What are you eating and drinking tonight?

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Cheese. A cheese sandwich. And cooked meat. And a hot egg. And a crescent of crisps. And a side clump of cress.

A side clump? still in it's paddy field? Do you, like my mother, chop the cress off with a knife just below the cress's knees, or do you, like my father, uproot it whole and eat it with its socks on?

I'm fibbing a bit - I purloined a line from Alan Partridge, I actually didn't have a hot egg, or any cress. I never buy cress by dint of it being a waste of money, time and effort, but if someone were to hand me a punnet then, well, clearly your mum knows best.

Ahh, I see.
And yes, mums usually know best.

[Burnden Paddock]

Ate monkfish for the first time last night, cooked by the M-i-L. Not sure what the fuss is all about tbh. Was nice but not great, though I suspect that it was slightly overcooked. The sauce that she made to go with it was excellent. A bit of cream, tarragon, mustard, white wine, wholegrain mustard and shallot. Bloody superb! Also had a bubble and squeak sort of fried potato cake which had cabbage and bacon in it. Just what was needed after a good walk around Rivvy.

[boltonboris]

Monkfish is very easy to overcook. I prefer it poached, myself. You also need to make sure the membrane has been removed, otherwise it'll be rubbery as fvck

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Lasagne. Allegedly beef.

with a trace of camel. yum.

Was a bit tasteless to be fair. Maybe I needed camel milk for the bechamel?

[Little Green Man]

Lasagne. Allegedly beef.

with a trace of camel. yum.

Just the toe?

[William the White]

I had camel liver and - I think - spleen in Sudan. The spleen was too rich but the liver was great. Eaten with a salsa of fresh chillis, salt and fresh lime juice and unleavened bread.

[Bruce Rioja]

I had camel liver and - I think - spleen in Sudan. The spleen was too rich but the liver was great. Eaten with a salsa of fresh chillis, salt and fresh lime juice and unleavened bread.

Dear God. I take it that that was out of necessity rather than choice?!

I've eaten alligator (or was it crocodile?) in Birmingham.

[William the White]

I had camel liver and - I think - spleen in Sudan. The spleen was too rich but the liver was great. Eaten with a salsa of fresh chillis, salt and fresh lime juice and unleavened bread.

Dear God. I take it that that was out of necessity rather than choice?!

I've eaten alligator (or was it crocodile?) in Birmingham.

It was on offer at a party. Both were, at same party. They'd probably slaughtered a baby camel for the event about two hours earlier... And curiosity drove us to try, both of us fans of lamb's liver, which was served in Sudan, flash fried in sesame oil, as a breakfast dish and about half an hour after being yanked from the still twitching sheep's corpse (metaphorically). So good that when we got back to Bolton we bought our liver at the abattoir to get as fresh as we could. It came in the form of a whole liver... No way you were getting half a pound... The spleen of both camel and sheep was too rich for us.

Sudanese eat every bit of the animal. Entrails of sheep were stewed in a tomato and chilli sauce. But were still pretty chewy. Head I could never face. Feet were stewed and very fatty - didn't like. Tongue actually was very nice. Fried, again in sesame oil. All came - usually - with aforementioned salsa, which sometimes also contained sweet onions... But always fiery chilli...

[thebish]

I had camel liver and - I think - spleen in Sudan. The spleen was too rich but the liver was great. Eaten with a salsa of fresh chillis, salt and fresh lime juice and unleavened bread.

Dear God. I take it that that was out of necessity rather than choice?!

I've eaten alligator (or was it crocodile?) in Birmingham.

it was very old wrinkly horse...

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

The bit I don't understand about this horse business - is horse meat cheaper to produce than beef?

[Lord Kangana]

If it was fit for human consumption then no. Good horse meat is quite expensive in France. The horse is seen as a cleaner animal than the cow. I've heard old country folk in Britain repeat this same assertion.

If you're putting dead race horses and old nags in that are meant to be destroyed (and not legally fit for human consumption) then yes.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

If it was fit for human consumption then no. Good horse meat is quite expensive in France. The horse is seen as a cleaner animal than the cow. I've heard old country folk in Britain repeat this same assertion.

If you're putting dead race horses and old nags in that are meant to be destroyed (and not legally fit for human consumption) then yes.

Mostly they appear to be old nags from Romania. Very recently a law was passed in Romania and Bulgaria in order to get all the horse-and-traps off the roads. The resultant tens of thousands of unemployed nags has caused problems of where to keep them and who is slaughtering them - very easy to see why, after desinewed meat was made illegal in this country, the criminal/businessmen types saw an opportunity.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Off for some steak/horse at Gaucho shortly. All paid for by someone else

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

What is it that makes some horses fit for human consumption?

Is it special disease testing, staying away from certain drugs - that sort of thing?

[mrkint]

I think I read a bit back mummy that horses are sometimes treated for certain conditions by a drug called 'bute' - a substance which is not allowed to enter the food chain whatsover. Basically if it's had bute it's off the menu.

[Lord Kangana]

Verbal has it about right. Its about whats in the animal (what its been fed), how its been treated and slaughtered etc. Theres a whole raft of controls (not all necessarily good) for meat-intended animals all along the process.

[William the White]

after the movie at cineworld, curry at Spice Valley... chicken methi for me, veggie biryiani for her... 2 halve of kingfisher and a large red for me - she drove...

This was, as usual, very good...

[mrkint]

full of a terrible cold. Only one think for it - homemade chicken soup. Have that

[thebish]

bit of a panic last night...

house a bit of a tip - kitchen full of unwashed pots - no food in... contemplating takeaway...

then at 5:20pm - the missus remembers that some people are coming round for dinner at 7:30pm - 3 course meal expected

I put the missus in charge of tidying house and laying table and banish her from kitchen (as she panics in the kitchen under pressure!) - and decide to treat it like it is an episode of come dine with me..

run to shops,
hurriedly wash up

then produce three course dinner...

starter: seeded sour-dough mini-baguettes (sliced) with smoked mackerel pate
main: North African squash and chickpea stew with dates and side-salad
pud: rhubarb crumble

I cheated and bought the bread and the pate - but made all the rest!

copious red wine and schloer for the driver...

fresh ground coffee in the lounge with leftover christmas minty chocs...


guests arrived bang on 7:30 to find house sparkling, kitchen calm, me dressed up, and food ready!

was well pleased with myself!

(had my missus not looked in her diary for summat else - they would simply have arrived with us unprepared!! close shave!)

[bobo the clown]

Well done Bish.

Though "North African squash and chickpea stew with dates" .... yummy !!