Book, Screen, Food - Top 5 lists for 2024 (and 2025) - Ep 339

Don't Shoot The Messenger

2024 BOOKS

(see show notes from full show podcast)

2025 BOOKS

(see show notes from full show podcast)

2024 SCREENS

All Of Us Strangers

Kneecap

Lee

Blitz

The Holdovers

2025 SCREENS

In The Grey

The Amateur

Black Doves

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth

Zero Day

2024 RECIPES

• Chimichurri:

3 anchovies

3 small garlic cloves

1 shallot

2 chillis

Half bunch parsley

Full bunch coriander

Zest 1 lemon, juice of half

1 tblspoon capers

1/2 cup olive oil

2tbsp sherry vinegar

Salt

• Beef Tomato Carpaccio with Spring Onion and Ginger Salsa
• One Pot Pasta with Ricotta and Lemon
• Asparagus, Pea & Watercress with Anchovy Cream Dressing:

6 anchovies

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Juice of ⅛ lemon (about 50ml)

80ml olive oil

30g Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan (½ cup, lightly packed), plus extra to serve 1 bunch asparagus, woody stems snapped off

1 cup peas

Handful watercress or rocket

5 tbl spoon extra virgin olive oil

75g (½ cup) breadcrumbs

To make the anchovy cream, combine the anchovies, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and olive oil in a small food processor on blender. Blitz for a minute or so until the mixture is smooth, creamy, and thick. Add the cheese and blitz again until well combined. Taste, then season with salt and plenty of pepper. If you prefer, you can make this dressing in a mortar and pestle: start by bashing the anchovies and garlic cloves to form a paste, then add the remaining ingredients.

Boil pot of water, season with salt. Blanch asparagus for 2-3 minutes until bright green/just tender. In last 30 seconds, add the peas. Drain & immediately plunge the asparagus & peas into a bowl of iced water. Drain & set aside.

Prepare breadcrumbs, heat 2 tbl spoons olive oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs, fry, stir regularly until golden brown (3 mins). Remove from pan & drain on kitchen paper.

Assemble: Toss asparagus, peas, & watercress/rocket in a large bowl with a teaspoon of anchovy cream. Spread a generous spoonful of the anchovy cream on the base of a serving platter, then top with the dressed greens.

Scatter over a handful of the breadcrumbs and finish with extra grated cheese. Serve immediately.

• Beetroot cured salmon

2025 RECIPES

• Chicken thighs with spiced ghee & yoghurt Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking
• Almond crumble cake with peach & blackberry Good Cooking Every Day: Simple Recipes. Beautiful Menus. All Year Round
• Verana’s Potato Salad https://www.irishexaminer.com/recipes/?c-recipeid=12274
• Brown Butter Strawberry Cake:

150g unsalted butter

3 eggs

200g caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

200g full-fat plain yoghurt

100g (1 cup) almond meal

200g self-raising flour

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

good pinch of sea salt

250g strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced. Grease a 23 cm round cake tin with butter and sprinkle in some demerara sugar, then shake the tin to coat the base and side and tap out the excess. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and simmer gently until the butter is fragrant and nut brown. Set aside to cool.

Beat the eggs and sugar in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on a high speed for 7-8 minutes or until pale and voluminous. Add the vanilla and yoghurt and beat to combine. Reduce the speed to low and add the almond meal, flour, cinnamon and salt. Mix until just combined. Pour in the cooled browned butter and mix until just incorporated.

Spoon batter into the tin & smooth the surface. Arrange halved strawberries, cut-side up, on top of the cake batter. Sprinkle on some demerara sugar, bake for 50-55 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 mins, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices