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Coffee relief

A big gamble! Ordering a decent coffee in a supermarket cafe. I have given up ordering an Americano because it is always too weak and bland, so took a real risk and ordered a double espresso macchiato. Normally this is quite a tester because the point is there is no milk in the espresso, merely foamed milk on top.

I wasn't too optimistic when the barista asked me which size of cup I thought would be best, and he then made a careful read of the description on the board, just to make sure he could remember what one was...

...but it tasted fine. Relief! No milk in the espresso, nice foam on top. Well done lad.

The Kitchen and the Kingdom of God

The Kitchen, for me at least, is a place where I find the Kingdom of God. Jesus seems to have thought similarly, with parables of yeast and several parties.

I've just spent an hour or two trying a new recipe which I am thinking of using for a big meal in one of the villages in February, so one strand of the Kingdom of God is certainly found in the preparation of an act of service. I'm not sure if a Vegetable Biryani (from scratch of course) will be quite right, but this trial run will at least let us sample the flavour when everybody gets back for lunch in a few minutes.

Another strand is the doing of something simple. My head has been refining things to say at midnight and Christmas morning; looking at what I might have said a couple of years ago and seeing those bits which no longer hit the mark (were people really that worked up about the Gospel of Thomas that I had to refer to it at Midnight Communion?), and there's this whole matter of trying to judge exactly what people are thinking and experiencing in the Great Recession of 2008 - is it just a lot of brave faces?

But there is also the cherry on the knickerbocker glory - the delight of using the beauty and complexity of the abundance of creation to make something that tastes...just right.

Apologies for my cookery joke on Sunday morning - the Incarnation is nothing at all to do with a brand of evaporated milk (groan), but the Word made flesh somehow gives the making of something like a veggie curry a place of honour in the important things of life....

A pretty decent breakfast

Home-made porridge with maple syrup and a pot of fresh coffee...

Cooking on a day off

Chance to get in the kitchen for a while. First up a Sri Lankan chicken curry - nice and mild with lots of coconut milk.

In about 20 minutes the bread machine will 'ping' - a lovely aroma already.

And then on with a Frittata, part of trying to eat a bit more veg.

Bon appetit!!

Look, I don't mean to boast, but...

I have just made a steak sandwich to die for...

Rib eye steak, with salt and pepper, then 4 minutes per side in a pan (I prefer groundnut oil).

Meanwhile bit of stilton and butter, lemon juice and herbs (if you have them) all mixed together.

Toast, slice the steak, blob of butter and some nice peppery salad...

...and a thing of beauty to savour.

Hairy Bakers

Have been loving the news series of the Hairy Bakers. Two lovely quotes in last week's episode (currently watching it on iPlayer).

Whilst making short pastry in a mixer the correct consistency was described as looking like the floor of a budgie's cage.

Then they sprinkled flakes almonds onto the top of a Bakewell Tart and it was said to look like the floor of a chiropodist's surgery.

I am unable to repeat the Viagra joke from the week before....

I like my sweet sweet and my savoury savoury...

I am always being teased in this house because of my preference for savoury food to taste savoury (generally no fruit in it). I picked up a red cabbage in the supermarket the other day and realised I was walking into a bit of a kitchen calamity, because all the recipes I could find involved apple. Apples are fine; toffee apples and apple crumble, yummy, but not in a savoury dish thank you very much.

So I experimented and wey-hey magic our Morris.

Just for the two of us...

A small onion chopped and softened in butter, then about a third of the red cabbage finely chopped, some red wine vinegar and brown sugar (for a proper sweet and sour tang) then some cardamom pods (a bitter depth) and a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes (some heat). Leave it to cook really slowly for about 45 minutes with a lid on. Bingo.

PS I wonder if it looks like red cabbage when a Bishop has a lobotomy.

The F Word

Gordon Ramsay makes the news again (as if he wasn't everywhere already).

Protesters are up in arms because he cooked horse meat on a TV show.
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I recall years ago being taken to a friend's favourite restaurant in France. The speciality was tartare (that is raw meat served with herbs and sauces). The sight of a couple out for a romantic meal for two sharing a bowl of raw steak seemed somewhat strange to my Anglo-Saxon eyes. However as I cast my eyes down the menu I remember reading cheval tartare, and I honestly spent a couple of seconds thinking to myself...

"That's funny. When I was at school cheval meant horse"...and then of course it dawned on me that it still did!