New spuds ... well, simply boiled with a leaf or two of mint in the water and then served with the lamb chop and green beans has to be tops for me but I also love them with (warm or cold) salmon or trout fillets ... or in a salade Nicoise with not-very-salty white anchovies (and I am aware that certain high-falutin types disapprove of spuds in a Nicoise but it's my meal and I'll do what I like) or in almost any salad that is a bit short on the old carbs.

The bay at Skala Kalloni on Lesbos is virtually landlocked and is teeming with sardine and anchovy. Virtually every taverna serves a dish of fried anchovy, simply dusted as with whitebait but the undertone of liquorice is perfect. I bought a 500gm pack of frozen, headless baby anchovy for £2.40. I intend to stir fry them with some baby shrimp and serve on a bed of fried noodles. A simple soy, ginger and spring onion dressing should suffice

I have a bit of an aversion to anchovies.
Don't know why, I have no problem with other oily fish.

I am embarking on a prawn and pork curry for this evenings tea.
Using up the leftover pork from last evenings dinner.
Maysan original concentrated curry paste should do the job, with red chilli, garlic, mushroom, onion, tomato (take note RGX) puree, and tinned Parioli chopped tomatoe(s) (take note RGX).

That's probably because you've only tasted the salted variety, unsalted anchovies in oil are a completely different animal

Ah right.
Might have to give them a bash then.

Try Morrison's deli counter

Absolutely!

Waitrose sell 'em pre-packed.

Currently staying at the Grosvenor in Chester, great service and good food. Veal T bone with ceps and Umbrian lentils last night with a few bottles of Jean Grivot burgundy. Cheshire asparagus, pancetta and hollandaise followed by john dory with a couple of bottles of provence rose for lunch. Shared with a friend of course. * Michelin tonight in the Simon Radley resto.

Spoken like a true Collioure fan.

Oh yes.

I do rather like a Collioure salad, with such anchovies, hard-boiled egg, olives, red peppers etc.

Another Lidl bargain and one the bearded one may wish to partake. Hampstead London Dry Gin, £9.50 for 50cl, 40% abv.

Nice over ice

Now that the price of my favoured "house" gin (Plymouth) has gone up to exceed £20 per 70cl (often as much as £25), I am willing to cast my net somewhat wider and, at £9.50 (albeit per 50 cl rather than 70 cl), this Hampstead brand sounds tempting.
I shall investigate further.

Only tangentially relevant, it occurred to me that what with Juniper being the main botanical used to flavour gins, and with Gin being a derivative of the Dutch spirit Genever ... was the song Jennifer Juniper in any way inspired by Genever (so Genever Juniper)... if anyone bumps into Donovan, could you ask him please?

Maybe I'm over-thinking this .....

Tried Lidl's Hampstead gin.
Didn't like it, even in a G and T ... for me it was sweet and too perfumed.
Now I understand what some people mean when they say they don't like gin because it tastes like cologne.

Anyone got suggestions of what to with 40cl of unwanted gin?
Maybe I could experiment with infusing ...

Anyway, I've gone back to Plymouth gin for its slightly sourer botanicals but, at £25 per 70cl, less often. (who says pricing doesn't cut down drinking ... at £25 it does with me).
Despite looking, I've never found another another of the same style.

I find that the big sellers like Gordons, Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater etc are a bit too "clean" flavoured for me ( i.e. they are "London" style gins ), although palateable.
I have tried various smaller brands (some at high prices !) including Bendicks and so-called Bathtub and so on etc etc... and have stopped experimenting with them because they are too wierd for an old git who "knows what he likes".

Top the bottle with sloes then

Sloes not being something I've ever sought-out but ... maybe.

damsons are another option

Not for a while they aren't.

I'm not sure if this issue has been mentioned before in a separate thread but apparently now Monsanto and others are being granted patents by the European Patents office on all natural crops such as broccoli, in essence making it Monsantos private property. This was shared with me from a friend of mine. It's mentioned on the natural news website. Have only viewed it on my mobile phone, so haven't included a link. Maybe other people can look more deeply? if this is the case will it Monsanto and other holding the world to ransom of natural food?

Just found [url=http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682223/monsanto-declares-defeat-in-european-marketthis from last month[/url, which suggests Monsanto have 'given up' on the EU.

[url=http://rt.com/op-edge/monsanto-deception-game-europe-gmo-261/However ...[/url


In the meantime: [url=http://rt.com/news/weed-killer-urine-european-study-720/Chemical used by Monsanto found in the urine of people in 18 European countries.[/url

I haven't heard that Monsanto have patented or are patenting "normal" food crops but they do own patents on [iRoundup-Ready[/i food crop genes, i.e. crops that are immune to Monsanto's weedkiller [iRoundup[/i.
One can plant [iRoundup-Ready[/i and then use [iRoundup[/i weedkiller at will, killing all plants it touches except the [iRoundup-Ready[/i crop, which survives.
Some say (and with some conviction) that [iRoundup-Ready[/i genes can and will find their way into non-[iRoundup-Ready[/i varieties of the same plant, thereby affecting large areas of the gene pool of that plant.

Anyway ... there have reportedly been cases in the third world where people have been sued for saving seeds from one year's crop to sow the next year, the case being that Monsanto is due a royalty on those saved seeds.
Is that what you're thinking of?

By the way ... the USA refuses to differentiate between Soya and GM Soya, so if you buy US Soya, you don't know whether it is all GM, mixed with GM, or GM-free.

So, when the ingredients on your wrapped bread from the supermarket includes soya, it's most likely that US .

AND ... the soya is only there as a carrier for the so-called "Flour treatment agents" that the law does not force producers to name but usually contain GM enzymes to facilitate the Chorleywood baking process (of which we have spoken before).
The idea is that the enzymes are killed in the high heat of the oven, hence you won't ingest living enzymes, so they aren't listed on the ingredients.
If that's the case, why so shy of naming them?
I await being convinced.

On the subject of GM, Owen Patterson was interviewed on The Today Programme last week. Basically he came across as a cheerleader for GM crops. One of his views was how tragic it was that 60000 people a year were dying or going blind because goldenrice (a GM form of rice modified to contain vitamin A) isn't available to them because of restrictions. It was unfortunate that his interviewer didn't ask him whether he was as passionate about other methods of ensuring that people get their vitamin A which are apparently just as possible. Personally I like my Environment Ministers to have a bit of regard for the precautionary principle, but he seemed to be straight out of the John Gummer mould.

Got a nice piece of smoked haddock for tea tonight which I'll enjoy with some buttered Jerseys and green beans.
Some strawberries out of the greenhouse with some single cream for afters.

A few years back, there was a "controlled" test of GM rapeseed.
There was a bit of an argument about how many hundreds of metres of gap needed to be left around the test fields to prevent cross-pollination contamination.

Around that time, I was in Birmingham New Street station one morning.
BNS is situated in the centre of a large conurbation (i.e. Birmingham) and is largely underground.

One part of the track in the station, however, is open to the sky in a sort of urban canyon.
There, between the tracks, was a flourishing patch of rape in full yellow flower.