My last night in the beautiful flat I have been living in for the past 3 years. I hadn't even thought about what to eat tonight as I rushed from work to charity shop to finishing the packing: very luckily for me, my flatmate Jo made some onion soup.
It is funny how something can be so simple that it quite gets forgotten. But when revived, what a tasty treat! The soft onions were so sweet and the stock so savoury, and on a chilly, mean February night like this, the warmth spread right through us, fortifying me for the final leg of packing.
Tomorrow I will be making a dishonest man of the gent as we move in together, and I am very excited about the adventures ahead of us. But I will never forget my memories of Jo, Ruby and Rocket. And our last evening of girl talk and onion soup!
Monday 28 February 2011
sage sauce for house-moving wisdom
It is funny how rarely things pan out in an even, measured fashion. I usually enjoy a very quiet January / February, over-wintering as I think most civilised, with any non-work time spent under a duvet, or eating stew / curry / pudding in rotation. This year, between birthdays, birth-days, and gorgeous friends visiting, I have been tempted out of hibernation and into a social whirl, so it was inevitable that the gent and I should somehow, by accident, find a cute new nest to move into. 6 months early and at a ridiculously busy time.
Hence, there has been little energy spent on cooking or writing. A plus side has been discovering which fast food is a sublime joy (an 'Adana kebab' from Cirrick on Green Lanes); which fast foods I will be very happy to leave behind forever (supermarket ready meals: ready for being discontinued, I hope); and how long I can keep going without getting scurvy (longer than you would think).
The house-move is mere days away and yesterday, after an emotional evening of forcing 4 paperbacks into the 'charity' pile - and forcing the other 400 into boxes to move - I decided enough was enough. A girl needs carbs. And to feel the weight of a saucepan in her hands once more.
I cubed and roasted a butternut squash and tumbled these together with some cooked gnocchi, then covered these with an aromatic sage sauce. This was kept company by steamed leeks alongside, cut into pleasingly plump logs.
To make the sage sauce: fry chopped sage leaves in butter: this smells heavenly, so enjoy it for a full minute or more - but don't let the butter burn. Turn up heat, splash in white wine and let bubble down to half its volume. Add double cream and heat through, then finish off with a squeeze of lime, parmesan and seasoning. I also fried small sage leaves in butter until crispy for decoration, and I would do more of these next time, they tasted so good.
+ + + + + + + +
To keep me awake during the day, I continue with my favoured past time of seeking new coffee haunts. The latest Roy-award goes to 'Store Street Espresso' (no website but they are @StoreStEspresso on Twitter) which has a really wonderful, light space, minimally decorated with allusion to the building site (in a good way) and serving all the coffees a choosy girl could hope for.
I am torn between anxiety that these lovely Aussie-inspired coffee spots are in danger of becoming generic, and being delighted that the dots are linking up on my 'coffee map'. I enjoy the safety of knowing places where each cup of coffee will be, without a doubt, extremely good. So thank you Store Street Espresso, and the Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, for making my life just that little bit better.
Hence, there has been little energy spent on cooking or writing. A plus side has been discovering which fast food is a sublime joy (an 'Adana kebab' from Cirrick on Green Lanes); which fast foods I will be very happy to leave behind forever (supermarket ready meals: ready for being discontinued, I hope); and how long I can keep going without getting scurvy (longer than you would think).
The house-move is mere days away and yesterday, after an emotional evening of forcing 4 paperbacks into the 'charity' pile - and forcing the other 400 into boxes to move - I decided enough was enough. A girl needs carbs. And to feel the weight of a saucepan in her hands once more.
I cubed and roasted a butternut squash and tumbled these together with some cooked gnocchi, then covered these with an aromatic sage sauce. This was kept company by steamed leeks alongside, cut into pleasingly plump logs.
To make the sage sauce: fry chopped sage leaves in butter: this smells heavenly, so enjoy it for a full minute or more - but don't let the butter burn. Turn up heat, splash in white wine and let bubble down to half its volume. Add double cream and heat through, then finish off with a squeeze of lime, parmesan and seasoning. I also fried small sage leaves in butter until crispy for decoration, and I would do more of these next time, they tasted so good.
+ + + + + + + +
To keep me awake during the day, I continue with my favoured past time of seeking new coffee haunts. The latest Roy-award goes to 'Store Street Espresso' (no website but they are @StoreStEspresso on Twitter) which has a really wonderful, light space, minimally decorated with allusion to the building site (in a good way) and serving all the coffees a choosy girl could hope for.
I am torn between anxiety that these lovely Aussie-inspired coffee spots are in danger of becoming generic, and being delighted that the dots are linking up on my 'coffee map'. I enjoy the safety of knowing places where each cup of coffee will be, without a doubt, extremely good. So thank you Store Street Espresso, and the Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, for making my life just that little bit better.
Thursday 3 February 2011
menu by search engine
I am fascinated with internet traffic and what takes someone to a website. I can sometimes see on my blog stats where traffic has come from and it is often a google search. As a librarian I am interested in which search terms are used: as a food lovin' lady, I am intrigued by which foods are most sought after. A recent cursory look shows that, very unsurprisingly, everyone is looking for ways to eat two things right now: pheasant and Seville orange. Or, as one poor soul in Spain put it 'what else can I make with Seville oranges?' - you can just hear the fatigue!
I notice that Hugh F-W answered the latter with his usual enthusiasm in the Saturday Guardian magazine: Seville-orange meringue pie and orange curd were such wonderful ideas, I can't wait to give them a go. Just as soon as I can find some oranges! I also recommend - no, I URGE - you to make the ice cream in 'Nigella Bites'. Don't frown like that, it isn't at all like making ice cream: no churning or time involved. One merely whips cream then adds sugar and orange zest/juice, then stow into freezer. I once converted a non-ice cream lover to it, which is surely the best recommendation?
The pheasant shooting season is coming to its end: soon the birds will be raising chicks, during which time they are off-limits to us preying on them. Time for a last game-bird hurrah of the year - and a good time to know what to do with leftover pheasant bits.
I can't believe I didn't mention my new year's day meal sooner! My parents gave me a post-Christmas pheasant-present, which they had plucked, singed and done all the gruesome and boring bits of preparation to. The bird was given a streaky bacon blanket and roasted, then served on a bed of bacony, herby lentils. It followed a chicory salad in a Dijon mustard and honey dressing, and the whole thing was hearty, earthy and ever so wintry.
After, I stripped the carcass of its few scraps of meat and made stock with the bones: this makes a lovely winter risotto if you have some flavoursome mushrooms, and add the meat in at the end. Delicious with buttered chard or cabbage. End-of-season heaven!
I notice that Hugh F-W answered the latter with his usual enthusiasm in the Saturday Guardian magazine: Seville-orange meringue pie and orange curd were such wonderful ideas, I can't wait to give them a go. Just as soon as I can find some oranges! I also recommend - no, I URGE - you to make the ice cream in 'Nigella Bites'. Don't frown like that, it isn't at all like making ice cream: no churning or time involved. One merely whips cream then adds sugar and orange zest/juice, then stow into freezer. I once converted a non-ice cream lover to it, which is surely the best recommendation?
The pheasant shooting season is coming to its end: soon the birds will be raising chicks, during which time they are off-limits to us preying on them. Time for a last game-bird hurrah of the year - and a good time to know what to do with leftover pheasant bits.
I can't believe I didn't mention my new year's day meal sooner! My parents gave me a post-Christmas pheasant-present, which they had plucked, singed and done all the gruesome and boring bits of preparation to. The bird was given a streaky bacon blanket and roasted, then served on a bed of bacony, herby lentils. It followed a chicory salad in a Dijon mustard and honey dressing, and the whole thing was hearty, earthy and ever so wintry.
After, I stripped the carcass of its few scraps of meat and made stock with the bones: this makes a lovely winter risotto if you have some flavoursome mushrooms, and add the meat in at the end. Delicious with buttered chard or cabbage. End-of-season heaven!
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