A Souper Idea

On trying to find out the meaning of a 'cabinet particulier' (a private room, it turns out, in 19th century top-notch Parisian restaurants, popular for lovers' rendezvous) I accidentally found out where the term 'restaurant' itself is thought to have originated: in the mid 1800s, an enterprising French soup-maker named Monsieur Boulanger began advertising his 'restoratives' - or 'restaurants' - soups and broths designed to turn the frail to hail and hearty...et voila: le reste, as they say, is histoire.

Snap, Gaggle and Pop

Amy, one of the guys involved in Transit Antenna, made this life- sized goose sculpture from Rice Krispies and marshmallows for a birthday party. The goose's head became such a coveted body part amongst the young guests that she had to hold an impromptu dance competition to decide who would get it! http://transitantenna.com/

Satay-sty....

I only had a couple of minutes-worth of energy and a slightly odd bunch of vegetables left to cook with tonight, but managed to throw together something by accident that came out yummy.....so here's a recipe for a last-minute, ten-minute coconut vegetable satay (just put your rice on to cook before you get sataying):

Two parsnips

One onion

Olive oil

Soy sauce

Mirin

Two big sprigs of broccoli

Large handful of asparagus

Yellow pepper

Vegetable stock-cube

One can of coconut milk

Around three tablespoons of unsweetened peanut butter (crunchy works fine)

One lemon

A dash of sambal or chilli sauce, if you're in the mood

Chop and soften the onion in a little oil, then add the parsnip, cut into fingers, a good dash of soy sauce and the same of mirin. Cook for a couple of minutes, then throw in the rest of the vegetables and stir-fry for two more minutes. Add the coconut milk and a little vegetable stock, mix and cook for two more minutes, then stir in the dollops of peanut butter. Turn off the heat, and let it simmer; the heat should cook the vegetables until they're al dente. Just before serving, add some more soy sauce, a good squeeze of lemon juice, a jolt of spicy sauce if you feel like it, and throw over a large pile of brown rice. Instant dinner, and a taste of Indo-Thai yumminess.

World on a Plate...from the Sydney International Food Festival

Big Mike and fries, to go

"After a two year loan to the United States, Michelangelo's David is being returned to Italy"

A little Facebook gem courtesy of artist John Beazley

Charaben-tastic

Sick of plain old cucumber maki ? Go creative at lunchtime with a Charaben (character bento box), so popular in Japan that there are nationwide contests to find the perfectly constructed world-in-a-snack. For more inspiration on how to turn your carrots to cartoons, go to Lucky Sundae's Flickr photostream or an instructional video on tofu robots at Wired.com - it certainly beats a cheese-and-pineapple hedgehog.

The Moveable Feast

It is said that the tradition of brightly coloured eggs began in Ancient Persia to mark the coming of spring. Simnel cake, a fruit cake decorated with eleven marzipan balls to represent the apostles, (not including Judas, of course, that biblical bad egg) is now the Easter cake of choice in Britain and has been around since the Middle Ages. The inspiration for this cake, however, lies more with Mr Cadbury than Gilgamesh. It seemed fitting for a little girl's early easter egg hunt, I hope she enjoys it!

I Can't Believe It's Butter

Stuck for something to do this weekend? Mark the progress of Obama's healthcare bill by taking inspiration from food sculptor Jim Victor and friends. Simply haul in a kilo or two of Lurpak or a large lump of Edam and start crafting a statue of the man himself, just like sculptor Marie Pelton, whose 'Obama and McCain' was the talk of the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. And we thought politicians were cheesy enough already.

Pigs Feet and English Monkeys

In the thick of research for my new book, I came across Healy & Bigelow's (my fictional heroes) New Cook Book from 1890, which contains recipes for such culinary gems as Pork Cake, Eagle Cake and Cheap Cookies. So, in case you've ever had spare pigs' trotters lying around and wondered what to do with them, here is the solution, with the genuine 'flavor of the farmyard.' No primates, partial or whole, are required for an English Monkey.

Awesome Cupcakes for Prison Officers

Peanut butter and jelly cupcakes...the good, the bad and the ugly of the cake world? So they're trashy, but they taste great. The fun part of these is injecting the jam. For this you need one of those plastic squeezy bottles, or a piping bag and metal nozzle, or a friendly nurse willing to sneak you a syringe. This recipe is from Buttercup Bakes at Home, one of the books by Manhattan's Buttercup Bakery.

Makes 12-14 large cupcakes

215g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
115g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
2 medium eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
180ml milk, tepid
1 tsp vanilla extract
About 200g jam, your favourite flavour (use one without bits)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line muffin tins with cases
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into bowl and set aside
3. Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, cream to butter and sugar for two or three minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs slowly, beating until well incorporated. If the mix starts to split, add a little flour to bring it back together. Add the dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla
4. Fill each cupcake case two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the tops spring back lightly when touched. Let them cool for ten minutes in the tins before cooling completely on wire rack
5. Now, the fun part. Zap the jam for a few seconds in the microwave and beat it a little so it's smooth. Fill your squeezy bottle or piping bag. Stick the nozzle into the top of each cupcake and give it a good squeeze. You want about a tablespoon of jam in each cupcake. Wipe off any excess that dribbles out of the cupcake. Ice with chunky peanut butter frosting

Chunky Peanut Butter Frosting

60g unsalted butter, softened
280g chunky peanut butter (I used Whole Earth)
110g cream cheese
250g icing sugar,sifted
1/2 tbsp milk

1. Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, beat the peanut butter and cream cheese to soften slightly, then add the butter. Beat for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy
2. On low speed, slowly add half the sugar and a few drops of milk. Increase the speed and mix thoroughly. Add the remaining sugar, and a few more drops of milk if it's a bit thick
3. On a high speed, beat until the frosting is fluffy. Watch it carefully, if your overbeat cream cheese, it goes runny. Ice your cupcakes immediately and enjoy!

Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?

Ideal for exterminating killer rabbits and 90s revival dinner parties, a bottle of Chambord is a must for every globe shaped bar. For the perfect French Martini, shake two shots of Finlandia vodka, a shot of Chambord, 12 raspberries, 40ml pineapple juice and a drop of sugar syrup together with lots of ice. Strain into two martini glasses and try not to slug it back in one...mmm.

Beastly buffets

Our friend Jana just returned from a Caribbean cruise with some holiday snaps of the beastly buffet spread. We'd love to meet the bored chef who came up with chicken mariachis and flying watermelon fish....but perhaps only with the sharp knives hidden well away.

As Easy as A, B, C

If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, these Helvetica cookie cutters by Beverly Hsu are a must for when you need to say, "Honey, I really love that sparkly necklace we saw on Saturday. Please buy it for me immediately." If all that will fit in the oven.

Twinkie Twinkie...

Why spend thousands on a stack of cupcakes or a twelve-tiered chocolate ganache to celebrate that special day, when you can buy a few packs of Twinkies and Ding-Dongs and be done with it (thanks to this culinary tip from Fugly.com)? Perhaps they could use the Twinkie Defense to get away with it....

Babycakes

Immortalise your newborn in a slab of sponge. The question is, who gets the head....

YouTube - The Making of Sculpted Baby Cake

A little Iraqi eggplant never hurt anyone

A suitable way to mark the Hurt Locker's Oscar victory is with a healthy dose of that grenade-shaped vegetable, the aubergine - or eggplant, if you live closer to the red carpet than we do. Split open a pita, stuff in slices of boiled egg, boiled potato and fried aubergine, add a finely chopped tomato, onion and cucumber salad, pickled cucumbers, some fiery mango chutney (amba, as they say in those parts), a sprinkling of parsley and a drizzle of tahina, and voila - or yalla - an Iraqi sabich to make even a soldier weep. But perhaps that was just the onions.

Giving Head

You can't beat a good thick slice of head cheese - set your calf or sheep's head in aspic first thing in the morning, add a dash of bay, allspice and onion at lunchtime, and mmm....a late night surprise for your loved one. Vegetarians generally find artist Roxy Paine's delicious epoxy resin Head Cheese sculpture more to their taste.

Sole-food

In 1907, Miss Edith M. Gill, a headmistress from Wolverhampton, England, published her Cookery Book of Useful Recipes. Specialising in food for the infirm and weak of constitution, and a lecturer on Invalid Cookery for the Dudley Guest Hospital, she recommended the following for the weak and weary. Note that gills milk may not always be available at the 7/11.