A special austeri-tea....

On Sunday I hosted a small celebration tea for 2 close girlfriends....

We had originally been going to a local country house hotel...but they called me during the week to say that they had accidentally overbooked. I thought about it, and decided that at such short notice the best thing would be to serve it here at home...much better value & it meant we could take as long as we wanted too without being chivvied out to make way for the next sitting!

The keyword was miniature. I  started the day before with these tiny, sparkly vanilla meringues...

and then on Sunday morning I baked a batch of little Buttermilk Scones...

which I warmed up before we ate them with creme fraiche and a choice of...

lemon curd, raspberry jam or fresh blueberry compote (or all three!)

I made heart-shaped sandwiches...smoked salmon pate, cream cheese & cucumber....

and baked some crisp strawberry tarts, filled with vanilla pastry cream

I did succumb and bought these beautiful burnished gold, bronze & silver macarons from Marks & Spencer to go with the fingers of brownie & caramel shortbread on the pressed glass cakestand...

So pretty! I tied the cutlery with grosgrain ribbon & used my spring flower napkins from Emma Bridgewater

The prosecco was chilling in the fridge & it was time to put the kettle on! The girls arrived at 3...and we started with a glass of sparkly bubbles before being sensible & moving on to Lapsang Souchong or English Breakfast tea!

Outside the rain & wind battered against the windows...but inside, we were warm and cosy...Alice lay under the table as we talked & laughed & ate for a glorious few hours. Friends are the best, aren't they?

A perfect way to spend the last Sunday afternoon in April. And today, suddenly it's May! Where is the year going?

I hope you have a fabulous week...make sure you indulge yourself in some small way...it doesn't have to be too extravagant but it makes all the difference!

xoxo

The weekend breakfast...

Like many people, we usually have a 'special' breakfast at the weekend...mainly on a Sunday. Paul takes over Alice- walking duties on weekend mornings and I usually stay behind to do some tidying, have a long bath & cook the breakfast! This Sunday, I had some celeriac & potato mash left over from dinner on Friday. It was mixed with chopped spring onion and just too good to waste...so I had the brainwave of making it into crispy cakes to go with the fried eggs & garlicky chili tomatoes & mushrooms that Paul loves. I divided the mash into 5 little patties (I didn't add anything to the mixture. except some chopped cooked brussels sprouts that were also leftover - so maybe they should be called Bubble & Squeak Breakfast Cakes?!)

then I coated them lightly on both sides with seasoned flour, to give them a crunchy coating...

 I heated a mixture of sunflower & olive oil in a large frying pan until sizzling hot, and dropped the patties in gently...

turning them over gently with a fish slice to cook the other side after about 5 minutes...

oooh, they smelt delicious! They kept very well in a low oven while I prepared the rest of the breakfast. Paul and Alice arrived home, chilly & hungry from their long walk... and while she tucked into a bowl of meat & biscuits, Paul ate the breakfast you see at the beginning of the post! I can't say who enjoyed their meal the most...but Paul did say that I should always make too much mash the night before, so he can have crispy celeriac & potato cakes again soon!

I made a little video so that you can hear my creations sizzling deliciously in their pan! I'm sorry that it's not in smell-o-vision...but in the background is the soundtrack to 'Becoming Jane'...which I hope will make up for it!

Have a great week xoxo

Holidays & Quiet Times...

The summer holiday period is a strange one....the town feels very quiet (we are not in a tourist area)...parking is easy, the streets relatively empty...no queues in the shops...I love being at home during August. The Coffee Tree, though, is very busy right now...lots of children around, of course, and it is very close to the County Museum & attached Roald Dahl Gallery which makes it a prime spot for a lovely cup of coffee & a slice of something sweet...which, of course, is where I come in! I try and make a few more child-friendly cakes during this time...like this cake, for instance! I call it 'Proper Chocolate Cake' because that's what it really is ...a dense, moist confection filled with my special whipped buttercream and topped with milk chocolate glaze...

The pastel M & M's are from my tin of decorating treats...if any 'special edition' sweets come into view, I buy them and squirrel them away in this tin! It's proved so useful on many occasions. This cake didn't last very long this week!
Another really popular delivery were these Treacle Tart Bars...recipe will be in the book but they contain lots of sour cream which, along with the sugarless shortbread base & the lemon, seems to counteract the tooth-aching sweetness of the golden syrup...

When I made this Vanilla Cake I thought of my friend Nancy who lives over in LA...I knew this would be her pick from this post as she loves anything vanilla! Often when I bake I imagine it's for someone special...friend or family...it helps to add a little love to a recipe!

I hope you enjoy your virtual cake, Nancy...one day for real, I promise!

Last week I baked vanilla cupcakes (and a big cake) for a wedding party. I always find baking for weddings particularly nervewracking as it's such a momentous occasion and everything has to be absolutely perfect! The bride had had some beautiful purple sugar butterflies made for these...so all I had to do was provide the background! I think I did ok...:-)
And that brings us to this morning...as well as 3 Cheese Scones (cheddar, gruyere & parmesan) and Date/Coconut Bars I also walked through the mizzly rain towards the Coffee Tree with...

Harvest Cake, which is basically a light fruit cake (I also added dried sour cherries for some contrast) with cinnamon & a crunchy demerara sugar top...it keeps very well and is perfect on a rainy day such as this with a steaming cup of tea. Also, inspired by the blogpost of my good friend Hummus Boy in which he described the wonderful Orange Polenta Cake his wife made recently (which, I suspect was from a recipe in the first Ottolenghi cookbook!) I made one myself..

It really is a beautiful cake...caramelised orange slices on top and a rich almond/polenta sponge below. A delicious way to start the weekend! I hope yours is filled with good things too xo

The shared table...

One of the best things about food is the joy in sharing it with others. The conviviality of the shared table is a life enhancing experience....

Last weekend was three days of such meals...and it was bliss! You can read about the weekend, where we stayed, and how it came about by clicking here . But the real reason that we were all together, was because of the friendships that have grown through our shared passion for good food and our desire to communicate that love through writing.

As you can imagine...we ate well from the beginning!

A trip to the local Farmer's Market on Saturday morning meant that we were well stocked with fruit, vegetables and wonderful meat...

cubed vegetables, sprinkled with fresh rosemary and olive oil....ready to be roasted...

when they were transformed into an earthy, sweet dish of deliciousness...

Belly of pork was soaked in spiced brine for 3 hours to produce the softest, most delectable meat most had ever eaten...

with the crispest crackling that needed a good, heavy knife to cut through it...and plenty of elbow grease!

also on the platter was locally reared rose veal and roasted lamb...
As usual, the kitchen was the heart of the building...everyone wanted to be involved....watching, helping, clearing, tasting..

and the sun went down....the corks were popped and the candles lit...

silence for a while as the meal was enjoyed...before the laughter began again and the joy of being together in this place, at this time, overwhelmed each one of us...

Of course, we probably ate too much - but it was only for a few magical days. I never usually eat breakfast...but somehow, when everyone else is enjoying coffee, crisp bacon and orange-yolked eggs, a warm and jam-filled muffin seemed a good idea!

And afternoon tea really wasn't necessary...but a divine apple olive oil cake, resplendent with maple frosting, plus glittery chocolate cake and rosemary scented apricot squares soon persuaded me that it was the right thing to do....!

On the last night, we needed to use up the fresh produce....so a quick green vegetable pasta was whipped up, sharpened with lemon juice and complemented perfectly by a crunchy, tasty and absolutely delicious chargrilled carrot & broccoli salad made by the talented Marta (her blog is amazing too...Muscovado Cafe )

It would be difficult to name my favourite dish of the weekend. But one of them was definitely this...

It may look bizarre, but I can tell you truthfully that tapioca cooked with palm sugar & a touch of pomegranate molasses is one of those taste experiences that I shall treasure forever in my foodie memory bank! Inspired.

I had such a wonderful time....in my element with like-minded people and surrounded by gorgeous ingredients and dishes.

I wish you could have joined us!  Eat well this weekend....xoxo

From my kitchen bookshelf....

My good friend Rami recently posted on his great blog Hummus Boy about his recent clear out of little used or outdated cookbooks. This set me thinking about my own collection....and I warned him that I would shamelessly steal his great idea for my own blog, so here I am! I recommend reading his post first, though, if you haven't already...

I've been collecting cookbooks for years and years. And unlike Rami, I am incapable of thinning out the vast numbers, however sorely it needs doing. I keep them all. From the 1980's decadence (and, lets be honest, ridiculousness) of Antony Worrall-Thompson's Menage a Trois cookbook (yes, it's a signed copy....yes, I ate there...yes, I left hungry, although not poor as my first boss was paying!) to the 1970's splendour of Graham Kerr's Galloping Gourmet...I've never cooked a thing from it, & keep it purely for sentimental reasons as this wonderfully entertaining man was one of my first crushes (blush)....

I have great classics: Robert Carrier, Elizabeth David, Patience Gray, Florence White, Marguerite Costa, Delia (of course).

I have ancient books handed down from my great-great grandfather,Robert, my great-grandfather, Walter & my dear grandad, Keith - all of whom were bakers. These include 'All about Gateaux', German patisserie manuals like 'Praktische Konditorei-Kunst' (Practical Cake & Confectionery Art) printed in 1913 (still useful today for decorating inspiration!) and my treasured copy of 'The Complete Confectioner or The Whole Art of Confectionary, Made Easy with Receipts for liqueures (sic) home-made wines &c' printed in London in 1808.

These jewels sit alongside frankly ridiculous volumes such as Food & Friends by the late, great actress Beryl Reid (?) & the 'No Cook Cook Book' complete with fab 1960's line drawings of useless women opening tins (badly!)

So, you see - my tastes are wide-ranging, eclectic & perhaps not discerning enough in some cases. But keep them I must.

What books do I actually use? Well, setting aside those I've mentioned in this blog already, and obvious ones like early Nigella, Ursula Ferrigno, Susan Branch, Peter Gordon, Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden (well, they're obvious to ME anyway!!) I've picked some other favourites in use a lot of the time:

spending a lot of time in Australia has led me to discover much more about the fabulous Maggie Beer & her sometime collaborator but equally amazing Stephanie Alexander. All of Stephanie's books are great - I particularly like those in diary form for their candid look at the reality behind running a food business. I've picked this one of Maggie's because of it's beauty and the way it's divided into seasons(although, of course, being Australian Summer & Winter are the wrong way around for us in the Northern Hemisphere!) Sumptuous writing and wonderfully Aussie. She & Stephanie are national treasures!

This & 'Real Fast Food' are my favourite of Nigel's books. He has a very strong 'voice' when writing, which is amazingly sensuous & evocative in it's description of food and the experience of eating. Great stuff.

Deborah Madison. An absolute pioneer in the field of interesting, non 'hemp & hessian' vegetarian cooking. The Greens Cookbook & Vegetarian Cooking for All are seminal tomes and I love them both. But The Savoury Way is my favourite!

The Silver Palate books - Julee Rosso & the late, but great, Sheila Lukins brough the USA to my kitchen in the mid 1980's when it was still a mysterious, far away place. Slightly dated but I find it invaluable for basic American recipes, entertaing tips and sheer readability.

Possibly out of print, this one, but still available second hand. Sarah Leah Chase ran a catering business and shop on Nantucket Island in the 80's and this book from 1990 is a seasonal wonder, I find. Packed with unusual and inspiring recipes for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the cold weather each side of the year, I'm looking at it constantly right now. Makes me feel hungry!

I'll finish for now with a recent acquisition. I'm always picking up strange flours when I see them - things like kamut, buckwheat and I use a lot of spelt too. It's hard to know whether it's ok to just substitute them for regular wheatflour and still get good results. This book explains them all - how to keep them and how to use them, with a section specific to each flour. It produces interesting and delicious cake, breads and pastries...wholefood without being too worthy! A good addition to my huge and ever expanding culinary library.

I'd love to know your particular favourite (s) too....such an interesting subject, I think!

have a great weekend xo

Les Deux Salons

On Saturday lunchtime, we tried a newly opened restaurant in Covent Garden that we'd read many good things about....Les Deux Salons ....we weren't disappointed.

It was opened less than 3 weeks ago by the team behind Arbutus & our great favourite Wild Honey, and the food is recognisably that of the great Anthony Demetre...

The space looks beautiful, much bigger and less intimate than the other two restaurants -it reminded me of The Wolseley. Smoked glass mirrors, french globe pendant lights, glamorous staircase and wrought iron...plus a beautiful long curved bar, one of my favourite features at Wild Honey.

We changed tables straight away - the first one had a large pillar obscuring our view (very important for nosey people watchers like us!) but this was no problem for the charming Polish waitress who served us so cheerfully and we were very happy after the switch! Beautiful, rough french linen covered the tables....a basket of good bread was brought straight away together with chilled tap water - wonderful when you don't need to ask for that but still, sadly, fairly unusual in London.

My only slight gripe would be with the menu. Not the choices, but the fact that it was printed and laminated. I just have a thing about it. It suggests to me that the same dishes will be on offer next time we visit...I so much prefer a daily changing menu and the excitement it brings.

 However, I had no complaints with the food - a salad of quinoa, broccoli, preserved lemons & bitter leaves was beautifully presented and deep in flavour. I adore preserved lemons and they lifted this dish from a simple composition to something special.

Fresh orecchiette pasta with pecorino, artichokes and pine nuts was delivered to the table in a covered copper pan....and was rich and light all once. I shared a side order of winter greens too, which I stirred in to finish up the rest of the delectable, citrussy sauce.

I also, of course, had room for dessert (I ALWAYS have room for dessert....!) and chose Tarte au Citron (without the chantilly cream, which I  think masks the flavour) which is one of my very favourite puddings. This one was wonderful - so, so lemony, with a crispy and wafer thin base and a slightly crunchy bruleed top. I had to bash the back of Paul's hand with my teaspoon to stop him 'testing' too much!

It was good value too. We always try and guess the bill, and Paul (the champion at this game usually) was over by almost £25...a lovely surprise! We will definitely be back, perhaps with a few friends who we know would enjoy it. Wild Honey is still my favourite in the group, but it's great to see such a beautiful and accomplished opening in these straitened times.

Les Deux Salons - recommended. 7.5/10

Wild about Wild Honey...

So last weekend found us in London again. We usually prefer to eat out at lunchtime when we're there...often better value, easier to find a good table and it leaves the evening free for other things...like sipping a world class margarita outside The Providores and watching the world go by, for instance!!

Wild Honey is one of our favourite lunch spots....



it's on the site of the former Drones club, and the panelling makes it look a little 'clubby' still...but it's a polished, beautiful space with a wonderful bar...which is where we always prefer to sit. Paul and I are both people watchers...a polite label for 'nosey'...and always fight about who gets to sit looking at the wall over the other person's shoulder in restaurants and who gets to look out at the room! So sitting side by side, able to see who's coming in & out, who's sitting down and being able to look out of the window at the same time as eating fantastic food is our idea of heaven!
The set price lunch menu (2 choices) at £19 is incredible value for this standard of cooking. Anthony Demetre and his team have perfected the art of simple presentation mixed with incredibly intense flavours and beautiful combinations. On this occasion I had a bowl of white bean soup...I can taste it now! The light broth was so deep and perfectly seasoned that I feel as though I could eat it for every meal a the moment. All I really needed...but I also had a salad of hazelnuts, sheep's curd, syrupy figs and bitter leaves which left me feeling light and virtuous but replete at the same time. Wines are served by the 250ml carafe, so you can choose a different one with each course if you want to...I chose a Gruner Veltliner, sparky & flinty and difficult to find a good one outside Austria. I always jump on it in a restaurant that knows wine well...and Wild Honey is one of those. The staff are always extremely efficient yet friendly, which is my ideal combination. It's somewhere we'll always go back to. A lot is made of their sister restaurant, in Soho, Arbutus. It seems to attract most of the accolades. We've been and it was fine. But for me, it's Wild Honey every time.

Afterwards, wandering around Soho...which is a favourite Saturday afternoon pastime...we visited the much-talked about new bakery Cox Cookies & Cake in Brewer Street. Opened by the designer Patrick Cox, it's on the site of a former sex shop...now a dark ,hot (they hadn't had air conditioning installed yet!) glittery box of a space...handsome young men in studded leather aprons serve amazingly decorated cupcakes from a perspex topped counter. At a price. A HUGE price (to me, also a professional baker as you know...) A selection of 4 regular sized cupcakes (no prices on display) came to £14.50! But they were a present (I imagine that is what most of them will be, I can't see people buying them to take home themselves..) and therefore it really didn't matter too much!

Good luck to them I say! But I'm not sure that I'll be back....soon, anyway!

Enjoy your week xox

Return to disappointment....

Today we decided to go out for lunch (as we often do on a Sunday) and we drove in beautiful sunshine back to the village I was born in.

I only lived here until I was 6, but it holds many happy memories for me, even though the village - in common with so many small English places - has changed from being the vibrant little community with shops & post office that I remember to a purely residential place...the butcher and hairdresser now estate agents, the chemist, grocers and newsagents all private homes. But my first little school still stands on the village green, the pond is the same one I used to 'fish' in with a bamboo pole & piece of useless hanging string, and if I close my eyes I can almost see 2 tiny girls, their newborn sister in a pram, running over the harebells to play on the common by the church.

Before I drowned Paul in all this nostalgia, we stopped for lunch at a gastropub we've been to before. It's part of a small chain, we know & like the others but this one has been disappointing before so we thought we'd give it another try to see if it's changed. Sadly not. It's a beautiful, ancient building that has been renovated and decorated beautifully and sympathetically....authentic low beams, flagstoned floors, mismatched chairs, tapestry rugs and muted colours on the walls. The staff are young, efficient and friendly, there are newspapers to read and dogs are welcome (they have their own jar of biscuits on the bar) What's the problem, you may ask. In short, the most important thing....the food, of course! The menu looks and reads wonderfully (almost the most frustrating thing, it promises so much!) All the right things : Local ham hock terrine with home made piccallilli, locally reared roast pork, Organic smoked salmon with caper berries and horseradish creme fraiche....mmm. But everything was slightly wrong. I ordered 2 starters (something I often do at lunchtime) homemade hummus and pumpkin seed flatbread for my first dish, poached pear, walnut & blue cheese salad with wholegrain mustard dressing to follow., with a side order of unusual beetroot fritters with horseradish.Perfect.

The flatbread was certainly homemade, looked good (chargrilled in stripes, a nice touch) but SO oversalted - and I'm someone who loves salt - that it was almost inedible. And the hummus. My friend Rami would have had a fit of apoplexy! I don't think there was much tahini in it, no garlic, minimal lemon juice and a strange, bitty texture....almost separated. I've thought long and hard about the taste and what was wrong. I honestly think that they hadn't cooked the chickpeas.....soaked, yes, but if they'd seen boiling water I'd be very surprised. So weird. I'm just hoping (3 hours on) that there will be no toxic effects - although I obviously didn't eat much.

Salad next....really just an assembly dish, no real skills involved. Pear, blue cheese & walnuts with watercress and mustard dressing. No walnuts. Anywhere. I called the waiter over. "I think they may have forgotten to add the walnuts to my salad?" "yup, highly likely" he laughed and went to the kitchen, returning with a small bowl of nuts fresh out of the packet. Somehow the magic was lost! The beetroot fritters - more tempura really - were the best bit of my meal, although the batter was chewy and slightly tough instead of being crisp and light. The beetroot quarters themselves were lovely and the horseradish went perfectly with their earthy blandness. Hardly a meal, though.

We didn't have coffee or dessert (we wouldn't usually at lunchtime anyway) but left unsatisfied and frustrated. Great looking building, good location and such a dearth of  other good eating places in this very affluent area so close to London..... but so badly let down by lack of attention to detail and poor kitchen skills. At a time when even wonderful places are having to think of new ways to attract and retain customers, it seems a big mistake to actually repel them like this. We won't be back in a hurry.