Just like 'The Good Life'

Over the last few days I’ve been doing food related sort of ‘gardening’ activities. What exactly does that mean?

Well so far its involved visits to three garden centres, some internet surfing, the purchase of about 10 packets of seeds and one rather nice terracotta pot, oh and a little bit of time actually in the garden. All this because some nice mild sunny weather and those daffodil shoots and tree buds I mentioned in my last post mean I just can’t help but start thinking about what herbs and vegetables to attempt to grow this year.

Last year we had a glut of very green tomatoes and a handful of red ones (just yummy) and we were still getting tomatoes ripening in late October. This wasn’t some special strain we’d tried but the summer weather, which never really got hot or warm enough for the tomatoes to ripen – made great chutney though.

This year there will be more tomatoes and we’re trying 

courgettes (yellow ones - how trendy!) and beans (I wanted the lovely striped red borlotti ones but couldn’t find any organic seed so had to settle for green). All to be grown from seed; credit crunch times call for cost cutting measures – a packet of seeds costs the same or less than little plants.

As well as the vegetables its time to replant the herb section of the garden. We’ve had rosemary, chives, sage and oregano for a long time but none of them do quite as well as we’d like so this year we (or rather my husband) are moving the herb bed to a slightly sunnier location; and anyway the birds that perch in the neighbours giant eucalyptus tree that partly shades the bed do untold damage to the herb plants rendering them pretty useless for cooking with. A new spot is being prepared with some good compost added (home made of course – there’s nothing as good as a bit of composting to make you come over all Richard Briars and Felicity Kendall) and the oregano and chives transplanted. The rest will be new plantings of parsley, coriander, sage and rosemary – again from seeds.

So while the digging takes place I’ll be designing a giant spreadsheet of what seeds need to be planted when and the dates we might expect to be able to pick delicious home grown veg and herbs – or perhaps make another huge chutney batch!

And I haven’t even told you about the terracotta pot yet ☺

Quick pasta lunch

Some days you need a lunch dish that’s fast, fast, fast.

Its still grey outside so it needs to be warming and fairly robust but also bring a hint of the spring that’s coming (it seems like it is – I can see daffodils poking through the ground and buds appearing on the trees – balmy days of sipping rosé and chucking fresh basil on every dish must surely only be round the corner).

So what will fit the bill? 

Well pasta is always a winner I think – quick and easy (I mean the dried stuff not making your own and then hand rolling it – delicious though that is, it’s a kind of all day project). And what to have with the pasta - well lets not be completely lazy and tip out something from a supermarket tub, lets cook a couple of things up in the same time it takes the water to boil and the pasta to cook.

Yesterday’s choice for me was some salami cut into strips and some baby plum tomatoes cut in half, sautéed in olive oil, mixed into the drained pasta, sprinkled with pine nuts and parmesan, et voila.

Start to finish 15 minutes (not including the eating time!).

More coffee and chocolate

Recently I’ve been trying out a different coffee blend – and some different chocolate. My current coffee selection is Percol Guatemala (fairtrade and organic). Its very different from the Union Hand-Roasted I was drinking (see my earlier post) and at first I wasn’t so keen. It seems to be a weaker brew even though they are both graded as 3 so I’ve been having to use a bit more of the grounds in each pot. Its quite smokey in flavour and when I paired it with Green & Blacks Cherry chocolate it just didn’t quite work. Now I’ve switched chocolate (well actually I’ve eaten all the Cherry bar) to Green & Blacks Dark 85%. This chocolate is smooth and intense and balances the smokiness of the coffee well. It’s a really nice chocolate bar at a not too mad price for this level of flavour.

Coffee wise, for my money the Union Hand-Roasted has the edge in the taste stakes, its just that bit more interesting.

Eating with 241

Last week I saw Pizza Express were running a 2 for 1 offer again (available until the end of February I think) and as I was meeting a friend for a quick lunch thought that in these credit crunched times we should give it a whirl. To get the voucher I had to register my email address (so that will be unending email traffic from Pizza Express for ever more I guess) and print off the voucher – all pretty easy. Then off to Pizza Express to enjoy the main course of my choosing (with friend in tow - I don’t think the offer was eat 2 main courses yourself and have one free but that might work for the very hungry).

Pizza Express is somewhere I go fairly regularly even at 

full price so this is not a tale of complete madness (ooooo look its on offer I’ll have one even though I don’t need, want or like the product…hey admit it, its happened to us all at some time or another).

We settle in, we peruse the menu, they no longer do my friends favourite main course salad, this could get difficult. The offer is ONLY for two main courses and she wants the salad (and I don’t blame her it used to be pretty good) so we negotiate with the waitress. She’s a little stern at first insisting that it’s only an offer on two main courses and even having a double portion of one of the starter salads won’t count. We wheedle a bit – she looks like she might relent and she disappears (presumably to check with the manager but maybe just to get away from us trying it on).

She returns and YES we can have a double portion of starter salad and use the offer. HURRAH.

The food comes, its good in the way that Pizza Express is always good, it does exactly what it says, and service was prompt – they allowed us off piste with the offer. Which, considering how busy it gets when these offers are on (be there at 12.30 or think again where you are lunching), was very fair of them, they could have said no and if we had gone then they would easily have filled our table.
It was pretty noisy because it was so busy; add to that the half terms crowds (big mistake by us picking half term week) and if it’s a peaceful lunch you are after then this isn’t for you. If you are looking for value though this is a pretty good offer; there are plenty around at the moment and signing up to Money Saving Expert or Money Supermarket will point you to them – just remember where ever the offer is for it will get VERY busy and they might not be as flexible as Pizza Express were on this occasion.

For the record we ate at Pizza Express, New Fetter Lane, London and had a La Reine pizza on a romano base with extra egg (soft cooked) and a double portion of mozzarella and tomato salad with a side of dough balls.

Thoughts on porridge

I've always had a bit of an on-off thing with porridge. I certainly wasn't a 'Ready Brek' kid despite my mum's best efforts; I stuck firmly with the Weetabix back then.

As I got older I found that porridge was sometimes good but mostly only with a heavy sprinkling of brown sugar and the creamy top of the milk.

 And it was a staple on camping weekends with friends, helping stave off the damp and any budding hangover before nipping up a few hills in the Lake District. For the most part though porridge never entered my regular list of breakfasts.

WHY.

Well eventually I realised that most people make porridge with milk (or part milk, part water) and if there is one thing I don't like its the smell of warm milk. Cold milk great. Warm milk ugh. In fact anything with warm milk makes my stomach turn slightly (custard, hot chocolate).  So doesn't the creamy top of milk go warm when it hits the porridge? Maybe a little but it stays pretty cold and it doesn't have that warm milk smell and the porridge itself must have been made with water - so no warm milk odour anywhere. Of course porridge made with water is a bit dull, its okay but its not going to become a favorite without something else added - the sugar, the cream, maybe raisins.

But somewhere deep down I knew I kind of liked porridge, the comforting texture, its warming qualities. So I thought I'd try again but without the milk. What to use instead.  Milk substitutes have always seemed a slightly weird idea to me (well except for people who genuinely can't have milk)  but I happened to find something called 'oat milk'. And here was the first step on the road to a renewed relationship with porridge. Oat milk can only taste of oats, it can't smell like warm milk, it simply enhances the oatiness on the porridge.

Step two was the lazy persons find - porridge with the fruity bits already added. Just how hard can it be to add raisins, or sultanas, or dried blueberries when cooking up the porridge. It CAN'T be can it? No of course not but when venturing into something new sometimes things need to be a little bit easy or the challenge becomes too great. A small step is often the way to open up a whole new and exciting world. There in the cereal aisle was just what I needed - the small step - porridge oats with fruit already added.

So armed with the right ingredients (and with recent damp and/or cold weather that makes porridge seem like the right option) I have ventured in to a land of porridgey breakfasts.  For me about 50g of porridge and 150ml of the oat milk works a treat, simmer for 5-6 minutes and eat - no cream or brown sugar needed. Tasty oaty porridge to start the day.  I might even take up hill walking again!

The oat milk I use is Oatly Organic Oat Drink and the porridge is Dorset Cereals (eaten my way through the Raspberry and Cranberry, now on to the Apple and Raisin).

Mmmmm mushrooms

I've been thinking about my favourite foods recently, listing, considering, adding, subtracting, juggling, testing.......although I've not quite got to my top 5 just yet I'm getting close.

But one thing that has just got to be on there is MUSHROOMS.

I love them in all their different guises. From elegant looking oysters to hearty portobellos and every stop in between, they are a (very) regular feature of my cooking.  Stews, stir fries, omelette, risotto, pasta and fry ups.

But I'd stake a lot on the two best ways being:

1. Sauteed in butter and eaten on toast (rye or sourdough for preference)

2. The thing that makes a bacon sandwich truly great (oh joy)

And here are some big fat organic field mushrooms cut into generous sized chunks being sauteed in butter - wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. 

Try some yourself soon.

Very nice lasagne

Yesterday I met up with a good friend for lunch and a catch up and we went to Vine on Gray's Inn Road. We have been there plenty of times before but not recently as it has been shut for a while due to a change of ownership. Time to see what had changed we thought.

The menu has a greater emphasis on pasta and risotto dishes than previously, although there are still a good range of starters, mains and specials.  I had the lasagne and my friend went for a risotto with courgette and gorgonzola. Service was speedy but when we arrived it was quite empty (it filled up pretty quickly though).  The lasagne really hit the spot - good meat sauce, pasta not too heavy (though not as feather light as you can get it if you make it yourself), right amount of bechamel. In fact I was enjoying it so much that I have no idea whether the risotto dish was any good!

The waiter said that the new chef had previously worked for Carluccio's so I guess that might explain the shift to pasta/risotto. Certainly the lasagne compares very favourably. And the Chianti was pretty good too :)

The dangers of dreaming of burgers

Sometimes you just NEED to have a burger in a bun for your supper. Well yesterday that was me.

A quick search in the freezer revealed some organic beef burgers that seemed to fit the bill - each quite small so it wouldn't count as sheer greed but only mild gluttony to have two. 

So out they came to be defrosted during the day and sit winking at me from the counter each time I passed. I thought carefully about what condiments and sides should accompany them to add to the experience.  I spooled through ideas in my head remembering previous winning combinations and all the while the anticipation was building.

At last I settled on an 'open burger'  - only 1 bun between two burgers so there would be no 'lid'. Off I set to get some buns, choice was limited and I had to settle for wholemeal floured rolls (perhaps at this point I should have spotted that things might be about to go wrong but no I continued to think I was building the dream burger I craved).

Back home the burgers were cooked on very hot chargrill pan for about 5 minutes per side, each of the two sides of the bun was given a different treatment - one had mayo, one ketchup (find both of them at the Stokes brand of Essfoods) - and the side orders of saute portobello mushrooms and grilled baby plum tomatoes duly prepared. Then the whole things was rapidly assembled and whisked to the table to be greedily devoured.  

But something had gone wrong - perhaps not very wrong - after all I still managed to eat everything but some how it just didn't cut it. The bread was tasteless and dry, the burger tasteless and kind of watery - its texture was fine but there was just nothing to the whole thing - no zing, no nice beefy flavour, no soft but fresh tasting bread effect. To be fair the mayo and the ketchup and the sides were great but instead of supporting a strong main act they were left to hold up the whole show on their own!

So the problem - well I can only think that the burgers didn't stand up to the freezing very well on this occasion.  I've had the same burgers before both fresh and defrosted and they have been pretty good - not as good as if you made them yourself but there isn't always time for that kind of thing.  And as for the buns well maybe wholemeal just doesn't work with burgers - I love wholemeal bread but it doesn't seem to do it on the burger front.

Or just perhaps, the fact I had been dreaming of perfect burgers all day meant nothing would live up to the expectation!

Coffee and chocolate

Its been raining here all day so a comforting cup of coffee and a sneaky bit of chocolate has helped while away some of the time. Mind you everyday deserves a good cup of coffee and some nice chocolate. 

Today's pick on the coffee front was Union Hand Roasted Organic Ethiopia Yirgacheffe which a medium body and fruity brew - a good any time of day coffee. 

Chocolate wise it was one or two slices of Kshocolat Orange Slices (candied orange coated in dark chocolate) and with the fruitiness of the coffee this was a great pairing. They're expensive but as an occasional treat they do the trick of lifting the spirits on a damp day.

Suffolk seaside treats

Up on the Suffolk coast for brisk walks and tasty food this weekend. Love it up here and there is plenty to keep a food addict happy - from great farm shops to favourite restaurants, good beer and excellent fish and chips. Too much to fit into one weekend so we are pretty regular visitors.

This weekend we have picked up a lot of goodies at the Friday Street Farm Shop - some to eat now, some to take back home.

We always get something by Purely Pesto (who don't just make pesto) - this time it was some soups for lunches - beetroot and also curried parsnip. They taste great  - freshly made, no additives, smooth and creamy but not overbearingly so - plus the beetroot is just a beautiful colour! The portions are a little small for 2 for lunch, more a starter size portion  - but still recommended.

We also picked up organic eggs from Maple Farm which are currently priced at £1.50 per half dozen - great value and makes you wince at supermarket prices....as well as some shin of beef from Cratfield. We have had various of their cuts before and its always very tender and well flavoured, really demonstrates the difference you get from well reared and properly hung meat. That's just a few of the highlights from this weekends haul.

After a bracing walk along the seafront to Thorpeness and back to the Martello Tower we decided to brave the cold again and have a couple of Adnams beers (and a quick blast of 12 bar blues from the Smokin' Hogs) at The White Hart before going to eat at Regatta - one our 'regular' choices when we visit Aldeburgh. They seem to have the ability to fit you in for dinner no matter how busy they are - you might have to be prepared to eat quite late (9pm) but they will almost certainly find you a slot. The place is always lively, the service very friendly and the food consistently good. There is always a strong specials board which, as you might expect on the coast, has a particular focus on local fish and seafood.

I went for the French style country pate with prune and onion chutney followed by the quartet of smoked and cured seafood - both from the regular menu. Both portions were generous and with bread, salad and new potatoes alongside I failed at the final hurdle on the fishy platter and had to leave a few smoked prawns  - perhaps next time I'll opt for the smaller portion size. The pate had just the right coarse chunky texture you want from a country type pate with the prune and onion chutney complementing it well, rich yet tangy and good enough to make we want to look out a recipe for something similar.

I should confess here that oniony chutneys and marmalades are a particular weakness of mine and I regularly spend days bubbling up batches of onion delights with which to win friends and influence people :) so it was pretty inevitable that I was going to like this dish.

The smokey and cured platter consisted of gravadlax, smoked salmon, brandon rost (hot smoked salmon) and smoked prawns - each with their own appropriate garnish/sauce. All were of a very high standard and all are cured or smoked at the restaurant - you will also find you can source similar local delights at various farm shops and delis in this part of Suffolk (the village of Orford being particularly well known for smoked products). Last night the gravadlax was on especially top form, nice thick slices, lightly cured but with a refreshing amount of dill and a spot on mustard sauce to accompany it (sharp but not overpowering). I was rather sad not to be able to finish the prawns as their rich smokiness was going very well with the Californian red wine we were trying for the first time (J Lohr Wildflower Valdiguie 2007) - a pairing to remember for another visit.

My other half had the gravadlax to start (and was similarly impressed) with braised lamb shank on a bed of swede puree to follow (from the specials board). Again portions were generous and although a man of few words when eating he was suitably impressed leaving not a scrap on his plate. Overall another very enjoyable meal at Regatta.

Right time to go and search for onion and prune chutney recipes.

Baby its cold outside

Its been pretty cold the last day or so with a snow fall of about 6 inches today - something we haven't seen for a long time (18 years according to the records). So its mostly all about curling up near the heater/fire/radiator with a warm drink and a small snack whilst contemplating which warming dish to have for lunch or dinner.

Soups and stews are the order of the day and better still if there are a few things to hand to cook one up relatively quickly. Who wants to have to scrape the snow off the car to go and get dinner in weather like this when the time could be better spent making snowmen and going for a brisk walk? So its been a search in the fridge and cupboards for things that can quickly be rustled up into hearty dishes. 

Porridge for breakfast - always good on a cold day; then a soup for lunch made from onion, canned beans, sliced leftover sausage (salami, ham or bacon would also do the trick) and the last bits of a cabbage  - a kind of muddled up caldo verdo/minestrone.

The search for dinner possibilities revealed beef stew leftovers (always happens when there are two of you to feed - stew and casserole recipes don't seem to be devised for less than 4 - but hey why worry when they are almost always tastier on the second go). We added some big field mushrooms and then some pasta which we cooked and stirred in at the last minute.

All good warming dishes, no trip to the shops needed and plenty of chance to make snowmen because there won't be another chance to do that for nearly 20 years!

What I ate last night

I've been reading quite a few cookbooks recently that have a seasonal theme to get some new ideas for different winter dishes.  

I've been particularly enjoying Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's (HFW) 'The River Cottage Year' (this link is to Amazon.co.uk). I'd already tried a couple of the soup recipes and then I spotted the recipe for 'Smoky cheaty brandade' (page 49) and I just happened to have some smoked haddock  that I'd been planning to use for kedgeree but thought I'd try the brandade instead.

It was fairly simple to make (about 1 hour total from start to sitting down to eat - and of that time about 20 mins was prep the rest was the dish cooking). I made half the quantity in Hugh's recipe and 2 of us ate half of it so I now have plenty left which I'm planning to fry up as fish cakes later the week. I guess if you had a really big appetite it wouldn't go this far but with some braised courgette and greens it made a good size main course which we followed with some cheese.

The recipe goes like this - adapted from Hugh (with my comments in brackets):

(per HFW this serves 4 as a main, 8 as a starter or 12 as a canape - but see my comment above):

Ingredients:

500g smoked haddock or cod fillet

whole milk (actually I used semi skimmed and it was fine) - about 400ml

500g mashing potatoes - peeled (floury ones that mash well are king edwards and maris piper)

butter

4 tbsp good olive oil, plus extra

2-3 large garlic cloves

optional  - 1-2 tbsp double cream (I didn't use this)

black pepper

Method:

• Poach the fish in the milk for about 5 minutes (the milk should just cover the fish and if the fillet is particularly thick it may take a few minutes extra - its ready when the flakes will separate easily - use a sharp knife to test it). Leave the fish in the milk to cool.
  
• Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until tender, drain then mash with a generous knob of butter and some of the poaching milk to get a soft but not sloppy mash.
  
• Remove the fish from the milk and flake it off the skin and make sure you pick out any stray bones, discard the skin and bones.
  
• Pour the olive oil into a small pan and add the finely chopped garlic, sweat on a very low heat for 2-3 minutes and don't let the garlic colour.  (I used the full 4 tbsps of olive oil even though I used only half the quantity of fish and potato).
  
• Put the fish into a food processor and pulse to a paste whist adding the olive oil/garlic until the fish is the consistency of mash potato - add more oil or the cream or some of the poaching milk to achieve this.
  
• Mix the fish and mashed potato together - BUT NOT in the food processor or it will go all gluey - and season with black pepper.
  
• Spread in an oven proof dish and bake at gas 5 (190C) for 15-20 mins. (It didn't go very brown on the top so you might want to crank the oven up for the last few mins or pop it under the grill if this is the effect you are looking for.  I imagine it would be pretty tasty with some grated cheese on top).
  
• Serve with toast and/or greens, leek, chicory or other green veg.  (We had greens and courgette - tho I admit the latter is not very seasonal).