Author: minceandskirlie

Writer, poet, musician, and sometime IT professional in the North East of Scotland.
Food and drink

Toad In The Hole

minceandskirlie

It’s time for a classic – Toad In The Hole. I haven’t made this for ages. No idea why as it’s all kinds of awesome. Massive yorkshire pudding with plump sausages and loads of gravy. Yum!

The Devenick Dairy were doing a deal on veal sausages at the farmers market recently so I thought they’d be a perfect match for some toad in the hole. Once defrosted it looked like there was a few more sausages in the pack than we initially thought but I cooked them all anyway and ate the rest after my run the next day. Gave me something to look forward to while I trudged up a big hill in Glen Tanar. Continue reading “Toad In The Hole” →

Food and drink, Uncategorized

Candlestick Maker Restaurant in Aboyne

minceandskirlie

It was Angela’s birthday last week which gave the perfect excuse (as if we needed it) to go for a slap up meal. I’ve driven through Aboyne a lot recently on my way to training with Deeside Runners at Glen Tanar and noticed a small restaurant which looked interesting. We checked it out online, booked a table and jumped on a bus heading west.

The Candlestick Maker in Aboyne is a small restaurant overlooking the village green. In previous lives it’s been a butchers and a bakers so you can see where the inspiration for the name came from. The restaurant promises a menu (£24.50 for two courses and £28 for 3) full of local produce which changes daily. Continue reading “Candlestick Maker Restaurant in Aboyne” →

Food and drink

All hail Caesar! (salad)

minceandskirlie

It’s probably about time we had a salad featured on this blog. No, wait! Come back! It’s not that kind of salad. Sure there’s lettuce in it but this is a caesar salad. King of the salads and a million miles away from boring rabbit food. Featuring bacon, awesome croutons, anchovies, cheese and roast chicken. Hail Caesar! Continue reading “All hail Caesar! (salad)” →

Recipe

Pissaladiere

minceandskirlie

I’m starting to get really excited about our upcoming holidays. I’ve wanted to go to the south of France for ages and in a few weeks we’ll be heading off to Nice for a week of living it up on the Riviera. There’s been a lot of time spent drooling over descriptions of restaurants in guidebooks and on TripAdvisor while I imagine all the delicious local specialities I’m going to gorge on. One speciality I don’t have to wait to try as I have a recipe for i already – Pissaladiere.

This is yet another Stephane Reynaud inspired dish. Sorry if you’re getting bored with me referring to him all the time but his books are fantastic. Continue reading “Pissaladiere” →

Food and drink

Potatoes Dauphinoise

minceandskirlie

Potatoes Dauphinoise… sounds difficult doesn’t it? This is a classic French dish after all so I don’t expect it’s easy. At least that’s what I thought. It makes regular appearances on Masterchef and various other haughty food programmes. It must take skill or they wouldn’t do it?

Actually no. Basically it seems all you do is slice up some tatties then pour some cream over them before sticking them in the oven for 45 minutes. Couldn’t be much easier in fact. Continue reading “Potatoes Dauphinoise” →