05 October 2010
Interesting Food Blogs In September 2010 (Part 1)
September has been a busy month for food bloggers. I think that is partly as many have had a holiday in August and recharged their batteries, but also it is harvest time and so there's a huge amount of culinary stimulation in the fields, gardens, markets and shops. For me, harvest time is perhaps the most wonderful time of year as the earth's bounty repays the effort you have put into the soil; perhaps not as light and joyful as spring and as full of promise, but fulsome.
At A Slice Of Cherry Pie run by Julia Parsons, there are a couple of a nice and simple looking recipes - Autumnal Welsh Lamb Steaks With Butter Beans and Baked Figs With Maple Syrup.
At Cannelle et Vanille (how come the photos are just so beautiful - it is just not fair as mine look like an amateur has snapped them however hard I try), Aran has been still enjoying her vacation in here native Basque region in Spain and wrote a beautiful piece about apples and an apple cake, which puts my efforts on apples to shame; I must try Aran's recipe as I am on a quest for a decent apple cake at the moment. Also, I love her post about mushroom picking with her father as my mum enjoys her mushroom foraging at this time of year, which earths her back to the soil; I am so pleased that the mushrooms were cooked in a simple risotto dish as good food should be simple and natural and not overfussy. Finally, the Leek, Butternut Squash and Potato Soup with the Apple and Gruyere Muffins have a delectable, autumnal feel about them, but with the amount of apples I have got at home an apple soup recipe would have been welcomed with open arms.
At Chocolate And Zucchini, there is a really useful post called Tomato Burger Buns, which sounds intriguing as a title. What interested me the most was the links into an article in the New York Times about the perfect hamburger. So I feel minded to rekindle my quest for the perfect burger, which can restart now that the nights are drawing in and I have some inspiration for the buns' component, which was where I had been struggling for a way forward.
At Chubby Hubby, he and his wife flew off to Bangkok to eat at David Thompson's new restaurant and has shared the recipe for Grilled Pork Neck With A Spicy Sour Sauce, which has that wonderfully Thai feel to it. This links in nicely to a pre-press viewing at Delicious Days of David Thompson's up and coming book on Thai street food - David Thompson's Pork Skewers; they also do not seem too hot so would be great as children's food.
At CookSister, there is a fabulous round up of braai recipes in celebration of national (South African) barbecue day; I like the sticky pork ribs from Simply Delicious and a Kudu Potjie which is a really traditional South African type of pot cooked casserole and Cooksister's own Whole Leg Of Lamb Barbecue and later her Lamb Sosaties. There is a definite autumnal, harvest-like feel to Stuffed Courgettes and inspires me to cook up our marrows from the garden.
David Lebovitz has been busy travelling to Ireland and showing folks around Paris on a chocolate tour. In amongst it all, he has included some great recipes - a recipe for a brown soda bread inspired by his trip to Ireland and a lovely post about making butter in Cork, as well as a perfect sounding Plum And Rhubarb Crumble cooked by the lovely Rachel Allen, who is one of my favourite cooks.
Helen at Fuss Free Flavours has cooked a healthy and wholesome courgette and red lentil dhal and a Four Seed Tapenade that would be excellent on pasta, plus a Harissa Lentil Salad With Lettuce which (I must declare an interest here) uses my Harissa With Rose Seasoning. I like the idea of the Polenta Bread that uses this corn meal staple within the bread; with Helen Best-Shaw and David Lebovitz baking bread, I reckon this winter is going to involve experiments with bread making, something which has been hold for a couple of years now.
...continues in part 2 [lots of activity in blogosphere this month]...
