Weekly rumblings – 25 (Better late than never)

To some who have missed the blog, all I can say – It’s better late than never! Haven’t been lacking recipes but have been lacking the rigour of writing them down. This lack of discipline has been noticed not only by regular readers, but by family too. Making a serious effort to get back on track. The only other excuse for being tardy with the blog, is that I am trying to get back into the business of baking. Meanwhile, the home made sourdough tradition continues. More on that soon, watch the space.

This year, I have noticed a rise in the number of vegetarians & vegan offerings everywhere I look. For a start, at the quiz night I was organising at school, there was a doubling of vegetarians from last year. From “Veganuary” to friends being temporarily vegetarian, this can be frustrating for the dinner party cook. For what it’s worth, I still believe that we all need to eat a bigger variety of vegetables and eat small quantities of only the best, free range meat, & sustainable seafood that we can afford. And as this article in The Time magazine points out, there are many ways of eating well. At the risk of being called Flexitarians, we are indeed flexible about eating everything other than vegetables.

There has been a lot in the news lately about the connection between our gut and brain. The connection between our gut and physical health is now well-known and well documented. However, the connection with the brain was more tenuous although the phrase “gut feeling” or “gut instinct” has been used since biblical times. Science has finally caught up and makes for some fascinating reading. And it goes well beyond the feeling of happiness and joy after a creating a beautiful loaf of bread.

Recent Cookbooks

This past week, I have been leafing through “The Hairy Bikers – Asian Adventure.” If you haven’t watched them in action on TV, I highly recommend them. They are fun to watch, and their adventures are well crafted. In this book they cover recipes from their travels in Asia. I found the Korean recipes the most interesting as this is a relatively little-known cuisine, compared to Japanese, although there are several similarities. Having got myself a carton of Gochujang – a Korean staple, I had success with a simple stir-fry recipe from the book. I do like their recipes, but with the book, I have some reservations as there was nothing ground-breaking in the recipes. A good book to acquire if your Asian cookbook shelf is bereft of others like Harumi or Fuchsia Dunlop.

Recipes this week

Recently, at a friend’s, I was very impressed by their 12-year old daughter who had single-handedly baked cinnamon buns. Yeasted doughs can be tricky for the most experienced bakers, so this was impressive indeed. Reminded gently by my loving family, that we hadn’t had cinnamon buns for a while, I decided to make them. I do think that this recipe by America’s Test Kitchen is amongst the best – my ode to Shriya – may you inspire your generation to cook and bake!

It’s technically spring in London, but this past week has felt anything but. Warming risotto, and a spicy Indian chicken seemed to be the order of the day.

[riview id=1235 num=2000 orderby=title order=asc size=140x140 showtitle=always lightbox=0]

Being busy hasn’t deterred me for cooking for my family or friends. A recent pizza evening was wildly successful, and as before, I have fine-tuned the recipe slightly more.

Go with your “gut feeling” love your kitchen and cook in it too!