(Hard Candy Christmas from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas)
I had some delicious glazed ribs this evening. If it had been yesterday (very hot and very sunny) maybe we'd have cooked them outside in the garden and eaten al fresco with the birds and the trees out back as dining companions. However, today is a rainy old day so no chance of a backwoods barbie (please feel free to groan at my very laboured attempt to weave in the name of Dolly's latest album and accompanying tour...did we mention we were going to see her on Saturday?)
Anyway, the ribs. Juicy, sweet and salty deliciousness combined with a slight crispness round the edges. Charlotte has promised to reveal her secret recipe for these shortly, so come back soon.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
A little bit of what you fancy does you good
I watched a dramatisation of the life of East End lass Marie Lloyd last night. Marie Lloyd, if you don't know, was one of the greatest English music hall singers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, whose songs were rife with double entendre, e.g. "she'd never had her ticket punched before" wink, wink!
As one of her most famous songs states "a little bit of fancy does you good", a view that I hold very true to my heart, certainly when it comes to food. And, if the recent Victorian episode of the excellent The Supersizers Go... (featuring our superb Sapphic sister Sue Perkins and honorary heterosexual hottie, Giles Coran) was anything to go by, then those Victorians certainly had a lot of what they fancied. To find out more about the era, read Tipping the Velvet, it's fabulous and
adds another dimension to eating oysters!
So I thought I would share my very fanciable recipe for roast potatoes with you, guaranteed to make you fancy more that just a little bit.
Heat up some goose or duck fat in a roasting tin in a pre-heated oven. Cut some King Edward or Heritage potatoes three ways (so each potato has three edges) and then par-boil for five minutes in hot salted water. Drain and then add a little cornmeal or dried polenta to the saucepan (1 teaspoon) along with salt and pepper and some rosemary and then shake the pan as so to loosen the edges of the potatoes. Place the potatoes one by one in the hot fat, making sure there is good space between each of them and cook for 30 - 35 minutes.
Your tatties should come out crisp and golden on the outside and delectably fluffy on the inside. Fancy that?
On another note and another era, check out the Supersizers Go Seventies. A time when we worshipped at the altar of Angel Delight and had an uncharacteristic, but definite fear of Fanny (Fanny Cradock that is)!
As one of her most famous songs states "a little bit of fancy does you good", a view that I hold very true to my heart, certainly when it comes to food. And, if the recent Victorian episode of the excellent The Supersizers Go... (featuring our superb Sapphic sister Sue Perkins and honorary heterosexual hottie, Giles Coran) was anything to go by, then those Victorians certainly had a lot of what they fancied. To find out more about the era, read Tipping the Velvet, it's fabulous and
adds another dimension to eating oysters!
So I thought I would share my very fanciable recipe for roast potatoes with you, guaranteed to make you fancy more that just a little bit.
Heat up some goose or duck fat in a roasting tin in a pre-heated oven. Cut some King Edward or Heritage potatoes three ways (so each potato has three edges) and then par-boil for five minutes in hot salted water. Drain and then add a little cornmeal or dried polenta to the saucepan (1 teaspoon) along with salt and pepper and some rosemary and then shake the pan as so to loosen the edges of the potatoes. Place the potatoes one by one in the hot fat, making sure there is good space between each of them and cook for 30 - 35 minutes.
Your tatties should come out crisp and golden on the outside and delectably fluffy on the inside. Fancy that?
On another note and another era, check out the Supersizers Go Seventies. A time when we worshipped at the altar of Angel Delight and had an uncharacteristic, but definite fear of Fanny (Fanny Cradock that is)!
Dolly Dinners: A cup of ambition
Nine to five
Now I'm not stuck in the rigours of a nine to five routine, my ambition for today was to take myself into town, sample some more culinary delights and spend some time at Mediatheque on the Southbank. Here you can view the BFI's film archives for free and it's great place to spend some spare time, as the archive has over 1000 titles right at your fingertips, including such gems as Abigail's Party, the Wicker Man (original version naturally) and a whole host of gay films and TV programmes.
However, my plans have been thrown into disarray as I have pulled what seems like a nerve in my back, and so am housebound. So, I will throw my energy into consuming the tasty breakfast muffins I made the other day, along with my cup of ambition (pictured) and catching up on viewing my DVD collection.
Speaking of ambition, what are yours? Here's just a few of mine:
1. To take a road trip from Santa Fe to San Francisco, taking in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA and Highway 1 on the way - My ambition was further quenched by the advertising launch we attended the other day, hosted by Amro Holidays, the gay owned travel company. They've launched a new US campaign on the tube network, specifically at Leicester Sq and Covent Garden stations. Take a look the next time you go up the escalator and maybe do a bit of cruising to see who else is checking it out! We will do the trip in time...just need to stock up on Valium to cope with the flights!
2. Wipe out homophobia - we live in hope, but doesn't it seem to be getting worse?
3. Run my own deli or become a food writer - a long term ambition, but it would be great. All that fine food and being able to talk about it as my job.
4. Write a book - either something set in the Studio 54 days or a wartime lesbian love story.
5. Meet Dolly Parton - What else can I say....she is a goddess!
Now I'm not stuck in the rigours of a nine to five routine, my ambition for today was to take myself into town, sample some more culinary delights and spend some time at Mediatheque on the Southbank. Here you can view the BFI's film archives for free and it's great place to spend some spare time, as the archive has over 1000 titles right at your fingertips, including such gems as Abigail's Party, the Wicker Man (original version naturally) and a whole host of gay films and TV programmes.
However, my plans have been thrown into disarray as I have pulled what seems like a nerve in my back, and so am housebound. So, I will throw my energy into consuming the tasty breakfast muffins I made the other day, along with my cup of ambition (pictured) and catching up on viewing my DVD collection.
Speaking of ambition, what are yours? Here's just a few of mine:
1. To take a road trip from Santa Fe to San Francisco, taking in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA and Highway 1 on the way - My ambition was further quenched by the advertising launch we attended the other day, hosted by Amro Holidays, the gay owned travel company. They've launched a new US campaign on the tube network, specifically at Leicester Sq and Covent Garden stations. Take a look the next time you go up the escalator and maybe do a bit of cruising to see who else is checking it out! We will do the trip in time...just need to stock up on Valium to cope with the flights!
2. Wipe out homophobia - we live in hope, but doesn't it seem to be getting worse?
3. Run my own deli or become a food writer - a long term ambition, but it would be great. All that fine food and being able to talk about it as my job.
4. Write a book - either something set in the Studio 54 days or a wartime lesbian love story.
5. Meet Dolly Parton - What else can I say....she is a goddess!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Dolly Dinners: Touch Your Woman Tuna Sandwich
Touch Your Woman, Dolly Parton
We had a delicious lunch last Sunday after our Sainsbury's shopping spree, which involved making a very special tuna sandwich.
Take two slices of brown or granary bread. It must be brown or granary, white bread just doesn't cut it with a tuna sandwich, unless it's a toasted tuna melt. Actually, I'm a bit anal about which bread goes with what food, i.e. toast with marmite has to be on white bread, but toast with peanut butter has to be on brown. I'm the same with the container from which I drink my tea. It must be a bone china cup. Mugs are only good for soup and coffee.
Anyway....Take two slices of brown bread and do not butter the bread (another thing I am anal about, butter only suits toast). In a bowl mix one tin of tuna with a little mayo, chopped celery, chopped red pepper, gherkin and spring onion. Bind with a little Tabasco sauce and spread over the bread. Slice down the middle and consume.
It certainly has a little bit of bite and a definite kick, guaranteed to touch your woman's taste buds!
We had a delicious lunch last Sunday after our Sainsbury's shopping spree, which involved making a very special tuna sandwich.
Take two slices of brown or granary bread. It must be brown or granary, white bread just doesn't cut it with a tuna sandwich, unless it's a toasted tuna melt. Actually, I'm a bit anal about which bread goes with what food, i.e. toast with marmite has to be on white bread, but toast with peanut butter has to be on brown. I'm the same with the container from which I drink my tea. It must be a bone china cup. Mugs are only good for soup and coffee.
Anyway....Take two slices of brown bread and do not butter the bread (another thing I am anal about, butter only suits toast). In a bowl mix one tin of tuna with a little mayo, chopped celery, chopped red pepper, gherkin and spring onion. Bind with a little Tabasco sauce and spread over the bread. Slice down the middle and consume.
It certainly has a little bit of bite and a definite kick, guaranteed to touch your woman's taste buds!
Dolly Dinners: Front Porch Punch
My Tennessee Mountain Home, Dolly Parton
Sittin' on the front porch on a summer afternoon...
Chance would be a fine thing. Our front garden is a building site at the moment and since there's a ten foot drop from our front door, we can't enter our home, unless we go round the back.
Hopefully this will explain why we broke our promise to begin talking about our week of Dolly Dinners on Sunday, leaving you with just a couple of pavlova puppies as a teaser. Sometimes, when your home is in upheaval, your life feels that way too, don't you agree? That's why this evening I asked Charlotte to transpose her kitchen creativity onto the TV-stand-cum-drinks-trolley we keep in our dining room and mix me up a cocktail to distract me from the mess outside.
So now I've got a tall glass of red sunset coloured crushed ice. Apparently my drink contains strawberries and mangoes, but I've not been told what spirit. It's rum probably and it's deceptively strong and already doing the trick. I'd better be careful not to enjoy this too much or I might forget and decide to pop out the front door for something later and have a nasty accident.
I look forward to drinking this again when our front porch is finally built and I can sit there on a summer afternoon, imagining that I'm in Dolly's famous song. But do we get junebugs or fireflies in South London?
Sittin' on the front porch on a summer afternoon...
Chance would be a fine thing. Our front garden is a building site at the moment and since there's a ten foot drop from our front door, we can't enter our home, unless we go round the back.
Hopefully this will explain why we broke our promise to begin talking about our week of Dolly Dinners on Sunday, leaving you with just a couple of pavlova puppies as a teaser. Sometimes, when your home is in upheaval, your life feels that way too, don't you agree? That's why this evening I asked Charlotte to transpose her kitchen creativity onto the TV-stand-cum-drinks-trolley we keep in our dining room and mix me up a cocktail to distract me from the mess outside.
So now I've got a tall glass of red sunset coloured crushed ice. Apparently my drink contains strawberries and mangoes, but I've not been told what spirit. It's rum probably and it's deceptively strong and already doing the trick. I'd better be careful not to enjoy this too much or I might forget and decide to pop out the front door for something later and have a nasty accident.
I look forward to drinking this again when our front porch is finally built and I can sit there on a summer afternoon, imagining that I'm in Dolly's famous song. But do we get junebugs or fireflies in South London?
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