I was reading my friend list this morning when I came across two food blog entries that are kismetically destined to be tailor made for ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
eniran:
Marmite Guiness and Bacon Popcorn
Yes. Scary, I know.
Category: uncategorized
Awwww, lookit!
A food weekend
Last weekend, I cooked. It was good, though it was ridiculously bad for my diet. I made stuffed mushrooms and chicken wings and salsa and tomato apple chutney and fajitas.
It was good.
[Recipe] Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
3 bacon rashers, chopped
55g/2oz white breadcrumbs
grated cheese (parmesan or mature cheddar)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large flat mushrooms, stalks removed and chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
olive oil
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Gently melt the butter in a pan and saute the bacon and mushroom stalks until almost cooked. Add breadcrumbs, thyme and seasoning for a few minutes and saute until golden.
3. Place the mushrooms onto a non-stick baking tray and drizzle with oil. Spoon the breadcrumb mixture into the mushrooms and sprinkle cheese onto each until covered.
4. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until golden and the cheese has melted.
[Recipe] Chicken wings
Wings:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
20 chicken wing segments
– Prepare the chicken wings by boning wings into 3 segments. Get rid of the wing tip or use it for chicken stock. I try and trim as much fat/skin from the wings as I can (but seriously, there's no way in hell this any part of this meal can be considered healthy, so you can skip this step if you want)
– In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt, paprika, chili powder, and pepper.
– Coat chicken entirely in the flour mixture
– Deep-fry chicken, 8 – 10 pieces at a time, in 375F/190C degree oil for 10-12 minutes.
– Drain chicken on a wire cooling rack for 30 seconds, then immediately toss fried chicken in buffalo sauce mixture and remove with a slotted spoon.
– Repeat with remaining chicken.
Sauce:
4 Tbsp margarine
5 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
– Melt the margarine over medium heat in a heavy saucepan, add the hot sauce and the 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Stir well and remove from the flame immediately.
Blue Cheese dip:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Cornish Blue)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar
Mix everything together in a food processor. Add salt/pepper to taste.
Chocolate Crepe Cake
Crepe Recipe
1 2/3 cups flour ( 250g plain flour)
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 eggs, plus 3 egg yolks
600ml milk
40g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra melted butter to brush,
Chocolate & Espresso filling
250g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50g unsalted butter, chopped
150ml milk
100ml thickened cream
100ml strong black coffee (espresso)
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
Mix flour, sugar, eggs, yolks and milk in a blender or food processor until smooth, then pour into a jug and stand for 30 minutes. Just before cooking, stir 40g (2 tbsp) melted butter through the batter. Heat pan and brush with extra butter, add enough batter to coat base, swirl to cover, tip off any excess. Cook for 45 seconds, then flip and cook for 30 seconds more or until golden. Repeat with butter and remaining batter till you get abt 20 crepes, stacking with baking paper in between.
For the filling, melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Stir in butter, milk, cream, coffee and sugar, then whisk until mixture is smooth and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 20-30 minutes until mixture cools and thickens. Lightly grease an 18cm springfrom pan. Place a crepe in pan and spread with a little filling. Continue layering, finishing with a crepe. There should be 1/3 cup filling left. Cover cake with foil and chilll for 1 hour. When set, remove springform pan and pour remaining chocolate filling and top with cream.
I tried making this last weekend when we were at Katy's parents'. Two things: you really do need a good crepe pan because otherwise it's a PITA to get the crepes to come out nicely. I also made the ganache a bit too runny, so cut down on the amount of liquid for next time.
There is justice after all :)
I had a look at my credit card statement online today and I found out that Natwest declined the transaction for the bastard webhost from hell. Initially, they told me over the phone that the transaction would have to clear first before they could initiate a chargeback but since the fucktards actually had our old address on file, Natwest refused the transaction. Interestingly, I've still not heard a peep from them regarding the declined transaction. I just hope that I get something that doesn't come from an automated system so that I can finally sent a vitriolic email to a flesh-and-bone human. ohpleaseohpleaseohplease :)
Good news, annoying news
Good news: the Home Office cashed the visa fee cheque, so that means that the application is being worked on.
Annoying news: Remember NetBunch, the band of fuckwits that was hosting my website last November when nothing was working? The incompetent asswipes that would not answer my faxes and emails? Well, they happily went ahead and renewed my contract with them and charged me 90$USD for the privilege of being given shit service and generally ignored. Nice of 'em, yes? I contacted Natwest to have that charge cancelled on my credit card and sent them a nice flaming email for their trouble.
Bastards.
One step closer to becoming a Brit :)
Katy is slowly corrupting me to the ways of the Brits. I've now completely given up coffee. When I drink a cuppa, it's decaf. I've started drinking tea-with-milk and I've been converted to the wonderfulness that is loose leaf tea. I have a tea caddy on my desk at work. How sad am I?
In other news, my visa application is finally on its merry way to the Home Office and hopefully should clear all the hurdles by mid-to-end March. Once I have that visa, I can apply for an indefinite leave to remain visa in 2 years, and full citizenship 2 years after that.
God save the Queen, baby :)
Drop off your unwanted baby here
BBC NEWS
Cradles plan for unwanted girls
The Indian government is planning to set up a network of cradles around the country where parents can leave unwanted baby girls.
The minister for women and child development, Renuka Chowdhury, told BBC News the cradles would be “everywhere”. It is the latest initiative to try to wipe out the practice of female foeticide and female infanticide.
A girl child is often viewed as inferior to a boy. A bride's dowry can also cripple a family financially. Research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were just 933 girls.
Research published last year estimating that the number of female abortions was as high as 500,000 a year was disputed by the Indian Medical Association.
“We will have cradles strategically placed all over the place so that people who don't want their babies can leave them there,” Ms Chowdhury told the BBC News website. The cradles could be in places as diverse as the local tax collector's office, or where local councils meet. Ms Chowdhury said parents would be able to leave their babies secretly. The important thing was to save their lives.
She said she assumed that most of the babies left under the “cradle scheme” would be girls. “They will be collected and put into homes,” she said. “There are plenty of existing homes and we will be adding some more also.”
In 1994, India banned the use of technology to determine the sex of unborn children and the termination of pregnancies on the basis of gender. However, campaigners say many clinics still offer a seemingly legitimate facade for a multi-billion pound racket and that gender determination is a highly profitable business.
Experts say female foeticide is mostly linked to socio-economic factors. It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands on the farm. In a separate development, police in the central state of Madhya Pradesh say they have recovered some 390 bones of babies or foetuses from the grounds of a Christian missionary hospital in the town of Ratlam after a tip off.
“The question of female foeticide and infanticide is part of our investigation, as is illegal abortions,” Superintendent of Police Satish Saxena said, Reuters news agency reports.
Last November a Japanese hospital announced plans to set up a “baby hatch” allowing mothers to anonymously drop off their newborns so they could be put up for adoption. The drop-off at Jikei Hospital in southern Japan will consist of a small window in an outside wall, which opens on to an incubator bed, officials say. Once a baby has been placed inside, an alarm bell will alert staff.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/6373043.stm
I guess the plan is better than the alternative, but still, this saddens/angers me.