Coats

Like a fool I went into UO the other day and, predictably, left with my purse considerably lighter and the proud owner of one- perfect for autumn- parka.

Trying on coats we cant afford. The one Nat's wearing costs £615!

The novelty of a hi-tech phone still hasn't worn off, so I followed the writing on the wall and yes I am wearing sunnies inside. I also feel I should add that I AM wearing clothes under the coat!

xXx

Twins At Tea Time.

Phee's little sisters came for dinner last night. I say little but they're not any more. In fact truth be told they are taller, much taller in my case, than either Phee or myself and Flora is all set to go off to university!

I decided to make a Aubergine Parmagiana in honour of the occasion, and thought I'd share the recipe with you all.

To start you need to make a Passata (or magic sauce as its affectionately known). You will need:

Ingredients:

* 2 Tins of Plum Tomatoes, 400g each

* Fresh Basil

* 4 Tomatoes

* Garlic (I like lots but its a question of personal taste)

* 1 Onion

* Tomato Puree

* Balsamic Vinegar

* Olive Oil

* Black Pepper. 

Method: 

There isn't one as such, this is very much a 'try-it-and-see' recipe, but below is how I make it.

1. Dice onion and 5 cloves of garlic, add to pan on a low heat with a little olive oil.

2. Once Onions and garlic are cooking nicely, add the 2 tins of tomatoes. Stir regularly.

3. Whilst the the above is cooking chop the fresh tomatoes and 2 cloves of garlic, add.

4. Tear the Basil and add this also. 

5. Bring to the boil give all a good stir, pop the lid on, lower the heat and leave to brew for a bit.

6. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

7. I like my sauce a little bit chunky so I usually take out a bit of the mixture before blending the rest, then add it back in later.

8. Blitz the lions share of mixture

9. Add the chunky stuff, stir

10. Put in a good glug of Balsamic Vinegar

11. return to the stove and allow to reduce until look and taste suits your fancy. 

12. Season to taste.

1. Dice the onion and 5 cloves of garlic, add to pan with a little olive oil.

3. Chop fresh tomatoes and 2 cloves of garlic.

6. Remove pan form the heat and allow to cool.

7. For a chunkier consistency spoon out some of your sauce and set aside whilst you blend the rest.

For the Parmigiana you will need:

Ingredients: 

* Your Passata, I like to make mine the day before so it has time to flavor up a bit.

* Aubergines, depending I only used 2 but it depends on the size of our tin

* Courgette, this is optional I decided to add one to mix things up a bit

* Paramasan Cheese

* Mozzarella Cheese

Method:

1. Pop your Passata on the hob and allow to reduce
2. Slice Aubergines, about 1cm thick is good. I cut them slightly on the diagonal.
3. Slice the Courgette in the same way
4. Place the Aubergine slices on a tray and grill until they're nicely browned on both sides.
5. Grate your Parmesan
6. Get a good sized baking dish and spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce into the bottom, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese then cover with a layer of Aubergines.
7. Add another layer of sauce and more Parmesan, then lay Courgette slices over the top. I like to lay them in the opposite direction from the Aubergine layer below to reduce gaps.
8. Repeat the sauce, cheese, vegetable layers until you have used everything up.
9. Top all with more Parmesan and torn up pieces of Mozzarella.
10. put in the oven cook for about 30 mins. until everything is golden brown and bubbling. I cooked mine on full whack but our cooker is rubbish. 190°C/375°F/gas 5 is a good rule of thumb.

As per I didn't get a photo of it once it was done as we yummed it up too quickly but here's one Jamie made earlier.

2. Slice Aubergines

3. Slice Courgettes

4. Grill Aubergines

These ones aren't quite done yet.

6. Spoon a thin layer of sauce into your baking dish.

7. Layer Courgettes over sauce, aubergine, cheese, sauce.

Delicious Chocolate Orange Cheese Cake made by Phee

Chowing down on Cheese cake!

P.S. Next time I will use a little less sauce, and add oregano. I would also add breadcrumbs to the top and more cheese throughout.

xXx

Pride 2012

Another year, another Pride and another day of raucous debauchery followed by lying quietly in a darkened room nursing the many aches and pains caused by the above.

Watched the parade from the fabulous vantage point of a bus stop roof, with my friend Natalie, which we consequently got stuck on.

Nat dressed for the occasion.

In he evening Phee and I dolled ourselves up, put on our glad rags and headed in to Kemptown for the St James' Street party.

On our way to the street party!

We met Phee's hair twin.

A good time was had by all.

xXx

Quinoa and Salmon Salad.

At the risk of sounding like a middle-aged, middle-class, food neurotic, I made Quinoa today and liked it!

I have been keeping a food diary (neurotic) recently and it has sparked a real interest in nutrition and the like. Its really fascinating and quite complicated once you start picking it apart. NB I still firmly believe that, for the most part, eating what you want when you fancy it is the healthiest rout to take with food.

Ingredients:
for the Salmon
* Salmon fillet
* Olive Oil
* Garlic, 1 Clove
* Parsley, a handful
* Black Pepper
* Lemon
* White wine

for the rest
* Quinoa
* Stock Cube
* Courgette
* Celery
* Avocado
* Cherry Tomatoes
* Spring Onions
* Feta Cheese
* Seed Mix (Pumpkin, Sunflower, Sesame, Golden Linseed)

Method:
Having sung Quinoa's praises I have this to say- its fucking hard to cook. Or rather its hard to cook 'right'. It should be light and fluffy (and aldante, like pasta) and not, as mine was, mushy gloop. I followed these instructions and I think it must be me, rather than the instructions, that are at fault. Apparently the trick is to use a 1:1 ration rather than the more popular 1:2 ratio suggested on most packets i.e. use less water.

* Soak Quinoa in cold water for around 15 mins.
* Drain using a fine mesh sieve, run under cold water until the water runs clear (it stops foaming).
* Place in Quinoa in a pan and add the same amount of water as you have Quinoa, in my case 2 cups Quinoa and 2 cups water. Add stock and seasoning.
* Bring to the boil, then place a lid on the pan and turn the hob onto a low heat. Apparently it ought to take about 30 mins. but mine was one in a flash (10 mins. max)
* Once cooked set to one side.
* Everything else goes in raw so all you need to do is chop, dice, cube etc and add once the Quinoa has cooled a bit.

Celery and Spring Onions

Avocado and Cherry Tomatoes

I have been meaning to try raw Courgette for a while, and so purchased myself a peeler and gave it a while. I have to say the results were damn tasty!

The fish is super easy and super quick.

* Get yourself a longish piece of tin foil and fold in half (so you have a double layer).
* Dribble some olive oil onto the foil and smear around a bit.
* Put Salmon (or fish of choice) in the centre of the foil.
* Chop up a clove of Garlic (or more if you like it- I do) and sprinkle over the fillets.
* Chuck a handful of parsley over the lot
* Squeeze half a lemon over the fish
* Add a few tbl. sps. of white wine, and a little Olive oil
* Bring the sides of the foil up and roll down, pinch up sides of the foil and fold round to make a parcel.
* Whack in the oven for about 20 mins. You'll know when its done- it smells delicious! (should take about 15-20 mins. depending on the oven temp and the type of fish).

To serve:
* Spoon Quinoa into a bowl/plate
*Add other ingredients (Obviously in an ideal world (where Quinoa is fluffed to perfection) you would already have added these bits).
* Add fish- pour on the juices left in the foil
* Add an extra squeeze of lemon, and a fuck load of black pepper.
* Sprinkle on seed mix, Parsley and Feta

I meant to add petites pois to this meal but totally forgot them! I added them to my lunch, which brings me to another point; this recipe works fabulously well as a packed lunch the following day- YUM!

xXx

Autumn 2012 Wish List

After a lovely few weekends (with only a smattering of rain) it looks as if Autumn has arrived. I am really excited about this as autumn and winter as they are my favorite seasons. Already I have seen a million beautiful things. I find dressing for the cold much more interesting than dressing for Summer, there's much more to it and I prefer the colours involved.

To kick things off these are the shoes that are currently the objects of my desire. Sadly they are WAY out of my budget (£145!), it will probably be Spring before I can afford them.

They remind me of a pair Isabel Marant Dicker boots. I found a brilliant blog discussing ankle boots of this ilk that suggest some fabulous substitutes.

As for troose...

These Olive bad boys will set you back £38 (or £34.20 if you happen to have a student card to hand) and you can find them in Topshop. They look a little bit like a darker version of the Givenchy and at only a smidge of the designer price tag.

On to tops...

I am a sucker for a collar less shirt, you can find this one in the blokes section at Hennes for a mere £19.99. It comes in White too.

Jumpers! I reserve a special place in my heart for a really tasty woolen jumper. There are so many out there to be had but this one from Mango gets my vote. I have also seen a couple in Hennes (men's wear again) that look pretty cosy.

This one comes in various colours (including White and Mustard) and is currently in the sale at £9.99.

Also this Merino number from UniQlo, £19.90 in Dark Grey

Or this lambs wool one, also from UniQlo at a mere £14.90!

As for coats I am, as yet, undecided. I am tempted by the idea of a parka preferably with a sheepskin lining. Alternatively something Navy with buckles (old faithful).

xXx

Stuffed Flat Breads

A recipe from the weekend as promised:

Making Dough.

We were inspired by Nigel Slater.  If you got the Observer last Sunday (26/08/2012) you can find the the original in the supplement. Ours were subject to ingredients restraints and the usual kitchen disagreements- both combined to make a number of different versions of the original (all with varying degrees of success).

Ingredients:
for the dough (makes c. 6 flat breads)
* Strong, white bread flour 500g
* Salt 10g
* Instant yeast 10g
* Unsalted butter 30g
* Water 300ml

for the filling
* Roasted veg- Butternut squash, red pepper, onion, garlic, courgette, tomatoes (this is just what we had but you can use pretty much anything you like).
* Cheese- We used Blue cheese but again you have a particular liking for. If I make them again I'm going to give goats cheese a bash.

Method:
* Put the flour in a large, warm mixing bowl, add salt and dried yeast.
* Add the butter and most of the water.
* Get your hands involved and bring the mixture together.
* Gradually add the remaining water until all the flour has been mixed in.
* Knead for about 5-10 mins. until the dough feels smooth and silky.
* Pop it back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise. 1 hour is about long enough but we were hungry so we used a hair dryer to speed up the process (I'm not sure this had any real effect...) ANYWAY the dough should be about double its original size when its done.
* Tip the dough onto a floured surface and 'fold' until all the air has been removed. We found that tearing it onto smaller pieces and squeezing it removed the air faster- you can actually feel the bubbles popping!
* One the air has gone form the dough into 6 rounds.

* Chop what ever you are using for the filling into small pieces- cheese and 'other' filling should be about the same size.
* Make a hollow in each round and add the filling.
* Pinch the dough together around the filling sealing it in (a bit like a pasty).
*  place the ball of dough on a floured surface and flatten with a rolling pin (some of the filling might make a bid for freedom at this point, just pinch it back into the dough and roll again if this happens.
* when you have finished rolling your flat breads should look a bit like fat pitta breads (c. 16cm ovals).
*Place your ovals on a piece of baking parchment and leave in a warm place, and leave for 10-15mins. We put ours in the oven on a very low heat.
*Warm a thick based frying pan over a moderate heat.
* Trickle a tiny bit of olive oil in to the pan, and move it around until the base is lightly oiled.
* Place your flat bread/breads (depending on the size of your pan) in the pan and cook.
* Nigel suggests cooking for 3-4 mins. each side. We didn't find this was long enough... both sides should be browned (blackened in places) and the sides should have hardened up a bit. Give them a prod with your fingers to check how they're getting on, and a taste if your still unsure.
* The dough should be cooked through but a little sticky.
* Remove and eat immediately.

Fat little flat breads sizzling in the pan.

To Serve:
We had ours with leafy salad, a few cheery tomatoes and some delicious marinaded pan fried Salmon. I added some additional roasted veg and a good chunk of blue cheese too. Oh and a bottle of wine- naturally. :)

xXx

Bank Holiday Plus

Bit of a hodge-podge today as its been a while since I last wrote. Having said this, id be surprised if you can tell the difference between this weekend and last, as we are BBQing in almost every shot.
The weather was just so lovely- sunshine absolutely everywhere!

Went a bit mad with the old light leak. Incidentally if you're interested in Apps and the like check out Lumi (iphone & Android)

Stayed in the sun till the cows came home

Picnicking on Devil's Dyke.

Steiner throw back...

We made some proper buff food (recipes to follow).

My absolute favorite flowers, a present from The Boy.

 xXx