Well long time without a post. I have been spending some time looking at a new Photographic site called Phoice and started uploading a few of my photos. I have also just discovered the work of a Polish artist called Andrzej Dragan and am very impressed. I have been a little lazy on the blog front, but I have had a lot on my plate recently.
I am not happy about Maria living in Madrid 500 kilometers from here. Building up a relationship when you only see someone once per month or so is virtually impossible.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Monday, July 25, 2005
More food...
About 3 years ago an old Morrocan man taught me how to make pinchitos.
Pinchitos
Take a half leg of lamb and cut it into pieces the size of your thumb (from the knuckle to the tip of the nail). If you don't like lamb use chicken breast.
1 rounded tablespoon of powdered sweet chile
1 rounded tablespoon of powdered hot chile
1 rounded tablespoon powdered cumin
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
The juice of half a lemon
Four cloves of garlic crushed
A dash of olive oil
A cup of water
Mix all the ingredients except the meat in a bowl until you have a loose paste, then add the meat and leave it in the fridge to marinate for an hour or so. The pinchitos should ideally be cooked on a barbecue, but if you don't have one they can be grilled or cooked on a hot iron skillet, or at a pinch in a frying pan. Take about 6 pieces of the marinaded lamb and put them on a skewer and cook them on the barbecue until they are cooked through. Serve them with more lemon so that your guests can add an extra squeeze of lemon juice and some French bread.
Kefta
The same marinade can be used for kefta but instead of lamb or chicken use minced beef. Mix everything in a bowl with without the water and add the minced beef, if you have some parsley at home a chopped tablespoon of that can be added for an even more authentic touch. Squeeze the beef into patties and fry or barbecue them.
About 3 years ago an old Morrocan man taught me how to make pinchitos.
Pinchitos
Take a half leg of lamb and cut it into pieces the size of your thumb (from the knuckle to the tip of the nail). If you don't like lamb use chicken breast.
1 rounded tablespoon of powdered sweet chile
1 rounded tablespoon of powdered hot chile
1 rounded tablespoon powdered cumin
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
The juice of half a lemon
Four cloves of garlic crushed
A dash of olive oil
A cup of water
Mix all the ingredients except the meat in a bowl until you have a loose paste, then add the meat and leave it in the fridge to marinate for an hour or so. The pinchitos should ideally be cooked on a barbecue, but if you don't have one they can be grilled or cooked on a hot iron skillet, or at a pinch in a frying pan. Take about 6 pieces of the marinaded lamb and put them on a skewer and cook them on the barbecue until they are cooked through. Serve them with more lemon so that your guests can add an extra squeeze of lemon juice and some French bread.
Kefta
The same marinade can be used for kefta but instead of lamb or chicken use minced beef. Mix everything in a bowl with without the water and add the minced beef, if you have some parsley at home a chopped tablespoon of that can be added for an even more authentic touch. Squeeze the beef into patties and fry or barbecue them.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Bicycles
About 2 or 3 years ago I bought the first bicycle I have owned for 20 years. It was a cheap pseudo mountain bike thing from Carrefour and cost 100 Euros. It was OK, a little small for me but it worked. I used it that year, enjoyed it and lost a lot of weight. I got even more handsome, if you can imagine such a thing. Then the old bike fell in to disuse, as due to the stress involved in opening my bar and dealing with the tosser of a business partner I have, didn't leave me with enough will-power to ride it in to work in the morning.
So earlier this year I decided I needed more inspiration and I bought a new one. It is basically a European spec Dahon Matrix by any other name. Bought from www.rabbit.de but via e-bay rather than the Rabbit site, where they for some reason sell the things for an awful lots less money. Anyway it is a folding aluminium hardtail mountain bike with an assortment of average bits and bobs, gear mechanism and controls from Shimano's leisure bike range. Truvativ crankset, average wheels etc. But basically an excellent frame that folds with usable stuff on it.
Initially I changed the twistgrip gear shifters as I'm not a fan of them. A couple more bits and I went upgrade crazy. Now it has 2005 Deore LX front and rear mechs, dual control levers, Deore bottom bracket and crankset and some ĂƒÂźber cool WH-M540 wheels which don't appear to have enough spokes to hold the rims away from the hubs.
I have gone through a bunch of different pedals trying to find the ones I like best and currently fitted are a pair of Time ATAC carbons that a friend lent me. They take a while getting used to and unlike Shimano clipless pedals there is no tension adjustment. It is very easy to fall off with them as you fail to unclip. I'll give them a little longer before switching back to either flat pedals or Speedplay Frogs.
My local bike shop in Spain is great, if I see something on e-bay in Hong Kong for a great price, I tell them, they beat the price and will fit the bits no charge if I don't want to get my hands dirty.
Of course, all the parts liberated have gone to upgrade my old bike, which as it is so much less stealable and has had so many upgrades, is now rather nice to ride and my new bike sees a lot less action than it should.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Well I am still annoyed about my business partner who has been living out of my pocket for the last 18 months. I have so far sunk 120,000 Euros in to my bar and got out, er nothing. He has paid er... nothing in and had a wage and since opening has spent most of his time propping up the bar which I paid for, drinking the beer I paid for, keeping my indigent customers company. I do exactly the same in a lot of bars myself but the owners don't give me any cash for it.
The bar is currently closed due to the license being forged by our Gestor, who has 'done a runner'. However I am happier about it, it costs me more open than closed.
Basically, in return for giving my business partner 50% of the business, he set it up, to what was predominantly my design, which was fine. But he has failed hugely as a manager, he kicked out all the poker players who are now happily boozing in a bar down the road, employed a waitress that scares away more customers than she brings in. I have been telling him now for over a year that he needs to get a real job. During which time he has done a couple of odd jobs.
We opened July 8th last year and I paid the monthly losses up until January when I said 'no more' at which time he had considerably less to spend himself. The bar has consistently lost money and every month I am told that we'll break even. In reality sales have been sliding in line with cost saving. My business partner blames everything but management for the failings of the bar. The customers, that aren't there any more blame the management.
So when I said I want my business partner to sign over his half of the business I paid for to me. Because I am not going to continue to support it in this manner forever and offer him my Harley Davidson by way of compensation, he says he wants that plus 4000â‚Ź.
No dice!
The bar is currently closed due to the license being forged by our Gestor, who has 'done a runner'. However I am happier about it, it costs me more open than closed.
Basically, in return for giving my business partner 50% of the business, he set it up, to what was predominantly my design, which was fine. But he has failed hugely as a manager, he kicked out all the poker players who are now happily boozing in a bar down the road, employed a waitress that scares away more customers than she brings in. I have been telling him now for over a year that he needs to get a real job. During which time he has done a couple of odd jobs.
We opened July 8th last year and I paid the monthly losses up until January when I said 'no more' at which time he had considerably less to spend himself. The bar has consistently lost money and every month I am told that we'll break even. In reality sales have been sliding in line with cost saving. My business partner blames everything but management for the failings of the bar. The customers, that aren't there any more blame the management.
So when I said I want my business partner to sign over his half of the business I paid for to me. Because I am not going to continue to support it in this manner forever and offer him my Harley Davidson by way of compensation, he says he wants that plus 4000â‚Ź.
No dice!
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Food
Well last night was a blast, a couple of friends invited me to the Feria, didn't get home until 6am! Shocking! So Domingo Rociero is right out! I didn't get much shopping yesterday so I shall resort to a perennial favourite from the larder.
Spaghetti Alio Olio Peperencino.
Bring your Spaghetti to the boil and while it is cooking lightly saute a couple of crushed cloves of garlic in some olive oil. Add 1 or 2 chopped chilies, black pepper and salt. I also like to add tuna as I first tried it that way in Genoa. When the Spaghetti is al dente add it to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, swirl it around a bit and serve.
While I'm at it, a complete loon of a Finnish cook I know keeps leaving bottles of his home made chile sauce at every restaurant he eats at, so they'll always have some there for him. It is extremely violent and could possible break strategic arms limitation treaties. Here's the recipe to make enough to supply every kebab shop in London.
Joni's Chile Salsa Del Diablo
450 grams dried birds eye chiles
3 bulbs (not cloves) of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons tamarind sauce
8 tins of tomato frito (you could use chopped plum tomatoes but it increases cooking time by an hour or so.
6-8 bunches of Coriander chopped
Put the garlic into a pan with a little olive oil, lightly fry it then add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil allow to cool and bottle. If you are brave have some with your next appropriate meal, if you are not bury it underground in stainless steel canisters and leave for archeologists to discover.
Well last night was a blast, a couple of friends invited me to the Feria, didn't get home until 6am! Shocking! So Domingo Rociero is right out! I didn't get much shopping yesterday so I shall resort to a perennial favourite from the larder.
Spaghetti Alio Olio Peperencino.
Bring your Spaghetti to the boil and while it is cooking lightly saute a couple of crushed cloves of garlic in some olive oil. Add 1 or 2 chopped chilies, black pepper and salt. I also like to add tuna as I first tried it that way in Genoa. When the Spaghetti is al dente add it to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, swirl it around a bit and serve.
While I'm at it, a complete loon of a Finnish cook I know keeps leaving bottles of his home made chile sauce at every restaurant he eats at, so they'll always have some there for him. It is extremely violent and could possible break strategic arms limitation treaties. Here's the recipe to make enough to supply every kebab shop in London.
Joni's Chile Salsa Del Diablo
450 grams dried birds eye chiles
3 bulbs (not cloves) of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons tamarind sauce
8 tins of tomato frito (you could use chopped plum tomatoes but it increases cooking time by an hour or so.
6-8 bunches of Coriander chopped
Put the garlic into a pan with a little olive oil, lightly fry it then add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil allow to cool and bottle. If you are brave have some with your next appropriate meal, if you are not bury it underground in stainless steel canisters and leave for archeologists to discover.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
London Bombings, Islam etc
The first thing I knew about the London bombings was when my friend Anas called me to ask how my family were, which I thought was an unusual question for him. He told me about what had happened on the tube a couple of hours earlier. After I had checked out the news on the internet my initial reaction was full of outrage and bile 'bomb Mecca' a little while later I thought about my friend Anas, his brother and Ayub. I realised that probably the best friend I have made since moving to Spain is an Arab Muslim. Which makes it difficult to give way to religious bigotry. So I have to give more thought to this.
The first thing I knew about the London bombings was when my friend Anas called me to ask how my family were, which I thought was an unusual question for him. He told me about what had happened on the tube a couple of hours earlier. After I had checked out the news on the internet my initial reaction was full of outrage and bile 'bomb Mecca' a little while later I thought about my friend Anas, his brother and Ayub. I realised that probably the best friend I have made since moving to Spain is an Arab Muslim. Which makes it difficult to give way to religious bigotry. So I have to give more thought to this.
'bout time I started blogging
Well after a long sabbatical and reading my pal Joe's blog I have decided to get back in to the swing of things, not that I ever swung in the first place.
I am recovering from a night of excessive alcohol consumption. So plans for a motorcycle trip to Granada have been canned, probably best, Maria says it will be too hot at this time of year. It's Domingo Rociero tomorrow, which marks the start of the Feria in my town. It is a bachanalic boozefest. The bars will have erected bars in the streets and the town squares will start filling up with people around lunchtime. By 6pm the whole town will be a seething mass of drunkards all looking for an available toilet and where their friends are and why their heads hurt so much. My head tells me to give it a miss but I'll probably be caught up by the spirit of the moment.
Must shave!
Well after a long sabbatical and reading my pal Joe's blog I have decided to get back in to the swing of things, not that I ever swung in the first place.
I am recovering from a night of excessive alcohol consumption. So plans for a motorcycle trip to Granada have been canned, probably best, Maria says it will be too hot at this time of year. It's Domingo Rociero tomorrow, which marks the start of the Feria in my town. It is a bachanalic boozefest. The bars will have erected bars in the streets and the town squares will start filling up with people around lunchtime. By 6pm the whole town will be a seething mass of drunkards all looking for an available toilet and where their friends are and why their heads hurt so much. My head tells me to give it a miss but I'll probably be caught up by the spirit of the moment.
Must shave!
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