Mens Cookery Club

Cous cous, rocks. This one was a bit of an experiment on Sensi’s part. We made it with the Pokey Pork and veggies a few weeks ago and although we all concluded that it could be improved it was pretty flippin’ good to start with. There’s just summat about adding fruit to cous cous that is so right.

Ingredients

• About 20  grapes, sliced into small chunks
• a good bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• a punch of toasted pin nuts
• olive oil
• good pinch of salt
• 1 “c” cup of cous cous

Add the cous cous, the grapes, half the parsley, the pine nuts and salt to a bowl. Add 2 seconds of olive oil (ensure bottle has a slow pour nozzle). Mix this together and cover with boiled water from a kettle. Then cover the bowl with cling film and leave to stand for 10-15 minutes. If unsure the water will have gone and the cous cous will have absorbed the lot…

Like I said in the beginning, this was an experiment, I think you could make this fruitier (I would though), maybe with apricots or similar.

As part of our pseudo North African MCC yesterday, we cooked up a tasty loin of pork. I’m not sure if the majority of our North African readers are ever likely to eat pork, but the rest was quite authentic… We made our own harissa which was amazing and formed the main flavour of this quick recipe.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 tea spoons of harissa - we made ours, but Sensi says tinned harissa is pretty good too.

Grab a reasonable sized bowl and throw in 4 good sized pork loin slabs. Pour over 3 seconds of olive oil, add a proper grind of pepper and a punch of salt. Add in the 2 tea spoons of harissa and mix it all up making sure all of the pork is fully covered.

Leave the mix to stand for a bit and then get your grill onto full heat, we’re going to grill it “carefully”, so put the grill pan on the bottom of the grill. When the pork starts to brown turn it over. This took us about 15 minutes altogether.

When done serve up with some cous cous and some tasty veg.

The nights are drawing in, the clocks have changed and it’s darned cold. I sit here shivering, wearing a big coat and rather fetching fingerless mits. I look hugely attractive, I can tell you, hunched over my liitle keyboard, gleaning heat from the whirring mechanics of my machine. No better time for a thick, seasonal, spicey soup. And it is spicey. Trick or treat?

Ingrediants

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 pumpkin (half the size of a football)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 big leeks
• 1 green chilli
• 1 thumb of ginger
• A punch of curry powder (madras, or whichever you fancy)
• A pint of chicken stock
• 2 dollops of sour cream

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Are we becoming less manly at the MCC? There seems to be alot of food without meat in it and we all know that meat is manly. maybe there is something Sensi is not telling us. A deep dark secret that is trying to force itself to the top of the cooking agenda. perhaps he is collating a menu of vegetarian specialties so we can have our own stall at glastonbury festival next year. Well, ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die, as into the kitchen of Pat, rode the three blokes.

Ingredients

• 250g (or a couple of D-Cups) of Dried Chickpeas (soaked overnight)
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 dollops of tahini
• A punch of ground coriander
• A punch of ground cumin
• 1/2 bunch of fresh corriander
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt and Pepper

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I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, seeing my Dad on telly, in the newspaper or in a bookshop window for the last 20 years has been a strange, sometimes very difficult, but ultimately enriching experience. In life, we need people to identify with, to validate us, to exchange affirmations, to say “No your bum doesn’t look too big in those leiderhausen”. So, when that fickle mistress Fame comes sweeping into your life, be it directly or otherwise, it fucks with your head man. Chat to mates, lovers, wives-go to any pub, cafe, restaurant, supermarket and I’m sure you’ll be able to strike up a convo about football, women , knitting, kids, in-laws etc. But pull up a pew in your local and say “My Dad’s in the Daily Mail again” or, in my dads’ case “I bumped into that Dame Edna Evarage in Wogans green room again last week” it’s unlikely that the response will be “Me too”.

Anyway the point is all kids want are love & their mum & dads’ approval, and I’ve finally got it from my Dad. I’ve inspired him & he inspires me. So big up my Dad & check out his blog http://keithfloyduncorked.blogspot.com. WORD IS BOND, YO.

I can barely keep with Sensi’s global peripatetic, for this week, we reached North Africa. Personally, I had never tried Harissa, so my palate has again been educated and I am very pleased about it. You can easily buy this stuff ready made. But that’s no fun. Even Redeye, with his whimsical fearful ways was up for making this from scratch, especially as it will last for a couple of months in the fridge. I say that it will last but the one we made at MCC did not. Gert Lush, as they say in Tunisia.

Ingredients

• 2 Red Peppers
• 2 Green chili
• 2 Red chili
• 5 chunky garlic cloves
• A teaspoon of fennel seeds
• Pinch of saffron
• 1/2 punch of cumin
• 1/2 punch of corriander
• 2 seconds of olive oil

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Sensi seems to have a knack of globalizing our collective palate. He well and truly spiced it up in an asian style with this fantastic creamy Dahl. We even made the unleavened bread (ie, without yeast) to go with it. You can see the recipe for chapati in an earlier post along with a green chili chutney. A veritable vegetarian feast that’s sure to bring on a sweat.

Ingredients

• 6 chunky garlic cloves
• 1 thumb of ginger
• 1 green chili
• 1 medium onion
• 2-3 seconds olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground corriander
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon mild chili powder
• 500g Puy lentils (about 3 D-cups)
• 1 can coconut milk

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You can’t have bangers and mash without gravy. Gravy is the sauce of life. The fuel of winter. That which lubricates our very soul. I could go on but I fear I may alienate our honoured reader. Anyway, if your experience of gravy is a brown lumpy mess, let me enlighten you. (Actually, it is quite lumpy but that’s because of the mushrooms).
Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion
• About 8 - 10 mushrooms
• A splash of balsamic vinegar
• A splash of soy sauce
• 1/2 pint of chicken stock
• salt and pepper

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Ok. To start with I shall give the dictionary deffinition of “braise”. Mainly because, if you you asked me, my answer would begin - um, er, well um, you know it’s sort of….blah, blah. So; “braise” v. to fry (food) lightly, then stew slowly in a closed container”. Now you know. We had braised cabbage with our very English bangers and mash, of which you can see a picture a few posts ago. A picture that my wife pointed out, looks rather phallic. Well, it is a men’s cookery club.

Ingredients

• A splash of Olive Oil
• A splash of water
• 4 pinches of fennel seeds
• Savoy cabbage (the wrinkley one)

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