Just last week the – increasingly inane – Breaksfast Show on BBC 1 TV was headlining the story about older people being given free admission to swimming pools. At 6.41 am I emailed the show pointing out 1) the story only related to England and 2) Wales had been doing it for years:
“I don’t know about Scotland or Northern Ireland but your news item about swimming should at least point out that us older people in Wales have had free swimming for a long time.
So, do you mean, “the UK government has decided that older people in England should join those in Wales and get free admission to their local swimming pool”?
Please: acknowledge that there are four nations, that we do things differently (free prescriptions, swimming, hospital car parks et al) and credit the devolved governments accordingly ….”
I cannot have been the only one since the bulletin was changed – it became more accurate “in England”, “local authority pools” etc, but still no mention that anywhere else might already be in the lead.
Now theBBC Trust has told the corporation the blindingly obvious – get your national coverage right: make it national, not English, not parochial London. The surprise is not the conclusions, but the surprise at something anyone with half an eye or ear could have detected in 24 hours watching or listening to the BBC.
I used to be agnostic about the idea of the home nations taking control of their own news output. Two things have changed my mind: the ability of the BBC to produce national news programmes (in Welsh, but they are always subtitled as well) for S4C and the absolute inability of London based journalists to get even the simplest things right. So, slash the BBC’s central budgets; devolve news to the nations; boost Wales’ (and Scotland and Nor
thern Ireland’s) indigineous media industries. And if that means lots of narrow minded (bigoted even?), blinkered, second rate London journos getting sacked – bring it on.
Surprise? – the BBC ignores wales?
Just last week the – increasingly inane – Breaksfast Show on BBC 1 TV was headlining the story about older people being given free admission to swimming pools. At 6.41 am I emailed the show pointing out 1) the story only related to England and 2) Wales had been doing it for years:
“I don’t know about Scotland or Northern Ireland but your news item about swimming should at least point out that us older people in Wales have had free swimming for a long time.
So, do you mean, “the UK government has decided that older people in England should join those in Wales and get free admission to their local swimming pool”?
Please: acknowledge that there are four nations, that we do things differently (free prescriptions, swimming, hospital car parks et al) and credit the devolved governments accordingly ….”
I cannot have been the only one since the bulletin was changed – it became more accurate “in England”, “local authority pools” etc, but still no mention that anywhere else might already be in the lead.
Now the BBC Trust has told the corporation the blindingly obvious – get your national coverage right: make it national, not English, not paraochial London. The surprise is not the conclusions, but the surprise at something anyone with half an eye or ear could have detected in 24 hours watching or listening to the BBC.
I used to be agnostic about the idea of the home nations taking control of their own news output. Two things have changed my mind: the ability of the BBC to produce national news programmes (in Welsh, but they are always subtitled as well) for S4C and the absolute inability of London based journalists to get even the simplest things right. So, slash the BBC’s central budgets; devolve news to the nations; boost Wales’ (and Scotland and Northern Ireland’s) indigineous media industries. And if that means lots of narrow minded (bigoted even?), blinkered, second rate London journos getting sacked – bring it on.
Cardiff Bay’s Comeuppance?
Yesterday’s Politics Show pitted the usual suspects – an urbane professor of urban planning against the shifty council leader – to debate the future of Cardiff bay housing. Are they really the slums of tomorrow?
Has the local council (the Lib Dem led, supported by Plaid one …) really given permission for 9,000 more tacky boxes without any infra structure when most of the current properties have negative equity if morgaged and are difficult to let at ‘economic’ rents?
What is surprising about these kinds of issues is not the blindingly obvious: much of the housing development is awful, built to the lowest possible standard, a discrace to the design and architectural professions (if they were ever involved); Rodney Berman admitted that the Council had sold off land to replensish its dwindling capital coffers and regretted that the current ‘housing blip’ might mean there’s no more coming. No, the revelation as always is that Rodney Berman tries to pretend either ‘is wasn’t my fault guv’ or ‘ actually there isn’t a problem’. And the interviewer, while seeming to press hard, actually lets him get away with disingenuity (aka a politician being economical with the truth).
Take the ‘there’s no infrastructure for these thousands of homes – everyone has to drive everywhere’ question. Oh that’s not true says our Rodders – there’s an Asda round the corner (ideal for low environmental impact shopping – like the morning paper), and a 50 metre swimming pool – yes the one that isn’t quite an Olympic pool, is privately financed so your Cardiff Council Max card won’t get you a discount and the much lauded (and appreciated by me) WAG scheme to let wrinklies in for free doesn’t work either. Pull the other water wing Mr Leader!
As for libraries, schools, a place for the Scouts or WI to meet: well, we clearly don’t need such things – or if we do we can get our Chelsea Tractor out and Zoom Across Town .. No, we’re all high earning singletons and the bars in the Bay will suit us fine.
Many, many years ago in my first job as a government press officer I had to release a report that looked at the development of the New Towns in the sixties (yep, that long ago). Called “The First Hundred Families”, its simple conclusions caused quite a stir. If people are to be happy in their new homes they need pavements, street lighting and infrastructure – a local pub, a post office (remember this was a long time ago and governments then thought post offices were important), a place to meet etc. And the community had to make sure these things were there at the start.
Now: large scale development is the province of private capital – they’ve already given the council millions for the land, and they’ll make their money out of the suckers who buy the tacky boxes. Infrastructure? That’s for idiots or Tesco/Asda et al. Our newly re-elected leader seems to agree. Just don’t buy a house in the Bay.
Surprise? – the BBC ignores wales?
Just last week the – increasingly inane – Breaksfast Show on BBC 1 TV was headlining the story about older people being given free admission to swimming pools. At 6.41 am I emailed the show pointing out 1) the story only related to England and 2) Wales had been doing it for years:
“I don’t know about Scotland or Northern Ireland but your news item about swimming should at least point out that us older people in Wales have had free swimming for a long time.
So, do you mean, “the UK government has decided that older people in England should join those in Wales and get free admission to their local swimming pool”?
Please: acknowledge that there are four nations, that we do things differently (free prescriptions, swimming, hospital car parks et al) and credit the devolved governments accordingly ….”
I cannot have been the only one since the bulletin was changed – it became more accurate “in England”, “local authority pools” etc, but still no mention that anywhere else might already be in the lead.
Now the BBC Trust has told the corporation the blindingly obvious – get your national coverage right: make it national, not English, not parochial London. The surprise is not the conclusions, but the surprise at something anyone with half an eye or ear could have detected in 24 hours watching or listening to the BBC.
I used to be agnostic about the idea of the home nations taking control of their own news output. Two things have changed my mind: the ability of the BBC to produce national news programmes (in Welsh, but they are always subtitled as well) for S4C and the absolute inability of London based journalists to get even the simplest things right. So, slash the BBC’s central budgets; devolve news to the nations; boost Wales’ (and Scotland and Northern Ireland’s) indigineous media industries. And if that means lots of narrow minded (bigoted even?), blinkered, second rate London journos getting sacked – bring it on.
Major Blog disruptions as House takes over
It’s not selling a house that consummes all the time – hence our decision to dispense with agents – it’s all the clearing up and being tidy! Apart from an Open Day, people always want to see around on their own, and days apart. So the Big Tidy and Massive Clean has to be boringly repeated at inconvenient but regular intervals. I can’t see why prospective purchasers don’t just send us a cheque for the full amount, after all the web site shows it all, doesn’t it?
Still, we are still getting a steady flow of callers – more than most it seems. And to help them decide we’ve even made a YouTube video.
Well, you have to, don’t you?
Retro wraps
Way back in those Babby Belling days (passim) someone hit on the idea of adding curry powder to baked beans: it gave a whole new life to end-of-the-month beans on toast. Then Heinz got clever and started doing them in the can, but they added raisins too, a truly terrible idea that I hope has died along with Vesta curries. Still, it gave me an idea for a quick – don’t mess up the kitchen ‘cos we are ‘open house’ – supper.
Take can of beans (yes, low sugar and salt is fine) add loads of hot stuff (Tabasco, chilli sauce etc and a fresh chilli or two), chop spring onions for crunch, and loads of small cubes of the home cooked ham.
Stuff four wraps and place in an oiled dish, cover with grated cheese, bake and eat.
Posh it ain’t, but retro wraps were not bad at all.
Spiced up mussels, another variation
We’ve a house “Open Day” tomorrow, hence the paucity of food blogs, we daren’t use the kitchen! But tonight the mussels were demanding something a bit more seasonally warming than just, say white wine and cream. So a spiced broth in which to steam them:
a glug of oil, two finely chopped small onions, a large splash each of fish sauce, white wine vinegar, lime juice, dry sherry: some larger than others depending on the result you want. A chunk of ginger, a whole but deseeded green chilli and a big handful of parsley and some lemon thyme add the spicy flavours.
Cook for 15-20 minutes and then leave to cool. Pick out all the stalky things before adding the mussels to steam. Serve with lots of finely chopped parsley (coriander would be even better methinks) and a splosh of sweet chilli sauce: maybe that’s a glug too far, but this is November guys!
Stocking up makes sense
There’s been much about this week on how much food goes to waste, and our own experience is that far too much languishes at the back of the fridge when the weekly restock happens. Today it was clear that with what was leftovers, and not likely to be used, there was plenty to start a fine vegetable stock.
Leftovers yielded a third of a swede, some sad but fine once peeled carrots, half a lost onion and a chunk of courgette – where did the rest go? Into the stock pot.
Incoming from the shop went the leek tops – does anyone get dirty leeks these days? – the tops of the spring onions that were already a bit limp, quite a chunk of parsley stalks and some lemon thyme. Bay leaves and marjoram, home dried, and some juniper berries and pepper corns introduced some flavour. Oh, and a couple of garlics and a chunk of ginger. All ready to hubble and bubble and do magic for tomorrow’s soup.
Except, along comes himself wanting know what’s happening to the piece of ham that’s been waiting to be cooked for a week. So that goes in too.
Result after 90 minutes? One ham with much more flavour than it might have had otherwise and ready to be chilled down.
And the stock, strained it went back on the heat to reduce and when tested it had a fine flavour that would have made an excellent broth on its own: in the restaurant we used to take very, very hot soups bowls, put in a scant handful of julienned vegetables and pour on boiling stock like this. Just a tablespoon of dry sherry on top. Very grand, but it’s the stock what does it.
Or you could convert into Tom Yam: never be without a jar of this wonderful paste. If doing for one, similar process – in a hot bowl just slice some mushrooms, or chicken or a mix, add a teaspoon – to taste – of paste and boiling stock. Stir and eat.
In the end though the stock was used to help with the left-overs mountain: sweated leeks, carrots, garlic, ginger, a chilli and half a squash soon started to smell delicious. Half the stock went in together with a handful of chopped parsley. When cooked the rest of the stock was added for a quick cool down so the vegetables could be liquidised in the pan. Checked for seasoning, but it didn’t need ‘owt. A handful or more of red lentils to give a bit of substance and bite and there we have it, sense of stock and leftovers.
Does a great kitchen a good cook make?
Not sure that it does, but I need a good reason to mention our’s today ‘cos it’s up for sale. Not just the kitchen either, but the whole of the aptly named Pendenis House around it!
We’re learning just how important the kitchen is by looking at other people’s. We’ve decided that whatever its fittings and posh work surfaces, the first requirement is that it fulfills a role as the hub of the house. Ours is visible from the front door, inviting you in, it’s the natural place to go when you arrive. And it runs into a breakfast room conservatory so that for informal eating the food has just seconds to the table and you can eat every meal with a wonderful view of the garden.
These are requirements that we won’t want to give up.
Of course you need lots of work surfaces if you are to do decent stuff: but hey, my first bedsit had a sink and a tiny Baby Belling and still I did three course dinners! The fact is however that surfaces just attract junk in inverse proportion to their surface. And who’s got room for all the appliances that you really need right there if you are going to use them?: ice cream making, espresso machine, toaster, juicer (citrus), juicer (vegetable), microwave and the Magimix.
While we have lots of storage cupboards, again, enough is never enough. So we’d really like a new house with larder (with a proper cold slab), utility room in which to store all the machines, the pots on shelves so they don’t get bashed, and all the laundry junk. Wishful thinking? Probably.
Still we’ll miss this one. Go have a look.
We won’t promise a discount to Past Food readers, but we might manage a light lunch while you look round!
Cheats’ Moussaka
A restaurant described Moussaka as a lamb and aubergine pie … well, I suppose it is sort of, but of the many variations I’ve never had it topped with pastry. The whole fandangle takes some effort, so here’s the quickie version – well, at least to prep, it still takes 40 mins in the oven.
You need a really rich lamb mixture: fry off the minced, lean lamb and put aside giving a chance to reduce the fat further. Clean out the pan and soften onions, peppers, maybe a slice or two of fennel, celery and when soft add the meat back. Add tomatoes, fresh skinned or tinned (passim) and a smidge of tomato paste. I usually add ginger, garlic, thyme, rosemary and parsley as the base flavours, pimento and chilli flakes can spice it up a bit. Leave to bubble away merrily.
Slice your aubergine, circle, cross lengths, long lengths, whatever will fit your deep dish. You can salt them and dry them but I’ve never noticed the difference. Fry them off and as you do so layer them in the dish: aubergine at the bottom, then the mince, more aubergine, more lamb, finally aubergine. Then my cheats’ topping.
For a four person dish you need half a large pot of plain yoghourt (low fat’s fine) into which beat three nice eggs (a couple if you use duck’s), plus salt and pepper. Now pour the mix onto the last layer of aubergine – it should be quite thick. Slip a knife down the side of the dish at intervals to give the topping a chance to slither down the side – it looks very attractive if you are using a clear soufflé dish for example. Then – most important – lots and lots of grated nutmeg, and nothing but the real thing, ready ground is just sawdust.
Forty minutes at about 160 and the topping will brown, rising like a soufflé itself. You should be able to take out a slab in a whole piece, spooning out any reluctant lamb. Serve with steamed veg.
