Henrik Lantz

Oh - for those of you that actually DO have a Senseo machine already: I strongly recommend trying out the Nescafé Caffe Latte pads. They are really nice, they come in a pad/topping combination - you pour the contents of the topping sachet into your cup, then put it under the machine and stir in the coffee as it brews. Perfectly milky, with just a hint of vanilla. Yum.

Using the basic mince recipe from legendary Swedish kitchen brick Vår kokbok ("Our Cookery Book” - currently in its 24th edition, over 2 million copies sold [in a country with 9 million inhabitants]. I am using the 16th edition.) and tweaking it ever so slightly, I ended up making my own filled mince patties for dinner. I had them with some pasta, and it was truly delicious.

Henrik’s filled mince patties - 12 patties; dinner + 2 lunches
4 tbsp breadcrumbs - I used the kind with herbs in it
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
1 1/2 dl water
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp grated (raw) onion
1 tbsp mixed italian herbs (dried)
500 g mince (50/50 beef/pork works nicely)
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley (dried is fine)
10-15 black olives, pitted and finely chopped - left on a kitchen towel to drain for 10 minutes.

Mix the water, breadcrumbs and flour and let soak for about 10 minutes. The breadcrumbs will swell and add texture to the finished product, while the flour makes sure that the liquid doesn’t seep out while frying, keeping the patty moist and juicy. Stir in the egg, the seasonings and the onion and mix properly. Add the mince, and mix gently with a fork until it’s all properly mixed - be careful; if you mix it too long, the mixture might become tough. Once mixed thoroughly, spread the meat in a square shape on some cling film. Cut into 12 rectangles, and place some chopped olives and parsley in the middle of each rectangle. Roll them up, carefully closing off the ends, and fry them in butter in a pan over a fairly high heat. About 3-4 minutes on each side should do it; they should be brown on the surface and cooked all the way through, but obviously not burnt.

The filling inside contributes to making these patties nice and juicy, and I assume it can be varied in endless ways. How about filling them with sun-dried tomatoes? Feta cheese? Parmesan? Perhaps more fresh herbs? Chillies? (Have I stumbled upon an industry that could put Bertie Bott out of business?)

• Dublin, Republic of Ireland
• Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Mexico City, Mexico

While I’m on the snooker theme; has anyone noticed this? There’s more than a passing resemblance between these two:

The Snooker World Championships is on at the moment (John Higgins knocked out in the first round, where is the world coming to?), and I can’t but help to think that all the top players have all very similar names; I wonder if that has some significance? I mean, we have the Johnnies - John Virgo (former world champion), John Parrot, John Higgins, an easy link to Sean Murphy, who shares initials with Stephen Maguire and looks an awful lot like Stephen Lee, then there’s the Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis. The second group is the Marks - Mark King, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Marco Fu and the honorary member Matthew Stevens, with Alan McManus as a hangaround in that group.

The only really serious exception to this rule is Ronnie O’Sullivan. But then, which rule is that man NOT an exception to?

A fairly quick risotto for Easter brunch, adapted from an episode of BBC’s Ready Steady Cook. Fills the entire palate surprisingly well.

Veggie Risotto - I think about 4 servings as a main course
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
butter and olive oil for frying
100 g risotto rice (I used Carnaroli)
1 dl white wine
100 g split peas
50 g leek, shredded (Shredded? Sliced?)
75 g button mushrooms, sliced
6 dl chicken stock
salt and pepper
125 g grated cheese (I used a mix of Red Leicester cheddar and Parmesan)

Fry the onion and garlic until they are softened. Add the rice, and heat it while stirring for the first minute. Add the wine and reduce by half. Stir in the leek, mushrooms and peas; then add the stock, ladle by ladle, to the pan, allowing the rice to soak up the previous ladle before you add the next. Regulate the heat as you go along; you want the rice to stay warm, but you don’t want the stock to evaporate. When all the stock has been soaked up and the rice is done, take the pan off the heat. Season with salt (remember that the stock is already pretty salty) and a lot of freshly ground black pepper, then stir in the cheese and mix well. Enjoy while it’s hot - cover the pan up to keep the moisture in the leftovers.

I carried out the shopping spree online. I unexpectedly came into some money a couple of days ago (Don’t worry, it’s all legal.) so I though why the hell not?

I got myself a Colorvision Spyder2Express colorimeter for monitor calibration, a couple of Photoshop books from Amazon (Scott Kelby’s Channels book, Matt Kloskowski’s Speed Clinic and Katrin Eismann’s Retouching and Restoring.) as well as the new Nikon 18-200 VR2 lens. Yay!

On Thursday night, a bunch of colleagues went for dinner in Haarlem; at restaurant La Plume, just behind the massive church on the Grote Markt. We’d decided to go out for a ribs-and-beer dinner to celebrate that the week was finally over, and what a good idea that was! The ribs (which, as usual, sadly were the silly baby ones) were cooked in a honey and soy marinade according to the menu, the taste was what my wife would describe as “brown” and they were absolutely delicious - the best ones I’ve had at restaurant ever. Well worth going back to.

Last night, BBC in Manchester staged a reenactment of the last day in the life of Jesus Christ in the streets and squares of the city center. We followed Jesus and his disciples through town, witness the last supper, the betrayal, the denial and, eventually, the crucifixion. The interesting twist was that it was all set to music written by local bands - we heard songs by Oasis, Joy Division, The Smiths, New Order, James, M People and Morrisey, among others.

The show, named the Manchester Passion, was split in three parts; the big gathering on Albert Square where Pilate was the Master of Ceremonies, the procession of people following the gigantic, illuminated crucifix heading towards the square, and Jesus and his group closing on the square from the other direction. Keeping in mind that this was done live, I thought it was fairly tightly kept; a minimum of technical problems and public disturbance. Well done again, BBC!

I hardly ever drink coffee at home; mostly because I don’t think it’s justified to put on a whole pot of coffee just for myself - I normally only want a single cup and I would end up pouring the rest down the drain. Instant coffee, although sometimes nice, I have reservations against. I am NOT a coffee snob, not at all, but I just think there’s something fundamentally wrong with instant. Can’t explain why.

Enter the Senseo. A “new” (well, it was new five years ago) type of coffee maker designed by Philips, in cooperation with coffee company Douwe Egberts. The machine uses coffee pads - reminiscent of tea bags - that go into a special holder in the machine, water is then passed through the pad at pressure and the result is a freshly brewed cup of coffee with a creamy layer on top. Douwe Egberts themselves make 15 different types of coffee pads and other vendors are quickly “copying” the concept.

The machine preboils water (which takes around 90 seconds and keeps warm for an hour), then you simply put the pad(s) in the holder, place one or two cups under the spout and press the appropriate button and you have a fresh cup of coffee (or two) in a matter of seconds. GOOD coffee, at that.

Good Friday (yesterday) was a day off for the lucky, lucky people that work for UPC. I spent a lot of it sleeping and watching TV, but I did manage a short shopping spree for good measure. All at Kijkshop, I bought myself an electrical toothbrush (Carla’s orders!), some blank CD’s, a water boiler and a Senseo coffee maker. Now I have empty boxes all over the place again.

An incredibly productive couple of days here in Manchester, I must say - my expectations have not only been met; they’ve even been exceeded in some cases. So what have we accomplished?

Well, after the moderately mild Tesco spree and a walk through Manchester city center (including a couple of lagers and a delicious steak and ale pie), we did see the Depeche Mode concert on Thursday night. The gig was even better than the one in Munich, and I think I got some good pictures from it. Can’t wait to hit them with Photoshop when I get home. We then walked to the night club 42nd Street where we queued for an hour before being let in. When leaving an hour and a half later, the full effects of the day kicked in and I decided to pass out. (Mental note: add to CV - “March 2006: was carried out of a Manchester night club by two security guards.".)

Friday was quiet. Norm and I went for Irish pub brunch in Didsbury (nearby town) and then back to the flat for a couple of hours. We headed back to Didsbury later in the evening and spent a couple of hours in Hog’s Head with “the gang” (Apparently I have been raised to Accepted status now.) before rounding the evening up with a curry on the way home. One episode of Family Guy (need to watch more at some point) and then off to bed.

Saturday is promising to be quiet. We’re heading out for breakfast in a bit. My flight leaves in just over seven hours, so I don’t expect too much activity before then, which suits me fine. This has, for all the exertion on Friday, been a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable weekend.a