All posts tagged: toast

April Book Review: Toast: A Story of a Boy’s Hunger (Kindle Edition)

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Toast: A Story of a Boy’s Hunger by Nigel Slater, 2003 I’ve heard the name Nigel Slater around the place before, a chef whose claim to fame was being a food writer for The Observer Magazine and also Marie Claire. He’s written several cookbooks and plays art director for his books. This book is the matter-of-fact memoir of a loner growing up in ’60s and ’70s England. Food obsessed since as far back as he can remember, each brief chapter in this book is written like a diary entry with dishes or food items rather than dates to define them. Food and happiness are linked and the point of view is from someone who is lonely, hungry, sexually frustrated and bitter toward most others. He’s not an only child, but he might as well have been. It’s never obvious exactly why he is a loner, but his selfish ways probably don’t help. Not everything is explained in the book and you often have to put two and two together. “Eating a slice of pie is …

Spiced Carrot & Coconut Soup

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With the amount of eating over the last 7 days, I’ve been craving some simple vegetable dishes. I had half a loaf of Blackwoods Bakeries focaccia from the weekend and my parents had just given me a big bag of carrots. What started off as a pauper’s dinner got fancy real quick. Don’t let the carrots full* fool you. This is a rich and satisfying soup. *Edit: Wow, genuine Freudian slip. Spiced Carrot & Coconut Soup Dinner for 2 or a starter for 4. Ingredients 5 carrots 3/4 can coconut cream 3 cups stock (I used chicken but use vegetable if vegetarian) 1 teaspoon green curry paste (check if vegetarian) 1 tablespoon olive oil Sage garnish  *Use vegetable stock if you want to make this vegan or vegetarian Preparation Chop the ends off the carrots and cut into bite sized rounds. I didn’t see any point in peeling these ones, it’s up to you. In a large pot, quickly brown the carrots in olive oil. Add the green curry paste and stir through. Add stock, bring to …