Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients; when you’ve assembled them, making the Christmas pud is easy – and immensely rewarding. Just don’t expect to eat it the same year you make it – it’s better if allowed to mature for a year or more in repeated doses of booze.
Asda and Leiths Star Topped Mince Pies
So easy to make, far more delicious than ready-made and hugely satisfying – from the calm, therapeutic effect of making the pastry to wolfing them down while they are still warm. They keep well in an air tight tin – if you can wait that long.
Cha Cha Moon’s Christmas menu
I know it’s only November and you might not like having to face it just yet, but the time has come to talk about Christmas and more specifically, Christmas menus. Luckily for you though, dear reader, I am easing you in, as my first assignment of the festive season involves no turkey, no stuffing and no cranberry sauce. In fact, it contains virtually no discernible elements of Christmas at all…
James Street South – Belfast
Life outside London. David J Constable goes over the water to find that burgers and ribs are okay for jaded Londoners but in other places skill, ingredients and an interest in real restuarant food still thrives. And with a strong Northern Irish accent.
Hungary? Eat some Goulash.
With winter nights setting in, serious comfort food is required. Time and time again I resort back to this slow cooked Hungarian favourite. Goulash with its warming paprika, meltingly tender beef and satisfying thick sauce is about as good as it gets as the nights grow longer.
May the Forza Win(ter) be with you
Forza Win(ter) being more of a supper club than pop-up restaurant means that you sit on communal tables of ten and there’s no choice of food. Instead a big pan of fonduta is placed onto a hotplate in the middle of the table, which you then ladle into bowls and eat with the roasted vegetables and meats, as and when they arrive.
No need to knead – Suzanne Dunaway
Kneading is the bit most home bread-makers fall down on – it’s such very hard work. Sure you can use the bread hook on the mixer but, unless you’ve paid for something serious like a KitchenAid, the thing will dance all over the worktop and probably won’t last ten minutes before emitting a smell of burning wires as a prelude to bursting into flames.
Foodepedia interviews Vivek Singh
Snaffling yet another of Cinnamon Kitchen’s smoky-as-you-like lamb seekh kebabs wrapped in roomali roti, I give silent thanks yet again that Vivek Singh decided to defy family expectation and become a chef rather than an engineer. He’s looking pretty relaxed, drink in hand, as he launches ‘Cinnamon Kitchen: The Cookbook’. So what, besides working a shift on the tandoor, gets the convivial chef all fired up?
Roti Chai Monday Supperclubs
To mark its first birthday, Roti Chai is hosting a series of Monday evening Supper Clubs in its Dining Room with the emphasis firmly on having some fun.
Four Shades Of Rioja
Say the name’Rioja’ and an image of the densest red wine comes to mind, barrel aged, intensely fruity and unmistakably Iberian; but this most famous region of Spanish wine production is far from monotone. We took a look at a white, a pink and of course, a couple of contrasting red Riojas to see what’s currently available.