August 2021 favourites list

This month's photos are from a yarnbombing I found a few months ago. I loved the exuberance and cheeky creativity of them, so I photographed them all. Located near the garden centre in Catford, you can see where they got the inspiration for the knitted planters from! They seemed even more cheerful in the sunshine.

Some years ago street art was just dismissed as vandalism. But I think attitudes have shifted, and we see how they improve the urban environment. Guerrilla gardening with a touch of yarnbombing might just be the next level?

I hope you enjoy this month's list and photos.

Food writing and articles: 

What's in season in August? https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/whats-in-season-august

Kavey on the subject of the intensely sour and utterly delectable taste of tamarind: https://www.kaveyeats.com/a-taste-for-tamarind

Chef share their cooking tips from choc chip cookies to roasted veggies and mashed potatoes: https://www.insider.com/chef-tips-for-recipes-everyone-should-know-how-to-make-2021-6

 

Nowadays beans and pulses are recognised as a healthy source of protein and fibre. But once upon a time, it was thought they induced lust and libido. https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/when-beans-were-the-food-of-lust/

We imagine Sylvia Plath hunched over her typewriter writing poems in her unique style. But she was also a keen cook who typed up her own recipes with great care on index cards. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sylvia-plath-recipes

 

“Steakhouse butter” is a simple way of fancying up grilled or barbecued steak. Here’s how: https://lifehacker.com/how-to-make-steakhouse-butter-at-home-1847102251

Cooking tips which go beyond fixed recipes: https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahloewentheil/best-cooking-tips-according-to-chefs

Kavey on the subject of the intensely sour and utterly delectable taste of tamarind: https://www.kaveyeats.com/a-taste-for-tamarind

 

Recipes:

Kala Channa (or black chick peas) have an ultra nutty flavour. Here’s a black chickpea hummus recipe to ring the changes: https://aahaaramonline.com/black-chickpea-hummus/

For my friends who are growing their own tomatoes, a puff pastry tomato tart with caramelised onions: https://frugalflexitarian.com/tomato-tart-with-puff-pastry/

Heidi Swanson’s Vaghareli Makai – while summery sweetcorn is abundant: https://highgatehillkitchen.com/2015/10/15/heidi-swansons-vaghareli-makai-makhaniya-lassi/

 

Korean inspired cheeseburgers, ginger lime chicken, salmon and couscous salad with cucumber-feta dressing, salad pizza with white beans and parmesan, and yo po mian (oil sprinked noodles) with pak choi: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/week-meal-ideas-summer-burger-b1856872.html

With lavender in bloom, you might want to make use of these fragrant and edible flowers: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/recipes/lavender-shortbread

 

Tacos Norteños with chunky guacamole: https://food52.com/recipes/86188-best-tacos-nortenos-recipe

Nigel Slater’s recipes for couscous with apricots and mint, and mozzarella with tomatoes and parmesan: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/aug/08/nigel-slaters-recipes-for-couscous-with-apricots-and-mozzarella-with-tomatoes

A “no knead” onion bread for home baking fans. https://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2021/01/quick-no-knead-onion-bread-no-yeast.html

Film:

Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads)

TV:

Time

Ghosts (series 1, series 2, Christmas special)

Music:

Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

Thom Yorke – The Eraser 

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.  

July 2021 Favourites list

 Dear Readers,

Please excuse me this month. For personal reasons which I don’t wish to elaborate upon, I won’t be sharing a summary of my thoughts this month, or any photos nor will I be sharing cultural recommendations.

However, I have not missed a monthly Favourites List since I started this feature in August 2012. So I hope you won’t mind a shortened effort for July 2021.

I hope you enjoy my selections and I look forward to sharing more with you next time. 

 

Food writing and articles:

What’s in season in July: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/whats-in-season-july

The world's greatest food stores as chosen by FT readers. https://www.ft.com/content/6b2f235f-04ea-4d6a-9b09-710c69fc5fe5

A fascinating insight not only into the late great Anthony Bourdain, but also the forthcoming documentary "Roadrunner". https://www.gq.com/story/anthony-bourdain-morgan-neville-roadrunner-documentary

A brief history of frozen food, including that one true hero of the freezer - the frozen pea: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210701-the-hidden-history-of-the-peas-in-your-freezer

How to regrow spring onions: https://www.hungryhuy.com/regrow-green-onions/

How Italian food is so much more than what you find at Eataly. https://vittles.substack.com/p/italy-isnt-eataly

Pep up your instant noodles with this cooking hack – poach an egg in your instant ramen:

https://lifehacker.com/poach-an-egg-right-in-your-instant-ramen-1826540837

Hot toasted sandwiches with a myriad of amazing fillings for those of us still working from home (many are not suitable for the office kitchen!): https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/may/12/toast-haste-20-chefs-on-the-best-hot-sandwiches-to-make-in-a-hurry

Recipes:

Khageena, or spicy scrambled eggs, a recipe by Chef Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express: https://www.wsj.com/articles/spicy-scrambled-eggs-11624630016

Recipe for potato, red cabbage and roasted garlic salad. Because garlic is life! https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/recipes/potato-red-cabbage-and-roasted-garlic-salad

Garlic pepper butter prawns, a recipe from Ed Smith’s Crave, from @kavey at Kavey Eats: https://www.kaveyeats.com/garlic-pepper-butter-prawns

Chef Nisha Katona revives a classic - Chicken tikka masala: https://www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/nishas-friday-night-curry-a-golden-oldie

Erchen Chang’s Chinese noodle recipes for Dan dan and duck man mei: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jun/26/dan-dan-and-duck-man-mei-erchen-chang-chinese-noodle-recipes

Shakshuka with Merguez sausage: https://www.foodifancy.com/shakshuka-with-merguez-sausage

Gyudon (Japanese rice bowl), Yoshinoya style recipe: http://www.littlejapanmama.com/2011/11/yoshinoya-gyudon-recipe-beef.html

Roast miso aubergine (eggplant) “steaks” (vegan recipe): https://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2021/06/roast-miso-aubergine-eggplant-steaks.html

Fruity lamb tagine with apricots and ras al hanout: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/fruity-lamb-tagine

Is ricotta on toast, which can be eaten in either sweet or savoury fashion, the new avocado toast? https://metro.co.uk/2021/07/14/ricotta-toast-is-tiktoks-latest-food-trend-try-these-three-recipes-14928442/

No knead foccacia for the home bakers out there: https://cookingwithayeh.com/no-knead-focaccia/#recipe

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.  

 

June 2021 Favourites List

Welcome to this month's list of my favourite stuff. I hope you've had a good month since last time. I've been pottering around, teaching, doing meetings, getting ready for assessment season and all the stuff which happens in academia at this time of year. 

I have also been messing around in the kitchen. My kind of home cooking isn't the cheffy sort. But I like something tasty and home made, rather than something to prick and ping. 

I like to share my food pictures on Twitter and Instagram. Social media has given me the chance to get in touch with other foodies and cooking enthusiasts. We enjoy sharing our food pictures, swapping recipes and trading cooking tips. 

But imagine my surprise this month when I made a Smoked haddock and cannellini bean recipe, only to receive praise from the Queen of Foodie Twitter, Nigella Lawson herself. Commenting on the picture of the dish, which I made to Nigella's recipe, Lawson said "That looks so good!"

The initial shock, removed all of my words from my jangled mind, and rendered me speechless. But I calmed down and I posted my reaction on Twitter, summing it up "I'm reeling. Forget getting married, graduating twice, getting Called to the Bar. This is it, my ultimate achievement: praise from Nigella Lawson on my cooking. I can hang up my apron."

To paraphrase John Torode of Masterchef "cooking doesn't get any better than this!" 

So here is my list of lovely stuff for this month, along with pictures of my latest homecooking exploits. Perhaps they won't all meet with Nigella's approval. But they were all tasty and got totally demolished!

Onto this months pickings... 

Food writing and articles:

What is in season in June? Aubergines, beetroot, broad beans, cauliflower, cherries, French beans, globe artichokes and gooseberries: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/whats-season-june

Cookbook review – Kavey reviews Mark Diacono’s new book “Herb”: https://www.kaveyeats.com/herb-by-mark-diacono

Five of Anthony Bourdain’s favourites places to eat: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/may/19/five-of-anthony-bourdains-favourite-food-destinations

Some great tips for cooking with garlic. I like the idea of putting the tiny cloves in stock and roasting upside down in a ramekin. I already use a crusher with zero shame. https://lifehacker.com/13-better-ways-to-cook-with-garlic-1846977755

Emojis and food culture: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/food_emojis

Thoughts about the military coup in Myanmar and the iconic Burmese dish Lahpet Thote (pickled tea leaf salad): https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Tea-Leaves/When-comfort-food-is-no-longer-a-refuge

Are there really any processed foods which are better than natural? Surprise yourself: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210521-which-processed-foods-are-better-than-natural

Nic Miller writes about shopping lists – from Michaelangelo to today’s more humble equivalents: https://topographickitchens.substack.com/p/shopping-lists

In Chinese culture, after birth, the new mum isolates for a month called zuo yue zi (坐月子) for healing. Only special foods can be eaten. Kaila Yu has written this moving piece about cooking these dishes for her sister in law. https://www.glamour.com/story/chinese-postpartum-cuisine-motherhood

Recipes:

After we fell hard for Nigella Lawson and Ash Sarkar’s fish finger bhorta, isn’t it high time we embraced a Bengali potato bhorta? https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-bangladeshi-aloo-bhorta-%e0%a6%86%e0%a6%b2%e0%a7%81-%e0%a6%ad%e0%a6%b0%e0%a7%8d/

Marinaded lamb with haricot bean mash: https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/lamb-with-bean-mash/

Nisha Katona’s South Indian (chicken) meatball curry: https://www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/nisha-katonas-spiced-meatballs-in-curry

Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge have teamed up to help families make easy food at home at low cost and without lots of kitchen equipment. Try out four of their 50+ recipes here: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/may/29/easy-tortilla-pizza-creamy-chicken-pie-kettle-omelette-shakshuka-traybake-marcus-rashford-and-tom-kerridge-easy-family-recipes

Tlayudas with pea hummus, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella. A recipe from the streets of Oaxaca from Thomasina Miers: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/may/31/thomasina-miers-recipe-ylayuda-pea-hummus-mexican-style-pizza

Nigella’s Thai chicken noodle soup: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/thai-chicken-noodle-soup

My other writings

How to structure your practice focussed LLM dissertation: http://snigsclassroom.blogspot.com/2021/06/how-to-structure-your-llm-dissertation.html

TV:

We Are Ladyparts

Innocent (Series 1 and 2)

The Virtues

Films:

X + Y

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band

Music:

Joni Mitchell – Blue

The Band – Music From Big Pink

The Band - The Band (the Brown album)

Radiohead - Amnesiac

The Smiths – Louder Than Bombs

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.