"observer food monthly" news and stories

A Vegetarian Special with 10 pages to cook up a meat-free feast. One thing I did notice was that a picture is labeled Potatoes with dill and chicken stock; the recipe is titled Potatoes with Dill and Vegetable stock - I guess you can use either.

Any-road-up the recipes for those with a vegi-bent include Sweet Potato and Coconut Polenta with Asian Vegetable Fricassé (which sounds lovely except I seriously dislike sweet potato, coconut and polenta... no hope really).  The Tuscan Tomato Bread Pudding with Peas and Broad Beans sounds more my thing as does Spice-Roasted Nectarines with Pistachio Milk Sauce.

Nigel Slater has all the potato recipes suggesting the chicken/vegetable stock one as a stand-alone dish or, for the carnivores, great with grilled mackerel, flash-fried lamb's liver (thats the one for me!) or bacon. His Crushed Potatoes with Cream and Garlic I am sure has appeared in several of his books but I don't recall seeing Sea-Salt Baked Potatoes with Parmesan Greens before. Nice.

A fascinating piece on life in China during the Cultural Revolution with food as the only safe topic of conversation... Jamie Cullum picks Fifteen as his Favourite table... a big piece on fair trade products... sushi... how chef Fergus Henderson suffered from Parkinsons before 'they drilled into my skull. Now I can cook again"... a piece on the Diesel fashion brand's wine. The taste test on chocolate and the best buys for wine need an article of their own...

The Dirty Dozen - Tim Atkin selects his top 12 bottles for seduction. From the Observer Food Monthly:

1. Cono Sur Pinot Noir 2005 Chile (£4.99 widely available) "elegant, strawberryish.. the best sub-£5 Pinot Noir in the country"

2. Tesco Finest Gewurztraminer 2004 Alsace (£6.99 Tesco) "a great seduction wine. Even if you're not David Ginola"

3. Disznok Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos, Hungary (£21.99 Oddbins) "for the more traditional seducer.. thrilling balance

4. Almond Grove Noble Late Harvest Riesling, 2003, South Africa (£5.99 Majestic) "a dessert wine with flavour to burn"

5. Larmandier-Bernir Champagne, France (£17.95 Vine Trail) "brilliant value organically-grown blend"

6. Felton Road Pinot Noir, 2004, New Zealand (£24.95 Berry Brothers) "one hell of a Pinot Noir"

7. Marques de Monistrol Cava Reserva Rosé, Spain (£4.86 Waitrose) "two bottle for under a tenner at the reduced price. If you're a cheap date, you won't do any better than this"

8. Oudinot Champagne, 2001, France (£19.99 Marks and Spencer) "some attractive bottle-aged characters"

9. GH Mumm Brut Rosé Champagne, France (£29.99 Sainsburys) "really sings in the glass"

10. Little Yering Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, Australia (£6.99 Co-Op) "soft and seductive"

11. Gaillard Cuvée Jeanne Elise Viognier, 2001, Rhone, France (£21.50 H&H Bancroft) half "inordinatetly sexy"

12. Cathiard Nuits St Georges 2000, Burgundy, France (£28.75 Stoe, Vine & Sun) "elegant ready-to-drink" 

The UK national Sunday paper - the Observer - publishes a monthly food supplement. This month the main focus is on the Best Recipes of All Time where "top foodies reveal their favourites." 

So we have Giorgio Locatelli (author and chef of Locanda Locatelli, London) recommending Antonio Carluccio's Bagna Cauda as a starter (taken from Carluccios book Italia) and Rainer Becker (head chef at Zuma) going for Best Roast Chicken by Alain Ducasse (from Flavours of France). The chicken sounds superb with a rich stuffing of duck foie gras, bacon and chicken liver and a second stuffing under the skin of herb butter).

 

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