Prog Chefs Unite!!!

 

 

We ran out of Arrowroot at the weekend - no big deal, I just used cornflour instead so the resulting apple caramel sauce was slightly cloudy rather than clear but that's not a problem. Anyway... I bought a replacement 80gm tub today and it doesn't fit in the space the old 80gm tub occupied because even though it's the same diameter, it's now half as tall again as it was before - which puzzled me at first because I couldn't think of an reason for the powdered arrowroot inside to be 50% more voluminous than the powdered arrowroot in the old tub - and the answer is simple enough - it wasn't, it only occupied 2/3rds of the new tub. Anyway... I caught a glimpse of the sell-by date on the lid of the old tub as I dropped it in the recycling bin ... Use by Feb 1994...

 

I wonder how tall the tubs will be in 2032

 

 

 

I'll see if I can post a recipe here later this week for something good, it's been a while... Oh, and last week I made sushi twice in one weekend (maki and nagiri), just because I could. One time for 9 people, the other for just 2....

Perhaps they thought they were just getting stronger . Like apparenty Mars bars aren't getting smaller, apparently our hands are just bigger than they were when we were younger.

 

I'll not take note of expiry dates when I'm using dry packaged goods like spices, condiments or pulses - if 20 year old arrowroot powder can still thicken a sauce then I'll happily use it. Then I take expiry dates as a suggestion rather than a rule - I'll not bypass common sense and judgement just because the date on the package is in the past.

Over christmas we sampled some Chase Marmalade Vodka, which was rather nice if a little pricey at £34 a bottle.

 

Inspired by this marmalade infused tipple the weekend before last I made some Marmalade Liqueur by adapting a Limoncello recipe I'd used before, but making it with Seville oranges (which happen to be in season at the moment) to achieve the correct "marmalade" flavour. Using a £10 bottle of generic vodka and about £1 for the oranges this is amazingly drinkable and very very tasty for a third the price of the professionally produced offering. This evening was the first tasting session for this drink and I have to admit it is rather fine though having drinked a couple of glasses so far, I find I'm having to type this with one eye slightly closed to maintain focus on the laptop screen. Hopefully normal service will be restored as soon as possible, in the meantime here is a photograph of two Seville oranges:

To have a go at making this for yourself: first using a potato peeler the zest is carefully pared from two large (or three medium) Seville oranges taking care to only get the deep orange zest and non of the white pith, this is put to one side while the juice is squeezed from the oranges into a pan with 200gm of sugar that had been dissolved in a drop of vodka, once the sugar is fully dissolved the resulting syrup is brought to the boil and allowed to boil rapidly for 2 minutes. The pan is removed from the heat and the orange peel added to the syrup together with a bottle of inexpensive vodka. Once cooled the liquid is stored in a sterile air-tight bottle for two weeks for the oils in the peel to infuse into the alcohol, after which time the liqueur is filtered through muslin to remove the peel and any orange juice sediments before putting back into the bottle. Serve chilled neat over crushed ice or with tonic or soda in a tall glass.

 

 

Now all I need to do is remember to buy another bottle of vodka and some more oranges tomorrow so I can make some more. I noticed the other day that Im down to my last preserved lemon so I'll have to try and remember to add small lemons and a bag of sea salt to the shopping list.