Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all (all five of you reading the blog...)! I hope it's a wonderful long weekend full of family, friends, and of course lots of glorious food. Plans here in London are shaping up nicely. The turkey will be ready to be picked up on Saturday morning from the butcher and I've got my menu planned and the shopping list drawn up. Besides the traditional Italian Christmas turkey, we're having an Ottolenghi salad and their delectable broccoli recipe in addition to some cute croquette canapés and a friend's to-die-for 'pumpkin' butternut squash pie. I'll report back! Enjoy your meals everyone!

Anyone eating something exotic? I have a friend whose mother is steaming crab. Wonderfully inspired and gets my thumbs up.

Canapé Chic

First, just so you all can relax, I've found bags of 100g of star anise - for only 60p. You may all breathe a sigh of relief. My saviour? Longdan supermarket, 25 Hackney Road, E2 7NX. I love you guys...

Now, onto the subject of this post. Thanks to a college friend who sent this to me this week with the only text of the email being, "Me want."



And here's the link: Party Accessory: Fingerfood Plates from FRED (www.thekitchn.com)

They're pretty stupid, I have to say. I know the whole drinks and canapés thing is a bit awkward, but having to balance food on my finger would be even worse! Think if you suddenly forgot about your accessory when your conversation got a bit animated (especially for those of us who talk with our hands) and you flung a bacon roll onto some lady's silk dress?

Also, just randomly I found this:
London Gastrowalks

Looks kind of fun.

staring... anise!

OK, who knew that it is impossible to find star anise on the Tottenham High Road?! I mean, WTF? Doesn't anyone appreciate the glorious taste of liquorice? Not even flavouring could be found! I realise that star anise is a Chinese thing, but seriously now... They have nigella seed and sumac coming out their ears in these shops, but no anise!

Good news is that our local, wonderful butcher (as mentioned in the previous post) is now open on Sundays. Now that's just awesome.

Off to cook an entire meal out of the New York Times Jewish Cookbook, a substantial tome of over 800 recipes that I highly recommend.

Turkey

Amusing moment of the day:

I walk into my local butcher shop on Tottenham High Road (a traditional English establishment with wood shavings scattered on the floor, run by three or four men in white coats and pink, plump, smiling, mischievous faces) and the main guy smiles and says, without saying hello, "Isn't it about time to order your turkey for Thanksgiving?" Slightly stunned that he has remembered this for the forth year in a row, I stopped and replied that yes, it was about time. I told him the date of my dinner and he instructed me to come by the week before and it would be fine.

It's nice to know that you can still have these kind of interactions, even in the biggest city in Europe. I know he's just looking for business, but that takes some skill to remember! I guess in my neighborhood of African, Turkish, Eastern European and Roma immigrants, I'm probably the only American in the area. Or at least the only one who wants to buy my turkey unfrozen, free range and from the local butcher. Let's hear it for local shops.

More on my recent trip to the States with some foodie recommendations coming soon.

Wishing I was here...

Could there be anything as desirable as spending a morning at the Santa Monica Farmers Market?
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-sm-farmers-market-pg,0,4438445.photogallery

OK, maybe the Mountain View Farmers Market? :-)



Also, el Día de los Muertos is coming up, so check out this special from the LA Times on yummy things to cook at this time of year. Bring on the pan de muertos!

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-halloween-recipes-pictures,0,7983260.photogallery

Photo from the LA Times by Ricardo DeAratanha

How to cater a Roman orgy

It's been a while, but I miss posting the weird and the wonderful of the press about food. Thanks to a friend for the following.


The Atlantic: How to cater a Roman orgy. By Corky White

Enjoy.

This is kind of cool too:

Tutti fruity

If you're in the UK, check out Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour this week. It's up for a few more days. It's all music based on the theme of fruit!

Thursday 26 March 2009 - Theme Time Radio Hour - BBC Radio 2

A sea of double entendres... Don't squeeze my peaches!

My worst nightmare

A friend had this posted on their gmail:

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

I think I'm not going to sleep well tonight.

It's the cheese

As I sit here contentedly digesting some French cheese I bought in Paris yesterday (Tomme Fermière):

Apparently Bush put a 300% tax on Roquefort imported to the USA?! Repeal, repeal!
Video: French anger at US cheese tax - BBC News Online

More in French food news... Norway wins the Bocuse d'Or, kind of the Olympics of cooking.
Norway Wins Bocuse d'Or Competition - NYTimes.com

I ate at Chez Janou in Paris this weekend (check out the film they made on their site). For the entrée I had Toastades de Saint Nectaire (two generous slices of crusty bread smothered in melted Saint Nectaire cheese, surrounded by a salad) and for a main I had an extremely tender leg of lamb with the biggest heap of mashed potatoes I've ever seen - they also happened to be exquisitely creamy with a bit of garlic. This was surrounded by various red wines. Their crème brulée was not very good - 'like scrambled eggs' was what a few people said - but they also had chocolate mousse on the 'honor system'. You are served a huge bowl enough to serve an army and then are expected to take a reasonable serving for yourself. A round of exotic liqueurs was ordered and sampled and we were then given a smooth melon liqueur on the house. Prices are reasonable, the portions generous, so the next time you're in Paris, check this place out. It's cozy and in the classy 3rd arrondissement.

Other things I consumed in Paris: croque monsieur, the best hot chocolate ever, rucola salad with chicken gizzard, quiche lorraine, croissants, and confit de canard.

Obamalove

This sorely neglected blog needs some work, but today is Inauguration Day, so I thought I'd make a small effort. We celebrated here by watching it live and then eating a great meal of guacamole, artichoke dip, clam chowder, pear-goat cheese and pine nut salad, banana cream pie and cupcakes. I was tickled to see that my alma mater was serving the following menu in the dining rooms tonight!

John F. Kennedy's New England "Clam Chowda;"
Obama Hawaiian Burgers;
The Bush Family Zuni Stew;
Jimmy Carter's Homemade Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges;
George H.W. Bush's Favorite Fresh Broccoli;
Bill Clinton's Avocado & Tomatoes with Tropical Fruit Salsa;
Malia & Sasha Obama's Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream
Ronald Reagan's Jelly Beans

Bring on the new era. I'm ready.