Cheoff

A site about food, drink and other random stuff!

Clever, Cheesy, Nibbly... Beware!

This new blogging thing has proved immensely enjoyable for me. Huge thanks to you  for indulging me so far. However, I'm well aware of my expertise in using three or four words where one would suffice, so I'm giving you all a respite session with this short, savoury piece.

Pay attention to this post at your peril. Do not make these... they are the dictionary definition of IRRESISTIBLE!

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The clipping was sent to me by my mum many moons ago. There might have been a 'Food & Drink' magazine tied in with the BBC TV series of the early 80s. If so, this was most likely from it.

Once tasted, everyone asks Mum and me for the recipe. My only advice is to make between 30 and 40 balls from the dough and leave room for spreading - they will still be a small, flavour-packed sensation. If you prefer twenty indulgent, biscuity slabs of crunchy Cheddar, then stick to the recipe's instruction.

Oh, that 'Beware!' is a very quiet one. Do make these today. You will come to no harm - other than a desperate desire to make them again tomorrow!

Christmas 2014 - TWO: Eggs and Bacon

After I’d asked for and duly unwrapped a birthday present copy of Thomas Keller’s ‘French Laundry Cookbook’ this was the recipe which I decided to make first. It’s one tasty mouthful which I like to serve as a canapé or amuse bouche.

Mr. Keller runs his magnificent restaurant in California. Among many other claims to fame, he was invited to elaborate his version of 'confit byaldi' which is presented to the demanding restaurant critic, Anton Ego, in the classic animated film, "Ratatouille".

Buy it... and look for 'Soft Poached Quail Eggs with Applewood-Smoked Bacon'

Buy it... and look for 'Soft Poached Quail Eggs with Applewood-Smoked Bacon'

As luck would have it, we are just down the road from a lovely lady who rears quail and sells their eggs.

The most demanding preparation here is to cut the leek, turnip and carrot vegetable garnish into brunoise. I usually get dice between 2 and 3 mm (any smaller and the micro-fine motor skills needed start cramping my poor thumb tendons) I always make more than needed and find that the excess will freeze nicely for next time.

How to Dice and Brunoise - Video

Next task... and, yes, it’s a bit fiddly slicing the tops off titchy quail eggs but, once done, they can be put into a bed of salt to stop tipping - they get too stubby to retrieve from their carton by this stage.

I use a stockpot with barely simmering water to boil the eggs. If you first swirl the liquid they will gather more of the white around them as they sink through a good nine inches of water. Not much more than a minute or the time it takes them to float to the surface will usually see them ready for rescue with a slotted spoon while they still have a runny centre. Straight into iced water now to stop the cooking. You can see a jar of them ready to store in the fridge where they will keep for a couple of days at least.

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Choose your favourite bacon to chop and fry as crunchy crumbs (I’ll let you know about my supply from our wonderful local butcher in another post).

You can make Thomas Keller’s recommended ‘beurre montébut I tend to shortcut to whole butter to reheat the eggs in a pan. Warm the brunoise along with them. Then it's one egg into warmed spoons with its vegetables and a little of the buttery sauce. Sprinkle some crispy bacon pieces, twist a small grind of pepper over and offer them to your rather lucky guests.

This is a slightly intricate but not too demanding way to serve basic ingredients. The magic is in the miniature presentation, the terrific flavour and the huge appreciation which you can smugly accept before everyone asks for another!

Bacon, Brunoise and Butter Sauce finish these off... before you finish them off, of course!

Bacon, Brunoise and Butter Sauce finish these off... before you finish them off, of course!

Doppelgangers

A little nonsense here... but it shouldn't take too much of your time.

Earlier this year I visited the Musée des beaux-arts in Orléans. It has an impressive collection with paintings stacked up three-high in some rooms so you don't have to use up shoe leather unnecessarily.

I studied for a degree in History of Art so I should reassure you that I did allow much of the creativity to impress itself on me. However, my abiding memory is standing in front of this work by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez.

The apostle Saint Thomas looks to have all the weight of doubt (and a very heavy cloak!) upon him. I say that now but my immediate thoughts were elsewhere. You should know that my life has been enriched by playing and watching the game of Lawn Tennis. Some of you will already see where I'm going with this. Let's check if your thoughts are the same as mine...

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Exactly! It's as if Diego was a good friend of Mr. Murray in a yet to be discovered alternative universe. The same model is used in other Velazquez paintings but I don't think Andy can sue because my understanding is that copyright doesn't last quite that long.

This month included a trip to the re-vamped Ashmolean in Oxford with tickets for the Tutankhamun and the Embroidery exhibitions (I'm a cultured vulture!) In the main galleries this fella popped up at head height on a plinth... one Cosimo de' Medici in rather firm-jawed Florentine magnificence. As you scroll down you will be treated to a further revelation which confirms my growing suspicion that I need to get out more often.

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OK, you can relax now - David Ferrer is the final suggestion for inclusion in my 'Tennis player look-alikes in the World of Art' folder. Of course, if I do start to get out more often I'll eventually come across another candidate who doubles up. If you find one first do let me know!

Dad Sees Scroll!

In which we find out how and why I’m writing any of this.

What do two loving sons give their father for his sixty-third birthday? Let’s cast aside that he already has more than anyone could rightfully expect…

Small but perfectly formed

Small but perfectly formed

James and Jonathan enter bearing a cushion which they offer to me. It supports a discarded sweet paper. No, wait - if that’s a sweet paper it’s been given a lot more respect than just careful placement in a bin! Celebratory drinks are still a few hours away so my fumbling fingers cope reasonably well with the challenge of freeing the tiny, tightly-rolled scroll from its presentation ribbon.

Sweet!

Sweet!

And there it is… thanks to my sons’ efforts and ingenuity I have my very own domain, funded until my next birthday! Jemma's part in this must be gratefully acknowledged here since she also contributed (The Griffiths family are strangely fond of the affricate // but I can assure you that James chose the love of his life for much more than her initial phoneme!)

It takes a while to realise the implications of this. I have already shocked and offended hundreds of innocent people on Facebook. Why not take on the new mantle of blogger, blagger and silly bugger until everyone begs me not to pay for renewed hosting when the year is up!

Nothing epic or biblical in the great scheme of things but I'm guessing that this has the potential to carve large chunks out of the pumpkin which time has given me.

I will, doubtless, continue to thank my sons for their super-crazy gift but I will also attempt to apologise now and again to anyone else reading this for the absurd licence they have given me.

Thanks, boys... sorry, everyone else!

 

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