The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
Lolita, the group lead, has asked one of the team to take “nice and consistent” pictures of all of us for use in presentation materials and the such. While I normally hate having my picture taken, this was actually fun and for once, I don’t look like a deranged serial killer.
We went for a beer at Linpasse, who were offering a free beer if you made the effort of dressing up appropriately. Katy and Jennifer went all out, and were amply rewarded.
It was a night to remember, if only because of the lecherous old man who regaled us with stories of hand jobs on a Whitby beach when he was playing for the 2nd string Swiss football team in the mid-60s (I will never see béchamel or ties in the same light ever again). Then there was the reason why women cheat on their spouses (because they’re not being given enough foreplay, with many tangents on his many girlfriends and their preferences for knees, toes, asses, etc), how he was a doctor and knew a lot about female pleasure, and that Isis is evil because women should be screaming in pleasure and not pain. It was quite surreal.
2 medium red potatoes, cut into 2″-long sticks
1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp thinly sliced ginger
Pinch of asafetida (optional, but really great)
Pinch of red chili powder
1 tsp (or more) kosher salt
1 tbsp (or more) fresh lime juice
chopped fresh coriander leaves with tender stems
Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Toss potatoes and cauliflower with 3 tbsp oil on prepared sheet. Spread in an even layer and roast, tossing once halfway through, until cauliflower and potatoes are browned and slightly crisped, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high until it begins to shimmer. Add cumin and cook, stirring frequently, until they turn a medium shade of brown, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium and swirl in turmeric. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, 4–6 minutes. Add ginger, asafetida (if using), and chili powder and cook, stirring, until heated through and well combined, about 1 minute longer.
Stir in roasted potatoes and cauliflower, including any charred bits from the foil, and gently mix (don’t overmix, or the cauliflower will fall apart). Add salt and cook, tossing occasionally, until potatoes and cauliflower are tender (but not soggy!), 5–6 minutes. Remove from heat and add lime juice. Taste and add more lime juice or salt, if needed.
Transfer potatoes and cauliflower to a platter. Top with coriander.
Imagine seeing this is the corner of a shop, peeking at you through a window.
We had big plans for drinks, dinner, cocktails and cigars. But then real life interfered. Katy was tired, the weather was shit and I had a less-than-stellar day at work.
But this is why I love my wife. She said it was OK to just crash at home, open a nice bottle of wine, order in a pizza and just watch the Great British Bake Off. And everything just worked.
I love my wifey. And I probably don’t tell her often enough.
500g lean beef mince
6 sausages, taken out of their skins
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp salt
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 slice bread, blitzed into breadcrumbs
a large handful of fresh parsley
5 hard-boiled eggs (boiled for 8 minutes, then plunged into cold water), peeled
500g ready-rolled puff pastry
3 tsp yeast extract, mixed with 1 tsp warm water
1 egg, beaten, for eggwash
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C.
Put the mince, sausage meat, chilli flakes, salt, onion and breadcrumbs into a bowl and mix together with your hands. Add the parsley and mix until you have flecks of green all through the meat mixture.
Lay two long lengths of clingfilm on your worktop, one overlapping the other. Turn the meat mixture on to it and pat it out with damp hands into a rectangular shape about 30cm x 25cm. Line up the hard-boiled eggs in a row down the centre of the rectangle, short end to short end. With the aid of the clingfilm, create a large sausage shape. The eggs should be encased by the meat, rather like a long Scotch egg. Twist the ends of the clingfilm and put the roll into the fridge.
Roll out the pastry to about 35cmx 35cm and 5mm thickness and brush the surface with the yeast extract mix. Remove the meat roll from the clingfilm and place lengthways on the rolled-out pastry, just off centre. Bring the larger side of the pastry over the meat roll, then pinch the edges together to close. Crimp all the way round.
Brush the pastry with the egg wash and place on a baking tray. Put it into the preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour, or until the pastry is golden and the roll is cooked through.
Keeping this here for later use, looking at phone specs in case my current phone starts misbehaving more than it currently does
Every time – every single time – that I spell my email to someone over the phone in french, they add an ‘A’ at the start of it. Conversation invariably goes like this:
me: mon addresse email est R-G-L-C….
other person: ok, A-R-G-L-C….
me: non, non, il n’y a pas de A
So I got fed up and registered the email address with the typo in it, and now it will automatically forward the wrong email to my correct one, and send an auto-response message:
