Moroccan lamb with apricots, almonds & mint

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I used a pack of ‘stewing lamb’ I bought from Makro. They looked like four sections of neck fillet from the outside but when I opened it I discovered it wasn’t boned. So it was a bit of a pain pulling the meat off the bones and cutting it into chunks after it had been cooked.

Anyway, Moroccan lamb with apricots, almonds & mint is really good. Growing up, I never liked savoury food with sweet flavours. I suppose this was because I’d not had that flavour combo it at home. Having said that my mum does make dahl soup with a small amount jaggery in it

Used a tip from How To Cook Without Recipes: laid kitchen roll over the surface after cooking to soak up the fat floating on the top. Worked a treat.

Made couscous according to directions on the packet (from Waitrose) and it was perfect:
Allow approximately 45g of couscous per 80g serving. Place 250g of couscous in a large bowl with 400ml boiling water and 1tbsp oil. Stir, cover and stand for 5 minutes. Stir to separate before serving.

25 Feb 2013

Made this today using lamb neck fillet, with the oven at 150C. I cooked it for an hour with the lid on then half an hour with the lid off. The taste was fine but not all of the lamb pieces were meltingly soft; some were slightly chewy. I’m not sure whether this was down to the cooking time (Nigel Slater cooks neck fillet at 180C for only an hour) or that I put the lamb in with the orange juice before adding the stock or whether it’s just the meat. I have to admit that the meat wasn’t all defrosted to the same extent before cooking. Still, next time I will add the orange juice after the stock so the lamb doesn’t come into contact with it undiluted.

I also did some couscous from Sainsburys. The packet said to use less water than the Waitrose method but since the Waitrose method hasn’t ever let me down I followed that. But the couscous turned out soggy. Perhaps all couscous isn’t created equal and the packet instructions should be adhered to? Anyway, the lesson I learned there was to alway err on the side of less water since you can always add more.

The Tube

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I’ve been watching The Tube on BBC2 on the recommendation of my uni friends. The programme has been fascinating. I think it’s clear to any tube user that there is a high level of organisation required but I didn’t realise quite how much goes on behind the scenes.

I don’t mind using the tube but at peak times it’s not fun. I’m always surprised at how impatient people are. Last time I was in London my ticket didn’t open the barrier so I had to turn around to go to another barrier manned by staff. The girl behind me let out the most pained sigh. She’d been delayed a maximum of 5 seconds. The programme confirms that people have this attitude. Travellers don’t care about other people, not even when someone is injured. They just want to get to where they want to go. I guess this is the downside to London’s buzz of millions of people: it’s just not possible to feel connected to each other.

The Pleasure Seekers

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I stumbled upon this book at the library and decided to give it a go. It’s good. The book is about an Indian man who comes to England and falls in love with a Welsh girl whom he marries but the story spans both the generation before and after them. The Indian family is Gujarati, so much of the culture and language is familiar to me. The complications of a mixed marriage are obviously close to home for me too. The couple’s children, two girls, are young adults in the mid-90s, so they are about the same age as my sister and myself, but they seem to get away with all kinds of behaviour that my Gujarati community would count as scandalous and totally unacceptable. The girls’ stories stirred up in me some uneasy feelings about my own young adulthood: Should have been braver? Why didn’t I feel the kind of support from my extended family as the girls did?

Leaving my own drama aside, this book is warm and lovingly written. There are gorgeous, evocative descriptions. I relished the funny, charming colloquialisms. The book helped me to know Gujarati women again: their humour, obstinacy, wisdom, superstitiousness and boundless love.

(15th in 2012)

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

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We went to hear The Organ Symphony (the only one as far as I’m concerned). I knew it would be wonderful but I hadn’t expected its effect on me to be so visceral.

I had wanted to hear the organ at Symphony Hall for a long time. I’m not fond of the sound of the organ as a rule but I wanted to experience its power. Its part is just right in the symphony. For a start, it only appears sparingly and doesn’t overpower the orchestra however, on the rare occasion that it does take centre stage, it is suitably dramatic. The final movement of the symphony is my favourite and it brought tears to my eyes. As a bonus, and I’d never seen this before, there were two encores, the second of which was Les Toreadors from Carmen Suite No. 1. That’s in the film Babe, as is the last movement of Organ Symphony, which makes me wonder whether the first encore was also from Babe. It was certainly familiar…

I didn’t take my camera so I snapped the organ on my iphone as a memento:

How to Cook Without Recipes

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I borrowed this book from the library. I haven’t read it from cover to cover as it’s more of a reference book. I have however read enough to like it enough to add it to my Amazon wishlist. It contains invaluable information for the enthusiastic cook, such as the difference between taste and flavour and how to create ‘flavour trails’ to successfully create your own recipes. There is an excellent chapter on cooking methods. It’s the kind of knowledge I wish I’d had years ago e.g.to mop up liquid fat sitting on top of a stew that is to be served straight after cooking place a piece of kitchen roll carefully over the surface.

It’s not all good – there is an unnecessary chapter towards the end dedicated to the author’s opinions on celebrity chefs – but even there Glynn Christian is trying to guide you towards being a better and more creative cook. That comes through from beginning to end: he sincerely wants the reader to make the best food that they possibly can according to their own preferences.

I’m Not Scared

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I seem to have fallen out of the habit of watching a film in the evenings. I tend to read books or watch programmes these days. The last film I watched was Hanna, which is action-packed and good-looking but somehow lacking substance.

Tonight I watched I’m Not Scared, which was most absorbing and very touching. Set in rural southern Italy in the 70s, it is a thriller showcasing the bravery and loyalty of a ten year old boy. As well as the dreamy scenery the cameras captured lots of fantastic wildlife: a baby hedgehog, several owls, a frog and a snake to name but a few. The child actors were completely believable. I cried at the end. A splendid way to spend a Friday night in.

Oliver!

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Went to watch Oliver! at the Hippodrome last night. Really enjoyed it, in particular the sets. Some of the scenes of London were breathtaking.

I wasn’t sure whether a Fagin by Neil Morrissey would work but he pulled it off by making it his own. He isn’t the greatest of singers, nor quite as menacing as the film’s Fagin, but he was funny and his acting was good. The children were delightful and Nancy had an amazing voice. The production was quite saucy, especially Oom-Pah-Pah. All very good fun.

Photography isn’t allowed in the theatre so here are a couple of images from the website:

One Day

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I just finished reading this and I loved it. It was easy to identify with, because 1) it’s of my time and 2) I am also a female geeky sort. DN has got the balance just right: romantic without being too mushy, cockiness muted by self-doubt, elation and misery in equal parts. I feel like I’ve lived the twenty years with Dexter and Emma; I’m now older and wiser. Wonderful book.

David Nicholls talks to the Guardian book club about One Day.

(14th in 2012)

Whatever You Love

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This book was part of a display at the local library. My eye was drawn by the ‘Costa Book Awards, Shortlist 2010’ sticker on the front of it so I thought I’d give it a try.

It was easy read and I got through it very quickly. It’s a story about a woman who loses a child and the blurb on the back promises that she takes revenge. Well, the revenge was a complete anti-climax. There was also an unrealistic sub-plot with anonymous letters. I felt that the whole book lacked a certain depth, as if the tale was told in a hurry. I couldn’t relate to or sympathise with any of the characters. There’s a recommendation on the front from the Observer: ‘ A brilliant and brutal novel that continues to unsettle long after the final page has been turned.’ But that is the complete opposite of what I feel on completing the book; I’ve almost forgotten about it already. Maybe I’d relate more if I had children. But isn’t that the author’s job, to take me into a different world?

Having said all that, the depiction of grief is very good: truthful and convincing. This book had a lot of potential but, for me, it didn’t live up to it.

(13th in 2012)