Foodies In The News

[liketocook Profile]

My sister made the avocado quiche and said the pastry worked really well. Not mentioned is Jamie Oliver's Crispy Golden Chicken with avocado sauce. The simple sauce made with avocado, yoghurt and lemon is really good. I've made the sauce lots since I discovered it and it's lovely made with sour cream or crème fraiche instead of the yoghurt. https://tamronhallshow.com/blog/recipes ... ie-oliver/

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I'd forgotten you mentioned the sauce before, ltc. I'd like to try it. I'm desperate to find ways of using avocados that make them more interesting. Most of those recipes you'd definitely be eating lumps of the stuff. They're supposed to be good for low carb diets but I find them so uninteresting and don't really like the texture much. I used to like them smothered in sweet chilli sauce or made into chocolate dessert but both involve added sugar.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I love avocados although I once had them baked and they were disgusting.

Caffeine. The long read.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/j ... to-give-up

[liketocook Profile]

I'd forgotten you mentioned the sauce before, ltc. I'd like to try it. I'm desperate to find ways of using avocados that make them more interesting. Most of those recipes you'd definitely be eating lumps of the stuff. They're supposed to be good for low carb diets but I find them so uninteresting and don't really like the texture much. I used to like them smothered in sweet chilli sauce or made into chocolate dessert but both involve added sugar.

It's probably my favourite way to eat them at the moment. That said yesterday I mashed one with tabasco and lemon yesterday then mixed through some crumbled feta and diced tomato. I had it in a wrap with lettuce and it was very good.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Felicity makes Scotch eggs.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/j ... asterclass

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I mashed one with tabasco and lemon yesterday then mixed through some crumbled feta and diced tomato.

That sounds nice. They do seem to need chilli/Tabasco etc to cheer them up!

I read the caffeine article earlier. I've drunk an average of 6 cups of coffee a day (a lot of instant, not all fresh) for 50 odd years and a long time ago used to get the shakes if I didn't have some in the morning. I've recently gone decaff as a personal experiment (I.e. not on medical advice) and don't feel any different.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I looked at the article and wasn’t sure I wanted, as a slow reader, to slog through so much Michael Pollan
I think personal response to caffeine varies, neither I nor my parents ever found it kept us awake, and I worked in an office where the decaf was drinkable and the regular wasn’t, and didn’t notice any difference in myself, though I drank a lot of coffee in those days

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

Caffeine. The long read.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/j ... to-give-up

I have copied and pasted the article about caffeine and sent it to myself as an email as I want to read and digest ..

I would be very interested to see if, cutting out caffeine would affect my current levels of tiredness/lethargy .. currently I wake up very groggy, despite a reasonable sleep, get energised at dance/exercise class, then have a major slump in the afternoon. If I don't do a class, I get the slump earlier.

I currently have my first cup of tea at about 8 am, then a very strong coffee about 11 and another tea at 3 pm. Invariably that's my total caffeine intake for the day. I really wasn't conscious that looking forward to my first cuppa of the day was addiction and considered the coffee as a treat.

I love avocado in a sandwich of good seeded bread and tomato . I could eat one every day

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Hmmm, EM, you´ve got a good point there. Avocado salad, guacamole, guacamole, avocado salad....
I´ve tried them cooked - and I agree with PP - they´re disgusting.
They´re definitely delish with chile and lime juice. We usually add coriander leaf as well. Many years ago, a local restaurant made a "Mediterranean Salad" (?) with avocado, cooked shrimp, red pepper strips ( made from tinned red peppers), cherry tomatoes, sliced palm hearts, a touch of onion and a sweetish mayo. It was very good indeed.
Then I vaguely remember having a fresh tomato pasta with diced avocado on top. Not cooked, just slightly warmed by the pasta.
Smashing it on toast and covering it with poached eggs... yes, but to be honest, I don´t think it´s the best combination, and every single pub in the country must have it on their menus by now. Or a really wierd idea I´ve just found in Epicurious magazine: avocado & brussels sprout tacos with a spicy peanut sauce

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I don’t get avocado and runny egg yolk as a combo, the texture doesn’t appeal

I like avo just with lime juice and salt, if it’s a really good one. When my sense of taste was really off and I couldn’t eat citrus I was enjoying avocado sprinkled with salt, Aleppo peppers and sumac - still tastes good and looks pretty with all those red flakes

I make a salad based on one of Josceline Dimbleby’s’s - blanched broccoli florets, cubed avocado, red pepper strips and a slightly garlicky vinaigrette. The difference is she used raw peppers and I use fire roasted, often from a jar. Really good

[KeenCook2 Profile]

For me, I think it depends what you do with the avocado/ warm or cold.

When we first got our new microwave sandwich maker I made one with avocado, parma ham and parmesan. I really didn't like the hot avocado slices. On the other hand, an avocado in a sandwich made with toasted bread and other bits and pieces is delicious.
However, we sometimes do an avocado pasta sauce where it is mashed up smoothly with cream and whatever herbs we feel like adding, maybe some lemon, sometimes some frozen peas as well,and that is lovely. I guess the sauce isn't "hot" but warmed through with the pasta and maybe slackened with a few spoons of the pasta water.

Like the sound of the Jocelyn Dimbleby salad, Sue.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

More stuff from Bon Appetit:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slid ... Of_The_Day
Mind you, with the lousy weather you´re getting over there, maybe leave these recipes till 2022

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Most of them look pretty good KK. I'll definitely pass on the Brussels sprout/avocado combination though. Sometimes horrible mixtures like that work in smoothies with lots of lime or ginger or apples.

[scullion Profile]

one of the local hotels used to do a vegetarian option of a couple of large vol-au-vents filled with a warm/hot cheesey sauce coating a mix of just cooked vegetables, red kidney beans and avocado cubes - it worked really well and was the option we chose every time.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I used to use Josceline Dimbleby's recipes a lot. Did she write for The Telegraph? They always worked well.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Strawberry fraisier cake. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/j ... ake-recipe

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Oooh, I've always wanted to have a go at making one of those but there never seems to be an occasion( for me) during the strawberry season. I must find an occasion!

[herbidacious Profile]

There was also a Felicity Cloake recipe for 'tomato pie' in the Guardian yesterday, which looked so good I want to make it now, but will wait for the tomatoes to appear/ripen. (They are starting but not there yet. I suppose it's early for outdoor ones but also a bad tomato summer so far.)
I can't find it on the site though.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Sausages.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... fect-pizza

Semi-freddo.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/j ... chel-roddy

Still looking for the tomato pie recipe Rachel.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Lindsey Bareham’s Tuna Salad Nicoise.

http://www.lindseybareham.com/griddled- ... e-nicoise/