What I'm Eating:

Y Fenni cheese: I got this at the Polish deli because it said "cheddar" in the description and was cheap. As the lady behind the counter lifted it, I saw what it was. It's made with whole-grain mustard and brown ale, and makes one hell of a grilled cheese sandwich. I think I'm going to make a gratin of potatoes with it for dinner.

Spring cabbage: Now summer cabbage. This is the closest that I can find to collard greens. When I'm feeling homesick (and industrious)I make my collards recipe: garlic, onions and chile flakes get sauteed, then made into stock with "smoked gammon joint"-- British for smoked ham hocks, but they're freakin' huge-- and British dry cider. Add the greens and braise and you've got the most proper Southern greens you can imagine.

Salsiccia Piccante and an unnamed Pecorino: Honey and I went to the Leamington Spa food festival on Sunday, and since Honey's favorite dessert is charcuterie and cheese, we picked up a big piece of salsiccia and a pecorino that I've never had before. Unfortunately, there are more pecorinos than there have been Italian governments, and I was remiss in writing down the name. We had a very Spanish dinner that night of salumi, cheese, and wine, with some gazpacho from the soupery. Mine's better, but it was a nice easy dinner.

Fried noodles with crispy belly pork and ginger and green onions: I suck at ordering. My instincts are good, but servers are never fast enough to keep me from second-guessing myself and ordering the most esoteric thing on the menu. Thus I have gotten mackerel when I should have ordered pork, tried to eat flat noodles in a broth with chopsticks, and all sorts of other nonsense. But after multiple visits to our local noodle bar, I was resolved. I would get the belly pork. I would order it with fried, not soup noodles, and I would not fuck it up with some crazy sauce. I stuck to my resolution and the result was the realization of a culinary dream.

What I'm Reading:

Simple Chinese Cooking: Honey saw a wok at IKEA for three pounds and his eyes lit up, so after a week of improvised noodle dishes (good for leftovers at the worst, awesome at best)I checked out this book. We made sweet and sour pork as a kind of special night in, and the Mongolian beef doesn't suck at all. Oh and there's a deep-fried egg recipe that rivals Theatre of the meat for it's entertainment value. Some of the recipes are a little less than traditional--the sweet and sour sauce uses chopped and sliced veg instead of pureeing the whole thing, but I've never minded the difference.

Writing at the Kitchen Table: I had to turn in French Country Cooking, and when I found this biography of Elizabeth David, I got all excited. Unfortunately, like so many good writers, the personality that comes through her books seems superior to the personality she actually had. She seems to have led an interesting life, born out of a wealthy family that could support her traveling, and her hatred of the traditional obligations of said wealth. But hey, maybe it gets better.

The River Cottage Meat Book: Another one that I promised to just go ahead and buy, but it's seeing a lot more use than the Taste of Britain, which is interesting if one has the context to use it, and poorly indexed. I wish there were more butchery in it, but it includes what looks a lot like a recipe for the belly pork mentioned about. As well as a few other tempting ones.

And today I'm checking out The Pauper's Cookbook, and Prue Leith's Cookery School. We'll see how they treat me.