Mushrooms

After breakfast of mushrooms and scrambled eggs at Carluccios I decided to repeat a recipe I made earlier in the week - actually part of a recipe. For a pot luck lunch at the office I made crepes filled with a cheesy bechamel sauce and a fabulous mushroom concoction which proved more delicious than I thought possible.

So today I am repeating the mushroom part.

Saute some chopped onion in oil until brown and caramelised. Add torn up mushrooms - as many as you want. Soak some dried porcini in boiling water. When they are soft, drain them and toss into the mushroom and onion mix in the frypan. (My hot tip: if you want the porcini in smaller pieces, rather than cut them when they have soaked which can be really messy, rip them up before you soak them.) Add some red wine, some tomato passata, salt, dried chilli flakes, strained porcini liquid (strain this to remove any dirt) and simmer until the liquid reduces and mixture is thick.

I'm not sure what I'm going to serve this with this time. I think it will go nicely with some brown basmati rice, and it should be great with some pasta - maybe tagliatelle. Only problem is, if I have it for lunch at work, I can't enjoy a glass of red with it...

A fairly lazy Friday

After a few nights of not sleeping well, it was a relief to roll-over at 6 am and continue snoozing. Then it was to Carluccio's at Dubai Mall for breakfast. The scrambled eggs and mushrooms were the best I've tasted. I'll definitely be doing that again.

On Tuesday we plan to celebrate arrivals and birthdays at the office and as it's Shrove Tuesday, I thought my contribution to the pot luck lunch would be pancakes. I have been wanting to try a new recipe (picked up at Organic Foods and Cafe) for some time and thought I had better try it out before I inflict it on my unsuspecting colleagues.

Orange and Ricotta Pancakes
(makes about 8)
250g Ricotta
4 tbspns sugar
3 eggs separated
1 large orange
50g plain flour
2 tbspns butter

Combine ricotta, sugar and egg yolks. add grated orange zest and flour and mix well. Beat egg whites unil stiff then fold into ricotta mixture (remember, you want to keep as much air in them as possible, so don't beat the mixture too hard - cut and fold with a metal spoon is how Miss Searle taught me to do it in Home Science classes in the 70s). Melt butter in a non stick pan. Drop heaped tablespoons of batter into the pan (don't try more than 3 at a time). Cook over a medium heat until coloured and turn to cook other side. Eat.

Now I'm spending today thinking about what to serve them with. Tried honey and jam (separately!) yesterday and they were quite nice. Looking for something a little more exotic today...

Living in Splendour

For anyone who's wondering why "splendid" ...

"In aging it is even more important to live in splendour, seeking the beauty of mortal life." Munekata Toshiyuki, a retired Japanese high school principal, wrote this as the subtitle of his book "What the Oldest Cherry Trees Saw."

Cougar

Well tonight I got to feel a bit cougar-ish at Ronda Locatelli as my dinner guest, who grew up on 80s music rather than the 60s and early 70s tunes that marked my youth, and a splendid woman were welcomed as "Mr and Mrs"! A minor gaff. That said, the rest of the evening was excellent. Borlotti beans and tomatoes, mozzarella and roast beetroot, four cheese pizza and pasta with pesto, green beans and potato - all cooked to perfection. The company was entertaining and amusing - overall a lovely evening and I have a cougar moment to cherish...
Live in splendour

The meaningful things in life

This blogging thing has brought up some new linguistic challenges. What is it that people do when the blog and use twitter?

Do they twog or blitter? Perhaps they bleet?

These questions could use all my available brainpower for the next day or two.

In the beginning there was the word ...

...and the word came from a friend who repeatedly advised me that I should write a blog. After many months the combination of camembert and pavlova (not at the same time) inspired me to write a word or two, or three, or four...

That said, there is a high probability that this will be the last posting to The Pillow Book. Alternatively, it might end up with a few more postings and more closely resemble, in size if not in quality, the book that inspired the blog name - The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.

You see, when I thought about blogging I was at a loss - what would my blog be about? Would it be like Chocolate & Zucchini, or more along the lines of Sex and Dubai? I had no idea.

So using my highly advanced problem solving skills (first avoid the problem, second ignore it, three scream at it, four curl up in the foetal position and rock, five...) I decided that my blog didn't need to be about anything. Or it could be about everything.

If you are fortunate enough to find it, if you find anything on it remotely interesting or useful, if, if, if ... then please post messages. However, if you find it and you want to increase my size, help me please my whatever in bed, sell me meds cheaply or anything else, if you think you have the right to spam my blog, then please go away. I will only ask nicely once. You send me crap and I warn you, I won't be so nice next time.

Now, after making pavlova last night for the office, I am now going to make a warm, comforting bread and butter custard (enhanced with a little lemon zest and brandy) to use up the egg yolks.

Until next time
Live in splendour