. Celeriac

Last week we came into possession of a mystery vegetable.


Brief research on the internet proved it to be Celeriac (Apium graveolens rapaceum) also known as "celery root," or "knob celery."


Should you ever happen upon such a thing yourself, here is something you can do.

Slice it up.


Boil it with potatoes, then mix it with sauteed onions and artichokes.


Top it with garlic, milk-soaked bread, and parsley.


Bake it .



Eat it.

. Work

I might be working 13 hour days, but at least they buy me mango sticky rice for dinner.

. The Last Piece

. Least Favourite Beer of the Week

The Telegraph Brewing Company describe their Reserve Wheat Ale as "Not for the faint of heart." Fortunately they also note that it is "Available in extremely limited quantities," which hopefully means I won't have to drink another one. Yuck. It's like a really nice Wheat Beer that someone mixed with the sourest lemons they could find, shook it all up, and put in our fridge. I think it's supposed to be refreshing or some such nonsense. It's just nasty.

I thoroughly do not recommend this beer to you while you cook Peppered Mushroom and Cheezly Pie with roasted rosemary onion potatoes and a green salad on a Saturday afternoon while Nif is out at trapeze class and your friends have all gone to bed because of that annoying eight hour time difference and your other friends are down at Delores Park with four thousand other people merrily burning their collectively exposed regions and you can't find your sun block because it's not in the bathroom and it's not in the car and it's not in your bag (it's in your coat pocket) and in situations like this, cooking pie is what you do best.

But not with this beer.

. Favourite Beer of the Week

Sam Smiths Imperial Stout was originally brewed (ten miles from where I grew up) for the fancy Russians of the Czarist courts. It was apparently made high in alcohol so that it would survive the trip to Russia, although I can't help thinking that might be a load of old crap like the claim that IPA's were high in hops and alcohol to survive the trip to India. I've been fooled by these beer historians before.

Trust no one, is my advice to you.

And get 'em in.

I recommend drinking this beer around 5 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon while cooking Black-Eyed Pea Fritters with Spiced Coconut Sauce and Turmeric Basmati Rice.

However, I do not recommend cooking black-eyed peas for Nif. They creep her out. Something about their eyes. If you have a cupboard full of black-eyed peas and don't feel like eating them all yourself then try mixing them with other foods of a similar nature (such as cannellini beans). And then blend them in the blender until their eyes are all mashed into pulp. That seems to do the trick.

The coconut sauce had star anise in it. I had never cooked with star anise before. It is very pretty.



Oh, and the beer is jolly nice too.

. Cooking with Anthony

This recipe is from the Cafe Flora Vegetarian Cookbook. It's extremely tasty to eat, and relatively easy to make. And I've documented the whole thing on video, just for you.

. Beer and Ice Cream

This movie is rated J for Juvenile.

. Old Chestnut

I bought chestnuts from Molly Stones (the most expensive grocery store on the planet) and I roasted them at 425 degrees for 24 minutes which is exactly the right amount of heat and time for chestnuts. And we ate some, and they didn't taste very nice, and when we looked more closely we saw that they were moldy. Dammit, Molly Stones, I hate you and your stupid overpriced moldy chestnuts.

The phrase "old chestnut" comes from a 19th century play called The Broken Sword by William Diamond where some guy called Captain Xavier keeps telling the same joke over and over and it gets boring and it's got something to do with a tree and one time he says it's a cork tree and some other guy called Pablo says "A chestnut. I have heard you tell the joke twenty-seven times, and I am sure it was a chestnut." And later someone else in the 19th century who had presumably seen the play must have heard a boring old joke and said "That's an old chestnut" and everyone probably just stared at him and thought what the hell are you talking about, and he would probably have been a bit embarrassed, unless he was rich, in which case everyone would have thought what the hell are you talking about but instead of just staring at him they would have laughed uproariously because rich people are scary because they can kill you and get away with it like Molly Stones and that is where the phrase "old chestnut" comes from.

. You'd Never Know

... from Anthony's expression that I had food on my face.

. Tater-Mater Pie Maker

. Birthday Bundt

This bundt pan is as old as me today.
But my birthday cake is not.

. Late Night Shopping

(Click to Listen)

. Brunch with Bryce and Eddie

I had brunch at Boogaloos with Bryce and Eddie Izzard.

. Aaaaaaaaaaaaart

We (Nif and me) have things in this exhibition at Downtown Bar and Restaurant in sunny downtown Berkeley.

The Artists' Reception is Monday, Sept 22, 6-9pm. What the hell else are you going to do on a Monday night?

. Frickin Fantastic

Beany tomato thing Nif made for dinner.

. Sushi with Susan

We made Sushi with Susan.

. Favourite Beer of the Week

Sam Smiths' Organic Ale is made in Tadcaster which is just off the A64 between Leeds and York where I am from. Like most things in Yorkshire, the brewery has been there since 1758. Sam Smith's more famous uncle, John Smith, made his beer next door to Sam, and liked to hide in his shed and lick magnets, apparently.

This bottle is 1 pint 2.7fl oz, 5% Alc by vol, or ABV as it shall now be known.
Slightly malty, slightly fruity.

Goes great with Sushi with Susan.