The Cake Table

Our friends Lou and Ollie got hitched and asked all their friends who bake to make a cake to put towards the dessert following the wedding breakfast. A lovely idea to get people involved in their big day... but I could feel the pressure.

I thought it best to stick with Nigella's Chocolate and Guinness Cake as it always goes down well. It turned out fine even though I forgot to change the measurements on my scales and measured everything in millilitres.

There was a fine turnout, with everything from lemon tarts to carrot cupcakes, rocky roads to millionaires shortbread. People got over excited and decided to take a little of everything instead of one large slab of one thing and it all disappeared pretty quickly!

The wedding cake was made by Lou's friend Frann, renown as one of the best bakers of all the friends (she nearly made it to The Great British Bake Off). I have tried her baking skills a few times and can say her cakes, biscuits and cheesecakes are really tasty but often have really cute ideas in them too, she has a blog too - so check her out!

Pitt Cue Co

A restaurant which has been on my list since its opening is Pitt Cue Co. The need to go increased after friends visited and kept posting pictures on their twitter feeds of all the amazing and meaty dishes they were tucking into, plus the reviewers were raving about the place.

It is another of those restaurants that started as street food, operating in some obscure food market or next to a pub, devised by some talented chefs with a real passion for the few things they are cooking, grilling or flipping. They then get permentant residence somewhere, make it look grundgy but ultimately cool, have a no reservation policy so people (the chef's frriends and B list celebrities) can not push in and generate a word of mouth which keeps the queues constant.

We arrived at 5.45pm on Saturday and the queue was already at least 30 people and they hadnt even opened yet. It was my birthday, it was raining and I was queueing.... but somehow I was still excited (the scent of thick BBQ sauce floated on the air) and just hoped we would make it through the doors at 6pm when the kitchen opened. The people in the queue around us helped, everyone being friendly and excitable too. At a few minutes past 6pm they started letting people in slowly, very slowly, I suppose they need to try and regulate the flow of people for the kitchen. By the time we got in at about 6.25pm, the downstairs restaurant was full but we could stand at the bar and have a cocktail (or three) whilst we waited.

The cocktails are whiskey heavy and strong, I went for the Hard Lemonade first and Mat one of the bottled ales. It was yummy and even though strong and tasting of whisky, surprisingly easy to drink. The second cocktail, a special Soho Sour was great but a little strong for me so I went back to the Hard Lemonade and Mat switched to the on tap ale - Whatever.

We finally got downstairs at 7.40ish, and three cocktails in I was on my way to merry and starving, so we may have ordered a little too much food... but no change there!

The tables are communal, with only about 20 seats making the space cosy and bustling. We went for some ribblets to share which were coated in a thick, gooey slightly spiced BBQ sauce, these disappeared very quickly.

Whilst waiting upstairs we had been eyeing up the food served to those who had the few window seats in the bar area (a place we were offered to sit but as it was so busy we waited until their was space downstairs) so we knew we wanted the pork ribs and the pulled pork, which we shared - based on the reviews and hype of this place you can probably guess how good they were, the meat just feel of the bone and pulled pork makes my mouth water thinking about it. I was surprised by how impressive the sides were - the slaw and burnt end mash were great, the mash topped with a layer of stewed meat in a thick gravy. We also went for the jar of picked vegetables, a really clean taste to cut through all the heavy, rich meat flavours.

Even though stuffed, I had to have a pudding to justify the wait. A bourbon soaked sticky toffee cake served with salted caramel ice cream pushed me over the cliff and into fit to burst, but in a good way.

If you like meat, especially pork - this is the place to go. I would definitely go again but the queue is off putting and you need to prepare for the wait which does take away from the magic of the meat.

Birthday Blueberry Pancakes

As a special birthday breakfast, Mat went all out and made blueberry pancakes as a treat. They were light and fluffy, plus served with the strawberries and golden syrup a little bit naughty, a little bit nice.

And calories don't count on your birthday... right?

He cooked all the batter and we had the left-overs the next day heated up in the microwave and they still tasted pretty good! So good, I will be making them for Emily on her visit :-)

Chicken Kiev - Zoe's 80s Favourite

My old housemate Zoe popped over for dinner one night and I wanted to cook her something I knew she would love. As a massive fan of (and her speciality) corn-beef hash and Dallas - she did love the 80s and early 90's, I decided to go for a Chicken Kiev... but a handmade version served with watercress and tomatoes roasted on the vine.

I made the Kiev's the night before so I could just cook them when she arrived and we could spend more time having a good gossip. They were surprisingly easy and next time I would have more confidence to put in more of the garlic butter and be sure it would hold together.

I used a recipe from BBC Good Food.

Chicken Kiev

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts , with the mini fillets attached

• 100g plain flour

• 3 eggs , beaten

• 200g fine, dry breadcrumbs

• sunflower oil or vegetable oil, for frying

• lemon wedges and watercress, to serve

• 400g omatoes on the vine

For the butter

• 1 garlic clove , crushed

• small handful parsley , leaves finely chopped

• 2 sprigs tarragon , leaves finely chopped

• 50g butter , softened

• squeeze lemon juice

Method

• To make the butter, tip all the ingredients into a bowl and season generously with pepper and a little salt. Beat until completely combined then tip onto a sheet of cling film and roll into a log. Refrigerate until hard. Can be made up to 3 days in advance or frozen for up to 1 month.

• One breast at a time, lay them smooth-side down and remove the mini fillet (I found two of the breast did not have a mini fillet so I just cut a strip from the fattest part of the chicken). Make an incision down the middle of the fillet half way into it to make a pocket; it is essential that you don't cut all the way through the meat. Lay a piece of cling film over the breast and, using a meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten it out slightly. On another part of the board bat out the mini fillet slightly.

• Divide the butter into four and squash into flattish discs. Stuff each of the pockets that you made with a disc of butter. Cover each with the mini fillet and fold the sides of the breast over it. Set aside.

• Tip the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs into separate shallow containers. Working methodically, completely coat each breast in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then dip back into the egg and finally again in the breadcrumbs. Set aside. The chicken can be prepared the day before and left in the fridge or frozen for up to 1 month - defrost completely before cooking.

• To cook, heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat a decent layer of oil in a large frying pan and, once hot, turn the heat down to medium. Fry the Kievs for 2-3 mins on each side until dark golden.

• Lift them onto kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil then transfer to a roasting tin. Cook in the oven for 20 mins or until the Kievs feels firm when prodded at the widest part.

• Place the tomatoes (still on the vine) on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and place in oven for 10 minutes until hot and cooked.


•Serve immediately with the tomatoes, lemon wedges and watercress.

Lucky Chip at The Sebright Arms

Another restaurant which started life in a street food van. This one serving some of the best burgers in town and taking up residence in a local Hackney pub called The Sebright Arms.

Lucky Chip is the name and the question on all our lips was 'would it be better than MEATliquor?'. Another restaurant which started in a burger van, which I visited back in February, I thought the place and concept was great but was a real treat due to how greasy it was.

The menu at Lucky Chip specialises in burgers but you can also have hot dogs, it is missing the unusual sides that MEATliquor offer but makes up for it with truffle oil on chips, cheesy chilli chips and the ultimate £16 burger called the John Belushi made with duck, veal and bone marrow topped with foie gras and cider jelly - wowzers!

I went for the slightly less indulgent cheese burger, and I was impressed. A juicy patty which did not feel laden with grease with perfectly melted cheese served on a paper plate with skinny french fries on the side. I tried some of my friends cheesy chilli fries, which were over the top but a real guilty pleasure.

For me, it was better than MEATliquor, plus if you get to the pub by 6.30 there is still no queue, but I do prefer the atmosphere of the former.

The 'Ultimate' Easter Lunch

For the last couple of years we have had a mini friends get together to celebrate Christmas, this has become known as 'The Ultimate Christmas' and we thought we would continue this through to Easter too, just with a few changes. The obvious one - it is Easter not Christmas. No tree and secret santa but Easter egg hunts and bunting. Chicken not turkey (even though we have never had turkey, choosing beef or pork at the friends get together). And the big one, its our tiny flat instead of one of our friends, meaning we were in charge of the main course - gulp! Plus it was the most people we had cooked for since moving in.

The day began with a little easter egg hunt, which quickly descended into a mad rush (and very competitive) race to claim the most! Our friend Lou won by quiet a few.

We decided to try and keep it simple by making sure everything was prepared before people arrived so we were minimising the panic in the kitchen, but we still wanted to make as much from scratch as possible.

We got a large enough chicken to feed six people and went for a Jamie Oliver recipe stuffed with a whole lemon, it also cooked the rosemary potatoes in the oven dish with the chicken, which is a great solution when you have a small oven. My favourite tip was crumbling the crispy bacon that had been keeping the chicken crown juicy over the potatoes when cooked.

I was in charge of the cauliflower cheese, using a recipe from BBC Good Food and Mat was in charge of the homemade bread sauce which was lovely considering he managed to leave in the whole peppercorns and forgot to add the cream, if you would like to try the actual recipe it was by Delia and can be found here. Mat also made the stuffing

We boiled the broccoli and roasted the carrots and parsnips in honey and sea salt. We also cheated with the yorkshires but this was because we had nowhere free to put a whole tray of homemade ones, so we just slotted Aunt Bessie's wherever we could find space.

It all went down really well, you always get a good feeling when you feed people you like and they enjoy it. This was followed by Hayley's amazing individual jam jar banoffee pies, all wrapped up in little ribbons - such a cute (and tasty) way to serve dessert.

The day was rounded off with a game of Cranium, which the boys won for the first time, taking the tally to 3-1 to the girls - but it was very close. Mat spilled his ale, twice (a common occurrence after all day drinking), we tucked into a cheese board supplied by Lou and Ollie and then everyone headed home in a drunken haze.

In Pursuit of Gin Utopia

I maybe should be a little bit ashamed that in a household of two adults we are clearly outnumbered by bottles of gin. I'm not though as for years I've tried to do the whole wine thing looking like I know what I'm doing as I peruse the wine aisle in my local supermarket, but in all honesty I have only three rules. I don't do Australian, New Zealand or South African are good and if in doubt buy a bottle of Oyster Bay.

Where as with gin I feel like I'm starting to get educated beyond the fact that it's tastes great, suits every occasion and doesn't give me a hangover! I'm now getting hooked on trying different gins in pursuit of finding the perfect gin. Luckily for me Sean is a willing companion on this journey to gin utopia, we have the bottle of Bathtub thanks to his impulse shopping.

Let's just get on thing clear though before we start, I'm not a gin snob, but the gins we currently have gracing our drinks cupboard don't include the average gins your likely to see on the top self of your local, like Gordon's and Bombay Sapphire, but then it's seems a little pointless as most gin drinkers will have tried those anyway. Plus Bombay Sapphire is banned in out house as we are both convinced that we are allergic to something in it.

So if you fancy trying something new my notes below might help you to decide on which gin you should invest in next...

Bloom
As the name may suggest this gin has a flowery aroma, if it was a person it would definitely be a girl called Isabella. It's delicate flavour is enhanced with natural botanicals of chamomile, pomelo and honeysuckle. Although the new flavours are interesting they don't overpower the true routes of the gin.

I also think the bottle design is worth a mention, it's tactile green jewel cut glass and elegant tall shape give it a vintage feel that begs to be pick up and appreciated.

To me this is a perfect Spring time gin, maybe wearing you best tea dress and enjoying high tea in the garden (ok, ok that's in my fantasy world where I live in a house with a big garden and have time to organise high tea!) At least I can sip this gin, close my eyes and pretend :-)

Hendricks
This is the gin that made me realise that I was missing something good, well not good, great. The first time I tried it I was lying in the sun with Jade. I think that my love for this gin has a lot to do with nostalgia.

The addition of cucumber to its list of botanicals give this gin a unique freshness that means it is a perfect gin for summer sipping. You have to do it properly though, it's just not the same without a slice of cucumber that really enhances the fresh flavours. Be warned though, on a hot day, sat in a beer garden this goes down like Lemonade, it's deceptively good, some may say even dangerously!


Chase
Currently Sean's favourite, it's a clean, crisp and distinctly citrusy (not sure that's even a word!) gin. It's one of the very few cold pressed gins and is made from apples. The tart flavours of orange, lemon and brambles apples are the lasting flavours. It benefits from 'ice and a slice' and don't get me wrong it's lovey, but it doesn't set my world alight. I feel a little bit bad for not liking it more and dare I say it it's bottle design also leaves me a little deflated. Again there nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't make me exicted about opening the bottle and pouring me self a G&T


Bathtub
I feel that this gin may be the reason Chase hasn't set my gin world on fire. This gin is awesome, yep there I said it, better than Hendricks? Possibly, in the right context. Bathtub would be my autumnal tipple, in my fantasy world I'd be sitting in front of a bit log fire :-)

It's bottle design can rival the best and it's definitely the reason we bought it. We didn't know what to expect from this curious little bottle, encased in brown paper which looks like its been u earth from some ancient archeologist site, you need to break the wax seal before you can pour your first glass.

It's a spicy gin that has a lasting flavour of cinnamon, I think if you like Morgan Spice Rum or Jerry Sailor it may be the gin for you. My top tip would be don't add anything to your glass but ice, a slice of lime or lemon kills it for me, you really don't need it as it has enough going on already.

Tanqueray No.Ten
Tanqueray is to gin what Delia Smith is to cooking, a safe pair of hands that never lets you down, and sometimes in life we all need a bit of that. Tanqueray No. Ten takes that one step further, it's made in small batches and instead of just using the peel of the fruits they use the whole fruit to flavour this gin. I like using it to make cocktails. Every gin drinker should have some sort of Tanqueray in their armor!

I'll update this in time when I've managed to get my mitts on some more gins to try. But there's enough here to keep you busy until then. In my pursuit to finding the perfect gin my only conclusion is that man cannot live by one gin alone. For every occasion there's a perfect gin.

The Sweet Smell of Success

Ever since Jade bought me this little jar of sweet smelling deliciousness they have just sat on my spice shelf. I've been a little bit intimated by these curious beans as although I've heard about them and done a little research, I was slightly unsure about how to get them into me cooking, should I treat them the same as a vanilla pod or nutmeg? And just why are they illegal in the US?

So what are tonka beans anyway?
To answer this I consulted the food oracle - Alan Davidson's 'The Penguin Companion to Food'.  A fruit from the Leguminous tree found in Colombia, Venezuela, Guiana and Brazil. Described as having an aroma and flour somewhere between hay and vanilla - although I dispute this. I think it's more like vanilla/cinnamon/apricot.

They were banned in the US back in 1954, due to them containing a chemical which can cause kidney damage when taken in large doses, but you'd need to consume over 30 beans and it's also the same chemical which in found in other spices which are not banned within the US?! The wrinkly, dark skinned bean is hard and smells beautifully before it's even grates or warmed. As well as being used in cooking it's also widely used within the perfume industry.

So, I finally bit the bullet and decided to have a go at making a Tonka Bean flavoured cake for my Sister's Birthday. After doing a bit more routing around on Google I decided to grate them into my tried and tested Victoria Sponge cake mix from my River Cottage Everyday book. Some people suggested using one bean whilst other say a teaspoon of grating so I decided that I'd try two grated beans which looked about a teaspoon full (very scientific!)
 

I can completely understand why this ingredient is revered by the perfume industry, it's smell lingers from the moment you open the jar to when the finished cake sat on the cake stand. The taste is lovely too, I was concerned I may have overdone it and the taste would be overpowering, but it wasn't, it's a completely unique taste, utterly delicious.  I complimented the flavours of the tonka beans with a filling of fresh raspberries and Morgan Spice infused whipped cream - a winning combination!

I finished it off with some simple icing sugar decoration using another present, this time from my Sister. A set of Jamie Oliver stencils.

 A special Birthday cake for a very special Sister :-)

The Humble Radish

Available in all shapes and sizes and one of those ingredients that I never quite know what to do with, the humble radish. I wondered around the veg shop I ended up putting a bunch in my basket, and the challenge was set to think of some way to use them.

 
Like so many times in life, Google had the answer. I came across this easy little salad recipe on the Southern Food section of About.com:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups radishes, washed and sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup diced fresh tomato
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil or fresh mint
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
fresh chopped parsley for garnish

Preparation:
Combine sliced radishes, onion, and tomato. Whisk together the salt, garlic, pepper, basil or mint, lemon juice, and vegetable oil. Toss with salad then garnish with parsley. Serves 6.

It was yummy, but think the hotter the radishes are the better :-)

Street Food

The latest edition to the Custard Factory.

Mother's Day 2012

Ok, I know this is a little late.

Mother's Day was a a slightly scary foody moment for me. I suddenly found myself in charge of cooking Sunday lunch for my family. My Sister suggest she host and I cook (she didn't want too get too involved with the working side of thing as it was her first Mothers Day as a Mummy). I couldn't really argue with her logic, she's caught me out with this type of rationalization many a time. Unfortunately for me my gorgeous little Nephew, Nate, has not yet fathomed the cooker and can't reach the chopping board so I was in it alone.

My survival plan was:

1. Choose a meat that can be served pink without the risk of food positioning
2. Get good quality meat that would have to be treated with complete contempt not to taste half decent
3. Roast veg, limits the amount of steaming pans on the hob
4. Ready made gourmet gravy (just don't tell my Mum!)
5. Get your Sister to sort pudding :-)

I opted for a leg of spring lamb from my local Butchers in Lichfield, Evans. They have rarely let me down and this was no exception. I put my faith in a Nigel Slater recipe and also consulted my Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Meat book and thankfully it all turned out perfectly.

Firstly neither my Mum or Dad clocked the ready made gravy (or at least were too polite to say anything) and everyone agreed it was the 'best bit of lamb they'd had in a while'.

Birthday Burritos

Last year I spent over 12 hours marinading and preparing Sean's special Birthday Burritos. They were awesome (even if I do say so myself) so this year fearing i may not be able to live up to last years high I treated him to a birthday lunch at Bodega in Birmingham.

As good as always we tucked into shredded beef burrito, shredded beef nachos, fish taco and chorizo and potato quesadilla.

Make mine a double...

Before we finished work and embarked on the 4 day Easter weekend we took a traditional trip to the local pub near work for the lunch, you will often find half the company in The 3 Kings, Clerkenwell (or outside if sunny) given half an excuse.

Due to the amount of time we spend in the place we know the landlord quite well and he always looks after us. Today he let us try a couple of gins we haven't tried before, his favourite and a newish variant from Tanqueray.

The first was called Martin Miller's, distilled in the black country in an over 100 year old copper beaten still named Angela and then transported to Iceland to be blended with the purest, softest water on Earth. I can see (or taste) why it is the landlord's favourite, a really clean, easy to drink gin with no bitter taste, a little bit cucumber-y like Hendrick's but without the floral notes.

The second was the Tanqueray Rangpur based on the classic gin but infused with the rare Rangpur lime, as you can imagine it makes the gin limey but really refreshing too. I really liked this one too! You can really tell the difference compared to any old gin, and if they were not all twice the price of Gordan's I would definitely drink these gin's more often!

Master of Malt

This great little website can add a new perspective to your G&T. Giving you tasting notes on a range Whiskys, Gins and other spirits to help you understand why your favourite tipple really does hit the spot.

It's also a great way to 'try before you buy' as not only can you read reviews, but also order samples.

See for yourself at www.masterofmalt.com