The day after the day after

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Ralph Bullivant

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The day after the day after Boxing Day is always a good day to be making food for friends.

There was a slight moment of panic when it appeared there had been a run on cauliflowers on the Wirral and I thought we would be left without any to roast. All was rescued when I picked up the last two from the supermarket.

I had spent an idle four minutes wondering how they could be roasted before coming to the conclusion that they should be smeared in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and put into a hot oven until soft and then smothered in a good tomato sauce. It turns out I was right. The last ime I had cooked cauliflower it came out overdone. This time it was just right.

A slow lunch at Lunya

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Ralph Bullivant

It seems like is has been a while since we have been there but it turns out Lunya was a great place for 13 of us to while away a couple of hours the day after Boxing Day.

We started with some culture and spent an hour or so walking through the Tate. The highlight was a room made of three mirrored walls with a small hidden camera and a small screen. The camara started filming a few seconds after you walked into the room so there was a delay before the picture came up the screen. When it did so there were two or three reflected images on the screen showing the puzzled look on our faces as we walked in wondering what it was all about.

When I called to make the booking at Lunya there was a slight delay as they counted through the numbers and then said they could fit us in.

Sat down we all had a menu in front of but the easier option was for me to through and mark each dish with the the number we needed.

The food came in waves; sweet ham, red peppers stuffed with tuna mayonnaise, thick chunks of tortilla, toast slathered in grilled vegetables, ox cheeks with a parsnip purée, squid and chicken in crispy batter and lashing of patatas bravas.

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We were all happily replete as we walked back out into the late afternoon sun.

A Christmas Eve

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Ralph Bullivant

It still does not feel like Christmas and we only have a few hours to go.

Once they are done for we will be in to the next year and the wait for the next one.

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But a few hours spent walking round Birkenhead helped to send us on our way.

It was good to see those people that weekend in and out sell us the good food that we eat and shake their hand and wish them well for the season.

Early garlic

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Ralph Bullivant

About ten years ago I pulled up some wild garlic that are in the orchard by the Cottage in Ireland and brought it back over here to put in a bed on the left hand side of the garden. Most years it comes up some time in a March – a profusion of green stems and leaves with a few white headed flowers smelling of garlic.

I could catch a smell of it this afternoon. The warm weather had caught it early along with with the bluebells and daffodils.

They are all pushing themselves up eager for a bit of sun and heat and we are all sitting here waiting for a bit of proper col;d, some cold to take us back to the bone.

For food we had a small tribute back to the lunch some of us had had in Maray on Friday – cauliflower in good sauce, lamb chops with garlic, carrots with feta and roasted sweet potato. Although there were two of us working in the kitchen it all came out without too many bad smiles.