There can never be enough food programmes?

Source: BBC website

Channel-hopping on a cold January evening in Edinburgh - if you can describe switching back and forth between BBC1, BBC2, ITV Scotland and Channel 4 'channel-hopping' - I came across some kind of food programme starring two middle-aged, beer-bellied, bearded English men, who were motocycling through Portugal and talking about food. The men - though neither looking particularly handsome - were really charming and sounded intelligent and fun. They were not chefs, but during the very laid-back and relaxed programme they were cooking up rustic and delicious meals on a beach or riverside. Not sure why, but I was totally captivated and hungry for more. I was rather annoyed that I had missed the beginning of the show, and very disappointed that I couldn't find it on TV following week - I had hoped that it's another regular food programme. But no..

Imagine my joy then when I spotted these two guys in The Independent last Saturday! The article by Indy's arts correspondent Louise Jury was called Move over, Nigella: TV's new chefs are hairy bikers. Turns out the guys are called Dave Myers (from Barrow-in-Furness, former furnaceman in a steelworks and now a make-up artist at BBC specialising in prosthetic limbs! He's also a keen sailor) and Simon King (from Newcastle upon Tyne, is an assistant film director). The episode I saw in January was a pilot for their new show, a cross between travelogue and a culinary programme, The Hairy Bikers. Apparently the public went mad and really liked it, so they've since been commissioned by BBC 2 to do a total of 12 shows, taking them to Portugal, Transylvania, Namibia, Mexico, Lebanon, Syria, Vietnam, Ireland among other places.

The first of the two Hairy Bikers' Cookbooks is due next Spring.

I'll be waiting. There can never be enough good food programmes..

CopyCat: Pertelote's tuna and chickpea salad

This is my - may I say, rather successful - attempt at Pertelote's lovely tuna and chickpea salad. The recipe is available on Pertelote's blog (scroll down to May 15th). I cheated a little and used canned chickpeas instead, and replaced sherry vinegar with a dash of wine vinegar. And this was not in order to improve on the recipe - it was flawless - just I had no time to soak and cook the legumes and I didn't have any sherry vinegar in my cupboard.

Tuna & chickpea salad
(Kikerherne-tuunikalasalat)

400 grams canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
a jar of roasted peppers, cut into pieces
6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp wine vinegar
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed finely
0.5 tsp fennel seeds, crushed finely
0.5 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp smoked pimento paprika powder
250 grams canned tuna
a bunch of fresh flatleaf parsley, finely chopped

Fry the chopped onions in the olive oil until slightly opaque. Add the spices (reserving half of the smoked paprika for later) and heat gently to release the aromas.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Serve either on a buffet table or as a light lunch with bread and salad.

Very, very nice.. I usually make hummus or spicy chickpea curry with chickpeas, and canned tuna to make quick sandwich filling with mayo or then pasta with tuna and tomatoes. I do occasionally combine these two for a sandwich filling that's ideal for tortilla wraps. This tuna and chickpea salad was a lovely and interesting way to combine these two ingredients. Definitely a keeper.

Thanks Pertelote for a fab recipe, and to the passionate cook for writing about the dish in the context of Twickenham foodbloggers' meeting and thus enabling me to find it.

Mayonnaise cookies

Photo updated in December 2007 

Last night I made mayonnaise cookies again. They’ve been popular for ages back home and it wasn’t my first time to make them. I believe the original recipe came with some cookie press manual couple of decades ago, and has since been circling the kitchens of numerous cookie-bakers. The recipe below is different and even easier though, and can be found on many English-language recipe sites.

They’re dead easy to make and to be honest, they’re really yummy. Crispy-crumbly, with a slightly savoury, almost mustardy, tinge. Definitely worth a try. Last time I made them was in December – as part of a Xmas gift for a lactose-intolerant friend in Edinburgh. I sprinkled some cinnamon on top to make them more Christmassy, but they’re tasty as they are.

Needless to say that you need a good-quality proper plain mayonnaise (I used Hellman's Real Mayonnaise here) – nothing too chemical or flavoured. Though lemon mayonnaise could do? I'll reduce the amount of mayonnaise next time - maybe only taking 2 dl - as the biscuits were a bit too greasy for my liking.

Mayonnaise cookies
(Majoneesiküpsised)



200 g mayonnaise
170 g sugar
300 g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt

(or, if you don’t like the metric measurements, then take a scant cup of mayo and a cup of sugar, mix with two cups of flour, add a teaspoon of vanilla and another of baking soda).

Mix mayonnaise, sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix flour and baking soda, then add to the mayonnaise mixture. Mix thoroughly (you may want to add slightly more flour, or bran or oatmeal at this point).
Form into small walnut-size balls (roll in extra sugar, if you wish) and flatten slightly with a fork dipped into flour. (Or, if you're feeling adventurous, nick the idea from Nic of bakingsheet and press down with a ballon whisk. I did, though my whisk didn't make clear star shapes as Nic's.)



Photo updated in December 2007

Bake for 10-12 minutes in a pre-heated 180˚C/350 F oven.

Enjoy. And ask your fellow cookie nibblers to guess the main ingredient :)