Sunday Music

Posted on June 17, 2012 by nicdempsey

The Holloways – Generator

So this week has been emotionally difficult. I’ve felt isolated and alone. Partly time of the year, it was Stef and Keir’s birthday last week and I’m always gonna miss my best friends. Added to that this weekend, Ma’s away and people just let me down and weren’t around. So on Friday I was full of self pity, on Saturday morning getting ready to meet Sarah for coffee, I was doing my Saturday morning thing of Jon Homes on 6Music and he played this and I cheered the hell up and remembered to count my blessings..

Sometimes you need a kick up the bum…

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Goal Catch Up

Posted on June 16, 2012 by nicdempsey

It’s been a good week.

I’ve done all of the exercise. Am most proud of getting out on Monday in the rain and on Wednesday after a really hard and late day at the office I got off the train early and did the 5k on the way home because I knew I wouldn’t leave the house once I got in it!

Plan for next week is

Today: Rest

Sunday: 10km, pyramid

Monday: 7km, pyramid

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 10km, pyramid

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Cross training

That should keep me busy!

Diet

Two vegetarian days on Wednesday and Thursday. 2 new things tried – the tuna and bean salad and another thing that I’ll share next week. I’m really enjoying the vegetarian days, it makes me aware of how often I just reach for meat or fish and is encouraging me to be more imaginative with my cooking.

Have I lost any weight this week? As of this morning 1 pound! Never mind I’m feeling good about it and that’s a good thing.

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What I’ve Read – May 2012

Posted on June 14, 2012 by nicdempsey

Late, late, late..

26. Insurgent – Veronica Roth

I really enjoyed Divergent and I enjoyed this as well. I want to see where it goes next.

27. I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith

Loved this. It is very of it’s time and I could see the plot ‘twist’ coming, but I loved that she made the right choice for herself, not the romantic choice she wanted to make. It’s also funny and sweet and just go and read it already.

28. City of Lost Souls – Cassandra Clare

It’s Cassandra Clare and I’m pretty much hooked. I read this in a day and can see some stuff in this that I think links to the Infernal Devices books and now I want to read the next one of those to see if I’m right. I can’t wait until godchild no 2 is old enough to read this series, she’ll love them

29. Ellis Island – Kate Kerrigan

I didn’t expect to enjoy this but I did. I sometimes wanted to shake the narrator, but I really enjoyed this. I’m keen on books where love doesn’t conquer all and has to be worked at.

30. Starcrossed – Josephine Angelini

I’ve been resisting this one for ages. Then Lelia at Bookshelves of Doom reviewed it and I gave it a go. I enjoyed it and liked that Helen isn’t a cypher, that she doesn’t constantly need rescuing and has a great best friend.

31. Angelfall – Susan Ee

I really wanted to like this. I just didn’t. I don’t know, I just didn’t take to it. I was thinking in bits of it, that it was like a bad version of Supernatural, but you know with sexy angels.  It was all kind of flat.

32. Prince of Thorns – Mark Lawrence

Old school fantasy. Morally ambiguous hero, who is tortured but won’t in anyway admit it or let that take the blame for the nasty (and they are nasty) things he’s done. Good world building and if it wasn’t for the nasty stuff almost a YA. Looking forward to seeing where the next one goes.

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Tuna and Bean Salad

Posted on June 13, 2012 by nicdempsey

This is my new favourite salad.

Stay with me here, I know that in theory, no-one should need a recipe for salad but sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in a salad rut. I love salad, I even have a lunch box that’s designed for salad (with a little pot for dressing and cutlery). However, sometimes a change is as good as a rest.

This is a really tasty option, it’s substantial, travels well and is perfect for summer (if summer ever properly starts!).

The basis of this salad comes from Bill Granger’s Everyday, however, there was no way I was adding a lemon to my salad and there just wasn’t enough vegetables in it for me. So some deductions, some additions and there you have it, lunch.

Some things to bear in mind, tins are different sizes, I’ve measured the ingredients drained, so if in doubt get out your scales. Chop the vegetables so it’s bite size for you, I like them to be about the same size as the beans. A pot for dressing is useful, if you don’t have a lunchbox like mine, an empty herb jar works really well.

What

Half a tin of cannellini beans (I did weigh this and it worked out as 112g)

1 small tin of tuna in spring water (it’s the 80g tin but works out at 53g if you’re working from a bigger tin)

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

Half a red pepper, chopped

Shredded flat leaf parsley (about 4 stalks)

3 teaspoons lime juice

3 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper

How

Put all ingredients except lime juice, oil and seasoning in bowl or lunchbox.

Before serving/eating, shake lime juice, oil and seasoning together pour over your salad.

Mix it all together, eat.

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Baked Beans

Posted on June 11, 2012 by nicdempsey

I hate baked beans. The ones that come in tins. Loathe them. If there is a hell and I end up there, baked beans will be the only thing to eat. Nasty, nasty things, it’s the bean juice, tastes horrid and soaks into everything else. I have come a long way from the 5 year old that would refuse to have a tomato on her plate but I still refuse to go anywhere near baked beans.

However, lots of people have told me that proper baked beans (ie not out of the tin) are really nice and I happened to have a recipe for baked beans (in Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden) and this month is all about new recipes and trying new things, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’ve now made these 3 times and yes, I’ve mucked about with the recipe somewhat. I’ve also made them slightly more liquid and in this version adding sausages and serving in with peas and green beans for dinner, they do work well without the sausages though and you could quite happily eat this on toast for dinner or breakfast, maybe put some grated cheese on top if you fancied

So I will eat baked beans now but only if they don’t come out of the tin! Next I’ll be eating raw tomatoes!

What

2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 sausages

2 medium sized onions, chopped

1 teaspoon paprika

180ml tomato ketchup (I use Branstons which I like much better than Heinz)

a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce

half a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

300g haricot beans (I’m guessing that if you bought a 400g tin, it will end up about 300g of beans, but because I didn’t use a tin I don’t know)

How

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Heat the oil in an ovenproof saucepan and brown the sausages

Remove the browned sausages and set aside

Add the onions and cook until translucent.

Add the paprika and stir in

Then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and salt and pepper and let it heat up.

Add the beans and the sausages, mix it all together. (at this point if it looks too thick, I add some water, but the sauce does get more liquid as it heats up so don’t panic!)

Cover and cook for about 90 minutes.

Eat..

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Sunday Music

Posted on June 10, 2012 by nicdempsey

Plan B, Ill Manors

Went to see this yesterday.

There but for the grace of God and an amazing parent…

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Goal Catch Up

Posted on June 9, 2012 by nicdempsey

I’m really good at setting the monthly goals but over the past couple of months the achieving and monitoring them has slipped a bit. So every Saturday, I’m going to look at how I’m doing and what needs to change, stay the same and what the plan is for the next week.

First a confession, no sooner did I set June’s Goals, than I changed them.

I re-assessed the running three times a week goal. Instead,  over the next 16 weeks, I’m going to train to walk a marathon. Why, well because I love to walk and if I’m totally honest, I’m a self concious runner, I don’t feel strong when I run and it’s hard to improve. A bonus point is that walking is lower impact and I can handle the pain in my knees when I’m walking.  This makes my exercise goals more achievable and my more inclined to fulfil them.

Exercise

So far so good, I’ve covered 10km since Monday. I’ve done my physio and pyramids 4 times out of 8 so there’s room for improvement, I’ve still got an issue with my right wrist that is making press up’s hurty (beyond the usual ‘oh my God, I hate these things and my arms have gone all bendy’) so I’m going to stick to last week’s and change it up next week

Plan for next week

Today – 5km, pyramid

Sunday -7km, pyramid

Monday – 5km, pyramid

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – 5km, pyramid

Thursday – Cross train

Friday – pyramid

Diet

After the excess of the Bank Holiday weekend, on Wednesday I got back on track.

My two vegetarian days were Wednesday and Thursday and there has been no drinking.  I tried and changed one new recipe (more on that on Tuesday) and I’ve sat down and worked out next week food plan and shopping. I’ve even found 2 sweet treats that are working for me, who knew that a rice cake covered in dark chocolate would taste so good an I’ve rediscovered my love of jelly!

 

 

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Friday Night Cocktail

Posted on June 8, 2012 by nicdempsey

Cherry Beer

I blame this cocktail on Maxanne and Hawksmoor at Home.

The book has a cocktail called ‘Shaky Pete’s’ Ginger Brew, it sounded good. I didn’t have any of the ingredients. I did have a bottle of Blue Moon (Max’s fault!) and some Blossom Cottage Morello Cherry Cordial. It seemed like the right thing to do. I swapped out the gin in the original recipe for white rum.

This is a lovely drink for the summer.

What

50ml cherry cordial

50ml lime juice

30ml white rum

100ml blue moon

ice

How

Throw a handful of ice, the orange juice, the cordial and the rum into a blender

Blend until the ice is chopped up and the mix is pink and frothy

Pour all of it into a glass and top up with the beer

Enjoy

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Foodie Penpals – June

Posted on June 7, 2012 by nicdempsey

My parcel arrived from Dan, delayed slightly by the long weekend.

So what was in it?

Dan believes that “in order to make great food, you need to start with the basics” and sent his favourite Maldon Sea Salt. I love sea salt and use the Cornish Sea Salt Co as a general rule. The Maldon is flakier and tastes lighter than the Cornish, I look forward to seeing the difference it will make to my usual cooking.

In my parcel was tahini, garlic and dried chickpeas for making one of his favourite foods, houmous. I love houmous and it is better if you make it with dried chickpeas, I forgot to get tahini this weekend so bonus all around.

A jar of Ras el Hanout, which I had never heard of, Dan says that he thinks that this with lamb is heaven. It’s got rose petals, cinnamon, lavender and cloves, which are not flavours I’d usually put anywhere near meat so I’m really looking forward to trying this one out.

Two of Dan’s favourite things, Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon in the vegan organic version and a carton of Rubicon watermelon juice. I’m a big fan of the non organic version and of the Rubicon mango juice, the watermelon is full of Vitamin C and lycopene which is a bonus.

Last but not least, Sheffield’s World Famous Henderson’s Relish. I have heard of this and have been reading up on how best to try this, although I’m pretty sure that I won’t be putting it on my fish and chips!!

So thank you Dan for such a thoughtful parcel, it’s given me a mixture of new experiences and renewed my love of some old favourites.

Foodie Penpals is a brilliant idea run in the UK by the lovely Carol Anne at This is Rock Salt and in the US by The Lean Green Bean. If you’re thinking about it, sign up, you don’t have to have a blog to do it!

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Anchovy Roast Lamb

Posted on June 6, 2012 by nicdempsey

Anchovies are one of my favourite things. I love them on pizza, I love them in the leek, anchovy and goats cheese tart (I will post that recipe at some point), I love them in pasta and I eat them straight out the jar. So when I saw this recipe in Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham, I knew I was going to try it and this is how I roast lamb now and I’m now at the stage where I don’t refer to the recipe.

For those of you who hate anchovies, fear not, this isn’t overwhelmingly fishy. The anchovies dissolve and add a salty, savoury note. The lamb makes it’s own winey, lemony gravy and is just out of this world.

A leg of lamb is a big (and if you’re buying locally sourced, ethically reared lamb*, in fact even if you’re not) and expensive slab of meat and I would love to tell you that you can use the leftovers elsewhere. However, I’ve never, never had any leftovers even when I’ve served this to anchovy haters…the Easter before last, 2 legs of lamb, 6 people, no leftovers!

The only adaption I’ve made to this recipe is that I often use a 1.2kg leg of lamb and I rarely garnish with watercress. Therefore, I can’t in all good conscience, post it here. I know not many people read this blog but copyright is still copyright. Roast Chicken and Other Stories is still in print and it’s a beautiful book, Simon Hopkinson writes beautifully and the book is divided into sections on food, in each, he writes about the food and gives you a couple of recipes. It’s more like a story book, no pictures and fantastic bedtime and/or stuck in a food rut reading.

Go check it out or send me an email and I’ll send it to you, that comes under sharing with friends I reckon..

*this one cost about £35!

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