In which GG learns about slow food

This Christmas, darling Glutton Boy gave me a slow cooker. I'd been mithering about buying one for ages but two things had put me off: 1) I am a bit OCD about leaving things on 2) I have a very small kitchen. But on the understanding that slow cookers are designed to be left on for 12 hours I feel relatively comfortable with it. And I've already cooked in it - lamb shanks cooked in pale ale. And delicious it was too.

So this got me thinking about what sort of cook I am - I'm not the sort of cook that has a million hot pans on the go, that when people come round I'm plating up towers in the kitchen. And I don't know anyone else like that either. I am more of a shove-it-all-in-the-slow-cooker-and-pour-myself-a-gin kind of girl. Which is by far the better in my view. How much nicer to spend time with people I've invited than to stress that the souffle hasn't risen properly. Really, who needs that kind of stress?

And a slow cooker lends itself to the sort of cheap and delicious food I love. The mainstay of the Jewish sabbath is a casserole called a cholent. My grandmother cooked this as does my mum and she leaves it in the oven all day. It's a slow one so you don't have to do any work once the sun sets. Brisket, carrots, potatoes, butter beans, stock. Sometimes pearl barley but I find it sucks up all the moisture so not brilliant in some ways. And it is absolutely delicious in its simplicity. Plain, tender and nourishing in all kinds of ways. How lovely to come home from a crap day at work and find a dish of loveliness bubbling away on the counter top. How much would that make you feel that someone was looking after you, even if that someone is really you.

I have loads of people coming over in January as I've just moved house and I am planning a succession of slow-cooked delights. Pig cheeks, a good chilli, a daube of beef, oxtail for the more robust of stomach and adventurous of spirit. And, another blessing for January, a really economical way to cook.

Cheap, tasty, uplifting. Much like GluttonGirl herself.

Much love
GG

The ties that bind...

It's blindingly obvious and been said before, but food is so much more than food.

I have a group of four girlfriends who I've known for years. I met one at university when I was 19 and the others were friends of hers. We used to see each other all the time and take turns to cook madly good dinners with ridiculous amounts of wine which more often than not ended up with us flashing our knockers at the neighbours.

As time has gone on, we've seen each other less - one has had a baby, two of us are married and two live with their partners, so life is very different to how it was when we first met. We've been through all kinds of terrible boyfriends, houseshares, jobs and for the last seven years, whatever else has been going on, there has always been Christmas dinner at Sharmin's.

Sharm is an amazing cook and a brilliant convivial hostess. There are pressies, drinks galore and bags of laughing. Boys are most definitely banned. This year we broke with tradition and held it during the day and it lasted around 8 hours. And it did my heart good to be with these girls who have known me so long, round a table, sharing a brilliant meal. If we didn't do Christmas at Sharm's, it wouldn't be Christmas.

So that's the holiday spirit - people you love, being together, having fun, sharing news. It's like a Hallmark card come to life but I won't apologise for that.

So thank you ladies, for another brilliant Christmas.

GGxx

In which I am quite tired but also quite exhilarated

If you had to put together a bunch of stressful things that are inadvisable to do in roughly the same time period, they might look a bit like this:

buy your first flat and move house
Christmas
make cakes for friend's wedding
make cakes for boss's party
snow

Stupidly, I have done all these things lately. GluttonBoy said of me this weekend 'if you die before me, your gravestone will read 'she bit off more than she could chew.'

Let me explain - in early December we moved into our first flat - the finding and buying of said flat and the moving processes was so stressful I almost called it off. And then we were plunged headlong into Christmas, which due to family stuff is always a tiny bit on the fraught side. And I had been hired to make 80 wedding cupcakes for a dear friend's wedding on the 20th. That's fine, I thought to myself, I have the Sunday before to bake/ice. Except my annual girls' Christmas beano was then scheduled for the Sunday. And on the Saturday I agreed to make 80 cakes and deliver them to Camden. And then it snowed so there were no cabs and I don't drive. So much, so hellish.

But, when I saw the wedding cakes on the stand I felt unbelievably happy and proud it was all worth it. And I had a brilliant time with the girls for Christmas. So now, is just Christmas to cope with.

And actually, I love Christmas food. Not just the big day itself, but almost more the peripheral days. GluttonBoy always wants the same Christmas eve dinner - salmon, new potatoes and hollandaise. Smoked salmon, scrambled egg and bucks fizz for breakfast, the constant mince pie/quality street grazing and best of all in my book - the boxing day neverending gluttony.

I'm not at home this year for Boxing Day and neither is GB, but we've decided to make the 28th (our first full day together of the Christmas season in our own flat) a late Boxing Day. On the menu (or rather in the fridge) will be:

Sausages - rolls and in blankets
Cdld meat - turkey, ham, beef
Cheeses - english, french and boursin
Pickes and chutneys
Some fruit for the sake of appearance
Christmas cake (once I get round to making the bloody thing)
I would even go so far as to make vol au vents and potato salad

There will also be drinks galore, enough to ensure a low-level fuzzy head all day. And Mad Men series 2 and 3 which I intend to watch in full.

Christmas is suddenly looking up!

Much love

GG

GG thinks about what really makes a home.

August was my last post. I know that's shocking. And also a blogging sin. So I'll get the excuses out of the way:

1) I've bought my first flat
2) The day job has been pretty stressful

So, that's that. What's been happening in the world of GG? In the last six weeks, mainly packing and unpacking. If only we'd unpacked half of our stuff, but luckily we have a garage so the vast majority of boxes have been shoved in there. Some of it I'll need but frankly I was appalled at just how much kitcheny type equipment I have. Some particular highlights were:

20 boxes of cookbooks. 20.
11 cake stands
14 heart shaped ramekins
6 small jugs
Two massive boxes of baking tins (normal and silicone)
20 cake forks (my excuse - they were my grandmother's)
A tiffin box
A trifle bowl
20 royal family themed shot glasses
Boxes upon boxes of jam jars (brand new ones for home made as well as empty bonne maman ones).

So we like cooking. And now I'm in my new flat I am loving it even more. It didn't really feel like home until we'd cooked a meal, and the first thing I cooked was Sausage Special. This was something my late mother in law cooked for Glutton Boy and his sister through their childhood. It comes from the Dairy Cookbook (I have her very dogeared and fragile copy) and was called 'Devilled Sausages' originally. I never tried it cooked by her and I used to laugh about it, due to it's slightly peculiar ingredients but after she died I gave it a go and it now makes a regular appearance at dinner time. I partly like it because most of the ingredients are in the cupboard and I usually just need to get a few things which, at a push, can generally just be found even at a corner shop but it is something I make when either GB or I is feeling a bit weary or fragile or low. And actually, I wouldn't make it at all if it wasn't delicious. So, as we drag ourselves towards a few blissful festive days off to fight with our loved ones and drink too many snowballs - I share with you, Gill's Sausage Special.

Fry off a pack of sausages in some oil till lightly browned (but not cooked through. Remove to a plate.
Fry one onions, sliced finely into half moons until soft.
Stir in two tablespoons of flour and cook for a bit. Add in 1/4 pint of water gradually to make a roux.
Chuck in (in any order) a can of tomatoes, a teaspoon of mustard, a teaspoon of vinegar, two teaspoons of Lea and Perrins and, the key ingredient, two tablespoons of Branston pickle. Now, GB thinks the small-chunk variety is a travesty, but I prefer it as you get the taste but it's less intrusive!
Add sausages back into the pan and simmer for roughly 20-30 mins (or, in my case, to the end of whatever programme I'm watching.
Traditionally served with spaghetti but we also like it with rice.

You may prefer 'gourmet' sausages, but trust me, works better with ordinary. Not horrible pink 'value' ones, though. They're vile.

Lots of love
GG

what I learnt this week

I love food because I'm naturally greedy. But there are lots of other reasons why I like eating, and it's not only about the food. GluttonBoy recently got into an online argument with food bloggers about their obsession with photographing their dinner when eating out. It's a bit like spending your whole holiday filming, rather than actually particpating in the holiday - it kind of seems to be missing the point and it is breaks my heart a little bit to see people who should be sitting round a table tucking in, having a drink, talking to each other, all just engrossed in the photographing ritual.

The point of food is simple and was brought home to me by two very different meals - well I say different, but the food and setting were different but the point of it and the result were very similar.

My friend Louise had a birthday party recently, at a Chinese karaoke restaurant in Sheen. Louise is probably the essence of conviviality and is a great host. The restaurant was nothing special, but we had it to ourselves and the karaoke was free. The food was standard Chinese, but what made it a great night was the fun we had, the sharing, the atmosphere and the people. There's also something really nice about sharing plates, passing food round, making sure everyone has enough - it brings out everyone's inner altruist. And I had a brilliant time.

Today we had our friends Sim and Martine for Sunday lunch. Sim is a wine expert and Martine is a chef, so on paper a fairly stressful pair of guests. GB and I thought long and hard about what to cook and decided fairly early on that there was no way of competing, so better to do something delicious but fairly simple (although GB is an ex-chef so no slouch).

GluttonBoy made a fricking delicious pork terrine, so flavoursome and savoury I couldn't stop stuffing it down. We also made some bread and served it with home made damson chutney from last year. Our main course was osso bucco, served with mash and vichy carrots (also hugely tasty and umami-ish) and for pudding I'd made salt caramel and milk chocolate mousses and butter biscuits (my nana and auntie' brenda's recipes). We ate some much that I thought I'd have to and lie down for a couple of hours. We also drank 7 bottles of wine (two champagnes, two whites and two reds chosen to match the food, a sticky, sherry and gin and tonics). And although the food and wines were great, and I very much enjoyed them (and enjoyed the compliments), the best thing about this afternoon was having people over, talking, laughing and enjoying their company.

So sometimes food isn't just food - it's sharing, sociability, altruism. It's a reason to get round a table with people you love and enjoy their company. And that is something food bloggers with their cameras and individual experiences seem to miss.

Right, I'm off to have a bypass.

Lots of love,

GG

In which Glutton Girl learns a valuable lesson

Assiduous GG readers will remember that a while ago, when Glutton Boy was working endless late shifts and so I was cooking every night for what seemed like a million years, I felt that the effort of putting a meal on the table every night was just too arduous. The last six weeks or so has seen a reversal of fortune in the -putting-dinner-on-the-table stakes.
A combination of colleague holiday and back to back pitches has meant that GluttonGirl has had to put in a serious amout of hours in the office lately and dinner (for me at least) has become peanut butter on toast schloffed down at 8pm in the office, while poor old GB has reacquainted himself with the joys of the fray bentos.
Lo and behold, the truth is that I have missed cooking like mad. On Friday, with the worst behind me, I made a sort of Spanish-y risotto with prawns, chorizo, roasted red peppers and my favourite ingredient of all, sweet smoked paprika. The satisfaction I got from putting a meal on the table was unparalled.
Darling GB cooking on Saturday - mac and cheese with bacon bits and roasted cherry toms. Delicious and eatable with a spoon - my main dinner criteria.
Sunday saw tapas and sherry with the girls, then weirdly, I felt like I had a cheese baby right under my ribs and had to go to bed early. And today, the last day of the bank holiday, I'm whipping up a quick puttanesca.
There it is. For me, cooking is just what I have to do, it's what I like to do. I like to make a lovely meal for husband/friends. I like to take a gorgeous cake out of the oven. I am a Glutton.

Lots of love

GG

In which GG states the bleedin' obvious

Now I know this probably isn't news, but this week I've been thinking about how much circumstance dictates what we want to eat. I order my shopping weekly online, as I can't bear the thought of shopping every day when I've been slaving away all day down the PR mines, but this does mean that sometimes I get it very wrong, dinner-wise. I try to think about my work week, whether I'll leave in good time or be wanting a quick meal having stayed late, if I'm likely to be stressed, what the weather is likely to be etc. Add in doing it on a budget, trying to be relatively low-fat, and it does make things complicated. So sometimes, I get it very wrong. A hot weather day, a work crisis which keeps me chained to the keyboard, an impromptu gin and tonic which goes on too long... all mean that plans go awry.
And as much as I try to eat well at lunch, sometimes the lure of a cheese and pickle baguette is just too much to resist (especially when Pret has just opened in the wasteland of Vauxhall and a cheese and tomato pickle on artisan baguette is MY FAVOURITE SANDWICH EVER). This is also true when we're in pitch mode, when the stress is building, deadlines are looming, clients are being juggled, I've been in the office for 8 hours with a few still to go and my stomach is rumbling. I can rip through a 'sharing bag' of peanut m and ms in seconds, followed by some crisps. Sometimes, only a tub of M&S chocolate miniroll bites will do.
Tomorrow is Norway Independence Day. I love Norway, and not just because two of my dearest friends are Norskis. I love the lifestyle, the landscape, the socialism, emphasis on doing things well. Most of all, I loved the baking. My Norwegian friend Ingrid is an incredible baker and has always made, amongst other things, School Buns. In Norway, these are the only buns you can take to school - talk about socialist principles in microcosm (no one has a better or worse bun than anyone else). A standard bun dough is a very lightly spiced and sweet dough, which you can then add raisins to, or make into cinnamon buns, or make into school buns with the addition of a well of custard. When baked, they are encircled with icing and dessicated coconut. After my father died earlier this year I went to Ingrid and Harvey's for a few days of sanctuary, to sit on their veranda on a clear, cold day and look out into the fjord, watching the big boats come past. We also made loads of buns. And today, just a few days after what would have been Dad's birthday and the day before Norway Day, I made a batch of buns to Ingrid's recipe. The taste of them was hugely evocative - instantly reminded me of long walks through the forest, rural Norway, cold fjord water.
When I make GB welsh cakes, they remind him of his late mum and his Welsh aunties - its like going to a 'happy place'. I guess eating anything that you loved as a child does the same thing. So what's the moral of this tale? Listen to your stomach and your mind - and eat to soothe your soul as well as your hunger.
Lots of love
GG

Back to your roots

This week, I visited my mum for a couple of days, as she's about to go on hols. Regular readers will know I lost my darling dad in January, so I'm trying to see more of my mum now, partly to keep her company but partly as I only now have one parent, so want to look after the one I've got. My mum is a mad quilter/patchworker, inspired by GluttonBoy's late mother who made the most beautiful log cabin quilts. Before we got married, my MiL to be spoke to my mum to ask her to contribute to a wedding quilt for us. Sadly, she died soon after, and nothing came of it, except my mum was bitten by the quilting bug, which she has also passed on to me.
I went with her to her quilting group this week - and a lovely lady called Jenny talked to us about whole piece quilts and her collection of antique quilts, which were exquisite. Whole piece is where it is one piece of fabric (rather than patchwork) and incredibly intricate patterns are sewn into it, to make it quilted. She talked about the traditions of different regions and countries, and how, if you had a daughter, you made 12 quilts, with the 13th being a wedding quilt and the most beautiful. What has this to do with cooking? Ask almost anyone what their favourite meal is, and invariably the answer will be something their mother makes - 'my mum's roast lamb', 'my mum's chicken pie' etc etc.
Food has a way of tying us to our roots like almost nothing else. Why else do people with heritage come back endlessly to the dishes of another country? Why else is it so important to keep food heritage alive? And food, particularly dishes or recipes that remind you indelibly of a place or a person, have a life of their own that has more longevity than we do. Handwritten recipe books passed down the generations are a more potent reminder of a person or a time than any amount of diaries are.
And this is what I love about food. I love that the sponge biscuits and the honey cake I make are the ones my nana made. The welsh cake recipe I use was given to me by my mother in law and is the recipe Glutton Boy's auntie gladys and auntie bhopah used. And in each case, every bite reminds us of people we've lost but that we still carry with us. After my mother in law died, we found a batch of welshcakes in the freezer - thinking about her making them and putting them away to be enjoyed at a later date made us feel she hadn't quite gone.
And not to be too overly sentimental, a handmade quilt is the same - tying us to a place and a person who might be long gone and enveloping us in feelings that they wanted to pass on. I have some quilts my mum has made, and hope to inherit a quilt from my mother in law, and if I have children in the future, I will make sure they know where those quilts came from and who made them. Just like I'll make sponge biscuits and talk about my nana and her baking, like my dad's love of a baked cheesecake and auntie bhopah's legendary welshcakes.
Lots of love
GG

Weekend gluttony

And a happy Sunday to you all. An update from the previous post - the teriyaki steak was lovely, as was the fennel slaw. I normally make rubbish steak as I don't get the pan hot enough but this time I bit the bullet and it was as tender as anything. I also don't normally like fennel but it was quite subtle so very fresh and light. And neither of us missed the potatoes element at all.

Saturday I cooked a spag bol - very dull I know but with tons of veg. GluttonBoy was out so it was a good thing to shove down in a rush when he finally got home.

Sunday, and the shopping delivery arrived, minus the bottle of Gordon's that had smashed en route, coating the tea bags, puff pastry and grapefruit with the subtle scent of juniper. In at attempt to cut down the carbs on Sunday, I turned to one of my favourite books - Ottolenghi. I love his approach - fresh, zesty salads, lots of herbs and super-fresh flavours. The recipes also largely feature one of my favourite flavours, sumac. I have a super-love of all things arab/middle-eastern/mediterranean/greek, so it pushes my buttons totally. A quick scoot round one of my two favourite local shops (hello, Oli Centre of Walworth Road, a brilliant 24-hour Turkish supermarket) and I was good to go.

So, what was for dinner? Chicken wings marinated in a mix of olive oil, lemon, sumac, allspice and cinnamon, served with a salad of fennel, feta and pomegranate. The salad dressing was olive oil, sumac, tarragon and parsley. It was DELICIOUS. And took a while to eat due to the winginess of the chicken, so very satisfying. Thank you Mr O.

And, as an afterthough - Mr G and I are looking to buy our first flat. We saw a flat today with such a small kitchen it only had a two-ring hob. It was miniscule. Hopeless.

Anyway.

Lots of love

GG

GluttonGirl makes a suprise return

As mentioned in previous posts, it has been a busy few months for GluttonGirl, what with one thing and another. The only constant has been the need to keep food on the table and I have never been one for churning out the same few meals over and over again.

I've often wondered why it is that when husbands cook the 'special' meals, eg for dinner parties etc, they are congratulated, when in fact it is far harder to get a meal on the table night after night. And when you are trying to stick to a budget, eat relatively healthily and not cook the same thing in any two-week period, that makes it even harder.

And another thing I've wondered is this - on Masterchef, when introducing contestants, they often say something like 'Miss X has been cooking for 2 years.' So, unless Miss X is about 20, I'm confused.What do they eat? I've been cooking since I was 14, became veggie and my mother refused to cook two meals a night. I can't say that every meal was delicious or even eatable, or that I've never eaten toast for dinner (or worse, Smash and cheese or a Pot Noodle) but I've been cooking a while.

Which brings me to my masterplan and reason for bringing GG back - to document what we eat at home and elsewhere, day after day. Whether delicious or disgusting, a triumph or a tragedy. Because to me, what people who love food eat day after day, where they shop, what they have discovered, is far more interesting to me than what a chef eats on his day off (not that I'm not interested in chefs' eating habits either, but you get my drift).

So, to tonight. Teriyaki steak and fennel slaw. Two steaks are marinating in soy sauce, honey, lime and red wine vinegar, ready to be griddled as soon as GluttonBoy gets home from a busy day down the cake mine. Accompanied with a mix of shredded fennel, carrot and red onion with mayo and lime. Should be yummy.[

Lots of love
GG

In which GG explains long absence

So, I'm aware it's been over two months since my last post and in the blogosphere (shoot me now for using that phrase) that is pretty much a capital offence. Here's a quick digest of what's been going on in Glutton-world.

Christmas - pretty much the high point of the glutton household's year. I went to Glutton sister for Christmas and ate my own body weight in roast potatoes. GluttonBoy went to Glutton sister in law and also ate his own body weight in roast potatoes. I also did my favourite boxing day meal - a buffet comprising a full range of pastry/pork/cheesy foods.

New year saw as at the lovely Darby household, for lovely curry. Less lovely was the Guinness and Drambuie cocktail. Sorry Mark. We'd brought Taittinger as it was on sale at Asda for £15 a bottle. That's us really - Taittinger tastes, Asda budget. I also made a pavlova and cranberry cheesecake cupcakes, which were hugely appreciated by the teenage boys present.

We were put onto this by our friends Sim and Martine. Sim is a barman with a taste for good wine, Martine is a chef and we have had some really great meals with them. They invited us for dinner and it was fantastic - great company, wine, food wasn't intimidating, they were v v hospitable. Good all round.

I made cranberry chutney. I am mad for cranberries and as they have such a short life I by them up and freeze so I can cook with them all year.

January wasn't a great month. My wonderful father had a heart attack and passed away. He was very fit and healthy and also a bit gluttony. He loved cheesecake and other cake and biscuits and chocolate but kept himself reined in. He also loved typical jewish food like bagels with saltbeef and latkes. He laughed at me many times for my sneery London foody ways, like knowing that the green leaves on the plate were Lollo Rosso. RIP Dad.

So, hence the GG silence. But, as I did last year, I am now trying again to combine a love of food with a relatively lowfat existence as GluttonBoy has inherited high cholesterol and I have a history of heart disease in the family. Jill Dupleix is my new heroine.

Anyway, expect to hear more of me from now on.

Lots of love
GGx