Bon appétit!

Rude Pancakes 

Traditionally, of course, pancakes evolved from the need to use up leftovers, but we make ours from really fresh ingredients including free-range eggs and good quality unsalted butter.

Fillings and toppings are entirely up to you, but my favourite is double cream and maple syrup. What’s yours?

Ingredients

• 200g Plain Flour
• 55ml Milk
• 2 medium eggs
• Pinch of salt (1/4 tsp)
• 2tbsp melted unsalted butter, plus extra for frying

Method

Whisk all the ingredients together really well until the consistency of single cream. If you have time, allow to rest for an hour or so (overnight in the fridge is fine).

Take your best non-stick frying pan and bring it to a medium heat. Smear a little unsalted butter all over the base and a little up the sides.

Ladle or pour sufficient batter into the pan to thinly cover the base, swirling it around until it’s evenly coated.

When the surface of the pancake turns to a matt sheen, flip or toss (depending on how brave you’re feeling) and cook on the other side until done (tip: the first one always goes wrong, and pancakes never look the same on both sides!).

Make a whole load of pancakes, layering them one on top of the other (there’s no need to separate the layers with greaseproof paper).

You can store them like this in the fridge for up to five days. Reheat in the oven on low to moderate or in the microwave.

Serve warm on hot plates with the filling of your choice.

Cook in France – cooking holidays in the Dordogne

I have some review copies so drop me an email if you’d like to review it for a blog, magazine or website.

Here’s the book blurb:

“Rising star historian Faramerz Dabhoiwala will describe how the permissive society arrived in Western Europe, not in the 1960s as we like to think, but between 1600 and 1800. It began in England and is now shaping and challenging patterns of sexual behaviour all over the world.

For most of western history, all sex outside marriage was illegal, and the church, the state, and ordinary people all devoted huge efforts to suppressing and punishing it. This was a central feature of Christian civilization, one that had steadily grown in importance since the early Middle Ages. Three hundred years ago this entire worldview was shattered by revolutionary new ideas – that sex is a private matter; that morality cannot be imposed by force; that men are more lustful than women. Henceforth, the private lives of both sexes were to be endlessly broadcast and debated, in a rapidly expanding universe of public media: newspapers, pamphlets, journals, novels, poems, and prints.

In his account of this first sexual revolution, Dabhoiwala will argue that the creation of our modern culture of sex was a central part of the Enlightenment, intertwined with the era’s major social, political and intellectual trends. It helped create a new model of Western civilization, whose principles of privacy, equality, and freedom of the individual remain distinctive to this day”.

The book examines a period in history – 1600s to 1800s, which Dabhiowala describes as the first ‘sexual revolution’ in terms of how attitudes towards sex changed. In the 1600s, adultery was a capital crime, punishable with death. In 1589 a prison was built in Dundee just for adulterers. In 1650 with the new Sexual Offences Act, brothel keepers were branded on the forehead with the letter ‘B’ and in Rye, East Sussex, those who committed adultery were forced to wear a yellow and green collar in public, making them recognisable for their ‘sin’ . The general attitude was that women were the more lascivious sex and needed reigning in, i.e. by making them someone’s ‘property’ via marriage.

The sexual revolution that he describes happened for several reasons. Adultery became harder to police as people were moving from rural areas to towns. By 1850 most of the UK population lived in towns. Sex was talked about more with the emergence of the printed press yet was perceived as a private matter – i.e. rich men could have a bit of whatever they fancied as long as it didn’t interfere with their public duties (much the same attitude in France today and the press can’t publish such information). The printed press also gave spurned mistresses an opportunity for revenge. They could threaten to go public and some launched successful marketing campaigns, create a buzz around their ‘stories’, bribing men for money and setting themselves up with a pension for life. The circulation of ideas and printed material meant that sex became a talking point and attitudes were freer. There was also a general shift in attitudes towards how women were perceived – less libidinous temptresses, more as passive victims of randy men. The courts accepted prostitution.

IQ²
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
66 Portland Place
London
W1B 1AD
Wednesday February 15th, 2012
7.00pm – 8.30pm

The Origins of Sex by Faramerz Dabhoiwala: Review by Michael Deacon, The Telegraph, 3rd February, 2012.

Click here for an audio and video recording of the event.

Valentine’s Recipes – Beyond Aphrodisiacs

By Meryl Cubley

Celebrity chef Jim Fisher owns a top cookery school in France, which he runs with Lucy, his wife of 29 years. He attributes his long and happy marriage to the fact they cook together as a couple but Jim has additional evidence for his theory too. Over the years, Jim has witnessed numerous rocky relationships being recharged through the magic of a cookery course at Cook in France. 

Based on their experiences, Jim and Lucy are sharing some top tips for a great Valentine’s, including some wonderful recipes for the perfect romantic meal – but before the cooking action Jim suggests that you:

• Get showered and dress up to prepare your meal together – it’s as much a part of the evening as eating.
• If one of you is a better cook, the other should be involved by clearing up, handing things to the chef and helping as asked but without interfering.
• Don’t criticise. Be supportive and heap praise where praise is due (keep the ultimate goal in mind).
• Brush against each other, hold a touch longer than normal, smile at your partner and pay attention to what he or she is saying – really listen.
• Don’t drink too much throughout the evening – a couple of drinks to help you relax is fine but getting drunk is a complete passion killer.
• Feeling full will lesson your appetite for what comes later so try and keep portions small.
• Great sex stimulates the appetite, so leave a few well-chosen leftovers – chocolates or petit fours, for instance – to feed each other and nibble on afterwards.

When it comes to the menu for a dreamy dinner for two, Jim and Lucy have developed the perfect food combinations, “Men need to eat the equivalent of gourmet Viagra to feel stimulated whilst women need foods to help them feel relaxed,” says Jim. “A menu that delivers both is romantic nirvana.”

It’s also good to introduce food that requires you to use your hands rather than cutlery – feeding each other is sexy. Colours, texture and aromas all play a part too. It’s important to stimulate all their senses”.

Relaxing foods for her, stimulating ingredients for him.

Her:

• Asparagus (increases overall confidence and activates libido)
• Caviar (heightens the senses and increases nerve sensitivity)
• Truffles (a chemical in truffle mimics a male sex hormone)
• Chocolate (eleven out of ten women say chocolate is better than sex)

Him:

• Oysters (oysters contain zinc, a nutrient vital for a man’s reproductive and sexual function)
• Asparagus (rich in vitamin E that stimulates the production of testosterone in men)
  Ginseng (derived from the Chinese term rénshen, which literally means ‘man root’, ginseng reduces fatigue and stress and helps prevent impotence.

Part two: Jim & Lucy’s Valentine Menu.

About Meryl:

Meryl Cubley is a journalist and writer based in Cardiff, Wales, specialising in social trends and culture, feminism and women’s issues, sexual health and wellbeing, travel and lifestyle, the environment and business. With a wealth of editing expereince, Meryl also enjoys a succesful freelance writing career and has written for titles as diverse as Grazia, Red, Marie Claire South Africa, Scarlet, Your Healthy Living, The Guardian and The World Class Series. A regular interviewer of celebrities Meryl has interview skills that are first class – and discreet. She has also appeared on television discussing her thought-provoking, fresh, and unique articles. Meryl is also a writer with Ustar Novels (under the pen name of Sylvia Hadcliffe) publishers of personalised literature.

Part Two

His ‘n’ Hers Cocktails

“Black Pearl Necklace” (Collier de Perles Noires)  – iced vodka with caviar (excites nerve cells)

Amuse Bouches/Entrée

Oysters Rockefeller (Huitres Rockefeller) – oysters (THE natural aphrodisiac) poached in Champagne (generous and fun) served in the half shell on a bed of spinach (iron for strength & stamina) draped with a Pastis Cream Sauce (aphrodisiac licorice and aniseed flavours, soft and velvety eaten with your fingers).

Plat Principal

Pan-Fried Seabass (soft, light and moist) with Sautéed Fingerling Potatoes, Buttered Spinach (iron for strength and stamina) and a Vanilla Butter Sauce (sexy).

Dessert 

Délice au Chocolat with Strawberries ‘n’ Cream Ice Cream (Délice au Chocolat avec Glace à la Fraise et Crème) – rich chocolate ganache (stimulating) on a hazelnut (vitamin E a natural Viagra) & chocolate base with strawberry (aphrodisiac) ice cream (silky texture and mouth-cooling properties).

Petit Fours

Fennell, Vanilla & Lime Mini-Mallows (Petites Guimauves au Fenouil, à la Vanille et au Citron Vert) (squidgy, squelchy, sexy!)

Cocktail

Black Pearl Necklace:

Pour two shots of cold top quality vodka and spoon in some caviar. Add a twist of lemon and consume with drinking arms entwined!

Appetiser

Oysters Rockefeller

• 6 fresh oysters
• 2tbsp Pernod
• 150ml double cream
• large handful fresh spinach
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Shuck the oysters using a purpose made oyster knife protecting your hand with a folded tea towel. Retain the bottom (deeper) shell.

Drop the oysters into a small saucepan and, using a fine sieve, strain their juices over. Bring to a bare simmer and immediately remove from the heat. Remove oysters to a sheet of paper towel.

Add the Pernod to the oyster liquor and simmer until reduced by two thirds. Add the cream and reduce by half. Check the seasoning – it should be rich and slightly salty.

Blanch the spinach in boiling salted water for one minute, then drain well on a clean tea towel. Chop finely. Loosen the chopped spinach with a teaspoon or two of the sauce and add a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg.

Pre-heat the grill to high (red hot).

Bed a portion of chopped spinach into the half oyster shell and place a poached oyster on top. Cover both oyster and spinach with a generous helping of sauce, then place high up under the heat. Grill for no more than a minute, or until the sauce has taken on the colour of hot buttered toast.

Allow to cool for a minute (you don’t want to burn your date’s lips!) then consume with gleeful anticipation of the wonders ahead.

Main Course

Seabass with Vanilla Butter Sauce

Serves four

Ingredients:

• 200ml reduced fish stock
• 50ml good quality dry white wine
• 1 tbsp Noilly Prat (Vermouth)
• seeds of a vanilla pod
• 1 tbsp crème fraîche
• 50g unsalted butter cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 ripe plum tomato
• 1 tsp fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 6 fingerling or pink fir apple potatoes
• 2 large handfuls fresh spinach leaves, rinsed and stalks removed
• 4 small seabass fillets, pin-boned but with skin on
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Sauce: Put the fish stock, dry white wine and vermouth in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce by a third.  By this time the alcohol will have been driven off, so you can now whisk in the vanilla seeds and crème fraîche.  Reduce a little more.

Taste the sauce – it should be deep, intense, highly aromatic and have a good vanilla flavour.  Season with sea salt – no pepper – then turn off the heat and put a lid on to prevent a skin forming.

Garnish: Cut the tomato into quarters, remove the seeds and pulp, then dice.  Roughly chop the parsley. Reserve.

Boil the potatoes until just cooked, then drain. Slice in half length-wise. Bring a frying pan to medium high heat and sauté the potatoes in a dash of olive oil and a little salt.

Fish: While the potatoes are browning, heat the grill to its maximum setting. Lightly oil a baking tray, then lay the seabass fillets in it, skin-side up.  Smear the skin with a little oil, then season lightly with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the tray right up under the grill – about 5cm away – and watch as the skin begins to bubble and turn brown.  Grill the fillets for about two minutes, watching them like a hawk.

Take the tray from under the grill and test the fish for ‘doneness’ by pressing lightly with your finger.  They should be perfectly cooked when the flesh is soft, but still has a little springiness.  Alternatively you can cut into one and have a look inside – it should still be slightly under-done.  Set aside – it’ll continue to cook while you assemble the dish.

Spinach: In a medium pan over a gentle heat, toss the spinach with a little oil, some salt and some pepper. Drain on some kitchen towel.

To serve

Reheat the sauce, whisk in the butter until emulsified. Check the seasoning, then throw in the diced tomato and chopped parsley.

Arrange the potatoes and spinach on four warmed serving plates, then top each with two fillets of seabass.  Spoon the sauce around and serve.

Dessert

Délice au Chocolat

This is much easier to make using the quantities below (which makes too much for just a loving couple), but is also a great dinner party dessert because it can be made in its entirety a day or two in advance.

Serves 4-6 (but that’s way too many for Valentine’s!)

Croquante Base

• 50g dark chocolate, roughly broken
• 50g hazelnut paste (or Nutella)
• 75g Pailette Feulletine (or Rice Crispies or Cornflakes)

Délice

• 2 large (or three medium) free range eggs
• 500ml double cream
• 350g 70% cocoa solids chocolate, roughly broken

Method:

For the Croquante base: gently melt the chocolate and Nutella in a heatproof bowl set over a pan containing 1cm of barely simmering water (it is important not to let the bottom of the bowl come into contact with the water or the chocolate will overheat and may curdle). Stir occasionally until smooth.

Gently, but thoroughly, mix in the Pailette Feulletine. Spread over the base of a 20cm loose-bottomed tart tin to a depth of 5mm. Place in the fridge to chill and set. 

For the Délice filling: place the eggs in a heatproof bowl and whisk briefly to break up. In a saucepan, heat the cream to a rolling boil, then pour straight onto the eggs whisking constantly until slightly thickened to a smooth thin custard. Add the broken chocolate to this custard and stir until seamlessly combined and smooth. Pour over the base layer in the tart tin, level the surface with a spatula – or shake cheffily – and place in the fridge until set (about two to three hours).

To serve: loosen the Délice from the tin with the aid of a cook’s blowtorch or hot tea towel and remove. Cut into six or eight portions and serve.

Cook in France – Couples’ Cookery courses

About Meryl:

Meryl Cubley is a journalist and writer based in Cardiff, Wales, specialising in social trends and culture, feminism and women’s issues, sexual health and wellbeing, travel and lifestyle, the environment and business. With a wealth of editing expereince, Meryl also enjoys a succesful freelance writing career and has written for titles as diverse as Grazia, Red, Marie Claire South Africa, Scarlet, Your Healthy Living, The Guardian and The World Class Series. A regular interviewer of celebrities Meryl has interview skills that are first class – and discreet. She has also appeared on television discussing her thought-provoking, fresh, and unique articles. Meryl is also a writer with Ustar Novels (under the pen name of Sylvia Hadcliffe) publishers of personalised literature.

Exquisite paper panties made by another multi-talented Hastings lady – Maika Crampton. Check out her textile company Angels & Violets. 

I can’t wait to try a pair of these on!

Come and join in the fun x

American Ecstasy is a memoir in pictures and words based on the 12 years she spent working as a stills photographer – and effectively PR lady – on 300 hardcore shoots. Back then, the internet was in its infancy and there were no DVDs or laptops. They shot real 35mm films on big movie cameras and great care went into the scripting, acting, sound and editing process, which could last for days. ‘It’s hard to imagine now,’ she says, ‘but back in the 1980s people lined up outside of real movie theaters to watch feature length sex flicks. It was the Golden Age of Porn. There was a thriving X-rated movie industry in New York City, and that was where I got my start as a photographer.’

The book is a nostalgic view of those times before the industry moved out to LA. The photos are explicit yet also funny, sad and intimate – which sums up the contradictions in the porn industry as a whole. She captures those moments when the masks are down – when the actors are resting, laughing, bored, vulnerable, or staring into space.

It also features a selection of written stories Nitke wrote about her daily life on the movie set and clips from her interviews with porn stars of the day. Plus a critical essay by Arthur C Danto, Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University and former art critic for The Nation, who compares her work to that of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Nitke’s Kickstarter video campaign page

I tried to get one of these to demo at my party but their PR tells me they are selling so well, they’re having to use the stock set aside for samples. It doesn’t surprise me as it’s a quirky V-day gift. I need all the help I can getting out of bed at this time of year and I love the idea of an alarm clock that wakes you gradually with a buzz rather than an unforgiving shriek.

Sabi’s had time to test it out personally so here’s her review:

When I first heard about the Little Rooster by Littleroosterstore.com, my initial reaction was “how funny!”

But then I started to think, what a fabulous idea and decided to try it out for myself.

It came in a lovely box which looks like an expensive packaging for some jewellery items.

There was a lovely black satin pouch to keep my new alarm clock in which I think was a great touch and made the product feel more sophisticated.

After reading the instructions I set the alarm and placed it in my panties.

The device felt cold against my skin and felt a bit odd but within a few minutes, I had forgotten it was even there.

I’m not a heavy sleeper so I had put it on a low vibration setting and low and behold, it woke me up gently.

It was a great feeling I have to say and it wasn’t noisy at all as I had expected it to be.

I’m certain if I had a partner in bed, they would not even have noticed it!

I’m guilty of letting it continue to vibrate for a long time after it had awoke me.

With a normal alarm clock, It would’ve been switched off within seconds!

A very enjoyable piece of equipment and I will certainly be recommending it to others!

Follow Sabi’s blog at https://fitlass.wordpress.com

Photo by Gyuri Szabo at finfoto.com

Chunky and decadent; each one has a Hollywood vintage inspired name – Gem de la Mer, Passion Rocks, Ruby Rouge, Boozy Floozy, and Ooh La La. I fear they won’t make it to my Rude Party on Saturday. Still, the (empty) box will make a great jewellery box for Julieta.

Pretty Idle specialises in indulgent relaxation accessories – cashmere blankets, luxe-aromatherapy candles and bath oils, artisan chocolates and cashmere socks and clothing. ‘We are dedicated to giving our stylish, hard-working customers multi-sensorial experiences of hedonism at home’, say founders Jacqueline Day and Frances Ruffelle. The press release is quite timely given the snow, as I was talking to a girlfriend the other day about how to be warm and stylish at home. She said she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and cringed at the winceyette pyjamas and big slippers. The name does what it says. I don’t care how comfortable and cosy the fabric.

‘What about cashmere?’

‘I can’t afford cashmere.’

A collective sigh and we ate another piece of chocolate. I can’t afford it either – in large quantities – but I save up for small luxuries that make a difference to my day. Leather gloves lined with cashmere and these knock-your-socks-off knitted OTK’s from Agent P. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face and have you stroking your legs like a kitten…

When: Saturday February 11th @ 3pm – 6pm.

Where: Desiderata, 5 King’s Road, St Leonards on Sea, TN37 6AE

Please RSVP: nicci@inrudehealth.com, so I know how much bubbly to buy ;-)