ANTSTORE World of Ants

[darradar]

Hello guys thought id answere steveUK28's question here and start it as a new topic, just for food....

i am what you might call an acomplished chef, that being said i have never studied it or been tought how to cook, i am self tought, and as a vegatarian since the age of 15 (18 yrs ago) i had to learn how to cook decent meals from scratch, as vegatarian stuff you can buy is very in adaquate in my view, i cook all week and mostly every day, i never buy bread, but make it 3 times a week, along with soups, leek+potatoe, vegatable, tomatoe and basil, blue stilton, the list goes on, usually i prepare most soups for the week on a sunday, then devide and freeze for the week ahead, i could do this with bread, but the smell of baking bread in yuor house is just soo amazing. I also prepare the next evenings meal on the night before, i dont seem to follow recipes unless we have freinds over for dinner (like in the photos) these are meals that are planned out and thought about days in advance, and usually cost a fortune, but i get the gratitude and the satisfaction..! friends are usually amazed that vegatarian food can be so divers and so very tastey, and love to have an invite over knowing im cooking, i do it all myself, as my partner richard is not so good at all, and can just about manage beans on toast, but it works out fine, cuz i love doing it and always have done, preparing a meal from start to finish is something that is very rewarding, a simple soup to start is not as easy as you might think, but tastes much better.

Anyways im babbling on here far too much the following we have : a chargrilled aubergine and slow raosted plum tomatoe salad with crumbled feta cheese and mixed tender tip leafs drizzled with a balsamic and galic oil dressing, accompanying a slow raosted tomatoe home made flacky pastry tart on a bed of goats cheese with garlic and thyme ... this isnt just food, its Darran cooked food.... (lol only the Ukers will get that bit)

[JimmyVe]

Damn man, you make me hungry. Like i said before, if i ever visit the UK again i'm coming over for diner !

[darradar]

yuor welcome anytime Jimmy, i hope you do get to visit our wonderfull country again...and stay with us a few days (im like 45 mins from heathrow)

[SteveUK28]

very nice darradar.. I also really enjoy cooking.. and like u i dont really follow any recipes.. As i said before id love to see your recipe for a good pasta sauce. Just wondering but do u have MSN.. would be kewl to swap recipes

[darradar]

hey Steve i dont have msn im afraid, (im too old for all that milarky)

as it happens ive made a tomatoe sauce this evening, i do it by first removing the skins of the toms, and then placing them cut side up on a baking tray, drizzling over some olive oil, then sprinkling a whole chopped fat garlic clove over them, salt and pepper, then placing fresh basil leaves on top of each one and roasting them at 190 for about 60-90 minutes till the edges are just starting to blacken, then puttin it all in a food prosseser add a teaspoon of suger, and roughly liquidising it, and its ready..... and tastes much better than a shop bought jar..! can add some toamtoe puree with boiled water if its a little too thick..

you can omitt the garlic or use a little less if you want a more traditional taste

and though sometimes hard to get, plum tomatoes are much better for this, gives a nicer red color and they are a little sweeter,

[SteveUK28]

That my friend is a bloody brilliant idea.. ive never thought about doing it like that... usualy i use a few good tins of quality tomatoes, a handfull of fresh basil a garlic clove or 2 some black pepper and some extra virgin olive oil.. I do like ur idea tho.. I will be trying it.. but prob adding some Olive oil... i have a thing for using olive oil lol

[darradar]

i hope you like it, and im sure youl let me know how it turns out, just incase you dont already know, cross cut each tomatoe with a nife at both ends breaking the skin, then poor over boiling water to cover them and leave for a minute or so to remove the skins, under running cold water.. it's just gross with skins left on.....

[JimmyVe]

yuor welcome anytime Jimmy, i hope you do get to visit our wonderfull country again...and stay with us a few days (im like 45 mins from heathrow)

I hold you to it.

I wish i could cook like you guys. But i'm afraid i'm only good at eating it. Again i looks really nice Darradar.

[SteveUK28]

i do love cooking jimmy... always have its a bit of a passion of mine.. im pretty lucky where i live too as i have a farm 5 mins up the road which has some really lovely fresh veggies.. and a butcher i can visit every saturday.. Ohhh actually i found out last week there is a famer who is now also sellin his own beef from his cattle.. so i might give that a go too.. Its always best to get really good local produce.. just need to find a farm now for some nice fresh cheese

[JimmyVe]

Well my dad has his own cows. So i know what is good. Much better than the stuff you can buy in the shop.
Sorry darradar, i know you are a vegetarian, but i like meat.

[darradar]

no worries, i do also prepare meat for freinds etc, and buy a free range chicken for our cats n dogs, its my peronal choice to not eat meat, i do not force my views on it onto other people..

anyways for tonights evening meal we will be having cougette tomatoe and green pepper fritarter with home made sweet potatoe chips.....

and yes we shop at the local farm shop, though today we went to the prince charles's windsor estate farm shop..! and i can tell you it was bloody expensive..£13...... for this; 2 large tomatoes, 2 sweet potatoes, 4 cooking apples, 2 cougettes, and £1;56 for 1 green pepper...! strewth.... we wont be going back there too often..!


sweet potatoe chips are lovley, and easy to prepare, just cover them in olive oil (lol yuol likwe that Steve) let them marinadce a while sprinkle with sea salt and raost them for about 30-40 mins..... healthy too.!

[SteveUK28]

that looks very very nice darradar... Il have to cook somat tomorrow n take some pics
n OMG.. HOW expensive i dont think id ever go there again lol

[Dr.House]

Not vegetarian but yummy ... the Burger contains of 1,8kg pure meat

The Sushi Pic is an old one ... I think it was the first time I tried it (5 years ago). Somewhere I have a newer one ... I try to find it. My skills improved a little ^^

As a student I had to cook for myself ... and also had time to do so ^^

[ant dude]

all looking very nice btw, hope they taste as good as they look. coz if they do that would be aswsome

looks like theres a bit of competition going on lol

[SteveUK28]

my god thats a heart attack burger lol i would sooo never eat anything like that lol... talking about burgers.. i love making my own Dont like Sushi tho