A (Short) Diary of a Foodie

Ask one hundred people what their idea of a perfect weekend is, and you will get one hundred different answers. This weekend is fast becoming one of my favourite, packed with celebrations, catch ups with old friends, girl time, cosy nights in, brilliant news from long-distance friends, and, underpinning all of the above, food.

Friday night started with a hen party for my lovely Auntie, who is tying the knot with the loveliest man, and making a lot of people very happy. The only slight glitch in the whole evening was that a whole collection of accidents on the M1 meant I had to drive direct to the venue, and therefore had to endure the very surreal experience of being the only person sober at a hen party... It was such a lovely evening, with dinner and dancing on a cruise boat on the River Trent in Nottingham, courtesy of Princess River Cruises. The crew on board were fantastic, and endlessly patient, the carvery was great, and a good time was had by all, (except maybe the young couple that obviously had not expected not one, but two raucous hen parties on their romantic boat trip!!!) If you are interested in knowing more, here is the link to their site http://www.princessrivercruises.co.uk/


Nottingham Trent Bridge at night from the water.

The upshot of not drinking Friday night, was being able to wake up Saturday morning clearheaded and embark on a mammoth baking session. I have trips planned for Sunday and Monday to see very special friends, and wanted to be able to take some treats (in true Stepford wife fashion - remind me to get some wicker baskets to complete the look!) I'm not ashamed to say I spent a solid 12 hours yesterday baking, decorating, experiment and cooking in my kitchen, and loved every minute. Evidence of these toils will be posted soon, but not until certain people have had their surprises!

Gary and I then settled in for a Saturday Night In, complete with bad 'entertainment' TV, snugly blankets, and good winter comfort food - Steak and Dauphinoise Potatoes. Dauphinoise Potatoes is one dish that I never ever cook from a recipe, preferring to utilise whatever is in the house, sometimes onions, sometimes garlic. Last night, I went for a simple option, and layered very thinly sliced potatoes with grated parmesan cheese, and double cream, more potatoes, more cheese, more cream, and so on. I then covered the dish with foil, and baked for two and a half hours on a medium heat (about 180 degrees). The parmesan slowly created a cheesy crust on the bake, and infused the cream and potatoes, and made possibly one of the best Dauphinoise I have made to date. If you do want a recipe however, I have always found this one from the BBC to be fairly foolproof http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dauphinoisepotatoes_90205

So as the weekend rolls on, today I am making a 200 mile trip to meet a beautiful little boy that came into the world on Friday, before heading on to spend some quality girl time with a far away friend tonight, and the promise of a Sunday Roast. I have a car laden down with goodies, and an especially light heart knowing that my weekend doesnt finish until Tuesday night! Like I said - Best. Weekend. Ever!

V x

Macarons versus Macaroons

Like so many things, baking has trends and fashions, crazes that take over in a big way - such as the current international taste for cupcakes (or fairy cakes if you prefer). In recent years, macaroons (or macarons to the Parisians) have resurfaced in a big way, something about the bright colours, versatile flavours and fillings and super sweetness has made them not only a culinary delight for bakers, but a fashionable home-made gift.

My interest peaked, as it so often does, by watching endless cookery shows, and reading countless blogs, all of which told me in no uncertain terms that these tasty little treats were horrendously difficult to master, making them the holy grail of baking. For those of you that know me well, this translates directly into a challenge of the highest order... I mean seriously... how hard can they be? ! ?

So I googled. I read. I compared several recipes, and marvelled at how much they varied. Eventually I found one that seemed fairly easy to master, and more importantly I had the ingredients for in the house, and got to work. I'm proud to say that, aside from a sight spacing issue when piping the shells that caused a few mutated double shells, batch one came out pretty damn good! Coloured a pale peach, sweet and almondy, and the correct texture, I sandwiched them with a chocolate buttercream, and smugly presented them to Gary...

The reaction I received was not quite the one I had hoped for, when Gary turned to me and asked "oh, I thought they were supposed to have coconut in them?" Of course, I thought, those are called macaroons as well! So I turned to trusty google, to find out the difference. In essence, the macaroon has existed since the 1500's in various guises, the original being the almond shell version above, and has been adapted over time by various cultures into various different confections, the staple being the meringue base.

Just to compare, I made a second batch last night of the coconut version, which were equally sweet and delicious.

And so I blog tonight slightly more educated in the history of the macaroon, and a little more pleased with myself for completing the challenge of making my first batch, with big plans for new colours and flavours swirling in my mind's eye... watch this space!

V x

Autumnal Inspired Carrot Cake

Since starting a cake decorating and sugar-craft course last week I have been itching to put my new skills to the test, and have been mentally designing cakes in my mind during the long commute to work and back each day. Today, I found my inspiration in the cool crispness of autumn, as I drove through the Derbyshire countryside on my way from Swadlincote to Belper. A watery sun shone on bare hay fields, and the wind whipped up piles of leaves in the hedgerows. 

With a design idea in mind, I needed a cake that matched the seasonal inspiration, and I settled on a wonderfully moist spiced carrot cake, with a luscious cream cheese frosting. In my early baking days, carrot cake was always a trial and error cake for me, usually resulting in a rather dry texture, and a slightly bland flavour. Since then I have found the following recipe, and have used it ever since. The aroma is rich, the cake spongy and moist, and the taste fruity with a warming hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. Stick to this easy recipe, and you will make the perfect carrot cake every time...

Ingredients

• 175g dark muscavado sugar
• 175ml sunflower or vegetable oil (I have also successfully used olive oil before)
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 150g carrots, weighed and then grated finely
• 100g raisins
• zest of 1 orange
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1tsp mixed spice

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, and line a 9 inch round, or 8 inch square cake tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Combine the sugar, eggs and oil together in a large bowl.

3. Add the carrots, raisins and orange zest to the mixture, and mix well.

4. Sift the flour, combine with the bicarbonate of soda and the spices, and fold into the mixture.

5. Transfer the cake mix to the tin, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until firm and spongy to the touch.

6. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Because of the moist nature of the mixture, this carrot cake is absolutely perfect accompanied with nothing more than a hot cup of tea. If however you want to make it a little more special, finish with a cream cheese frosting. Beat 300g cream cheese, 90g butter, and 250g icing sugar together until smooth and creamy, and spread all over the cake. 

And the autumnal inspired design tonight...

Happy baking! V x

A Little "Pick-Me-Up" Experiment

I love Italian food. Of all food cultures, Italian is the one that I can relate to the most, the dishes are classical, passed down through generations, and adapted from region to region based on local ingredients and traditions. The recipes are simple, usually with a short list of ingredients, where taste is determined by the quality of the produce used, rather than excessive seasoning. My cooking style differs only in that the Italians can be very protective over the integrity and authenticity of their recipes, whereas I am much more flexible when it comes to switching ingredients either to experiment with a different taste, or (as happens more frequently) to adapt to the ingredients in my cupboard...

Last night I made a Tiramisu in true kick-at-the-pantry-door fashion, replacing about half of the ingredients in the process. For starters, my local store was out of mascarpone cheese, so I had to buy ricotta, then I had to substitute the Marsala sherry (well really, who has Marsala sherry in the house) for Amaretto. I had decided to adopt a Gordon Ramsey recipe, which calls for double cream rather than eggs, and is a much quicker method for making the dessert - in the end only the lady-fingers, coffee and sugar were from the original recipe. Here's the link if you are interested http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/easy-tiramisu-recipe

The Italian translation of Tiramisu is "pick me up", which is a beautiful name for a dessert, although in my case I could apply the phrase to most foods! Here are my colourful little mood-lifters from this morning...

G'night all! Vx

A Surprise Birthday Meal at The Thatched Cottage, Kingsteignton

Despite the cold and the rain, and it being Monday, I am warmed today by the memory of a great weekend, wonderful company, and good food. Having travelled to Newton Abbot, Devon with Gary to celebrate his Mum's 60th birthday for a surprise even Cilla would have been proud of, I was truly touched to be involved in a celebration that included not only the aforementioned 60th birthday, but two additional family birthdays, and the 61st wedding anniversary of Gran and Grandad.

The venue for the meal was a wonderfully quaint restaurant called The Thatched Cottage, located in Kingsteignton. A beautifully converted 16th century building, the thing that struck me most from the minute we entered was the cosy, welcoming atmosphere that the team have created. Greeted with warm smiles, the staff could not have done more to make sure that the evening ran perfectly.


http://thethatchedcottagerestaurant.com/index.php

As for the food, The Thatched Cottage seem to me to have perfected a balance of the kind of heartwarming homely dishes that suit their setting, with a beautifully professional finish. The end result is absolutely fine dining with none of the pretencion and stuffiness. I left the restaurant feeling like I had spent a relaxed night with family, and yet knowing that the meal had been as special as the occasions we were celebrating.

I guess I do have a second reason to wake with a warm feeling inside this morning as well... The weekend celebrations gave me the perfect opportunity to create the first official Pantry Door cake, and for a newbie I think it came out pretty well - I'll let you all judge for youselves...

V x

Halfway Up The Sausage

If you are anything like me at all, there are times when someone mentions a certain food or meal, or you catch a glimpse of it on TV or in a magazine, and it becomes all you can think about eating until you do. This happens regularly in our house. Last week it was a Chicken Caesar Salad. At the weekend Gary had a craving for KFC induced by a TV show, which lasted three days until it was eventually sated. Yesterday, with particular thanks to ITV's This Morning, it was Toad in the Hole.

Toad in the Hole is one of those classic English dishes that everyone loves, and yet many people I know avoid making because of the key ingredient - the Yorkshire Pudding!

Yorkshire's are so easy to make well, providing you do one thing... Leave the batter to rest. It's that simple. If possible, and you are planning ahead for a Sunday roast for example, you will get the best results if you make the batter the night before, and leave it to rest in the fridge overnight. Or, if you want a simple, traditional meal such as the aforementioned Toad in the Hole, you can make the batter quickly in the morning before work, and then all you need to do in the evening is cook it.

A simple batter to make a reasonable sized Toad in the Hole would be made as follows;
Sieve 115g of plain flour and add salt and pepper to taste.
Whisk 4 eggs, and then mix well into the flour.
Slowly pour in 1/2 pint of milk, whisking constantly to make a smooth batter.
Then cover with cling film and place in the fridge to rest.

When you come to make your Toad, simply place sausages in a dish and put in the oven to cook. As they are cooking they should release enough fat into the pan to then cook the Yorkshire Pudding. Once the sausages are cooked through, pour over the batter, which should fill the dish to around halfway up the depth of the sausage. Return to the oven until the Yorkshire has risen evenly and is golden brown.

Serve with lashings of gravy, and dig in!

V x

The Sunday Roast Centrepiece

I think I'm one of the few people that looks forward to the point each year when Summer changes to Autumn. When, usually overnight, the air gets a little cooler, mornings get a little darker, and people start to whisper about Christmas in hushed tones.

Autumn for me means food. Sure, during the Summer months we have fresh fruits, crisp salads, and BBQ'd meat at any possible opportunity. But Autumn... Autumn means pies and crumbles, game meats, and the return of the full Sunday roast, having been pushed aside during the warm weather for being too heavy.

A proper Sunday roast in our house embodies all the principles of "a kick at the pantry door", the meat of choice surrounded by a medley of whichever vegetables are to hand (this week in particular is a bundle of Mum's homegrown runner beans).

But always, always, the centrepiece of a Sunday roast, the part that defines the meal, are the potatoes. Done well, they are golden brown, crisp and crunchy on the outside, and fluffy and moist on the inside.

Here's my fail safe method for the perfect roasties;

The experts say to use a floury potato for roasting, such as a Maris Piper or King Edwards, but I find that if I follow a few simple rules any variety will have same results.

Peel the potatoes and chop so that all are even sized. Place in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Cook in the water until a fork can be inserted into a potato with little effort. Remove from the heat, and drain the potatoes in a colander over the sink. Once the water has drained away, shake the colander so that the potatoes knock against the sides and start to get rough around the edges. This is to help the outsides get really crispy once in the oven. They should look like the picture below.

Transfer the potatoes to a baking tray or roasting dish. Cover liberally with oil (any kind will do) and sprinkle salt over the top. Place on the top shelf of the oven. My tip is to cook the potatoes long and slow. Check them every 15 - 20 minutes and turn each time to allow them to crisp evenly.

And it really is as easy as that, serve with whichever meat and vegetable accompaniments you choose, but the main event will always be the roast potato!