproof booth in a basement recording studio in Hove in Sussex, while the wind and the rain raged above ground.
I was fortunate to have three helpmates in the studio running the show–and keeping my nose to the microphone.
Chris Daniels, sound engineer, owns the studio and is a member of that fraternity of calm console operators who are never flustered.
They have seen it all before–and behave as though they read the first verse of Rudyard Kipling’s poem, IF, before sitting down to work:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And you’ll be make a Sound Engineer, my son!
(With apologies to Mr. Kipling.)
My old friend, Constantine de Goguel Toulouse-Lautrec–his grandmother was in St. Petersburg in the October Revolution of 1917 and survived–sat in the producer’s seat and guided a rusty performer through the sessions with grace and years of experience.
He’s a fine actor and an experienced dialogue coach for movies.
He also runs Spoken Ink–subtitled “The Home of Short Audio“–well worth checking out.
Meredith made up the triumvirate as back-up producer keeping a beady eye on the script and an ear out for things that could be better (like the American pronunciation of “Potomac”!).
Her occasional ripple of involuntary laughter was a morale boost for The Man in the Sound Proof Booth!
The project is in post production now. When complete, we’ll announce it here.
Filed under: Poldark, Robin Ellis Tagged: audio book, IF, Making Poldark, rudyard kipling, spoken ink
January 6, 2015
Foot care, sparerib pork chops and broccoli–seared a little!
Every three months I take a trip to see Cyril, my podologue, for a foot service–an essential on a diabetic’s check-up list.
Eyes next month.
It’s a relaxing 45 minutes–he has a naturally calm manner and doesn’t flinch at my halting French.
We chat while he gently works.
He’s signed the French version of our petition au sujet de l’église, he tells me.
“Merci beaucoup, Cyril!“
He told me he and his wife are expecting their second child–a girl–in three weeks time. They are favoring “Rose” as a name.
I booked another session in the first week of April and, stepping lightly on my “new feet”, headed across the road to the car.
I started pondering dinner–before lunch.
(One can never be too prepared….)
“Ah!” I remembered a friendly family butcher (husband and wife) nearby whom I occasionally frequent–and I recalled a one-pot recipe in Delicious Dishes that calls for spare rib chops, white beans and oranges. See recipe below….
From Delicious Dishes for Diabetics
Both husband and wife were busy working as I entered.
“Deux bouchers!”
“Une bouchère, Monsieur!” [One of us is a woman, Sir!]
“Ah–tout a fait!–excusez moi, Madame! Est-ce que vous avez d’ échine de porc?”
“Bien sur!”
“Deux, s’il vous plait–assez fines [not too thick].”
Comfort food again.
I picked up some broccoli at the quiet Tuesday open-air market in Castres and headed home.
A couple of nights ago, I’d mis-timed the broccoli; it was ready too soon–so I drizzled it with olive oil, seasoned it and sautéd it a low flame to keep it warm.
When it came time to serve, one side was slightly charred but it tasted GOOD. I enjoy happenstance in cooking and decided to try it again–deliberately!
It works–and made a nice color contrast to the pork.
Serves 4
This lovely autumn/winter comfort dish is based on one by the talented Frances Bissell.
2 x 400 g/16 oz tins/bottles white beans
4 spare rib chops (echine in France – these are the tastier ones)
1 onion – sliced
1 stick celery – sliced
2 oranges
1 tsp coriander seeds
150 ml/5 fl oz/1⁄2 cup vegetable stock
salt and pepper
chopped fresh coriander or parsley
The timing for cooking depends in part on the thickness of the chops.
Heat the oven at 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.
Rinse the bean and pour into the oven proof dish you will serve from.
Brown the chops well in a non-stick frying pan. (No oil needed as the chops are a bit fatty.)
Lay them atop the beans.
Brown the onion and celery in the same frying pan – the fat from the chops will be enough to cook them in.
Lay them on the chops.
Carefully cut some strips of zest from one of the oranges.
Bury these in with the chops and beans.
Squeeze the juice from the two oranges over the chops.
Crush the coriander seeds and sprinkle over. Add the stock.
Cover and cook in the oven for about 2 hours.
Check after an hour to ensure that there is enough liquid–but be careful not to add too much–or the concentrated taste of the sauce will weaken.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Before serving, sprinkle the chopped coriander or parsley over to garnish.
Filed under: Diabetes, Food, other sides to this life, Recipes Tagged: chine de port, Foot check-up, frances bissell, sparerib chops
January 5, 2015
Goat’s cheese and pancetta en cocotte
We first had this dish in an excellent little restaurant in Castres, called L’Envie [fancy] recently.
Apt name–I fancied trying to recreate it at home.
First I had to buy the little serving dishes! Still haven’t found the ones I’d really like (in terra cotta).
The recipe itself is relatively easy to prepare and quick to cook. It’s both delicious and handy as a simple starter for company, as it can be assembled well ahead of time.
It’s a conversation starter too.
“What are those things at the bottom of the dish?”
“Shallots.”
“Nice!”
For two (but easily scaled up for the number around your table–if you have the little serving dishes!)
Preheat the oven to 220C/430F (i.e. hot oven)
2 shallots–very finely sliced
1 small “log” of goat’s cheese [chevre]
2 thin slices pancetta–(I started by using parma ham but Meredith suggested pancetta might be better and she was right! bacon would work too.)
4 small sage leaves–optional
olive oil for drizzling
—-
Spread the shallot slices over the bottom of two small oven proof dishes–roughly a shallot for each dish.
Slice the goat’s cheese log into four pieces about and inch or so long
Place two pieces in each dish.
Half the pancetta “rounds” and place one half slice in each side of each dish.
Place two small sage leaves in each dish.
Sprinkle about a tablespoon of olive oil round and over the contents of each dish making sure the shallots get their fair share.
Roast in the top shelf of the oven for about ten minutes or so.
Meredith said I was stingy with the pancetta!
If you spot those little terra cotta serving dishes, let me know!
Filed under: Food, other sides to this life, Recipes Tagged: goat cheese log, pancetta, restaurant L'envie in Castres
January 3, 2015
Comfort lentils (dal) and spicy cauliflower for a cold night
Bought a cauliflower this morning. There wasn’t a lot of choice–it’s freezing cold and the local growers’ produce is limited.
What to do with it?
I flick through this cook book and that–then suddenly remember comfort lentils from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics.
COMFORT is the key word.
Outside it’s damp and cold–so comfort food that acts as an interior blanket is just what I need.
I search the index for “cauliflower“.
Aha! Cauliflower with mustard seeds and fennel seeds–inspired by Madhur Jaffrey.
YES!
Double comfort!!
A fire in the grate and the evening holds promise!
COMFORT LENTIL DAL
Rinse thoroughly a pound of red lentils–until the water runs clear.
Add two vegetable stock cubes to a litre of water and bring to the simmer.
Add the lentils.
Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked–about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile chop a medium onion and in a separate pan color it gently in four tablespoons of olive oil .
Then stir in these spices:
One and half teaspoons cumin powder; one teaspoon coriander powder; half teaspoon cayenne powder; and (if you have it) one teaspoon garam masala.
Cook the onion in the spices for a couple of minutes and then stir this mix into the lentils.
Gently reheat the dal.
Check for salt.
Comforting…
CAULIFLOWER with FENNEL and MUSTARD SEEDS
Deconstruct a large cauliflower into bite size pieces.
Heat six tablespoons of olive oil in a pan (large enough to hold the cauliflower in a single layer–more or less–but don’t add the cauliflower yet!).
Add a tablespoon of black mustard seeds and two teaspoons of fennel seeds.
When they start to pop–add three garlic cloves chopped fine.
When they start to color add a quarter teaspoon each of turmeric and cayenne powder.
Cook these briefly to release their aroma–and then stir in the cauliflower pieces.
Turn these thoroughly in the spicy oil and add four tablespoons of warm water.
Add a decent pinch of salt and cook covered until the cauliflower is tender–about 20 minutes.
These two comforting friends make good partners for a chilly winter night.
Meredith, who used to think that cauliflower was a pointless vegetable, had seconds!
Filed under: other sides to this life Tagged: "comfort lentils, Dal, madhur jaffrey, spicy cauliflower
January 1, 2015
Roasted pumpkin boats with cinnamon and sage
This got the “ding” from Meredith at lunch today.
Spotted in “Jamie’s Italy“–Jamie Oliver’s lively and loving tour of the peninsula–it offers a twist on roasted pumpkin by including fresh sage, cinnamon and a hint of heat in the mix.
It is simplicity itself.
a small pumpkin–sliced in half and seeds removed
1 small cinnamon stick–split into smaller–not too small–lengths
1 small chili–chopped
a good handful of fresh sage–chopped roughly
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
Heat the oven to 220C/430F
Slice the pumpkin carefully into smallish crescents
Add them to a large bowl
Add the sage, chili and olive oil to a mortar and pound gently to release the flavors
Add the cinnamon pieces and mix them in thoroughly without allowing them to break up too much
Add this mix to the large bowl and season well with salt and pepper
Turn it all over to coat the pumpkin boats
Arrange the boats in a shallow, oven-proof pan
Roast in the upper part of the hot oven for about 20-30 minutes–the time it takes to cook them to tender depends on the thickness of the pumpkin pieces
Check after 15 minutes for doneness
They should develop a pleasing seared look
We ate them with magret de canard (duck breast) to welcome in the New Year on a spectacularly beautiful winter’s day.
Also spectacular is the walnut and garlic sauce, nestling in there.
(The recipe for this sauce is in Delicious Dishes for Diabetics.)
All good wishes to everyone everywhere for a healthy, happy New Year!
Bonne Année!
Filed under: other sides to this life Tagged: jamie oliver, jamie's Italy, roast pumpkin, Walnut and garlic sauce
