MPM: 31st August 2015

This week I am so organised that I am actually writing this post on Friday.  The meal plan is pinned up on the fridge, the shopping is ordered and I am basking in a glow of super smug housewifery.  It won't last very long, don't worry.

Last week's plan pretty much went to...er, plan, and I was particularly enamoured of the cauliflower cheese that we enjoyed with our Sunday roast leftovers. This week again sounds rather yummy and goes a little something like this:

Brill fillets with brown shrimps and grilled leeks in mustard dressing
Moroccan spiced lamb hash with pomegranate and houmous
Haggis pizza (don't judge!  OK, maybe judge a little...)
Soup
Cod loin with spiced lentils
D's Mam's panacalty (corned beef stew) with suet dumplings

There has been talk of an Indian takeaway on Saturday (hence only six planned meals) but that is dependent on the rest of the week being WW compliant. So, consider halo primed and ready for action.  As ever, more meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

Heads and tales

"I sent you a really good picture of those heads," said D, "And you didn't use it in your Glasgow post."

"Well, no," I said, "Because it's a food blog and that wasn't a picture of food so much as...heads suspended from the ceiling."

He looked at me.  I could practically hear him thinking "We don't just eat."

Which is fair enough.  So here is a picture of some heads suspended from the ceiling of the Kelvingrove museum:

And, of course, it is true that we don't just eat.  We drink quite a lot as well.  This year was mostly about the whisky.  After we left Glasgow, we headed to Islay and managed to tour four distilleries in two days.  Although the process doesn't vary from place to place, each tour had it's own distinct personality and interesting snippets of information, not to mention each involved a dram or two of the good stuff.

Islay distillery

The Ugly Betty still at Bruichladdich

Islay does whisky very well.  We did not, however, discover anything particularly exciting in the foodie line during our brief visit.  Whether it exists and is well hidden or if it is just not the main priority of the island, I am not sure - further research required perhaps?

Recipe corner: Easy, cheesy cauliflower cheese

A selection of Scottish cheeses

Ah, cheese.  How do I love thee.  Let me count the ways.  Or rather, let me count the pounds that cling to hips and thighs that are the result of our mutual passion.

There is just no way around it - cheese is NOT Weight Watchers friendly.  I don't really approve of the concept of low fat cheese (although Cathedral City Lighter is ok for cheese on toast or for bunging on top of a pasta bake).  But I also don't really approve of a life without cheese. 

By making a cauliflower cheese the central point of a meal rather than a side dish, you can get a hit of the good stuff without sacrificing tooooo many pro points.  We had this the other night with some slices of chicken left over from the Sunday roast and some green veg - but, to be honest, you could drop the chicken if you wanted (don't tell D that I said that).  I would quite happily eat a plateful of just cauliflower cheese with a scoop of mash to schmoosh into the sauce.

Now, let's talk about the sauce.  I've used Heston Blumenthal's technique of whisking cheese into a reduced stock and wine mixture rather than the traditional roux method - this makes for a thinner, lighter sauce with a more intensely cheesy flavour and works really nicely here.  We used a mix of odds and ends of cheeses, including some blue for additional funk, but you could stick to trusty old Cheddar if you prefer.  The points will remain the same.

For the cauliflower - I like my florets quite small, with lots of cauliflower "crumbs" that almost melt into and thicken the sauce, but this, of course, is a matter of choice.

Ingredients

Half a cauliflower, chopped into florets
4 spring onions, chopped

100g hard, strongly flavoured cheese, grated
Tbsp cornflour
90ml white wine
300ml chicken stock

1 medium slice (around 40g) white bread
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Serves 2, 9 pro points per portion

To make the sauce, place the wine in a saucepan over a medium heat and reduce until it is about a quarter of its original volume.  You don't need to be particularly exact. 

While this is happening, toss the grated cheese with the cornflour so it is well coated.

Pour the chicken stock into the wine and bring up to a brisk bubble.  Add the flour coated cheese a small handful at a time, stirring well in between each addition to melt. 

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the cauliflower and cook for five minutes until verging on tender.  Drain well.

Once all the cheese is added, you should be left with a smooth sauce.  Season well with black pepper and a little salt (if neccessary).  Add the spring onions and bubble for another minute or two to take off their raw edge.  Remove from the heat, stir through the cauliflower and transfer to an ovenproof dish.  This is now ready to bake (bear in mind that this can all be done in advance if you are organised enough).

When it comes to the cooking, pre heat the oven to 180.  Place the cauliflower cheese in the hot oven for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, blitz the bread into fine crumbs and season with the chilli flakes, black pepper and a pinch of salt. 

Sprinkle the crumbs over the cauliflower and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.

Eat, and glory at the wonder of cheese.

Glasgow Eats

The first time that I went to Glasgow, I very much enjoyed The Ubiquitous Chip - which appears to be fairly ubiquitous as the city's go-to restaurant recommendation - but was not generally enamoured of the rest of it.  This summer we spent two nights there and had a splendid time.  It is too easy to think of Glasgow as Edinburgh's poor relation; it is less obviously pretty but it has a rough and tumble charm of its own that I just didn't appreciate the first time around.

Of course, our biggest priority was to make sure we got in some good food while there.  We already knew that we wanted to pay a return visit to The Chip, which took care of the first night, and it was just as lovely as before.  Highlights included a roast pork belly dish, with charred Baby Gem, butternut squash salsa and smoked onion cream:

And a white chocolate bavarois with raspberry fool and pistachio crumble.  White chocolate and raspberry is such a lovely combination, don't you think?  And this had the most beautiful, airy texture - like Angel Delight as made by actual angels.

If you are looking for a good spot for breakfast, and aren't too fussed about comfy seats, then you need to get down to Babu Street Kitchen.  It is Bombay street food with a Scottish influence - might sound weird, but tastes delicious.  D went for the bacon and omelette chapatti wrap:

While I had bhurji pau - spicy scrambled eggs on a toasted, buttered roll - which is a dish that I am determined to recreate at home.  It was zingy with ginger and chilli and just what I needed to blast away the cobwebs:

I'm only sorry we didn't make it there for lunch as that looked pretty special too - next time, Babu, next time!

Breakfast can only keep you going for so long though, and our second evening saw us roll up at a venue called The Meat Bar which had endeared itself to us by a) being just down the road from our hotel and b) being called The Meat Bar.  It's one of those faux dirty joints that are all over the place at the moment specialising in steaks and ribs and burgers and as far as all that went, it was jolly nice.  I had a smoked brisket sandwich which had a good punch of peaty flavour through the tender meat, while D opted for a burger which was satisfyingly messy.  Special mention must go to our shared dessert though, which was a salted caramel ice cream sundae topped with crumbled crispy bacon:

What can I say!  It kind of worked!

Finally though.  Possibly the foodie highlight of the entire trip and something that has been missing from my life for far too long.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the deep fried pickle:

There's not really much to say beyond the fact it's a slice of pickle.  In tempura batter.  Deep fried.  Hot, crispy, salty, sour...these babies were things of beauty and joys forever - and a very firm thank you to Glasgow's Brewdog for introducing us and possibly removing five years from my current life expectancy.

MPM: 24th August 2015

Well, the holiday season is well and truly over and August is coming to an end.  I don't know about you, but I always start to get excited for the beginning of September - it's like a mini New Year to all of us who remember that first day back at school after the six week holidays.

However, it is a salutory reminder for me that we are now two thirds of the way through the year and my weight loss progress has been pretty much zilch for 2015.  Time to pull my socks up, I think.  D is also trying to shed a few pounds which makes it a bit easier.

Meals for this week:

Pasta with pesto, salmon, peas and courgettes
Leftover roast chicken with cauliflower cheese
Smoky sausage and cherry tomato bake with crusty bread and salad
Soup
Friday fish and chips
Haggis burgers (I'm still on a Haggis High following our trip to Scotland)
Roast shoulder of lamb with boulangere potatoes

I'll need to be hoarding weekly points for Friday and Saturday night which look set to be high, so I suspect that I'll be munching on a lot of fruit this week.  And complaining about being hungry.  Feel free to give me a kick up the rear if I do...

More meal planning fun (hopefully) over at Mrs M's.

Lunch at Cafe Fish

For once, I don't think that words are really required...

Langoustines

Prawn open sandwich

Cold seafood platter

Cafe Fish
The Pier
Main Street Tobermory
Isle of Mull
Argyll
PA75 6NU
01688 301253

Recipe corner: warm potato salad with olive oil, lemon and mustard

My go-to potato salad recipe tends to be this one that I posted years ago - simple, creamy, delicious. However, sometimes mayonnaise is not the way to go.  I admit that these occasions are few and far between - a swipe of mayonnaise improves many, many things.  But sometimes, sometimes you might want something a little more restrained.  And in that case, this is an excellent recipe.

We had it with salmon and with lightly pickled cucumber ribbons and it was the kind of meal that leaves you wanting to lick the plate.  Sophisticated, simple, summery food.

Ingredients

250g new potatoes, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
Tsp dijon mustard
Tsp wholegrain mustard
2 spring onions, finely chopped

Serves 2, 6 pro points per portion

Place the potatoes in a pan full of lightly salted water.  Bring to the boil and then cook for around 10-12 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, make the dressing.  Whisk together the lemon juice and the mustard, then gradually add the olive oil until incorporated into a smooth dressing.  Stir through the spring onions and season to taste.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain and while they are still warm (this is important) gently mix with the dressing.  Allow them to sit for at least 15 minutes to absorb and serve at room temperature.

Slow cooker recipe corner: North Carolina style baked beans

Picture taken from theodysseyonline.com

Welcome back to the deep South of America!  Actually, is North Carolina in the South?  I'm not entirely sure.  Anyway, as promised, here is the fabulous baked bean recipe, again taken from Waitrose "Kitchen" magazine, which pairs so well with the pulled pork in my last post.

I must admit that those beans that didn't accompany the pork ended up on toast with a sprinkle of cheese and very delicious they were too.

Now we cheated a little here by using canned beans.  One can of plain and one can of...well, Heinz.  I'm not sorry though.  We're pimping those beans up with plenty of other ingredients, but I think the back drop of the (almost) too sweet tomato sauce is very much in the spirit of the dish.

You don't have to do this in the slow cooker, but it does help the flavours develop beautifully and you can do it during the four hours that the pork is in the oven.  If not, start it on the hob, use about double the amount of liquid and then transfer, covered, to the oven to bake for an hour or so.

Ingredients

1 large can haricot beans, drained
1 large can baked beans
150g smoked bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Tsp English mustard powder
3 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 bay leaves
sprig of thyme
Tsp Worcestershire sauce

Serves 6, 5 pro points per portion

Add the bacon to a cold frying pan and raise the heat gradually so that it browns in its own fat.  Once the pan is up to heat, add the onion and soften for around 5 minutes, then add the garlic for a further two minutes.

Transfer the contents of the pan, along with all of the other ingredients to the slow cooker.  Add half a bean can of water, season and stir well.  Slow cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Today, I apologised to a fish

Greetings from the Isle of Mull!  After a week of bustle, weird art, gorgeous food and slightly too much whisky, we have settled into our charming apartment overlooking Tobermory with the sole intention of loafing around for a bit.

We did go sea fishing today though.  And, of course, the weather - which has so far been pretty decent - immediately went to Full Scottish Mode: unrelenting, grey mizzle.  It was not the best day to be out at sea, although, as I observed to the D, it did give me a renewed appreciation for fisherman.

I am strongly of the opinion that if one chooses to partake wholeheartedly in the consumption of animals (which I do) one has to try not to be squeamish about the realities involved.  Nevertheless, extracting a fish from a hook is a disconcerting experience, especially when said fish is in the midst of its death throes and your fingers are thoroughly numb.  And I never really thought of fish as creatures who bleed.  Which is why I found myself, soaked to the skin, murmuring "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," to a large mackerel with a hook through its mouth as I tried to convey it from the end of my line to the tub of bounty.

Still, we are warm and dry now and for supper we had the freshest of fresh mackerel, lightly pan fried, on a slice of buttered toast.  Not the most elaborate meal of the holiday, but definitely one that was thoroughly earned.

Yum.

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Recipe corner: North Carolina style pulled pork

Picture taken from theodysseyonline.com

I don't really know what North Carolina style means.

Let me rephrase that - clearly it means that it originates from a particular state of America.  I just don't know what distinguishes North Carolina style from, say, South Carolina style, or Texas style or...Louisiana style (mines intimate knowledge of Triple D episodes for appropriate state names).

What I do know is that this recipe, from a recent Waitrose "Kitchen" magazine, is incredibly tasty.  The rich pork cut with the sour heat of the "mop" is just sublime.  We had it, shredded and stuffed into bread buns on Sunday evening and enjoyed it so much that we ate the exact same thing on Monday.  We both noted that the Monday version was even better than the original - clearly, a day in the fridge "chilling" (ha ha) with the mop enhanced the flavours still further.

Add slaw to the buns if you so wish.  Make potato salad as a side dish, or mac and cheese (I'm going to try this combo next) or the fabulous slow cooked beans that I will be posting next.  Just make sure you get it made.

Note that the recipe suggests dry brining the pork overnight.  We didn't actually do this - the pork only got a couple of hours in the end, but I'll definitely be doing it for longer next time in the hope that it gets even better.

Ingredients

1.2kg pork shoulder (with skin)
Tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp ground black pepper

150ml cider vinegar
2 tsp soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Serves 6, 12 pro points per portion

Rub the pork with the salt and pepper, cover with foil and leave to chill - overnight if possible, if not, a couple of hours will do.

Preheat the oven to 160.  Place the pork in a roasting tin and roast for two hours, still covered in the foil tent.  After the two hours is up, uncover, baste with the juices then tuck it back up and roast for a further two hours.

At some point during the pork's long sojourn in the oven, you can make the mop.  Just place all the ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat and warm through until the sugar has melted.

At the end of the second stretch of two hours, uncover the pork and turn your oven up to its highest temperature.  Cook the pork for a further ten minutes during which time the skin should crisp up.  Remove from the oven.  Take off the skin and replace it, on a baking tray, for a further ten minutes or so to continue drying out.  Meanwhile, leave the pork itself to rest for half an hour or so.

Now for the pulling part - just take two forks and shred the beautiful tender meat, incorporating any cooking juices as you do so.  Then pour over the mop and stir through.  Break your crackling into shards and strew over the top.  Salivate.  A lot.

Recipe corner: king prawns with sweet potato mash and chilli viniagrette

I know this might sound a little bit weird, but trust me, it's rather delicious.  Prawns and sweet potato together has the potential to be overwhelmingly...well, sweet, but drenched in the delicious sauce it suddenly all works together in an exciting balance of flavours.  I copied this recipe down from the internet many, many years ago and didn't note where it came from - so apologies to whomsoever I have stolen this from.  And thanks for a fabulous dish.

A note on portion size: it's quite small, but personally I wouldn't be tempted to up the sweet potato to compensate as it may end up ruining that balance we talked about.  Have a starter instead.  Or a pudding.  Or both.

Ingredients

1 large (around 250g) sweet potato
150g raw prawns
20g butter
Handful of finely chopped coriander
2 spring onions, chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice

For the vinaigrette:

1 red chilli
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
20ml olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Handful of chives
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar

Serves 2, 10 pro points per portion

Roast the sweet potato whole in its skin for a good hour or so until soft (it should be easily piercable with a sharp knife).

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette.  The best way to do this is to use a mini food processor - add all the ingredients and blitz together.  If not, you will have to chop everything very finely before combining with the wet ingredients.  Don't add all the sugar at once - go for about half and then taste.  You want the sauce to be quite sour but not overwhelmingly so.  Trust your taste buds.

When the potato is cooked, scoop the flesh from the skin and combine with half of the butter, the coriander, the spring onions and plenty of seasoning.  By mixing vigorously, you should achieve a smooth puree.

Cook the prawns: melt the rest of the butter into a frying pan and add the seasoned prawns, turning them in the fat as the grey flesh turns pink.  They will need little more than a minute on each side.  Remove from the heat and squeeze over lemon juice to taste.

Serve the prawns on top of the sweet potato and pour over the delicious sauce.  Scoff.

Hitting up the Scotland Year of Food and Drink 2015

I'm on the countdown to my holidays - today is officially my last day in the office for over two weeks and I couldn't be happier about it.  We are off to Scotland on Monday - a couple of nights in Glasgow and then a whistlestop tour of Islay before Mull for a week.  The weather forecast might be a little dismal but our enthusiasm remains undampened.

It goes without saying that most of our plans involve indulging in some fabulous food and drink.  Not for nothing did we pick Islay, home to a number of fantastic whisky distilleries, and no trip to Mull would be complete without at least one seafood binge.  I hope to share some of my adventures here while we go round, WiFi access allowing.

By a very happy coincidence, it turns out that 2015 has been declared the Year of Food and Drink in Scotland so hopefully we will come across some events while we are out and about.  Whatever happens, you can be sure that there will be plenty of enthusiastic prose and terrible photography.

A beautiful Scottish oyster topped with chorizo in Oban

I'm also conscious that I've been very lax about posting recipes here lately and we've been doing some fantastic cooking at home.  I'm going to try and schedule some recipe posts to pop up over the next couple of weeks while we're away - keep your eyes peeled for a very interesting prawn dish and a superlative pulled pork.

Reading, not planning

I faithfully promised my mother on Sunday that I would write a meal planning post.  And indeed, I had every intention of doing so - especially since we actually had a meal plan.  But then I accidentally picked up a book and...suddenly the evening was gone.

As a child, indeed, as a teenager, I was always a bookworm.  I was one of those kids who started getting twitchy if there was nothing around to read.  Unfortunately, I read incredibly fast which made holiday packing tricky (this being in the time before Kindles).  I seem to recall one trip when my exasperated parents banned me from taking my usual mountain of reading material and I ended up practically memorising a copy of Woman magazine that my mother had bought at the airport.

I loved reading so much that when it came to choosing a degree subject, there was, in the end, no contest.  My head said that something vocational like law was the way forward, but my heart pined for English literature and was ultimately victorious.  When people ask me what is the purpose of an English degree, I can talk the good talk about the critical reading and communication skills that you pick up, but the truth is that most English students that I encountered were the kind of children who, like me, dreamt of being accidentally locked in a library overnight.

Anyway, the point of all this is that recently I have been trying to get back in touch with my inner bookworm.  I don't know whether it is part of growing older, or the demands of work, or the fact that I no longer have a daily train journey, but I just don't seem to read as much anymore.  D and I therefore declared a mindless television ban (it remains off unless there is something that we specifically want to watch) and our evenings are to be devoted to literary pursuits.  Which is great.  But yesterday, I picked up an old copy of Sebastian Faulks's "Engleby" and barely looked up until bedtime.  So I forgot to meal plan.

Sorry about that.

I did manage to throw together a delicious dinner for us, as per the abstract plan.  Pan fried salmon, warm potato salad dressed with olive oil, lemon and mustard, and some lightly pickled, dill drenched cucumber ribbons.  Gorgeous stuff.

The rest of the week we are aiming to eat as much of the perishable stuff in our kitchen as possible, prior to our departure for Scotland next Monday.  Which means cod curry tonight (the second half of the batch that we made last week), then haggis hash and 'nduja spaghetti with garlic bread later on.  It all sounds like pretty tasty stuff.

When we get back we plan to revisit some of our recent budget ideas to ensure that any profligacy while enjoying the whiskies of Islay and the seafood of Mull (not to mention the pre holiday Kindle binge), is balanced out.  I see macaroni cheese in my very near future!

MPM: 19th July 2014

I always try and write the meal planning post on a Sunday to ensure that it gets done.  But sometimes the result is that I feel quite Sundayish when I do it - sleepy and slow and tea ridden.  This is especially true this morning and therefore I am going to plunge straight in to the meals themselves and spare you the rambling intro.

Meal plan this week is as follows:

Brown shrimp risotto
Leftover roast pork with potato salad
Red pepper, goats' cheese and 'nduja pasta bake
Rick Stein's cod curry (bumped from last week)

We are mainly out next weekend and so it is just the midweek that needs thinking about - which makes this a short (but definitely sweet) entry.  More meal planning fun (and perhaps some engaged brains) over at Mrs M's.

The treadmill

I am continuing to try to blog even though I fear what I am producing is little more than a ramble.  Actually, I have a gorgeous recipe that I will try and post at the weekend (makes mental note).  No pictures unfortunately - or fortunately if you consider my woeful food photography skills.  Perhaps I shall headline it with a picture of the cat looking winsome.

I got on the scales this morning, out of idle curiosity, and was surprised to see that I've lost a couple of kilos (they remain set to kilograms for the time being although the temptation to convert to pounds is often too hard to resist).  It's a slow drift but it is a drift down which is interesting.  It got me to thinking about the whole diet treadmill thing.  You know - you're either on it, and jogging along with everything going swimmingly, or you're flat on your black on the floor, having been violently hurled from the belt, and you're pouring molten chocolate into your mouth.  Have I, quite accidentally, managed to stumble across the happy medium?

I spent the weekend with my young nephew and niece and my great wish for them (my niece in particular since it is often a female issue) is that they never get on that treadmill, because once you do it is always there.  If they are wise they will follow my brother's example; he loves his food and his wine and his beer and always has, but even as a small child he instinctively ate in moderation and was naturally active.  He has had his faddier moments - and I still don't approve of cottage cheese pancakes for breakfast (he is a fan of a protein rich diet) - but his relationship with food has always seemed to me to be pretty good.  Me - I've feasted and famined, been fat and thin and probably always will be ever so slightly weird when it comes to eating.

Having said all that, the number on the scales this morning shows that when I actually stop thinking about it and try and act like a normal person, I do pretty well.  Counting points makes it hard to be normal - and don't get me wrong, I know I need to count points to get down to where I need to be - but it gives me some hope that maybe when I get there I'll finally get that balance right.

MPM: 13th July 2015

Just back from a few days down South visiting some of my favourite little people.  My niece and nephew are (and I fully admit that I might be biased) an incredibly gorgeous and engaging pair and an absolute pleasure to visit.  Not to mention my brother and sister in law who somehow manage to make parenthood actually look not only easy(ish) but also pleasurable.

I also had the opportunity to visit one of my oldest friends who has recently had her first baby.  It is a very odd experience seeing someone that you have known since they were in white knee socks becoming a mother.  It doesn't seem all that long ago that we were teetering down Romford High Street smothered in lip gloss.  And now she has a small son.  How times change.

Anyway, back home and back to meal planning.  Actually, D has put together the plan for this week - well, he needed something to do while I was off gallivanting!

Langoustines with sweet potato and chilli vinaigrette (we had this a few weeks ago and enjoyed it so much that it has popped up again - although we're going to try and refine it this time)
Coq au Riesling
The ultimate BLT
Rick Stein's cod curry
Chilli con carne with home made cornbread
Barbecued shoulder of pork

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's!

Recently...

No MPM this week as I am away from tomorrow (D will probably live on scavengings from the fridge and freezer) and the first few days were...actually, mainly scavenging from the fridge and freezer.  So it would not have made very interesting reading.  But, mindful of my resolve to blog more frequently, I thought I would do a quick update post.

Weight Watchers

Well, this blog is called the weight watchers foodie, isn't it?  Maybe I should just rename it the foodie.  Or just some girl who likes to eat and also talks about her cat an inordinate amount.  Whatever, at the moment it just isn't happening.  I have decided to stop worrying about why this is for the time being.  My goal for the next few weeks is just to concentrate on healthy routines.  We go away to Scotland for the first fortnight in August which will be a great opportunity to recharge, relax and generally get a bit of oomph back.  Then, when I return, I can put plans in place to crack on and make the second half of the year a tale of successful pound shedding. 

Cooking at home

There has been some good cooking going on recently; our favourite new recipe of the year so far remains the fabulous lemongrass and turmeric chicken that I mentioned a few weeks ago and has since already reappeared on our menu. 

Another recent obsession is a fabulous ingredient called 'nduja which is a spicy, spreadable sausage - sounds weird, tastes fantastic.  We bought ours online from The Ham and Cheese Company and intend to make it a regular fixture in our fridge (it lasts for months if wrapped up properly).   We both very much enjoyed this incredibly simple 'nduja spaghetti recipe but perhaps the best way to enjoy it is spread on good bread and then popped under the grill for a couple of minutes and drizzled with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.  Capers or pickles make a good foil for these little toasts.  Honestly, this stuff is fantastic and highly addictive. 

Out and about

You may have already read my glowing review of Harrogate based Norse which has been a recent highlight.  But I also have to give yet another shout out to the lovely Black Swan in Leeds.  This place manages to be a bar, a pizza parlour and a gastropub and fulfil all three functions well.  We very much enjoyed their pizzas earlier in the year and recently went back to try out the gastropub menu (all in the name of research - D was looking for a Christmas party venue.  Yes, that was the C word.  No, I won't say it again for a while).  If you like robust British pub food then this place will suit you down to the ground - we enjoyed chicken liver parfait and a crispy little porky croquette for  starters and then D tackled the beef and bone marrow burger while I went for a beautifully balanced chicken and chorizo dish.  It's not fayne dayning, but it's very, very good. 



Croquette



Parfait




Chicken and chorizo

Cat stuff

As I mentioned, I'm away for the weekend so D is going to attempt to bond with the cat.  He is calling it Operation: Stockholm.  I sense I am going to come home to one traumatised feline and one husband who is more scratch than skin.  Wish him luck...

Norse, Harrogate

It's always exciting when you discover a new favourite restaurant, especially when it is a mere half hour drive away. It may still be early days - we're still in the getting to know you phase, the will he or won't he call me back phase - but I have the feeling that with Norse, D and I have found somewhere to which we will return again and again.

As the name suggests, the food has a strong Scandinavian influence throughout which can be felt in the fresh flavours, extensive use of herbs and citrus and the odd portion of raw fish. But the use of local, and often unusual, ingredients (woodruff ice cream, anyone?) make it an affectionate representation of the best of British as well.

We had the tasting menu (of course) which was ridiculously good value, kicking off with some fabulous rye sourdough bread with goats' butter, artichoke puree and toasted grains.  Hard not to fill up on this before the meal had even got going.

Bread

Toasted grains

A pea and cheddar veloute with cep custard and pickled girolles was an early highlight, managing to balance the sweet, the sharp and the earthy notes perfectly.  Unfortunately, the balancing act fell down a little during the Whitby crab course - the one misstep of the evening.  The crab meat itself was a bit lacklustre and did not provide the sweetness required to balance out the bitter notes of lemon verbena and beer.  It was the one course that was less than successful, and for that they are forgiven.  Any kitchen that can provide a dish as sublime as the Lancashire smoked eel with dill purée, that arrived a little later, deserves top marks.

Eel

The pudding, too, was near perfect - a strawberry cheesecake that included the lightest, most perfumed elderflower foam and the aforementioned woodruff ice cream, all combining to make one of the nicest puddings I have had in a long while - and usually, I'm a chocolate girl all the way.  This was a bowl of British summertime by way of a shady woodland dell, absolutely sublime.

Strawberry cheesecake

All in all, I strenuously recommend this place if you happen to find yourself in Harrogate - although it should be noted that it only turns into Norse in the evening - during the day it is a coffee shop called Baltzersen's (I've just looked at the menu, and am rather keen to go and try the meatball open sandwich).  It's an absolute little gem of a place and I know that you will all wish us well as we embark on a hopefully long and happy relationship.

Norse
22 Oxford Street
Harrogate
HG1 1PU
01423 202363

Weather whinge

I made a little promise to myself that I would blog every day this week.  And then yesterday happened and I spent most of it in a puddle moaning, "It's tooooooo hooooooot." 

I do not like heat.  I can cope with the cold quite easily - I am essentially warm blooded, not to mention the fact that I have a decent layer of sub cutaneous insulation (rolls eyes).  But heat?  No, no, no, I do not like it. 

I do not like the sun - my fair, Irish skin will burn within minutes.  I do not like humidity - my naturally curly hair will turn into a halo of frizz, my nose and forehead will become bedewed (deliberately twee word to make the whole process sound vaguely cute) with sweat and I will resemble nothing so much as the witch in The Wizard of Oz - after she started melting.

The cat is not impressed either.  She keeps looking up at me piteously, expecting me to fan her with palm fronds.  I guess she is walking round in a fur coat, poor love.

So listen up weather gods - let's dial it down a notch, shall we?  Sunshine is good but not too intense and a nice, brisk breeze to keep the temperature at a manageable level.  Thank you.

"Books. Cats. Life is good."

It's always easy to focus on the negative when, as that glorious Edward Gorey quote suggests, there is plenty to be cheerful about.

Cats, for one thing. We haven't had a Minx picture for a while, have we?

Moody

She continues to be as eccentric a creature as ever there was and a total Mummy's girl to boot which is great news for the Mummy in question - less so for D. She literally walks over him to get to me.

 

On the subject of books - or rather, adaptations of books, has anyone else been watching the adaption of "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" on BBC1?  Fabulous stuff.  One of those series that makes you happy to hand over your license fee.  I am considering rereading the novel (which I adore) but there are so many things to read and so very little time.  One of my current favourite websites is Goodreads; I pore greedily over my personalised recommendations on an almost daily basis.  We are going to Scotland for two weeks in August and I plan to spend quite a lot of quality time with my Kindle. 

 

In other news, our strawberry plants delivered up their first fruit at the weekend.  I wish that I had taken a photograph to mark the occasion.  We ceremoniously ate one strawberry each and agreed that they actually tasted of strawberries which was a minor revelation.  The plants continue to prosper, and we may even get a bowlful to douse with sugar and cream before the summer is out - watch this space.

Getting back to blogging one Meal Planning Monday at a time...

 

Sometimes, life gets in the way of both blogging and dieting.  And sometimes, it is not so much life as me...I get in the way of it.  I think that I have fallen out of love with things recently, got a bit stale. I need to think carefully about how I can regain the amazing mojo that I had not all that long ago. 

Without going too much into it, I've been feeling a bit off.  Long time readers will know that I am someone who has to keep a careful eye on my mental health and I haven't been as vigilant as I should of late.  And it can be a vicious cycle to fall into - I start to feel a bit low, a bit disinclined to look after myself as well as I should and that then feeds the devil on my shoulder and my mood continues to dip. 

I am, I know, amazingly lucky in many ways, especially in my family and my husband who is unstintingly supportive.  I also know that the tide will turn, as it always does and I will bounce back full of enthusiasm and then everything will be easy.  That's what I am holding out for - the day when it becomes easy again. 

In the meantime, there is still meal planning!  This week, D is out on Friday, and we are both dining out on Saturday.  So five days to think about...

Prawns with a chilli viniagrette and sweet potato and coriander mash
Leftover lamb biryani
Red pepper and goats' cheese alfredo pasta
Pea and ham soup
Tandoori chicken, creamy lentil dahl, home made flatbreads

As ever, more meal planning fun over at Mrs M's - and sorry for the slightly self indulgent whinge at the beginning of the post!

Foodie on a budget

I can't remember how it first arose, but recently D and I decided to enter into a challenge.  We are neither of us particularly frugal individuals, particularly when it comes to what we eat, and so we undertook to each design a week's menu and make it as cheap as we could while trying not to compromise too much on the quality of the dishes.  (You can see our respective menu plans here and here).

Lamb with gratin dauphinoise

We made it fairly easy for ourselves by allowing quite a broad definition of the word "pantry": dried products such as pasta and rice were included, as was flour, a box of eggs (any more than six had to be counted), a packet of butter and a bottle of milk, plus herbs and spices, seasoning, stock powder, and, perhaps slightly more controversially, breakfast cereal.  Apart from these items, anything that we already had in the fridge, freezer or cupboards could be incorporated but they had to be counted using the original cost and the proportion utilised.  Likewise, any items purchased that were not used in full were only charged proportionally - so, where I bought two half legs of lamb for £10 and committed one to the freezer, the total value of the lamb recorded in my half of the spreadsheet was £5.  We thought this was a fair reflection of the fact that anyone on a budget would be daft not to take advantage of the savings offered sometimes by bulk purchasing.

Smoked haddock and leek macaroni cheese

We usually do our weekly shop in our local Waitrose.  D decided that he would carry on as normal and not look elsewhere.  I took a slightly different approach and visited Butchers' Row in Leeds Market for the Sunday joint and budget supermarket Aldi for some of the produce I needed.  The results were surprising.

The total cost of my week was £34.49.  If we call this lunch and dinner for two adults, seven days, this works out at just £1.23 per head per meal or £2.46 a day.  Not too shabby, right?

Spicy lamb flatbreads with Moroccan couscous and carrot salad

D's, shockingly, was just £30.97.  Bear in mind that this was buying everything at Waitrose.  That's just £1.10 per head per or £2.20 a day.

Now, as I've mentioned, our definition of pantry was pretty loose.  But still, the result was surprising - we managed to eat pretty well over the course of two weeks while not spending a huge amount - and certainly not living on beans on toast.

Turmeric and lemongrass chicken

We both commented that good planning was absolutely paramount; not just sitting down and making a list of meals but working out how ingredients could be utilised in different ways to minimise waste.  However, a degree of flexibility within the plan can mean you get the best deals - D managed to get his week's meat on a 3 for £10 offer by compromising slightly on the ingredients for his curry, which meant that his chicken, which provided one dinner and two lunches, was just £3.33.  Vegetables, particularly root vegetables, are a cheap way to add bulk as well as additional flavour - I caramelised a handful of onions at the beginning of the week and used them both with shredded spicy lamb in a flatbread, and stirred through basmati rice, ribbons of carrot popped up in a Moroccan style couscous salad and a herby pasta dish.

Spaghetti with carrots and herb pesto

We also both agreed that a good spice cupboard is also pretty essential.  The likelihood is, on a budget, you will be buying cheaper, possibly less high quality, meat and fish which will need help in the flavour department.  And it's worth spending a little on other ingredients which will add a lot of flavour for not a lot of volume - cured meats such as bacon (a couple of finely chopped rashers can transform many a recipe) or strong cheese like Parmesan which, as a seasoning, can wake up pasta and rice dishes.

Lamb and cauliflower curry with cucumber raita

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the experiment, and hope that we can be a bit more thoughtful with regards our food budgeting in future.  In terms of the challenge - D won on cost and also won the prize for the dish of the fortnight with Diana Henry's absolutely sublime turmeric and lemongrass chicken.  However, I flatter myself that I edged it in terms of diversity of menu (four out of his seven planned dinners were pasta based).  Perhaps a very worthy tie?  And (cringeworthy final sentence pun on its way) definitely food for thought.

MPM: 15th June 2015

The weekend passed mainly in a blur of despair and giant flying reptiles as we binged on the latest series of Game of Thrones. Gah, the unrelenting misery! Not even the presence of Star Trek Deep Space Nine's Doctor Bashir popping up could offer much solace. One episode left to go and I have no doubt it will be equally traumatic.

Some good food while we watched though: last night, a slow roast pork belly and lentils dish with braised fennel and a superlative though spicy curry on Saturday, which definitely eased the pain slightly. 

This week, we've yet to make plans for Saturday although it may involve some form of homemade bread. And on Thursday, we're off out for supper at a place in Harrogate that's been on the radar for a while. Elsewhere the week looks a bit like this:

Salmon with pasta pesto (a bump from last week)

Steamed buns with leftover pork belly (inspired to remake by Nicola's recent post)

Chilli con carne

Friday night fish and chips

Tumeric and lemongrass roast chicken

As ever, more meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

MPM: 8th June 2015

It's D's turn to design a low budget eating plan this week as we compete to see who can put together the cheapest, most delicious weekly menu.  I'm amazed at how little we have both managed to spend and how little we have had to compromise the type of food we eat - but I think I'll write a longer post on this subject later this week.

Last night, we had lemongrass and turmeric chicken from Diana Henry's latest book "A Bird in the Hand" which, if you are a fan of chicken and good food I urge you to look at.  The recipe is reproduced online here (albeit translated into American) and it is most definitely worth a try.  We have got leftovers for lunch today and I can't wait!

Elsewhere, we are having

A non microwave version of Jack Monroe's carrot ribbon spaghetti
Bangers, mash and red onion gravy
Spaghetti carbonara
Cauliflower and macaroni cheese
Salmon with pasta pesto
Lamb mince and cauliflower curry

Lot's of pasta then - which suits me fine as I love the stuff.  A couple of near repeats from last week as well - obviously our minds tend the same way when we are thinking about budget food, but still lots to look forward to.  As ever, there is more meal planning fun to be had over at Mrs M's

We head to Le Manoir Aux Quatr'Saisons

My parents both celebrated a big birthday this year.  One of those ones where the number ends in a zero.  Whereas such events tend to mean existential crises and gin for their daughter, they are made of sterner (and more generous) stuff and decided to take their offspring and their offspring's partners out for a slap up dinner instead, with a luxurious room within staggering distance.

I actually had my 18th birthday lunch at Le Manoir.  It was, I think, my first experience of really high end dining and although I have been lucky enough to eat at many great restaurants since, it means that this one has a special place in my heart.  It didn't disappoint.

Before we get on to the food itself, I just have to say a word about the overall experience.  Because it is an experience, from the moment you drive in to the car park and are approached by a porter who courteously removes your bags.  It is screamingly luxurious, the service impeccable, the rooms opulent, the surroundings - Monsieur Blanc's gardens and croquet lawn flank the impressive manor house - idyllic.  For a brief time, you get to step behind the curtain and live like royalty.  Or, at least, a Kardashian.  Which is probably why an evening there costs the equivalent of a minor Kardashian wedding.

But the food, the food is what we are really interested in and it was, of course, impeccable.  For all that it is rooted in a very French tradition it has a very light, modern touch, giving the lie to the assumption that French food is overly rich and fussy.  There was a very clean quality to most of the dishes both in terms of flavour and presentation.

An early favourite was the goats cheese agnolotti which came bathed in a clear tomato essence with tomatoes, olives and artichokes:

This was early summer on a plate for me: the peppery sourness of the cheese singing through and enhancing the warm sweetness of the tomato and its accompanying troupe of vegetables.

The table was divided as to overall favourite dish of the night with half plumping for a fillet of brill with cucumber and wasabi:

And the others opting for a plate of lamb with asparagus and morels:

While the lamb was unquestionably delicious, for me, it was the fish that was really something special and perfectly encapsulated that clean, fresh quality that I mentioned.  The balance of the dish was impeccable - wasabi is a powerful flavour but here it added zip and zing without overwhelming.

I don't think that this is a restaurant to which you come expecting startling innovation and culinary challenges.  It is, at heart, a classical French restaurant, with a due respect both for classical techniques and for the ingredients it uses - many of which come from the gardens surrounding the house.  But that is not to say that it is old fashioned, or dated, or irrelevant.  True classics, and I think Le Manoir may well be one of those, never go out of style.