May 2020 Favourites List

Hello readers!

Another month has gone by. We are still in lockdown here in the UK. Things are slowly easing, but it is a slow process. 

As a result, I don't have much new to say about what I've been up to lately. Online teaching, online supervision, university academic admin, cooking, enjoying music, time spent in the garden, distracting myself with TV and on demand box sets, these have been what I've occupied myself with this past month.

Students are preparing their assessments for hand in. Tomorrow is a big deadline. So I wish them all the best of luck with their option opinions. After that, marking season will begin for me. 

Please spare a thought for my students. Their exams which were due in March and April have been deferred to August. It means they have had to re-plan their year, and recalibrate their way of working and learning. Along with all the stresses and anxieties the Coronavirus pandemic has brought, I think this is a big challenge for them. I am wishing them every success in their endeavours. 

We are slowly beginnning the process of reopening in the UK. There will be adjustments to make. Things will feel strange as we move forward. We need to hold onto hope and do our best to help each other through it all.

I hope you enjoy my photos this month. They are some pretty flowers from my garden and those of my neighbours. I only took pictures of front gardens from a safe distance. I hope you also find some useful recommendations, reads and food for thought here. 

Stay safe!

Food writing and articles: 

Foodie films: 14 of the best food and cooking movies to get the popcorn or nachos out for https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/review/best-food-cooking-movies

Musician Anoushka Shankar shares her food and music memories in a fascinating interview:
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/apr/18/anoushka-shankar-dad-ravi-dal-never-cook

What to read if you want to understand food production and sustainability. A guest post by Anna Sulan Masing at Kavey Eats:
https://www.kaveyeats.com/2020/04/understanding-food-production-and-sustainability-what-to-read.html

Restaurants will never be the same after coronavirus – but that may be a good thing: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/14/coronavirus-restaurants-pandemic-workers-communities-prices

What's in season in May? Asparagus, Jersey Royal potatoes, lamb, rocket, chicory and watercress: 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/seasons/may


Can't find flour in the shops? Don't worry, you can still make cakes and biscuits without it! https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-flourless-baking-recipes

Love noodles? Here is a virtual museum visit with a difference, visiting the Cup Noodle Museum and making a bespoke cup noodle package: https://youtu.be/YDFGU2G5akg

Five foodie podcasts for Lockdown:

https://www.olivemagazine.com/guides/olive-podcast-lockdown-special/

 


Recipes:  

David Atherton's recipe for banana upside down bread:https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/apr/30/david-athertons-recipe-for-banana-upside-down-bread

Dishoom's Gunpowder potato recipe, vegetarian friendly spicy potatoes: https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/dishoom-gunpowder-potatoes/

Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes for Sunday lunch, Roast chicken with creamy garlic and peppercorn sauce, Radish and horseradish salad, Hazelnut roly-poly with lemon custard: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/apr/25/yotam-ottolenghi-sunday-lunch-recipes-garlic-chicken-lettuce-horseradish-salad-roly-poly-custard

Lamb neck stew with rosemary suet dumplings:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lambstewwithrosemary_90363

Simple storecupboard ingredients make this salad as a meal, Orzo, bean and tuna salad: https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/quick-and-easy/orzo-bean-tuna-salad/


What you might have missed at Snig's Kitchen

No fry oven baked "fried" chicken recipe: https://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/05/no-fry-oven-baked-fried-chicken.html

Baking a basic white bread loaf: https://snigskitchen.tumblr.com/post/616746446723661824/baking-a-basic-white-bread-loaf-675g-strong-white

Dr Adam Rutherford’s brunch hack: https://snigskitchen.tumblr.com/post/616658548365164544/dr-adam-rutherfords-brunch-hack-adam-rutherford

My other writings:


The government's Furlough scheme: a guide for workers and employees, by me, on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: https://www.city.ac.uk/news/2020/may/the-furlough-scheme-a-guide-for-workers-and-employees

The (Not So) Lonely Litigator's Club (number 20), the law lecturer's view: https://www.civillitigationbrief.com/2020/05/10/the-not-so-lonely-litigators-club-20-snigdha-nag-the-law-lecturers-view/

Music:

Neil Young - After The Gold Rush

The The - Dusk

Thom Yorke - Anima

Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters


TV: 

The Fall (Seasons 1, 2 and 3)

Line of Duty (Seasons 1 to 5)

Film: 

The Lunchbox (Available for free for 12 days. here are no fights (DISHOOM!) or song and dance numbers. But this is a heartfelt film about food, loneliness and connecting with others in a big city. Oh, and Tiffin boxes.) https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04d1ls3/the-lunchbox

A Room With A View (Available for 6 days: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/a-room-with-a-view

Hidden Figures

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. 

No fry oven baked "fried" chicken drumsticks

Fried chicken is always delicious. But the frying makes a mess, makes the kitchen smell, and sometimes you don't want that in the house. Wanting to explore an alternative was the reason behind trying to make a no fry version of fried chicken.  

I received a request for this recipe after posting a photo of the finished dish on social media. It was a bit of an experiment, which is why there are no step-by-step photos.

Panko breadcrumbs are Japanese breadcrumbs which are light, large and fluffy. You can get them in Japanese grocers and many Chinese grocers too (many have a "Japanese corner"). If you have never cooked with them, they are rather wonderful, and they are, to me, the best breadcrumbs you can buy.

Some people's eyebrows might be raised by the use of Asian chicken bouillon. It really is a hero ingredient. We are using a Knorr Vietnamese bouillon right now. But Ajinomoto make a Japanese chicken bouillon which is available in See Woo and other far eastern grocers. Unless you actually have a tested, provable allergy to MSG, the chances are you are not going to be adversely affected by it. In fact, it is used to flavour many mass produced food items, including Pringles crisps. You have probably been eating it for years without realising it.

MSG has been unfairly demonised, and the academic studies suggest, for the vast majority of people, it has no harmful effects. Perhaps that is a matter for a blog post of the future. I spent a very illuminating day going through the many scientific papers reviewing the evidence after the initial, purely anecdotal and non-scientific paper by Dr RHM Kwok in New England Journal of Medicine in 1968. Such a paper would not now be accepted by a contemporary medical/scientific/academic journal today.

If you are still worried, please note that the glutamic acid which is the basis of MSG is naturally occurring in some of the most delicious and umami rich foods: seaweed, aged parmesan, anchovies, miso, cured meats and ripe tomatoes.

If you refuse to entertain the use of Asian chicken bouillon, then perhaps you could use Marigold organic vegetarian bouillon. Or perhaps you might add a little more salt. 

No fry oven baked "fried" chicken drumsticks

Ingredients:

5-6 chicken drumsticks, skin on

1 egg

5 tablespoons plain flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Asian chicken bouillon (or Marigold veggie bouillon)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

20g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C for a fan oven. Usually that means 20 degrees C higher for a non fan oven, but you may need to be more diligent about checking during the cooking at 210 degrees C.

2. Crack the egg and beat into a bowl large enough to fit a single chicken drumstick, and set aside.

3. On a large plate, place the flour, salt, paprika, bouillon powder, pepper and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly. 

4. Take the butter and melt in a foil lined baking tray with sides (or similar) in your preheated oven. Remove from the oven when melted. Don't burn the butter. 

5. Take each chicken drumstick, wipe dry with a piece of kitchen paper or a scrupulously clean tea towel, coat in the egg, and roll around the breadcrumb mix. Place on a clean dry plate.

6. When they are all coated in egg and breadcrumbs, put on the baking tray sitting in the melted butter, and place it in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes, then turn. Then cook another 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!