It's been a very long week. It's definitely time for a sleepy weekend.
Friday, 14 November 2008
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Fixing things
I have been feeling very zen today. It might be because of these:
the nine blackberries I found whilst out walking this morning. I found a back route into the park, and I was kicking myself for having spurned the idea of carrying my camera. It was so wonderful to stumble across a wooded path that could so easily have been in the countryside rather than the city. Along the path were numerous bramble bushes which must have been laden with fat juicy berries a month ago. Alas I only managed to get nine (well ten actually, but in retrospect one wasn't edible). Next year though I shall be staking out that spot with my preserving pan at the ready!
The park too looked beautiful in it's dressing of gold and amber. I will have to go back before the wet winter truly settles in and take some photographs.
The rest of the day has been split between trying to rescue my newest chapter, and trying to rescue the cassoulet, alternating between brandishing a red pen and a red spatula. I think both tasks have been successful. I know this picture doesn't look all that exciting, or appetising for that matter, but believe me the rich spicy smell that was emanating from the pan when I boiled it to soften the beans was just marvelous. I think this, with a glass of the rich red wine that arrived yesterday, is going to be the perfect end to the day. I will post the recipe at some point, but I thought it would be better to at least get mine edible first!
In other random news I have been pondering this, as inspired by this. I was thinking of producing two, one of things to do and a separate thing of baking/cooking challenges. Hmmm. I have a month and a half to sort it out...I'd better get started!
the nine blackberries I found whilst out walking this morning. I found a back route into the park, and I was kicking myself for having spurned the idea of carrying my camera. It was so wonderful to stumble across a wooded path that could so easily have been in the countryside rather than the city. Along the path were numerous bramble bushes which must have been laden with fat juicy berries a month ago. Alas I only managed to get nine (well ten actually, but in retrospect one wasn't edible). Next year though I shall be staking out that spot with my preserving pan at the ready!
The park too looked beautiful in it's dressing of gold and amber. I will have to go back before the wet winter truly settles in and take some photographs.
The rest of the day has been split between trying to rescue my newest chapter, and trying to rescue the cassoulet, alternating between brandishing a red pen and a red spatula. I think both tasks have been successful. I know this picture doesn't look all that exciting, or appetising for that matter, but believe me the rich spicy smell that was emanating from the pan when I boiled it to soften the beans was just marvelous. I think this, with a glass of the rich red wine that arrived yesterday, is going to be the perfect end to the day. I will post the recipe at some point, but I thought it would be better to at least get mine edible first!
In other random news I have been pondering this, as inspired by this. I was thinking of producing two, one of things to do and a separate thing of baking/cooking challenges. Hmmm. I have a month and a half to sort it out...I'd better get started!
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
How to break things and eat chips twice in a week.
Arsenal won again last night. This time our youngsters took on the mighty Wigan in the Carling Cup. We trashed them 3-0, and looked pretty darn good doing it.
Which is more than can be said for the things coming out of the North London kitchen these past two days. I mean look at this:
Its supposed to be a pain au chocolate. Not quite the effect I was going for. I think the milk I added the yeast to was too hot. Oh well. The pastry is lovely and flaky, just not as puffed up as I had hoped. Oh well. I'm sure we'll cope, it'll just have to be a very dense pastry with our coffee on Saturday morning (and the following seven mornings!).
That wasn't the beginning though, oh no. Yesterday I began the experiment with dried beans, and dramatically underestimated how long they would take to cook. I'd soaked them for 24 hours, and yet after 40 mins cooking in my cassoulet they were still rock hard. This would have been fine any other night, but last night we were against the clock and had to dash out of the door to the match.
So yes, it was chips for dinner and cookies at half time. A nicely rounded meal of carbohydrate. I won't knock it though, it keep us warm through the cold November night. No wait, I think that was all the jumping up and down celebrating goals. Cassoulet tomorrow, after hours of boiling in the afternoon.
I did however make one nice thing tonight. Homemade baked beans, this time boiling the butter beans rapidly before actually making the dish. Note to self: boil the beans forever before you add to a dish, that's the answer!
Hopefully the next couple of days will be more successful. I'm afraid there probably won't be any more baking, at least not for a while, but I shall be out and about with the camera, so hopefully I'll have something to tell you about to keep up my blog-a-day November habit.
Which is more than can be said for the things coming out of the North London kitchen these past two days. I mean look at this:
Its supposed to be a pain au chocolate. Not quite the effect I was going for. I think the milk I added the yeast to was too hot. Oh well. The pastry is lovely and flaky, just not as puffed up as I had hoped. Oh well. I'm sure we'll cope, it'll just have to be a very dense pastry with our coffee on Saturday morning (and the following seven mornings!).
That wasn't the beginning though, oh no. Yesterday I began the experiment with dried beans, and dramatically underestimated how long they would take to cook. I'd soaked them for 24 hours, and yet after 40 mins cooking in my cassoulet they were still rock hard. This would have been fine any other night, but last night we were against the clock and had to dash out of the door to the match.
So yes, it was chips for dinner and cookies at half time. A nicely rounded meal of carbohydrate. I won't knock it though, it keep us warm through the cold November night. No wait, I think that was all the jumping up and down celebrating goals. Cassoulet tomorrow, after hours of boiling in the afternoon.
I did however make one nice thing tonight. Homemade baked beans, this time boiling the butter beans rapidly before actually making the dish. Note to self: boil the beans forever before you add to a dish, that's the answer!
Hopefully the next couple of days will be more successful. I'm afraid there probably won't be any more baking, at least not for a while, but I shall be out and about with the camera, so hopefully I'll have something to tell you about to keep up my blog-a-day November habit.
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Motivational cookies
Okay, so it's still a bit early to get all Christmasy on you, but I couldn't resit making these cookies today. I had a pact with myself: finish my thousand word target and I could leave the laptop behind and make a dash for the kitchen.I managed it...but I got a bit ahead of myself. The pull of the mixing bowl was too strong. I made these at the five hundred word mark. Oops! I like to think of them as motivational cookies, because I did at least get the words done, if with a little pause in the middle.
I went out and did a shop today, and finally broke the no supermarket resolution. It turns out that there are just some things you can't find unless you give in. Oh well. As N reminded me, we've managed right up until the festive season, and we constantly support our local community, so don't think anyone will begrudge us a sneaky trip to Tesco for dried cranberries, veggie sausages, soya milk and pecans.
Anyway, with that guilty confession out of my system let's get to the good stuff: cookies! In celebration of having dried cranberries in the cupboard again I decided to try out and idea I had for a dried cranberry, white chocolate and ginger cookie. In a little while I should be participating in this, and wanted to test out some ideas. I took the basic idea of what should be in a cookie and experimented. I used grated white chocolate and less sugar than usual, to spread a subtle creamy sweetness through the cookie to combat the tartness of the berries, then added some ginger for a bit of festive heat.They're untried as yet - they're cooling on the side - but yet again we're off to a match tonight, so no doubt they'll get tried at half time. I'll report back of course.
In the meantime here's the recipe:
Cranberry, white chocolate and ginger cookies - Makes 21 small cookies
100g unsalted butter, softened
75g brown sugar
175g Self-raising flour
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g dried cranberries
50 white chocolate, grated
2 tsp ground ginger
Preheat oven to 180C
Beat the butter until soft and then add the sugar and cream together. Add the egg and vanilla essence, then the flour, cranberries, chocolate and ginger. Finally add the milk and make into a stiff, but sticky dough. More milk can be added if it's too stiff.
Place tablespoons of dough on lined or greased baking trays and place in the preheated over for 15 mins, rotating the trays half way through cooking.
Cool on a wire rack before eating - if you can wait that long!
VERDICT: So we tried these at half time as I anticipated. My response? They're "alright". Not bad or anything, just not what I was hoping for. The ginger is barely there, and the grated white chocolate didn't work as well as I'd hoped. They're a nice cookie, but I will work on them before making again. I reckon just chunks of chocolate and a whole load more ginger might be what's needed.
Monday, 10 November 2008
Soaking
Today's heading is two-fold. It's been pouring with rain since last night. Earlier it was so heavy I could barely hear myself think for the thundering of water on our glass roof. It seems the dreary bit of autumn has arrived to see the season into winter.
Sniff is not happy at all. He just can't believe why we could punish him by making the weather so horrid. I think the combination of the rain and having been shut in over the weekend because of the fireworks means it's going to take more than the usual bribes to get some appreciation from him in the next few days. Fortunately there will be some baking tomorrow, so I doubt it'll take that long to bring him round. (I know the above is a blurry photo, but I think it truly captures the extent of Sniff's frown!)
The other sort of soaking is this:
beans! I've decided to branch out into the dried beans world. I have always used tins before, for convenience sake. But since I am almost always home, and am often planning meals in advance I thought I would try and make the switch. Plus Nigel Slater says you can soak them, rinse them, and then freeze them so they're ready to bung in a recipe any time. Sconto! They are supposed to taste loads better like this, and also it's loads more economical. Fortunately a tin of bins is unlikely to break the bank for us, but every little helps, and since the weather suggests there might be more than a few rainy days on the way, now is the time to start saving!
I'm not sure what I'll be up to with the beans. I think a stew, homemade baked beans again, and perhaps a cassoulet. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll make it's way up here when I get stuck for NaBloPoMo ideas!
Until then, I shall have to leave you with a non-food picture of the rain in North London. There's washing up to be done, and somewhat aptly a chapter on "liquidity" that is waiting to be finished...
Sniff is not happy at all. He just can't believe why we could punish him by making the weather so horrid. I think the combination of the rain and having been shut in over the weekend because of the fireworks means it's going to take more than the usual bribes to get some appreciation from him in the next few days. Fortunately there will be some baking tomorrow, so I doubt it'll take that long to bring him round. (I know the above is a blurry photo, but I think it truly captures the extent of Sniff's frown!)
The other sort of soaking is this:
beans! I've decided to branch out into the dried beans world. I have always used tins before, for convenience sake. But since I am almost always home, and am often planning meals in advance I thought I would try and make the switch. Plus Nigel Slater says you can soak them, rinse them, and then freeze them so they're ready to bung in a recipe any time. Sconto! They are supposed to taste loads better like this, and also it's loads more economical. Fortunately a tin of bins is unlikely to break the bank for us, but every little helps, and since the weather suggests there might be more than a few rainy days on the way, now is the time to start saving!
I'm not sure what I'll be up to with the beans. I think a stew, homemade baked beans again, and perhaps a cassoulet. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll make it's way up here when I get stuck for NaBloPoMo ideas!
Until then, I shall have to leave you with a non-food picture of the rain in North London. There's washing up to be done, and somewhat aptly a chapter on "liquidity" that is waiting to be finished...
Sunday, 9 November 2008
The pride of North London
These are my victory chips! We very rarely eat junk food, but after a tense football match, which took place over lunch, meaning we only had coffee and a pastry to keep us going, the smell of chips - it's the vinegar more than the chips - just cannot be ignored! In a jubilant mood after our fantastic win yesterday (I might have already mentioned it once, but I don't mind saying it again) we decided to treat ourselves. Proper chip shop chips, wrapped in paper and with a wooden fork. Delicious.Almost as delicious as these:
Our very own homegrown tomatoes! Okay, so out of all those plants we only got two fruits, and they took almost two weeks to ripen, but they were fantastic. They tasted "amazingly tomatoey" as N put it!
Mmmm.....tomatoes. Let's just hope that next year the weather is better and we can get a higher yield.
Now, back to Match of the Day to watch our goals again....did I mention we beat Man Utd yesterday?!
Saturday, 8 November 2008
K's magic stew
Phew, almost didn't make it for today's post. I'm working on something very exciting at the moment. Something very hush, hush, and it's totally consumed the latter half of my day. The first half of course being taken up with Arsenal's fabulous win over Man Utd. Mwahahaha!
Anyhew, to come back to the point. Today we're going to talk about stew. Not just any stew. K's Magic Stew.
I have a friend. No, wait she's more than a friend, she's a posse member, and to a certain four ladies that's a very very special thing to be indeed. Not only is she one of the posse, she's also part of the hivemind. Now this comes with certain responsibilies, like finishing my sentences before I've even thought of them, texting me at the exact same time I text her, thinking the same things and not even having to say them outloud. You're getting the picture now aren't you?
Well, this lovely hiveminded lady, let's call her K, has talents far wider ranging than just knowing what I'm thinking, and amongst these is cooking. Not just any cooking, but the cooking of all those fabulous comforting savoury dishes that make you think of warm fires and hearty walks in the hills, even if you never had or did those things.
Once when I stayed with her she made stew. Just stew. Not a decedent plate of beautifully stacked food, resting in a "jus." A bowl of simple, steaming vegetable goodness. It was amazing. One of those things that stays with you forever.
When the weather became cold and rainy here, and the autumn veg started piling up, I thought of the stew, and failing having K to make it for me, immediately emailed her for the recipe.
I almost followed it to the letter, but couldn't resist adding some wine! I hope she doesn't mind, but I am going to post here exactly what she told me. The results were wonderful, if you ever need a bowl of autumnal comfort then here it is:
"Basically get the veg you want chop it into large pieces (larger than you think as it mushes down!oh and peppers are surprisingly good in it!) and cover with water and a veg stock cube - add pepper (I don't generally bother with salt as its usually in the stock cubes) and whatever herbs you fancy. The secret is a bay leaf....you need a bay leaf. Simmer away until veg etc are almost cooked and then crumble in a further stock cube, taste for seasoning and add the dumplings for the last 20mins or so. You can make it without the stock cubes but you generally need some pretty flavoursome veg and need to simmer it for longer!"
My dumplings:
118g self raising flour
50g vegetarian shredded suet
herbs to taste
white wine to make into a dough
Mix together the flour and suet, then add as much dried herb of your choice. Then add white wine so that it comes together into a dough. Place in the stew twenty minutes before serving, and turn over ten minutes into the cooking time.
Anyhew, to come back to the point. Today we're going to talk about stew. Not just any stew. K's Magic Stew.
I have a friend. No, wait she's more than a friend, she's a posse member, and to a certain four ladies that's a very very special thing to be indeed. Not only is she one of the posse, she's also part of the hivemind. Now this comes with certain responsibilies, like finishing my sentences before I've even thought of them, texting me at the exact same time I text her, thinking the same things and not even having to say them outloud. You're getting the picture now aren't you?Well, this lovely hiveminded lady, let's call her K, has talents far wider ranging than just knowing what I'm thinking, and amongst these is cooking. Not just any cooking, but the cooking of all those fabulous comforting savoury dishes that make you think of warm fires and hearty walks in the hills, even if you never had or did those things.
Once when I stayed with her she made stew. Just stew. Not a decedent plate of beautifully stacked food, resting in a "jus." A bowl of simple, steaming vegetable goodness. It was amazing. One of those things that stays with you forever.
When the weather became cold and rainy here, and the autumn veg started piling up, I thought of the stew, and failing having K to make it for me, immediately emailed her for the recipe.
I almost followed it to the letter, but couldn't resist adding some wine! I hope she doesn't mind, but I am going to post here exactly what she told me. The results were wonderful, if you ever need a bowl of autumnal comfort then here it is:
"Basically get the veg you want chop it into large pieces (larger than you think as it mushes down!oh and peppers are surprisingly good in it!) and cover with water and a veg stock cube - add pepper (I don't generally bother with salt as its usually in the stock cubes) and whatever herbs you fancy. The secret is a bay leaf....you need a bay leaf. Simmer away until veg etc are almost cooked and then crumble in a further stock cube, taste for seasoning and add the dumplings for the last 20mins or so. You can make it without the stock cubes but you generally need some pretty flavoursome veg and need to simmer it for longer!"My dumplings:
118g self raising flour
50g vegetarian shredded suet
herbs to taste
white wine to make into a dough
Mix together the flour and suet, then add as much dried herb of your choice. Then add white wine so that it comes together into a dough. Place in the stew twenty minutes before serving, and turn over ten minutes into the cooking time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)