h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Four cups of sliced mushrooms
Two teaspoons olive oil
One cup heavy cream
Half cup sparkling wine (can be champagne!)

Heat oil in a heavy skillet
Add mushrooms and cook to taste
Add sparkling wine and reduce
Add heavy cream and cook until thickened

Serve over hot, buttered toast (I prefer thick multigrain!)

Enjoy, dear girl.....


Derbyshirelad (Ross)

"derbylad4" on yahoo

Thank you.

Have you tried that on fettucini?

Sadly, I haven't.....

I am sorry to say that I am a 'non-pasta' person. It must be a genetic thing! I just can't get used to ANY form of pasta (I don't even eat pizza, either).....I know, I know........people keep reminding me of the great joys I am missing, and 'how can you LIVE here and not eat pasta, pizza, spare ribs, sushi, hot dogs, anything with barbeque sauce on it, anything labelled 'SouthWestern', tomato ketchup or even CHEESEBURGERS, for goodness sake!' Strangely enough, I am very good at COOKING these things (I even make my own pizza dought from 'scratch', and have a stone in the large oven at home).

The list of American 'staples' which I do not EAT is almost endless.

What about foccacia and risotto?

Risotto (unless I make it myself) in most American restaurants is a disaster. An incredible, 'gummed-up' gelatinous thing - more like savoury rice pudding than anything else.

REAL, Spanish-style risotto (the kind I like) is almost dry - full of spicy, tangy flavours!!



Foccacia bread is fine.............

I haven't made risotto without a mix.

Have you tried jambalaya?

Regretably, no.............but if it contains shrimp, then .......I know that you can make ham, okra, and other versions.

Derbyshire folk do NOT have a sea coast nearby, and we had little iodine in our diet, when I was growing up. Before iodised salt arrived, it used to be that a goitre was called a 'Derbyshire neck'!

We have a LOT of pork dishes, world class patries, excellent cheeses, etc. but not too much seafood.

I would suggest a chicken jambalaya to start with:
http://www.emerils.com/recipes/by_name/classic_chicken_jambalaya.html

I am outright allergic to crustaceans and have been attempting vegetarianism for a while now. Eggs, milk and cheese are acceptable.

Thanks for that! BAM!

I do a mean 'vegetable bake' in the oven (you need a big casserole dish). Layers of your favourite veggies, (scatter a little salt, pepper and dried oregano over each layer) topped with part-boiled potatoes, sliced. Pour two cups of vegetable stock (thickened with a couple of teaspoons of cornflour) over it all and bake in a hot oven until the potatoes start to brown. Sprinkle a cup of shredded cheddar over the top and put it back in, until it looks YUMMY!

I'll have to try the vegetable bake.

Chili pie:
Big casserole dish, black bean chili on the bottom, corn bread batter on top, bake at 350F- 375F until the cornbread is done.

I like sandwiches made with grilled vegetables such as eggplant.

Dear lady,

Sorry for the delay........my life is a series of complex problems at the moment. Try 'hot steak tips'?

1.5lbs sirloin steak tips

2 tablespoon cream of horseradish

5 cloves of garlic (roughly sliced)

1 red bell pepper (deseeded and sliced)

'Steak pepper' to taste

In a really HOT, deep frying pan, (containg a little oil) sear the steak tips, then remove to a holding dish. Lower the heat to medium, then add the sliced pepper and garlic. Cook until softened, then re-introduce the steak tips. Add the cream of horseradish, and cook until the steak is to your fancy!

Serve with a baked potato, and a side salad, or whatever you like!

How were your holidays?

One of my friends was recently telling me about how she makes a meatless and wheatless pizza by using portobello mushrooms as the bottom layer (in a casserole dish).

The holidays were, dear lady, singularly unhappy. My 'domestic' arrangements remain a disaster ('nuff said). However, on 23 Dec, I lost my 'last' uncle. He had had a full life (he was 88 and a great-grandfather), but whilst he was still alive, I felt sort of connected to my mother (long deceased). He was the last of 9 siblings.

I think that I better go and beat some dough.......

I'm sorry that you had such sadness.

Dearest Evangeline,

Life is full of lemons, and the lemonade jugs are all full.........

I have yet to understand the mechanism whereby pain and/or sadness is handed out........I didn't understand Ethiopia in 1983 (I was there) and didn't understand 'Katrina' in 2005(I wasn't there).

I don't think we are meant to understand that part.

We just have to deal with it as best we can while trying to make things better.

I am about 60-80 miles away from the worst of Katrina's damage. Things are going to be different forever in New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast because of that storm.

And yet, Mardi Gras parades are still as scheduled in other parts of Louisiana. The French Quarter is open for business and life goes on in South Louisiana.

TH\he capacity for human survival astonishes me. Wholesale change is roaring through all our lives.....and yet we manage to cope.

May you be blessed, this day.

Thank you

The only thing you can count on is change.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose............. (sorry, I don't have a French font available!)

No worries.

I only reset my keyboard to French characters if it's necessary.