ARMCHAIR THRILLER

ARMCHAIR THRILLER

Gordon Ramsey's Brussel Sprouts

http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/cookalong-live/cookalong-live-the-series/week-7/how-to-cook-brussels-sprouts_p_1.html

First make sure you prepare the sprouts properly by trimming the base and removing any grubby outside leaves

Next chop them in half, this makes them prettier to serve and quicker to cook.

Cook the sprouts for 2 minutes in a pan of boiling salted water, lid on. By keeping their time in the water relatively brief, it prevents the sprouts becoming too waterlogged and also preserves their colour.

Make sure you drain the sprouts thoroughly. It’s important to get rid of any excess water so you can sauté the sprouts properly and pick up a bit of colour in the pan.

Drizzle them with olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and when up to temperature tip in the sprouts.

Crush in the garlic and toss to spread evenly through the pan.

Add the butter and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Letting the butter brown lightly adds a nice, nutty flavour.

Scatter in the flaked almonds and allow them to toast lightly.

Squeeze over a little lemon juice and serve.

CAN Cannibalism

CAN Cannibalism

Mussolini and On Time Trains

snopes.com: Mussolini and On Time Trains

Alexei Sayle Pirate Video

This is from The Alexei Sayle Pirate Video (Springtime, 1982)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-XL9rGtZ8Uo

Remember getting this out on video at the time. Supposed to be rare now.

Scoville Heat Scale

The Scoville Heat Scale for Chilli Peppers and Hot Sauces
or this one which ranks more chillis

The World's Hottest Chilli, and here

Jim Flora :: Galleries :: Record Covers

Jim Flora :: Galleries :: Record Covers

Spooks Biscuits - DoYouRemember.co.uk forums

Spooks Biscuits - DoYouRemember.co.uk forums

House on the Rock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

House on the Rock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The life and crimes of the music biz

Simon Napier-Bell on the music industry | OMM | The Observer

Spon's House Improvement Price Book

Spon's House Improvement Price Book

The home improvement price bible

Definitive building contracts

http://www.jctcontracts.com/JCT/contracts/contract_pricing.jsp?familyId=15

Building Contract for a Home Owner/Occupier who has not appointed a consultant to oversee the work.

1970s and 80s 'still life' Christmas Cards

One thing I remember from my youth was the terrible 'still life' christmas cards that were around in the 70s and 80s - the ones where you'd have say a couple of candles in front of a few baubles, or a whiskey glass and cigar on a table in front of a roaring fire.

At the time I thought they were either naff or silly, but I remember them fondly now for some reason.

Anyone remember these, or know of anywhere on the web where there are collections of these? (surely there must be some 'ironic' collection out there?)

Snoopy Pancake Watch

Did this exist, and if so does anyone know where we might be able to find one?

It was a standard Snoopy child's wristwatch, Snoopy was flipping a pancake - the pancake was on one hand and the pan was on the other.

Roast Potatoes with Rosemary

via

Roast Potatoes with Rosemary

Serves 4

Ingredients: 4 Large Baking Potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 teasp Dried Rosemary, crushed
4 tbsp Olive Oil
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas mark 6

3. Drain the potato well, return to the pan and add the olive oil, rosemary and crushed garlic (if used). Toss well to coat the potatoes thoroughly.

4. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and roast in for about 40 minutes, turning a couple of times during the cooking period, until golden brown and crispy on the outside.

A little more special to accompany a roast, especially at Christmas or Easter.


---- from elsewhere...

rosemary is lovely when add to your roast potatoes in the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

Roast carrots with thyme

wrap the carrots in tin foil, add butter and loads of thyme and let the flavour infuse

------------

from elsewhere...

I roast chanterey carrots in tin foil with butter, a sprinkling of sugar & a dash of white wine vinegar for about 1 and a half hours. I can assure you, theyre beaut!

Cherry crumble cheesecake

via http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/guides/baking/story/0,,2213424,00.html

" For the sponge cake base

1 large egg, warm or at room temperature

2 level tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp golden or corn syrup

Zest of ½ lemon

4 level tbsp plain flour

For the cherry base

250g good cherry jam

One tin of black cherries, drained

For the crumble topping

100g plain flour

100g light soft brown sugar

½ level tsp cinnamon

50g unsalted butter

1 tsp milk

For the filling

800g full-fat cream cheese

200g icing sugar, sifted

25g cornflour, sifted

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

125ml double cream

Make the sponge cake base first. Line the inside of a 25cm round spring-form tin with a single sheet of buttered foil. Beat the egg and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the syrup and lemon zest and beat until very thick. Sift the flour, then fold this through the whipped egg until evenly combined. Spoon into the tin, spreading it evenly and carefully to cover the base thinly, then bake in a preheated 180C (160C fan-assisted) oven for 10-12 minutes until golden and firm.

Cut the tinned cherries in half, removing any stones, press dry on paper towels and stir with the jam. Spread this mixture evenly over the sponge and set aside while you get the crumble topping ready. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and rub the butter and the tablespoon of milk through until the mixture resembles dry pastry crumbs. Leave at room temperature while you make the filling.

Beat the cream cheese with the icing sugar, cornflour and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs together in another bowl, then slowly beat the eggs into the cream cheese mixture. You don't want to aerate the mixture any more, so stop as soon as the eggs are barely combined. Stir in the cream until it disappears. Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the tin and bake for 20 minutes at 180C (160C fan-assisted).

At this point, open the oven door, pull the cheesecake out a little bit and sprinkle the crumbs over the top, then shut the door and bake for a further 30-40 minutes. At this stage only the very centre should slightly wobble. Remove the cheesecake from the oven, cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours until firm and chilled. Flip the cheesecake on to a plate, peel off the foil, then upturn the cake on to a clean plate and serve.

"

Butterscotch banana cake

via http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/guides/baking/story/0,,2213421,00.html

"My mate Jason Warwick, a talented baker in Sydney, taught me his way to boost the flavour and colour of banana cake, by simmering all that soft banana flesh in a frying pan bubbling with rich caramel, perfect for this sweet loaf. The cake takes on a sunburnt bronze hue and has a strong banana toffee flavour. Don't limit this to a loaf tin: it works as well as a slab, especially if a few handfuls of chopped blond walnuts are tossed in and stirred through at the end. Don't be stingy with the baking powder; bananas are very alkaline when they are ripe and this is often the cause of a heavy, dense cake.

250g caster sugar

250g banana flesh, chopped into 2cm pieces

1 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

175ml sunflower oil

2 large eggs

150g plain flour

75g spelt, rye or wholemeal flour

2 level tsp mixed spice

2 level tsp baking powder

½ level tsp bicarbonate of soda

50ml plain yoghurt

Butter a 20cm square tin and line the base with non-stick baking paper. Tip 150g of the caster sugar into a frying pan with 25ml water, bring to the boil, then cook over a high heat until the sugar turns to a dark reddish caramel. Add the banana pieces, butter and vanilla, and simmer until the bananas break up in the caramel and the mixture is thick.

Spoon on to a plate and leave to cool. Beat the remaining 100g sugar with the oil and eggs until thick and slightly aerated, then beat in the bananas and the yoghurt. Sift the flours, spice, baking powder and soda together two or three times (throwing the bran back in), then fold this through the banana mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the tin, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted) and bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Tried and tested

'Went down really well. Even better the day after baking'

"

Three Ginger Parkin Slab

via http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/guides/baking/story/0,,2213412,00.html

"To make fine oatmeal, I simply place 75g or so of rolled oats in the blender and whiz them together until fine, then repeat until I have enough for the recipe. Alternatively, you can buy fine oatmeal from a health-food store.

You might prefer to replace the plain flour with strong bread flour, as it makes the crumb a little sturdier, less likely to crumble and easier to butter.

Makes one large cake

100g unsalted butter

250g soft dark brown or muscovado sugar

125g golden syrup

125g treacle

150ml dark ale or porter

2cm piece of peeled fresh ginger, finely grated

150g fine oatmeal

2 large eggs

250g plain flour

3 level tsp ground ginger

3 level tsp baking powder

Butter a 20cm square baking tin and line the base with non-stick baking parchment. In a saucepan, heat the butter, sugar, syrup and treacle until the mixture is warm and the butter melted. Remove from the heat, add the ale, fresh ginger and oatmeal, whisk together and leave in the saucepan to cool for 5 minutes.

Next beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift the flour, ground ginger and baking powder together, then add to the saucepan and stir to combine. Spoon into the tin and leave while you heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted). Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool, then top with ginger water icing."

Tumbet recipe

via http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1813920,00.html

"Serve just as it is, or with grated cheese, or with some canned, drained chickpeas added just before it's done. Make sure the potato slices are considerably smaller than the other vegetables, so everything will be cooked at the same time. If there's any left over, it's excellent cold, perhaps with a handful of olives thrown in and accompanied by a leafy salad. Serves four.

2 large onions, peeled and cut into chunks

1 large aubergine, cut into chunks

2 large potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1cm cubes

2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks

3 courgettes, cut into chunks

1 bunch parsley, leaves picked and chopped

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

6 tbsp olive oil

425g can chopped tomatoes

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3. Put the raw vegetables, parsley and garlic into a large shallow casserole dish or roasting tin. Add the oil, tomatoes and seasoning. Stir well to combine, then spread the mixture out so it forms an even-ish layer. Bake, uncovered, for two hours, until the vegetables are tender. Give it a stir after an hour, and cover with foil if it's browning too quickly."