A place called home

I've almost certainly mentioned on this blog before that although I now live in God's Own County (Yorkshire for the uninitiated) I was born and grew up down south, at the part of the Underground map where the District Line meets the county of Essex, only moving in my early twenties. Leaving the house I grew up in was relatively painless in the end. It happened while I was at university and during that period so many things were in a state of transition that it didn't register as much as it might have done a few years earlier. And I always assumed I'd go back. Not to the house you understand, but to The South, to London, because that is what graduates, clutching their shiny new degrees, did.

It never happened and somehow, eleven years later, I find myself a kind of expat. By which I mean I think that I think of myself as a Southerner living in the North. They don't let you declare yourself a Yorkshire(wo)man until you're third generation.

And now I'm moving again, from North to West Yorkshire. And, oh,  the wrench at leaving York is far more acute than leaving Essex. I guess it's because my really formative years took place here, my  real growing up.  In the last ten years in this, my beautiful city, I have had my first proper job (it involved chocolate), and my first flat (damp and nasty).  I got my heart broken a little bit and bruised a couple in return and, of course, I met the man that I would end up marrying. It was in York that D and I had our first date, at a grotty pub that happened to be handy for the station, in York that we made our first home together, spent our first Christmas, probably had our first big fight. York is where I think of as home.

I don't want to leave.

But then, what is home, really?  Is it a physical place?  Or is it just anywhere that the people you love are?  I suppose the very fact that my heart now belongs so firmly to the grim North is evidence that the concept of home is more than geographical.  It is love and memories rather than bricks and mortar.  And so, although I got a bit sniffly when I looked round our little flat, devoid of furniture, and will get a lump in my throat when I walk down High Petergate towards the Minster, I must be brave and resolute and accept the idea that in a little while they'll be a whole new set of Leeds based memories and a home built there too.

I leave you with one of my favourite views of York taken by D a few years ago. And I promise to follow this up at some point with something more relevant to this blog - a Foodie's Guide to the capital of Yorkshire.

OH

It turns out that I am moving.

Tomorrow.

After weeks of delay and a torpor suddenly things have started moving rather more quickly.  We have yet to find anywhere to go so we are descending on my parents for what all parties hope will be the briefest of sojourns. D is attempting to ram our sofas into their garage as we speak.

Cooking and meal planning may go to the wall a bit for the next week though, so please bear with.

But look, in the meantime, here’s a lovely picture of some strawberries!

Meal planning Monday - 20th August 2012

After last week’s successful return to the meal planning fold (meal plan not only made but pretty much adhered to) I find myself in a bit more of an anxious mood today. Perhaps it is the fact that we are living surrounded by boxes and that we are still awaiting confirmation of a moving date, but I don’t really want to commit myself to anything more than a few days in advance.

I can tell you what we’re eating tonight – Shepherds Pie. We were supposed to have it yesterday but it got bumped in favour of a rather delicious sausage sandwich, using award winning sausages from this butcher.

I know that I’m out tomorrow night – going over to Liverpool for a couple of days to have a handover to the replacement me – so D is fending for himself.

And I know that on Wednesday I’ll be back late and so quick, easy and tasty is the order of the day so that old reliable, pan fried salmon fillets with pasta pesto is popping up.

I’m pretty sure nothing much is happening on Thursday, which will give me the opportunity to cook my third Capricorn goats cheese recipe. I’ll leave that one as a bit of a surprise – suffice to say is is going to be a savoury version of a dessert classic.

The weekend though – that seems way too far into an uncertain future to have a plan. I’ve got some pigeon breasts in the freezer, and some puff pastry, and so have had the idea of doing little pigeon Wellington type things. That’s a possibility.

I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to finally being settled and back into routine. I start my new job on 10th September and would like to be well ensconsed by then, so please cross all digits for me. And, after you’ve done that you might like to pop over to Mrs M’s for some more meal plans.

Mid week catch up

Moving blows goats. There is simply no polite way to put it. We are currently living surrounded by packing boxes as we wait for the sale of our flat to go through. If and when this happens it will be no thanks to our completely inept solicitor, who is very good at finding new things to charge us money for, but little else. I’ve been reduced this week to chasing up various bits of information on their behalf and have proved to be about ten times more efficient. And I am not an efficient person at all. When I beat you in the efficiency stakes there is something seriously wrong.

They need to pull their finger out because we have to have a moving date so that we can sort out where we are actually moving to. At the moment it’s a toss up between my parents’ shed and a blow up bed under my desk. I am not dealing well with the uncertainty. We’ve seen a couple of places that are potentials, but the rental market in Leeds moves so fast that agents are, understandably, not keen to agree a let when the let-ees think they might be moving at sort of around the end of the month, assuming their solicitor can rouse themselves from post-lobotomy torpor to lift the phone and agree something with the buyer’s solicitor (who is, by all accounts, equally useless).

Anyway. D decided that it was not worth shipping my ridiculously large, tottery pile of food magazines over to Leeds and so has been spending his evenings ruthlessly ripping out the pages he deems worthy of keeping and ditching the rest. I see his point but was rather fond of my pile and have secretly decided to start building it up again as soon as possible.

Mind you, I’m starting to wonder how many recipes one person actually needs. I’ve recently started trying to catalogue all the various internet bookmarks I’ve got and they total 330 so far. That’s in addition to shelves groaning with cookbooks, a box file and additional folder stuffed with clippings and two recipe notebooks. And still I struggle when it comes to meal planning! Anyone know why that is? Answers on a postcard…which you might need to address care of Leeds station toilets.

A second #capricornchallenge recipe corner - Summer tomato pasta with goats cheese

So, as I explained here a lovely goat called Ethel sent me all sorts of gorgeous ingredients in return for coming up with some fun and funky ways of cooking her beautiful cheese. Easy for a dedicated cheese lover such as myself.

We've already had a classic tart, and this recipe, inspired by the Barefoot Contessa (love her!) is a fresh and summery pasta dish which would be perfect for al fresco dining if, you know, we actually had any summer to speak of.



Ingredients

3-4 plum tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Fat clove of garlic
Tbsp olive oil
Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Squeeze of lemon juice
120g fresh pappardelle pasta
100g Capricorn Somerset goats cheese
20g Parmesan, grated

Serves 2, 16 pro points per portion

The key to this dish is to allow the tomatoes plenty of time to macerate - at least a couple of hours at room temperature. I prepared them the day before, refrigerated overnight then took them out of the fridge a couple of hours before cooking the pasta.

So, firstly you need to halve the tomatoes then, using a teaspoon, scoop out the seeds and discard. Dice the flesh.

Then, julienne the basil leaves. To do this, lay them flat in a pile, roll into a cigar shape and then thinly slice into a heap of green slivers.

Combine the tomato, basil, oil, vinegar, lemon juice and the crushed garlic clove with a hearty amount of salt and pepper, cover and set aside.

When ready to serve, cook the fresh pasta in boiling salted water for a mere 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the goats cheese. I removed the side rind but left the top and bottom and then roughly diced to help it melt through the sauce a little quicker.

When the pasta is cooked, drain well and then stir through the tomatoes, the goats cheese and
half the Parmesan. The cheese will melt and combine with the macerated tomato liquid to give a beautifully delicate, creamy sauce which coats the pasta.

Serve with the remaining Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Meal Planning Monday - 13th August 2012

So the fireworks have been fired, the last medals presented and the Spice Girls, er, spiced. The Olympics are officially over.

Back to meal planning!


For the first time in a few weeks I have sat down with notebook and pen, chewed said pen thoughtfully, and put together a meal plan. Nice to be back in control - or as much in control as I ever am.

So, this week is looking a little bit like this....

• Hake fillet with tapenade and pears - a delicious and unusual Hairy Bikers recipe

• Pear, blue cheese and walnut salad with crispy pancetta (I have pears to use up).

• My next recipe for the #capricornchallenge - summer garden pasta with goats cheese.

• More pasta - filled with spinach and ricotta this time and tossed with butter and Parmesan, a quick supper before a murder mystery evening!

• And something a bit more wintry (we cater for all seasons here) - Shepherds Pie with green veg to use up some delicious lamb gravy from the freezer.

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

A #capricornchallenge recipe corner - pissladiere with goats cheese

Cheese is a very serious business.

I am a huge fan. Check out the recipe page of this blog and you will see that a large proportion of the dishes that I am encouraging people to cook contains the stuff. Yes, most cheeses are relatively high in calories and fat – but. Choose something with good flavour and a little will go a long way. Plus, wouldn’t you rather eat a small amount of something outstandingly delicious than a huge bowl of tasteless diet pap?

(Ahem. Climbs down from soapbox).

Ethel the Goat, of the Capricorn Somerset Goats is currently encouraging food bloggers to get creative and come up with some recipes that show off her rather tasty cheese. Now, goats cheese tends to divide people but I am firmly in the love it category. It has a gloriously pungent quality that is always (to me at least) reminscent of the smell of summer farmyards, of sunshine on straw. One tweet to Ethel later and the most amazing hamper of goodies turned up on my doorstep. This is clearly a goat who takes her cooking seriously.
The cheese itself is fresh and creamy and to be honest, I was quite tempted to just smear it on some crusty bread and leave it at that. But that would not make for the most exciting of challenge entries. So I’ve come up with a few different ideas, the first of which revisits an old friend.

One of the things I wanted to cook was a real classic – a red onion and goats cheese tart. I sometimes find when I eat this that the onion component can be a little too sweet and jammy. So I looked back at the first ever recipe I posted on this blog – pissaladiere. This is an onion tart where the sweetness of the onions, tomato and balsamic vinegar are whacked around the chops with an intensely savoury garlic and anchovy hit. I had a feeling that sliced goats cheese melted on top would be absolutely delicious. I was right.



You’ll find when you make this that the amount of topping looks a little meagre. Don’t be tempted to increase it – there are some serious flavours in there so definitely a case of less being more.

Ingredients
125g puff pastry
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100g (half a small can) tinned tomatoes
Several sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
22g (half a small can) tinned anchovies
100g Capricorn Somerset goats cheese, thinly sliced

Serves 2, 15 pro points per person

Preheat the oven to 220˚C unless you are preparing the onion mixture in advance.

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil and then stew the onions, covered, over a low heat for about half an hour until they are wilted and golden. A pinch of salt in with the onions will help them release moisture and sweat. You might need to give them the occasional stir to ensure that they don’t catch.

Add the thyme, one of the garlic cloves, the tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar. Turn the heat up slightly and let the sauce reduce down for about 5 minutes.

Drain the anchovies on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and then pound them up with the remaining garlic clove. When the sauce is reduced, remove it from the heat and stir through the garlic and anchovy mixture.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry into a rough square shape. Spread on the onion mixture leaving a small 2cm margin around the outside which you can then fold in to make a crust. Top with the slices of goats cheese (resisting the urge to swipe one or two for yourself).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the pastry is puffy and golden. This is best eaten warm rather than hot, so leave to cool for 5-10 mins if you can manage it. Gorgeous served with a simple dressed salad.

The hairy bikers stole my USP!

Humph. So the Hairy Bikers, lovers of beer, baking and butter, are on a diet and the BBC are paying them to make a television programme about it. What's with that, BBC? I've been writing a blog about how to lose weight while enjoying gorgeous food for years now! Where's my TV deal?

That aside, I enjoyed the first episode - still available on iPlayer, although I was a little bit sniffy about the fact they used cornflour to thicken their white sauce rather than make a proper roux.

They've apparently lost a fair bit of weight between them (good for them) and they are affable chaps, so I shall watch forthcoming shows with interest.

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In which I paint the town red in Liverpool

As you may know (because I can be quite repetitive) I am starting a new job in September. While this is, in many ways, a Good Thing, I will miss the people that I have been working with very much. We are situated in various offices all over the country, generally only coming together a few times a year to deliver training or mark assignments but we are incredibly lucky in that from the very start we all hit it off and found that our working styles, despite being different, easily mesh.

This week was the last time that I was to see most of them so we were determined to Go Out and paint the town, if not red, a very definite shade of pink.

We went to the Olive Press in Liverpool mainly because they were offering a good midweek discount deal and we civil servants haven't had a payrise in a while. For £30 a head (three courses and wine) it seems churlish to complain. But the food, while adequate, did not rock my world.


My chicken liver pâté starter was woefully under seasoned though nicely presented - I'm a sucker for a Kilner jar.


Lemon chicken with goats' cheese and basil risotto was, again, a little lacking in flavour. Oh, and the chicken was overcooked. I know people can be squeamish about chicken but really, it needs to retain some moisture...

However. I can't complain about the liqueur coffee. So I won't. And the pizzas that were delivered to some of the party looked excellent - a pleasingly blistered base with a good amount of toppings - not so much as to be overkill, not too little to be sparse.

The hardcore contingent then made our way to Revolution for shots and giggles.


Don't you just love the idea of cocktail teapots?

What I learned here was:

• Birthday cake vodka is not nice.

• If you have had enough alcohol
previous to said birthday cake vodka, you will drink it anyway.

• Long Island Iced Tea ROCKS.

• I am no longer very good at late nights midweek.

Which is why, if you will excuse me, I'm off for a little nap. If you happen to be travelling across the Pennines on the way to York at the moment and you hear someone snoring away in the back carriage then do feel free to give me a sharp dig in the ribs - or at least wipe the drool off my chin.

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I’m back, baby. Kind of.

After two solid weeks in the wilderness – Lincoln then Essex via Surrey and back to Lincoln again – I am home and slowly, gradually getting myself back into routine. Well, I say that, but I’m off again this week for a few days so this meal planning entry will be on the short side - but at least it sort of kind of exists.

This blog hasn’t been very Weight Watchery lately for the very good reason that I haven’t been very Weight Watchery myself. Weight Watchers, like pretty much any eating plan, works but only if you put in the time and commitment. At the beginning of the year, when I was planning and tracking and exercising, the weight came off with relative ease. Life has got in the way, as life has a habit of doing. But I take heart from the fact that I have pretty much managed to maintain through some stressful times and that when things settle down again, as will happen very soon now, I’ll be able to start again with renewed vigour.

 I have thought about this a lot over the last few months. I have spent so much of my adult life on a “diet” that part of me wants to throw the towel in and say, ok, I may not be slim but I’m healthy and happy and being a size 10 isn’t the be all and end all. But do you know what I’ve realised? I don’t want to throw in the towel. Yes, I’m happy (and considering I spent a considerable amount of time in my twenties being very unhappy this is excellent progress). But I would be even happier if I were more confident in my appearance. And yes, I’m healthy at the moment, but I’d be stupid to assume that I will always be so lucky, and extra weight puts unnecessary strain on my body.

 I am pleased that I have learned to count my blessings. I don’t think the girl who wrote the first few entries on this blog was very good at that. I am pleased that I no longer tie up all my self worth with my size. But I do not want to go gently into the good night of plump middle age just yet.

 Anyway. A cursory amount of meal planning this week.

 

• Classic lasagne – this has been popping up on a few meal planning blogs lately and given me quite the fancy for it.
• Chicken mini roasts with roast potatoes and seasonal veg.
• Chilli and lime crusted salmon with…well, it’s supposed to be lentils but it may well be new potatoes since I’ve got some that need using up.

 That takes us through to the weekend at least, and then, if the weather holds, I quite fancy a classic barbecue…pass the Pimms!

As always, pop over to Mrs M’s for more meal planning fun (and probably considerably less navel gazing).

 

Recipe Corner - Spiced couscous with halloumi, courgette and broad beans

Squeaky cheese!

Hallelujah people – the frozen broad beans are finally gone! Long time readers, who no doubt take a deep interest in the contents of my freezer, may remember that sometime back in (I think) March or so I began commenting on the fact that I was trying to get the freezer down and that I was trying to come up with interesting uses for a bag of broad beans that never seemed to become any less. Well, one last push the other week and the little critters were finally vanquished. Hurrah.

Actually, I feel a little bereft now. As soon as we’re settled into a new home with a new freezer, I might have to buy some more.

So anyway, this dish was a gorgeous combination of delicately spiced couscous, salty, squeaky halloumi and a fresh pop of summer vegetables. Perfect for this sudden hot spell, I’d say. As the main ingredient is cheese, it is, necessarily, a little hefty on the points – but as you know, I’ll sacrifice a lot to get my cheese fix and halloumi really is a favourite. You’ll notice I use reduced fat halloumi in this recipe. I actually find there to be very little difference between reduced fat and full fat versions – and that is the God’s honest, hand on heart, truth. Were it not the case, I would rather reduce the portion size than compromise (cheese is, after all, a serious business).

Ingredients

100g couscous
Tsp cumin
Tsp coriander
Tsp cinnamon
10g butter
Chicken stock (sufficient to cover the dried couscous)
200g light halloumi, sliced lengthwise
100g broad beans (fresh or frozen)
1 courgette, reduced to ribbons (use a mandolin or a good potato peeler)
Tbsp olive oil
Tbsp white wine vinegar
Squeeze of lemon juice
Scant tsp Dijon mustard

Serves 2, 16 pro points per portion

Put a pan of salted water on to boil and prepare your veg.

Add the spices to the couscous and cover with chicken stock. Place some cling film or a clean tea towel over the bowl and allow to steam while you prepare the other component parts.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon and mustard with some seasoning and set aside.

Boil the broad beans for five minutes, adding the courgette strips for the final minute. Drain and run cool water over the vegetables to stop them cooking. Pat dry, and return to the pan over a very low heat. Pour over the dressing and gently warm through.

Fry the halloumi slices in a hot, dry non-stick pan for a couple of minutes on each side until darkly blistered.

Uncover the couscous and melt through the butter, using a fork to fluff up the grains. Serve, topped with halloumi slices and the lightly dressed vegetables.

The secret is, there is no secret

I met up with a good friend at the weekend, whom I hadn’t seen since before Christmas. Well – what a difference seven months can make! She had lost a shitload (note use of technical term) of weight. And how, I wondered aloud, had she managed it. Well…by following Weight Watchers to the letter and going to the gym five times a week.

Damn. I had kind of been hoping for some sort of weird cactus extract tea or at the very least a wheat and dairy and alcohol intolerance. Nope. Turns out good old fashioned watching what you eat and moving more can work wonders.

Good for her, say I. But also (in a slightly quieter voice) game on.

In which I sulk a little bit

So, let me tell you how this weekend should have gone. On Friday, three of us were heading for dinner at one of my favourite restaurants. Then, on Saturday, I was going for a much needed hair cut followed by a barbecue at my parent's house. Sunday would have seen a leisurely drive home via our local
farm shop to pick up a chicken for roasting, and then an afternoon drinking tea and getting up to date with the newspapers.

In fact what actually happened was that I spent most of the three days in bed, occasionally surfacing to drink more fluids and communicate my displeasure in an interesting series of croaks.

Yep, I have the lurgy. Actually, I've had it for a week now and it's just. Getting. Boring. I have no appetite to speak of and the only things that I can get vaguely enthusiastic about eating are Starbucks' Frappucinos and ice cream because they numb my throat on the way down.

It is not a diet I would recommend.

Anyway, despite the fact that I can't speak, and may well have to deliver sessions through the medium of modern dance, I am now back down to Lincoln for two weeks. It will be the last time I'll ever be a trainer on this course which is a little bit sad, but I am definitely starting to become more excited for the new job that I'll be starting in a few weeks. Or as excited as I am capable of being about anything at the moment (I am a terrible, terrible invalid. A really miserable piece of work).

Anyway. If I eat anything worth blogging about in the next fortnight, or, indeed, stumble upon some sort of universal truth of dieting, you'll be the first to know.



And here is a cute cat picture to cheer us all (well, me) up.

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Slow cooker recipe corner – Shoulder of lamb with tomatoes and butterbean mash

Every recipe that I post on this blog is one that I have cooked myself and enjoyed. There would be no point otherwise, would there? But occasionally, I post a recipe which it is IMPERATIVE that you go and make immediately and this is one such dish. Honestly, it’s really, really good.

I’ve had the slow cooker for a couple of years now (thanks, Mum!) and initially I thought it would end up being used for stews and chilli. But it turns out that is a fabulous way to slow roast cheaper joints of meat (shoulder of lamb enter, stage left.) After twelve hours at a low heat, the meat is melt in the mouth tender. We’ve done pork shoulder in there as well and I have a mind to try pork belly pieces at some point.

Anyway, I adapted this recipe from this blog here, and she in turn adapted it from a James Martin recipe. It’s lovely the way that works, isn’t it? Chinese whisper recipes – each new person adding a little something. Or perhaps taking a little something away. It’s one of the great pleasures of food blogging. Actually, the main thing I’ve found using the slow cooker, is to reduce the amount of liquid specified in any given recipe, so that is the chief difference here.

Ingredients

Half shoulder of lamb, bone in
Tsp of vegetable oil
Onion, finely chopped
Garlic clove, crushed
Large tin of tomatoes
Tsp sugar
Large tin of butterbeans, drained
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
2-3 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
Beef or chicken stock cube
100ml red wine (I used port to no ill effect)
100ml water
2 tbsp Worcester sauce

Serves 2 (with leftovers) – 3, 12 pro points per portion (if divided 3 ways)

First the easy bit. Into the slow cooker, lob every ingredient apart from the lamb, the oil, the onion and the garlic. Swoosh it around a bit. Add a pinch of salt and a good scrunch of pepper.

Now, season the lamb and in a large, non-stick pan, brown it on all sides. This will create a lot of smoke and may well set off your smoke alarm. Ensure an assistant is on hand to waft a teatowel around and open all windows.

When browned, remove the lamb from the pan. Add the oil for a little lubrication and then cook the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until golden. Tip them straight into the slow cooker, do another bit of swooshing and then place the lamb on top. Cook on a low heat for 10-12 hours. When cooked, the bone should slip straight out of the tender meat.

Set the lamb shoulder to one side to rest. Extract the butterbeans from the sauce and blitz in a food processor, or roughly mash. If you have time, cool the remaining gravy and skim off any fat that rises to the surface before reheating to a brisk boil and reducing slightly. Serve the meat with the butterbean mash, a good ladle of gravy and perhaps a couple of vegetable side dishes.

Meal Planning Monday - 9th July 2012

And there it was gone. The weekend, that is. How was it for you? Despite the dire weather predictions we managed to eat ice cream in the sunshine on Saturday afternoon and yesterday cooked Sunday lunch for my father in law, a slow roast shoulder of lamb to die for (recipe to follow). All in all, very pleasant indeed.

So, on with this week’s meal plan. And in a shock development, I’m actually at home all week! No gallivanting whatsoever.

Tonight we’ll be having a chicken and summer vegetable pot pie with mash. Pot pie, I have recently learned, is what you call it when your pie just has a pastry lid but no walls. Aka dieter’s pie or less-fun pie.

Over the next three nights in no particular order:

• Spaghetti bolognese, made with lamb mince and the rich, delicious, tomatoey gravy left over from our lamb shoulder roast at the weekend.
• Spiced couscous with griddled halloumi and a warm salad of courgettes and broad beans.
• Salmon gnocchi bake. We’ve got some frozen salmon in the, er, freezer which isn’t really nice enough to eat just as a fillet but will be fine in this kind of thing. I first saw this recipe mentioned on another MPM post so, whoever you are, I thank you! I adore gnocchi.

Friday night we’re out for the evening, Saturday we’re off to the parentals for a fishy barbecue and Sunday….hmmm. We might end up picking at leftovers, or I might buy a chicken to roast to provide D with the basis for some meals next week while I’m away (again). So, undecided. But hey, this is more of a plan then I’ve managed for a while so I’m pretty pleased. For more meal planning fun, as ever, scoot over to Mrs M’s.

York screams for ice cream

Prior to us moving away, D and I have been spending some Quality Time with York over the past few weekends. We've done this year's Science and Innovation Grand Tour, checked out a few of those hostelries which have been on our To Do list for a while and generally had a good old wander round.

We've uncovered a few little gems of places, one of which was this establishment.


The Luxury Ice Cream Company (or Licc - you see what they did there?) was an absolute paean to kitsch - from the bright pink umbrellaed tables outside to the pastel colour scheme used in the parlour. But it was fabulous.


Next time I go I'll save up some room and try a liccabockerglory. As it was, D and I shared a small tub of chocolate, orange and
ginger ice cream which was divine - and plenty enough for the two of us which, at £2.30 makes it pretty damn good value. There was a huge range of flavours - from bubblegum to ginger biscuit, all of which looked delicious, as well as a cute selection of toppings. An ice cream lover's paradise with gingham and frills.

Luxury Ice Cream Company
20 Back Swinegate
York

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Recipe Corner - Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu

Tofu with rice.  Nice, honestly.

It came as something of a surprise to me when my unashamedly carnivorous partner in crime came home one day with Yotam Ottolenghi's "Plenty".  It's a vegetarian recipe book you see.  Still more surprising was the number of sticky labels that the book sprouted when he went through deciding what he was going to cook.  

We've had a few dishes from the book now and all of them have been absolutely delicious - I'd thoroughly recommend it if you fancy trying some vegetarian cooking that even the staunchest meat eaters will enjoy.  One small point - Mr Ottolenghi is not shy about the amount of butter and oil he deploys in his dishes.  I've reduced it in the tofu dish that I've shared with you below - this is still a Weight Watchers blog after all!  

This tofu is scrummy.  It has such a worthy reputation doesn't it?  But it's lovely, a fantastic sponge for flavours and, as you'll note from the ingredients list there are a LOT of flavours going on here. I've reduced the amount of peppercorns slightly as I found the peppery heat slightly overwhelming when used alongside all those chillies.  If you're a heat fiend then leave the chilli seeds in.  I have a sensitive mouth and prefer them de-seeded.

Ingredients

400g firm tofu

Tbsp vegetable oil

Tbsp cornflour

30g butter

6 small shallots, thinly sliced

4 fresh red chillies, thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, crushed

1.5 tbsp grated fresh root ginger

1.5 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)

1.5 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

Tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp crushed black peppercorns

Small bunch of spring onions, sliced

Serves 2, 12 pro points per serving

Heat the oil in a frying pan.  Cut the tofu into cubes and dust wiyh the cornflour then add to the hot pan and brown on all sides.  You may need to do this in batches and it may well take longer than you think,  but patience is required here.

Now, wipe out the pan, return it to a lower heat and melt the butter.  Add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring every now and then, until everything is soft and shiny. Now you can add the sauces, the sugar and the pepper.

Return the tofu pieces to the pan and toss gently to coat them in flavour without breaking them up.  Finally, stir through the spring onions.  Serve with steamed rice

Meal Planning Monday – 2nd July 2012

So finally a week when I am at home for the most part and can actually do some proper meal planning. Apart from the two days when I am not at home – I’m off across the Pennines to do some work in Liverpool. I know, what a jet setter!  Most of the meals this week are notable in their simplicity. I’m out of the routine of cooking, and, indeed, planning so I’m going for easy household favourites for the most part:

• Monday – D’s homemade chilli, with rice and/or tortilla chips and a dollop of crème fraiche.
• Thursday – Sausages (pork and black pudding, purchased this weekend from our fabulous local farm shop) and baked beans. Perfect nursery food.
• Friday – Pan fried salmon fillets with pasta pesto. One of our favourite simple dinners.
• Saturday – I’m hoping to push the boat out a little more by trying out an idea that we had the other week of lamb and olive burgers, with tapenade mayonnaise and manchego cheese. Probably will serve with home made wedges and salad.
• Sunday – My father in law may be coming round for Sunday lunch. Could be roast chicken, or possibly something a little more simple and summery such as grilled chops with new potatoes and veg. This of course presupposes some sort of summery weather (glares meaningfully at the sky...) 

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

Call that a meal plan?

Well, I'm back off to Lincoln this week which means my meal plan (Mon-Thurs) consists of school
dinners and D's goes something like - baked beans, bacon, homemade chilli and soup. In no particular order. I know, it makes you want to drive straight round, doesn't it? The homemade chilli is very nice, honest injun...

The weekend should pick up a bit. For my triumphal homecoming dinner, D is planning to cook the peppered tofu recipe from Ottolenghi's "Plenty" which has been on his to do list for a while. I'm looking forward to it already.

It gets a bit vague after that but I'm sure we'll come up with something. For something more akin to, y'know, a plan pop over to Mrs M's.

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Classic recipe corner - Banana bread

One of the nice things about having a food blog is the fact you can preserve recipes for future generations. And as soon as I manage to hustle a member of said future generation into the kitchen, this is what I will teach them to make.




A loaf of banana bread - here posing coyly in front of the Kitchen Aid. It is not a pretty thing, nor glamourous, but it is simple and delicious and makes the home smell of all good things, which is just what baking should be.

I first baked banana bread when living with D at his request - it was not a recipe that had featured in my mother's baking repertoire as far as I recall. I had to borrow a loaf tin from his mother to make it. I never got round to giving it back to her. Now, whenever I it, I use Mary's tin and it reminds me, a little, of her.

The following top tip is all my own however. I always freeze bananas when they start to turn until I have enough to do something with them. Before incorporating them into the cake batter I microwave them, from frozen, for five minutes. The resulting banana purée can be squeezed out of the skins and requires no mashing. It makes life marginally easier...

Ingredients

225g self raising flour
Tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
100g caster sugar
100g butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp runny honey
100g sultanas
55g chopped walnuts
3 medium-large bananas, peeled and matched or reduced to sludge in the microwave (see above)
2 eggs
Juice of a lemon

Makes 1 loaf, 78 pro points for the whole

Preheat the oven to 180. Lightly spray a loaf tin with Fry Light to prevent the cake from sticking and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.

Sift the flour into a bowl (if you have a mixer use the bowl of that) and add the cinnamon, salt and sugar.

Mix in the butter (with spoon, fingers or mixer) until the mixture resembles damp sand. Then add the other ingredients and beat well into a loose batter.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cover with foil, then turn the heat down to 170 and bake for a further 15-30 mins until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

I eat French food in Lincoln

My Mum (hello, Mum!) emailed me the other day and told me off for neglecting both my blog and my diet healthy eating plan. And she was quite right and I am duly chastened, but in my defence I am in the wilds of Lincolnshire this week delivering a training course with limited access to t’internet and little control over meals. This blog entry comes courtesy of the fact that I have been able to leave the class in other hands this afternoon and find a quiet corner to do some work. It is lovely actually, a nice, quiet office with a view over green fields.

I am not going to bore you with whingeing about how hard it is to diet (sorry, I hate that word, but it is impossible to make a verb out of healthy eating plan) when you are busy and away a lot and stressed out over new jobs and new homes in new cities. You’ve heard it all before and you’ll just roll your eyes and perhaps think that if I really wanted it I wouldn’t rely on a string of rather lame excuses.

Instead (says she, moving swiftly on), I just popped in to tell you about a lovely meal I had the other night. Usually when we come to Lincoln we stay in a residential training centre, but this time we’ve had to stay in the city itself and travel in. It’s been nice, actually. Lincoln is a very pretty city. I didn’t hold out high hopes for finding a decent eatery which would be priced to fit the modest civil service budget and had resigned myself to a few days of Pizza Express et al. But an Internet search turned at trumps when we came across No 14 bistro.

Snails!

No 14 is a French bistro that serves the kind of dishes that you expect to see in a French bistro. It perhaps means that the menu would look a tad dated were it plonked down in the middle of Paris but who would be so churlish as to care about that? I had snails in garlic and parsley butter, which were beautifully cooked and hummed with just the right amount of garlic, followed by a lovely Provencal vegetable tart with goats’ cheese mousse.

Tart!

The beef bourguignon across the table, served with a wedge of dauphinoise potatoes smelled heavenly. And (Mum, cover your eyes) I couldn’t resist the chocolate and praline mousse which was as decadent as it sounds with the crunchy praline layered throughout to add texture and interest to the densely, darkly rich chocolate. These dishes were all chosen from the set course menu and came to a mere £12.50. Yes, £12.50. It was stupendously good value. If you went for the a la carte menu it would have worked out as slightly more expensive but still reasonable. I wholeheartedly recommend the place, an unexpected delight in an unexpectedly delightful city.

Right, duty calls so I must love you and leave you for now. Please bear with the sporadic posting. I promise that I am still here and trying to stay on top of reading and commenting and that usual service will be resumed at some point in the near future. As, I’m sure, will the downwards trend of the scales.

Meal Planning Monday – 11th June 2012

This blog has been a little quiet of late and it’s not likely to get any noisier for a while either – up until the middle of August when I finish my current job I have a silly amount of things to do and will be away from home for vast swathes (exaggeration for pathetic effect) of time.

I’m treading water on the diet front: not gaining but not losing and feeling rather apathetic about the whole business. Bah, this probably needs another navel gazing post at some point.

On the cooking side of things, I’ve also been less than sterling recently. We had Birds Eye Southern Fried chicken fillets in buns for tea on Saturday night. Actually, they were very nice, but it’s hardly haute cuisine is it? Anyway, I’m only away for one day this week so there is no excuse for not meal planning and definitely no excuse for not actually getting off my behind to cook. So, in roughly this order…

• Pan fried salmon fillets with new potatoes and minted peas
• Chicken thighs with a creamy, mustardy broad bean sauce and mashed potatoes
• Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toasted bagels
• Sea bass with braised fennel
• Curried lamb shanks with pilau rice
• Roast chicken with all the trimmings

The leftover roast chicken will provide D with the basis for a couple of meals next week when I’m away, and I also intend to make up a big bowl of chilli for him at the weekend. He has also requested a loaf or two of banana bread using up some of the bananas that lurk within the deepest recesses of the freezer so that will at least gve my beloved Kitchenaid a work out.

As always, head over to Mrs M's for more meal planning fun.

Notes on a Jubilee weekend

How was it for you? The sunshine may have been a tad sporadic but still, the long weekend passed very pleasantly indeed.

I spent most of it with my family. My brother (D2), sister in law (V) and fifteen month old nephew (little D) were up and it was lovely to be able to spend time with them. Little D is beginning to develop his own personality which is fascinating to watch. He already demonstrates a good streak of the family stubbornness along with the most charming of smiles.

We took him to Whitby yesterday - all English bank holidays should include a trip to the seaside.


It was very pleasingly traditional - a cold beach peopled with enthusiastic children and their blue lipped parents, a careworn trail of donkeys, the smell of chip fat and candy floss and saltwater. Little D got his first bucket and spade.


One of the inevitable things about spending time with my family is that the conversation will regularly turn back to food. We all take a keen interest in it and, in fact, I think my Mum is the only person who stockpiles more recipe magazines than I do. She and I spent a pleasant couple of hours in the kitchen on Saturday, pottering and gossiping.

These cherry oat squares with chocolate drizzle were quick and easy to knock up and perfect with a cup of tea.


Saturday evening the barbecue was dusted off, despite the ever present threat of drizzle, for a feast of seafood. We had king prawns, all coral and char, whole sea bass with a chilli dressing and shark steaks with a beautiful salsa verde courtesy of my parent's herb patch and D2. The shark was a revelation - almost meat like in texture with a taste that was akin to fresh tuna. The women, as is customary, provided the side dishes so as to allow the men ample time to play with fire. There was couscous, spiced with cumin, coriander and cinnamon and topped with thin slices of griddled halloumi:


and a medley of roasted vegetables: aubergine, courgette, pepper, onion, potatoes tossed in oil and coriander seeds and roasted then finished off on the hob with tomatoes and chickpeas and sprinkled with fresh coriander. It was delicious cold the next day.


Sunday found us enjoying a beautiful leg of lamb, roasted a la Heston
with garlic, anchovies and rosemary. No picture of this one I'm afraid - too busy enjoying the pinkly succulent meat. There was also this malt chocolate cheesecake. Only click that link if you're feeling strong - at 20 odd pro points per serving it is not for the Weight Watcher or the faint hearted.

Sadly back to reality now. I'm off to Liverpool for a few days and have so far managed to ignore the scales glowering at me in the corner of the bathroom. But I think I can bear any gain in return for such good food and even better company.

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Recipe corner - Nigella's chickpea and chorizo (not quite a) stew

We made the mistake of wandering through Borough Market on Friday afternoon.  We had spend a very pleasant couple of hours at Vinopolis, a venue dedicated to the drinking of wine on the Southbank (if you have even vague tendency towards dipsomania it is an excellent way to while away an afternoon) and were wending our way towards London Bridge to meet friends.  How could we resist the smells wafting from those tempting stalls? 

Actually, in the main we were pretty good and avoided temptation (although there may have been a sausage roll consumed later at the pub) but I couldn’t resist purchasing a few venison chorizos that I happened to pass by. I love chorizo and I love venison and was intrigued by the combination of spice and rich, gamey iron.

I’ve had a Nigella recipe for a chickpea and chorizo dish bookmarked on the BBC site for a while now and this seemed the idea opportunity to give it a go. Of course, I’ve made changes. For a start, I’ve reduced the portion sizes. I’m a girl of good appetite but I don’t think the quantities she suggests are not particularly realistic (to my mind) unless one has spent the last week fasting. For a second, I roasted off some fresh cherry tomatoes instead of using a tin. I’m sure a tin would be absolutely fine mind you; it would make the whole dish a bit quicker to assemble and would mean that all the components can come straight out of the store cupboard.

D wasn’t overly keen on the addition of the apricots although I loved them. He suggested that they would have been more to his taste if they had been more finely chopped and I have incorporated this into the recipe. You could leave them out altogether and this would save you 1 pro point per portion.

Ingredients

Small punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
Balsamic vinegar
1 medium chorizo sausage (about 80g), chopped into chunks
30ml (2 tbsp) dry sherry
1 large tin of chickpeas, drained
50g dried apricots, chopped finely
Pinch of sugar
140g dried bulgur wheat
½ tsp cinnamon
Bay leaf
Fresh coriander, chopped (amount to taste)

Serves 2, 14 pro points per portion

Heat the oven to about 150. Place the tomatoes in an oven proof dish, sprinkle with a little balsamic and some salt and pepper and roast until they have just started to shrivel – at this low temperature you could probably leave them for about an hour. Remove from the oven and deglaze the dish with about 100-150ml water. Place tomatoes and water in a small processor along with a pinch of chilli and blitz into a rough, salsa like texture.

Put the bulgur wheat in a lidded pan with a good pinch of salt, the cinnamon and the bay leaf. Cover with water and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer put the lid on and cook for about 15 minutes. You may need to add a splash more water during the cooking process.

Over a low heat, gently fry off the chorizo pieces until the deliciously spicy oil begins to render out and they start to crisp up. Add the sherry and allow it to bubble off.

Now you can add the drained chickpea, the apricot pieces and the tomatoes along with a pinch of sugar and seasoning. Bring up the heat and simmer for five minutes to reduce off some of the liquid.

Stir most of the coriander through the wheat, reserving a little for garnish, adjust the seasoning to taste and then serve up strewn with the chick pea mixture.

"A kind of Jewish deli with cocktails"

At some point last year, D and I went to Polpo – a quick check of my records tells me that this was, in fact, in October. We liked it very much. We conceived the notion of going to the other places created and owned by Russell Norman. Apparently, he used to work for a rather posh restaurant group and left to start up his own place so that he wouldn’t have to wear a tie to work anymore. Brilliant. Presumably he had a slightly more detailed business plan than that, but I hope that he brought the tie thing up in the meeting with his bank manager.

D asked me to choose and I went for the latest one in the stable, Mishkin’s, rather to his chagrin I think. It is described on its website as a kind of Jewish-deli with cocktails. I was primarily sold because the menu contained a Reuben sandwich – a dish I have wanted to try for around eight years. (Dr House ordered one in an early episode of House – being curious about food I looked it up and have fancied it ever since. Corned beef! Sauerkraut! Swiss cheese! Russian mayonnaise! Rye bread! These are All Good Things.) Of course, now I come to research (i.e. check Wikipedia) I find that what Mishkin’s have on the menu is actually a variation of the Reuben called the Rachel – where corned beef is swapped for pastrami. It didn’t matter. The choice of venue was made.

The interior of Mishkin’s is absolutely adorable – the kind of set up that I, growing up in darkest suburbia, used to imagine existed on every corner of New York. The staff, in common with all those employed across Norman’s restaurants, were young and beautiful and trendy. The waitresses were wearing extremely short shorts which retro nod was much appreciated by D.

I didn’t need to look at the menu – I was already salivating at the thought of my Reuben. D, deciding to get into the spirit of the Jewish deli theme, ordered the chopped chicken liver as well as one of the specials, a salad consisting of smoked mackerel, asparagus, fennel and a poached egg. He appeared to enjoy both thoroughly; I tried a little of the chopped chicken liver spread on toasted rye and thought it was gorgeous, especially with a generous dollop of a pickled (schmaltzed) radish to give a bit of acidity to the rich offal.

Chopped liver!

Asparagus!

My sandwich was a true behemoth. I had eaten very lightly throughout the day in order to be thoroughly hungry come the evening, but still, was nearly defeated. It was as scrumptious as I had imagined – beautiful salty beef and sharp pickle and gooey cheese….however, when I go again, I shall opt for the half Reuben with slaw – I’m sure that would be more than enough. Mind you, the heavenly smell that was rising up from the mac and cheese ordered by the table next to us might be enough to tempt me away from the sandwiches altogether. I very, very nearly plucked up the courage to ask them for a bit. Another carafe of wine and I probably would.

A very large sandwich indeed!

In the spirit of research, and after a bit of digestion, we roused ourselves to share a pudding: a slice of cheesecake (well, when in pretend New York….) which was surprisingly light with a lovely lemony sharpness. Had I had more room I would have tried to make space for the soggy lemon drizzle cake but, alas, it seems that will have to wait for the definitely called for second visit – although with da Polpo, Polpetto and Spuntino’s still to get round it may be a while. Still, if you yourself happen in the vicinity – and it is located right in the heart of theatre land so very handy for a pre or post play supper, then do go and wrap yourself around one of those glorious sandwiches. And please help satisfy my curiosity on this point – do the waitresses still have to wander around in tiny shorts in the middle of winter?