Vampire Repellent Meal (A Transylvanian Recipe)

For today's fourth(!) countdown to Halloween post, a recipe I found on the YouTube channel Tasting History. I have been following it for the last two years or so and I particularly love the seasonal stuff Max Miller does. He often gets some really nice videos for Halloween. This one is about a meal that comes straight from Transylvania and is full of garlic, thus perfect to keep vampires away. There are also lots of information about one of Halloween's favourite monsters, the reasons why vampires hate garlic and it looks like a great roast beef recipe, so it's definitely worth a watch.

Steak sandwich

It's not because I am on holiday on a Friday that I will not allow myself my usual Friday treat. In fact, it gives me plenty of time to treat myself properly. So today, we went to visit preschools and we stopped for lunch at a pub near the last one we had visited in the morning. We were not sure whether to eat there or just have a drink, but it smelled really nice. We were looking at the menu when one of the staff came to us with the chalk board showing the daily specials. My wife identified right away what I was going to have: this steak sandwich. With fried onion and cheese, and chips on the side. I added American mustard on it, because they did not have Dijon. That was a proper Friday lunch, yummy, greasy decadent stuff. It was not the best I ever had, but it was plentiful. It reminded me of the time when, as a teenager, my mother used to make roast beef, then we had the leftovers in a sandwich like this one. When we left, Wolfie kept saying: "Want steak, want steak!" I guess he could tell I had something special.

Hobgoblin, the crisps

My readers know how much I love beer and how much I love Wychwood Brewery's Hobgoblin. I love everything about it: its look, its taste, its label and the way Wychwood uses British folklore. Well, I discovered last year, at total random, that they also sell crisps. To be precise, the Spit Roast Steak flavour Hand Cooked Potato Chips. Now that is a mouthful, in more than one way. I found this bag in the vending machine of my previous working place. It was during my lunch break and I hurried up to buy the bag, as there was only one left in the whole machine. I rarely eat crisps when it is not on a Friday, but thought I'd treat myself then and there and I had to cease the opportunity.

So what was the verdict? Delicious, and even though I know there was no true steak in it... It did taste like steak. Not like roasted venison as the bag seems to indicate, but that does not matter: it is as if little imps had flavoured it with the result of their hunt, as the picture on the back of the bag seems to indicate. I must confess, I am truly a sucker for Wychwood's imagery: I could have kept the bag, I thought the drawings were so darn cool. The only problem is that I had no Hobgoblin beer to go with the crisps. Maybe next time. Because believe it or not, I haven't had these crisps since then.

Roast beef

This is the last meal I had with my parents, the night before our departure. It was a Sunday, so that makes it a Sunday roast, although that was completely accidental. Roast beef like this is the only experience of Sunday roast I remember from childhood, before I even knew it was a Sunday roast: rare (or medium rare?) meat, mashed potatoes instead of roasted ones, potatoes which must be covered with parsley, and asparagus. Oh, and since I am an adult, I have red wine to go with it. I had really disappointing experiences with beef this side of the pond, I was really happy to rediscover this simple classic.

Hungry for a Sunday roast

It is maybe too hot today to long for a Sunday Roast, but all the same, I am really in the mood for one. Last time I ate one was a a few months ago, from what I remember it was overcast and not so warm outside. A roast is best enjoyed when it is dreary and miserable outside. Just like it was when I had the one you see on this picture. It was in the Golden Fleece Inn of York. Which I blogged about before, as it is allegedly haunted. My wife and I ate there because I thought it was fitting to eat a Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding when in Yorkshire. And because of the ghosts, who never showed up, even after a few drinks. All the same, this was the most enjoyable roast beef I had in ages. It was pouring outside and we were in a very dark pub, devouring very hearty food (the veggie version for her) and it was very heart warming. Soon, when the baby comes, we will have to eat in far more often, so at weekends I try to take her out as much as possible. So we might go out to see if we can find something that good tonight, even though it is not the ideal time of year. But hey, it's Sunday, so that is a good enough reason.

Steak d'orignal

Coeurs sensibles s'abstenir: ceci est un steak d'orignal, que mon père a fait cuire sur barbecue à un moment donné cette année. Cela dit, n'étant pas encore cuit, bien c'est un morceau de chair sanglante. Enrobée dans du bacon. C'est pas décadent rien qu'un peu. C'est dimanche, le jour en Angleterre du Sunday roast. Je me suis rendu compte une fois que j'ai appris l'existence du Sunday roast, que le roast beef que l'on mangeait très souvent dimanche soir au Québec était tributaire de cette tradition britannique. Parfois, rarement, le roast beef devenait un roast... moose. Ou un roast beef d'orignal comme on le disait, ou alors un steak d'orignal. C'est bon pas rien qu'un peu.