Christmas Cooking

Christmas Biscuits

It is a family joke that I am a staunch traditionalist when it comes to Christmas. Every decoration has to go in the same place, and all the eating options have to be the same. I think I have mellowed a bit now and am starting to build some traditions of my own. However, there are some things that are so good that there is no point in change for changes sake. Homemade mince pies are a must, as they are so much better than shop-bought. We also do a dessert tray, which involves piling a tray with apples, clementines, nuts and an array of chocolates and sweets, both what people have been given and homemade. It makes an impressive set piece, and means there is always an instant pudding.

I put myself in charge of the fudge and truffles this year, and although there were some moments when I regretted it due to timing issues, the results were definitely worth it.

Gluten-free mince pies

200g gluten-free flour (I used Doves)
100g butter
100g lard
4 tbsp cold water

Put the flour and fats in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and pulse again until the dough begins to come together. Form into a ball and wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

I found it easiest to roll out half the dough at a time, and then I filled a muffin tin with circles of dough, added a spoonful of mincemeat (Nigella’s cranberry) and then topped them with a star. Baked for 20 minutes at 200C these were light and crunchy. They freeze well too, so you can stock up the freezer.

Vanilla Fudge

900g granulated sugar
300ml water
Large tin condensed milk
50g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt

Put the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Add the condensed milk, butter, vanilla and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for about 30 minutes, until it reaches the soft-ball stage (or 116C on a sugar thermometer), stirring regularly and scraping down the sides. Once it has reached this stage turn off the heat. Beat well as it cools, and it should go slightly grainy. Pour into a well greased baking tray and leave until set, then turn out and cut into small squares. Warning – it is very rich! It keeps very well in an airtight container, although I don’t know how long for as it does not last long in our household.

Chocolate truffles

These truffles are a family favourite, but I do recommend making them small as they are quite intense. In the picture below the cocoa covered ones have brandy in them, and the chocolate coated ones have Grand Marnier.

Chocolate Truffles

450g good quality dark chocolate
275ml double cream
1 tbsp brandy (or Grand Marnier, or any other liqueur you fancy)
Cocoa powder

Chop the chocolate into small pieces, or whizz in a food processor, then put in a bowl Heat the cream gently until bubbles start to appear around the edge of the pan, and then pour over the chocolate. The heat of the cream should melt the chocolate. Add the liqueur and stir well to combine. Leave to cool and then refrigerate.

Sift some cocoa powder onto a small plate. Roll the truffles into balls with your hands, and then roll in the cocoa powder while they are still slightly tacky from the heat of your hands. Or you can dip the balls into some melted chocolate and leave to set on greaseproof paper.

Christmas Biscuits

This recipe is based on Nigella's recipe for cut-out butter biscuits. To cut out shapes like the ones above you need a recipe that doesn't spread as it cooks, and this one works perfectly. I added the ground ginger to make them more Christmassy.

175g butter
200g caster sugar
2 large eggs
400g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger

Cream the butter and sugar, and then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one is added. Then switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the dry ingredients. Form into two balls and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Roll out the dough using flour to stop it sticking, and then cut out your shapes. Put on a greased baking tray and then bake for 8-12 minutes, until the edges are golden. The amount of time needed depends on the shapes you have used so keep an eye on them. Put them on a rack to cool.

Now is the time to get creative. I didn't measure the ingredients for the icing, just sieved some icing sugar into a bowl and then added very small quantities of water until it was the consistency I was looking for. If you overdo the water you can add more icing sugar, but you could end up with a lot of icing this way!

I find the easiest way to spread the icing is with the back of a teaspoon. You can make a slightly thicker icing and pipe the edges for neatness, but I didn't have the time or inclination! You need to put your decorations on while the icing is still wet, so that they stick. I bought all of mine from Jane Asher, who have a shop in Chelsea. Then leave out to dry before storing in a tin, or wrapping in cellophane for presents.

The Lone Star, Barbados

We’ve just come back from a really lovely holiday in Barbados. It is a huge treat to go away somewhere hot at this time of year, and we have come back refreshed and ready for Christmas.

I don’t think I have ever eaten so much fish and shellfish, but it seemed a shame not to when it was clearly so fresh. Most meat at the hotels and restaurants is imported, so hopefully it lowered the food miles a bit too!

There are two stand-out eating moments though. The first was after the ‘boys’ (R, my father and my brothers) went on a fishing trip. R caught the biggest fish, but only on the evidence of the tail, as a shark pinched the rest (not kidding!). It was therefore C’s kingfish that made it back to the hotel. There the chef was kind enough to cook it for us for lunch. About three hours from sea to plate, this couldn’t have been any fresher. It was blackened for us, and served with salad, and really could not have been any better.

The second was lunch at the Lone Star. The meal got off to a pretty good start as we arrived at the restaurant in a speed boat! It felt pretty swish stepping off the boat, rinsing our feet and then settling into the restaurant. Pity there weren’t more people there to witness it! It is in the most fabulous location on the beach, and definitely worth a trip for lunch rather than dinner so that you can enjoy the view.

Tuna tartare with mango salsa

I shared a starter, the tuna tartare with mango salsa. I couldn’t eat the salsa, which was getting rave reviews around the table, but the tuna itself was basically perfect. It was cut into slightly larger pieces than you customarily get with tartare, which gave it a bit more texture, and the sweet fish was perfectly offset by a hint of sesame oil. Other hits in the starters included R’s polenta coated calamari. I was particularly pleased he ordered this as I have missed out on calamari since I went gluten-free. The polenta worked really well as a coating as it gave it some extra crunch. My mother’s kingfish, which had been briefly seared, was also lovely, with the fish really being allowed to shine.

My main course was king prawns and scallops with thai red sauce and coriander mash. Again this was beautifully executed. The seafood was perfectly cooked, the sauce a lovely balance of spice and creamy coconut, and even the mash, which I was skeptical about, brought the whole thing together. My brother’s mussels were beautifully cooked, with an incredibly rich creamy sauce which was perfect for dipping chips in. The spicy pasta with mussels and prawns also elicited moans of pleasure around the table!

I justified a pudding to myself as I had been playing two hours of tennis every day, and so I went for the chocolate and pistachio mousse. This was very pretty, with its green and brown layers, but was a bit disappointing after what had gone before. It was served a bit too cold, which muted the flavours, and the texture was a bit too light for my taste.

Paradise

I have been dreaming about this meal ever since we came back, and have already started saving my pennies so that I can return!

The Bolingbroke, Battersea

I was really looking forward to date night with R in the Bolingbroke. We were a bit early for our reservation, so we started with a drink in the Draft House just down the road. It was a bit busy in there, and until we managed to nab a barstool was rather uncomfortable, Another minus point as they didn’t have any ginger beer, but I still like what they are doing, so will give them another chance. It was primetime on a Friday night.

So then on to the Bolingbroke. This is the far end of Northcote Road from Clapham Junction, and is a decent sized space, although with quite a short bar. We went straight through to our table, which was at the back. Once we had negotiated ourselves away from the table with the howling draft we settled back to peruse the menu. I had also managed to get a voucher for a free glass of wine with each main course, so that set us off well.

The menu read really well, and I could have chosen pretty much anything. Having had a quick look at the menu online I decided to forgo a starter so that I would have room for pudding. R, being a sucker for anything that involves warm cheese, had a blue cheese and onion tart. This was an individual tart served with a salad, and certainly looked the part. Good reports came from the other side of the table, in particular the pastry was beautifully short and buttery.

Onto the mains. I had gone for the sea bass wrapped in pancetta, with risotto. The sea bass was well cooked, and not too dry, and the pancetta was crispy. However I found it odd that the fish had not been skinned, and so there was some rather flabby and unappetizing skin. The risotto was OK, but didn’t have much flavour to it, and really was just a pile of rice. Nothing seemed to have been seasoned much, and I had no vegetables at all.

R had gone for the guinea fowl. I only tried a little bit, but again it was massively underseasoned. Both dishes looked good, but the taste just did not match up. There wasn’t anything wrong per se, they just were not that good.

The final straw was when the pudding menu arrived and there was nothing on it that didn’t have gluten in it. We decided to cut our losses and get the bill, which luckily was pretty good value given the free wine.

In all this was really disappointing, since the menu looked really good, and it felt like with more care the food could have lived up to its billing. The service was great, and just the right level of attentiveness with out being too intrusive.

Harissa Chicken

This was a last minute dish, inspired by what was in the fridge and a vague recollection of something I had read somewhere. We are trying to eat up the contents of the fridge and freezer at the moment as we are off on holiday on Saturday. The yogurt in the marinade kept the chicken nice and juicy though, and there was a good kick from the harissa, without it being too hot. Definitely one to repeat, and it would be particularly good cooked on the barbeque. The recipe is pretty fluid, depending on what you have to hand, and particularly the heat of your harissa.

Harissa Chicken
Serves 2

6 mini chicken fillets (boned thighs would be good too, or breasts cut into strips)
2 tbsp natural yogurt
2 tsp harissa paste
Small drizzle of olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper

Mix all of the ingredients in a shallow dish, add the chicken and leave to marinate for as long as you can. I made this up in the morning and left it in the fridge all day.

Heat a griddle pan until smoking, and then cook the chicken, shaking off the excess marinade. Eat immediately with salad, or in our case courgettes.

Envy, Amsterdam

This review comes thanks to Kristain, via Twitter, who answered my plea for recommendations in Amsterdam. The restaurant is in the nine streets area of Amsterdam, and is quite hidden away. We nearly walked straight past, despite knowing that we were in the right place.

As you enter the restaurant you walk past the open kitchen, and all the chefs called out ‘good evening’, which I liked. The restaurant itself is quite long and thin, with regular tables on one side and raised tables with stools on the other.

The concept here is one that is becoming more familiar, namely the portions are small and not divided into traditional starters and main courses. The idea is that you have two to four plates per person, and share them. If you don’t want to make your own choices then you can go for a tasting menu of either four or five courses.

The menu divides into cold meats, cheese and other plates. I was there with a colleague, who wasn’t too keen on the sharing idea, so we went for two dishes each, and a shared plate of bresola.

The bresola was nice, and well cut, but there isn’t much more to add really. Personally I would have tried some of their salami or cured ham, but my colleague doesn’t eat pork.

First off I had wild duck breast, confit leg and salted caramel sauce. Unfortunately the confit leg was in a spring-roll type wrapper, which I couldn’t eat, so my colleague had that. This was a disappointment, as it took away half of the dish, and left me with just the breast. This was well cooked, and the sauce was good in a generic sort of way. I would never have been able to identify the sauce as salted caramel though, and it felt a bit like they were just jumping on the bandwagon.

My second dish was much more successful. This was a risotto with taleggio, chanterelles and pecorino crisp. The risotto was deliciously creamy, while retaining a little bite, and the tiny portion was plenty given the richness of the cheese. The pecorino crisp on top gave it some texture, and added a slightly salty note. This was a well balanced and well executed dish.

My colleague had a salad of king crab with avocado, and then courgette cannelloni with herb ricotta. She seemed to enjoy both of these, but I didn’t try them. The cannelloni in particular looked inventive, as there was no pasta involved.

I would return to this restaurant, as in general I thought the food was great and I liked the ambience and would like to try some more of the dishes. I would definitely go back with a friend or R though, so that we could share lots of plates.

There were some negative points though. The service was painfully slow, and the restaurant wasn’t even half full, so there were no excuses really. I also told the waiter that I couldn’t eat gluten, and he said he would check with the chef if there were any problems with what I had chosen, but the duck still arrived with the spring roll. Also I think that someone should have pointed out that both of the dishes my colleague had chosen were cold. She felt a bit hard done by that she had no hot part to her meal.

The bill came to about €50, which wasn’t too bad, but I could see the bill shooting up pretty quickly if you added in a few more dishes and some wine.

Christmas Cake

This Sunday is Stir-up Sunday. This is the last Sunday before Advent, and is the day to make your Christmas pudding and cake. Traditionally everyone in the household should stir the mixture for luck.

We actually made our Christmas cake a couple of weeks ago, as we had more time then, and the pudding will come from the WI. It is definitely a good idea to make these items in advance. They keep for ages, improve with age, and it means less stress in the build-up to the big day. It does still feel a bit early to be thinking about Christmas though.

Christmas Cake
(based on Delia's recipe)

900g dried fruit (mix of raisins, sultanas, currants)
3 tbsp brandy
225g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
1 tsp salt
A good grating of nutmeg
1 tsp mixed spice
225g butter
225g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
50g chopped almonds
1 dsp treacle
Zest of an orange
Zest of a lemon
Juice of an orange (only if making gluten-free, as it needs the extra moisture)

Mix the fruit with the brandy and leave covered in the bowl overnight.

Preheat the oven to 140C.

Whisk the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs a bit at a time while whisking well. The fold in the flour and spices, followed by the fruit, almonds, treacle, juice (if using) and zest.

Spoon into a lined 20cm round cake tin, and bake for about 4 1/2 hours. When it is cool remove from the tin. It then needs feeding! Poke some little holes in the top and drizzle over some brandy. This can be repeated a couple of times over the next few weeks if you like it boozy (and who doesn't?). Wrap tightly and store in a cool place (like the back of the larder so your father can't find it).

It can then be iced closer to the time - post on that to come.

Japan Inn, Amsterdam

I really fancied sushi while we were in Amsterdam, and the client that we were working for recommended the Japan Inn. It is in the TimeOut guide as well, and even though it is in one of the busiest tourist areas in Amsterdam it seemed worth giving it a go.

We arrived to a small but bustling restaurant, and were sent away for half an hour before a table was ready. After enduring a drink at a terrible bar we returned and were given a table crammed in between two others. We started with Japanese tea and endamame while we looked at the menu. There was a huge variety of sashimi, sushi and yakitori (skewers), and in the end we decided to go for two set menus to share between us.

First to arrive was the sushi, which looked well made and tasted deliciously fresh. It definitely satisfied my craving, but my colleague had never had sushi before and was less than keen! Fair play to her for giving it a go though. My favourite was probably the scallop, but the salmon was good too. Then the yakitori arrived. I haven’t really had skewers served like this before, but I am definitely going to have to find some in London.

They were piping hot, and delicious. The meat was tender, and the vegetables retained a bit of bite. The selection included chicken, beef, lamb, pork, chicken balls and quails eggs. I had to let my colleague have the majority as she wasn’t eating the sushi, but otherwise I would have walked out of there feeling really fat!

There was masses of food, and it cost €25 a head, which was pretty good value for the amount and the quality. I would definitely return if I find myself in Amsterdam again.

Parkin

I hadn’t really heard of parkin before, and then once it was sitting in the tin it suddenly seemed to be all over the internet. I obviously hit the zeitgeist! It sounded like the perfect thing to serve at our Bonfire Night supper, post Battersea Park fireworks. With steak and ale pie beforehand it certainly added up to a hearty meal!

It needs to be made a few days or up to a week in advance, which allows the flavours to develop and it become sticky and yummy.

I tweaked a recipe from Delia, but there are loads about this year, including this one from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I particularly like the idea of putting stem ginger in it. Hix have it on their dessert menu too. I highly recommend making this, and I am pretty sure it won’t be a year before I make it again.

Parkin

200g golden syrup
25g black treacle
75 butter
100g soft brown sugar
225g oats (I used Pinhill, which are quite small)
100g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 egg
1 tbsp or so milk

Preheat the oven to 140C.

Weigh the treacle and syrup into a saucepan (the measurements are approximate as I found it impossible to weigh them accurately – too sticky!). Add the butter and sugar and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved.

Then stir the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients, before lastly adding the egg and milk. If you are using gluten-free flour then you may need a bit more milk.

Pour into a greased tin. I used a rectangular one, maybe 8 x 13 inch. Bake for 2 hours, until the whole kitchen smells of the spices.

Now you need to be patient. Once it has cooled remove whole from the tin and wrap tightly in foil and place in a tin. Don’t touch it for at least four days (and we waited a week). The stickiness it develops will be worth it!

This was a good recipe to adapt to gluten-free (as long as you are OK with oats) as it has a relatively low flour content, and becomes really moist and sticky as it matures. No one even noticed that it was gluten-free, which I always think is the best compliment.

Lavender and Lemon Drizzle Cake

I wasn’t quite sure how to name this cake. The lavender is in the cake rather than the drizzle, but it becomes a bit long-winded if you call it a lemon and lavender cake with lemon drizzle. I’m sure people get the idea anyway. The photo isn't the greatest either - the sun was too low - but it was good practice.

The inspiration for this cake came after I found some lavender in the supermarket. I have wanted to cook with it for ages, but we can’t grow our own as we don’t get enough sun, and it has proved difficult to source.

The first thing I made with it was some lavender shortbread, which made a lovely accompaniment to the chocolate sorbet. I was then toying with what to do next. I assume now that it is open it will lose its potency pretty quickly. R has been talking about lemon drizzle cake for ages, and I can’t even remember the last time I made one. The more I thought about it the more I thought the addition of lavender to this cake might be a good one.

The floral note contrasts well with the sharpness of the lemon. I upped the lemon quota a bit from my normal recipe, and the balance seemed pretty good. Next time I might try using partly ground almonds and partly flour (gluten-free) to try and get the damper texture I was after. This would make a great cake for tea party, with its delicate floral-ness.

Lavender Lemon Drizzle Cake

150g butter

225g caster sugar

225g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)

4 eggs

Grated zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1/2 lemon (you might not need this with regular flour)

Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

75g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and sugar until pale, then add the eggs one at a time, followed by the flour and lemon zest a bit at a time, then stir in the lemon juice. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 50 mins, until a skewer comes out clean. Prick the cake all over with a fork (or the testing skewer).

Stir the remaining lemon juice and sugar together and then pour over the cake while it is still hot. Leave in the tin to cool completely.

Pubs on Northcote Road

There seems to be a revolution taking place on Northcote Road, in terms of the pubs in any case. Up until now there have been a few trendy bars, and an All Bar One and a Pitcher and Piano. When R lived around the corner we used to go to the Goat on Battersea Rise, but it got really busy and is terribly dark.

We were therefore really pleased when we saw that Geronimo had taken over the Northcote. This pub has always had a great location, on the corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise, but it was definitely a football pub, and tended to be heaving. I have written about some of the Geronimo pubs before. They definitely have a formula, but it is one that we like and so I’m sure we will continue to frequent them. Particularly since they keep taking over our local pubs! There isn’t much to add on the Northcote at the moment, but I’m sure we will be eating there some time soon.

Then when I was running in the area I noticed the Bolingbroke. This has also been refurbished, and it turns out has been taken over by Renaissance Pubs, who also run four other pubs in South West London. We went for a drink, and it seems like a really good pub. It was fairly quiet, which we weren’t complaining about as it meant we could get a seat. They also have some more unusual offerings, such as Fentimans tonic water, which we had never come across before. I love their ginger beer (which is what I was drinking) so I am very interested to try the tonic at some point. We may have to go back to the Bolingbroke to test it, as we haven’t managed to find it anywhere else! The menu looked interesting too, so I think it deserves a return visit.

Finally there is the Draft House, which is run by the same people as the Westbridge on Battersea Bridge Road. This is opening some time this week, but I was lucky enough to get a bit of a preview as Eatlikeagirl had organized a meet-up to talk about the Blaggers Banquet (more on that to follow). The pub was still surrounded by hoardings, but it is a nice space. They have an impressive beer selection, both pumps and bottles. Anyone going in there looking for a pint of Fosters will get a bit of a shock, since they probably won’t recognize any of the beers. The staff have obviously been well trained on the stock as well, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about it. Shame I can’t drink beer!

We also we given a preview of the bar snacks. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat quite a few of them, but I think that Padron peppers are a great idea for a bar snack. I also enjoyed the chorizo and baby squid. The breaded Ox tongue with beetroot relish was getting the most reaction, some good and some bad! I definitely want to return here once they are open properly.

So now we seem to have a dilemma if we want to go to the pub on the Northcote Road – which one to go to? It’s a nice dilemma to have.

The Botanist, Chelsea

I had one day of holiday left, and decided to take it last Friday, since R had that whole of that week off. As a break from painting the radiators and pruning the enormous rose in our garden we decided to go out for brunch. I have wanted to eat at the Botanist for ages, since their menu looks really appetising, although I have heard mixed reports. At 10.30 am on a random Friday it was very quiet in there, with only a few coffee drinkers and ourselves. This meant we got great service, but it wasn’t too attentive, and so we still felt we could have a conversation without being interrupted all the time.

I went for the buckwheat crepe with bacon and eggs, which I was really looking forward to. Although breakfast dishes are OK with no toast or the like, they are definitely missing something, and so I liked having an alternative. What arrived was a beautifully thin crepe with two fried eggs and heaps of crispy bacon. The whole thing worked well together, with the egg yolks providing the necessary moisture and the bacon some much needed texture.

R went for the eggs benedict, as is his standard. He seemed please with it, and the eggs looked perfectly poached. I didn’t get to try it though, unfortunately. I had a fresh mint tea, which seemed bottomless, and R had coffee. We also shared a freshly squeezed orange juice, which was lovely.

All in all a very nice spot to spend an hour or so of a morning. It wasn’t the cheapest breakfast ever, but I think it was worth it as a treat. Now I want to go back and try their lunch menu!

Frozen Yoghurt

I needed a quick treat at lunchtime last week, after a fairly hellish morning in the office, but didn’t want to resort to the clichéd chocolate bar. I recently read about the rise of the frozen yogurt bar in London in Time Out, and decided to check out the closest one to my office. After a quick bit of research that turned out to be Yog, on Charlotte Street, so off I set.

There seems to be a theme with these frozen yogurt places, from my limited experience anyway. The only other one I know is Snog, in South Kensington, but I have only ever walked past. Both have single syllable names (remarkably similar ones too). They also have similar décor, predominantly white with flashes of bright colours. The menu is straightforward at Yog, small or large frozen yogurt in either natural or dark chocolate flavours, with a selection of toppings laid out in the counter.

I went for a plain dark chocolate. It was good, but both the yogurt and the chocolate are quite strong flavours, and I felt that they competed with each other more than complemented. It definitely fitted the bill as a light treat though (a regular chocolate one had 119 calories), and I think I will be returning.

The next day I was walking through Covent Garden at lunchtime and remembered about Yu-Foria, which is another frozen yogurt shop, downstairs in the market building. They also have a stall on Thursdays at the Covent Garden market. I though that it might be interesting to compare and contrast the two, so I popped in.

They had a similar offering to Yog, although there seemed to be more tempting unhealthy toppings, such as marshmallows and bits of fudge. They offer natural, chocolate and a special flavour, although no where did I see it advertised what the special actually was, which seems a bit strange. It was slightly more expensive here, although I suppose they can get away with it in the heart of tourist-land.

In the interests of comparing like with like I went for a plain chocolate. This version was much creamier than that at Yog, and the chocolate was much less strong. This meant that it ended up not tasting of much really. I like my chocolate really dark, so the Yog one was my preference.

To be honest I think I went down the wrong track with these frozen yogurts, and I should have gone for a plain yogurt with a topping. Perhaps my next post will be a taste test of those!

Bill Granger's Banana Butterscotch Pudding

Although this is Bill Granger’s recipe, I actually saw it for the first time on a Rachel Allen show, which was then immediately followed by Bill Granger making it on his own show! It went in the memory bank for a suitable occasion, but has waited a few months since it definitely seemed like a winter pudding. We went down to my parents for the weekend, and my mother had bananas to use up, so its time had come.

This is definitely comfort food, to be eaten on wet or chilly days with lots of cream. The surprising thing is how banana-ry it is, given that there is only one banana in it. It is also terrifying to make, as the pudding part is incredibly wet, and then you pour the syrup into it. It looks like there is absolutely no way that it will turn into something edible, and I was even turning alternates over in my mind in case we needed an emergency substitute. There was no need to worry though, as the 40 minutes in the oven turned it into a soft, light sponge, made gooey with the butterscotch sauce. There certainly wasn’t any left over, although the recipe says it serves four and we found it easily went round six.

Chocolate Sorbet

This week is National Chocolate Week, so it seemed to be the prefect time to post this recipe.

I can’t say firmly enough how much you have to make this sorbet, if you are at all a chocolate fan. It is chocolate in its purest form, unadulterated by cream or any other additional flavours. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be good with some orange in it, but first time round it needs to be made straight up.

I was really dubious about making chocolate sorbet. I mean, it sounds like a poor relation of chocolate ice cream. However, I had read a couple of people raving about it, and it does have a lot of chocolate in it, so I thought it couldn’t be too bad. It is also gluten and dairy-free, which is an added bonus. I don’t even have an ice-cream maker, and still believe it is more than worth the effort. I can't remember where I wrote the recipe down from, so apologies for not giving the credit.

Chocolate Sorbet

555 ml water
200g caster sugar
75g cocoa powder (yes really!)
Pinch salt
170g dark chocolate
½ tsp vanilla extract

Whisk 375 ml of water with the sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Bring to the boil, whisking frequently. Boil, while whisking, for 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted, then add the remaining water and vanilla. Leave to cool. Then either use an ice-cream machine according to the instructions, or put in a freezer-proof container and freeze. Every hour or so remove from the freezer and whisk, to ensure there are no crystals. This needs to be done three or four times.

It freezes very solid, so make sure you remove it from the freezer twenty minutes or so before you want to serve it. This was particularly good with orange shortbread biscuits.

Stuffed Peppers

These were a bit of an experiment, as I had managed to buy a packet of peppers when there was already one hiding in the fridge, and so we had an overload. There was also some leftover bolognese, so instead of freezing it I decided to use it to stuff the peppers. It needed a bit of padding out, so some rice seemed to fit the bill.

Stuffed Peppers

1 pepper per person
Bolognese sauce (I had slightly less than two portions)
Cooked rice for two
Grated cheese (something strong like parmesan is good)

Cut the tops off the peppers and pull out the seeds and white bits. This is as easy to do with your hands as anything.

Mix the rice and bolognese together, and stuff into the peppers. My sauce was quite dry, so I added some extra water. Put into an ovenproof dish, top with the cheese and bake in the oven at 160C for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and everything else is cooked through and hot. We had this with some steamed bok choi, but it doesn't necessarily need an additional vegetable.

It was a little bit bland, and the pepper overpowered everything else, so I think next time I would spice up the filling a bit, maybe with some chilli and cumin. Good comfort food on a miserable evening though.

Drawing Room Tea Cake

Why is it that as soon as the dietician said that I couldn’t eat wheat all I wanted to do was bake stuff? And I have this real urge to learn to make bread properly. I even started looking up courses on the internet, until I realised it wasn’t really feasible! (For the record, one of the courses at the Lighthouse Bakery would be my choice).

The bread will have to wait and see if I can go back to eating wheat, as I don’t feel confident enough with regular bread-making to start experimenting, particularly as it must be difficult as all the gluten-free bread I have come across so far is not worth eating!

Cakes and cookies/biscuits are another matter however, particularly since I have discovered Doves gluten-free flour. I just use this in place of regular flour, adding a bit of extra baking powder if the recipe demands it, and some xantham gum. So far everything has worked out pretty well, and people can’t tell they are gluten-free if they don’t know.

One of the best things has been this cake. It has been on my must-cook list for about a million years, but I couldn’t find the required ‘vine fruit mix’, and since I didn’t know what it was I wasn’t sure what to replace it with. It turns out just to be a mix of raisins, although they are particularly good raisins. The recipe is from an old Waitrose recipe card, where it goes under the name of Lady Grey tea cake, and the vine fruits are from there, but any raisins or sultanas could be substituted. As cake goes this is pretty low fat too. It doesn’t have too much sugar, and there is no butter or oil in it at all.

The flavour of the tea really shone through, as did the lemon, and soaking the fruit made the whole cake really moist. R even said I could make this again – the highest praise!

Drawing Room Tea Cake

2 tea bags (I used Whittards drawing room tea, which has bergamot in it)

125g caster sugar

300g vine fruit mix (any combination of raisins or sultanas would do)

2 medium eggs

225 plain flour (Doves gluten-free)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp xantham gum (only if you are using gluten-free flour)

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Pour 300ml of boiling water over the tea bags, in a bowl. After about three minutes remove the tea bags and put the vine fruit mix in. Stir well, and then leave to soak for 4-12 hours (trying not to eat them all as you walk past).

Then just add all of the other ingredients to the fruit and water, stir well, and pour into a lined 1lb loaf tin. Bake at 180C for about an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. I found it needed another 15 minutes or so.

Serve sliced, with tea (or eat standing up in the kitchen because you can't resist!). It made the house smell heavenly too.

The Harwood Arms, Fulham (Again)

I know I have already posted about the Harwood Arms, but we had such a good meal at the weekend that I thought I ought to write about it. I think we were lucky that we wanted to go on Sunday evening, and they therefore had space for the six of us, as they won Time Out new gastropub of the year last week.

There was a lot of negotiation going on as we chose what to eat, due to the rib of beef for two that was available. We all also seemed to go for the same starters, which really caught the eye.

I shared poached salmon with broken egg with my brother. There had been a lot of discussion as to what broken egg, in the context, would be. I think it was a soft boiled egg chopped up, so the yolk made a bit of a sauce. It went very well with the soft smokey salmon, and the shared portion was perfect to whet the appetite for the amount of meat to follow. The other starter we tried was a soft-boiled duck egg with English truffle soldiers. Again, this was a perfectly executed dish, with the egg still runny and the truffle providing a different, earthy, aspect to the dish.

Four of the group then shared the rib of beef, with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and vegetables. This arrived on two big wooden boards, and there was a serious amount of food. We could have just ordered these between the six of us, and still all been full! The beef was beautifully pink and tender, and the horseradish the perfect hit of spicy creaminess. The roast potatoes looked amazingly crispy too, although I never tried them since I was distracted by the arrival of my pork belly.

This was meltingly tender, with a hint of five-spice (we think). My only slight complaint would be that my preference would be for crisper crackling, as this was a little chewy. However, it seems churlish to complain when the dish was so delicious. It came with some stewed prunes for a sweet hit, and to-die-for mashed potatoes. I am ignoring the likely butter content!

By this point we were all stuffed, and yet couldn’t resist the lure of the puddings. My eton mess was spot on, with a large ration of meringue to cream, which is definitely my preference, and the blackcurrants providing a tart contrast. There was also a delicious jelly at the bottom, but my tastebuds had been blown by the blackcurrant (in a good way) and I couldn’t identify the subtle flavours.

My brother’s apple doughnuts had people moaning around the table, and his girlfriend’s burnt Trinty cream (like crème brulee, but slightly runnier cream) was also a hit. R had truffled Tunworth cheese with homemade oatcakes, which he seemed reluctant to share.

This was my parents’ treat, as it was their wedding anniversary, so I don’t know what the damage was. However, last time we went it was pretty good value, and for this quality of food the prices did not seem high.

The service was good too, and they dealt well with my request for gluten-free, coming back to change my order once someone noticed that the mutton I wanted originally had unadvertised breadcrumbs on it. They were also more than happy to bag up our leftover beef so that we could take it home with us.

We have eaten at one of the runner-up pubs in the Time Out competition, the Cadogan Arms, and I have to say that the Harwood is in a completely different class. This is a place that knows what it wants to achieve, and does so using seasonal, well-sourced produce, without being too expensive. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

On our way out we also noticed that they are offering a special grouse menu, if you order in advance. We might be back pretty soon!

Diet and Lunches

I have referred to the diet I have been put on a few times, without really explaining what it is. I have been having stomach problems for sometime now, and had my appendix out in the summer. However, the problems persisted, and so finally I got to see a dietitian at the hospital, who put me on a low-FODMAP diet. This restricts the amount of certain dietary carbohydrates, which have been found to cause some people problems.

In practical terms this means no wheat (I am doing gluten-free, as weirdly that seems easier as it is labelled), no onions or garlic, and also lots of different fruit and vegetables are on the banned list. It means quite a lot of forward planning, particularly if we are eating out. It can get pretty frustrating, although at least I am used to cooking all of my meals from scratch, as ready meals are out.

It has also meant that I have had to be creative with my lunches on weekdays, as virtually all of the sandwich shop/takeaway options are out. If we are having something that will be good cold then I cook a bit extra, e.g. frittata, chicken, rice. Quite often I cook up quite a lot of new potatoes or rice on a Sunday night, and that can then form the basis of my lunch for the next week.

Rice mixed with pesto (homemade with no garlic), with ham or cold chicken, is a favourite, as is potato salad. I also enjoyed a smoked mackerel fillet with lettuce and horseradish today. Cold chicken with mayonnaise and a bit of crème fraiche and tarragon is a good one too. For the days when inspiration is lacking oatcakes and Philadelphia is an option, although a pretty boring one. I also have a bottle of tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) in my desk, so that I can treat myself to sushi. I am sure as the weather gets colder I will be having more soup and baked potatoes too.

I have to have suitable snacks with me for those peckish moments, as the vending machine is no longer an option. It means that I am being a lot healthier, as snacks tend to be carrot sticks or grapes rather than crisps or chocolate!

I have also been getting a Graze box delivered to work. Basically they deliver a healthy snack box, usually containing some fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and dried fruit. It is expensive compared to buying the stuff in bulk, but convenient. I am also low on self-control, so at least this comes in portion sizes. If you want to try it out, click here and you’ll get a free box (and I’ll get some money off mine!).

Shepherd's Pie

I don't normally go in for cutsie individual serving sizes, but I couldn't resist making this shepherd's pie, and anyway there wasn't enough lamb to make a bigger pie. This recipe used up a couple of chops that had been in the fridge for long enough. It's not even really worth a recipe, just whizz up the lamb in the food processor, then fry off quickly with a clove of garlic, then add a good glug of mushroom ketchup. Put in a dish (mini-Le Creuset not compulsory), top with mash potato and then bake in the oven until it's bubbling and the top is brown. Serve with creamy leeks (or other green vegetable). Perfect comfort food.

French Markets and Caponata

Eating out may have been expensive on the Ile de Re, but we knew we were following it with four days of self-catering, and the markets made the whole thing just as much of a treat as going to a restaurant. Even the tiny village that we were staying in on the Ile de Re had a daily market, which put anything local to us at home to shame. It wasn't huge, but there were a couple of butchers, a couple of fishmongers, a few fruit and veg stalls and lots of cheese and patisserie.

We took 3 dozen oysters with us to share with my parents, which cost less than €10! We bought some merguez sausages to go with them, as the hot, spicy sausage makes a great contrast with the cold salty oysters.

Steak was also purchased to go on the barbeque, as well as pate and rillettes for lunch, and a large amount of cheese. It’s no wonder we had to swim 50 lengths every day! I also indulged in my holiday treat of Nutella for breakfast (on oatcakes). It went some way to making up for not being able to eat the croissants and baguette everyone else was tucking into, although not quite the same.

I have to mention the pecorino with truffle that friends of my parents brought from Italy. This stuff was seriously addictive, with a powerful truffle flavour. They also brought figs from their tree, which not only were enjoyed fresh for breakfast, but also stuffed with goat’s cheese and baked in a hot oven. I think I want to go back!

I’ll finish with a recipe, although the quantities are guesswork since there were no scales in the house. Delicious with cold meats, cheese and bread for lunch.

Caponata

2 aubergines
1 medium onion
5 large tomatoes
Glug of vinegar (wine vinegar is traditional, but we only had balsamic)
Dessert spoon of sugar
Dessert spoon of capers
Small handful of raisins
Small handful of pine nuts
Large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

Chop the aubergines into small cubes, put into a colander with a sprinkling of salt, and leave to drain. Meanwhile chop the onions and cook gently in a little oil. Once the onions are soft remove from the pan, add some more oil and cook the aubergine until soft and golden.

Put the onions back in the pan and add the tomatoes, having peeled and chopped them. Cook gently for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have broken down and formed a sauce. Add the sugar and vinegar, and cook for another 5 or so minutes. Turn the heat off, add the capers, raisins, pine nuts and parsley, stir well and leave to cool.

Andre, La Rochelle (France)

For some reason I forgot to post this at the beginning of the posts about our trip to France, as that is where it fits chronologically. Andre has been our favourite place to eat out in La Rochelle since we started going to the area, and no trip would be complete without a visit here. When we flew out we ended up on the outskirts of La Rochelle at pretty much lunchtime, so a meal at Andre seemed to be the perfect way to start the holiday.

This place is absolutely huge. Over time they have taken over the adjoining premises, and now the restaurant can do over 500 covers. It doesn’t seem to take the quality away though. They had rebranded since we were last there, and it all looked a bit more modern and freshly painted.

We managed to bag the last table on the terrace, and after a cursory glance at the menu both of us went for a mini ‘fruits de mer’. This consisted of 4 oysters, 4 prawns, 4 langostine and 4 whelks each. Accompanied by bread for R and chips for me, and large amounts of homemade mayonnaise, this was a truly great meal, and came in at about €40 for the two of us, which for the quality was well worth it. There is nothing that says you are on holiday more to me than eating shellfish while being able to smell the sea!

L'Entracte, La Rochelle (France)

Having managed eating out really easily on the Ile de Re, it suddenly became really hard at L’Entracte. I suppose this is because the emphasis wasn’t on seafood in the same way. Still, we managed to explain the problem eventually, and had a great meal. Once we had managed to explain that I couldn't eat flour the staff could not have been more helpful.

This restaurant is part of the Coutanceau empire in La Rochelle, which includes a two Michelin star restaurant, a seafood place and this ‘modern bistro’. There is also a cookery school, and it all reminds me a bit of Rick Stein in Padstow, which certainly is not a bad thing. Gregory has now joined his father Richard in cooking in the restaurants.

L’Entracte has a very modern feel when you walk in, and the waiters were all charming and chatty as we arrived. We decided the set menu looked good (again), although I had to have my smoked salmon without the accompanying potato goufre (waffle). R had it though, and what arrived had been made in an old-fashioned waffle iron, and certainly got full marks for presentation, although apparently it was a bit bland.

I then went for the duck. We had identified that it came with cabbage and mille feuille potatoes, but I wasn’t expecting it to be shredded duck wrapped in a cabbage leaf. Unfortunately it was full of onion and I wasn’t sure what else was in it, so I swapped it for R’s fish. I am the least fussy person when it comes to food, so I hated having to do this, but if the diet makes me feel better then I am determined to get it right. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the potatoes were also delicious. Full marks also to R who was prepared to give up the meal he had chosen for his unhelpful wife!

For pudding I had ice cream and chocolate sauce. My father’s pear wrapped in pastry (I can’t remember the official name!) looked seriously tasty, and he seemed very reluctant to share it! Everyone else had strawberries in orange syrup, which was a light and fresh way to end the meal.

Belem, Ile de Re (France)

We were at risk of total overeating, and so we decided to have a more low-key meal this time around, at Belem, before a bit of a blow out on our last night. In a meal that involved a lot of eating with our hands we followed a plate of prawns with moules and frites. The prawns were plump and juicy, and served with a quite mustardy mayonnaise. The moules were on the small side, which meant a lot of work for your supper, but it was definitely worth it! R went for a traditional marinere while I went for mouclade, which had a very mild curry and pineau sauce. With perfect hot crisp ‘frites’ this was a great meal, although rather lacking in vegetables.

A serious amount of ice cream!

We followed this with ice cream from the stall on the harbour-front. Choosing from the 50-odd flavours took some time, but eventually I went for rum raisin and salt caramel. The rum raisin was good, with the vanilla ice cream and boozy raisins sitting well together, but the star was the salt caramel. It is hard to describe without making it sound disgusting, but I have been dreaming of it ever since! We had to go back the next day so that I could have more.

Le Skipper, Ile de Re (France)

The view from the restaurant

For our second night we ventured a bit further afield, and went to St Martin-de-Re. We had a drink while the sun set, and then wandered about a bit looking at menus before deciding on Le Skipper. Unfortunately we were too late to nab an outside table, but the interior was very smart, with a Ralph Lauren feel.

Again we had the set menu, which was €26. I started with sashimi, which didn’t seem very French, but it did seem appropriate given that we could see the sea from where we sat. It was melt in the mouth, and came with a great coriander sauce as well as soy. R started with six oysters, which were on even the cheapest set menus as the Ile de Re is one of the main French producers. R had never eaten an oyster when we met, so I am rather proud of him now!

I then had dorade, which I think is bream. This was simply but perfectly cooked, and accompanied by a rather bland ratatouille. The fish was definitely the star at this restaurant, and all of the accompaniments were second thoughts rather. It didn’t matter though as we hugely enjoyed our fish.

To finish we had a pave au chocolat, with salt caramel (again). A lot of salt is produced on the Ile de Re, which I think is the reason salt caramel appears on so many menus (as well as in the form of ice cream – more on that later!).

The pave was absolutely fantastic, and for once we had both ordered the same thing, which is lucky or otherwise there might have been a fight! Rich creamy chocolate mousse sat on top of a wafer made of puffed rice and chocolate, with the caramel providing a wonderfully contrasting salty note.

I also need to add a quick note on the service, which was great. The staff didn't really speak any English, and I was trying to explain that I can't eat wheat in my schoolgirl French. We got there in the end, and the waitress was more than happy to check with the chef about the ingredients, and offer me an alternate if there was nothing on the set menu I could eat.

L'Ocean, Ile de Re (France)

We left planning our holiday rather late this year, as we weren’t quite sure how I was going to be feeling, and we had already had to cancel one trip this year. When my parents said they were taking a house near La Rochelle, and there was room for us, we decided to combine this with a few days on the Ile de Re, as we have wanted to go for ages.

After much discussion and internet searching we decided to stay at L’Ocean. No sooner had we booked it than friends turned out to have stayed there, and luckily they highly recommended it. Since we knew little about the area we booked a table in their restaurant for the first night, until we had time to get our bearings.

Everything on the Ile de Re was pretty expensive, particularly with the current exchange rate, but the set menus still seemed to offer good value. Here the three course menu came in at €24. I started with smoked salmon, which was not the most exciting option, but tasty and came with a well-dressed salad.

Then I had a cassoulette de mer. This was mixed seafood and fish, including mussels, prawns, squid and white fish, cooked in a thick tomato sauce with mushrooms and fennel. The sauce and fish were lovely, but the mussels and squid had got rather overcooked and rubbery.

For dessert I had what appeared to be a local speciality – caramalised baked bananas with salt caramel. The bananas had been split in half and sprinkled with brown sugar before being baked in a hot oven, which created a brulee-like crust on the banana. The salt caramel contrasted beautifully with the warm slightly crunchy banana. All-in-all a great end to the meal, and a good start to the holiday.

French Toast and Strawberries

This is barely even a recipe really, but it was so good for my breakfast this morning that I had to post about it. It was even better as we could eat it in the garden. We're off to France tomorrow for week, so hopefully there will be lots of posts to come!

French Toast

Per person
2 slices of bread (white works best, and something like a bloomer is good)
1 egg, lightly whisked
Handful of strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 dessert spoon caster sugar
Sprinkling of cinnamon

Add the sugar to the strawberries and leave to macerate.

Soak the bread in the egg, making sure both sides get eggy. Meanwhile heat a frying pan and add a little butter and oil. Fry the bread until golden brown on both sides.

Sprinkle with a little cinnamon, and then put the strawberries on top. Yum!

Baked Cheesecake

I have been threatening to make cheesecake for about a year, but something else always seemed to come along and take my attention. It’s definitely something that needs a crowd, or R and I would be the size of a house. However, I did manage to find a slightly lower-fat version, and on this evidence it doesn’t affect the taste.

Baked Cheesecake

This is based on a recipe from BBC Good Food, but I have changed some of the quantities a bit.

140g digestive biscuits
40g butter
600g Philadelphia Light
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp cornflour
75ml sour cream or crème fraiche (about half a small tub)
Vanilla pod
1 tsp vanilla essence
Grated rind of 1 lemon
A small squeeze of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 20cm loose-bottomed/springform tin with baking parchment (if your tin is non-stick I reckon you don’t need to line it, but I don’t want to be held responsible if you can’t get it out!)

Get out all of the stress of London commuting by bashing the biscuits to crumbs (or perhaps that is just me).

Melt the butter and mix with the biscuit crumbs, then press into the base of the tin and bake for 10 minutes. Once removed from the oven turn the temperature up to 240C.

Meanwhile whisk the Philadelphia with an electric handwhisk on low speed (or the old fashioned way) until creamy. Then add the sugar in large spoonfuls, whisking between each. Add the cornflour, and then the eggs one at a time. Only beat enough to combine the ingredients, try not to overwhisk. Then add the lemon zest and juice, vanilla extract and the seeds from the pod, and finally the sour cream. The mixture will be quite runny.

Pour the creamy mixture into the tin, and tap lightly to get rid of any bubbles. Bake at the high temperature for 10 minutes, at which point it was just brown around the edges. Then turn the oven temperature down to 110C, leaving the oven door open for the first few minutes, and bake for another 25 minutes. I found it was still very wobbly in the centre after this, and so it had another 20 minutes in the oven. Then turn the oven off and leave for a few hours to cool (or overnight, which is what I did). Wrap in foil and put in the fridge until about an hour before you want to serve it.

We had this with raspberry coulis (put a punnet of raspberries in a saucepan with a tiny bit of water over a very low heat. When the juice has started to run add a tablespoon of icing or caster sugar and cook until the raspberries have broken down. Sieve to get rid of the seeds if desired).

The original recipe said it served 8, but 5 of us with small seconds only ate half, so I reckon it could go a very long way!

Chicken Kebabs

The barbeque has been sadly under-used this summer. I think every time it has been sunny I have been in hospital, or generally not feeling like eating. We therefore decided to ignore the slightly dodgy weather forecast for last night and light the barbeque. It turned out to be a good decision, as it was a lovely evening.

Chicken kebabs, potato salad and green salad, followed by brownies and strawberries - right up there with my favourite meals, and pretty low effort too.

Chicken Kebabs

This was a bit of an experiment, as I haven't made this marinade before. I will definitely be making it again though.

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts cut into fairly similar sized cubes
4 tbsp natural yoghurt
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
2 peppers, cut into squares

Put all of the ingredients apart from the chicken and peppers in a bowl and mix well. Then add the chicken and leave for at least an hour.

Put the chicken onto skewers, alternating with pieces of pepper (don't forget to soak the skewers if they are wooden).

Barbeque or grill, turning regularly, until the chicken is cooked and the outsides are starting to char.

The chicken stayed lovely and tender, which we struggle with on the barbeque. Let's hope the weather holds long enough for this to be repeated!

The Prince Albert, Battersea

We were given fifteen minutes notice last night that the power was being cut off to our flat so that emergency works could be undertaken. It didn’t take us long to decide this was the perfect excuse to eat out!

Geronimo Inns seem to have been on a spending spree this summer, and we were pleased to see that the Prince Albert was one of the pubs that they have taken over. This pub is in a great position, right by the park, but it has always been rather ropey, and we have only ever been there when we could sit in the courtyard-type garden.

It now has a very similar look to the other Geronimo pubs, with a mixture of tables and chairs, and some stools at the oval shaped bar. They have only been open for three weeks, and there were some teething problems, starting with R’s disappointment that there was only one bitter on tap, and it wasn’t the promised local Wandle.

The menu follows a fairly typical formula, with nothing earth shattering on there, but plenty of solid sounding choices, and a daily specials board too.

We shared a salad from the specials board to start with, smoked duck, poached egg and green beans. This was a huge portion of duck, which was deliciously smokey, and contrasted well with the soft egg yolk and lightly dressed salad. A very good start.

We then encountered our second irritation. Some time after ordering we were told that our table was needed back in just over an hour. I don’t mind this if there is fair warning, but this was a bit annoying. The manager did try to smooth things over with a free round of drinks though. The long wait in between our starters and mains was therefore unexpected, as they wanted us to move on.

My lemon sole was delicious, although the tartar sauce that came with it was a little overpowering for the delicate fish. It would also have been nice to get some warning that nothing came with this dish – it was literally just the fish!

R’s lamb leg steak with mint hollandaise also looked good. I make mint hollandaise at home, and this was very different. Too vinegary for my taste, but R seemed to like it.

We decided against pudding, and anyway our time was up on the table.

I think we will be going back here again, and I hope that they manage to sort out the issues that they have had in the first few weeks. We had a chat with the manager as we paid the bill, and he said they hadn’t realised how many drinkers they would get who had been playing some form of sport in the park.

Greensmiths, Lower Marsh

Greensmiths seems to be a new sort of concept, or maybe an old one done particularly well. Either way I was pleased to see that there was a source of Ginger Pig meat that is pretty much on my way home from work. My bank manager may not feel the same way however.

The people behind Greensmiths have got a few companies that already have a reputation for quality, and housed them all under the same roof. You can therefore get bread from The Old Post Office Bakery, fruit and veg from Solstice or coffee from Caffe Antica, as well as meat from Ginger Pig. There are also lots of deli items.

I spent a happy half an hour or so browsing before leaving with sausages (gluten-free – yay), great natural yoghurt, special offer strawberries and Montezuma white chocolate buttons (my guilty pleasure).

Their takeaway lunch-type items looked good too, such as quiche with salad, and I think you can eat in as well. The scotch eggs looked worth a try!

Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area, and it is open until 8 pm.

Nigella's Chocolate Macaroons

I came home from work last night quite late and generally fed up, and R was not home yet from drinks after work. More time on the computer or TV didn’t really appeal, and we have people coming for supper this evening, so I thought that I would get 5Live on the radio and do some cooking.

As I opened the fridge I realised that there were a whole lot of raspberries that we bought in the farmers market at the weekend which were starting to look a bit soft. It looked like there was enough for a jar of jam, so I decided to give it a go. I have never made jam before, although I have helped my mother on occasion. I therefore am not quite sure why 8.30 on a Tuesday night was the time to try it, but there we go.

Raspberry Jam

I weighed the raspberries, and then put them in a non-stick pan (for ease of washing up) over a low heat, until they had softened slightly and there was some liquid in the pan. I then added the same weight of caster sugar and stirred to combine. It was then brought up to the boil and simmered until a drop on a frozen saucer wrinkled when pushed (probably took between 10 and 15 minutes, but I wasn’t paying much attention). Then I poured it into a jar, and by some miracle there was the perfect amount for one jar. I think I might have to make scones now!

Then I needed a pudding for supper tonight. I have had my eye on Nigella’s chocolate macaroons for a while now, as they are gluten-free and look yummy. This therefore seemed the moment to try them. I haven’t changed anything, although next time I might make a half batch, because good as they are this makes a lot.

Nigella’s Chocolate Macaroons

2 egg whites
200g ground almonds
30g cocoa powder
175g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 200C, and line a baking sheet. I just bought a Bake-o-Glide type sheet, and it was brilliant for these.

Then just stir all of the ingredients together. I would recommend a large bowl for this. It looked for ages like there wasn’t going to be enough egg white for all of the dry ingredients, but if you persevere then you end up with a very sticky chocolatey dough.

Have a bowl of cold water close by, and then wet your hands before rolling into walnut sized balls. The water really does help, and making neat balls was much easier than I expected. Put on the baking sheet. I found that they didn’t really spread much, so you can put them quite close together. Then bake for 11 minutes, before removing from the oven and cooling on a rack.

I then found you need to hide them from your husband, so that there are enough left for supper!

Le Pot Lyonnais

This is our local. It’s even closer to our flat than Tom Ilic, also on Queenstown Road, and is the spot we head to when we want a quick drink, or there is nothing inspiring in the fridge and we want a cheap and cheerful meal out.

The manager and an ever-changing retinue of staff are all French, and sometimes their English is pretty shocking. It normally adds to the charm though, and combined with the French menu gives us our own little corner of France in Battersea.

We tend to eat from the bar menu in these circumstances, although we have eaten in the restaurant in the past. Last Thursday the monsoon appeared to have reached London, and so R and I ran from our respective buses and dived in dripping. Comfort food was definitely the order of the day, so after our customary shared charcuterie plate to start I went for the moules frites and R for the burger.

Unfortunately the service was not on song, and the starter arrived with our mains. I therefore can’t tell you what it was like as we decided not to have it. However, it has been good in the past. My moules were perfect. Piping hot, nice fleshy moules that weren’t too big, and a well flavoured sauce. The frites were also hot and crisp, and not too greasy. At £10 I think this is a serious bargain. R was also pleased with his burger. Cooked how he had asked, with a well-flavoured red pepper relish and accompanied with salad and a tiny pot of coleslaw as well as more frites, he went silent for some time!
So, the service may be patchy, but the food is spot on. This set us back £25 including two beers and service, so it is great value, and we will certainly be back.

Homemade Granola

I am making much more from scratch at the moment, so that I know exactly what is in everything. Searching for a granola that I could eat, unsuccessfully, meant that this was the next on my list.

The recipe makes quite a lot, so you might want to halve it if you are the only one who eats granola in your household. It also really needs to be made on a day when you are pottering about in the house anyway, as it needs regular turning whilst in the oven. It makes the whole house smell great though!

The recipe is adapted from one on Gluten-Free Girl, who in turn adapted it from Orangette (both worth a visit).

3 cups of oats (I used Jumbo)
½ cup chopped walnuts (substitute any kind of nuts you like, or a mixture)
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
¾ tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
¾ cup maple syrup
½ cup cranberry juice
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit – I think dried cranberries would be good)

Turn on the oven to 120C, and oil a baking sheet. A non-stick one probably makes your life easier, but is not compulsory.

Combine the oats, nuts, seeds and flour and stir well until everything is coated in flour. Add the cinnamon, spice and ginger and mix again.

In a jug whisk together the maple syrup, juice, vanilla and oil until combined. Pour over the dry ingredients and then stir carefully to combine. Mine looked like there was not going to be enough of the wet ingredients, but keep going as eventually it all looked wet.

Put the mixture onto the baking sheet and press down with the back of a wooden spoon, or the back of your hand! Bake for about 2 hours, turning it every 15 minutes or so, making sure that any large pieces are broken up. It should be dry rather than sticky when it is done.

Leave to cool, then add the raisins and put in an airtight container.

I have been enjoying this with fresh fruit and plain yogurt, and I swear I have been walking to work quicker so that I can get to my breakfast sooner!

The Cadogan Arms, Chelsea

Ever since the Cadogan Arms closed we have been waiting to see what it would be reopened as. Rumours began that it had been taken over by the Martin brothers, who run the busy Botanist at Sloane Square, among others. These rumours turned out to be true, and since they are doing an introductory 50% off food at the moment if you book through Toptable or on their website, we decided to check it out.

When we arrived shortly after 7.30 pm it was pretty quiet in the bar, and very quiet in the restaurant, which made us a bit nervous. However, it proceeded to fill up, and was nicely buzzing by 8.30 pm. Plenty of people were heading up to use the pool tables upstairs, as well as some big tables arriving for dinner. I am on a hugely complicated diet at the moment, and was a bit worried about finding something I could eat. Luckily the waitress was really helpful about what was in the sauces, and removing elements of some dishes, and everything arrived as it had been ordered. R on the other hand was really struggling to decide as so many things looked good.

I started with a half pint of prawns, with mayonnaise. These would be difficult to get wrong, but were good plump specimens, with nice mayo. It would have been nice to be given a finger bowl and an extra napkin though! R’s mushroom tart with pecorino and truffle oil smelt amazing, and I was very sorry not to be able to try it.

I then had a veal chop with olive oil mash and spinach, and a very rich red wine sauce. The veal was beautifully cooked and tender, and I am definitely going to try and recreate the mash at home. R had trout fillets with broad bean and pea risotto. The trout was soft and flakey, with the delicate flavour being allowed to shine. Both dishes were very well executed.

We then couldn’t resist sharing the Valrhona chocolate mouse, with white chocolate and cardamom foam. There was no visual evidence of the foam, but the flavour contrasted well with the richness of the chocolate. This was served in a large wine glass, which made it rather difficult to eat, and even harder to share, but that would be my only complaint.

In all we had a very good meal, which particularly with 50% off the food was good value. There wasn’t anything very innovative or different on the menu, but what we had was great.

Raspberry Muffins

I can't eat gluten, among other things, at the moment due to a complicated diet. This is why I am struggling with breakfasts. Raspberries were very reduced in the supermarket, but they were getting pretty soft and needed to be used quickly, so I was looking for a muffin recipe, and hopefully a low (-ish) fat one. This one doesn't have any butter, and less sugar than many.

Raspberry oat muffins

200g Doves gluten-free plain flour
40g rolled oats
100g caster sugar
1tsp cinnamon
6tsp baking powder
150ml low fat natural yogurt
2 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 tbsp semi skimmed milk
225g fresh raspberries

1. Mix flour (which can be substituted with regular plain flour), oats, sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder.
2. Lightly beat together the eggs, yogurt, vegetable oil and milk.
3. Stir into the flour mixture along with the raspberries (don't overmix)
4. Spoon into 12 muffin cases and bake at 200 degrees for 20 mins

These turned out pretty light, which is difficult with gluten-free flour, and the raspberries sing through. Easy to take to work tomorrow for my early start too!

I made the rest of the raspberries into coulis, by blitzing in the Magimix with a little sugar. This can go with yoghurt and homemade granola (recipe to follow) and be another breakfast. Who needs toast!

Banana bread

I've been in need of different breakfasts recently, and unusually for me fancied some banana bread, which it occurred to me would do the trick. It is also easy to take a slice into work if I have to go in early. This is adapted from a recipe on the BBC website.

40g blackcurrents
75g sultanas
110g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
large ripe bananas
225g Doves gluten-free plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1kg loaf tin, lined with parchment paper

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale, light and soft. Add the eggs, one by one, and beat well between each addition.
3. Mash the bananas and add to the creamed mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and fold carefully into the banana mixture. Very gently, stir in the blackcurrents and sultanas, so that they are evenly distributed through the mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for about 1½ hours until golden on top and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Remove the loaf from the tin and cool on a wire rack.