Meme - Foodie Book Wisdom

The lovely Fiona over at The Cottage Smallholder has tagged me for a meme. This is a fun one.

The rules are:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Fiona has passed it on in the hope of keeping a foodie theme happening. I am happy to oblige. The nearest foodie books, were two old favourites sitting on my desk. They are my go to references for all kinds of foodie questions. I had pulled them out to look up cooking times for roast pork.

Surprisingly, the correct paragraphs in both books yielded something other than a list of ingredients or instructions to cream the butter and sugar and add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

Here they are.

Cook's Companion - Stephanie Alexander on basil

'Its most famous partnership is with a ripe tomato and extra virgin olive oil, although some might argue that pesto deserves that accolade. I have one Italian friend who tells me that he only ever eats his pesto the next season and that he makes bottles and leaves his pesto topped with a film of olive oil to mature. On the other hand, in Rome and other Italian towns where I have shopped, brilliant green, just-made pesto is on sale in every salumeria each day throughout the summer months.'

Delia's How to Cook Book Two - Delia Smith on cauliflower

'Then place them, along with the leaves, in a steamer, sitting them up vertically (ie stalk-side at the base and flower heads up). Now pop a bay leaf in, which has a fragrant affinity with cauliflower. I also add some salt, and I like to use another very English flavouring, nutmeg, which I grate lightly over the surface of the florets. Now pour in boiling water from the kettle and steam for 6-7 minutes, or until tender when tested with a skewer. Serve with a little butter or grated cheese , or in our modern variation of cauliflower cheese on page 135.'

So there you have it. I'm going to tag the following people whose blogs I enjoy:

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Kelly-Jane - Cooking the Books
Dharm - Dad, Baker & Chef
Chriesi - Almond Corner
Anita - Married With Dinner

What have the photos here got to do with anything. Well, nothing actually. I took them at the Botanical Gardens a few weeks back and I really like them. I have been looking for an excuse to post them. I still don't have one, so I am just going to do it anyway.