Biennial

Sorry for the chronology of the last few posts- It's Sunday night and I'm just catching up. Any road- went out to eat after work on Friday at Room on Castle Street- a new(ish) flash(ish) restaurant in the business district. I had this Derrida style fish pie- all the constituent parts were laid out across a massive plate (scallops, salmon, prawn, a piece of pastry) and then drizzled with a really small amount of sauce. Sounded pretentious, tasted brilliant- I’ll definitely be back here. Didn’t have my camera as it was a spur of the moment meal but here’s their corporate picture of the bar (which doesn’t actually do justice to the grandeur of its setting in an old banking hall).

All ingredients unknown


We also enjoyed catching as much as we could of the final two days of the biennial this weekend. Here’s a picture of Marion and I ‘interacting’ with Shilpa Gupta’s pretty remarkable piece at FACT.

Brocolli and Potato Gratin

Comfort food (again!)

Potatoes (home grown)
Brocolli (Spain)
Milk (UK)
Flour (UK)
Almonds (USA)
Chedder (UK)

Roast vegetables and yorkies

I think by now you should have ascertained that I like a Yorkshire pudding of a Sunday, me. Right champion.

Sweet potatoes (Israel)
Parsnips (UK)
Broccoli (Spain)
Parsley (Israel)
Eggs (UK)
Milk (UK)

Tunafish Cakes with slow roasted tomato salad

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My first stab at these 'tunafish cakes' which were inspired because I had the Elvis song 'Thanks to the Rolling Sea' going round in my head all day. Turned out really nice and the tomatoes (cooked in a 80 degree oven for two hours) were incredibly sweet.

Tuna (Mauritius)
Egg (UK)
Onion (home grown)
Tomato (UK)

Beetroot and Squash Salad

Beetroot (Lancs)
Squash (Greece)
Garlic (UK)
Watercress (UK)
Cheese (Somerset)

Pasta and salad

Pasta (Italy)
Parmesan (Italy)
Tomatoes (Tinned) (Italy)
Tomatoes (fresh) (UK)
Peppers (Spain)
Rocket and watercress salad (UK)

Burger and mash

Y'know- for kids.

You'd think I would have had enough of so-called 'veggie burgers' after last week's gig related fiasco but I was really tired and we didn't have anything else in.

Spicy bean burger ('Produced in the UK')
Sliced greens (UK)
Potatoes (home grown)

Horrible burger

I was playing a gig with my band tonight. The sound didn't get sorted until late so had to grab something quick. This was a veggie burger from a place on Hardman Street- pretty ropey but not as bad as the beefburger that Matt ate- truly horrible. Eating badly is one of the major drawback of playing crappy gigs in pubs. We play music for fun so will never get round to the three vegetarian meals, bottle of Vodka, no blue M&M style rider.

All ingredients unknown origin.

Hazelnut roast and bubble and squeak

Second gig in a week but this time more palatable fare from Cafe Tabac on Bold Street. I've been a bit ambivalent about the food in this place in the past but this was really welcome and nicely made. I always thought that bubble and squeak was fried cold mashed potato and cabbage but here it turned out to be pumpkin and potato mash. Seems that any veg leftovers will make the mark. Tasted good though.

Roast dinner

Cashew nut roast (mix - origin unknown- packed in Newport Pagnal)
Sweet potato (unknown origin)
Carrots (UK)
Parsnips (UK)
Onions (home grown)
Runner beans (home grown)
Peas
Sweetcorn (France)

Macaroni Cheese

I ate in the Cambridge pub round the corner from work tonight. I ordered macaroni cheese with garlic bread. When it came it was clearly of the Heinz out of a can variety. I quite enjoyed it in a flashback to when I was eight years old kind of way.

It was three english pounds but it's only 89p in the shops.

Origin of all ingredients unknown.

Potato and Emmental Bake with Mushrooms

I made this recipe up using my mind.

Potatoes (home grown)
Emmental (Switzerland)
Leek (UK)
Mushrooms (UK)
Milk (UK)

Capital of Cake and Seafood Ravioli

We went to the launch of Liverpool Capital of Culture at St George's Hall tonight. They'd filled the room with weather balloons and were giving out free booze and food. The only food I got round to eating was a beetroot cupcake which was really good. The guy also gave me the recipe but I don't really have the patience for baking.


Afterwards I had Seafood Ravioli from the Ask chain of restaurants. It was, all told, something of a mistake- definitely not fresh, probably frozen and clearly marscapone and crab were never meant to go together. A friend of mine used to work at an Ask some years ago and he reckons that for most of the dishes they just had made-up kits of ingredients for each dish and a picture of how it looked on the plate as a guide for staff. Kindof boil-in-the-bag restaurant really. Nice chairs though.

All ingredients unknown origin.

Chilli and Garlic Messicani

Messicani (Switzerland)
Spinach (home grown)
Lemon (unknown origin)
Parmesan (Italy)
Chilli (unknown origin)

Sausages

Sausages (UK)
Potatoes (home grown)
Carrots (UK)
Gravy (UK)