Reservoir Dogs

I watched this most excellent film again the other night and it got me thinking about some of the aspects of it. First is the title. The much-quoted explanaion for this refers to Tarantino's calling the film Au Revoir Les Enfants  'the reservoir film' when he worked in a video shop. Added to the second part of the name of a film he liked by director Sam Pekinpah, Straw Dogs.
The other prominent aspect of the film is the music- in particular the use of music and voice from K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies  radio show. Tarantino's use of music in the film showed his cool taste and reaquainted film goers with some of the best of the 70s. Probably most well known now is the Gerry Raferty track Stuck in the Middle with You with his band Stealers Wheels. The track itself has become as iconic as the film.
Watch it again soon-you won't be disappointed!

Stuffed Pork

Also in The Metro today from Domini Kemp's new cookery book Domini at Home, is a lovely recipe for stuffed pork. It was in The Irish Times December 2009. It would be lovely served at a dinner party. I don't know if I dare because the special prize for stuffed pork goes to my friend, but I might try to slide this in under the radar and see if anyone says anything! The piece of pork used has virtually no fat, is very lean and is very reasonably priced, often being on special in my supermarket selling for as little as €5.


Roast Pork with Prune, Pine Nut & Spinach Stuffing
(Serves 4-6) Oven 180 degrees, 40 mins roasting time
Important- you need string!!

1 pork fillet
1 onion, diced
2 tbs oil
4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, diced (or packet diced lardons)
2 cloves garlic
150g spinach (about half a bag)
130g stoned prunes, chopped roughly
2 tbsp pine nuts (toast before use in a dry frying pan)
S & P
4-6 slices Parma/ Serrano ham
8-10 shallots
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
butter


Slice pork lengthways but not all the way through, put between clingfilm and bash with rolling pin to flatten to a rectangle.
Stuffing: Heat oil and sweat chopped onion on low. Raise heat and add bacon frying until crisp. add crushed garlic, spinach, chopped prunes and pine nuts, saueing until spinach wilts. Season and let cool slightly.
Spoon stuffing in straight line down middle of pork, roll up sides and wrap with parma ham. Tie at intervals with string to hold together, about 4 knots. Roast on a tray for about 20 mins.
Whilst roasting, heat up a good knob of butter in a saucepan and sweat the whole peeled shallots until taking a golden colour. When the 20 mins is up add to the roasting tray and smear the pork with the redcurrant jelly, baste with juices, season with pepper and roast for 20 more minutes.
Slice to serve.Yummy!

Chicken soup

I've been making a left-overs chicken soup for years now, using the carcas of the Sunday roasted chicken and chucking in any left over meat. Domini Kemp in her new book "Domini at Home: How I Like to Cook" has included a recipe using the full chicken in The Metro newspaper today.
N.B. Don't bother peeling veg/removing onion and garlic skin cos it's all tossed away after anyway.


Ingredients
1 chicken, minus giblets
a piece of ginger, thick sliced
1 onion, halved
3 carrots, halved lengthways
1 whole garlic, halved
few sprigs thyme
a bay leaf
3 tsp turmeric
S & P
few splashes Worcestershire sauce ("wooster-sheer" not "wor-sester-shyre" as my daughter calls it!)

Using saucepan big enough to hold the chicken, half fill it with water and pop in the chicken and all the veg. Slowly bring to boil then turn up heat to let it boil rapidly for 2 mins. Turn down to low, use a spoon to skim away frothy scum from surface. Keep on lowest setting, partly cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
After this time carefully remove the chicken to a bowl, and continue to simmer the soup gently to  reduce a little. If you raise the heat it will go cloudy. Taste for flavour/seasoning and if happy drain into another pot through a colander, chucking out veg (or save for your dog for dinner). If the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip it of all meat, chucking away skin & bones, put meat in with stock and serve. I love to drop a couple of boiled potatoes into the soup bowl along with this which is waht my mum always did with the left-overs turkey soup at Christmas.

Fair Play Cherie Blair!

I never thought I'd say those words!!! Funny bug-eyed Cherie with the quivering voice. W all know she's extremely clever (she's a barrister for God's sake!) but that doesn't mean we like her. But blow me, along with the author Joanna Trollope and internet queen Martha Lane Fox, she has stepped in among other private donors to rescue the Orange Prize, awarded for female fiction, after Orange stepped down as sponsors. Beside all the oft repeated blah blah blah about should their be a prize just for women writers, this is a grand gesture that she and her other donor pals should be commended for. You go Cherie!!
http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/

The LBJ?

Well we've all heard of the LBD, the Little Black Dress, that fashion stape of any ladies wardrobe (ha ha!), but who's heard of the LBJ- the Little Black Jacket? Apparentlt this to is a fashion staple in Paris and apparently long after the Americans have grabbed their winter gear and the Londoners their Trench coats, the Parisians are still wearing their black jackets, maybe with a sweater and a scarf. In Paris the best value black jacket if you don't have the wonga to invest in Chanel/Lagerfeld is the Comptoire des Cottonierres at 195euro. We'll be on the search then in Penney's!! 

 Dunnes Zip Biker Coat €60
 Savida at Dunnes €80

Mango €44.99

Oreo cupcakes

How scrummy do these look? The credit goes to a website called Recipe Snobs that wisely recently changed the name from Food Snots! http://www.recipesnobs.com


The recipe is very straightforward.
Ingredients Makes 24
2-3 packs Oreo Biscuits(need about 35-US packs are bigger OF COURSE!)
1 pack chocolate cake mix
225g/8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
110g/ 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
500g/ 3 3/4 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 muffin cake cases

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Mix packaged cake mix according to directions (do not bake). Line bun tins with cases, place a regular size Oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner. Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 minutes (or according to box directions).
 



While cupcakes are baking make the icing. Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar slowly until blended well. Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine (could put the cookies in the food processor)Add to icing. After cupcakes have cooled ice using piping bag. If icing is not stiff/thick enough add more icing sugar.

Books, books, books!!

If you love books you'll love the site Bookshelf Porn http://bookshelfporn.com/ . The photos are sooo cool and there are great bookish quotes and facts.