The Spaghetti Incident

Hallo there friends.
I came home from work yesterday wanting something "nice and tasty" for my dinner.
I eat "the bad things" too much so decided to make something semi healthy. Ha ha......
Hey, It's not my fault my favourite things are beer and pork pies. OK, it is my fault.
Regardless, I decided to make a quick healthy...ish pasta dish.

Spaghetti with shallots, cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli and herbs

It was very tasty. So tasty in fact that when I had finished eating it I was filled with a sense of harmonious joy.
True. I love it when you eat something that's so satisfying it just makes you happy.
My belly thanked me.
We have a very close relationship, my belly and I. I give it everything it wants and then at night I fall asleep while hugging it. That's love.

So the dish is named after the Guns n Roses album "The Spaghetti Incident".
I have to be truthful, I don't really like the album so I put up the video for " Sweet Child O' Mine" instead.
It's a classic. One of my favourite intros of all time.
In fact the other night me and Lesley went out and we had a conversation abot this.
Here are some of our other favourite intros

Pantera - Walk  http://youtu.be/AkFqg5wAuFk Simple but brutal.

Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child  http://youtu.be/wMEeJVBhAnQ Sexy intro, makes me wanna girate my hips.

Free - all right Now http://youtu.be/ydItRbb0b1E My dad looks like Paul Rogers. Really!

Sepultura - Chaos AD http://youtu.be/6ODNxy3YOPU I still want hair like Andreas Kisser. Soft. So soft.

Metallica - Ride the lightning http://youtu.be/xRn2VY7qs5w Nee nee, Nee nee, Nee nee, Nee nee.

Corrosion of Conformity - Clean my wounds http://youtu.be/yvsQsao1F88 Clearly I'm biased with this one. Anything with Pepper Keenen I like.

Fear Factory - Resurrection http://youtu.be/v_OHJxN9C1Y Makes me want to cry.




To the recipe Batman...................

Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli and herbs

Serves 2

Ingredients

200g spaghetti
200g ripe cherry tomatoes halved
4 shallots peeled, halved and sliced finely
50ml good quality olive oil
Splash avocado oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic don't kiss anyone after this
Half teaspoon minced red chilli
BIG hand full flat leaf parsley chopped roughly
BIG hand full basil torn roughly
Salt and pepper

Put a big pan of salted water on to boil.
Add your spaghetti and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking put the olive oil and avocado oil into a pan and heat on medium.
Add the shallots, garlic and chilli and cook for about 5 minutes until shallots are soft and fragrant.
Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for about another 5 minutes until soft .
Drain your cooked pasta and add to the pan.
Take off the heat and add your herbs, salt and pepper. Mix well and eat right away.
So satisfying. You don't need bread or salad with this as it's great on its own.

Wok......... You talkin to me? You talkin to me?

I would like to dedicate this recipe to my friend Sharon.

Hello Sharon

Sharon is a vegetarian.

Yes, I know. She doesn't eat pork! Sheesh.

Anyway.

If you are a fellow vegetarian then you will understand Sharon's frustration .
She goes out for a nice meal at a restaurant and looks at the menu.
Here's what she sees in the "vegetarian" option.

Mushroom risotto

Red onion/ vegetable goat's cheese puff pastry tart served with side salad.

Come on chefs. Show a little bit of imagination.

And just for the record.

YOU CAN SERVE VEGETABLE SIDE DISHES WITH VEGETARIAN MAINS.

Enough with the paltry "served with salad".

WHOOP DE DOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GIVE ME MORE VEGETABLES, DAMN IT!

I want veg with my veg. I want mountains of veg, I want a cornucopia of veg, a veritable feast of veg.

VEG, VEG, VEG.

I imagine that's what Sharon would say?

Is that what you would say Sharon?

One of the exceptions though is Chop Chop in Edinburgh where Sharon took us to gorge ourselves .
They have a great selection of veggie food. Especially the noodles with mustard and peanut sauce. Yum. Check out the menu online at
http://www.chop-chop.co.uk/

I have concocted this little veggie main dish for you Sharon. It takes very little time to make.

So next time you go to a Restaurant and they try to pap you off with mushroom risotto,
throw the menu at them, give them the finger and go home and make yourself this instead.

Crispy fried tofu and aubergine in a spicy Chinese sauce

Here is Sharon's Metal song of choice for today's blog.

Wok on home boy.........................

Ingredients
Serves 4

2 aubergines
2 packs smoked tofu cut into large cubes
6 shallots peeled, halved and sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced red chilli
100g yellow bean sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon thick dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon white rice vinegar
1 teaspoon mirin (Japanese seasoning)
1 teaspoon cornflour
100ml water
Sunflower oil for frying

Put your Wok onto a high heat and add a big splash of sunflower oil.
When hot add your aubergine, you'll probably need to do this in a few batches. Fry, turning occasionally until browned on all sides. Drain onto kitchen paper.

Repeat this step with the tofu and drain that on kitchen paper too.

Next, fry your shallots, ginger, chilli and garlic in a little hot oil for a few minutes until shallots are softened.

Add the soy sauces, yellow bean sauce, sugar, vinegar, mirin and water. Give it a good mix then add your aubergine and tofu.

Stir and bring simmer on low for about 10 minutes until aubergine and tofu have taken on the flavour of the sauce.

Next mix the corn flour with a little water to  and add to your wok. Stir and cook for one minute until sauce has thickened.

Serve with a bowl of steamed sticky or jasmine rice.

Mmmmmmmm. Meaty without the meat.

If Mills and Boon wrote recipe reviews.

I call this story " I Dream in Chocolate".

I walked into the room. The air was hot and filled with a sweet musk. 
There, lying on the counter......  The sight I held before me made my knees weaken.
I saw in an instant what I had been longing for. What my body needed.
My passions igniting. Anticipation sending shocks of electricity shooting through my whole body.
Unconsciously I moved forward. My hand reaching out to touch the soft, supple, glistening moistness.
Calling to me, beckoning me.
I let my fingers caress the surface. I slid my hand in between its moistness and a cold shock surged through me.
My heart started to race.
Before I knew it I was on my knees devouring it whole.
Oh, the exquisite ecstasy.
My body shook.
I gasped, flush with gorging.

Damn that was a good mint, choc, chip, chocolate sponge, ice cream sandwich.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Here's a little song to get you in the loving mood and make you come over all a quiver.

A Very English Treat.

A very English treat for a very English Metal band.
Iron Maiden. One of the Pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

Now what dare you say, might a quaint English Heavy Metal fan have as a little treat in between sipping tea and headbanging?

Tiffin.

It sounds kinda naughty doesn't it?
Well it is!
Gooey, crunchy and sweet all at the same time.

Tiffin is what Americans would call " chocolate refrigerator cake".
There's lots of versions but typically it has chocolate, digestive biscuits, Golden syrup, butter and dried fruit.

I threw a whole loada other crap in it too. but hey, that's just me.

You probably expected me to put up one of the classic videos. Fear of the Dark maybe? Number of The Beast etc.
But no. I like The Wicker Man. It makes me wanna punch the air and rejoice in the fact that no matter how time passes, Iron maiden are still the dogs bollocks,
Maiden, Maiden, Maiden, Maiden....................





Tiffin

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients:

500g milk chocolate
200g digestive biscuits
150g glace cherries
100g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons golden syrup
100g mini marshmallows (optional)
50g dessicated coconut (optional)


Grease a shallow square tin about 8" x 8".

Put your digestives into a big bowl and bash them up a little with a rolling pin. You want the pieces to be quite chunky.
Add the glace cherries, marshmallows and coconut and mix together.

Break up 250g of the milk chocolate and place into a heat proof bowl. Add the butter and golden syrup.

Microwave on medium for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring and checking regularly until melted.

Mix till smooth then pour over the rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly and put into your square tin and level out.

Melt the remainder of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl as above for a few minutes and then pour over the tiffin. Spread out then place tiffin in fridge for a few hours to set.

Cut into 16 squares and serve. Goes nice with a good cuppa.

Quite!