Month: September 2009

Categories
cooks food

keith floyd

This morning the news was full of the death of Patrick Swayze. And fair enough; he’s starred in many cult films of the 80s that are backdrops to people’s lives. None of them struck a chord with me though, the news that made me sad was another 80s icon of a very different type passing away. TV chef, bon vivant and wine-guzzler Keith Floyd had died.

2023 edit: I posted a video about Keith Floyd

I don’t know how well known he was in the US but in the UK everybody knew his name from his distinct cookery shows from the 80s. In fact, many may only know him through mimic Rory Bremner’s bang-on impersonation, showing him staggering from side-to-side as his wine glass was filled over and over. It was an impression I used to copy, and like a second-gen photocopy it wasn’t very good.

As I grew up I began to appreciate the TV shows themselves (often “Floyd On…”). As a contrast to Delia’s staid home-kitchen based show Keith Floyd bounded between peasant kitchens, posh restaurants, country homes, sculleries and beaches. Often he would cook with what was nearby and to hand, with recipes often involving everything being chucked in a pan and left to stew for a bit while he explained something about the area he was in. On repeat today it would go down a storm, as it’s all about local food prepared for the region you’re in, presented very simply and equally important, made accessible. Everything looked dead simple when Keith did it; chuck some of this in here, leave that for a bit, add some more… all simple stuff, celebrating it’s components. His seafood in particular was of note, plenty of clam stews and mussel hot pots. His shows are also infamous for first glimpses of the next wave of TV chefs; Gary Rhodes and Rick Stein got early breaks on these programmes.

My favourite Floyd moment was in a French kitchen; he prepared a dish that the cook of the house tasted. Immediately her face went sour and she tore into the dish piece by piece, and with an avuncular chuckle Keith translated “…not enough salt…not cooked enough…not enough pepper…not enough onion…” and with resignation he admitted she was right but it was a clear demonstration that despite his classic French training he still wasn’t good enough for the proud French housemaiden. The fact that he left this segment in spoke of his self-effacing attitude.

He was a grumpy old man who loved food, and crucially that love came through the screen. Cheers Keith.

“On me now please Clive…”

Image courtesy of keithfloyd.net

Categories
bread food gherkin pastrami

pastrami sandwich

pastrami sandwich with pickle and mustard mayo

I bloody hate rubbish sandwiches. Particularly those sweaty little things in a triangular plastic box that are both cold and miserable (very British I suppose). When the weekend comes, I demand a decent sarnie.

There’s loads I love, but I really dig salt beef, and in particular it’s butch cousin pastrami. Not a big deal in the UK, this peppery meat with it’s ruby flesh it’s utterly moreish and wonderfully carnivorous. So I fancied some today.

To make it as perfect as I could, I prepared ahead and made some bread too. Quite a bubbly and crusty one, so plenty of mouth feel. Then I added a little butter to each open side to prevent the bread getting soggy. I mixed some English mustard with a little mayonnaise to get that creamy colour, and slapped that most American of sandwich ingredients on top: slices of crunchy, sweet pickle. (Or ‘gherkin’ if we’re going to be British about it). Then waves of tasty meat.

There’s so much flavour going on here, it’s marvellous. Chewy bread, crunchy gherkin, the tang of mustard and tear of meat… that’s a sandwich.

Categories
chocolate coffee food hazelnuts

popping candy chocolate cake

That old wizard Heston Blumenthal has done it again. I’d seen a recipe on his Times column for a chocolate cake that contained popping candy in the base (also known as “star dust”, “space dust”, “pop rocks” etc depending on your generation). It sounded like too much fun not to do and the perfect opportunity cropped up this weekend so I grabbed the chance to make it. The recipe is here so I won’t regurgitate, I’ll give them the satisfaction of the hits. But I recreated it exactly as described.

Getting hold of the popping candy is pretty easy; there are dozens of eBay sellers who have it and generally sell it in packs of 24 for £2 – £3. It arrived at work and anybody who came into my office immediately had some pressed into their sweaty palms. Generally it was met with squeals of “I haven’t had this since I was TEN!” and people alternately opening and shutting their mouth to hear the crackle echo off their skulls. It was already fun, and I could see it was going to work well.

The cake itself is reasonably labour intensive as it requires three stages (base, mousse, icing) and various amounts of bain maries. It worked a treat though; I said nothing as I handed out plated portions and waited for the giggles and gasps which were worth every melting point. Great fun. In all seriousness what I’d also take from it is using pure roast hazelnuts as a base for a cake – very tasty. Heston as ever is right on the nose when he recommends adding salt – the tang sparks off the creamy chocolate very nicely.

Categories
food noodles peppers pork

pork chow mein

I always get too many ingredients for 1 stir fry, so i always have to schedule 2 into a week to make sure those spring onions (and particularly beansprouts) don’t go brown and liquidy at the bottom of my fridge.

Nice two-parter; deal with the meat first in a gloopy sauce, then stir fried quickly along with everything else. Crunchy and tasty. Same rules apply as with yaki soba; ninja-hot pan, and keep those ingredients moving the whole time.

Pork chow mein:

2 pork steaks, cut into strips

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons five spice

2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

1 teaspoon cornflour

1/2 red chilli, finely sliced

1 teaspoon ginger

1 red pepper, sliced

Handfuk of beansprouts

5 – 6 spring onions, sliced

2 sachets udon noodles

Sesame oil to taste

Handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

  1. Mix the soy, five spice, chilli sauce and cornflour together and then cover the pork strips with it.
  2. In a seriously hot pan heat a little oil, then fry the pork quickly for 2 mins.
  3. Add the chilli, ginger and red pepper and cook for 1 minute, then add beansprouts and spring onions.
  4. Stir fry for a further minute then add the noodles. When the noodles are tender drizzle over some sesame oil and stir through the coriander leaves.
  5. Serve in large bowls and garnish with lime wedges squeezed over and sesame seeds.
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