Second Shot

Cor Blimey Guv’nor, not again!

Those of you that have been here before will notice the new decor – it’s so much smarter than previously and things are easier on the eye. I’ve gone for the fairly minimalistic style and essentially stripped down my website into a number of blogs – uniform and classy, if I say so myself.

If you’re new, then welcome as you’ve got here just in time for what should be the final design of Second Shot. It’s nothing more than a website for personal blogging and logging of hobbies – yes, just like a bazillion other sites out there – and no, there’s nothing special about this one.

Regarding the multiple blogs, the RSS feed (at the top menu bar) feeds only from the main homepage. But fear not, as I will notify you of posts within the Sight, Sound and Taste areas with a homepage post (if I feel they require one).

Enjoy the new look, and send me comments if you want.

A nicer (albeit more expensive) alternative to Christmas turkey. The window to get the right cooking time is, I feel, slightly more flexible than most other roast meats, although I’ve usually stuck to the right time so haven’t really gone too far in overcooking.

Cooking time:
15-minutes per 500g, plus 20-minutes at the end.

It may not sound like enough cooking time but it does turn out to be pretty accurate, but if you’re worried you can always leave it in the oven for 5-10 minutes more.

Tips
Season with salt and pepper, and whatever else you think goes with goose. Stick an onion inside, too – whole, halved, sliced, whatever you like.

If you place the goose on a rack, you’ll get a crispy underside (as well as cripy top) – otherwise, don’t worry about it as it’s not really that important.

You should foil-wrap the goose from the start, removing the foil for the last 40-minutes to crisp the top. Also at this point, drain the excess fat and use it for roasting potatoes.

After the cooking time, leave out for at least 10-minutes before carving. The goose should continue to cook slightly (which means you might not need to leave it for the aforementioned ‘worried 5-10 minutes’), and I find a slightly cooled down roast (also for beef, pork, etc) retains the moisture in the meat during the carving. Many a time I’ve been too keen to carve a roast beef and all the juice oozes out onto the chopping board – absolutely wasted.

Classic and quick starter that kind of cleans the palate for the mains.

You Need
2 avocados (for three people)
Handful of cooked and peeled prawns
Juice of half a lemon
Salt
Thousand Island dressing or Salad Cream

To Start With
1. Halve and de-stone avocados, and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.
2. Using a fork, mash up the avocados into a chunky paste (lumps of avocado provides texture).
3. Add lemon juice, prawns and mix together.
4. Add a little dressing or salad cream, better little than too much otherwise it’s overpowering and you’ll lose the (already faint) avocado taste.
5. Add salt to taste.

Crusty bread should be good with this. I tried Crackerbread and it was not bad at all.

Tasty beef and vegetable stew with a zinging taste of mustard.

You Need
1kg braising/stewing beef, chunky cubes
500g potatoes, chunky cubes
400g mushrooms, halved
3 courgettes, thickly sliced
3 carrots, thickly sliced
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper
Light soy sauce
Wholegrain mustard
Beef stock cube

To Start With
1. Dice the onion and garlic cloves, and put in large pot with oil. Fry for 5 minutes. Then add cubed beef (one-and-half inch cubes, at least) to seal the outsides.
2. Add salt and pepper, three tablespoons of soy sauce and stir. Then add boiling water to cover meat and put the lid on.
3. Prepare the carrots, courgettes, mushrooms and potatoes.
4. After 15 minutes of stewing, add the potatoes and more water to just below the content’s surface. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat slightly so it’s not furiously bubbling (yet above simmering temperature).
5. After another 15 minutes, add the carrots and beef stock cube and mix.
6. A further 5 minutes later, add the courgettes and mushrooms, 2-3 heaped teaspoons of mustard and mix well. Taste and add salt/pepper/soy sauce/mustard if required.
7. Check after 5 minutes, and see if there’s enough water (add more if necessary) and the consistency is slightly thick. The potatoes’ edges should have broken down to provide some thickening although cornflour may be required. The carrots should be soft and most likely the courgettes have disappeared. Add salt/pepper/soy sauce/mustard if required.

If served with rice, you can afford the stew to be slightly strong in taste.

My brother’s tip of adding a good helping of mustard transformed my otherwise bland beef stew into something with a nice zinging kick. You can stick with standard mustards or add your favourite.

Classic roast potatoes with the crispy edges. As soon as you start your main roast, throw these in the oven on the next highest shelf.

You Need
Marris Pipers (couple of handfuls)
Cooking oil (or Goose fat for extra taste, apparently)

To Start With
1. Boil water with some salt in a sauce pan, and put a good layer of cooking oil on a flat tray and place in a hot oven.
2. Peel and chop potato into large chunks (at least inch-and-half cubes).
3. Boil potatoes for about 15-20 minutes (outside just soft, centre slightly hard) and drain water (but keep for stock).
4. With the potatoes inside the pan, place the lid on and give it a few up-down shakes to further soften the surfaces of potatoes.
5. Put the potatoes on the hot oil tray and spoon oil over with the potatoes to ensure they are well covered (add more oil if necessary).
6. Bung ‘em in the oven until your roast is done, or for at least 30-minutes.

*Not Catherine Tate, unless you’re that way inclined. To chop her up into teeny-weeny pieces. Then to bake her. And serve her up with custard. You sicko.

The classic apple crumble that you might remember from school dinners, but this one actually tastes good. You can add any number of other fruit, such as rhubarb or raspberries, to further its taste.

You Need
Filling:
400g cooking apples
2-3 handfuls of other fruit (recommended)
50g brown sugar
1 tbps plain flour
Pinch of cinnamon

Crumble:
350g plain flour
175g brown sugar
200g butter/margarine
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cinnamon

To Start With
1. Peel, core and dice (inch-and-half cubes) cooking apples.
2. Dice other fruit (if necessary).
3. Put all fruit and sugar into a pan with a touch of water (to keep it from burning), and bring to simmer until apples are soft but not mushy, and there is a syrupy liquid.
4. Place cooked fruit into oven-proof dish, stir in plain flour and cinnamon and leave to settle.
5. Meanwhile, soften the butter and add in flour and salt.
6. Using your fingers and thumbs, rub the flour into the butter. Once the micture becomes tacky to the feel, add sugar.
7. Continue to rub the flour into the butter until the mixture does not stick to fingers (this may require additional flour). It may be still lumpy, but it should rub into small crumbs with ease.
8. Lightly spoon a layer of crumble onto the fruit so as to absorb any standing syrup, and then add further layers until crumble is used.
9. Place at top of oven, Gas Mark 6, for 30-minutes or until crumble is solid and golden.
10. Serve with double cream or custard.

Grand Canyon, Arizona (2006)

From my trip to Las Vegas, I managed to get a nice panoramic from the Grand Canyon West Rim. From the picture it is difficult to get an idea of the depth of the Canyon, which is why you really have to take a visit out there and see it for yourselves.

You will need to click on the OK button to allow the “ActiveX control” to load the movie clip. Don’t worry, it’s all good.

Post your comments below.