Hot in the city

Having been born and bred in the scorching climes of the land Down Under where 25 degrees is considered cardy weather, I'm rather ashamed to admit that I found today's temperature of 24 degrees a little uncomfortable in old London town. By uncomfortable I mean walking around our stuffy flat quoting Will Ferrell in Anchorman ("it's soooooo hot....milk was a baaaad choice") and not feeling hungry - which I find most bothersome of all. It's too hot to turn on anything that emits heat in the kitchen so tonight's dinner is going to be a smorgasbord of fridge scraps...and I think we haven't done too badly.

Our too-hot-to-cook scraps board
Tallegio - an Italian cheese, semi- soft, creamy and a little stinky. I could eat this 'til the cows come home.
Pineapple, pear, capsicium strips and some grapes
The last of the Jar Club chutney and some of my home made piccalilli
Nairns oatcakes. A pantry staple. Their buttery oatiness pairs brilliantly with any cheese.

Enjoy with a good film and a cold Chablis.

Hola Borough burrito

Last time I visited Borough market on a Saturday I had a nervous breakdown trying to hack through the hordes of tourists lining up for samples. On a Thursday afternoon, however, it's an entirely different story. Having just restored my field of vision by having my fringe cut, I wasted no time collecting a few of my old faves; organic eggs and oakcakes from Neal's Yard Dairy, Comte cheese, saffron from Brindisa and pesto from Borough olives.

So this morning, with these exciting ingredients at hand, I whipped up what I guess could be a Borough market burrito.

My Borough burrito

Makes enough for 2.5 people

What you need

1 pack of North Staffordshire Oatcakes (available from Neal's Yard Dairy for £1).

Note: These oatcakes are not the biscuity kind - they are floppy and spongy, about the size of a side plate, and look like a crumpet that has been run over by a steam roller several times. If you can't handle the crowds, or live in Australia, the usual Old El Paso-style small tortilla wraps will do perfectly fine.

4 eggs, lightly beaten

about 6 cherry tomatoes, cut in slices

a few thin slices of Comte cheese (or tasty cheddar would work well too)

a small handful of chives, chopped

The do

Lay the Comte on the oatcakes and grill until the cheese melts. While this is happening, scramble the eggs in a small pan. When the oatcakes are ready, distribute the chopped tomato on each one and then pile the eggs on top. Garnish with the chives, then roll up like a cigar.

My dream cooker...

(if I had a spare £4270 lying around...)

6.05pm It's raining chips

After a marvellous warm sunny week, the rains have returned. I'm soaked, water is sloshing around in my ballet pumps and my stomach has packed it in and started digesting itself. Only one thing for it...chips from George's - open, with lots of salt and vinegar of course. Piping hot, full of flavour and bursting with badness. Just what a soggy blogger needs.

A house warming crafternoon

On Sunday, our monthly crafternoon session was held at Kelly and Andrew's gorgeous new digs. As Miss Jasmine T was rather well-behaved beforehand, I managed to crack out these peanuty sesame noodles. With mostly warm weather upon us, these noodles are great when eaten cold and won't suffer much from banging about in your bag on the way to a picnic.
I ended up making quite a large batch but if you want to size it down you could divide the ingredients to what you need - as a guide, the dressing should have the consistency of a thick batter, for optimal noodle coverage.

Peanuty sesame noodles
makes enough for around 8-9 people as a side

What you need
For peanut dressing
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter plus a few extra spoons for good luck
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 thumb of chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons of jarred chili (as the potency of jarred chili can vary quite significantly, you might want to taste a bit first and then adjust quantity accordingly)

for the noodles
4 packs of sharwoods dried egg noodles - 1 pack of spaghetti or somen noodles would work well too
a third of a cucumber, sliced thinly in rounds then cut into thin strips
a handful of mint, finely chopped
a couple of tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds
half an iceberg lettuce, chopped as thinly as you can make it
1 lemon, cut into wedges

The do
Cook the noodles as per instructions, then drain and rinse under cold water. You can leave them in the colander while you prepare the dressing.
In a food processor or blender, throw in the dressing ingredients and blitz until thoroughly combined.
Transfer half the dressing into a very big bowl, throw in the drained noodles, then pour the rest of the dressing on top. Use your hands to evenly coat the noodles with the dressing.
Spread the lettuce and mint evenly over the top and then sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. If you aren't digging in straight away, leave it to hang out in the fridge for a while, then give it a good toss and serve with lemon wedges.

This is should be a hit with everyone except those unfortunate enough to have a peanut allergy - Andrew even came out of isolation and braved a kitchen full of women and a boisterous toddler to get a second helping, so I guess that says something!

Tunes
Kelly's ipod

The jars are in the house!

How exciting! The sun is shining, all the windows are open and my jars have arrived!

A little while back I subscribed to Jar Club - my lovely friend who is a whiz with preserves, takes a subscription payment and you receive a jar once month for three months, with the proceeds going to charity.

I have just sampled the blood orange and Seville orange jelly with pinot noir and spices, and it's amazing. Deliciously bitter with the perfect amount of spice.

My kind of Easter egg

Yikes! Is it really Easter already? I've been a busy bee since I last blogged, which explains the lack of posting activity...but hey, four whole days with Carters around sure makes it easier to do a bit of catching up.

To kick off the Easter bank holiday we enjoyed a fried egg on toast with piccalilli. The quickest and most delicious breakfast, lunch or can't-be-arsed dinner.

What you need
piccalilli
an egg
some cheddar cheese
toast

The do
Heat a fry-pan, drizzle some oil and crack an egg into the pan. While this is happening, put on some toast and thinly slice a couple of pieces of cheddar and lay on to the toast. When the egg is done, place it on top of the cheese and then spread a teaspoon of piccalilli on top.


After breakfast we visited the totally amazing John Soane museum - be sure to go early in the day, as the queues get pretty long in the afternoon. There is also a nice cafe around the corner called the Fleet River Bakery that does decent coffee and other treats.

Happy 1st birthday Jasmine T (cake 2)!

A very important lesson was learnt in the making of this cake. Never, EVER, substitute full-fat with light cream cheese. Even if the supermarket only has light cream cheese left and you can't be arsed going to another shop to get it!

Happy 1st birthday Jasmine T!

Oh me oh my. This time last year I was on my way to hospital in a taxi screaming out the window at people on Upper Street. Three and a half hours later sweet little Jasmine T was born.

To mark this momentous occasion, Carters took the day off work and we invited some of her close buddies over for a little party. I made Nigel Slater's pear and blueberry cake, and it went down a treat with Jasmine - pears and blueberries are only, like, her favourite. Stay tuned for the novelty cake...to be unveiled on Saturday.



Nigel Slater's really fast cake with blueberries and pears (serves about 7-8)

Given my talent for screwing up measurements, this cake is brilliant because I only had to measure out 130g three times...and the only other things I did differently was I used a round tin instead of a square one and I didn't peel the pears because I was feeling lazy. It was enjoyed muchly by us adults (and babies) with a cup of tea or if you're having it for dessert take Nigel's advice and serve it with some vanilla ice cream, fromage frais or double cream

What you need
130g softened butter
130g unrefined organic caster sugar
2 ripe pears
2 large eggs
130g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g blueberries
a little extra sugar to sprinkle on top

The do
Set oven at 180c. Line a round 21-22cm springform cake tin with some baking parchment. Using a cake mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Core the pears and chop into small chunks. In a small bowl, break the eggs and beat with a fork then gradually add to the butter and sugar. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold them gently into the mixture. Scrape into the lined cake tin and level it out - don't worry, it looks like you don't have enough mixture but it will work out. Mix the pears and blueberries togther and tip then into the cake. Scatter 1-2 tablespoons of sugar over the top. Bake for 55 minutes, then test with a skewer. If it comes out clean, remove cake from oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

A question about vinegar

My sister-in-law, who has just started an excellent blog on food and life in Japan, has a question for all you pickling experts out there.
She is thinking of making yuzu (above) vinegar but isn't sure how to go about it. Some recipes say to heat the vinegar, in others you just poke the peel in the vinegar bottle. Can anyone help?

While we are on the subject of blogs and Japan, my brother-in-law is also a newcomer to the blogging scene. You can check out his foodie adventures here