Cooking With Richard

Paris was full of (supposedly) Japanese restaurants. I don’t know if these are really Japanese or if they are just Chinese and others rebranding themselves. That doesn’t matter. What really matters is that this sort of food is very bad environmentally, and any extension of fishing for (eg) tuna takes a terrible toll on the sea environment.

Here are two:

This was a rather lovely, friendly restaurant that we discovered in Rue Mouffetard, Paris.

We had a starter of escargots (snails):

N-sama had a beef stew which tasted like a peposo:

I had a very pleasant cassoulet:

Altogether, a highly recommended restaurant, not particularly because the food was outstanding (although it was very good), but because the place was cosy and friendly.

Photo and someone’s boggy entry.

Delicious pesto from a recipe from Jamie’s Italy book:

The pesto is home made, from a couple of bunches of basil.

I have to admit I was watching the excellent Jamie at Home last Friday and he made a slow-cooked roast shoulder of lamb, similar to the ones I’ve made here before, except he used garlic and rosemary for the classic base seasoning.

This is my version, much modified. I cooked the shoulder for 4½ hours, first for 15 minutes at maximum (220°C), then at 130°C. The meat just falls away from the bone after this, and the dissolved fats and sinews in the meat make it moist and rich:

I made a gravy in the usual way, but added fresh mint and capers:

Rosemary and mint came from the garden, lamb from Yorkshire, and the carrots and sweet potatoes from the UK, so this is local food for local people.

MagMyPic.com

Mushi (insects) are very popular in Japan as pets or even for eating. We got these tasty mushi from a popular mushi shop ….

From here:

I bought a Crookes radiometer from these people yesterday. Today the sun came out for just a few minutes and it actually works. I was fascinated by these things at school, but I’m also disappointed to find out that they don’t work because of “light pressure”, which is what my physics teacher told me.

(Skip to 2′50 in the video to see the effect at work)

More info on the project page

N-sama bought me a tiny helicopter for Christmas, so here it is in action …

Hmmmmmmmmm…. Second time lucky?

OK … third time?

IT FLIES!!!

Edit:

The Professionals fly:

New Years day “kakizome” 1, 2, 3, wikipedia:

Surprisingly tasty Vietnamese peanuts:

http://eatbma.blogspot.com/2006/07/farmer-brand-roasted-peanuts.html

Documentary about wildlife in Japan (this link will only work for the next 2 or 3 days, so watch it now!)

Click! —> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008cb9b

Sashimi delivered by Mitomi:

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