Priceless Paintings from W7

I had need to see a specialist doctor. His clinic doesn’t make appointments, but operates on a 9 ‘o’clock first-come first-served walk-in basis. OK, I thought, I’d better be there in time, and arrived at the machine where one pulls the ticket number at 8:15.

The room was already half full of people smarter, and even earlier than me.

The receptionist arrived at quarter to nine, and the first question was “who’s got an appointment?”

What? I have never found out how one gets an appointment on the no-appointment Monday morning walk-in clinic, but never mind. Turns out I was number 14 in the no appointment queue, and when it was 9 o’clock, the exact time when the clinic would officially open its doors, they announced that  they were now fully booked for the day, and started turning people away.

Luckily, I had gotten in earlier. I’d be fuming with rage otherwise.

After only 90 minutes, I got called and transferred to another queue. Arrangements there were less comfortable, but people were in better, and humorous, spirits, after realising that this is just another queue.

I was seen half an hour later, and discharged 10 minutes later. All right, I got the assessment I came for.

Next time, I’d like to provide an assessment into their work, though. I am sure there were lots of things going on that we didn’t know or understand, but the number of times my file was picked up, looked at, put down again, the number of times nurses and doctors walked up and down the aisle – I am sure that I don’t understand half of what is going on there, but I can’t believe they organised themselves, and a whole room full of patients, in the best possible way.

Anyway. I got out of there and back home in little over 4 hours. This will probably beat the official NHS target.

Thoughts Britain, NHS;

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Delores.

Delores who?

Delores my shepherd…

It wasn’t Delores, nor was it an African Christian missionary. Instead, it was the guy from down the road. And he didn’t tell any knock-knock jokes either:

Do you know about the planning application for the Red Lion, he asks. No, I say. (The Red Lion is a derelict pub at the end of my street). He explains that this is the last day to object a planning application to convert the derelict pub into (his words) “an African church.”

Oh, that’s good news, I say, why would I want to object replacing a derelict pub with a church?

Because, he tells me, we have parking problems here already. There’ll be hundreds of cars every Sunday.

You’d have been proud of me, how I stayed calm and cool, and in the friendliest possible way explained that I’d much rather have car parking problems on a Sunday morning, compared to nightly drug and knife-crime issues (as we used to have with the Red Lion).

I should have also informed him that, even though car parking space can be tight late in the evening, in comparison with most of suburbia, we do not have car parking problems at all.

I welcome “the African church” to my area (and plan on a lie-in Sunday mornings anyway). Some people just have to object anything. Ealing Council doesn’t have a great track record at showing common sense, but I sure hope they dismiss this objection.

Current Affairs Ealing, Ealing council, hanwell, human, london

This week, I struggle to categorize my eating. Some was bachelor food but not all, some is south-east Asian and Chinese-inspired food (but not all), so whichever category label you want to put on it, here it is:

Re-fried pasta with bacon and egg (also known as Schinkennudeln),

A Chinese-esque noodle soup (a much beloved quickie),

A fruity and hot Singaporean Laksa (a much beloved hottie – fruity on account of the newly discovered Tamarind, by the way),

A slow-cooked Beef Rendang (a much beloved sweetie), and

Medallions from loin of pork, roasted with courgettes and feta cheese, served with rice.

Related articles by Zemanta

Food and Drink cooking, food, fresh food, recipe

I lost count, and that in itself is a nice thing: I lost count of the many changes we finally managed to make to improve our home. It started with the outside granite paving in front and back, the new bicycle shed and the new tool shed, the rubbish shelter (also known as the bunny cage). We had built a rear extension, and we have now finally managed to complete the construction of our new shelves for the lounge.

I cut all the boards from nice redwood boards – some where slightly warped, but most were all right, beautifully smelling and looking.

The first challenge was to work out the height of all the boards so that it looks OK yet provides all the space and different heights required for CDs, DVDs, hundreds of books, electronics, and whatnots.

The second challenge was to cut all the boards without screwing-up too much. I am pleased to report just one systematic error (all needed a 3mm adjustment), which was easy to apply, but no cutting error otherwise. Given the large number of cuts and number of different boards, I am quite pleased with that.

Thirdly, we had to put it all together straight, without wobble or other odd effects.

Well. Take a look yourself. I think it works out nice. It isn’t perfect (as everyone can see on close inspection), but it’s mine, custom built to huge satisfaction and low cost.

home home

Life is Everywhere – emerging from a hydrant sign in West Ealing, as shown on this photo here.

It humbles me to think that life will go on, undisturbed or even less disturbed, long after we are all gone.

Thoughts life, nature, plants

What can be better than a fresh hot Tarte Tatin to follow a meal of Chourcoute de Mer? I can’t think of anything, and a recent panel of judges (assembled around my dining table) seemed to agree.

You’ll find Tarte Tatin recipes anywhere. This one works for me – adopted from the much loved Larousse Gastronomique, and adjusted to my needs.

Tarte Tatin is a caramelized apple cake, baked upside-down. It’s pretty simple to make, especially if you cut corners and use ready-made deep-frozen shortcrust pastry for the base. I am sure more restaurants do the same.

Key to making Tarte Tatin is your baking dish. It needs to go over fire on fairly high heat, and it needs to go into the oven. There is no way to transfer the caramel from a frying pan into a baking dish; you’d spoil it. I use a stainless steel 280mm frying pan, and unscrew the handle just before it goes into the oven.

Once you’ve found a suitable pan (one with a double-life as a baking dish), then you’re good to go:

Buy frozen shortcrust pastry, the kind that is already rolled-out to fit a 280mm dish. Defrost one sheet, keep the other for another day.

Slowly melt 180g butter. When melted, mix with 180g caster sugar and seeds from one vanilla pod. Mix well, allowing most of the sugar to dissolve and the vanilla to distribute.

Peel 5 or 6 medium sized apples and remove the cores. I usually use Braeburn. Cut into eights.

Distribute the butter and sugar mix evenly across the bottom of the pan. There’s no need to cover the walls. Lay out the apple slices nicely into that mix. Make an effort to lay them nicely, but don’t be too disappointed if things shift about a bit in what comes next:

Put the pan over fairly high heat, maybe 8/10. Don’t stir, don’t shake, just keep an eye on it and adjust the heat as necessary. You want the butter to boil fairly violently, without splashing out of your pan. Do so until the butter and sugar mix makes a dark golden caramel.

Remove pan from fire and let cool down completely. (This is the state shown in today’s photo.)Do something else for two hours, then cover the apples with the shortcrust pastry. Tuck in the edges. Put aside.

Return to the tarte 30 minutes before you want to serve it. Pop into the oven (which you have pre-heated to 190C) for 30..35 minutes, top and bottom heat. Begin watching it after 20 minutes in case it darkens too quickly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for five minutes. Just allow the temperature to drop a little, without allowing the caramel to set. Now flip it onto a serving tray, and serve immediately. Goes extremely well with a scoop of nice vanilla ice cream.

Food and Drink cooking, food, fresh food, recipe

This is the perfect split between my German home cooking and my current home in England. I call it Fish and Chips, Brittany-style for the English, Sauerkraut Unn Fisch for the Germans, and Choucroute de Mer for the French-aware among us. I have heard of French people denying this meal’s authenticity, but trust me. You’ll find it in many places in Brittany.

It’s simple, it’s surprising, it’s different, it’s impressive, it’s delicious.

For 4 to 5 people, you’ll need a large jar (850g?) of Sauerkraut (=Choucroute). In England, you can now get it in most Supermarkets, and in all Polish Delicatessen. Per head, you need 120g of salmon (smoked salmon filet pieces preferred) each, 100g of white fish such as Cod or Haddock, and a couple of large prawns or langoustines.

First, cut half an onion into half rings, fry with a little white fat or lard and a good handful of dry cured lardons (or small pieces of good quality bacon). Add 850g Sauerkraut (drain it in a colander first), half a cup of dry white wine, 3 crushed juniper berries, 2 bay leaves, a pinch of salt. Cover, reduce the heat and allow to simmer on very low heat. Time is not critical provided the heat is very low.

Heat butter in a frying pan and gently fry pieces of salmon fillet. I prefer using lightly smoked salmon. When using fresh salmon, which has more moisture, I suggest dusting it with a mix from wheat flour and ground ginger.

Heat up milk in another frying pan – about 1 1/2 fingers deep. Don’t bring it to the boil, but close. Add 4 juniper berries and 2 bay leaves, then gently simmer the white fish pieces in it. This needs time (15 minutes?) because you’ll be cooking at only 80 Celcius, approximately. If the lardons (or the bacon) hadn’t done it already, now was the moment to realize this is not a kosher meal.

Meanwhile… heat up a good amount of olive oil in a small wok or pan. Add some real fire with some red chillies and a heap of fresh garlic, then fry the prawns.

Now finish the Sauerkraut with a generous amount of double cream. Stir this well under.

You’re done!

Put a nice heap of kraut on each plate, salmon and white fish on top, crowned by some hot prawns. Serves well with steamed potatoes or crispy potato wedges. Goes with white wine, and lots of Aaaaaahs.

Trust me. I know it sounds weird, but it really is lovely (and recently got approved by yet another crowd at my table).

Food and Drink cooking, Fish, food, fresh food, recipe

This week, I’ve been mostly eating food for the masses. Food for crowds, food for, by, or shared with, large(-ish) numbers of people:

Choucroute de Mer, accompanied by fresh spelt bread and spicy potato wedges, followed by a nice and warm Tarte Tatin with Vanilla ice cream (party of ten).

Roast Beef with a very nice home-made Sauce Bernaise, Smoked Salmon Quiche and a Quiche Lorraine, Focaccia (the one with the kick) – part of a buffet for 50 people.

A variety of curry at the Haweli Restaurant in West Ealing, in company of 66 others. Really nice, but must go back and experience their normal cooking – this was a special order and, as a courtesy to our guests, prepared as the very mild variety.

Also made a Lemon Drizzle Cake (included in this self-portrait), cherry muffins, and even more bread. Always nice, all the lot of it.

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe

Sometimes you can’t help wondering if “they” employ complete fools on purpose, or if “they” are complete fools to begin with, thus fail to recognise any further foolishness.

For example, I cannot figure out why Intalink of Hertfordshire advertises the richness of information they provide by showing people who aren’t happy at all about this at all. They are instead, as the text explains, shocked and blown away.

In my naive and amateurish opinion, life is simple. Want to sell  positive news? Use a positive message.

I find so much public display of foolishness frightening; laughable if it wasn’t so sad. I can only assume the young lady depicted here thought the same.

Thoughts foolish, human

Those of you who know me will know that I appreciate beauty, but I am not a follower of beauty contests. However, this one caught my eye, and not limited to the ways you might think:

Rachel Christie, who is currently training on the running track for the 2012 Olympics qualifiers, is among the finalists for Miss England 2009. The competition’s final round is held yesterday and today (July 19th and 20th, 2009) at the London Hilton Metropole Hotel, and I want you all to give a big cheer, touch wood, hold a breath or, if you can, vote for Rachel. She isn’t the only non-white contestant, but she’s generally expected to do well in the competition.

America managed to elect its first ever black president not that long ago.

Surely, Britain should be able to vote for its first ever black Miss England?

 [Edit, 22-July-2009:]

Here you have it. Rachel Christie is Miss England 2009. Well done.

Given that the news came and went more or less unnoticed, I am no longer sure what this means for the black community, or any community. One could say “see, nobody cares that she’s black,” but I think the reality is that nobody cares for Miss England contests. Maybe she gets more publicity winning on the race track. This might just have given her the money to focus on training for the Olympics.

[/Edit]

Thoughts Britain, england, human

I’ve been looking at this web site’s statistics for a while now. Between almost 840 posts, the site covers almost anything under the sun – little of relevance, but a diverse spread of subjects, so that I get a good number of visitors from search engines such as Google, Windows Live (Bing), or, increasingly, Exalead.

It always amazes me to see through which search terms people find my site. Google users would, for example, search for Urban Karahi Hanwell or Pommes Dauphinoise and find my post that mentions the Urban Karahi restaurant in Hanwell (or the one about Pommes Dauphinoise).

On the other hand, Windows Live users seem to be searching for simple generic terms such as summer or geese – a broad search unlikely leading to success.

Would anyone know what is going on?

Are Google users way smarter than Windows Live users? Is someone building a meta-index through Windows Live? Will Windows Live not reveal the full original search term?

I am inclined to think it must be the latter, in which case Microsoft would be one small step ahead in the game of protecting surfers’ privacy. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Web/Tech Google, search engine;

Real men don’t eat quiche. All right. Fine by me. I am a quiche-eater, guilty as charged. Not a real man, according to Bruce Feirstein, but I know how to make the finest and most rewarding quiche (and enjoy eating it).

A quiche is quick to make, and always scores with the womenfolk. What are you waiting for?

One roll of deep-frozen rolled-out shortcrust pastry, available in some shape or form in most supermarkets. Use puff pastry as your second choice. Defrost.

A deep baking dish to fit the pastry. I use a 280mm diameter round baking dish, about one 25mm deep. Line with baking parchment, then with the aforementioned pastry. Put aside.

Start the oven to 180C. Prefer top and bottom heat over circulated heat.

Prepare the filling.

Smoked Salmon Quiche:
300g smolked salmon, cut in finger sized strips, 150g roasted artichokes or peppers (or both), a small bunch of dill. Just toss everything into the dish in a seemingly random distribution.

Quiche Lorraine:
Cut two leeks into 10mm strips. Wash and rinse thoroughly. Fry up 250g of good quality dry-cure bacon or lardons. When done, add the leak, toss around for 30s, then spread the whole lot into the baking dish.

Others:
A million of varieties are up for your to make. Mushrooms, spinach and bacon always hits the spot, for example.

Now take 300ml double cream. Add three free-range eggs (four if tiny), a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and 1/3 teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Stock granulates if you like it very savoury, a pinch of saffron otherwise. Allspice to taste. Mix well, and pour over the filling. Optionally, sprinkle one finely chopped fresh red chilly pepper over the top (a nice kick with the smoked salmon quiche).

Shake the baking tray gently to let trapped air escape, and pop into the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes. Start watch it after 25 minutes; it might need taking out sooner if it darkens too quickly.

Take out when done. Let cool down for 20 minutes, then remove quiche from tray (just lift it out by the baking parchment), then let cool down some more on a grid.

Transfer onto serving plate, cut into generous pieces, serve with a green salad and a crispy white wine. Scores every time.

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe

This week, I’ve been mostly eating bread. Fresh, crispy, light and fluffy, wonderfully smelling, wonderfully tasting, great fun making bread. I mentioned this earlier in the week already. Not only bread though:

Paella. Always a good choice.

A BBQ of marinated pork and spiced-up lamb, served with German potato salad and cucumber salad and –you guessed it- fresh home made bread.

A lovely smoked salmon quiche.

A fresh German sausage salad with crispy and spicy potato wedges.

Cream of tomato soup, served in freshly baked bread bowls. Fresh Focaccia, Tarte Provencale, and various pizze. Creme Brullee.

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe

Here’s an excellent example how not to write a guidebook: John Macadam’s recently released official National Trail Guide to the South West Cost Path from Padstow to Falmouth (amazon) – yes, the exact book that covers the stretch we walked recently.

Much rambling, some background information, and close to nothing in terms of guidance is provided. While most of the path is well marked and the basics are simple (keep the water to your left when walking east to west), some sections are tricky. Finding the way out of town, or finding the right path amid a network of paths crossing the dunes, for example, can be tricky. This is where one likes consulting a guidebook, but this one fails to come to the rescue.

Since the map for each walk is spread over multiple pages, it is often difficult to judge the current position relative to the walk. Little hints like “you’ve reached the half-way point,”  “better don’t take lunch just yet. There’s a steep climb ahead and a brilliant Cafe in the next bay” or similar information of that nature is the kind of stuff I look for in a guide book.

I recall at least one occasion (which I fail to find and quote now), he talks about a nature feature or historic aspect, and then proceeds discussing the next feature or historic aspect, ignoring the 6 mile distance between the two.

A good thing each of the guidebooks which cover the entire path between them is written by a different author. Or maybe they should have sought someone who knows how to write a guidebook and given the job to that person. Oh, never mind.

Yes, you should be walking the South West Cost Path. Its brilliant. No, you should not be buying this book. Its a waste of money. Take your common sense instead, and an OS map, and you’ll be fine. 

Books, Out and About Books, coast path, cornwall, hiking

Fresh bread gives me a terrible heartburn, but since it is so very nice (the fresh bread, I mean), I am right in the middle of a bread making and baking frenzy. I keep both milk and Rennies in stock for the heartburn. I wanted to tell you about the bread, though.

Normally, I use a Panasonic SD-255 bread maker. It makes super bread and dough, and does it all for me. I throw yeast, flour, salt and water in the trough, select the program, set the timer, go to bed and awake to the most wonderful freshly baked bread. It’s quick, clean, simple, and delicious.

But.

I love little more than playing with my new oven, and I have recently discovered Richard Bertinet’s Dough (which is also available in German). He makes a couple of good points about the whole process, and has a lot of really nice recipes.

I made the most wonderful Focaccia, served Tomato Soup in eatable freshly baked bread bowls, made a variety of breads, tried (and failed) making the puff balls (green leaf salad inside a hollow bread ball). Roast tomato, garlic and olive bread, more Focaccia, more puffball experiments, more fresh and crispy bread are all coming up soon. 

So. Richard Bertinet. Highly recommended.

Books, Food and Drink Books, bread maker, cooking, Kitchen, recipe