Thank You For Being A Friend - The Naked Chef Appreciation Post

Travelled down the road and back again
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant
And if you threw a party
Invited everyone you ever knew
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
And the card attached would say
Thank you for being a friend
[Theme song from 'The Golden Girls']

Image by cumberbuddy

Ladies and gents - that's how I feel about Jamie Oliver.  Or more specifically, that's how I feel about his first cookbook 'The Naked Chef', which I bought (wait a sec while I fire up the wayback machine) in 1999.
It's heart was true, it was indeed a pal and a confidant.  It taught me to make stock, use an oven for more than box-mix cakes and that fresh herbs had no substitute.

I firmly believe that the popularity of The Naked Chef (the show and the book) was the reason why fresh basil  and other herbs have become supermarket staples.  The start of the Noughties was grand - no Y2K, living out of home, regular shagging and no more trekking to the Asian grocer for good coriander.  And no, it's not bloody cilantro or Chinese parsley it's coriander, dammit.

Part of the reason I'm so happy that Khristianne Uy won 'The Taste' is because she and her partner remind me of Hazel and Foxglove from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.  

Hazel (also a chef) was a slightly more minor character than Foxglove and the thought of her groovy flesh-and-blood doppleganger winning a cooking show on the teevee makes my dorky heart melt.

Ham and Cream Cheese Ramen

Oppan ramen time! Heyyy, sexxy lady... *horsey dance*

Welcome to Ramen Atrocities 101.  I'm your host and today we will be consuming -

Ham and Cream Cheese Ramen!

Broke?  Bits & pieces in your fridge which won't make a proper meal?  Folks, ramen (or ramyun, or rameyon) is your friend.  It is kind, forgiving and hides the dead bodies for you gets along well with even the most improbable accompaniments.  It's almost the Mother Teresa of noodles.
It's especially parent-friendly, being fast, cheap and you can hide a myriad of vegetable and proteins in it.  So bugger feeling bad for not feeding your teenagers organic quinoa-and-samphire salad sourced from you local farmers market... or something.

"But a dairy product in soup noodles?  Madness I say!"  Or... madness, I said... until I actually tried it.