Noodle Doodles

Yesterday I attempted Chicken Chilli Men from the Wagamamas cookbook; a dish Supperboy has enjoyed in the restaurant.  It was easy enough to put together and gave me a good excuse to poke around my local oriental supermarket - Thais R Us.  It was tasty enough and I would make it again (may add more chilli next time), but somehow it didn't taste as good as it does when ordered in the restaurant.  You could put this down to the atmosphere of the restaurants and the fact that food often tastes better when someone else has cooked it.  Maybe eating out of traditional Japanese bowls, which remain cool enough to lift to your face and scoop it in, add to the eating experience.  Maybe I'm just not a good enough cook.

I was, however, reminded of an article I read earlier in the year about Wagamamas food containing too much salt.  At home, Supperboy and I use minimal salt, both in cooking and seasoning food on the plate.  When following the Chicken Chilli Men recipe, I omitted the salt (it already contained soy sauce) and the sugar (it already contained shop bought sweet chilli sauce).  Had my homemade dish contain as much salt as the restaurant's Chicken Ramen Noodle dish, apparently 7.2 grams, would it have tasted more like the restaurant version? 

After criticism, Wagamamas have noted on their website that they have reduced the salt in their children's meals and are working on the rest of the menu "whilst maintaining the tasty food that we have become known for."  This could, maybe, indicate that their food is difficult to make "tasty" without a high level of salt.  They also claim to be trialling their adult ramen meals with 20% less salt.  You don't need to be a mathmatician to work out that 20% off 7.2 grams of salt is still too high when the recommended amount for an adult per day is 6 grams.

Of course, Wagamamas are not the only restaurant to be critised for their salt useage, Pizza Express came under attack in the same study.   Also the Japanese do tend to use more salt and sugar in their dishes than we do, but a diet high in fish and vegetables, low in alcohol and high fat snacks seems to make up for it.  No doubt we will still enjoy the odd meal in Wagamamas (their Duck Gyozas are to die for), but perhaps I should never expect my dishes to turn out the same.

Cheap As Chips

After a quote for some work on the house which caused me to take a sharp intake of breath, I have comforted myself with some spice shopping online.  The very promise of the dishes I can produce with gumbo file, ancho chillies and galangal is soothing (much like fondling yarn in C&H, but that's food for another blog).  It feels like a cheap treat with the total order being cheaper than the round of drinks I'd have bought if I'd spent this evening down the local.

However, although I'm terribly good at making savings in other areas of my life, our food bills never go down.  Of course it isn't helped by a "few treats only" trip to Waitrose costing £100.  Then there's portion control.  I never fail to fall for the myth which claims a dish "serves 4" when it merely serves two greedy pigs with maybe a spoonful left over for lunch.  This weekend is "big shop" time and this month we avoid Waitrose.  In preparation I will spend some time compliling lists of cheap, seasonal ingredients and try to be more creative. 

For tonight supper is a cheap and shameful affair.  With Supperboy out with friends, I slice homemade bread thickly, add cheese and toast.  With a bottle of good British ale (St Peter's organic) there is no finer supper.

Cupcake Cakes

When it comes to cake, I'm an old fashioned girl.  I'm disappointed not to be offered fruit cake at weddings and spotting homemade bread pudding in my local deli puts me in a good mood all day.  Maybe this is why I'm surprised at the rise of the cupcake.

If you type "cupcake" into Amazon's book section you get 552 hits; who is baking all these cakes?  Judging by the titles of some, such as "Vegan Cupcakes" and "Post Punk Cupcakes", it appears there's a title for everyone.  You can even "Say It With A Cupcake", send cupcake cards, mark your important appointments on your cupcake calendar, or in your cupcake diary, or decorate your cards with cupcake stickers.

The cupcake's rise to fame maybe credited to some famous fans.  Kate Moss is said to buy hers at the Primrose Bakery in North London and Heidi Klum is said to have bought Victoria Beckham capcakes for her birthday.  Of course this is merely a poor attempt to make us believe these girls actually eat them - the visual evidence suggests they can be doing no more than sniffing them.  Add the Sex And The City girls making a humble looking bakery in Greenwich Village famous for their tiny cakes and suddenly you have created the must-have accessory. 

Taking the cupcake down to its basic elements, you just have a basic sponge with a bit of sickly sweet icing.  They might look lovely in a display for a special occasion, but do they have the depth of flavour that can equal a lemon drizzle cake, a slice of homemade gingerbread, or a well matured fruit cake?  I think not.

Only one cupcake related book caught my eye - "Life's Too Short To Frost A Cupcake"  

Tomatoes, Vanity and Middle Age

We need a new tin opener. After weeks of laughing at SupperBoy for making such a hash of opening cans, I confess to wrestling with it yesterday while trying to open a can of tomatoes. When I finally managed to prise the lid open with a teaspoon, it rewarded my efforts by splattering my t-shirt with tomato juice.

Now I have a kitchen apron, but have always declared myself to be a clean cook with no need of one. However, the honest truth is that I have a fear that wearing a kitchen apron somehow makes me middle aged, like wearing driving gloves, or zip-up slippers. I realise this is irrational and I certainly don’t intend to insult anyone who has the good sense to cover up, but it doesn’t make the fear go away.

Supper itself couldn’t have been easier. Some chickpeas, chorizo, cabbage, tomatoes, stock and seasoning with plenty of bread for mopping up. There’s even enough of the soupy stuff left for lunch today. While waiting for SupperBoy to get home from work, I start preparing meatballs for today’s supper and brown them off – splattering fat down my t-shirt and setting of the smoke alarm.

Later, while dutifully rinsing cans for recycling, I notice I opened the tomato can upside-down and I realise that I have suffered a senior moment – the top of the can had a ring-pull.  Time to give in to the apron.