Weekend Links #32

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

food reading links:
--How many times should you try a food before deciding you don't like it? At least once, argues Jay Rayner in The Observer Food Monthly. And in the case of tripe, many more times. (I have not tried it so I can't comment.)
--A detailed (but readable) analysis of 23 studies comparing low fat and low carbohydrate diets (from Authority Nutrition).
--"Don't bother going out to eat all the time"... and you will enjoy it more (from Casual Kitchen). The same goes for eating chocolate.

Moroccan style peas with yogurt and crunchy bits

A side dish that makes the meal.... I served this little peas and crunchy stuff combination with Persian chicken and saffron rice. It's a Jamie Oliver recipe, adapted, of course. Jamie's original recipe uses fava (lima) beans. But peas are more readily available to me--and to you, I imagine. The peas are paired with mint, lemon, crunchy fried breadcrumbs, and onion, and then served with creamy yogurt as well. Any recipe that turns plain old peas into a delectable dish is worth saving. Try it tonight with your dinner and let me know what you think.

lemon drizzle cake

Clare was on her last bite and my fork was in midair when Ant piped up. "So, do we have any dessert?" he asked, dimple flashing. Cheeky monkey, I thought, we have a friend over and he knows there's no dessert prepared. I had planned to pull out some ice cream and the tea pot. But Clare started to laugh, and I thought, well, I've got the time. So I decided to whip something up.


I have had this cake bookmarked for several weeks. In Jamie's original version it includes poppy seeds but this walnut version has a nice nutty backdrop to the zesty lemon. The cake only uses one bowl (always a plus for me, since I am not a frequent baker) and the icing is dead simple. Mine is a bit less sweet than Jamie's too; this is not the right blog for rich, unhealthy desserts, as you know.

Lemon Drizzle Cake
adapted from Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook
serves 8 - 10

for the cake:
1/2 c (115 g) butter
1/2 c (115 g) caster sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 c (50 g) ground or finely chopped walnuts
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 c (125 g) flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda

for the drizzle:
1 3/4 c (225 g) icing sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs, beating in well.
Fold in the ground walnuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
Spoon the mixture into a 20 cm springform pan.
Bake at 350 F/180 C for 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Meanwhile, use an electric mixer to make the icing by mixing the icing sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Allow the cake to cool and then pour the icing over top.

Clare was patient while I baked and she laughed as I took photos. Then I pulled out the tea to go with this zesty, fresh cake.

new gadgets

Paul gave me a new cookbook for Christmas--yay! That means more tasty ideas for meals are in my future! It is Jamie's Dinners by Jamie Oliver. Because he bought it in Canada, it is the North American version, where the ingredients are converted to cup measures, which I find a lot easier. And I went out and bought two new kitchen gadgets; one was this new palm peeler. It slips onto one finger and then you hold it in your palm. Ant and I both tried it out and found that it worked well once we got the hang of it.


And we also bought a lovely mini mandoline--which has a very sharp double-sided blade in the centre. It makes perfect eighth of an inch slices, as seen in these photos.


On Christmas Eve Ant and I were out with Mum buying our vegetables for our special dinner. We were at Farmer Clem's and we saw this fantastic squash! I wish we had bought it but really, we would be eating squash for days.