May 2017 Favourites List

Another month has passed by and it is already time for another favourites list. May has raced by, bringing with it colour, warmth and opportunities for new food, new cooking, new recipes. Spring has brought with it wild garlic, asparagus, Jersey Royal new potatoes, Spring lamb among other treats. 

I have been thinking about food waste recently. It’s very sad that so much food in the western world gets thrown away. Food waste in the home means families are paying more for food than they need to spend. Simple tweaks like recipe planning or buying smaller amounts of food might help prevent this. Savings can be made, particularly on fresh fruit and vegetables bought in excess. Cooking larger dishes at the weekend to freeze for busy weeknights can help avoid ingredient wastage and save time when we have none. With food prices on the rise (and due to increase further), better planning, greater efficiency, ensuring we use everything we buy will help our wages go further. 

But this is a small part of the food waste problem. Commerce must accept the giant’s share of responsibility here. If you buy a sandwich when you’re at work, did you know that some sandwich manufacturers have to throw out 4 slices out of every loaf because the bread won’t make a perfect sandwich? The shops they make sandwiches for require it. What about the misshapen, so-called “ugly” fruit and veg? This doesn’t even make it to the shops to give us the choice of whether we want it or not. It is simply discarded. 

I think we all could do a bit better. Myself included. I’ve been known to pick things up in the shops which looked good at the time, but never quite got finished. I’ve realised shopping when hungry is a bad, bad idea. I’m sharpening up my menu/recipe planning to avoid less.

We can all use a small amount of thought and a tiny amount of effort which will benefit the environment and save us money. Let’s get to it!

Recipes:

A beautiful cakey bread to use up unused, browning, bruised and unattractive bananas… or you can do what my friend does, and buy the overripe bananas especially to make this lovely Banana Bread: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bananabread_85720

Now is the time for Jersey Royal potatoes. Here are two recipes from former Masterchef winner, Thomasina Miers: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/19/jersey-royal-potato-recipes-salad-smoked-trout-cervelle-de-canut-spinach-galette-thomasina-miers

New post from Cookwitch! Persian Khoresh from Sabrina Ghayour (author of Persiana) and some thoughts on food and cooking in general: http://cookwitch.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/sabrina-ghayours-khoresh-e-ghormeh-sabzi.html

No pretty picture, but this pork belly rib recipe from Glynn Parnell is highly likely to be cooked Chez Nous: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/14846352.Cook_these__Three_recipes_from_the____Roger_Federer____of_British_cooking__Glynn_Purnell/

Russian kebab recipe from gifted food writer Diana Henry, whose recipes I love to cook: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/russian-shashlik-rhubarb-sauce

This vegetarian pea risotto is a traditionally Venetian dish. To make it authentic, use vialone nano risotto rice from the Veneto region of Italy: http://boroughmarket.org.uk/recipes/pea-risotto

Chicken, morel mushroom and asparagus pie. A bottomless pie for ease of preparation and cooking: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-morel-mushroom-asparagus-one-pan-pie

This Malaysian dish looks utterly delicious. Time to buy some more glass noodles! http://goodthingsmagazine.com/spicy-minced-chicken-lemongrass-parcels/

Cool new bau "burger" recipe with braised beef from Chef Jeremy Pang (School of Wok, now Cha Chaan Teng) at the Kavey Eats blog! https://www.kaveyeats.com/2017/05/cha-chaan-tengs-braised-beef-short-rib-bao-burger.html

 

Dishoom is a brilliant place for tasty Indian food, inspired by Bombay's disappearing Irani cafes - here is their "gunpowder" potato recipe: http://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/chef-recipes/dishooms-gunpowder-potatoes/

My jeans are fitting a little *too* snugly... so time to go back to the 5:2 diet... Warm chicken and pearl barley salad, only 383 calories. http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/533986/warm-chicken-and-barley-salad

Cornish pasty recipe from the Hairy Bikers: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/396158/Hairy-Bikers--The-People-s-Cornish-pasty

Articles/Know How:

In the UK we throw away 1.4 million (1,400,000) bananas a year. Because they're going brown on the outside. Seriously, people, this has to stop. End food waste! https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-ways-use-ripe-bananas

Want to know where to get the best Burmese food in London? Check out MiMi Aye's article here: https://www.justopenedlondon.com/the-best-burmese-restaurants-in-london/

Ranty, sweary and NSFW, this is an interesting hatchet job on high end restaurants and chef worship. http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/down-with-chef-worship-1795061446

What you might have missed at Snig's Kitchen:

Recipe blog post - Tuna and bean salad (tuna fagioli): http://snigskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/tuna-and-bean-salad-tuna-fagioli.html

Recipe blog post - Snig's Veggie San Choi Bau: http://snigskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/snigs-veggie-san-choi-bau.html

 

Film:

Room

Animal Kingdom

Dara & Ed’s Road To Mandalay

TV:

Line Of Duty (Season 4)

The Doors – The Story Of LA Woman

David Bowie – Five Years

Decline And Fall

Music:

Robbie Robertson (Robbie Robertson)

Dial M For Monkey – Bonobo

Please note: as with every monthly Favourites List, all of these items have been selected by me simply because I love them. I do not receive any money, benefits in kind or other incentive for posting these links or recommendations.