I don’t tend to mess too much with Thai curries, at least not with their spicing. The rest of the ingredients are usually fair game though. But this time I decided to go one step further.
It probably helped that the recipe I first looked at was written by Nigel Slater in The Observer. And I feel comfortable with Nige (as he is known at home) and his recipes. After all, Real Fast Food was the first cookbook I ever owned. Continue reading
MORE quinoa? Yep, I’m afraid so. It’s January, the time for austerity, of body as well as mind. And there’s nothing more crushingly austere than a super-douper health food grain. Right?
Wrong. Quinoa, despite its, holier-than-thou goodie two shoes reputation, is actually pretty tasty. Delicious even. I know! I was as surprised as you. Nutty, just the merest hint of crunch, and it stands up to sauces. So good, in fact, that I had to have it twice. In quick succession. Continue reading
Soup is a constant. From slurping French onion soup at Gatwick as a child to being blown away by the sour spicy hit of Tom Yam on my first trip East, soup appears all over the world. It must answer a deep seated need for nourishment and warmth that goes beyond simple degrees celsius.
Sometimes, particularly when I’m under the weather, I crave a clear meaty broth, simple chicken and ginger or a more complex Pho – which many consider to be the ultimate soup. Clean, crisp and subtle flavour. Other times, when it’s cold and I’m hungry, I need a soup with substance. Something that will slide thickly over the tongue, smooth and soothing and full of taste. Continue reading
If you’re anything like me (gluttonous, food-obsessed and perpetually peckish) then healthy light meals will only get you so far on cold January nights. But bigger meatier fare doesn’t have to be totally unhealthy. It makes you happier, and a healthy mind leads to a healthy body, right? Right?.
With that in mind I spent a Sunday lovingly cooking this little beauty. And red meat aside it really isn’t particularly unhealthy. The motivation came after spotting a big ol’ hunk beef shin in Meat N16 (our local butcher), all gnarly and full of connective tissue. Just what you need for a bit of slow cooking magic. Continue reading
As The Grubworm is two years old it feels like it’s time for a bit of a refresh, hence the new look. Expect more small changes over the coming weeks as the blog evolves.
It’s January, traditionally a time of restraint and moderation. And so I thought I’d kick off 2012 with something healthy and tasty. Spinach for the iron and vitamins, and quinoa because it’s damn tasty (and makes a change from cous cous or rice). Continue reading
One way or another December has been a hectic month. The few times I have found myself at my keyboard, fingers poised and ready to write, nothing happens. I just kind of sit there and stare at the screen. It’s an odd feeling, but not entirely unexpected. Over the past few weeks I feel like I have been running on empty.
So I’ve decided to take a short blogging break over Christmas and new year. During that time I intend to cook and eat and drink and relax. I’ll catch up with some good books, catch some cool films and generally not do much.
I will also be coming up with a new look for The Grubworm (I can’t not do anything). I’ll be back on the 9th January 2012, all recharged and chomping at the bit to get started. Have a wonderful Christmas, New Year, Solstice or just plain winter break everyone! I’ll see you next year.
There I was, sat there glumly swooshing my spoon back and forth through the pale white sludge. It was somewhere between mashed potatoes and parsnip soup and was the consistency of slurry. This was proof, as if I needed any, that I’d lost my cooking mojo.
I searched for it high and low, far and wide. I set a course for the heat and aromas of SE Asia with an aubergine and coconut curry. But it failed to excite. I stayed in the east – usually the source of so much inspiration – with some spicy prawn cakes. But they were only so much salty rubber. Continue reading
The first bite yields tender and tasty meat with undertones of warm spice and fresh orange. It’s redolent of dusty streets and bright fruits, secret blue tiled courtyards and bustling souks. This is a Sunday roast that’s holidayed in exotic locations.
Chicken is rarely better than when it’s roasted. And that usually calls for lemon and thyme, onions and black pepper. But sometimes, just sometimes you crave something a little different. Continue reading
I’m going bite-sized today. That’s bite-sized in terms of the blog post, not in terms of food. I rarely go bite-sized when it comes to dinner. Unless we’re talking elephant, or in this case very large bull, size bites.
When the nights close in we seem to become unaccountably busy, at both work and play. And sometimes, just sometimes, I may not have the time, or energy, to cook a proper dinner. Thank goodness for leftovers. Continue reading
It’s not often you find yourself walking along a dragon’s spine. Curled protectively around the village of Ping’an in south western China, this particular beast is formed by row after serried row of rice terraces carved into the hills. The summits forming a spine along the ridge high above. Mist drifts across the water-logged paddy fields and stone paths, the breath of a sleeping giant.
We were winding our way along the sinuous curves of Longsheng’s terraced hillsides. From one summit you can look across the Nine Dragons and Five Tigers, hills that have been terraced from base to summit. From the other you see Seven Stars and Moon, constellations of flooded rice paddies reflecting the sky. Continue reading