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Author Archives: Russell
The Perfect Christmas Cake
This receipe hasn’t changed much in the years I’ve been making it, except I’ve added more brandy and a twist – the pepper. It uses a basic dense rich fruit cake, and then the decoration comes later. The best time to make a fruit cake is roughly 6-8 weeks before its needed, as the fruit matures nicely. You can of course make it with less time to spare, it just won’t taste quite as good.
The christmas cake variation is made in three stages. First the fruit is soaked in the brandy, then the cake is made, and then, a week before being needed, the cake is decorated.
Ingredients
- 225g plain flour
- 225g unsalted butter
- 225g soft brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 35cl brandy
- 450g currants
- 175g raisins
- 175g sultanas
- 50g glace cherries
- 50g candied peel
- 4 large eggs
- 50g chopped almonds
- Rind of one lemon and orange
Props
- This recipe is for an 8 inch round cake tin, or an 7 inch square tin
- An airtight container
- Various mixing bowls
Method
Stage one is done 24 hours before baking the cake. Add the dried fruit ingredients to a large bowl, add most of the brandy (leaving enough to spoon over the cake in the coming weeks), and leave to soak overnight, covered with a tea towel.
Now for the actual cake. Preheat the oven to gask mark 1, or 140°C. Sift the flour, nutmeg, mixed spice, salt and pepper together. I prefer to do this twice.
Next, place the butter in a bowl on a radiator so that it warms up, don’t let it melt though. Beat the eggs quite a lot, making sure a lot of air gets into them.
Fold the butter and sugar together, a little bit at a time:
This is the most important stage (and the most tiring!) because you need to get as much air in to the mix as possible. This is an extremely dense cake, and every little helps essentially.
Next, beat in the eggs vigorously, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a thick almost porridge style mix:
Then slowly fold in the flour mix taking care when doing so, so that as much air stays in the mix.
Once you have a nice conistency, stir in the fruit, the rind and the chopped almonds.
Finally, grease your cake tin with butter, and line it with greaseproof paper, making sure you leave a decent amount above the cake tin, to help stop the top of the cake burning.
Place in the oven, and bake for around 4 and a half hours. Try to resist taking a peek until at least 4 hours have passed. Once done, place in the airtight container where it will live until a week before it is needed. Using a thin needle, or a cooking thermometer is perfect for this, create little holes in the surface of the cake, and, once a week, spoon a little of the remaining brandy over the top to help the cake mature.
Decoration to follow.
Coq au Vin
Ingredients
- 1 large Chicken, or 4 legs and 4 boneless thighs
- 250g Cooking Bacon (or pancetta)
- 2 large onions, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Cracked black pepper
- Cracked Salt
- 750ml Red Wine
- 8 button mushrooms (optional)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 2 teaspoons thyme and rosemary
About the ingredients.
I have used legs/thighs this time round, rather than my usual receipe which would call for a large chicken (5-6 person roast) to be jointed. To emulate the same amount of chicken, I have used four chicken legs, and four chicken thighs.
The wine used isn’t that important. We important wine from France on a regular basis, so I threw in a bottle of that, but any wine with a strong tannin base will do, when making this at university I’d use a carton of generic french table top wine.
Many receipes call for Pancetta. I use cooking bacon for a few reasons: it’s dirt cheap, and very fatty. The fats in it make the sauce incredibly rich, and prevent a lot of the flavours in the broth boiling off during the simmer/cooking phase. Use whatever you want here, but thats the reasons for my choice.
You will need a large flat frying plan, a spoon with holes in it, and a cast iron casserole dish, although in desparation in the past I’ve cooked this in a large oven dish, covered with a baking tray 
.
There are two methods for this, my preferred method which is overnight, or a quicker method. Both are the same until the cooking phase, so I’ll explain that later.
Method
Coat the chicken in the cracked black pepper and a small amount of salt. Melt the butter with the oil in the large frying pan on a low light. Once the butter is properly melted, add the chicken thighs. Starting the butter on a low light prevents it burning. You might need to fry it in stages unless you have a huge pan, I did the legs first, then the thighs. Fry them until they are golden brown on both sides, then place in the cast iron dish.
Put the wine, garlic and thyme into the casserole dish, combined with the chicken to start the flavour mixing.
Next, add the bacon, mushrooms (if using) and the onion to the frying pan (I didn’t say turn it off!), and fry until the onions are golden brown. Add to the casserole dish.
Now here is where things can differ.
My preferred choice is to put the lid on the casserole dish, simmer for 30 minutes, allow to cool, and then refrigerate overnight.
Take the chicken and vegetables out of the mixture using the holed spoon, so that the sauce and fat stay in the casserole dish. Put in the flour, and whisk for a few minutes to thicken it, then return the chicken and vegetables. You simply then bring back to the boil the next day, and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
If you want to eat this the same day however, simmer for 30 minutes, thicken the sauce as above, simmer for another 30 minutes, and then serve with boiled potatoes. Sautéed potatoes is a great idea, and it goes fantastically well with a baked potato as well.
Reebok Zigtech
Before I start this, let me state that it is not intended as a debate between barefoot/minimalist running and trainer shod running. Whilst I am a fan of BF/MR, I don’t practice it solely, and once my broken ankle is cured I aim to return to my practice of BF/MR once or twice a week and my main runs with my dogged trainers.
This post is rather about my amazement that trainer manufacturers are allowed to get away with what they do get away with, regardless of whether or not trainers are bad for you.
I came across a leaflet in my gym last night. I’d just sat on a spin bike for 50 minutes and then had a swim, so I was quite tired. Being tired leads to me generally being cranky, so perhaps I shouldn’t have read this leaflet, but read it I did. The amount of faux-science was staggering, and it worries me that people genuinely are taken in by this kind of language.
The leaflet was for a pair of what I think are supposed to be trainers. The tagline of the advert reads:
The Energy Drink for your feet.
The shoes are fronted by Lewis Hamilton, that well known distance runner, who I’m sure was paid a rather large sum of money to hold them up looking smug. And why shouldn’t he? The shoes he’s wearing are obviously engineered to the highest degree. The diagram inside shows how the sole provides “More Energy”, with the zig zag shaped sole absorbing the impact of your heel strike, sending a wave of energy along the length of the shoe. Right.
And strangely (according to the diagram anyway), the laces apparently provide an “Energy Boost”, designed to help your legs feel fresher.
What is Zigtech?
Feel the shoe with the energy boost, its unique sole propels you forward, while reducing wear and tear by upto 20% on key leg muscles.
I can’t even begin to say how stupid this statement is. How have they measured this 20%?
In addition to this “How does it work?” section..
Absorbs the impact of heel strike Transforms each step into a wave of energy Helps to propel the athlete forward with each step
..contains a worrying statement (perhaps only worrying to someone who has read a lot about the debate between Barefoot/Trainer running, and the science involved). “Absorbs the impact of heel strike” sends warning signals to anyone that knows a modicum about modern running injuries, how the foot is designed, and heel striking is not ideal for running at all. Next “Transforms each step into a wave of energy”, er, I don’t know what to say to that. It’s bullshit. Finally “Helps to propel the athlete forward with each step”, funny. The human foot is perfectly designed to do just that, without all this “fantastic” technology.
Finally, they’re made with Celliant™ fibres. These are a relatively new technology which are designed to take energy emitted from the body and recycle it through the skin, a claim Reebok say with “increase oxygen levels by an average of 7%”. Celliant fibres is a relatively new technology, and like many new scientific products is yet to be fully proved. I’m not saying this is nonsense, but there is very little scientific evidence to support these claims, other than surprisingly the company that developed this technology. To me, it looks like some psuedo-science nonsense that is being used to help sell more expensive running kit, but I’m happy to be proven incorrect on this.
Finally? Whats possibly worse than all this “science”? Just look at them:
I can’t imagine any serious runner ever considering these as being worth while. Which is probably why, in this country at least, they’re fronted by a Formula 1 driver who lives for sponsorship. Tsk.
I’ve asked Reebok for evidence of these claims, but given that they’ve ignored far more noteworthy people than me in the past, I’m not waiting for a reply.
Getting Better
I have to be most pleased with the progress I’m making.
My initial prognosis, by my doctor and my physio, was a timescale of painful proportions. Four or five months until I can get back on a bike, six months before I’ll be jogging, and (worst of all) nine months to a year before I’ll be back in the long distance running game.
Whilst I certainly cannot run at present, my weight bearing abilities have significantly increased in the space of a week. Last weekend I was lucky enough to be visited by my sister, brother in law, neice and nephew. We walked into town, it took me a long time being on crutches, and after it my chest, arms and wrist hurt an awful lot, and my foot was even more swollen than usual, but I’d gently put weight on it for the longest period I’ve been able to in 3 months, and whilst it hurt the following few days, it has loosened up so much, that I’m actually getting excited at my recovery.
15 minutes on an exercise bike has shown me that it is recovering, despite what I feel, and I’m a month ahead of schedule. Fair enough – I’m not cycling 30 miles a day as normal (work commute), but I’ve gotten back on my bike a month ahead of when I was told I would be able too.
The key now is to look after my recovery, and nurse my ankle back properly – I’m forever going too fast, so this will be a challenge in itself for me. I will miss most, if not all of the great winter base training that I bizarrely love so much, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Tesco Limited Edition Mexican Chilli Chicken Sandwich
It is not often I don’t bring to work a sizeable luncheon, but being on call this week, I have been a little remiss, and so this Friday I’ve been caught short.
So my hand was forced and I had to traipse over to Tesco’s to buy something for lunch. God knows why but I opted for one of their sandwiches. Perhaps it was the packaging that caught my eye, perhaps the Limited edition stickers. Or perhaps the £1.60 price tag. Whatever it was, I handed over some of my money and left, with a small sense of anticipation. Surely this new sandwich would leave my tastebuds craving more? This sandwich, “inspired by regional American cuisine, influenced by the food of Mexico” would hopefully inspire me, whisking me away to the planes of the Sierra Madre Orientals?
Well folks. Fellow cuisine aficionados. Let me tell you thus:
I have never tasted a sandwich that tasted of anything less. Indeed, it would not be contrived to say that I didn’t taste this sandwich, because there was nothing to taste. The Tesco Limited Edition Mexican Chilli Chicken Sandwhich is to sandwiches, as Dulux would have been to 16th century Chapel ceiling painting. If I hadn’t have put the packet in my bin I could be entirely forgiven for wondering if I’d even eaten it.
Allow this post to serve as a friendly warning. If you want a nice sandwich, do not buy this particular offering. Indeed, should you want a horrible sandwich, for whatever reason, do not buy this sandwich. In short, if there were some way to vomit this sandwich back into its original shape and place it in the box, I would be seeking a refund right about now.
Whatever you do today, I hope you enjoy your lunch.
Event 41 Kernel-Power
Just a quick heads up for people that have this problem as it took me a while to figure out. This was my problem on a Windows 7 64bit Service Pack 1 install on an i5 CPU over-clocked to 4.0GhZ, with a Corsair CX650W. I attempted to put a GTX 580 into my computer, but when I did kept getting this problem. Despite my PSU being rated high enough (on the 12V rail) to supply power, it isn’t sadly.
These are the new “budget” range from Corsair, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it’s a bit irritating given that the specifications of the PSU show it being more than capable. Oh well!
Born To Run
Ok so I was a late comer to the “read this” party for this trendy book, but I loved it. Whilst I recognise a few flaws with the way some of it is written, it is exhilarating and inspirational at the same time.
As a marathon runner, and an aspiring ultra runner (I’m getting there, I’m getting there – 6 months and counting I’ve been injury free *touch wood*) there is a lot in this book for me. I’ve been slowly building up leg strength in order to get myself ready for barefoot running, and I’m now managing a few outings a week, I can’t see myself running an entire marathon barefoot, but I’d like to get to the 10k stage fairly soon. Who knows though?
It’s been a while since I had a compulsive page-turner, but I can’t wait to finish this book.
Olympic Tickets
It comes to something when I can’t even partake in the great big Olympic monopoly that is the ticket purchase, sponsored by Lord Seb Coe’s mates at Visa. Registering on the site in February I set up my account as instructed in order to get tickets for the 27th round of the shooting qualification elimination knockouts, or whatever events I probably wouldn’t want. I was unlucky in that I didn’t get any tickets for any of the events I’d selected (cycling, athletics, badminton, swimming).
Now, given that the people that were unsuccessful first time round were supposed to get priority this time round I was somewhat dismayed to find out that at 8am (the website opened at 6am) absolutely nothing was available.
So the “greatest” show on earth will be coming to London, 45 minutes away, and I can’t even purchase tickets, through the official sponsor Visa’s gateway, to a less popular sports qualification round. Great work LOCOG.
The following article highlights just how ridiculous the situation is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jun/24/london-olympics-visa-card-tickets
Astonishingly the site then goes on to tell customers how to apply for a Visa card, saying “the easiest way to obtain a Visa card is to contact your existing bank which will be able to help you to select and apply for a Visa card that most suits your needs. Alternatively anyone can purchase a Visa prepaid card from a Visa card issuer which can be used immediately. Please visit the Visa website for details.”
I wonder how much Seb Coe got for that pretty little deal.
Triathlon Season Soon
Can’t wait for a full years go at Triathlons, hopefully I can remain injury free enough and finally get my Ironman under my belt.