Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Chick peas
It being some time since we had chick peas, thought to have them yesterday. One pound of chick peas soaked overnight and topped up in the morning. None of this rinsing business. Browned a clove of garlic in butter, added three chopped onions and cooked that for a bit. Added a chopped yellow pepper and cooked for a bit longer. Stirred the whole lot into the chick peas. Added 6 medium sized finely chopped tomatoes - which in this case were oddly dry. Reminded one of oranges which had been kept a bit too long. Add a finely chopped lump of smoked bacon from the Madeira Deli at Vauxhall (http://www.madeiralondon.co.uk/) - this last being the most expensive ingredient at £2 or so. Simmer the whole lot for three hours. Serve with cabbage and rice, both white and boiled. Hearty farmyard style food as they might say on the tin if the stuff was sold in tins.
And it was more than a month since we had oxtail (see 9th November), so today we made up for lost time. Also for the economy of the day before as the oxtail, which will feed three, perhaps with a little broth over, cost £15. For a change, removed some of the fat strips from the larger pieces, a process which reminded me of the fact that some animals use their tails as fat storage jars. Browned the oxtail in a little lard. Added two large chopped onions and fry for a little longer. Cover with water and simmer for 1.75 hours. Add two ladles of orange lentils and simmer for a further 1.75 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. Broth excellent, meat flavour good if texture a little firm for FIL. Maybe push up to 4.25 hours next time.
In the margins, I learned from the Guardian that there is every possibility that Hamleys of Regent Street will be taken to court by the Diversity Commission for a flagrant contravention of the ground breaking Harman-Balls act of the last adminstration. It seems that Hamleys have separate signs pointing to boys' toys and girls' toys. There is the further point that the girls' toys are a couple of floors higher than the boys' toys, which might be construed as discrimination. The Guardian did not say for whom the toys on the intervening floors were intended. We await the ruling of this administration's Attorney General with interest.
And it was more than a month since we had oxtail (see 9th November), so today we made up for lost time. Also for the economy of the day before as the oxtail, which will feed three, perhaps with a little broth over, cost £15. For a change, removed some of the fat strips from the larger pieces, a process which reminded me of the fact that some animals use their tails as fat storage jars. Browned the oxtail in a little lard. Added two large chopped onions and fry for a little longer. Cover with water and simmer for 1.75 hours. Add two ladles of orange lentils and simmer for a further 1.75 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. Broth excellent, meat flavour good if texture a little firm for FIL. Maybe push up to 4.25 hours next time.
In the margins, I learned from the Guardian that there is every possibility that Hamleys of Regent Street will be taken to court by the Diversity Commission for a flagrant contravention of the ground breaking Harman-Balls act of the last adminstration. It seems that Hamleys have separate signs pointing to boys' toys and girls' toys. There is the further point that the girls' toys are a couple of floors higher than the boys' toys, which might be construed as discrimination. The Guardian did not say for whom the toys on the intervening floors were intended. We await the ruling of this administration's Attorney General with interest.
# posted by Jim @ 6:19 AM 
