Rhubarb Fool

1:03pm Saturday 17th May 2008

RHUBARB is one of those plants that suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Some experts are still out on that one. Today's Michelin-starred chefs solve the problem by using it to flavour savoury dishes as well as puddings.

	Pasta and bolognese sauce
	8:55am Thu 15 May 08
	I AM trying to aid my mother's recovery from a long illness by feeding her up, which involves creating meals stuffed with as much goodness as possible that are both tasty and easy to eat. Pasta has proved a real favourite, especially when I serve it with a bolognese sauce which calls for lots of fresh vegetables, garlic and herbs. She finds this dish easy to digest and particularly flavoursome. I use spirals or shell shapes for the pasta as the spaghetti proves difficult to pick up. To make things easy for myself I cook enough for four people, give her one fresh and then freeze the rest in individual servings that can be microwaved later.

	The Bat and Ball, Cuddesdon
	8:16am Thu 15 May 08
	Was it the sun's sudden appearance which transformed the day or the friendly greeting we received when visiting the Bat and Ball Inn, Cuddesdon?

	Terror's Advocate, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? and RFK Must Die,
	2:57pm Wed 14 May 08
	Jacques Vergés is an enigma shrouded by mystery inside a conspiracy. An anti-colonialist since his childhood, Vergés was a student friend of Pol Pot, the future dictator of Cambodia. He made his name defending Algerian heroine (and future wife) Djamila Bouhired and earned instant notoriety for agreeing to represent the Nazi Butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie. Then, having disappeared for eight years that have still to be satisfactorily accounted for, he returned to take on such insalubrious clients as Carlos the Jackal, whose wife, Magdalena Kopp, became a close personal friend.

La Antena, XXY, Caramel and Heartbeat Detector

2:54pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

The continuing strength of New Argentine Cinema is demonstrated by two films on release this week. Dazzlingly inventive throughout, Esteban Sapir's La Antena is a noirish fantasy set in the Year XX in the City Without a Voice, whose population has been struck dumb by the TV broadcasts of the sinisterly omnipresent Alejandro Urdapilleta.

Salmon and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce

8:04am Thursday 8th May 2008

I SHARED a bunch of freshly picked asparagus from Q Gardens, Milton Hill, with a friend recently and we enjoyed it with salmon fillets and a lemon Hollandaise sauce.

	Speed Racer
	3:01pm Wed 7 May 08
	Go, Speed Racer, Go!" Based on the Japanese animated series, Speed Racer signals the return of Andy and Larry Wachowski, the publicity-shy brothers who pioneered 'bullet time' in The Matrix trilogy.

	Honeydripper, Un Secret and I Served the King of England
	2:58pm Wed 7 May 08
	Screen history is pocked with African-American musicals showcasing stars who were rarely allowed to exhibit their talents in mainstream pictures. Indeed, on the rare occasions when the likes of Lena Horne, Bill Bojangles' Robinson or the Nicholas Brothers were accorded guest slots in prestigious studio pictures, their numbers were invariably cut from prints destined for the Deep South for fear of offending supremacist audiences.

	King prawn and asparagus stir fry
	7:48am Thu 1 May 08
	I CREATED this dish from a few early spears of asparagus which appeared in a friend's garden. She had suggested we cooked them for lunch, but as there were not enough spears to serve alone as a starter dish, I decided to concoct a stir fry which would make the most of what we'd got. It really was a matter of opening the larder doors and pulling out ingredients I believed would go together. It was great fun, but we didn't measure anything, we simply threw in a handful of this and a handful of that. So, on acquiring more asparagus from a farmer friend, I cooked the dish again, measuring all the ingredients as I went so that I could write it up.

	The Lamb, Little Milton
	7:43am Thu 1 May 08
	Little Milton is a pretty village standing equidistance between Thame and Wallingford if you travel the A329.

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