a_foxie_smile

Nov. 15th, 2009

Just say Neigh!

Now I love Italian food and I am sure that they feed their babies very well indeed.
However I am not sure that this particular baby food product will take off here:

www.nifeislife.com/horse-meal-puree-plasmon-2x80g-p-1887.html

Tags: baby food, italian, oh dear

Posted at 07:33 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Nov. 13th, 2009

I am been really wanting to try raw milk since I read about it randomly on a raw foodie site. It is high in vitamins and minerals but of course also carries a higher risk or E.Coli and Salmonella poisioning. I've had Salmonella and it is pretty awful.

But now my colleague has promised to bring me back some from a farm near his house. Excited!
I should get it on Tuesday and I am really looking forward to it :)

Tags: milk, raw food

Posted at 07:26 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Nov. 11th, 2009

Someone has a sense of humour

There are far too many macarons on the internet. I mean they are ok, I have even had some which are pretty darn good, but really they aren't quite the level of god-like adoration that they receive on the web.
So I was very happy when I saw these, the trashiest of all macarons:

Tags: baking, trashy finds

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Nov. 6th, 2009

cha Ca Hanoi

Cheat style :)

For dipping/serving sauce:
Blitz toegther a clove or two of garlic, a couple of chilkis and then add fish sauce, lime juice, salt and sugar to taste.
.

For dish:
Get white fish fillets and cut into chunks
Mix flour with tumeric and toss the fish with this until coated.
Pan fry fishies.

Chop up roasted peanuts toast in hot pan add chopped fresh basil, coriander, dill and spring onions. Stir fry briefly and chuck in fish to mix..just really fast so it all gets coated.

Eat with the dipping sauce on the side.

It looks something like this:

(picture is from toursvietnam.net)

Tags: fish, vietnamese

Posted at 07:53 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Nov. 5th, 2009

Giant Gummi bear anyone?

Available in Blue Raspberry, cola, orange or cherry flavours.

I might have to buy some of these for people at Christmas :)

Tags: gifts, sweets

Oct. 28th, 2009

Egg and Soldiers

I bought this gem from Pedlars today and I thought you might appreciate it too.
"Try as the soldiers may to protect the egg, they’re going to lose the battle. Designed by Reiko Kaneko in London."

Egg and Soldiers is of course a traditional English breakfast. A soft boiled egg in an egg cup with the top of the egg sliced off to reveal the yellow liquid of the yolk. "Soldiers" of toast, sliced into fingers and spread with butter. Or even better with butter and marmite.

Lift the soldiers and dip into the yolk.
Nursery food at its very finest.

Tags: gadgets

Posted at 06:20 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Oct. 25th, 2009

Nike to go please

I didn't know that in the Philippines, they sometimes sell chicken feet nicknamed "adidas".

Tags: madness

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Oct. 18th, 2009

Part of the cult

I just ate my first ever Red Velvet cupcake.

My first ever red velvet anything actually. I have read so much about them in blogs that I have positively yearned for them, but they aren't so easy to come by in London.

Well, that has changed as now I have an easy supply via Ruby Rose and her little cakes of joy.

"Ruby Rose velvet cupcake: A cocoa infused buttermilk cupcake disguised in a red velvet cloak topped with the signature vanilla Ruby Rose Swirl."

The company even have a blog here: rubyrosecupcakes.typepad.co.uk/my_weblog/new-flavours/

How was it? It was chocolatey. More chocolatey than I thought red velvet would be actually. And it was sweet. And it was over far too quicky.

Tags: cake, cult

Posted at 06:22 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Oct. 2nd, 2009

Candy kids and criminal adults

"Diet has been associated with behavioural problems, including aggression, but the long-term effects of childhood diet on adult violence have not been studied. We tested the hypothesis that excessive consumption of confectionery at age 10 years predicts convictions for violence in adulthood (age 34 years). Data from age 5, 10 and 34 years were used. Children who ate confectionery daily at age 10 years were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence at age 34 years, a relationship that was robust when controlling for ecological and individual factors."

Moore SC, Carter LM, van Goozen S.

Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Oct;195(4):366-7.

Posted at 07:48 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Sep. 22nd, 2009

I didn't see this when in Russia!

It may be true that the Russians are raised on Vodka. Not quite instead of breast milk, but certainly it is an integral part of their culture.

However, this may well be taking it too far:

Milky vodka in a breast shaped bottle?
This is wrong on so many levels. No adult-baby jokes, please!

Still with a 35% vol. alcohol content this is one milky drink that certainly would send you straight to sleep :)

Tags: russia

Posted at 07:34 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Sep. 17th, 2009

Natto. Never again.

I am a true believer that anything regarded a delicacy, or indeed merely as a foodstuff should be tried at least once. If only for the experience you understand. Life is short ater all and it would be a shame to miss out.

Until today I'd say that I have liked pretty much everything that I have tasted. Fried intestines on a stick in Hong Kong was a fair stretch of the definition of the word like, but it was far from offense. I have liked durian fruit, tapioca and snail.

Today, during an otherwise very pleasant lunch with a friend at Moshi Moshi sushi, I decided to order a single natto Temaki (handrolled sushi).

What is natto?
Well its a fermented soy bean. Yes, ok an infected putrified soybean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D , fermented with bacteria Baciluis subtilis. But is is a delicacy in Japan. People rave about its health giving properties. A miracle food almost. Ahem.
But so many fermented foods that we have are amazingly tasty. Some of the tasty ones are even something other than beer ;)

Anyway, the appearance was ok, a little oozy true, but no more so than a good cheese. I let a friend have a bite and before he could give an opinion, took a bite myself.

NO. Oh no, no, no, NO.

Both of us dissolved into laughter as we grasped for pickled ginger and for tea..anything in fact to get rid of the taste in our mouths. It was taste of feet, but not clean feet, not even cheesy feet, but the worst, rotting, fetid, dead body pair of feet.

Oh my.

A health-giving factory, a delicacy..an aberration!

Tags: japanese

Sep. 15th, 2009

In memory of Keith Flloyd

So today marks the passing of a great TV chef, the irreverrent Keith Flloyd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Floyd

An old bastion of British colonial types he would broadcast from around the world, in his unique informational style. Loudly arguing with his director and with pans flying left right and centre as he cooked at a speed unknown amongst the TV chefs of the time, he would often leave the locals open-mouthed as he lectured the camera on the production of their cuisine, at 100 miles per hour, and never, ever, ever without a glass of wine in his hand.

He looked like he knew how to party, and that was truly his way, one of the bad boys of the BBC.
His drinking of course was his ultimate downfall, he loved life a little too much and a heart attack at 65 often points to such a flaw.

But what a wonderful life to have led!

Tags: chefs, television

Posted at 09:42 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Sep. 14th, 2009

(no subject)

Well I've eaten Frozen Yoghury before.

And I really like it too. That sharp, tangy even slightly sour taste that in many cases makes it, well more interesting that ice-cream.

Ben and Jerrys have frozen yoghurt:

Kinda..

Skimmed Milk, Sugar, Water, Yogurt, Glucose-fructose Syrup, Cocoa, Dried Glucose Syrup, Egg Yolks, Unbleached Wheat Flour, Butter, Eggs, Egg Whites, Soya Flour, Stabiliser (Locust Bean Gum), Salt, Raising Agent (Sodium Carbonate), Vanilla Extract.

Look! It even says on the carton!

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ocado-compare-prices/Ice_Cream/Ben_And_Jerrys_Chocolate_Fudge_Brownie_Low_Fat_Frozen_Yogurt_500ml.html

But..it doesn't taste anything like Frozen Yoghurt!
It tastes like the ice cream!

So, well, I feel robbed. It seems that mostly what they have done is mix a bit of yoghurt into their original formula and taken out the cream.

The original ice cream:
Cream 28.5% , Water , Sugar , Skimmed Milk , Fudge Brownie 13% (Sugar, Water, Wheat Flour, Cocoa 7.5%, Butter, Eggs , Egg Whites, Invert Sugar (Cane Sugar Syrup), Soya Flour, Salt , Vanilla Extract, Raising Agent: Sodium Carbonate) , Cocoa 4.5% , Egg Yolks , Stabilisers: Guar Gum And Carrageenan .

It does tastes nice, but it isn't rocking my frozen yoghurt goat herd! Sorry B+J.

Tags: ice cream

Posted at 08:04 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Sep. 8th, 2009

Homemade salsa

OK, so I asked for Salsa advice on the Cooking forum and I got lots of it.

So much actually that I decided I would just free style it.

Into the food processor went a tin of chopped tomatos (fresh would have been the preference but I didn't have any and the canned stuff is so cheap it may as well have been free), 2 fresh green chiles off my plants, varierty unknown, one red onion and...and here was my mistake...HALF A CLOVE OF GARLIC.

Jesus. Way too much.

I pulsed, added ketchup for sweetness, black pepper, salt and lime juice and then when it still didn't quite do it for me, some liquid smoke.

It was good. Ish.

Next time, less garlic, fresh tomatos and some cilantra. I think I went over with the maverick :D

Tags: salsa

Posted at 07:07 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Sep. 5th, 2009

Water Chestnut Flour

Water Chestnut flour vs cornstarch? I have no idea.

I have a packet of the stuff, I shall experiment this week maybe.

Posted at 03:39 am | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Sep. 2nd, 2009

No more Kitkat Peanut butter chunky in the UK :(

They have replaced it with a caramel chunky instead. Part of an overall £24m spend on the Kit Kat brand for 2009.
Nestlé is hoping to cash in on a 34% sales uplift for its Kit Kat Chunky brand with a new caramel variant.

I don't even like caramel!

Today is a sad day for chocolate.

Posted at 07:15 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Aug. 31st, 2009

Eat plantain - J Ethnopharmacol.

A natural flavonoid present in unripe plantain banana pulp (Musa sapientum L. var. paradisiaca) protects the gastric mucosa from aspirin-induced erosions.

The active anti-ulcerogenic ingredient was extracted from unripe plantain banana by solvent fractionation and identified by chromatography, spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography as the flavonoid leucocyanidin. Dried unripe plantain banana powder, the extracted leucocyanidin and a purified synthetic leucocyanidin demonstrated a significant (P < 0.05) protective effect against aspirin-induced erosions.

Posted at 03:49 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Aug. 18th, 2009

Eat turmeric

Exciting new research says that we should eat more turmeric, the yellow-orange spice used in Asian cooking and curries.

Turmeric contains curcumin, a powerful antioxidant dubbed "cure-cumin" by leading researcher Bharat Aggarwal of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He says new studies show that curcumin may help prevent and treat cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis and arthritis.

One reason: Curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory agent, and inflammation is now regarded as an underlying contributor to many chronic diseases. Aggarwal also hasdiscovered that curcumin affects gene activity in ways that starve and kill cancer cells.

The National Cancer Institute is now funding human trials of curcumin related to the prevention and treatment of colon, pancreatic and rectal cancers. In addition, scientists at UCLA are testing curcumin on Alzheimer's patients.

To get more: Commercial curry powders that contain turmeric have low and widely variable concentrations of curcumin, so it's better to consume straight turmeric. You can add turmeric freely to many Asian, Indian and African dishes, such as rice, vegetables, chicken and fish curries, stir-frys, stews and casseroles.

It's safe: Researchers say up to 12 grams of pure curcumin a day is non-toxic; one tablespoon of turmeric might contain up to 1/4 gram of curcumin.

Curcumin's benefits
Biochem Pharmacol 2008, Feb. 15; 75:787-809 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17900536
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2008 Jul 9. [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18662800

Human trials at NCI
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials

Amounts and safety
Nutr Cancer, 2006:55(2): 126-31 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17044766

from http://www.stopagingnow.com

Tags: health

Posted at 08:28 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Aug. 17th, 2009

Russian/Japanese fusion??

While in St Petersburg earlier this month, I ate:

Caviar sushi!

It was very, very salty. The yellow one was harsher in taste than the black and also slightly sour in taste. The black, still intensely salty but smoother somehow. Adding soy to this would have been plain wrong. The wasabi mixed rather oddly with the textures, yet still complemented the fishy taste.
It was good, really good.

And also more than a bit wrong.

The restaurant we ate this in was self-themed as Russian Kitsch. A luxury menu, teamed with a stripper on the stage. A series of paintings on the walls. Well, not just paintings. What do you make of this?

or this?

After a week of Russian food we were crying out for strong flavours. Thai curry, Indian or Chinese food. Anything but more borscht and fish soup, pelmeni or blini. So the sushi hit the spot quite wonderfully.

They do like their sushi in Russia! And I sure liked Russia.

Posted at 06:35 pm | Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Aug. 15th, 2009