here's my tea

Sea bass, minted peas and the aspirational lentil

2007-07-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the aspirational lentil. The tyranny of branding demands that these crappy lentils are 'repositioned' as 'beluga' in order to turn them into a 'luxury item' that supermarkets can overcharge for.

Beluga lentils

rocket (UK)

tomatoes (UK)

Sea bass (North Atlantic)

Lime (unknown)

Stuffed Peppers yet again

2007-07-23T10:32:00.001-07:00

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noted by now that this meal has become bog standard in the HMT household. This is actually the same picture as July 11th but I forgot to take a new one. I must do something to get the creative juices flowing.

Broccoli Bake

2007-07-22T11:02:00.001-07:00

Broccoli (UK)
Potatoes (home grown)
Mozarella (Italy)
Pine nuts ('product of more than one country)

Aubergine and Mozzarella Timbale

2007-07-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Aubergine (unknown)

Mozzarella (Italy)

Flour (UK)

Olive oil (Spain)

2 eggs (UK)

black pepper

New potatoes (home grown)

Parmesan (Italy)

Potato Salad

2007-07-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

Sadly this meal was something of a rarity this year in terms of its home grown bent. The weather has been so miserable that most of our crops have failed.

Potatoes (home grown)

Onions (home grown)

broad beans (home grown)

Mint (home grown)

Garlic (home grown)

Chilli (unknown)

Supersonic Supper

2007-07-15T12:38:00.001-07:00

Dipped out the endless avant-garde heavy metal of the Supersonic festival to grab some food. Unfortunately, I picked a swine amongst the undoubted pearls of Birmingham South Asian food. This pakora/samosa double whammy would have been inedible if hadn't been for the Red Stripe/ Real Ale aperitif that preceded it.

Stir-fry noodles

2007-07-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

See, it's possible to make an entirely UK grown stir-fry so why the bloody onions from New Zealand?

Fresh noodles ('Produced in the UK')

Pepper (England)

Garlic (home grown)

Pak choi (Kent, England)

Spring onions (Kent, England)

Black bean sauce ('Produced in the UK')

Stuffed aubergine and sweetcorn

2007-07-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Feel guilty about food miles now - we have onions growing on the plot but as we had already started cooking and I just nipped to the local Tesco metro to buy some only discovering they were from New Zealand afterwards. What's happening to the world if a UK supermarket has to source onions from New Zealand in July?

Sweetcorn (Spain)
Cheese (England)
Aubergine (unknown)
Onion (New Zealand)
Parsley (UK)
Garlic (home grown)
Fresh tomatoes (England)
Paprika
Salad leaves
Tinned tomatoes (Italy)

Curry from 'the Tesco'

2007-07-08T05:34:00.001-07:00

Tesco is taking over the world apparently. Well it's clearly not on account of this insipid 'authentic takeaway selection'. I bought a veggie curry, a sag alloo and bombay potatoes in a vain attempt to replicate the variation of a Thali but they were all clearly cooked in the same rather unpleasant sauce.

Slow cooked peppers

2007-07-03T05:00:00.001-07:00

A new comfort food favourite- Jamie Oliver's slow roasted peppers in half a pint of olive oil.

Peppers (UK)

Olive oil (Greece)

Garlic (home grown)

Onion (home grown)

Ciabattta UK)

Pitted black olives ('origin of more than one country')

Parmesan (Italy)

Fresh pea risotto

2007-07-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

All this rain is really depressing so here's some comfort food. These Jaguar peas were picked about an hour before and were incredibly sweet.

Arborio rice (Italy)

Jaguar peas (home grown)

Garlic (home grown)

Onion (home grown)

Stock (from a cube)

Parmesan (Italy)

Unwaxed lemon

Mediterranean Stuff

2007-06-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Decided to cook an entire mezze from scratch here. The filo pastry parcels were tricky but worth it.

Filo Pastry Parcels

Filo (Greece)

Olives (Greece)

Wendsleydale Cheese (UK)

Taboulleh

Cracked wheat (Unkown origin)

Parsley (Unknown)

Green Bean Salad

Green beans (UK)

Tomatoes (UK)

Mint (home-grown)

Aubergine Salad

Aubergine (unkown)

Garlic (unknown)

Pittas

Flour (UK)

Water (UK)

Salt (unknown)

Falafel

Chick peas (uknown)

Corriander (unknown)

Tahini (unknown)

Garlic (unknown)

Roast Char

2007-06-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

No other freshwater fish is found as far North, the arctic char is usually found in alpine lakes and coastal waters in the arctic and sub-arctic. Unusually, this one's been reared on an Icelandic farm, frozen and shipped south and sold to Tesco.

Artic Char (Iceland)

Potatoes (UK)

Brocolli (UK)

Broad bean rissotto

2007-06-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

These broad beans and peas were less than an hour from plot to plate- the broad beans were fantastic- just melted in the mouth. It's food like this that makes growing your own veg worthwhile.

Broad beans (home grown)

Leek (UK)

Peas (home grown)

Arborio Rice (Italy)

Garlic (unkown origin)

Mint (home grown)

Parmesan (Italy)

Pie and Spuds

2007-06-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

This looks really horrible but the Gruyere and leek filo thingy was actually pretty nice. It was from the M&S 'Gastropub' range- which is somewhat underselling it as it wasn't an overpriced and tasteless 'reinvention of a British classic' and I didn't have to eat it surrounded by tossers. Result.

New potatoes (UK)

Lettuce (UK)

Tomatoes (UK)

Pie (M&S...and erm, somewhere else)

Monk fish and 'chocolate with passion'

2007-06-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

This was from an amazing looking restaurant in El Raval, Barcelona. The place looked like a meal should cost a fortune but surprisingly it didn't. The cod carpaccio was like eating a slightly salty spiders web doused in olive oil (which is a good thing I think). I had monk fish for a main course which was a little dissapointing but it was made up for by the chocolate pudding with a passion fruit centre.

Gnocci

2007-06-04T06:19:00.001-07:00

Fresh gnocci (Italy)

Cherry Tomatoes (Italy)

Peas (home grown)

Wet garlic (home grown)

Sage (home grown)

Butter (Denmark)

Arrabbiata Mezzelune

2007-05-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

'Italian pasta parcells filled with red peppers, Grand Padano cheese, tomato and a hint of chili' (Italy via Tesco)

This wasn't bad at all really as a quick afterwork 'meal solution'

Supersweet Sweetcorn (Morocco)

Fish & Chips

2007-05-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Bank holiday monday was spent walking on Formby Beach in the rain so these fish and chips were really welcome. They were from a very old school place on Penny Lane which looks like it hasn't changed since the 1950s- all wooden counters and old steel fryers made in Rochdale. Lovely.

Roast vegetables and watercress salad

2007-05-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sweet potatoes (US)

Red onion (UK)

Watercress (Spain)

Oranges (Spain)

Walnuts (France)

Vegetarian sausages

Stuffed Peppers

2007-05-01T12:13:00.001-07:00

Peppers (Spain)

Sweet Potato (Unknown)

Brocolli (home grown)

Parsley Soup

2007-04-29T07:39:00.001-07:00

This was made from an entire bunch of flat leaf parsley from Christian's Market on Bold Street

Parsley (Unknown origin)
Potatoes (UK)
Cream (UK)
Butter (UK)

Artichoke Salad

2007-04-27T02:04:00.001-07:00

Tomatoes (Spain)

Artichoke hearts (Unkown)

Parsley (Unknown)

Boiled Egg

2007-04-23T11:01:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning, a boiled egg, a crossword. Champion!

Spring stew

2007-04-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

Our leek harvest was a bit poor this year. To such an extent that you can't actually see them in this dish.

Courgette (UK)
Leeks (home grown)
Tinned tomatoes (Italy)
Mushroom (UK)
Peppers (Spain)
Onion (UK)
Garlic (Unknown)
Broccoli (home grown)

Big Fish on a small plate

2007-04-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

This was from Eureka, a great Greek Cypriot restaurant in an unassuming shopping arcade in L8.

Broccoli pasta

2007-04-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yes it's the crack cocaine of vegetables again.

Purple-sprouting broccoli (home grown)
Parsley
Penne
Garlic
Parmesan (Italy)
Chilli

Crepes

2007-04-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

A French theme with a good old helping of British stodge

Leeks (Nottinghamshire)
Milk (UK)
Flour (not stated)
Cheddar (UK)
Parmesan (Italy)
Salad (bagged...)

Brocolli

2007-04-08T05:35:00.001-07:00

This brocolli is so good it's probably best served as simply as possible. This is heated in a bit of olive oil for about two minutes served with parmesan.

Courgette Pasta

2007-04-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Courgette (Spain)

Milk (UK)

Leeks (UK)

Pasta (Italy)

Purple Sprouting Risotto

2007-04-02T13:53:00.001-07:00

It’s broccoli season at last. This purple sprouting stuff took a whole year to grow but blimey it’s worth it. We ate this about 40 minutes after picking it and it was so fresh. There’s a kind of unique bitterness that is completely untraceable when you buy it from a shop and it takes about two minutes to cook.

Broccoli (home grown)
Onions (UK)
Arborio rice (Italy)
Parmesan (Italy)

Roast vegetable lasagne

2007-04-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

This was the last of this years chard/spinach. It's been a good servant over the winter.

Perpetual spinach (home grown)
Chard (home grown)
Peppers
Courgette
Tin of tomatoes
Fresh pasta sheets
Milk (UK)
Flour
Onions (UK)
Mozarella (Italy)
Cheddar (UK)

Asparagus and new potatoes

2007-04-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Potatoes (UK)
Asparagus (Spain)
Poached egg (UK)
Parmesan (Italy)
Olive Oil (Spain)

Smoked salmon on wilted spinach

2007-03-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Mmm, fleshy! I found this on my camera but I can't remember where I ate it. It must have been in a restaurant because Marion doesn't like smoked salmon. Jeez, it's like when you walk upstairs to get something only to forget what it was when you get there... except worse.

Onion surprise

2007-03-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Iwas feeling a bit retro after listening to the new Knife album so I made stuffed onions which I suspect was a staple of veggie cookbooks of the 1970s.

Onion (UK)
Potatoes (UK)
Beetroot (UK)
Cheese (Ireland)
Breadcrumbs (UK)

Stuffed mushrooms

2007-03-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Mushrooms (UK)
Potatoes (UK)
Breadcrumbs (UK)
Emmental
Parsnips (UK)
Swede (UK)

Broccoli pasta

2007-03-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Purple sprouting broccoli (UK)
Pasta (Italy)
Parmesan (Italy)
Parsley (UK)
Olive oil

Fish, Fish and Fish with a side order of fishy tales

2007-03-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

Went for a nice walk in Burton Wood on the Wirral and ate lots of fish in the Horse and Hounds in Barnston. Didn't actually get a picture of the food itself (which was potted shrimps and bread and butter followed by fish pie made with coley, prawns, salmon, leeks and potato) but they did have a great looking Beromat one armed bandit from (I'm guessing) the 1950s. I've no idea as to the origins of the food but I know the rather splendid Rhode Island Red bitter hadn't travelled far as it was made in next village along, Brimstage. Two old blokes in the bar were banging on about how the brewery was really ancient and originally run by trappist monks but a quick web search reveals that Brimstage Brewery was established earlier this year by 'real ale enthusiast' Neil Young. Brilliant!

As we all know Morris Dancing was actually made up by Estelle Morris in 2004 during her tenure as the head of the Department of Media, Culture and Sport.

Thai curry

2007-03-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Pak Choi
Onion (UK)
Shallots (UK)
Mushrooms
Pepper
Basil (Thailand)
Coconut milk
Basmati rice (Unknown)

This was the first time I've cooked with Thai Basil and it's amazing- really distinct and anaseedy.

Sunday Roast

2007-03-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Cashew nut roast (UK)
Parsnips (UK)
Onion gravy (UK)
Peas (Unknown)
Mashed swede (Netherlands)
Roast carrots (UK)
Potatoes (UK)

Ravioli, Peperonata and Chocolate Risotto

2007-03-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

Home-made ravioli (unfortunatley not illustrated)
Smoked Lanchasire cheese
Oyster mushrooms
Onion (UK)
Parsley
Pasta flour
Egg
Smoked paprika
Butter

Peperonata with olive-grilled ciabatta

This was slow cooked on a really low heat for about an hour and a half which meant that you could really taste the half pint of olive oil that it was cooked in. The peppers were also super-silky and sweet. From the Paradiso cookbook (which is a veggie restaurant in Cork that we're planning on taking a trip to sometime later in the year).

Onion (UK)
Garlic
Olive Oil
Peppers (Spain)
Olives
Tomatoes
Chilli
Smoked olive tapenade (unknown origin)
Ciabatta rolls
Fresh basil (Thailand)
Parmesan (Italy of course)

Melting Chocolate Risotto

The ultimate in comfort food- 'nuff said.
Green & Blacks dark chocolate
Whole milk (UK)
Arborio rice (Italy)
Golden caster sugar
Cream (UK)

Roasted vegetables

2007-03-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

New potatoes (Israel)
Courgette (Spain)
Aubergine (Bought loose - not sure of origin)
Tomatoes (Italy but packed in Dublin by the looks of it)
Parsley (Spain)
Shallots (UK)

Stuffed Peppers with Mozzarella

2007-02-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

Marion made this- it was quality. Unfortunately I didn't take a note of the origin of the ingredients. Bah!

Stuffed Peppers

2007-02-16T05:15:00.000-08:00

A HMT regular.

Peppers (Spain)
Avacado (South Africa)
Tomatoes (Spain)
Artichokes (unknown origin)
Salad leaves (Packed in the UK)
Mushrooms (UK)
Cheese (UK)

Dutch Bean 'Stampot'

2007-02-05T02:31:00.001-08:00

This is from a Sainsbury's vegetarian cookbook which we own two copies of- not because it's really good but I guess Marion and I went vegetarian at about the same time so our respective Mums must have bought each a copy to make sure we didn't starve. Anyway, our Dutch friend Karin says that this is nothing at all like a real Stampot. Still tasted nice though.

Potatoes (UK)
Celery (UK)
Carrots (UK)
Tomatoes (Italy)

Aubergine Pasta

2007-02-03T04:37:00.001-08:00

Pasta (Italy)
Mushrooms (UK)
Aubergine (Spain)

Readymeal

2007-01-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

They're 'meals' and they're 'ready' to put in the oven- they're readymeals! Brilliant!

Manufactured in the UK

Baked mushrooms

2007-01-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

Tea tonight was inspired by Nigel Slater's fast supper recipie in The Observer.

Field mushrooms (England)
Onions (England)
Garlic
Breadcrumbs (UK)
Cheddar (UK)
Pine nuts ('Product of more than one country, packed in the UK')
Salad leaves ('Product of various countries, packed in the UK')
Tomatoes (Spain)
Pears (UK)
Sweetcorn (Israel)

Comfort

2007-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Pasta
Cream (UK)
Field mushrooms (UK)
Shallots (UK)
Parmesan (Italy)
Rocket, watercress, spinach (packed in the UK)
Tomatoes (Spain)

Carbon

2007-01-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

Tonight’s dinner was very costly in terms of CO² emissions. With friends coming round we picked something from a recipe book rather than thinking in seasonal terms. Ok, so here’s the damage:

Wild salmon (Alaska)
Peas (product of the EU, packed in the UK)
Asparagus (Peru)
Mint (Israel)
Arborio rice (Italy)
Shallots (UK)
Wine (France)
Olives (Spain)
Crème brulee (UK)

More of the same

2007-01-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just hit a groove (or lose your imagination depending on your point of view).

Squash (unknown origin)
Spinach (UK)
Tomatoes (Spain)
Cheese (UK)

roast sweet potato salad

2007-01-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

Sweet potatoes (Israel)
Mixed salad leaves - rocket, chard, spinach, tatsoi (UK)
Cheshire cheese (UK of course)
Grapes (not labelled)
Tomatoes (Spain)

Picked up some bagged salad from Asda which was a bit lazy really as we have chard and spinach growing on our plot right now ... 96p that's the price of convenience.

Welsh Fish Frenzy

2007-01-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

This was from La Rochelle in Porthcawl in South Wales. I went for the full fish treatment- these prawns in chilli and garlic were especially good. We retired to the local 'wine bar' which had a top Karaoke night and a picture of ex-World Snooker Champion Joe Johnston. Funnily enough, Joe Johnston was my next door neighbour when I lived in Leeds many years ago fact fans.

Toad in the Hole

2007-01-14T16:13:00.000-08:00

Veggie sausages (UK)
Eggs (UK)

Soups

2007-01-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

Went through a new year's soup fad. ... It lasted about two days.

Mushrooms (UK)
Milk (UK)
Cream (UK)
Peas (UK)
Potatoes (home grown)

Stuffed peppers and squash

2007-01-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

Butternut squash (Israel)
Peppers (Israel)
Onions (UK)
Tomatoes (Italy)
Kale (UK)
Cheddar (UK)

Broccoli risotto

2007-01-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

Broccoli (Italy)
Rice (Italy)
Onion (UK)
Wine (France)
Pepper (Israel)

Salmon Fishcakes and Rosti

2007-01-04T05:02:00.000-08:00

There are some advantages to having a M&S food store at Lime Street Station- these fish cakes from their 'Gastro Pub' range being one of them.

Fish Cakes (UK)
Potatoes (UK)
Spinach (Home grown)

Pumpkin pasta

2007-01-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Pasta (Italy)
Pumpkin (Spain)
Tomatoes (Spain)
Lentils ('Manufactured in the EC')
Parmesan (Italy)
Olive Oil (Italy)

Special Guest Star Christmas

2007-01-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

After copious amounts of wine and Brie and Cranberry sandwhiches our friends' Christmas Eve party I inadvertently left our camera round at their house. Thankfully Emma and Matthew kindly agreed to photograph their Christmas lunch for a festive guest slot HMT (which I'm very pleased about as Emma is a fantastic cook). This looks like a very lovely nut and mushroom roast with a leek sauce and all the trimmings. Bostin' Steve Austin as Pop Will Eat Itself used to say.

Trout Cheese and Cheesecake

2007-01-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

This was from the Horse and Farrier in Cumbria which is my brother and his wife's local. It's a brilliant rural pub and the local church choir singing carols added a very nice Christmas touch. I had a very nice sea bass with a mushroom risotto followed by a selection of cheeses which sounded much more exciting in the menu than they were in the flesh. The cheesecake was pretty spectacular though.

Greek Overload

2006-12-21T03:54:00.000-08:00

Fear the Greeks- especially when bearing a '20 course Christmas Banquet'. The combination of so much food, 'Rhodes' best traditional dancer' and 140 decebel bazouki europop almost made me halucinate. Dante's Inferno clearly forgot to mention the level of hell that is Kristakis' during office party season. The pictures here don't even get close to the cullinary barrage that we endured.

Pasta with Butternut Squash

2006-12-21T03:51:00.000-08:00

A quickie but goody.

Squash (Spain)
Pasta (Italy)
Parmesan (Italy)

Sunday Roast

2006-12-21T03:44:00.000-08:00

The now traditional HMT Sunday roast post.

Nut Roast (from one of those mix thingys)
Potatoes (UK)
Parsnips (UK)
Brocolli (Spain)
Carrots (UK)

I also made a Chocolate Merangue which wasn't entirely sucessful. It looks much better than it tasted (I blame the 'value' chocolate from Tesco)
Chocolate (UK)
Egg (UK)
Almonds ('product of more than one country')

Chicory and Blue Cheese

2006-12-21T03:36:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favourite winter dishes. We tried to grow chicory this year but it got eaten by slugs- well you win some you loose some.

Chicory (Lancashire)
Stilton (UK)

Baked Squash with Mushrooms

2006-12-21T03:01:00.000-08:00

This squash was from the local health food co-op so I'm not sure where it's from but they try to locally source everything they can.

Squash (unknown)
Mushrooms (Lancashire)
Parsley (unknown)

They also sell Organic bannana Bouji Bouji truffles which are god's own chocolates.

Eggs Benedict

2006-12-21T02:48:00.000-08:00

The breakfast of champions.

Bagels (UK)
Salmon (Alaska)
Eggs (UK)
Lemon (unknown origin)

Breaded Sole

2006-12-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

I'm fish mad me!

Breaded Sole (UK)
Potatoes (UK)
Greens (UK)

Trout and out of focus potatoes

2006-12-21T02:37:00.000-08:00

OK so I burnt the potatoes here. Do you see how I've tried to put them at the back of the shot, slightly out of focus so it's less noticable?

Trout (Scotland)
Greens (UK)
Potatoes (UK)

After work dash

2006-12-21T02:34:00.000-08:00

Clearly an after work dash this one- Pizza and that. The peppers look nice though.

Stuffed Pepper with Salad

2006-12-21T02:26:00.000-08:00

Again, a little blurry this one but it's definitely stuffed pepper with what looks like a pear and pine nut salad.

Risotto

2006-12-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time and trawling through the random food stored on my camera this is the first in chronological order. It's certainly risotto but as for the exact details in time-honoured HMT style, well I'm afraid they're lost in the inner electrical workings of my brain somewhere. I've a feeling it may be watercress but who can tell?

King Prawn Biryani

2006-12-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

'Indian style stir-fried rice with an omelette topping. Served with a vegetable curry sauce.' Hmmmm.

Vegetable bake

2006-12-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

Sweet potatoes (Israel)
Potato (UK)
Leek (home grown)
Chard (home grown)
Milk (UK)
Cheddar (UK)
Parmesan (Italy)
Parsnips (UK)
Beetroot (home grown)

Salmon pasta

2006-12-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

Salmon (Scotland)
Cream (UK)
Pasta(Italy)

Biennial

2006-11-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

Comfort food (again!)

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

Roast vegetables and yorkies

2006-11-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

)

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

2006-11-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

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

Pasta and salad

2006-11-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

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

Burger and mash

2006-11-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

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

Sausages

2006-11-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

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

Stuffed aubergine

2006-10-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

Augergine (UK)
Onions (home grown)
Garlic (Spain)
Tinned tomatoes (Italy)
Spinach (UK)
Lettuce (Spain)
Artichokes (Italy)
Parmesan (Italy)
Mozzarella (Italy)

Stir-fried Tofu

2006-10-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

As proof of the strange weather this Autumn we're still harvesting courgettes on our allotment. There's also still some spinach which will no doubt make an appearance on HMT sometime this week.

Courgettes (home grown)
Onions (home grown)
Green pepper (Spain)
Noodles (Belgium)
Pak Choi (Berkshire)
Carrots (UK)

Taramasalata

2006-10-29T04:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was mostly eating taramasalata- I didn't take a picture of it so you'll have to take my word for it. We did however, go for a nice walk in North Wales. This is a view of Canarvon bay and the Lleyn Peninsula.

Rotolo di Zucca

2006-10-29T03:53:00.000-08:00

This was another one adapted from Jamie's Italy. We had friends round for dinner at short notice and I foolishly decided to cook the most complicated dish in the entire book. It tasted amazing though- so yet again I am reluctantly forced to salute the magic of the nation's favourite hamster faced burger botherer.

Flour (Italy)
Eggs (UK)
Squash (unknown origin)
Spinach (UK)
Parmesan (Italy)
Butter (UK)

Ice cream (made in the UK)

Pasta

2006-10-29T03:35:00.000-08:00

It's been a long week. I found this picture on my camera- It's supermarket pasta with sauce but I can't actually remember eating it.

All ingredients unknown origin.

Sole in a cream and garlic sauce

2006-10-27T03:38:00.000-07:00

The sauce was adapted from something in the Cafe Paradiso cookbook and involved an entire bulb of roast garlic reduced in white wine and cream- absolutely blinding. We did our shopping on-line this week as we've been really busy. One of the frustrating things about this is that you can't source where your food is coming from- so the sweet potatoes are probably from Argentina or Polynesia or the moon or somewhere.

Sole (Scotland)
Potatoes (home grown)
Sweet potatoes (unknown origin)
Greens (UK)
Cream (UK)
Garlic (Spain)
White wine (Australia)

Thai takeaway

2006-10-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is an actual picture of chilli sauce. Anything this colour can't be good for you.

All ingredients unknown origin.

Stuffed Pepper with Risotto

2006-10-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

Arborio rice (Italy)
Parmesan (Italy)
Peppers (Spain)
Borlotti Beans (Italy)
Mushrooms (UK)
Mozerella (Italy)

Stuffed Pumpkin

2006-10-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin (home grown)
Onions (home grown)
Cheese (UK)
Garlic (UK)
Green beans (home grown)
Potatoes (home grown)

Pan-fried trout/Apple Crumble

2006-10-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Trout (UK)
Butternut squash (France)
Spring greens (UK)

Apples (UK)
Flour
Butter
Sugar