Poussin.

It makes a bit of a change, so when Susie and Kimbo came for Sunday Lunch, I offered them Poussin rather than the usual leg of Lamb or roast Pork.

Half a Poussin is enough for anyone; a whole Poussin is too much.

I lightly seasoned them, and swathed them in streaky bacon. An hour in the oven accompanied by some spuds, and Bob's your Uncle. 

As with a roast Chicken, there are plenty of bones left over for stock. We eat Vegetable Soup every day for lunch, so a good supply of stock is essential.

Poussin are not very exciting, but there's plenty of meat on them, and they look nice. Two birds is the equivalent of one Chicken. A Poussin is basically a small Chicken of less than 28 days old, and weighing between 400 and 450 gms.

As an aside; the 'Guy Degrenne' stainless steel serving dish (above) comes from France. Back in the 70's and 80's EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, had a set of these. We have everything from round bowls to tiny saucers for Olives. They came as a set of about 12 different shaped and sized pieces, and have proved extremely useful ever since I bought them. Sadly I think they are no longer made, otherwise I would buy more as gifts.

 

Wild-ish Mushrooms?

Whilst Kimbo was recently galivanting out in the Sussex countryside, buying wood for his fire, he also popped into a nearby Farmer's Market, where he bought me this fabulous boxed selection of mushrooms. The only one's I recognised, and have previously eaten, were the pale grey Oyster Mushrooms. The others were all a bit of a mystery.

The rather thick stemmed ones in the top middle are becoming very popular in the UK, but don't ask me what they're called.

Of course, the best thing to do with such delights is to make an omelet.

And, it was totally delicious. If you should see such a selection of wild-ish mushrooms on your travels, don't hesitate. They are superb.

                                         

New proof?

Some very wise, and no doubt well-paid, boffins have recently declared that The Shroud of Turin is 100% GENUINE.

Oh dear, oh dear. Let's start with the basics. Looking at the human figure imprinted on the cloth, the cloth would have to have been rigid, flat, and laid lengthways, like a sheet of glass, floating over the figure for any 'photographic' image to have been magically imprinted. This, of course, never happens when a body is wrapped for burial. Bodies are 'swathed' in cloth; round and round, not up and down in one long rigid piece.

No, I'm sorry folks, but this is an artists image. An image of a Caucasian hippy with long hair and a beard. The classic image from story-books that we are now told would have looked nothing like the true subject matter at all.

It is 'possible' that the artist got some model to lie down, covered him in paint, then manually pressed a cloth all over to create the image, but even that I think is a bit far-fetched. Much easier to have painted it directly.

I doubt if the image was originally designed to fool anyone, it is simply an 'illustration' to decorate a chapel, or other religious building. Such things were created in an age when reading and writing was rare, and 'easy to understand' images were used to illustrate religious stories. What better way to illustrate a story than with a 'visual relic'.

Of course, if any religious tale, activity, or object, gives comfort to their followers, then that is fine by me. It simply proves that it is effective!

Obviously the 'Turin shroud effect' is still working.
 

Bikes.

Now that my 'Rugby knee' no longer allows me to ride a push bike, I would really like to buy myself a motorised version.

This one (above) is my sort of bike. A bike that could go anywhere. It has a polished fuel tank, nice chunky tyres, and a great look. I might change the seat for something less 'podgy', and remove the 43 number, but otherwise both me and Steve McQueen would happily be seen on board this baby.

My only problem is that I never learned how to change gears on a bike, so maybe an 'automatic' version could be made.

I'd buy a cheeky black peaked helmet, and some black leather gloves; and maybe even a MOTORHEAD T Shirt.

So, look out Brighton; there could soon be a new biker on the loose. Tally Ho!

 

Another week goes by.

I promise I won't mention Tr*mp.

Last Sunday, France's 6 Nations Rugby team beat Italy by 73 points to 24. I've never heard of such a score. They would hardly have had time for the occasional wet sponge. I missed the match; I was at the theatre.

The world is becoming a very dangerous place, even on the domestic front. One thing I really dislike writing about is the constant bad behaviour of asylum-seeking immigrants. Sadly so many are involved in criminal gangs, drug dealing, shoplifting, pickpocketing, anti-social behaviour, etc, that sometimes one wonders if any of them are honest at all.

The latest scandal has been over in Ireland where knife attacks (the above photo is actually in Leeds), drug turf wars, and general violence has made the streets of Dublin into no-go zones for many natives. They run-riot with machetes in the centre of Dublin, and, as they know they can get away with it, they simply do what they want. With their hoodies and face-masks, there's no-one to stop them other than a few vigilantes; and even they have no real powers. Very worrying and disappointing!

Drunken Socialist MP, Mike Amesbury, has been jailed for 10 weeks (now suspended for 2 years) after sucker-punching one of his constituents (see interesting video below). It was such a brutal punch that I might recommend him to play for Croydon Rugby Club. He would make a perfect addition to their team. Of course, he's been booted out of the Socialist Party, but luckily for him, his huge salary continues to be paid. Amesbury and fellow Socialist John Prescott would have made great sparring partners. It's good to know we can all go around knocking the lights out of innocent bystanders with impunity! Or is that only if you're an MP?

It's also good to know that the BBC spends our TV Licence Fee wisely. Their recent 'unbiased' view of Gaza was narrated by the young son of the Hamas Minister of Agriculture (whatever that means), and seemed to entirely forget that it was his father's terrorist chums who caused the recent conflict. I think it's about time that the BBC payed their own way if they're going to continue with their extreme terrorist-friendly political leanings. I don't want my Licence fee paying for that rubbish. It cost us £400,000; how much of which went direct to Hamas terrorists, they have yet to reveal.

Both our national treasure actress Susan Hampshire, and Lady Victoria Hervey were mugged in London this week for their phones. Even the rich, famous, and vulnerable aren't immune. Could someone please manufacture a faux, exploding phone that we would be happy to have stolen?

At last some common sense from Hamas. Billionaire Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzouk, has said he regrets the October 7th attack. Knowing now how the retaliation would have developed, he thinks it was a bad idea. A bit late mate! Did he honestly think that Israel wouldn't retaliate???

The charming Jas Athwal MP (Socialist) has stood down as a councillor in S London on account of the appalling state of his SEVEN rental properties; which includes a Children's Home. It seems that insect infestations and black mold have made the properties uninhabitable, but he doesn't seem to care as long as the money keeps rolling in. Hey Ho!

And finally, the Catholic church is hoping to boost it's funds after they admit to having spent $5 Billion in hush money to sex abuse victims over the past 20 years. Those naughty Catholic priests; it doesn't get any better, does it! 

SCUM.

 

The word 'Scum' is not one I use willy-nilly. However, in this case it is perfectly warranted.

I cannot understand why young people should go into our lovely churchyard (or anywhere else) on a sunny lunchtime, to eat their McSandwich and drink their McBlotto, then simply leave all their detritus around where they were sitting.

When I was small there were two things that were totally forbidden; dropping litter, and eating in the street. Both of these now seem obligatory to the Gen Z'ers. I would no more have left an empty bottle on the ground, than I would have punched a Policeman. It was something we simply DID NOT DO!

So WHY? Why do they do it? Did no-one mention to them that it is anti-social? Did their parents, sadly, lead by example? What goes through their effing minds? Why-o-why do young people leave so much bloody rubbish behind them, everywhere they go?

We have Parking wardens who issue tickets to illegal parkers, so why don't we have Litter wardens to fine these scumbags. They would need a camera with a good telephoto lens (proof), a tazer, a pair of handcuffs and the power to issue an instant £500 fine (or be sent to a compound until they pay-up). The service would pay for itself and probably even make a profit. We really do need to be tough with these scumbags.

It makes me so angry!

Bacon; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I don't buy cheap bacon, but here in the UK it hardly seems to matter what one buys, as it all contains water and 'gunk'. I have never seen so much white 'gunk' coming from a frying rasher of bacon as I see here. It really is quite disgusting.

When frying most UK bacon, both water and 'gunk' flood out, leaving a watery white goo in the pan (see below). This is easily removed, but why is it there in the first place?

In France I can buy superb bacon, but I often make my own. I buy a large slab of Belly Pork, cover in salt, sugar, and freshly ground pepper, leave for about 4 days, then brush away all the salt and hang in an airy place for a few weeks (below in our fireplace). Yes, it really is that simple!

The resulting bacon (pancetta) is delicious, and no 'gunk' appears when frying.

If you have a reliable source of good quality Belly Pork, and you eat bacon regularly, then this is a good method to provide yourself with the cheapest and best (see below).

I seem to remember that Hugh Fearnley-Thing gave a simple recipe for home-made bacon in his first River Cottage book.

Here's one I made earlier (below).