When will Barnet Councillors grow some of these?

Let's not mince any words. I am thoroughly sick of the way the cossetted councillors of the London Borough of Barnet hang impotently around the council chamber, pocketing huge allowances and doing nothing at all for the people of Barnet. Let me a few examples of this

Parking charges. They ALL know that these are killing the High Street, which is the heart of the community. Which of them have done anything to help. Even the Leader says "he can do nothing".

One Barnet. They know that the business case is a complete joke. No one has come forward to defend it. No one knows who the project sponsor is. We even had one Tory councillor telling a resident at the weekend that he didn't understand it and voted for it because he was told to. An opposition councillor told me that the report I leaked was shown to them for 10 minutes. They were not allowed to take a copy and weren't allowed enough time to read it properly, consider it or debate it. They are paid to scrutinise such things, yet are "not allowed to".

Overdevelopment. Councillors know that there are too many rabbit hutch flats going up all over Barnet. Which of them say a dickiebird to oppose it. One Tory Councillor told  a resident at the weekend that he was "relieved Boris had canned the Brent Cross scheme". He voted for it.

Sell off of Church Farmhouse Museum for redevelopment. Another Councillor told a resident that he was "sickened" by this proposal. He has said nothing publicly about the proposal. (Note : I emailed every single councillor about this. Only Susette Palmer bothered to reply. She sent an email to council officials demanding to be informed of progress - an example to all).

Cabinet allowance rise. All of the Tory group, apart from Kate Salinger, voted for this, even though most knew it was morally wrong in the current climate.They ostracised her for her stand

Even the most lowly councillor gets thousands of pounds in allowances, for merely attending two council meetings a year. They have to do nothing else to get the cash. We elect them to represent us. Is it too much to ask them to grow some balls and represent us properly. This isn't party political. It is aimed at just about all of them (with a shamefully few honourable exceptions). DO YOUR JOB, REPRESENT THE PEOPLE PROPERLY.

It seems you enjoyed Testicles for Dinner

I can always tell if I've done a good blog by the fact that people hunt me down and email me. The more bizarre the email, the better I think I've done. Thanks for the other recipes for cooking testicles. I'm sure that one day I'll find a use for them. As to the guy who suggested that the blog should concentrate on this type of subject more, I'm sure that there are plenty of people who'd tell you I serve up enough B*ll*cks here as it is !

Anyway, whilst on the subject of testicles, I thought I'd tell you a little story about my Dad. Back in the late 1940's he was a commercial pilot. He worked for a construction company called John Howard Ltd who were engaged in building oil facilities in the Middle East. One of his main jobs was to ferry around a director called Mr Hallam (who later became the govenor of Cyprus). Hallam was wined and dined and was a very important man. My father recounted how he was visiting one sheik and Hallam got served up a Rams eyeball as he was guest of honour. Hallam had to eat the delicacy or cause grave offence. As it was served My Dad quipped that he was lucky he wasn't so honoured. Hallam responded "Oh but you are", as the rams testicles appeard on a plate in front of my Dad.

My Dad had quite a gift for languages and spoke fluent Arabic. He said that the waiters passed a comment between themselves laughing at him. He interjected in Arabic "get me a Scotch and coke" quietly. As the meal was in a supposedly "dry" country, no alcohol was served, but my father knew that there was always a supply. As the waiters had insulted him, he knew that it would turn up rather sharply. He said that was the only thing that made it tolerable. Hallam was rather fed up that Dad didn't order him one as well when he found out.

Testicles for Dinner

Fancy a nice tasty treat for dinner tonight?

How about this yummy snack.

Alex Mackay from Great Food Live
has this recipe on his UKTV WEB PAGE


Ingredients
1kg beef or lamb testicles
50ml white wine vinegar
seasoned Flour, for dusting
2 Eggs, beaten
100g fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
40g unsalted Butter
1 small bunch flat leaf Parsley, leaves picked from stalks

For the vegetables:
1 large Onions, peeled and finely sliced
3 cloves Garlic, finely sliced
1 large red peppers, seeds removed, sliced
1 large yellow peppers, seeds removed, sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin Olive oil
100 ml water, salt and black pepper


Method
1. With a sharp knife, split the tough skin-like muscle that surrounds each testicle and transfer to a large saucepan.

2. Cover with water and vinegar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool. Slice each testicle into 1cm thick ovals and set aside.

3. While the testicles are cooking, tip the sliced onion, garlic and peppers into a large pan. Add the extra virgin olive oil and water. Cover and cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes, until soft. Season well and set aside.
4. Toss the sliced testicles in the flour, followed by the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Heat a large pan with the vegetable oil and fry, in a single layer, for 3-4 minutes until golden. Add the butter, let it sizzle for a minute and stir in the parsley.

5. Season the testicles and serve with the stewed peppers.

I was thinking of having a dinner party for the editorial team at the Barnet Times group of newspapers. Given the papers policy towards Barnet Council and the Conservatives at the helm, I can think of no more appropriate dish.

My advice to the team - get yourself some Cojones.