Woody's

Ian

[Recipe](http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/26/foodanddrink.recipes)

Ali

Pheasants were 5 for ten quid at the Ally Pally Farmers Market just before Christmas. Where do you get the pigs trotter or could a Cows foot be used as it is more local ?

Arkady

They did sell trotters at the butchers in Chapel Market in Angel where I got the (frozen) pheasants from, but to be honest I'm not that brave. Last time I did it my pals picked up the pheasants at Ally Pally as you suggested, and they were both fresher and cheaper than the aforementioned frozen ones!

Bloody gorgeous though. i recommend sweet potato mash as a side...

B

missisclack

Ian - the petition comment was tongue-in-cheek (double exclamation marks). I'll remind myself to stop making little jokes with people I don't know.

Ali & Arkady - you can buy pig trotters in Ridley Road market, not that I ever have, but they are plenty.

dorothy

@ADGS, reminds me of when I lived in house shares, one of the things I used to cook then and I still do now, was smoked mackerel with plantain. Peel and slice the plantain put that in the oven first with some oil and after it looks softened, put in the fish as well. You can do all in one dish or in foil and has the added advantage of smelling so much, it keeps other housemates out of the kitchen.

@Arkady, what's the Woody's Chorizo like? Must be cheap if you got all those ingredients for under £12. I never really thought of Chorizo as an economy food, but maybe you're using it in that anchovy style in that a little goes a long way. I've always just found it hard and full of gristle, too expensive. How do you get addicted?

twinspark

I hear Fox is especially tasty this time of year!

Arkady

@ missisclak - what's Ridley Rd Market like, I've never heard of it - or of Ridley Rd for that matter.

@ Dorothy – I’ll hold my hands up; now I come to think of it I may already have had the chorizo in the fridge, but I only used half a sausage – a little goes a long way. I find it a touch tough and gristly myself if eaten cold – though if you chop it up small enough it’s quite nice with cheese. But slice it and throw it in the pan and it browns and softens, and releases a tasty oil which permeates your meal… sometimes so much oil comes off that you really have to pour some away or it can be a touch overwhelming – in pasta dishes especially. But in stews or hotpots it’s perfect. I actually use it more often than not when cooking, which is a touch disturbing now I come to think about it.

I love processed and cured meats of all kinds. The more processed the better – I can eat my own bodyweight in pâté in a single session.

Arky

dorothy

@Arkady, mmm, you really are addicted. I'll try cooking it for longer and getting the juicy fat out of it though, thanks.

krappyrubsnif

@twinspark - I hear squirrel goes down a storm if they're not hibernating

ADGS

Arkady: I'll happily put my hand up to 'culinarily incompetent' and 'without means of storing [much] food', but I object to 'lazy' when I'm the only person I know who considers Holborn walking distance from FP.

99p pizzas, though - ugh. I may not be much in the kitchen, but I can still make a cheese toastie that tastes better than those (or most oven pizzas, for that matter, but that may be my reverse Midas touch with the oven coming in again).

tosscat

99p pizza = [analogue cheese](http://www.whitehall-specialties.com/)

Arkady

ADGS: Apologies, I see you're a fellow trapiser. I'm doing a masters degree at Birkbeck in Bloomsbury, and regularly walk back to SG from there. You probably have an extra mile on me if you're coming from Holborn, depending on where you are in SG. I walked the length of the Parkland walk today - gorgeous in the snow - thence to Wood Green (urgh) to meet a pal for a pint, then back via Hornsey Vale. Only slipped over once, sadly it was on the steps leading up to Archway bridge so my arse hurts.

Arky

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ADGS

I generally head for Liverpool Road (your route there will probably vary depending where exactly you are, but for me it's down SGR, along the nature reserve by the railway line, then out and across Highbury Fields at a diagonal), from which I head off to the right into Barnsbury, taking various routes but generally attempting to minimise the amount of time I spend on Caledonian Road itself. Then across the big roads by King's Cross and you're in Bloomsbury and nearly there.

Apologies if that's rather vague, I think I may have a sort of intuitive sense of direction where the ability to cook is in other people...

krappyrubsnif

@ADGS where do you mean by "along the nature reserve by the railway line, then out and across Highbury Fields"

I thought the way into the nature reserve was down by the old Arsenal stadium and Arsenal Tube - ie Gillespie Road.

Arkady

They've opened a new entrance between the bookies and the bridge over SS Rd near the station. Easy to miss.

Arky

magicP

I don't often go into Woody's, but I'd happily see the back of the SGR Tesco. It's grubby and poorly laid out. It could do with being completely refurbished and having one big queue for all the tills rather than loads of queues stretching into the aisles.

The Londie on Ferme Park Road is nicer, cleaner and with a much better wine selection.

tosscat

And much more expensive.

magicP

Some things are more expensive, but others are not and it's a much nicer place to shop.

tbp

Hi all,

I am looking into this story for the Islington Tribune.

The shopkeepers said that they are selling up to Sainsbury's, Islington Council don't know anything about it though.

Does anybody know how long Woody's has been there?

Thanks

Tom

krappyrubsnif

Oooh, are you a local newspaper reporter? What's the Islington Tribune's tip-off fee?

jandb

Apparently the tawny owls are out of control ... that'd make a better story I think.

copycara

Woody's has been there a good few years - 3, 4? Maybe more. It was Yesim before, same people, different name.

missisclack

@Arkady - Ridley Road market is in Hackney (Dalston, so the Islington side of Hackney). Right opposite Dalston Kingsland Station (train goes from Highbury & Islington). Or the 236 bus goes from FP direct to the not-Kingsland-Road end of Ridley Road.

Dirt cheap fruit and veg (cheaper than Chapel Market) all stalls are priced about the same, but vary in quality/freshness, so worth a stroll up and down to check out before you buy.

Lots of fishmongers along the market drag, but the butchers are mostly along the pavement/shop fronts.

There is a massive West African and Turkish community in Dalston/Hackney and the variety of veg and especially fish & meat reflects this (fresh herbs, about 40 types of chillies, exotic fish, sheep heads, cows foot - in addition to the aforementionned trotters).

There is also your usual tat on sale too (plastic bling accessories, plastic bling bags, shiny bling leggings), big big pots and pans, incense, African and Caribbean CDs and DVDs. There is also the marvelous Dalston Mills (set back, shop front) which has all the fabric, buttons, zips, threads etc you could ask for - and super cheap too.

I work close by, go all the time and love it! Yesterday I bought 15 bananas for £1, 4 bunches of spring onions for £1, 20 limes for £1 and 2 fat sea bass for under a fiver (they gut and descale for you). Plus one fella gave me a free red chilli and thumb size piece of ginger because he thought it was hilarious that's all I wanted and not worth weighing.

Check it out!

Arkady

I shall, many thanks!

tbp

Thanks all!

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andy

@tbp: It was a furniture shop before that. I'd guess at 5 years old. And why are you surprised about Islington Council not knowing something? Why not write a story about a brilliant local forum, instead?

northlondonlass

I love the Londis! I used to live opposite that before it took over the shop next door and there was a crap fish and chip/Chinese shop which is now an estate agents. The woodfired pizza place, Firezza is very good too but pricey. Anyway I've walked home from Oxford Circus, takes almost 2 hours and not the most pleasant of walks, straight up via Upper St or via Camden Road. Onlyl done on a good evening though!

Arkady

I like the Londis too. I've taken to hiring DVDs from there now. They have everything - I was even able to buy a scart cable from there the other day (which helped with the DVDs).

I do think it's a shame that there aren't a few more interesting shops there, I understand that it used to be more diverse. They bitch about it a lot in the Nickelby.

Also, something ought to be done with the scrappy area of land/dumping site between the old Stroud Green station house and the bridge carrying the parkland walk over Stapleton Hall Rd - it's an eyesore.

Finally, has anyone noticed how bloody rude they are in the garage on stapleton hall Rd? the fellah deliberately blanked me for about 30 seconds last time I went. Then I asked for rolling papers and tobacco and you'd think I'd asked to murder his wife.

Arky