Jamie’s egg poaching method.

Yes I know it’s a Rainbow.

You’re lucky there is any left

Adding green for ‘Eggs Florentine’

The Best Eggs, rare breed, slow laying free ange

Forgetting yet again to photograph the amazing trout and spring early summer vegetables I have just devoured. Here are some pictures of other things.
Poached eggs are being made well at late, using Jamie Oliver’s Clingfilm method; this allows me to add flavourings such as Heston Blumenthal’s vanilla salt. Vanilla poached eggs on Rosemary soda toast, some wilted down hedge row leaves, to give it the ‘Eggs Florentine’ effect. Italians use quality ingredients and what’s in season, that’s what I have done. You need old school breed eggs, for starters. Clarence Court are available in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. All eggs used to be like this, one generation f£cked it up, thanks. Make your own Soda bread, it’s cheap and easy to make, I know what’s in my bread. Learn about wild leaves, these are free. Or visit a farmers market.
She may have taken healthy food away from children and turned once thriving communities, into drug and crime hotspots, but she had great taste in desserts. Banoffe pie is Mrs. Thatcher’s favourite dessert. It is easy to make.
Last week’s trout is pictured. Yes I know it’s a rainbow, but it is from a good source, almost wild, caught by a fly fisherman. Ermington Sustainable Market provides again, the best veg ever.

Down by The River

Hoping for permision to put 2 crayfish traps down

Hoping for crayfish

Fish carving

Our local river has a 3 mile stretch running through woodland owned by the local council. It’s a nice walk. I recently spotted juvenile fish. Perhaps some crayfish? I wrote to the council asking for permit ion to put down two traps. This will be aired at the next council meeting, fingers crossed.
Then it’s up to the River Authority / environment-agency to give me a licence. Thankfully this is free. They also give me numbered tags for my traps. The trapping of crayfish is vetted thoroughly for good reason. Spread of crayfish plague, unethical traps being two of them. Some traps are not so good and end up killing endangered species. Crayfish plague kills our rare native crayfish.
Signal crayfish are a pest and problem to our rivers. Our smaller indigenous native crayfish are being destroyed along with fish eggs by these larger crayfish. So I hope I can play my part in helping our local environment. There is also a tasty meal to be had at the end of all this.
A fantastic German chef called Alfons Schuhbeck , does an excellent crayfish in their own stock recipe, I am really keen to make this. It is a Bavarian recipe, so it will be good. Alfons is underrated; people who like good food should check him out.
As with all rivers there is litter, the council does its best. But we should all do are bit. If every walker and dog walker picked up a piece of litter there would not be any. Litter louts are a minority, good people are the majority. So pick up a piece of litter next time you walk.
Lastly the fish carving is outside the local fishmongers, rightly voted the best fishmonger by Devon Life. Good knowledge and day boat fresh fish, local shellfish. ‘Ivybridge fishmongers’ is well worth a visit. http://www.ivybridgefishcompany.co.uk/

Life’s a beach!

Wembury Early Spring

I love this person more than the beach.

Devon

Life’s a beach!
More pictures of the beach, Devon is blessed with a fantastic shoreline. I had the last of the mussels this season, you never know with U.K. weather. I also after 4hrs walking and realising the tide would not be low enough to reach the prize mussels, came across a Rock oyster. Having not eaten since lunchtime, this was devoured on the spot. Very nice it was too.
Lunch was involving newly acquired ‘Mother of God Chilli Sauce’ which is amazing. This will be for another post.
The weather was also amazing, I even put my feet in the water.
I had enough mussels for brunch next day, bacon and onion mussel omelette. I have been a bit lapse at late with the camera, so no photo’s.

Fear the Mullet!

Jesus H Christ
What a Pair

Mullet links and similar always welcome!

Dry Crab Curry

Dry crab curry

Gordon Ramsay, Devon’s best fishmonger, what a combo. Gordon’s Great Escape books are superb.
The crab’s claws are amazing value, £3 for 6. Devon Crab, as with many things from the region, the best. After a failed tea smoking experiment, it’s nice to have a result from my wok.
This is an easy recipe, it gives superb results. I notice the supermarkets are selling U.K. crabs at a good price. Try and buy from your fishmonger or market. Londoners head to Borough, for fantastic shellfish.
Devon people head to Salcombe Fish Wife. When I am in Germany I will experiment with the freezer of an Asian shop, possibly soft shell crabs.
My claws were raw, I baked them. Next time I will boil them, as the crab stuck to the shell.
I must say Gordon’s Far East books are as you would expect producing amazing results. I am as we speak trying to perfect Jasmine coconut and honey pannacotta, with papaya and ginger compote. My last attempt had too much gelatine also taking my eye off the ball with the 5min simmer. Using coconut milk solids instead of coconut cream. Gordon would of been swearing, rightly so.
This attempt is on a 30 minuet infuse. So just enough time to put this post up. Hopefully I will do another post tonight.
Asian Food healthy, tasty. The ingredients are now easier to get. A lot of the cooking is done in one wok, so it’s cheaper and easier. What’s not to like?

“Sodom and Gomorra this is London gov.”

Graph is all over London Shoreditch has some cool stuff.

The best Coffee and Cake in the west end (£5) Lina Stores Soho. Amazing old Italian Deli recommended by Suggs of Madness. The best Deli outside of Italy.

Ramen is on trend, London has good Ramen.

Camden, where else?

Seven Eleven McDonalds and Ho-Jo`s
Gettys` on the jetty watch the river flow
The Lambeth walk`s like 42nd Street
Folks I gotta tell you this town can`t be beat
But London is the coolest, Street food and some great ethnic treats. London has a superb mix going on at the moment. It’s got nothing to do with Boris either, if anything its Kens legacy. Boris bikes, that was Kens idea. That said there’s a lot of colourful stuff from youngsters, food art, music, sport.
Lucky for us we spent some time there. We could not afford 3stars this time. We discovered some amazing food, but also street art that is standout. We also saw Punk Syndrome reviewed in an earlier post. More trips to BahnMi11 , Yalla Yalla pop up in Shoreditch, Lina Stores, Shoryu – St. James – Regent’s Street – London. http://yummei.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/shoryu-st-james-london.html
Next time we are hitting some free stuff, gallery wise. The British museum, for one. The national gallery and more.
Also look out for. Labyrinth by Mark Wallinger, which is the latest art installation on the London underground.
‘Streetfeast’ is coming up at Merchant Yard E84DL Friday 5:00pm until Midnight. Art Music Screenings. Lots of cool street food vendors, craft beers & cocktails. Free entry, 12th of April.
http://www.streetfeastlondon.com
London is always on our map. Make sure it is on yours!

Pheasant Schnitzel

Dont crowd the pan. Cruncy shnitzel mmmm!

Phesant Shnitzel,mushroom pea rissoto.

Schnitzel should be a crispy crunchy affair, with a nice meat that has not dried out. Pork veal or chicken is usually used. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a pheasant recipe.
If you can serve it with a bowl of sour Kraut, potato salad, so much the better. I put mushroom & pea rissoto with it, not bad , but not as good as traditional acompaniments.I have had some amazing ones in Bavaria.
Holstein is a similar affair, served with a fried egg, anchovies and capers. Gordon serves chicken Holstein in one of his pubs if my memory serves me correctly, Rest assured that will be amazing.
Jamie magazine has a pheasant schnitzel; I have done this 3 times. It is well worth doing. Then it’s Pheasant with turnip and pearl barley with the rest of the bird. Pheasants ranging from free- £3:99 for four meals, who needs chicken?
Alas it’s the end of the season, and I have the superb ‘Wahaca’ book on loan from the library, so buying chicken, that will be me then.
On a cutting board, place a piece of plastic wrap. Lay the cutlets or pheasant breast fillet flat on top. Cover with another piece of wrap and pound each with the flat side of a meat mallet or rolling pin until it is about 1 / 8 inch thick. Season the veal with white pepper, no need to do this with pheasant. Place the flour on a plate. Lightly beat 1 egg and water in a shallow bowl. Place bread crumbs on another plate.
Dip the cutlets in the flour and shake off the excess. Dip in the beaten egg mixture and allow the excess to drip off. Then coat generously with the bread crumbs.
In a large skillet, or non stick pan heat 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Cook the veal about 2 minutes a side or until golden brown; do not crowd in pan. Serve with Sour Kraut or red cabbage.
Schnitzel can go wrong, some things not to do: DONT press down on the schnitzel in the pan. DONT prepare the schnitzel in advance, as the breadcrumbs soak moisture and become soggy.
If using veal, it must be British; it must be outdoor Rose, not a crated tortured animal, usually from abroad. Milk fed does not have the flavour our outdoor veal has. Ginger Pig does some real deal veal. But using up by-products from the dairy industry is a good idea. Waitrose sell good U.K. veal.
Quick and tasty, please give Scnitzel a go.

Munich

Insect Hotel, Isar

Lots of types of bread in Munich Hofpfisterei’s bread is very good.

Japan in Munich

Simple, fantastic quality, duck with Kartoffelknoedel and red cabbage.

Kohlrabi, Older U.K. people know it also as a German Turnip.

Bavaria , Rainbow Chard.

A beautiful place, possibly avoid the tourist food. Eat some real Bavarian quality. The best Bread, in the world, a long history of quality bread. Some wonderful cakes. The often overlooked are the vegetables. They are what perhaps, what I love most. Avoid the supermarkets. The markets have fresh and seasonal veg. at a very good price. Notice the tops are still on the veg. This shows how fresh the vegetables are. In the U.K. notice they are not, left on vegetables. I sometimes make vegetable top soup or hash.
For the best Bratwurst, at a bargain price of 2:65 euros, follow the locals to Schlemmermeyer, Viktualienmarkt. This market has some great things. It also has some tourist traps, so beware. Some of the other local markets are fantastic value and quality.
We also enjoy the odd Bento Box at
Sasou 28 Marienplatz, Munich, Bavaria, Germany .
Probably not as authentic as Japan, but still very nice. The staff are always wonderful.
Pretzel is a must, there are many good ones, none are expensive. The huge ones along with 1 metre Bratwurst are for tourist’s. Also remember where you are, not by the sea so leave the stickfish (mackerel) with the pikeys selling them.
Other local fish from the river are very good, try Fraunhofer reviewed in a previous post.
The Bavarian state library, often has free displays. Some of the main art galleries are only one Euro on a Sunday.
Oktoberfest is well documented elsewhere, watch Australians taste real beer with hilarious consequences.
http://www.tollwood.de/en/ is a great place to visit, twice a year art, food, music, theatre and stalls.
The English Garden is a very nice walk, keep an eye open for some nice horses in that area.
For Architecture, try the Schwabing area, Art Deco/Jugendstil (Youth Style), some hidden gems around this area. Elizabeth Market is also worth a visit, try the italian cafe for some food.
Hofpfisterei’s Bread is a real Winner. People who like their bread free of additives try to buy at one of Germany’s many organic bakeries. They offer relatively small-scale production based on traditional recipes. Real bread!
A walk along the Isar is always nice. It has recently been modified, River Surfing has suffered as a result. However the local council has done a great job. Try Fraunhofer bridge one summer evening after a meal in Fraunhofer.
The oldest Deli in Munich is http://www.dallmayr.de Its worth a visit. Father down the street is another store also worth a visit called Manufactum.
A brief outline, much more to follow. My love is in Munich.

Wild Horses

Nice weather, nice Wembury/Devon coastline and these horses, made for a good walk yesterday.

The Punk Syndrome

NO photos, crikey!

No pictures please, The ICA announced.
Viviene Westwood, no clothes on, punk gigs a plenty, including The Sex Pistols, but no photos. We had already snapped, so that was not a problem.
Our main reason for being there was to see the film ‘Punk Syndrome’. We were not let down. This is a funny and serious film. The Punk Syndrome follows four professional musicians and their journey from obscurity to popularity. In the film they fight, fall in love and experience strong emotions. They spend long days in the recording studio and on tour. They laugh, cry, drink and fight over who gets to sit in front on the tour bus. Then they make up and go talk to people in the audience and tell them how great their band is.
Their songs are about problems in society as well as the things they face in everyday life: how going to the pedicurist sucks and the misery of living in a group home. The guys give a piece of their mind to both politicians and people whose attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities need improvement.
It’s rare that you see a band being truly Punk, many claim to be, but most are really just another rock band. The Ramones fit in to the latter, as do many others. I have nothing against Rock or any other music , as such. I do think the Ramones are crap though.
Chinese band, ‘Hang On The Box are real deal’. ‘The Sex Pistols’ with ‘JohnLydon’ are also Punk. ‘Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät’ are everything that is Punk.Never Mind The Bollocks is one of the best Albums ever,no doubting that. I wonder if Punk goes back further than the Pistols? Perhaps very far back indeed.
This film is a must see if you get the chance.