58 minutes to do 6.5 miles in central London…this commute is doing my head in…
Another recipe that is very easy to do but requires a little bit of time.
I am keen on learning recipes of the past, which have now become for most people something that you can only purchase from the supermarket when it is very easy to do at home and is a lot nicer…
Ingredients:
How to make:
Et voila! Eat on toasted bread with some cornichons or pickled shallots.
A very simple apple tart which is always a success.
There are a few complicated ways of making a “tarte tatin”.
The following simple method makes a very decent tart…
It is possible to upgrade this one with homemade caramel if you have time to do that.
Ingredients:
How to make:
I then upgrade the whole lot by Blow torching the top of the tart to get these small burns and a taste of burned caramel.
Then I finally top it all off with a few crushed hazelnuts (praline)
I pan fry with a small amount of butter a few carrots, some garlic, a couple of celery stalks and a bit of pepper. (The fancy ones from the larder, like the Madagascar pepper – VOATSIPERIFERY PEPPER)
Add the mussels and let them steam, then add some cream.
Finally, finish it off with some freshly cut curly parsley.
You can significantly upgrade the Tesco mussels…
2X500g Tesco mussels is ideal for 3 to 4 people. (That’s £5.50 in 2023 money…)
A few French fries cooked in Peanut Oil
And a glass of white wine (obviously).
Decided to make some walnut oil with all the walnuts from my uncle in Belgium.
I toasted them in a pan and then put them in sunflower oil. I will leave it all to infuse for a few weeks.
I made a label to remember what is in the bottle…. haha…
I upgraded the office sign for the office and included some space to put the doorbell…
Using my recently upgraded laser.
New 60w CO2 laser with upgraded software.
Now running Lighburn and capable of reading the Adobe Illustrator files I commonly use for my laser cutting project.
It is not because you have much
that you do not deserve to receive
and
it is not because you do not have much
that you cannot give.
I made a large quantity of Chili con carne so that Noe could have some to return to University in Bristol…
It is very easy to make.
Slow cook in the oven to let all the spices and flavours spread through the dish.
Definitely a comfort dish.
Ingredients (this is for a large quantity and can be halved if you do not want to eat some the whole of the following week…):
How to make:
Serve with sour cream and some cheese on top. Chargrill the cheese with a blow torch and add a few jalapenos. Very nice with a fresh beer.
It sounds like a secret code from a James Bond movie….
A small project to learn how to build a multi-colour capable led light.
I am learning new skills with Bluetooth Low energy
As well as some electronics and 3D modelling…
I am currently trying to place the project’s various components in a box, testing different arrangements of the parts.
I am using fusion360 for the modelling and some parts from Grabcad that match my purchased parts.
We just opened the aviation subsidiary of our business….I am the General of the Airforce of Glass Pharms Ltd.
When you work hard, you must remember to have a little fun occasionally.
The team thought it was appropriate for me to have the right hat and epaulettes for the occasion.
We needed a drone to capture our progress on the greenhouse building; as I have been flying and building drones for years, it seemed obvious that I should be named the head of our aviation branch…
We will initially use the drone for marketing reasons and soon for inspection of the thousands of square meters of glass that provide the energy for our plants to grow.
As well as potentially inspect our plant canopy and apply artificial intelligence algorithms to provide early warnings on the health of our plants.
Obviously, we did things correctly with our drone registration to UK civil aviation and appropriate insurance.
I want to make some and want to save the recipe here…
Ingredients :
How to make:
Blueberry jam is a lot nicer if you make it yourself at home. I use only 44% sugar and juice of 2 limes to enhance the flavour. I filter the skins to make a jelly-like jam which
I enjoy most with freshly baked bread or American pancakes…
Ingredients :
How to make:
Super simple to do and is a perfect winter dish.
Ingredients :
How to Make :
I am having a go at making some rustic terrine this weekend.
Ingredients :
How to Make :
[Update 2023]
This continues to be a favourite recipe. I should do this more often and throughout the year. I bought some Kilner Jars for the new 23′ edition.
I decided to do a few pickled onions for winter. Soon I will make some slow-cooked lard to go with it…As I was at my mum’s during Xmas, she did some pickled beetroots and it was very nice with some salads and cheese. She had done some Red beetroot and some Yellow beetroot. I have not researched the yellow beetroot in the UK so I have no idea if it is actually a beetroot or another vegetable. [update] Here for golden beetroot.
In any case, I decided to do my pickled onions like every year but also try the beetroot. I decided to cook mine a little so that it would be a bit softer than the one that my mum did. (she had them raw in vinegar and it was very crunchy).
Ingredients:
I decided I would cook mine in the oven in some aluminium foil. I simply put the clean but unpeeled beetroot in the oven at 160 degrees for 30 minutes.
As the beetroot is roasting, I prepared the vinegar. I took some pickling spices (Ginger, Coriander Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Crushed Red Chillies, Bay Leaves, Allspice, Black Peppercorn). I first put the spices in a saucepan and let them roast for a minute or so. The smell is intense, then you pour the vinegar on top with the sugar and let it boil for a few minutes. Let it cool down as you wait for the end of the cooking of the beetroot.
Once the beetroots have roasted. I took them out of their foil and peeled them. Be careful of your clothes as the red of the juice will stain big time!
Cut the beetroot in medium-sized chunks and put into a conserve jar. Remember to sterilise the jars before putting any food into them. Don’t want to be sick! It is easy, simply put a bit of water in them (like a centimetre) and then put into the microwave for a couple of minutes, it will zap anything nasty. Then, pour the vinegar on top and make sure that the vinegar is covering all of the vegetables. Close the jar and wait for a couple of weeks before starting to eat. Put a label on the jar so that you know when you made them. You can keep over winter and use in the summer if you wish.
Enjoy!
[2020 Update] I keep making these every year…here is a couple of pictures of the 2020 version.
UPDATE : This is similar but different to the other Duck Meat Loaf I do.
This one is more “classic” as it is with porc.
The other one can be found here!
I decided to make a few classics for the weekend as my brother’s family is coming for lunch on Sunday…digging out a few old recipes…
I will make a chicken liver pate, some roasted belly porc, a duck terrine, some bread, pickled shallots and most likely we will try the “Coppa” which has been drying in the garage for almost 2 months now…
As an adjustment to the recipe below, today in 2023, I would use a thermometer to adjust the cooking time to reach a “pink” but cooked colour for the final product.
The below was first published on 15th July 2021.
Oli's Duck Terrine : 2 Duck Magrets 250g of minced pork 125g of pancetta or bacon cubes 1 egg (yellow and white) parsley bunch thyme salt (very little if you use more bacon) mixed black and pink pepper (for the flavour) nutmeg (grated) cayenne pepper (for the bite) Oli's secret incredients (!) 2 "screw tops" of Red Martini (sweet taste) 2 or 3 "TUC" biscuits crushed into powder (salty breadcrumb substitute) Preparation: Skin the 2 magrets (pull hard) and keep skins mince the magrets with "small" setting on kenwood mincer stir everything including the egg in the kenwood (with the Hook paddle) you should get a fairly moist loaf. Baking: line a terrine with the magret skins (on the sides only) fill the meat loaf in the terrine put a twig of thyme or two on top tiny bit of salt and pepper on top bake in oven for 1 hour on 160C. this will sort of slow cook it. bake further for 20/30 minutes a 200c. this will brown the top. This second phase of baking is where you decide how "pink"/dry the terrine will be at the end. take out of oven once cooked. let cool down put in fridge overnight/until next day. Serve with toasted bread and pickled shallots/gerkins Goes nice with Rhone Valley rustic wine... Enjoy.
100 Frames loop, coded in Processing using a variation of Etienne Jacob’s wiggles. All 100 PNG files were converted into a GIF using an online tool.
I call it: “Mind Fireworks”
I am in the process of making some candied chestnuts for Christmas gifts.
Marrons Glaces!
It is super easy once you can source cleaned-up chestnuts. The best I have found are from Costco in bags of 500g from the brand Galil.
How to Make :