Booze Cruise - July 2011

1. Down the ramp to the Euro shuttle.

2. The chalk horse carved into the hillside.

3. The ramp into the shuttle.

4. The view inside the carriage. It takes just 30 minutes to go down and up into France.

5. First stop - Pidou, the wine warehouse. Some prices have actually come down since last time!No you don't get much of that in the UK!

6. The coastal town of De Panne which just happened to be celebrating its centenary TODAY! Lots of street entertainment but we found this hillside oasis in the centre where we had our picnic lunch.

7. The town centre. Pedestrianised since my last visit a few years back.

8. One of the novelty trains much loike they have in Great Yarmouth.

9. The big trams with a service every five minutes.

10. Notice the street lamp. Underneath is not a CCTV camera. It's a small speaker. They play music throughout the centre of De Panne.

11. Sheri with another coffee. Being T total means I have to take care of the vino.

12. The vino. On the left, a Californian red which I've had before. Last time it was £1.90 a bottle. It's now £1.80! On the right, the Italian wine now being promoted over here reduced to £3.99 (half price). It's still on offer at Pidou for £11.00 - for a BOX OF SIX!!!

A Light Snack for a sunny day

Long standing regular Phyllis from Ashby St.Mary was ninety last week and we joined her friends with a celebration lunch at the pub. When we got home we weren't really that hungry at tea-time but a light snack was called for. In such cases what you do is raid the fridge and cupboards to see what's available. This is what I came up with.

In a mixing bowl I put some diced garlic, celery, spring onion and a spoonful of Boursin soft cheese. To this I added a boiled egg, red peppercorns and just a touch of mayonnaise. Mix all the contents together.
Take one large tomato, slice off the top and remove all the seeds and centre of the fruit. Fill the large cavity with your prepared mixture and top off with black pepper. Taking a slice of the heart of a lettuce to make your base, add the filled tomato and the top which you can fill with mayonnaise. Drizzle a little olive oil over.
TIPS I always de-string the celery by running the knife edge down it before dicing. Makes it much more palatable. If you want a spicier filling add a couple of drops of Peri-Peri sauce or any handy chilli sauce.
RESULT a light summer snack that's filling but healthy and leaves a good aftertaste in the mouth which I always think is the test of a tasty dish.

Sheri's Yummy Pumpkin Soup

HELLO BOYS ! This will put hairs on your chest (and other bits too!). Don't throw away all that flesh when you hollow out the pumpkin for Halloween. Here's what you do with it.
Get 3lb pumpkin, 2lb potatoes, 2 medium red onions (must be red), 6 garlic cloves and roughly chop all of them up. Be as rough as you like. Place it all in a large pan (look at the size of mine) add a couple of bay leaves and about 3 fluid Ozs of olive oil and stir it all together to coat it all. Add some seasoning too. I like black pepper. Now, cook over a gentle heat for about 20 minutes and keep that wooden spoon moving round the pan. Add one and a half pints of vegetable stock (Vegemite or something similar) Simmer for another 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and then liquidise adding a little water if it's too thick for your liking. Garnish with a few fresh herbs and serve with hot chunky bread. Enjoy. By the way, there aren't any bad after effects. It'll do your system good!

The Perfect Riverside Bar-B-Q

Chilli but hot !!

We visited the Chilli Company on the A140 at Mendlesham where owners Denise and Adrian Nuttall showed us how they've changed things round from when it used to be the Chilli restaurant (featured Look East two years ago).
This year it'll become more of a visitor centre where you can buy plants. Here they are with this years crop of chilli's with dad working in the background. Meanwhile in the shop, mum helps out selling some of the incredible range of chilli-related items from clothing and jewellery to chilli ice-cream. Yep - that's not a typo!
Look at the piccy below that I morphed together from some of the extensive range of sauces and look closely at the labels. We're about to try the chilli cheeses - stand-by fire brigade!!

Recipe from A Christmas Carol

Martha from Georgia had just seen a TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol and wondered about the drink at the end. As usual, having mentioned it on the Show a response came from Andrew with this recipe for -

SMOKING BISHOP
5 unpeeled oranges
1 unpeeled grapefruit
36 cloves
1/4 pound sugar
2 bottles of red wine
1 bottle of port.

Wash the fruit and oven bake turning only once until brownish.
Put the fruit into a warmed earthenware bowl with six cloves stuck into each.
Add the sugar and pour in just the wine.
Cover and leave in a warm place for a day.
Squeeze the fruit juice into the wine and strain.
Add the port and heat but do not boil.
Serve 'smoking' warm. Should give you 15-20 servings.
Fall over and retire to bed !!!!

Betty's Blackberry Whisky Liquer

I was speaking about picking blackberries on Fridays Show much to the disgust of Josephine who listens on-line in Monterey, California. (If you miss them that much you'd move back to Norfolk!) I received an e-mail from Betty in Thrapston who supplied this recipe.

Blackberry Whiskey Liquer.
Put 9oz of blackberries into a Kilner jar.
Add 9oz of sugar.
Pour a bottle of the least expensive whisky over until full.
Screw on the lid and give a gentle shake daily until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Leave for about 3 weeks then strain the liquid through a muslin and bottle it.
This can be drunk immediately but not all at once!

Use the left over blackberries in a blackberry and apple crumble! (a word of advice - don't give it to the kids!)

Recipe for Thai Green Curry

Little Sheila from Northmpaton asked for the recipe from our dish below.

First make the paste. This makes a quantity which can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 months!

15 Green chillies

1 tbsp chopped shallots

4 chopped cloves of garlic

1 tbsp chopped lemon grass

1 grated lime rind

1 tsp corriander

5 peppercorns

1 tsp cumin powder

sea salt

1 tsp shrimp paste

Simply put all the ingredients in blender to make the paste ! It's that easy.

Dice up the pre-cooked chicken or fry off fresh in a wok. Add cup of cocnut milk and 1 tablespoon of the Thai Green paste (see above) Add some fresh basil leaves and slowly reduce to thicken.

Serve with fresh popadoms.

Stretching Food Glorious Food !

With the news that food prices (alongside fuel prices) will be rising with the worldwide food shortage it was an interesting statistic this last week that we waste so much of it. When it comes to nutrition I've long been an oponent of the ready-meal culture although I have to admit that years ago we were also drawn in to that growing culture. It didn't take us long though to work out that the convenience of such products was a myth and it was much cheaper to buy fresh and local produce. I love fresh vegetables and when I read this week how much we're supposedly throwing away in our wheelies we took a look at ours. No-one wants to sound 'holier than thou' but we must be at a minimum! To prove a point that we raised on the Show, Sheri bought a fresh local chicken at the weekend. At the time of writing (Monday afternoon) she's put it in the oven. So it's HOT chicken with fresh veg tonight. Over the next few days though we're going to see just how far a 5lb chicken can go between the two of us. Keep in touch to see what happens !

DAY ONE - cook the chicken. So here's the first meal. Roast chicken dinner. We had a leg each with fresh steamed veg and mash. The chicken was then wrapped in foil and put in the fridge.

DAY TWO. Cold chicken breast and salad (lettuce, beans and pulses, grated carrot and nuts, tomato & pepper)
Notice that we had half of one half of the breast each which was more than enough so we enter day three with the other half still intact! See what comes next!

DAY THREE (Wednesday) Keeping the chicken chilled in the fridge, today Sheri removed the other breast half, diced it and made one of her special Thai Green Curry's. Here's our meal with a plate of popadums. The chicken is now back in the fridge ready for tomorrows meal!

DAY FOUR and the last of the chicken! As you can see, the last of the chicken carcass was put into a large saucepan and simmered until all the last of the meat could be stripped of it.

Sheri then added onion, potato, parsnips and brocolli (including the stalks which in this instance can also be used) and cooked them until tender finally adding herby dumplings. She has to have gluten free flour which makes eceedingly good dumplings!

All that was left was the bones! The dish itself- very tasty! The one pan did the job. Reducing the leftovers.

Watch your prawns !

With all the talk in the news about food wastage and how much we throw away, it's been a weekend of lessons for us. Firstly, because of the hot weather, Sheri forgot to keep the access to the kitchen closed off. Having put out a large bowl of frozen prawns on the window sill to thaw out, she closed the kitchen door and went out. An hour or so later, when we got home again, there on the window ledge sat a very bloated and satisfied-looking Birman called Daisy licking her paws. Beside her was an empty bowl! We forgot to close the door to the lounge but the cat knew that by taking that route she could enter the kitchen via the serving hatch! Lesson learnt.
This weekend we decided to take an overnight stay on the boat and cruised up to Rockland Short Dyke. Very quiet, very hot and very remote. At luchtime Sheri produced a large bunch of asparagus and announced that we'd have this with lashings of butter and some bread. MMMmmm - can' wait. But then - NO. "I've forgotten the butter". In our haste to depart it was the one essential that didn't go into the cool bag. I'm never one to be outdone and resolutely announced "There's Rockland Post Office just two miles up the road. We'll get some there." This was easier said than done. It was just past midday with a clear sky. Fudge was harnessed and off we trudged along the Wherryman's Walk. Down to the staithe, onto the road and up the hill. Eventually we arrived at the PO at five-past one. "Look at the sign." Said Sheri. "It closes for lunch at one!" She wasn't wrong. Lunch 1-2 and it was five past one and the sun was baking us dry. Still resolved not to be outdone I dared to knock on the door. Mrs.Smith opened the door obviously still with a mouthful of lunch. Explaining our plight I can only say that we're so very grateful that John Smith the postmaster found it in his heart to open the shop briefly so that I could buy the necessary butter. Thanking him profusely we started the return journey at a quarter past one. So - it would take us about an hour to get back to the boat but there was just one problem. We hadn't brought a bag and in my haste to leave the shop without disturbing his lunch any further, I was carrying half a pound of butter in my hand ! Fortunately it was chilled right down and although I didn't believe we could do before it melted through my fingers, by careful manipulation, keeping it in my own shadow and holding it only by the edges, we got back to the boat and did enjoy it with asparagus in all it's melted glory. Sometimes you just have to go for it!

Where Do You Stick These ?

Gone are the days of cabbage and carrots. There's such a variety of vegetables available now it's sometimes bewildering. Celeriac, Fennel bulbs, Rocket, Khol Rabi to name but a few and now - this one which I saw for the first time at the local farm shop last weekend. Apparently you can't eat the skin which should be removed before boiling or after. Sometimes called the oyster plant, I don't know if that's something to do with the flavour! Ever tried it? What's it like? Oh - and the name - as you may be able to see on the sign - Salsify and it looks expensive. As for the shape!

Food Glorious Food!

Regular listeners will know that this week I've been away. Well, not away as in away on holiday. My holiday has been painting all the downstairs woodwork under the careful supervision of Mrs.Webb who seems well pleased with the job done. As a midweek treat, she took me (or did I take her?) for a meal out with some friends. We called on that fabulous family who run the Constantia Cottage restaurant at East Runton on the Norfolk coast just up from delightful Cromer. They've been there since BBC Radio Norfolk began so we've had parallel lives! So we're all still clinging to the wreckage.
The meal prepared by Mamma and Papa Stella and Peter was superb and the restaurant atmosphere as good as always - even with a large hen party in! We love the family dearly and if ever you fancy a good intimate and tasty night out tell them I sent you when you book in!
http://www.stocksoftware.ltd.uk/nctools/nc_linker.asp?mode=log&accountcode=AT_002272&link=www.eccentrix.com/members/thegreek/constantia_restaurant.html

Anchovy Update

I told you in a previous post (see listings) about the Anchovy Sauce at £1.34 in Sainsbury's. A good substitute for expensive Gentleman's Relish on toast.
Today I tried it over scrambled eggs. I love kedgeree anyway and this combination doesn't disappoint. I know a few of you have now made the purchase. Please let me know if it works with other tasty ingredients.

Corned Beef Hash

I've accepted a challenge by one listener to come up with my recipe for corned beef hash. Being a man of limited means (and tight!) it's a quick simple (and cheap) dish which you can easily make quite exotic. If you have any tips or a good recipe of your own for corned beef hash, do me a favour, send it to wally.webb@bbc.co.uk

School and Dinner

Big talking point on the Show this morning was about the Government proposal to make cooking compulsory in English secondary school to prevent childhood obesity.Come on! They'll provide two and a half million pounds to help pupils from poor families pay for ingredients. One e-mail I received said how their youngster was told to bring the ingredients to make a shepherd's pie - they were as follows: a tin of stewed beef in gravy, a tin of mixed vegetables and a packet of Smash instant mash !!! For goodness sake - er - no, not much goodness actually.
And on the same subject, we learnt that local authorities now make more money from charges than they do from council tax. Every time you fork out for parking controlled by them, the swimming pool and the like and - wait for - the school meals. Hey - why not let the kids take the raw ingredients to school and after they've made it - eat it for dinner?

You Saucy Anchovy

This week on the Show I've been polling the audience about breakfast preferances. The results were that as many people like Marmite on their toast as those who choose marmalade. Tea wins hands down as the morning beverage and bacon has a short lead over sausages with fried eggs rather than boiled. Corn flakes were preferred over porridge but with the latter people add all kinds of things from salt to golden syrup.
Now for a tip of my own discovered just this weekend. When it comes to money I can be as prudent as Gordon Brown but decided to splash out at the supermarket when I came across a bottle of Anchovy Sauce. A useful addition to a variety of dishes.
This morning, having just burnt some bread, I couldn't really decide what to put on it. Just butter? Marmite or marmalade? And then it came to me. You can buy what's known as "Gentleman's Relish". I had some once. I comes in a small paste pot and you spread it very thinly because it's really strong. The flavour? Anchovy!
This anchovy sauce is only £1.35 for a bottle and I simply poured it one the toast and spread it. Excellent. Just like Gentleman's Relish but far more and a quarter of the price. Don't spread the word or they'll bump the price up but do try it if you like that flavour.