Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Happy Birthday To Us!

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Photo: Insite

Photo: Insite

A year ago today, I wrote the first post on this here blog, and now 12 months later I can’t believe Hand To Mouth is one. The past year has gone by unbelievably quickly, starting a new job, getting engaged and planning a wedding may have something to do with that, but I’ve also really enjoyed writing my shizzle here.

Anyway, thanks to all you readers for all the support over the year, and a special big up goes to all the commenters, linkers, likers and the missus who’s idea this was.

Please keep coming back for seconds.

See you soon.

Ferg x

T&T #1 – Great British Food’s Lancashire Hot Pot

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

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As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been looking at new features to add to Hand To Mouth. My friend Dazzler suggested I try re-creating recipes from weird and wonderful books, which I thought was a great idea. This first ‘Tried & Tested’ post fits more into the latter category, as it comes from a rather lovely new cookery book called ‘Great British Food‘.

Put together by the guys behind the brilliant Canteen mini chain of restaurants, this Lancashire Hot Pot stays true to their ethos of cooking gutsy, tasty, good quality, British grub. The recipe calls for leg mutton, which I couldn’t get hold of at the time of cooking, so instead I used shoulder of lamb.

The recipe takes a bit of prep, but once you get going it’s pretty easy, and it tastes reet good.

Ingredients (serves 6)

50g butter

250g onions, sliced

1kg boned leg of mutton, 3-4cm dice

150g carrots, sliced

10g fresh thyme, leaves picked

3 bay leaves

700g floury potatoes (Maris Piper), peeled ad thinly sliced

500ml meat stock

100ml meat stock

Salt and black pepper

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Back In 5 Minutes

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

BtoE

Things have been a bit quiet at Hand To Mouth towers over the past couple of weeks. The day job has been kind of getting in the way of my other life, but as should be clear by now I was born to eat, so normal service will be resumed soon.

In the down time I’ve been doing a bit of research finding out what people think of the blog, and what they’d like to see more or less of. I got some really good feedback, and there are a few things that I’m going to try and make happen over the next few months.

One is incorporating a bit of video into the site to give a bit more of an impression of techniques, textures and consistencies. A word of warning, I’m not in any way trained, so I  may well lead you astray.

Another was an idea my mate Darren had. He’s suggested I tackle a few recipes from some weird and wonderful cookery books. I’ve got quite a few oddities knocking about at home like Len Deighton’s ‘Action Cook Book‘, so expect to see some throwback grub here soon.

Finally, my friends Lou and Liam who run the lovely Reading Rooms B&B in Margate, have asked me to contribute an item to their already cracking breakfast menu. I’ve got something in mind, it just needs a bit of tweaking, so more on this soon.

Any other comments or suggestions are welcome, so if you’ve got an opinion, please drop me a line.

See you round like a rissole.

(I can’t remember where I found the above image, so I’m sorry to whoever created it. Let me know and I will amend with credit where credit’s due).

Local Hero #9 Bistrot De La Grille

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

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I was in Paris with the missus for a few days over the New Year period. The weather wasn’t great, but it’s still one of the greatest cities in the World (IMHO). As you might expect the food has a great deal to do with this, and I’m a huge fan of the traditional French bistro.

I love the simple, tasty food, the still tobacco stained walls, the atmosphere and the tradition of it all. Maybe it’s because we don’t have many good examples of this type of place in London, but I’d honestly prefer to sit down at a chequered tablecloth in a back street bistro to a plate of oeufs cocotte and an entrecote, than some foam drenched nonsense from an Alain Ducasse restaurant. No offense Al.

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Vedett & Cheese

Friday, December 18th, 2009

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Earlier in the year, the missus and I went to Ghent in Belgium. It’s a really cool little town about half an hour on the train from Brussells; the perfect place to visit for a long weekend.

One of the things we really loved about the trip was the discovery of a beer called Vedett. It’s a classic blonde Belgian lager, with a really crisp and clean taste, and comes in these really lovely curvy green bottles.

The way Vedett behaves as a brand is also pretty cool. From the little penguin logo, to the really quality merchandise which includes chairs, blankets and glasses, it’s obvious that it’s run by really creative people. (more…)

Eat, drink and be merry…

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

…I’m about to pop my blogging cherry.

Welcome to Hand To Mouth, a blog about food. Eating it. Cooking it. Reviewing it. Reading about it. And everything in between.

Depending on how into this I get, I’ll be regularly posting recipes, restaurant reviews and opinion and conjecture about anything food related that grabs my eye. Hopefully there’ll also be a few laughs along the way, and I promise not to cut the cheese.

If you like what you see please let me know, and equally don’t be afraid of throwing a few rotten tomatoes my way if you don’t.