19 décembre 2006
Sprout eater's record bid fails
Brussel sprouts, ewwww!
Richard Townsend, 24, of Exeter, fell seven short of the target of 43, which was set in December 2003.
Mr Townsend, who had eaten a plate of sprouts every day for the last six months, said he just "lost it".
After cramming the sprouts into his mouth with a toothpick, he said: "I do not think I could face another sprout for a few days."
But then, after he popped one of the remaining vegetables into his mouth, he said: "It's a shame to waste them."
Raised £250
The accounts administrator explained his failure, saying a couple of the vegetables "slid off the plate" meaning he could not eat them quickly enough.
He had peeled then cooked the sprouts for four minutes in order to ensure they were exactly one inch in diameter.
But the record set by Dave Mynard, from London, still stands.
Mr Townsend's record bid raised £250 in sponsorship for the Mencap charity, which will be matched by his employer EDF.
Mr Townsend decided to try and break the record as part of his mission to replace his New Year resolutions with five challenges which have to be completed before the end of the year.
He has so far achieved three of them as he has appeared on TV, met someone who has starred in a computer game and has started a celebrity-signed collection of teabags.
His final challenge is to fly in a helicopter before the end of the year.
12 décembre 2006
One thing leading to another
Buttermilk is not an ingredient I am familiar with. I actually never used it in my cooking before. Some people say there is nothing like it to keep chicken moist but when I found myself with some leftover after making quark I didn't feel too adventurous and used very conventionally to make pancakes.
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
10g brown sugar
1 pinch of salt
Combine all ingredients. I used cookies cutters to make sure they would have a round shape and served with raspberry coulis. Delicious!
I love your whey
Homemade quark
About two weeks ago I bought a tub of quark from Nosh, nice farmstyle curd. It was good but so compact it was impossible to eat it by itself. As a kid in France, I grew up on "petits Suisses", very small portions of quark wrapped in paper. Here in New Zealand I didn't manage to find quite the right consistency, it's either too firm or too runny. I therefore decided to make my own!
Making quark is not difficult it just takes a little bit of take because the mixture has to stand to allow curd and whey to separate.
I used a recipe from a French recipe book I have at home using both milk and buttermilk. Some recipes call for buttermilk only and I will try them too, to find out if there is a difference in texture.
-1 litre whole milk
-1 litre cultured buttermilk
Combine both in an oven proof dish and let stand 48 hours at room temperature.
It looks quite revolting in its early stage
Place into a cool oven - 50 degrees max - for 90 minutes. You will see the green whey separate from the curd.
Sterilise a cheese cloth in hot water and use it to line a sieve. Pour the curd, tie the cheesecloth and leave to hang for a good hour, the more it drains, the firmer the quark will be.
I got completely off tracked on Saturday afternoon and forgot about my quark. It drained for far too long so it was super compact when I came back. The good thing about it is that you can stir in a little whey to make it smoother again.
05 décembre 2006
NZ Blogging by mail
On a bright and warm Saturday afternoon, there it was, my NZ Blogging by mail parcel. The mystery sender was Nigel, the lamb tail eater, new blogger from Hawkes Bay. THANK YOU SO MUCH NIGEL!
Opening the parcel was like opening a Christmas present. I had time to take a few photos before devouring the contents - especially the chocolates. In his wisdom, he also included goodies I can keep and cook with.
This delicious parcel, which is nothing short of a Christmas hamper contains:
-1 bottle of absolutely mind blowing olive oil from Hawkes Bay
-1 box of hand made chocolates
-1 bottle of verjuice, a versatile unfermented green grape juice. It can be used for vinaigrettes or poaching and Nigel also added it can be use in Martinis!
-1 bottle of lime and lemongrass drizzle, which I used to marinate chicken breasts before bbq them.
-1 bottle of olive sauce with horopito, delish'
-1 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Hawkes Bay
1 punnet of gorgeous cherries and strawberries, both locally grown in Hawkes Bay
Thank you again Santa!!! And of course thank you Emma for organising!
