The clock is ticking before the birth of my third child - October 14 is the date we have been given for a C-Section. So if you are wondering why things are quiet (and why there haven't been much in the way of Entrecard clicks from me recently) - my priorities are obviously elsewhere at the moment.
I hadn't expected to be this nervous about the whole thing, but to be honest I'm really starting to get a bit edgy now. I didn't realise just how badly it would get to me, and how difficult things like blogging would become. So far I've written this same bloody paragraph six times and I'm still having difficulties with it.
This wouldn't be so bad if I could use the excuse of being drunk, but sadly I'm stone cold sober and still making bot-all sense, so I'll cut this short. I will, of course, be posting here once the new arrival is safely out, but probably won't be online much until then.
Here we go. . .
Friday, 10 October 2008
Saturday, 4 October 2008
New Red Dwarf - coming soon. . . .
Yes, you heard me right, new episodes of the hit comedy show Red Dwarf are going into production!
Can we say yeah? I think we can. . .
YEAH!
Although the BBC turned down the chance of making the ninth series of Red Dwarf (the bastards! I want a refund on my license fee!) Dave, the free-to-air comedy channel has commissioned four new slices of Dwarfy goodness which will be shown to commemorate the show's 21st birthday.
As confirmed on the Red Dwarf website, the new episodes are:
So essentially that is one new one-hour special, a making of documentary, and a clips show. If it is a success (and how could it not be) then it could pave the way for a full series - or more specials.
Can we say yeah? I think we can. . .
YEAH!
Although the BBC turned down the chance of making the ninth series of Red Dwarf (the bastards! I want a refund on my license fee!) Dave, the free-to-air comedy channel has commissioned four new slices of Dwarfy goodness which will be shown to commemorate the show's 21st birthday.
As confirmed on the Red Dwarf website, the new episodes are:
| Show One - The Making Of The Specials |
| A highly entertaining look at what goes on behind the scenes on a Red Dwarf production. |
| Show Two - Red Dwarf Special: Part One |
| The cast get back into character, and costume, a decade on... |
| Show Three - Red Dwarf Special: Part Two |
| The adventure continues... |
| Show Four - A Clip Show With a Serious Difference |
| The cast do it their way. Red Dwarf as you have never, ever seen it before! |
So essentially that is one new one-hour special, a making of documentary, and a clips show. If it is a success (and how could it not be) then it could pave the way for a full series - or more specials.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Credit Crunch Cookery
Times are hard (so the papers are telling us) and so it is time to look at ways of stretching our resources a little bit farther.
Effective cooking is one way we can do that. What do I mean by effective? Not wasting ingredients, and being careful about where we shop.
For example, today being Sunday we have just had our family Sunday dinner. Roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding, braised carrots, cabbage and creamed potatoes (yum yum!). It being Sunday we all had larger than usual portions, so we are effectively catering for four adults (rather than two adults and two children).
The first place to make some savings is when buying the ingredients. To keep the price down I bought a large chicken from a budget supermarket, which came to £3.49. This is compared with a medium chicken from one of the larger "name brand" supermarkets for £4.49.
The chicken provided us with enough meat for two meals. The potatoes I bought locally for around £1.50 for a 4kg bag. My wife bought a "stew pack" from our local grocers for £1, which contained half-a-dozen large carrots, three onions, half a large cabbage and a decent sized turnip (so again, more than enough for another meal or two).
So the total cost for our Sunday dinner is around £6. But remember, that doesn't give us just the one meal. Half the meat on the chicken was used for the meal (and we were serving up LARGE portions here). The other half is going to be used in a Sweet-and-Sour sauce for our main meal tomorrow.
But wait, there is more. We've still got vegetables left to use, and the chicken carcass. As I type this the carcass is simmering away nicely to make chicken stock, this is going to be used tomorrow in a cabbage and cheese soup (using the remainder of the cabbage from today).
As for the rest of the vegetables, they'll end up being used in a vegetable stew (or we might use it to go with some stewing steak). The potatoes will be used throughout the week as parts of various meals too.
So our £6 outlay is going to give us the best part of four meals.
Thinking of Sunday lunch, another good budget stretching ingredient you can use is Pork Shank (ask your butcher for this one). This is the shoulder bone, shoulder meat and a good portion of skin (which is just the thing for making a good amount of pork crackling). A shoulder from our local butcher costs around £1.75 and easily provides enough roast pork for the four of us. The only thing to remember with a shoulder is to slow cook it for a couple of hours on a medium to low heat to get the meat nice and tender (three to four hours should do it).
Remember, just because you want to save some money, doesn't mean you can't eat well.
Effective cooking is one way we can do that. What do I mean by effective? Not wasting ingredients, and being careful about where we shop.
For example, today being Sunday we have just had our family Sunday dinner. Roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding, braised carrots, cabbage and creamed potatoes (yum yum!). It being Sunday we all had larger than usual portions, so we are effectively catering for four adults (rather than two adults and two children).
The first place to make some savings is when buying the ingredients. To keep the price down I bought a large chicken from a budget supermarket, which came to £3.49. This is compared with a medium chicken from one of the larger "name brand" supermarkets for £4.49.
The chicken provided us with enough meat for two meals. The potatoes I bought locally for around £1.50 for a 4kg bag. My wife bought a "stew pack" from our local grocers for £1, which contained half-a-dozen large carrots, three onions, half a large cabbage and a decent sized turnip (so again, more than enough for another meal or two).
So the total cost for our Sunday dinner is around £6. But remember, that doesn't give us just the one meal. Half the meat on the chicken was used for the meal (and we were serving up LARGE portions here). The other half is going to be used in a Sweet-and-Sour sauce for our main meal tomorrow.
But wait, there is more. We've still got vegetables left to use, and the chicken carcass. As I type this the carcass is simmering away nicely to make chicken stock, this is going to be used tomorrow in a cabbage and cheese soup (using the remainder of the cabbage from today).
As for the rest of the vegetables, they'll end up being used in a vegetable stew (or we might use it to go with some stewing steak). The potatoes will be used throughout the week as parts of various meals too.
So our £6 outlay is going to give us the best part of four meals.
Thinking of Sunday lunch, another good budget stretching ingredient you can use is Pork Shank (ask your butcher for this one). This is the shoulder bone, shoulder meat and a good portion of skin (which is just the thing for making a good amount of pork crackling). A shoulder from our local butcher costs around £1.75 and easily provides enough roast pork for the four of us. The only thing to remember with a shoulder is to slow cook it for a couple of hours on a medium to low heat to get the meat nice and tender (three to four hours should do it).
Remember, just because you want to save some money, doesn't mean you can't eat well.
Friday, 26 September 2008
You don't know Jack. . . .
Famous shyster John "Jack" Thompson is to be disbarred within the next 30 days - but not for ten years as was originally recommended, but permanently.
The conclusion to the recommendation by Judge Tunis goes as follows:
The Florida Bar has recommended disbarment for a period of ten (10) years. This Court respectfully declines to follow the Bar’s recommendation... This case involves factual findings of cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals, a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgement of inappropriate conduct...
. . .
The court has approved the recommendation, and so the clock is now ticking before everyone's favourite lawyer becomes an ex-lawyer (at least in Florida).
The Court approves the corrected referee's report and John Bruce Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed.
Is Jack going to take this lying down? Not likely. He is attempting to appeal the decision and, of course, is letting everyone know his own peculiar slant on the events, as evidenced in his latest press release:
I'm going to make something clear. If it comes to the idea of restricting the sale of violent games to children then hey, I'm in favour of that. Age ratings for games and parental involvement (at least in the UK) achieves just that. Same for restricting access to "certain materials" on the Internet. As a parent, it is my responsibility to protect my children from that. My responsibility, not Jack Thompson's.
As an adult gamer I have the right to play the games that I want to, and as a parent I also have the right to prevent my children from playing those games, if I deem them inappropriate. I don't need some legal muchkin to tell me right from wrong. I'm capable of deciding that for myself thank you very much.
As someone in his mid thirties who has been a gamer for most of his life, I can honestly say that I've never murdered anyone, gone on any killing sprees, stolen any cars or any of the other things that Jack claims that games are training us for. And yes, I have played Grand Theft Auto.
Accepting responsibility for ones own actions is something that we all should be able to do, but if you think Mr Thompson is going to do that, then you don't know Jack.
references
http://kotaku.com/5023418/thompson-judge-recommends-permanent-disbarment
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/07/09/we-have-judge039s-report-recommending-permanent-disbarment-jack-thompson
http://kotaku.com/5054772/jack-thompson-disbarred
http://kotaku.com/5054801/thompson-responds-to-disbarment
The conclusion to the recommendation by Judge Tunis goes as follows:
The Florida Bar has recommended disbarment for a period of ten (10) years. This Court respectfully declines to follow the Bar’s recommendation... This case involves factual findings of cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals, a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgement of inappropriate conduct...
. . .
Additionally, the Court is taking into consideration a review of the Respondent’s conduct not only as proven by the evidence, but by what this Court has witnessed of the Respondent’s behavior throughout the eighteen (18) months of litigation. The undersigned finds no evidence whatsoever to indicate that the Respondent is amenable to rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted...
Over a very extended period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern of conduct to strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try to bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he considers in opposition to his causes. He does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior, but rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those whom he perceives oppose him.
Read the full recommendation hereThe court has approved the recommendation, and so the clock is now ticking before everyone's favourite lawyer becomes an ex-lawyer (at least in Florida).
The Court approves the corrected referee's report and John Bruce Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed.
Is Jack going to take this lying down? Not likely. He is attempting to appeal the decision and, of course, is letting everyone know his own peculiar slant on the events, as evidenced in his latest press release:
Miami attorney Jack Thompson, nationally and internationally known by virtue of his effective and successful opposition over the last 20 years to the broadcast, marketing, and sale of adult-rated entertainment to children, has just been informed by the Florida Supreme Court that he has been disbarred from the practice of law today.
This disbarment is in retaliation, among other things, for Thompson’s Tyndale House book Out of Harm’s Way, published in 2005, which blew the whistle on the Florida Supreme Court’s earlier efforts in the 1990’s to literally pathologize his faith-based and successful activism against the American entertainment industry. The Florida Bar’s insurance carrier was forced to pay Thompson money damages for that earlier assault upon his First Amendment rights, which is the only known payment of damages by any state bar to any lawyer for improper disciplinary efforts. It appears that the State of Florida will be paying Thompson more damages this time around for its illegal, now repeated, use of “discipline” to punish a Christian lawyer for his activism in the public square.
The timing of this disbarment transparently reveals its motivation: This past Friday Thompson filed a federal civil rights action against The Bar, the Supreme Court, and all seven of its Justices. This rush to disbarment is in retribution for the filing of that federal suit. With enemies this foolish, Thompson needs only the loyal friends he has.
Thompson looks forward to successfully litigating his federal claims, now before US District Court Judge Marcia Cooke in the Southern District of Florida.
Thompson always wanted to own a Bar. Now, armed with multiple US Supreme Court rulings that no state bar can do what it has done to Thompson, he is set to own that Bar.
A wise man once said: "When you reach the bottom of your hole, you stop digging." Jack isn't a wise man and looks to be going out in his usual style - kicking, screaming and blaming various conspiracies for his current situation.I'm going to make something clear. If it comes to the idea of restricting the sale of violent games to children then hey, I'm in favour of that. Age ratings for games and parental involvement (at least in the UK) achieves just that. Same for restricting access to "certain materials" on the Internet. As a parent, it is my responsibility to protect my children from that. My responsibility, not Jack Thompson's.
As an adult gamer I have the right to play the games that I want to, and as a parent I also have the right to prevent my children from playing those games, if I deem them inappropriate. I don't need some legal muchkin to tell me right from wrong. I'm capable of deciding that for myself thank you very much.
As someone in his mid thirties who has been a gamer for most of his life, I can honestly say that I've never murdered anyone, gone on any killing sprees, stolen any cars or any of the other things that Jack claims that games are training us for. And yes, I have played Grand Theft Auto.
Accepting responsibility for ones own actions is something that we all should be able to do, but if you think Mr Thompson is going to do that, then you don't know Jack.
references
http://kotaku.com/5023418/thompson-judge-recommends-permanent-disbarment
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/07/09/we-have-judge039s-report-recommending-permanent-disbarment-jack-thompson
http://kotaku.com/5054772/jack-thompson-disbarred
http://kotaku.com/5054801/thompson-responds-to-disbarment
Thursday, 25 September 2008
First Aid at Work
Things have been a bit quiet this week on the blogging front. This has been due to my attending a four day "First aid at Work" course, and between that (and practising bandaging the kids) I've been more than a bit busy.
The course has involved pretty much what you'd expect, so as well as the bandaging, learning how to put someone into the recovery position, how to check for and deal with shock, poisons, breaks, burns, cuts and all sorts of other fun things, I've also spent a good deal of time learning CPR (or Frenching a rubber doll, as my Sister described it).
Today was the final refresher before my evaluation by the Red Cross to see if I have learned enough to be a qualified First Aider. Nervous doesn't even begin to describe it. As one of the other candidates put it, it is as bad as going to the dentist, or taking your driving test.
The tests were in three parts, first I had to perform CPR on the famous "Annie", after this I had to deal with a patient with severe blood loss from a cut hand (including treating him for shock), and lastly with an already unconscious patient to check for breathing and put her into the recovery position.
As the CPR one was first I wasn't as good on that as I would have liked, but after that the other parts went really well and yes, I passed with flying colours. Or with a small "First Aider" badge to be more exact. The final certificate etc are in the post to my company and hopefully should be there in the next couple of weeks.
The course has involved pretty much what you'd expect, so as well as the bandaging, learning how to put someone into the recovery position, how to check for and deal with shock, poisons, breaks, burns, cuts and all sorts of other fun things, I've also spent a good deal of time learning CPR (or Frenching a rubber doll, as my Sister described it).
Today was the final refresher before my evaluation by the Red Cross to see if I have learned enough to be a qualified First Aider. Nervous doesn't even begin to describe it. As one of the other candidates put it, it is as bad as going to the dentist, or taking your driving test.
The tests were in three parts, first I had to perform CPR on the famous "Annie", after this I had to deal with a patient with severe blood loss from a cut hand (including treating him for shock), and lastly with an already unconscious patient to check for breathing and put her into the recovery position.
As the CPR one was first I wasn't as good on that as I would have liked, but after that the other parts went really well and yes, I passed with flying colours. Or with a small "First Aider" badge to be more exact. The final certificate etc are in the post to my company and hopefully should be there in the next couple of weeks.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Back on the Code Face - Chaos Caverns Redux
Chaos Caverns has been worked on (and off) since 2006. It was written because, quite simply, I wanted to write a good old-fashioned platformer in the style of Manic Miner.
And so it came to pass.
Some people liked it, some people didn't. It kind of depends on whether you played the games that it is based around. Classic games like Manic Miner, Blagger, Technician Ted and Chuckie Egg didn't skimp on the difficulty, and Chaos Caverns takes the same line. All of the levels can be beaten with practice, but getting through all the levels in one go is a real challenge.
Well, eventually I stopped development on Chaos Caverns as, to be honest, coding it wasn't fun anymore and I wanted to move on to other things. Around sixteen levels were completed for it, some based around the originals, some entirely new.
I'd always planned on having around 26 levels, many of them based on some of the other platform games of the time, but fell short of that goal. I've re-started development and have knocked out a set of "Chuckie Egg" themed levels (see the above screenshot).
My plan is to add new levels, drop some of the old ones and make some updates to the game code. I don't know how far I'll get, but it is nice to get back to coding something purely for the enjoyment of it.
I've no firm plans on any release dates yet, I'll have to see how things progress.
And so it came to pass.
Some people liked it, some people didn't. It kind of depends on whether you played the games that it is based around. Classic games like Manic Miner, Blagger, Technician Ted and Chuckie Egg didn't skimp on the difficulty, and Chaos Caverns takes the same line. All of the levels can be beaten with practice, but getting through all the levels in one go is a real challenge.
Well, eventually I stopped development on Chaos Caverns as, to be honest, coding it wasn't fun anymore and I wanted to move on to other things. Around sixteen levels were completed for it, some based around the originals, some entirely new.
I'd always planned on having around 26 levels, many of them based on some of the other platform games of the time, but fell short of that goal. I've re-started development and have knocked out a set of "Chuckie Egg" themed levels (see the above screenshot).
My plan is to add new levels, drop some of the old ones and make some updates to the game code. I don't know how far I'll get, but it is nice to get back to coding something purely for the enjoyment of it.
I've no firm plans on any release dates yet, I'll have to see how things progress.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
"And another thing. . ." - The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy book 6
"Anything that happens, happens. Anthing that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again. It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order, though." - Douglas Adams
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (in five parts) ended on a bit of a downer. If you haven't already read the books so far, and are planning to, then be warned, here be spoilers!
The last book "Mostly Harmless" pretty much guaranteed that there wouldn't be another book. Killing off all the major characters tends to do that. Bleak is one way of describing it. Gutting is another.
Douglas Adams did, however, regret ending the books that way, and was planning on one final book to give things a happy ending. Sadly he died before this was completed. The remains of what might have ended up as either a Dirk Gently book but was being adapted into the final Hitchhikers novel, was released as The Salmon of Doubt - and there the series ended.
Or so we thought.
I've often wondered what would happen if someone else tried to pick up the pieces and finish things off. Terry Pratchett would have been my choice to try this, or maybe Robert Rankin. I've even written some H2G2 fan fiction (not released anywhere, nor is it going to be).
It looks like I've not been the only one thinking about this. Eoin Colfer - the author behind the Artimus Fowl series - has been invited to write the final book in the series.
Eoin is going to be writing as himself, rather than ghost-writing as Douglas Adams (for want of a better phrase). I've got to admit that I've never read any of Eoin's novels, so it's difficult to say how I feel about this. I wonder if he is going to try and mimic the famous Douglas writing style, or if he is going to be writing a novel in his own style using the same characters.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (in five parts) ended on a bit of a downer. If you haven't already read the books so far, and are planning to, then be warned, here be spoilers!
The last book "Mostly Harmless" pretty much guaranteed that there wouldn't be another book. Killing off all the major characters tends to do that. Bleak is one way of describing it. Gutting is another.
Douglas Adams did, however, regret ending the books that way, and was planning on one final book to give things a happy ending. Sadly he died before this was completed. The remains of what might have ended up as either a Dirk Gently book but was being adapted into the final Hitchhikers novel, was released as The Salmon of Doubt - and there the series ended.
Or so we thought.
I've often wondered what would happen if someone else tried to pick up the pieces and finish things off. Terry Pratchett would have been my choice to try this, or maybe Robert Rankin. I've even written some H2G2 fan fiction (not released anywhere, nor is it going to be).
It looks like I've not been the only one thinking about this. Eoin Colfer - the author behind the Artimus Fowl series - has been invited to write the final book in the series.
Eoin is going to be writing as himself, rather than ghost-writing as Douglas Adams (for want of a better phrase). I've got to admit that I've never read any of Eoin's novels, so it's difficult to say how I feel about this. I wonder if he is going to try and mimic the famous Douglas writing style, or if he is going to be writing a novel in his own style using the same characters.
Monday, 15 September 2008
George Formby - Cleaning Windows
I just don't know what to say. Really I don't.
Stevie Riks is, well, indescribable.
Head on over to his Youtube channel for more than 300 (!) different videos, including his impressions of The Beatles, Freddie Mercury, The Monkees, Leo Sayer, George Formby, David Bowie and loads more.
Just be warned, you could be there some time!
Stevie Riks is, well, indescribable.
Head on over to his Youtube channel for more than 300 (!) different videos, including his impressions of The Beatles, Freddie Mercury, The Monkees, Leo Sayer, George Formby, David Bowie and loads more.
Just be warned, you could be there some time!
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Squid in American Sauce
A couple of months ago I'd bought a tin of Ocean Sea "Squid stuffed with tentacles in American Sauce" whilst in our local Lidl. I quite like squid. I especially like the look on other peoples faces when I order it in a restaurant.
My children also like squid, and if I'm trying to eat battered squid rings it tends to be a fight as to who gets them.
Squid stuffed with tentacles is another matter entirely. Now I've had barbecued squid with tentacles once before, and quite enjoyed it, in fact the tentacles are the tastiest part of the squid (you'll probably have to trust me on this), but the kids for some reason didn't fancy trying any.
The big problem with the tinned squid is this: what the hell do I do with it now that I've bought it? The tin itself doesn't give any clues on how to cook it. Do I eat it out of the tin? Should I reheat it? Should I drop it in the bin and run screaming from the kitchen? What do I do?
Google wasn't a lot of help this time round, in fact other than finding other people with the same question about what to do with it, there wasn't an awful lot of answers.
I did, however spot some hints, so if you are brave enough to have these in the cupboard and want to know what to do with it then read on:
Cooking Squid in American Sauce
Ingredients
1 tin of Squid in American Sauce
1 medium potato
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
Peel and cube the potato (1/2 cm cubes is probably about right), then fry in the oil over a medium heat until starting to brown (around ten minutes). Stir constantly as otherwise the potatoes will stick to the bottom of the pan.
Turn down to a lower heat, add the sauce from the tinned squid and cook for another five minutes, stirring regularly.
Finally, add the squid and cook for another five to ten minutes until the squid is tender.
Serve, and enjoy!
I really should have photographed this (I'll have to do that next time), so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it really doesn't look that appetising, even to someone who actually enjoys eating squid. As my eight-year-old daughter said as she examined the pan, "That looks like yuck!"
The important thing is the taste, and boy, does this ever taste good! The potatoes melt in the mouth, the American Sauce turns out to be a spicy chilli, onion and tomato sauce, and works to flavour the squid really nicely. The squid was nicely soft with a pretty meaty consistency.
More surprising was the opinion of the kids, my daughter and five-year-old son both dug in and after trying the potatoes, both of them moved on to the squid and the tentacles. Seeing as they came back a couple of times for more squid (my son nearly ate as much as I did) I'll certainly have to look at getting this again.
You get around half a dozen small squid to the tin, and this works surprisingly well as a snack meal. Just don't look too closely at it before you eat it.
footnote
I've just had another search and have found an alternative recipe. Don't say I don't spoil you. . .
My children also like squid, and if I'm trying to eat battered squid rings it tends to be a fight as to who gets them.
Squid stuffed with tentacles is another matter entirely. Now I've had barbecued squid with tentacles once before, and quite enjoyed it, in fact the tentacles are the tastiest part of the squid (you'll probably have to trust me on this), but the kids for some reason didn't fancy trying any.
The big problem with the tinned squid is this: what the hell do I do with it now that I've bought it? The tin itself doesn't give any clues on how to cook it. Do I eat it out of the tin? Should I reheat it? Should I drop it in the bin and run screaming from the kitchen? What do I do?
Google wasn't a lot of help this time round, in fact other than finding other people with the same question about what to do with it, there wasn't an awful lot of answers.
I did, however spot some hints, so if you are brave enough to have these in the cupboard and want to know what to do with it then read on:
* * * * * *
Cooking Squid in American Sauce
Ingredients
1 tin of Squid in American Sauce
1 medium potato
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
Peel and cube the potato (1/2 cm cubes is probably about right), then fry in the oil over a medium heat until starting to brown (around ten minutes). Stir constantly as otherwise the potatoes will stick to the bottom of the pan.
Turn down to a lower heat, add the sauce from the tinned squid and cook for another five minutes, stirring regularly.
Finally, add the squid and cook for another five to ten minutes until the squid is tender.
Serve, and enjoy!
* * * * * *
I really should have photographed this (I'll have to do that next time), so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it really doesn't look that appetising, even to someone who actually enjoys eating squid. As my eight-year-old daughter said as she examined the pan, "That looks like yuck!"
The important thing is the taste, and boy, does this ever taste good! The potatoes melt in the mouth, the American Sauce turns out to be a spicy chilli, onion and tomato sauce, and works to flavour the squid really nicely. The squid was nicely soft with a pretty meaty consistency.
More surprising was the opinion of the kids, my daughter and five-year-old son both dug in and after trying the potatoes, both of them moved on to the squid and the tentacles. Seeing as they came back a couple of times for more squid (my son nearly ate as much as I did) I'll certainly have to look at getting this again.
You get around half a dozen small squid to the tin, and this works surprisingly well as a snack meal. Just don't look too closely at it before you eat it.
footnote
I've just had another search and have found an alternative recipe. Don't say I don't spoil you. . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
