SouthseaScene

Beef Semarang Style or Lapis Daging Semarang (in Indonesian) is a delicious way of cooking beef and a lovely meal to cook for a dinner party as it's simple and easy to prepare. This recipe is for 4 people, but be warned that the portion needs rice and a vegetable side dish to make a complete meal.  Ingredients:  450 grams beef sirloin or rump, sliced thinly, the size of a matchbox 1 medium onion, chopped  3 cloves of garlic  1 tsp freshly ground black pepper  3 tbsp dark soy sauce  ½ tsp nutmeg  1 tbsp dark sugar  2 tbsp oil  2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped  Gently beat the meat slices with a mallet to thin them out. Put the onion, garlic, pepper, soy sauce, nutmeg and sugar into a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Add a little water if necessary to keep the blades turning. Put the beef slices in a bowl and marinate with the sauce for about 1 hour.  Boil some water and blanch the tomatoes, peel the skin and chop them up.  Heat oil in a frying pan and brown the beef p

Today Portsmouth Guildhall launches its Summer Staycation series of online events to help you make the most of your summer holidays at home in the UK this year. Featuring a range of interactive events, live-streamed performances, competitions and activities there is something to keep all ages entertained throughout August and even a special offer to get on board with the excitement of the Government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme! Singers and non-singers of all abilities are invited to give their lungs a workout with the Guildhall’s weekly live sing-a-long sessions (every Wednesday at 4pm) with the Urban Vocal Group who take on the classics with a different themed twist each week from Disney to Disco and 60s to the Musicals!    If sitting back, relaxing and watching some fantastic local artists is more your thing don’t miss out on the weekly Summertime Sessions in association with LMSUK Media every Thursday at 7pm, featuring chilled live-streamed gigs from the sitting rooms of some of

Sometimes you find a gem by accident because you have a few ingredients and wondering what to do with them. This recipe is in the cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey that a friend gifted us after cooking us curry dinners at university.  We are delighted by how simple it is to make and how different it tastes to many of the dishes in our repertoire. As we have a vegetarian friend coming over to dinner this week, we thought this would be the perfect dish to make because usually the chicken is added at the last minute. The original recipe is called  Murghi aur mansoor dal  or Bombay-style chicken with red split lentils. As we're serving this to a vegetarian, we have substituted the chicken with cauliflower. The ingredients for 2 people are: 80-100g red split lentils 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped 1 fresh green chilli (we like it hot so we use 1 chilli per person) 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped 400-500ml water Put these in a pan and simmer for 45 minutes. If you

When big fat and juicy British asparagus are in season, make this simple dish to take advantage of the subtle delicious flavour.  This recipe is for 2 people. Ingredients: A bunch of asparagus 150ml double cream 2 cloves of garlic, peeled but leave whole 30g Parmesan, grated 150g tagliatelle Trim the asparagus by snapping the stem with your fingers. Keep the tips aside. Boil the rest of the broken stems for 3 Min. In a separate pan heat the cream with the whole garlic to infuse the flavours. Add the boiled stem into the cream and blitz with a hand blender. Boil a pan of water for the tagliatelle and at the last 2 Min of boiling, add the asparagus tips. Drain and add pasta and tips to the cream mixture. Add Parmesan and seasonings and serve!

During the lockdown my lunches have really improved. Avocado is an ingredient that appears often. I have one avocado a week and I have them on salads and in sandwiches. If you've been making sourdough bread, avocado mixed with Sriracha chilli sauce really sings.  Spinach is good for you and a salad of this rich in iron leaves goes very well with chunks of avocado, chopped sundried tomatoes, and a sprinkling of pangritata (breadcrumbs, mixed with olive oil and baked/fried to a crisp). Jazz up your bread slice with avocado mixed with some feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. No more boring lunches now!

Can't wait to watch the show tonight. Last week I received the pack in the post containing the programme, a recipe card and some walnut whips!

This recipe from Nigel Slater is delicious every time!  Ingredients 250g chicken breast cubed Juice of half a lemon 2 tbsp raisins/sultanas 2 tbsp pine nuts 2 tbsp olive oil 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp dried chilli flakes 1 fresh red chilli, chopped Mint 100g couscous Chicken stock Marinade the chicken together with the raisins, garlic, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and chillies in the lemon juice for 20 minutes. Dry fry the pine nuts on the pan and set aside. Boil the chicken stock, add to the couscous and cover for 5 minutes.  Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken for 4-5 minutes until just cooked. Serve with on a mound of couscous and a scattering of mint. Here I have added some roasted red peppers because I can, but the above makes a richly flavourful dinner without. Thanks, Nigel!

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have been awarded £180,000 to help reduce plastic pollution in developing countries. An interdisciplinary team, led by Professor Steve Fletcher and Dr Cressida Bowyer have received funding from the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund for a two-year project ‘Catalysing sustainability transitions in cities in the global south suffering from severe plastic pollution’. The project, which contributes to a number of United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, will use Nairobi (Kenya) and Sylhet (Bangladesh) as the case study cities. Using arts-based projects, the researchers will work with local communities, business and authorities to map current systems of waste management and identify opportunities for reducing plastic waste leaking into the environment. The research findings and methods will be shared in a knowledge exchange workshop (scheduled for April 2021) that includes representatives from up to 10 other Development