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Channelling Juliette, hoping for Mr Depp

Today is Juliette Binoche’s birthday, who I think is the most amazing actress. I also think she’s incredibly stylish, not to mention the fact she has that French flair of being comfortable in her own skin, and seems to have avoided the lure of the plastic surgeon.

My favourite, favourite film of hers is Chocolat, probably for many obvious reasons. And then of course there’s the chocolate. And Johnny Depp wasn’t bad either.

You could decamp to France, with the film mostly being filmed in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain in Burgundy. As you’d see in the film, it’s a beautiful medieval fortified town, but also turns out to be pretty quiet and still off the tourist trail. Although it is famous for its aniseed balls, which is a little different to chocolate I guess. I can’t find any hotels in the town, but Le Verger sous les Vignes is only a couple of miles away, and the reviews describe it as a hidden gem. If you want to go a bit more upscale, then the Chateau Les Roches sounds great, with some good cooking at a weekend.

There doesn’t seem to be a huge number of restaurants listed in Flavigny itself. Le Relais de Flavignyhas a decent enough menu, with one of my favourites, foie gras with pain d’epices. It is a beautiful part of the world though, and even though there may not be great dining here, a trip to the area would reveal great epicurean delights. I love Alastair Sawday’s books, and would expect that when Go Slow France comes out in April there will be some good recommendations for this area.

There were some fabulous food scenes in the film, with chocolate being used in so many different ways, not just the obvious sweet ones. I’m a big fan of Willie’s cacao, and the savoury recipes in his book are interesting, and always cause a stir when you tell dinner guests what they are getting. So I think I’m going to channel her (I have a new frock from Jigsaw that makes me think of her) and create a chocolate feast. Just as soon as half my friends have stopped giving things up for Lent.

Not that that stopped her character!

Just a quick post on online retailers of good foodie stuff with good offers, in case you need a gift but with some cash left for day to day eating! Here goes:

Kissing Birds Free Gift from Thorntons

1. Thorntons have a free gift on offer for orders over £15 between now and the 14th, so a great one for the one for them, one for you principle. The free gift is the Kissing Birds, which is cute looking, and possibly tasty. I really like the chocolate blocks they have done, colourful and tasty. Enter code THKS at checkout to qualify.

2. I love how Majestic announce their offers: 25% off South Africa. Apparently it does just mean the wines! Great saving though when you buy two bottles. Possibly champagne discounts will follow next week if Valentine’s Day sales aren’t as good as they were hoping!

3. I do like my coffee, but good coffee. If you’ve got a caffeine freak, then how about joining them up to the Coffee Tasting Club from Coffee Cavern. It’s now available for £22.50 for 3 months, rather than £30, for which they will send 4 different coffees every month from single estates and co-operatives, along with tasting notes. A perfect pick you up gift.

4. Natoora is a great source for continental goodies from Italy and France amongst others. If you need to plan a big shop, then right now they are offering £20 off when you spend £80. The offer runs until 28 February, and you just need code HT785KE at checkout. Not sure I know where to start, but I would certainly be looking at their interesting wine and beer selection, and some San Daniele ham for sure.

5. There can never be enough fabulous chocolate in a home, and Chocolate Trading Co is a great source for finding great stuff. Just to ease some of the guilt, there is 10% off everything at the moment with code love, and it’s valid through till the end of this month. Deep joy!

6. If it’s too cold, or there’s still snow, then stay warm and safe and shop at the Virtual Farmers Market. Great selection of all kinds of producers from around the UK, and for all of February delivery is completely free, so got to be worth a go. And worth staying in for! Check out goodies from Gower Cottage Brownies, South Devon Chilli Farm and Upton Smokery amongst many other tasty choices!

Six great choices of places to shop, six great discounts. Happy shopping/cooking/eating!

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There are very vague signs of Spring: mornings are lighter, if I slink off sharpish it’s still light when I leave work, and there are some small green shoots in the garden.

Green shoots are coming!

And in the kitchen all sorts of things change for me. I know that it’s Spring when I start reaching for Bill Granger cookbooks and put away Delia’s Winter Collection. I start craving different things to eat, lots of South East Asian, lots of lighter stuff. What else might be going on?

1. The casserole might be heading back into the cupboard, and the wok might be heading out more permanently. Quick, easy and full of fresh flavours!

2. The grow your own foodies will be busy prepping their fruit and veg plots, as well as working out what seeds to order in. I am really keen on Seeds of Italy, and there are some really unusual varieties of tomatoes and basil, as well as things like spelt and garlic chives. I told Dr T he should be chitting potatoes, but his hearing is not so good and he went a bit pale. If you’re not great with seeds, then order in seedlings ready to go in the ground. I like Sarah Raven and Thompson and Morgan, and I won’t tell your more green fingered friends if you don’t!

3. The pancake loving foodie will be dusting off their crepe pan ready for Shrove Tuesday. The less well co-ordinated will be looking at their ceiling and worrying. The really inept amongst us might choose an electric crepe maker!

4. The globe trotting foodie will be lured around the world to track down a huge variety of flavours. They were probably in San Francisco yesterday at the Crab Festival, and next weekend they could be at Menton in the South of France for the Lemon Festival. And you could head anywhere with a Chinatown next weekend ready for Chinese New Year.

5. Those of us with just Oyster cards will be enjoying a Parisian experience in W1, by heading to Pierre Herme’s instore patisserie at Selfridges for some truly magnificent macaroons. These are exquisite looking, and taste as good as they look. If you want to try recreating them, his book is only avaiable in French through Amazon France, although I can recommend a read of the experiences over on the He Eats blog. I particularly want to give the Salted Caramel and Apple ones a go.

So, even if more snow comes, just hang on in there, the Spring is on it’s way along with all the bounty that will bring.

Interesting shot of shoots by sciondriver over on Flickr.

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I love this time of year, love the thrill of a great rugby game, love the air of gloom and despondency that descends on the household should Wales lose to England (and only if they lose to England). But enough about Dr T, I am making an exception to the Friday Five alliteration this week to make it six, for the sake of harmony in the kitchen celebrating the cuisines of 5 great rugby nations. And Italy.

First Catch Your Peacock

Only joking. Though some still believe they are only there for the Welsh to have someone to beat (oh yes, the atmosphere does get interesting here during the tournament!).

1. First Catch Your Peacock: The Classic Guide to Welsh Food - I would buy this one for the title alone, and have been tempted to do so on more than one occasion! If you thought Welsh cooking only went from Welsh cakes to Bara Brith, then this will make you think again. Goose blood tart, cinnamon potato cakes and violet pudding were just a few of the recipes to catch my eye. This is rooted in traditional Welsh cooking but if you wanted to see the contemporary stuff, get yourself to Cardiff (not on match day) and get a table at the Armless Dragon. Fabulous!

2. Fresh, Simple, Tasty by Matt Dawson – so here we have a former England rugby player, who turns out to not be half bad in the kitchen either. These recipes are just as the title describes, so probably not a great book for an advanced foodie, but for a book for turning to when you just want a quick supper or something different for a weekend breakfast. Is there anything he can’t turn his hand to? Lets face it, he could even pull off pink and sequins!

3. The Scottish Farmer’s Market Cookbook - I couldn’t find any of the Scottish team with a cookbook to their name, so I am going for this one as a showcase for some of the great food coming out of Scotland. Perfect for a bit of seasonal inspiration, regardless of where the farmer’s market is!

Rotis

4. The Irish Pub Cookbook – sadly, I couldn’t find anywhere selling Eating to Win, a cookbook by the Irish Rugby team from 2005, which would have topped Matt Dawson. So I’ve gone for this one, which no doubt will make a lot of use of Guinness. This is hearty, almost home cooking, the sort of thing that is what you might want before a match to sustain you, and put down a layer before all the Guinness starts!

5. Rôtis- I really thought that the French team would have at least one cookbook between them over the years, but I can’t find one. So I’ve gone for this fabulous book by Stéphane Reynaud, as surely there would be a few rugby players, French or otherwise, that would want to sit down to any of these  gorgeous roasts after a match. One for every day of the week, including a leftovers night!

6. The Silver Spoon - the mama of Italian cookbooks, this covers a bit of everything that you need to know about Italian cooking, and from every region. I imagine you could train rugby teams with this as well, as it is one hefty read! I got this for Christmas and haven’t cooked much from it yet, so this tournament might provide the push I need to get going.

So, whichever colours you’ll be wearing, or cheering on, eat well during the tournament, and save the rough stuff for the pitch!

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It’s hard to believe we’re nearly at the end of another year. As always in this household, there’s been a lot of eating over the year, from eating in to eating out, eating in the UK and eating overseas, eating alone and eating with friends. In fact, eating with lots of friends. So, here’s my year in eating:

January

Not a clue what we did in January. No photos of food. The calendar says we had dinner at the Red Lion, which is always a treat.

February

February

Photography by Mini Gourmet Girl, taken at Jamie’s Italian in Bath. Brilliant night out, great restaurant concept, great food, pretty stunning mojitos. Staggered back to our home for the night, the Queensberry, which I would highly recommend.

March

March

March brought the arrival of the breadmaker, and a whole lot of flour of all kinds. Dr T is busy supporting Whissendine Mill, I keep The Flour Bin going, ordering in all kinds of wheat and gluten free flours. I think we have to give the bread making honours to Dr T, yet to to turn out a decent gluten free one.

April

April

Easter brings a whole heap of chocolate, and also my first attempt at Simnel cake. I adore marzipan and so this is my idea of a heavenly cake. I’ll be doing it all over again in 2010. With perhaps more marzipan.

May

May

May saw me in one of my favourite cities in the whole world: NYC. Making news in the UK around the same time was the Babycakes bakery, so I headed down to the Lower East Side to see if they could make gluten and wheat free cakes good. You know what, not bad at all! Although later in the year I would discover that I preferred all the recipes in Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache to anything from Babycakes.

June

June

June was eventful. I took the plunge and decided to commit myself to writing The Foodie Gift Hunter, whilst letting Problem Presents look after itself. Right decision. I also helped cater for 150 for a surprise birthday party. I know slates have come in for a bit of slagging off recently, but I loved how these starters looked. They were a bit of a joke really, as the birthday girl’s husband is a builder, the slates really are roof tiles costing about 75p each, and probably are now on a roof.

July

July

As usual, July saw us decamping to France, to the Charente Maritime. So many great food moments, but I think my birthday lunch at Bistrot du Marin was the high point from a taste perspective. The mussel barbecue was the most unusual.

August

August

We were raiding some new to us local foodstuffs in the school holidays. Staffordshire oatcakes were interesting, especially when pimped up with black pudding and apples. Stichelton became a regular item in the fridge.

September

September

The end of the school holidays saw me convert MGG from her usual request for Chinese on our trip to London to some great Turkish delights at Safra. She just requested to go back next week. I’ve put my neck out to say I think Turkish food will be on the up in the year ahead, and it’s definitely got 1 vote from MGG.

October

October

With Halloween falling on a Saturday, MGG and I spent a fun afternoon creating trick or treat goodies from scratch. Kids seemed genuinly surprised and happy when they got dragon eye cookies, zombie eyeballs and crunchie bones in a paper cone.

November

November

Ah, November, month of memorable eating in Blackpool! To be honest, would rather remember making Osso Buco for the first time, although there weren’t so many laughs!

December

December

For some, December is all about Christmas. For me, I can’t worry about Christmas until I’ve created MGG’s birthday cake. This year involved less terrible language than usual, possibly due to reading the instructions in advance and buying the right kit.

So, here’s hoping that 2010 is just as interesting from a food perspective, with new recipes, new places and new experiences.

I’ve written quite a few posts on the Christmas gifts on offer from some of the High Street, so I think it’s time to have a look at a source for more unusual and unique gift options. Not On the High Street was a welcome addition to the online shopping world a couple of years ago, and it’s one of my regular and favourite shopping haunts online. Here’s my roundup of my favourites in the foodie department this year:

Perfect baubles for the foodie Christmas tree

1. For those who enjoy their wine, and have a bit of wall space, and also because it’s the last variation I want to see on this theme, then I would choose the “Save Water, Drink Wine” framed print. Like the sentiment, and I think it would be an attractive addition to any kitchen, or wine cellar, wall.

2. For the foodie Christmas tree, how about some foodie baubles? Choose from a mince pie, a Christmas pudding or a slice of Christmas cake. Look beautiful, and not a single calorie between them!

3. For those who want to rustle up a little Venetian glamour on Christmas morning, how about the Bellini Box Hamper?Beautifully presented, they’ll get a bottle of Prosecco and one of peach nectar, all ready to whip up a perfect Bellini before the last present is unwrapped.

4. For the slackers who might need a hint around all the post Christmas lunch washing up, then I love this teatowel. Truly a gift that does keep nagging! A great stocking filler for anyone.

5. For those dreaming of a gourmet life in France, or at least a day trip, then I would treat them to A Day in Provence . A delightful mix of terrines, olive pastes, chocolate and nougat, this will really summon up the tastes of the region, although sadly not eaten in the region. Unless you want to be really generous and send them there as a really big gift.

The gift that keeps on nagging

Hamper

6. Perhaps their gourmet dreams lie slightly further South, in which case you need to buy them the Artisan Selection from Nudo. A fabulous selection of first cold press extra virgin olive oil, plus two flavoured oils, artichoke hearts and capers, all of which will allow you to summon up some great Italian dishes. If you want to go the whole hog, you can even adopt one of the olive trees.

7. For the grow-their-own, green fingered type, then how about a personalised allotment notebook. Cute illustration on the front, this will be good for them to work out what they have got planted where, when it will be ready for harvest and when they might need to call on the local veg box delivery to supplement things!

8. For newly wed foodies spending their first married Christmas together, then I love the very sweet aprons from Alice Palace. The Mr & Mrs Apron can be personalised with any surname, and can be Mr and Mr, or Mrs and Mrs, depending on your friends really.

9. Have a little chocolate fun with a solitaire dish with a difference. You can use Maltesers or olives if you’re feeling healthy, but it certainly beats marbles!

So, you’ll definitely find some gifts with a difference here, and also know that you’re supporting small businesses and artists around the UK. That’s a gift worth giving!

It’s getting to that peak time of year when whole heaps of books are launched, ready to tempt the Christmas shoppers I guess. Or those of us who could probably just squeeze in at least one more cook book to our (groaning) shelves. Here’s my very personal view of what looks interesting for the next couple of weeks.

I Know How to Cook, or I will when I've read this

1. I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot - this is a bit of a cheat, as in France this is an absolute classic book to be found on shelves in many homes, but this is the first time it’s been released in English. First published in 1932, this is an authority of every classic French dish going, from Croque Monsieur to cassoulet. With 1200 recipes to go at, it could be a very Gallic winter in this household!

2. The Classic Whisky Guide by Jim Murray – apparently, Jim Murray is the world’s only

The Classic Whisky Guide

 full-time whisky writer. Which, if you’re a whisky lover, sounds like a very hard job indeed. This covers every kind of whisky, from the highlands to islands, through to the whisky and bourbon of Kentucky and Tennessee. This would make a great gift for a whisky lover, particularly combined with a bottle of their favourite, or something new to them. Try The Whisky Exchange for an incredibly extensive selection, both well-known and more unusual.

A Year at an Italian Table

3. Valvona & Crolla: A Year at an Italian Table by Mary & Philip Contini – just what you need to counteract all that Gallic activity from the first book! Two hundred recipes from the legendary Italian food shop and restaurant that will give you hours of wonderful smelling dishes throughout the year.

4. Life is Sweet: A Collection of Splendid Old-Fashioned Confectionery by Hope and - if you’re feeling blue, you can’t beat a quarter of old fashioned sweets. And Hope and Greenwood have been one of those leading the charge to bring back our old favourites. This book is a great gift for those with a sweet tooth, or nostalgic tastes, and includes recipes for things like Sherbet Lemon Marshmallows, Midnight Dark Truffles and Coconut Ice. Worth buying now and perhaps making your own sweets to give as Christmas gifts.

Sweet treats for your sweetie

Greenwood

A roast by any other name

5. Rôtis by Stéphane Reynaud- as we come into Autumn, it’s the perfect time to buy this book, as it’s all about roasts, whether pot or oven roasted. There’s a roast for every night of the week, from meat to fish, and even includes recipes for leftovers, so very credit crunch friendly. Written by the author of the fabulous Ripailles, this is a great book for meat and fish lovers in search of new comfort food recipes.

So, some great titles coming up, and I am sure there will be some more to come before Santa gets his sleigh hitched up for this year. Watch out for a cook book by Matt Dawson, and Keith Floyd’s autobiography, which I imagine will be quite a read!

Always seek a good burger

This is going to sound bad, but in the past week I’ve had a burger on three separate occasions. The only way I can hope to keep up my foodie credentials is to state quite categorically that not one of them has been from McDonalds!

The latest one was at What’s Cooking in Liverpool, and it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t my choice, I am sure Liverpool offers more unique food choices, but it hit the spot after a bit of high culture at Tate Liverpool (highly recommend the Colour Chart exhibition). Service was good, burgers were tasty, and tasted of beef, and nicely chargrilled. Pickles were a bit unimaginative, but overall not a bad experience.

Before that, I’d had home barbecued versions. One lot were Dexter beefburgers that I picked up from Picks Organics at last week’s food festival in Newark, which were amazing. I think they were something like 98% meat, gluten free and incredibly tasty. Simply grilled to medium, served with some fresh soda bread and Tracklements Onion Marmalade was just perfect.

Although, that said, last Saturday night’s homemade burgers with Stilton were pretty sublime too. I am not sure if Colston Bassett would approve of their cheese being used in such a way, but it was delicious. And treated with respect I feel, as we’re not talking a slice melted on the top, but a slice through the middle of the burger so the flavours suffused through the meat.

So whilst the burger gets regularly maligned, I think a true beefburger is a thing of foodie beauty, and taste. I have no idea what the best recipe is, I just think it comes down to using good beef. Ben Watson wrote in last week’s newsletter from Riverford about using diced chuck steak, which is tasty, and very reasonable too because, as he writes, it doesn’t look so attractive and does need a little work. If I was in a rush, then I would just use decent steak mince.  And not a low fat version.

The one thing that is really useful for burgers, especially if you’re making for a crowd, is a burger press. We bought ours from Lakeland years ago, a very good use of £2.99. They’ve even super-sized it now, which means you can now press your own quarter pounders, so hardly excessive. Then the toppings are up to you. If I am being excessive (quite often) then I would be “inspired” by my favourite, the black and blue burger from the OK Diner, which is guacamole and bacon. There again, if your burgers are great, just enjoy them naked. Clothes optional.

Clothes I don’t think are optional at the OK Diner, which is worth a stop if you’re on the A1. You might think Little Chef dreariness, those in the know know it is a true American diner, with great burgers, incredible milkshakes and a brilliant atmosphere. Stop at the one near Stamford and you get the full aluminium clad diner treatment. And in France, I would still skip the golden arches and head for La Boucherie. Not fast in the McDonalds sense, but they know their beef, and the steak hache is a thing to behold.

So go ahead, indulge in a burger without guilt, just put taste over speed!

Photo by Stigeredoo

After a couple of days of foodie gifts where taste may not be the absolute first priority, I thought it was time to have a break and write about real foodie treats! Really this was prompted by an email from Natoora, rather than continued loathing over the Blueberry Vodka Glass Slipper!

Selected by Neals Yard to reflect some of the best in British Cheese

I really like Natoora, I wish there were more online sources like this for great food delivered to where you are. They’re really good at French and Italian stuff that you think you can only get on holiday, but also at the unusual stuff from around the UK, and the really good stuff. I can’t imagine many cheese loving foodies turning down the British Cheese Selection: Colston Basset Stilton (local to me, and darn fine Stilton it is too), Montgomery’s Cheddar, Kirkham’s Lancashire and one I haven’t tried, Tunworth. At a tad under £25, this feels like a lot more food for your money than the Selfridges Xmas pud and brandy butter.

Artichoke is one of those things I tend to order in, and associate with, Italy, and don’t often cook it here. That said, I am quite tempted to keep a jar of the artichoke pate in the cupboard, it could make a very good standby for bruschettas and as a quick pasta sauce. I’d also be tempted by the charcuterie counter, but mainly for Italian stuff you don’t see everywhere, like Speck and Coppa di Parma, not to mention two types of Lardo.

And I’ve always thought it would quite entertaining, not to mention tasty, to buy someone a whole Parma or Bayonne ham. Imagine their faces when they see that one wrapped up! Do you think they’ll guess what it is?

Delivery is pretty good: next day in 2 hour slots within selected London postcodes, 24 hour delivery to the rest of us. Even better, there’s 20% off any order over £50 between now and 31 August with code AUG20OFF, so worth shopping in bulk or clubbing together with like minded foodie friends. Although if you get into investigating their great wine and beer selection that £50 will come up quite easily!