So it's been a while and I've suffered from another attack of lazyblogitis. I've been a bit busier at work in the last few weeks which is fantastic but it's left little time to think of bloggy stuff.
I was asked about my lack of blogging activity last Wednesday by a buddy and only yesterday by central Twyford's most wonderous, charming and welcoming pub landlady (Is that enough sucking up Karen?)
Good food, fine Ales and a warm welcome to all right here at the Duke of Wellington.
So a quick update about what's coming up in my world......
Musicwise I've been a little quiet on the DJ'ing front which has actually been quite welcome. I'm getting far too old to be doing it regularly as even though I love it there are other things in my life that require awareness on weekend mornings and the two never really have gone together all that well.
Saturday just gone I was spinning some tunes..........not playing..........don't you just hate it when DJ's say they are "playing" some tunes? I hardly think sticking on other peoples records and getting paid for it is "playing". Strumming a guitar, tinkling the ivories or bashing some drums is "playing".......sorry off on a tangent there !!! Where was I?........Oh I was spinning some tunes for the folks at my more regular haunt downstairs at Sakura. Was a very good night actually thanks to some rather nice tunes that'll shortly be busted out on the beaches at the Miami winter music conference.
The only other booking I have at the moment is at Bar Mango (the place I call home) in April (or is it May) alongside my DJ hero Brandon Block.....more info to follow on that....
Foodiewise I'm excited and honoured to have been asked to be a judge in this years Reading, Steady, Cook! competition. There are several heats leading up to the semi-finals and final which will be held in Reading town centre on the 4th and 5th of June 2011 as part of the Eat Reading Live programme. I had such fun being a contestant last year and it's just so nice to be part of it again this year and I'll also be doing a demo all of my own on one of the kitchen stages on the finals weekend.
Sportwise the cricket season is gearing up to kick off and net sessions down at my club (Sonning CC) have started. I have a small sub committee role at the club looking after all things related to the pavilion so I still have plenty of projects to get under way there before the season starts and in particular for our confirmed match against the MCC. Once the season gets going why not come along and spend a lazy day watching a match, we have plenty for the kids to do, a stocked bar and every now and then the BBQ gets a blasting.
In the professional game I think that the ICC world cup so far has been tremendous, perhaps a little drawn out with all the associate nations involved but I think it's right that they are there and as Ireland showed against England they can compete with the best now and again and they should be given that chance on the world stage, perhaps that result will encourage cricket Ireland to spend more money developing a team that can soon catch up with the test playing nations, they certainly have the talent there.
Travelwise...............not much going on.........
Oh except for that small 3 week trip to Melbourne I'll be taking in a few days time :-)
I'll be keeping you all up to date on that so don't you worry.
Toodlepip for now :-)
xxx
Showing posts with label sakura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sakura. Show all posts
Monday, 7 March 2011
Monday, 17 January 2011
Good Monday.....
Hello world. Happy Monday to you all.
Had hardly any sleep at all this weekend which considering my intake of just 4 pints of beer and one after dinner Whiskey might seem somewhat of a head scratcher.
My only venture out was to DJ at Sakura (Reading) on Saturday night and that was really rather good as it was unexpectedly busy. I usually get there with plenty of time to spare before starting at the usual 9pm but even at 8:30pm it was getting busy, so much so that they had to open the VIP room to cater for the people who couldn't fit easily into the downstairs bar which is my Saturday night domain. First time that has happened when I've been working there.
Positive on that is that there are plenty of people up and dancing earlier but the downfall is that I didn't get out of there until 2:45am which left barely enough time to drive home and get the cricket on.
Great game that was too and Australia deserved to win, only drifted off to sleep a couple of times so managed to watch a good 95% of the action with my cricket buddy Holly the cat keeping me company.
Very tired on Sunday though but had a lovely day with my girls firstly at the park, following that a pub lunch then afterwards sofa cuddles and much needed sleep.
Got a busy start to the week with getting my paperwork sorted for my yearly tax return then later this evening getting the curry ready for Tuesday regular pub night. I thought last weeks effort although nice could do with some improvement and preparing it a day earlier should bring out more flavour from the sauce giving it more depth.
So onto news stories that have so far brightened up my "Blue Monday" hope they do it for you too -
Having dabbled with the odd silly name using deed pole myself (adding in Tarquin as a middle name) I found this amusing, not sure I'd go quite as far as the newly named Dr Pasty-Smasher Omelette.
OK not exactly a news story but it's certainly a bit funny. You've definitely gotta have balls to play this game -
Not sure I can top that one today but I'll keep looking....
Had hardly any sleep at all this weekend which considering my intake of just 4 pints of beer and one after dinner Whiskey might seem somewhat of a head scratcher.
My only venture out was to DJ at Sakura (Reading) on Saturday night and that was really rather good as it was unexpectedly busy. I usually get there with plenty of time to spare before starting at the usual 9pm but even at 8:30pm it was getting busy, so much so that they had to open the VIP room to cater for the people who couldn't fit easily into the downstairs bar which is my Saturday night domain. First time that has happened when I've been working there.
Positive on that is that there are plenty of people up and dancing earlier but the downfall is that I didn't get out of there until 2:45am which left barely enough time to drive home and get the cricket on.
Great game that was too and Australia deserved to win, only drifted off to sleep a couple of times so managed to watch a good 95% of the action with my cricket buddy Holly the cat keeping me company.
Very tired on Sunday though but had a lovely day with my girls firstly at the park, following that a pub lunch then afterwards sofa cuddles and much needed sleep.
Got a busy start to the week with getting my paperwork sorted for my yearly tax return then later this evening getting the curry ready for Tuesday regular pub night. I thought last weeks effort although nice could do with some improvement and preparing it a day earlier should bring out more flavour from the sauce giving it more depth.
So onto news stories that have so far brightened up my "Blue Monday" hope they do it for you too -
Having dabbled with the odd silly name using deed pole myself (adding in Tarquin as a middle name) I found this amusing, not sure I'd go quite as far as the newly named Dr Pasty-Smasher Omelette.
OK not exactly a news story but it's certainly a bit funny. You've definitely gotta have balls to play this game -
Not sure I can top that one today but I'll keep looking....
Friday, 19 November 2010
Busy Beez.....
Have an absolutely jam packed weekend ahead but I think I've got it all under control.
Starting off this evening after work (Friday) I have some preparation to do for my demonstration on Saturday. Could end up having to make contingency plans on some equipment I want to use because I've not yet received the necessary electrical safety certifications (PAT Tests) for my mini oven and water bath, they've been tested and got the sticky labels to say so but I believe the environmental health guys will still need to see the full documentation as it's a public event.
I'll take the equipment anyway and if I can't use them I'll just have to adapt. The first 3 dishes on my mind only require pans anyway so it's not so much of a drama.
The first dish I'm planning on doing is similar to one I did at my last demo but jiggled slightly to bring it into line with the festive food theme. I'll be doing a Boxing Day brunch with a bubble and squeak style potato cake containing bacon and brussel sprout topped with a delicious soft poached egg.
Second dish I'm thinking of recreating the Thai Green Curry that I cooked for 20 people on Tuesday at my local pub but this time substituting the chicken for turkey so making use of the Christmas dinner leftovers. Might do quite a big batch of this or several little ones and serve it up in some cups with a bit of rice to hand out. Might warm people up on what I'm sure will be a chilly day.
Incidentally the curry and a pint for a fiver night at The Golden Cross in Twyford went down an absolute storm and it will be a weekly event from now on :-)
Thirdly I'm going to go for another dish using up turkey but this time as an open Lasagne. The turkey sauce in between the layers of pasta being nice and creamy and with bacon peas and a little bit of chilli. I'll top the Lasagne's off with some crunchy breadcrumbs.
Lastly I'm hoping to recreate the dish I did for the final of the competition, slightly tweaked to be a bit more seasonal and certain much better however this will require that I use my waterbath so fingers crossed on that one.
In between all this I have DJ gigs both tonight and tomorrow night in Reading so it's all going to be a bit of a mad rush. Never mind that though for next weekend I will be doing absolutely nothing else other than staying up late and watching the first Ashes test match. Come on England.
For those interested in popping alone to any of these goings on you are more than welcome.
Saturday I'll be kicking off at about 11:30am in Broad Street, Reading. You shouldn't be able to miss the event as it's right on the main part of the shopping area with M&S one side and BHS the other.
For the DJ gigs both are at Sakura, Reading and tonight I'll be in the VIP room starting at about 10:30/11pm and tomorrow in the downstairs bar from 9pm.
On Sunday if you fancy a pint I'll be in Twyford tucking into some real ales :-)
Starting off this evening after work (Friday) I have some preparation to do for my demonstration on Saturday. Could end up having to make contingency plans on some equipment I want to use because I've not yet received the necessary electrical safety certifications (PAT Tests) for my mini oven and water bath, they've been tested and got the sticky labels to say so but I believe the environmental health guys will still need to see the full documentation as it's a public event.
I'll take the equipment anyway and if I can't use them I'll just have to adapt. The first 3 dishes on my mind only require pans anyway so it's not so much of a drama.
The first dish I'm planning on doing is similar to one I did at my last demo but jiggled slightly to bring it into line with the festive food theme. I'll be doing a Boxing Day brunch with a bubble and squeak style potato cake containing bacon and brussel sprout topped with a delicious soft poached egg.
Second dish I'm thinking of recreating the Thai Green Curry that I cooked for 20 people on Tuesday at my local pub but this time substituting the chicken for turkey so making use of the Christmas dinner leftovers. Might do quite a big batch of this or several little ones and serve it up in some cups with a bit of rice to hand out. Might warm people up on what I'm sure will be a chilly day.
Incidentally the curry and a pint for a fiver night at The Golden Cross in Twyford went down an absolute storm and it will be a weekly event from now on :-)
Thirdly I'm going to go for another dish using up turkey but this time as an open Lasagne. The turkey sauce in between the layers of pasta being nice and creamy and with bacon peas and a little bit of chilli. I'll top the Lasagne's off with some crunchy breadcrumbs.
Lastly I'm hoping to recreate the dish I did for the final of the competition, slightly tweaked to be a bit more seasonal and certain much better however this will require that I use my waterbath so fingers crossed on that one.
In between all this I have DJ gigs both tonight and tomorrow night in Reading so it's all going to be a bit of a mad rush. Never mind that though for next weekend I will be doing absolutely nothing else other than staying up late and watching the first Ashes test match. Come on England.
For those interested in popping alone to any of these goings on you are more than welcome.
Saturday I'll be kicking off at about 11:30am in Broad Street, Reading. You shouldn't be able to miss the event as it's right on the main part of the shopping area with M&S one side and BHS the other.
For the DJ gigs both are at Sakura, Reading and tonight I'll be in the VIP room starting at about 10:30/11pm and tomorrow in the downstairs bar from 9pm.
On Sunday if you fancy a pint I'll be in Twyford tucking into some real ales :-)
Friday, 13 August 2010
Economic recovery......
I've realised that I've been neglecting my German readers recently but fear not I'm still very much a big fan of all things German.
I am delighted to read that the country has reported that it's economy grew by a massive 2.2% in the three months to the end of June. The biggest rise in over 20 years. So I doff my Trenker to you all.
I'm no economist but I know there are still bleak times ahead but what can you do about it other than eat, drink and be merry? :-)
All three of which I plan to do this weekend.......
Tonight (Friday) I shall hopefully be meeting up with our cricket clubs overseas player down at the nets and we shall be whacking a few and hopefully I'll be learning plenty more things to build my batting confidence. Please let the rain stay away......I need this.
Saturday night I am booked to DJ again at Sakura in Reading. Downstairs bar from 9pm as it was last week. Such a great time last time Saturday too, a whole 2 hours overrun which was all good.
Sunday I'll hopefully be putting all my expert tuition to the test as we have a cricket match starting at 2pm. Those who want to come along and watch can find directions here. Our clubhouse has a lovely little bar too which I fully intend to make use of.
In between all that we should be starting to put together our business plan for the pub venture. Of course without ingoing figures it's a bit pie in the sky but that still doesn't mean we should hold off making a start on it.
I am delighted to read that the country has reported that it's economy grew by a massive 2.2% in the three months to the end of June. The biggest rise in over 20 years. So I doff my Trenker to you all.
I'm no economist but I know there are still bleak times ahead but what can you do about it other than eat, drink and be merry? :-)
All three of which I plan to do this weekend.......
Tonight (Friday) I shall hopefully be meeting up with our cricket clubs overseas player down at the nets and we shall be whacking a few and hopefully I'll be learning plenty more things to build my batting confidence. Please let the rain stay away......I need this.
Saturday night I am booked to DJ again at Sakura in Reading. Downstairs bar from 9pm as it was last week. Such a great time last time Saturday too, a whole 2 hours overrun which was all good.
Sunday I'll hopefully be putting all my expert tuition to the test as we have a cricket match starting at 2pm. Those who want to come along and watch can find directions here. Our clubhouse has a lovely little bar too which I fully intend to make use of.
In between all that we should be starting to put together our business plan for the pub venture. Of course without ingoing figures it's a bit pie in the sky but that still doesn't mean we should hold off making a start on it.
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Sunday dinner.... Entrée
So a few drinks while DJ'ing on Saturday at Sakura, which incidently I completely smashed, ended up with maybe a couple more and not getting home until 5:00am. Not ideal preparation for having friends over for lunch, especially when the vast majority of the menu I'd never cooked before.
However after the initial relief of realising that I'd not hideously overslept everything was under control and so much so that I'd completely ignored the hangover that I had.
One of the menu components that I had tried before were the clear Bloody Maries that I got inspired to create after seeing both Raymond Blanc and Jamie Oliver making tomato consommé on their TV shows.
The consommé is made by blending up some good quality tomatoes, I would only use plum tomatoes that are sold on the vine but I'm sure a good result can also be gained from using other types. I also throw in plenty of fresh Basil leaves and about a teaspoon of Black peppercorns when blending as a good Bloody Mary should always have Basil and Pepper in it....in my opinion that is.
This pulp is then slowly filtered through either layers of Muslin (Cheesecloth) or a wet tea towel will work just as well. The more you filter the extracted juice the clearer the consommé will be. I can't exactly remember how many times I filtered this batch but it was done over a period of 5 days and took 24 Tomatoes making around a litre of liquid.
For added flavour I make up a small pot of Olive Oil and chopped Basil a few days before and then when it comes to serving up I add a small amount of good quality Vodka into a shot glass(which can of course be left out for drivers or children) topped it up with the tomato consommé and then drop in blobs of the Oil mixture. I also add a small piece of Celery (again as a Bloody Mary should have) which you can use to stir in the Oil along with the obligatory dashes of Tabasco and Worcester Sauce.
The surprise in this drink is the really intense tomato flavour that you get from a virtually clear liquid, it has a really "Wow" factor about which not only gets a conversation going but really does get the taste buds ready for the food to come.
OK I'm guessing you want to see what they look like............... So.....
Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the starter which was a Goats Cheese soufflé and I'm also going to blog about my affection for the previously mentioned Mr Raymond Blanc.
Until then.............
However after the initial relief of realising that I'd not hideously overslept everything was under control and so much so that I'd completely ignored the hangover that I had.
One of the menu components that I had tried before were the clear Bloody Maries that I got inspired to create after seeing both Raymond Blanc and Jamie Oliver making tomato consommé on their TV shows.
The consommé is made by blending up some good quality tomatoes, I would only use plum tomatoes that are sold on the vine but I'm sure a good result can also be gained from using other types. I also throw in plenty of fresh Basil leaves and about a teaspoon of Black peppercorns when blending as a good Bloody Mary should always have Basil and Pepper in it....in my opinion that is.
This pulp is then slowly filtered through either layers of Muslin (Cheesecloth) or a wet tea towel will work just as well. The more you filter the extracted juice the clearer the consommé will be. I can't exactly remember how many times I filtered this batch but it was done over a period of 5 days and took 24 Tomatoes making around a litre of liquid.
For added flavour I make up a small pot of Olive Oil and chopped Basil a few days before and then when it comes to serving up I add a small amount of good quality Vodka into a shot glass(which can of course be left out for drivers or children) topped it up with the tomato consommé and then drop in blobs of the Oil mixture. I also add a small piece of Celery (again as a Bloody Mary should have) which you can use to stir in the Oil along with the obligatory dashes of Tabasco and Worcester Sauce.
The surprise in this drink is the really intense tomato flavour that you get from a virtually clear liquid, it has a really "Wow" factor about which not only gets a conversation going but really does get the taste buds ready for the food to come.
OK I'm guessing you want to see what they look like............... So.....
Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the starter which was a Goats Cheese soufflé and I'm also going to blog about my affection for the previously mentioned Mr Raymond Blanc.
Until then.............
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Good, zesty day to you all.....
Zesty.....Yes....That's how I feel today and so I should because the weekend has kicked off pretty well.
Watford opened the football season with 3 points at Norwich and we're doing great in the Cricket.
Sakura last night was quiet but my new music library format worked nicely so that is encouraging.
Today I've been getting some of tomorrows dinner prepared and I'm particulally looking forward to seeing how my amazing chip idea is going to pan out. Check out these beauties....
Another thing I'm going to try using is Marrowbone. It seems to be the "in" thing in the gastronomic world.
In the last couple of series of "Great British Menu" on the BBC it was used by a few chefs including Nigel Haworth, Kenny Atkinson, Ian Matfin & Danny Millar. These guys have about 400 Michelin Stars between them (OK maybe an exaggeration) but it does go to show that really decent, top class food can be made from the most unlikely things.
Here is what they look like at the moment.....
What I think I'm going to do is extract the Marrow from the bone then smoke it over some twigs and leaves taken from the massive Bay tree that is in the Garden. Once it's got a nice but subtle woody, bay smoked flavour I'll roll the Bone Marrow into bite size balls, coat them in fine, herbed breadcrumbs and fry them in Duck fat.
Hopefully when done they'll be like little, crunchy, golden footballs and dotted around the plate I think they will just look amazing too.
So good sport, good music and good food so far and it's only Saturday lunchtime, what more can a boy ask for?
Watford opened the football season with 3 points at Norwich and we're doing great in the Cricket.
Sakura last night was quiet but my new music library format worked nicely so that is encouraging.
Today I've been getting some of tomorrows dinner prepared and I'm particulally looking forward to seeing how my amazing chip idea is going to pan out. Check out these beauties....
Another thing I'm going to try using is Marrowbone. It seems to be the "in" thing in the gastronomic world.
In the last couple of series of "Great British Menu" on the BBC it was used by a few chefs including Nigel Haworth, Kenny Atkinson, Ian Matfin & Danny Millar. These guys have about 400 Michelin Stars between them (OK maybe an exaggeration) but it does go to show that really decent, top class food can be made from the most unlikely things.
Here is what they look like at the moment.....
What I think I'm going to do is extract the Marrow from the bone then smoke it over some twigs and leaves taken from the massive Bay tree that is in the Garden. Once it's got a nice but subtle woody, bay smoked flavour I'll roll the Bone Marrow into bite size balls, coat them in fine, herbed breadcrumbs and fry them in Duck fat.
Hopefully when done they'll be like little, crunchy, golden footballs and dotted around the plate I think they will just look amazing too.
So good sport, good music and good food so far and it's only Saturday lunchtime, what more can a boy ask for?
Monday, 2 August 2010
A good weekend and a Restaurant review
Very enjoyable weekend all told. Most of Sunday was spent nursing a headache from a rather fun Saturday.
Was going to head off to Cardiff on Saturday for an evening as my Cricket club were on their annual tour but after finding out that people were heading home and the tour party was thinning out I decided to instead give myself a little pamper in the form of a nice big lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant in Reading.
I really did enjoy it as you can see by my review here on my Facebook page
Following that I headed over to The Ivory Lounge to meet up with a friend and share a couple of beers in what was a simply glorious day in Reading.
My buddy shifted off to get changed ready for his evenings DJ work at The Walkabout so I headed over to Jongluers comedy club where another friend is the sound & lighting tech for the comedy shows and the DJ for downstairs afterwards and that was a scream.
Can remember the last time I saw real comedy being performed. The compere John Mann was very good and a really nice fella to boot. Didn't believe him when he said he had a pet Lion until he showed me the photos. I mean how can you take it seruously when a comedian tells you he's got a pet Lion ?!?! There has to be a punchline somewhere but not in this case he really does.
Quite a few Stag and Hen parties in there which can of course be fun but it does mean that you get loads of really bad, uninteligent heckling. One group were particulaly bad but they were soon silenced by the headline act Steve Williams very good he was. That link isn't for his official site because to be honest it's rubbish.
Once he'd finished we headed over to The Walkabout where after waiting about 15 minutes to get a drink at the bar it was promptly knocked out of my hand so not really wanting to wait another 15 minutes for a new libation we headed over to Sakura
Usual fare here with some commercial but credible house music being played to the young and the beautiful. Spent the majority of the time here chatting with the new general manager and another DJ friend of mine who was on VIP room duty just as I will be this Friday coming.
Next stop Bar Mango. Was pretty busy, some alternative 70's music outside, mixture of soul classics and a bit of disco and inside I have to say not really all that inspiring but we stayed for quite a while chatting with people we know including the owner who really is a nice guy once you get to know him and the uber gay barman who had a night off and had got himself all dresses up for a night on the tiles....bless. He was worried about his mascara running!
OK plans for next week mainly revolve around a recipe I have been given for Cassoulet to test out for the Facebook page and also we have some friends coming over for dinner on Saturday and although I'm pretty settled on the menu it could change and most probably will.
Until tomorrow....toodle pip
Was going to head off to Cardiff on Saturday for an evening as my Cricket club were on their annual tour but after finding out that people were heading home and the tour party was thinning out I decided to instead give myself a little pamper in the form of a nice big lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant in Reading.
I really did enjoy it as you can see by my review here on my Facebook page
Following that I headed over to The Ivory Lounge to meet up with a friend and share a couple of beers in what was a simply glorious day in Reading.
My buddy shifted off to get changed ready for his evenings DJ work at The Walkabout so I headed over to Jongluers comedy club where another friend is the sound & lighting tech for the comedy shows and the DJ for downstairs afterwards and that was a scream.
Can remember the last time I saw real comedy being performed. The compere John Mann was very good and a really nice fella to boot. Didn't believe him when he said he had a pet Lion until he showed me the photos. I mean how can you take it seruously when a comedian tells you he's got a pet Lion ?!?! There has to be a punchline somewhere but not in this case he really does.
Quite a few Stag and Hen parties in there which can of course be fun but it does mean that you get loads of really bad, uninteligent heckling. One group were particulaly bad but they were soon silenced by the headline act Steve Williams very good he was. That link isn't for his official site because to be honest it's rubbish.
Once he'd finished we headed over to The Walkabout where after waiting about 15 minutes to get a drink at the bar it was promptly knocked out of my hand so not really wanting to wait another 15 minutes for a new libation we headed over to Sakura
Usual fare here with some commercial but credible house music being played to the young and the beautiful. Spent the majority of the time here chatting with the new general manager and another DJ friend of mine who was on VIP room duty just as I will be this Friday coming.
Next stop Bar Mango. Was pretty busy, some alternative 70's music outside, mixture of soul classics and a bit of disco and inside I have to say not really all that inspiring but we stayed for quite a while chatting with people we know including the owner who really is a nice guy once you get to know him and the uber gay barman who had a night off and had got himself all dresses up for a night on the tiles....bless. He was worried about his mascara running!
OK plans for next week mainly revolve around a recipe I have been given for Cassoulet to test out for the Facebook page and also we have some friends coming over for dinner on Saturday and although I'm pretty settled on the menu it could change and most probably will.
Until tomorrow....toodle pip
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