Summer Bounty

Having friends over for dinner is always as much a treat for me as it is for them. Sunday I spent my morning with a big grin plastered to my face as I bought two armfuls of fresh produce at my local farmers market. Strawberry, raspberries, cherries, rhubarb, lettuce, courgette, cucumber, tomatoes, shallots, onions - I felt like I had quasi-Popeye arms by the time I walked home with all my goodies in tow.

I actually pulled a fast one on myself by keeping it simple with a new potato and spring onion tart purchased at the market. Even if it hadn’t been home-made be me – it was by the woman selling it. After a moment or two of “should I? am I cheating”…I was in. I knew that combining it with a superdana salad and dessert it wouldn't be cheating – It would just be smart.

The tart was lovely the best bit being how the pastry was made with olive oil instead of butter. However, while the tart was singing Kenny Loggins “I’m Alright”, the salad and dessert were rocking out to Queen’s “We Are the Champions”.

The salad was like a Vegas slot machine or if like me and a bit pussyfooted about gambling more like a game of travel Yahtzee. …every bite as an unexpected surprise! Would I get the fresh strawberry with a bite of beet and goat cheese? MAYBE I’d get the spiced pecan with the crispy shallots and dried cranberries. Oh boy was it a fun game!

Dessert was a vanilla bean cheesecake with strawberry rhubarb compote. The cheesecake was sweet but not OTT. If any fault could be found it was that because I switched the recipe up using two small spring form pans my measurements were a bit off. As such the crust, while yummy, was quite thick around the edges. However, what put the cheesecake on the short list of recipes I’ll make again was the strawberry rhubarb compote I made to go with it. Part skill, but mostly luck – I threw just a few ingredients into a pot to cook on the stove top. Didn’t measure and didn’t even look much (was too busy chatting)…but what I ended up with was perfect. It was exceptionally tart (my favourite) but not too much so when paired with the cheesecake. Though even on it’s own it’s been fantastic. I’ve been spooning it into my eagerly awaiting mouth most days this week after dinner.


Yahtzee Salad

Half a head of lettuce
Sliced cucumber
Sliced avocado
Dried cranberries
Fresh strawberries
1/3 cup pecan halves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Cooked beetroot
Crumbled goat's cheese
2 shallots, diced
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 small garlic clove, finely diced
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 176 C or 350 F
2. Toss pecans with cayenne pepper and cinnamon, roast in oven for approx 12 minutes
3. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil is a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 6-8 minutes until crisp and brown. Set aside.
4. Combine olive oil, balsamic, garlic, lemon juice, 1/4 of fried shallots, and any herbs you have lying around (I used a wee bit of oregano)
5. Toss the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Sprinkle pecans, leftover fried shallots and dressing on top


Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
The cheesecake recipe came from a slightly doctored version from a 1998 issue of Bon Appetit:

A few notes:
1. Graham crackers don't exist in the UK so I used Waitrose brand "Rich Tea Fingers". For you Yanks, they're basically the cookie part of a Vienna Finger.
2. I skipped out on the Vanilla-Vodka Berries in the linked recipe and replaced it with my strawberry rhubarb compote below
3. The vodka in the actual cheesecake was halved and vanilla extract doubled.
4. Once I scraped all the vanilla beans out of the pods I threw the pods into a bottle of vodka in my freezer for vanilla martinis at a future date and time.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote - Note measurements are approximate

3/4 cup apple juice
2 cups rhubarb washed, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Over medium heat boil rhubarb in apple juice, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon - approx 10 minutes
2. Add strawberries and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes
3. Cool completely

Rotten Cotton Lemon Puffs

I was at my new client site today, piddling along, when I got up to grab some water. In their break room I found a large tin containing a variety of treats (I’d been told to help myself…so of course I did). I took the lid off, and the dialogue in my head proceeded to go something like this:

Dana’s head: “Oooooh, a sandwich cookie! I like those. I’ll take one.”

Dana takes bite #1.

Dana's head: “Oh weird. What is this? It looks and tastes like a Ritz cracker with lemon-flavoured toothpaste in the middle. Ugh.”

Dana takes 2nd bite (hoping it’s going to get better).

Dana's head: “Yuck. Oh, let me see what they’re called. Hmmm…package is broken but looks like Jacob’s Lemon P”

Dana takes 3rd bite.

Dana's head: “Why am I still eating this? It’s disgusting.”

Dana takes one last bite and finishes the cookie.

Today, the 24th of June, 2008 goes down in history as the day I ate the most disgusting biscuit/cookie ever. After googling "Jacob’s Lemon P” I learned they are officially called "Jacob’s Lemon Puffs". Please note, the first website I clicked on had a review that read...

“I'm sorry but now I have nothing good to say about Jacobs Lemon Puff's… an attempt to manufacture puff pastry in biscuit form which is hard and disgusting…a spot of …lemon paste.”

Obviously the Jacob’s website feels differently and described them in the following manner (my commentary in italics).

“Jacob's have been baking cream-filled biscuits for generations and they remain as popular today as they were a century ago (oh really? is it the same batch from 1908?). Smooth, soft cream (let's be honest...the word is pasty) sandwiched between two Jacob's biscuits…is distinctive (yep, agreement here - it certainly was THIS)…with flavour jam… making for a unique (again agreement) and tasty (ha! Is this a joke?) treat.

My advice – avoid Jacob’s Lemon Puffs like the Central line/Grand Central at rush hour.

Dos café con leche, s’il vous plait?

Our atrocious French/Spanish mix-up ran rampant during my recent weekend in Paris with LM. You know that special area of the brain reserved for language skills? Yeah, mine doesn’t exist. Or if it ever did - was replaced with a pretty decent knowledge of tropical Asian fruits. Yeah, I know – I lost out on this one.

Horrible lingual skills aside, LM and I got up to a fair bit of mischief over our 2 ½ days in Paris. When it came to our copious food and wine consumption (the best vin of the weekend being the cuvee fie gris from Domaine Jacky Preys & Fils) we counteracted it all with a self-directed (aka - we had no idea where the hell we were going) walking tour of the city. It was grey and chilly but it didn’t make much difference to us.

For certain, Paris provides a battle upon the senses. It’s a culture that oozes sophistication and style like ripe brie that’s been sat out to ready itself for consumption. Everywhere I turned was some scrumptious confection looking even more perfect than the one I strolled past minutes before. On a number of occasions I could hear the lulling of “How much is that doggie in the window”… only my cute little doggy was a strawberry tart, a basket of cannelés or a home-made chocolate éclair. If Hansel and Gretal made a visit to Paris they may have left a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way back to their hotel. I think I left my face imprinted on patisserie shop windows.

And I’m not ashamed; I’ll admit…possibly a bit of drool at some of the finer establishments.

Pastry stalking aside, we managed to get off of the beaten track a bit and found some great up and coming bistros and wine shops to spend a fair bit of our time. While not necessarily ready to board the Eurostar back to London Sunday afternoon – we ended our weekend with an excellent brunch at La Cantine de Quentin. However, this time around the most delicious dish served up was most certainly NOT on the menu…and it filled us up and kept is happy until nearly home 3 hours later…

Girly Ultimate

White Sangria with fresh passionfruit and peaches.

Cupcakes with pink frosting.

SATC.

There are some things best done with your girlfriends.

The SATC premier has been on the lips of every woman I know this past week. One would think it was THE event of the summer. In one day alone I received texts and emails from 5 different friends checking in to see what my plan was for seeing it. I knew of 4 different groups having “SATC Premiere Parties," complete with cosmos as a starter, the last few episodes of the series as a main course, and saving the best for last - an excursion to the cinema to watch the movie for dessert. I'd decided on a slightly different route (late afternoon showing, followed by dinner and drinkies with 3 friends).

We weren't planning to make a fuss about it. Still, texts started flying in around noon that day...What shoes would I wear? Prada. What was I wearing? White trousers, black top, red accessories. Makeup? Not much because what’s the point when you're sitting in the dark.

I’ve come to think (realise) sometimes (most of the time) I’m a little crazy. The whole outfit planning experience made me realise it's not a Dana thing. It's just a female thing. At the theatre we found the following demographics:

1. Gaggles of women dressed up like they were going to some swank bar


2. Gay men


3. Straight men (in total - 3 of them - all looking suitably miserable)

The lead-up to the movie had me busily bee-ing with a new project at work. However, I was still excited and managed to start the girly theme off early in the week with homemade White Sangria and Cupcakes for JB’s 31st birthday. Festivities were held in the very unglamorous, but strangely exciting Horsham.

We even had our own SATC moment complete with that guy that you haven't seen in a year. JB, acting as my very own Miranda, made a comment that went something like: “Wow, you’ve had a rough year. You look like shit. Still as big a jerk as ever, right?” Pure Comedy.

White Sangria with Peaches and Passionfruit

• 1 bottle Cava or white wine, chilled


• ¼ cup peach juice (use orange if peach is too high-mai)


• ¼ - ½ cup lemonade (lemonade is actually Sprite/7-Up for you Yanks)


• ½ cup green grapes cut in half


• 2 peaches cut into small pieces


• The pulp from 2 passionfruits


• Lots of ice

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and add a bit more juice/lemonade to taste. Let sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge if possible (JB and I lasted about 3 minutes).

Vanilla Cupcakes with Pink and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temp


• 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar


• 2 large eggs


• 1½ tsp vanilla


• 2 tbsp strawberry jam


• 1 1/2 cups (210 grams) flour


• 1 teaspoons baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Preheat oven to 350 F (176 C).
Line a muffin tin with paper/foil wrappers.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time
Add vanilla extract and strawberry jam.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
Add to egg/butter mixture along with milk until just combined.
Fill the muffin tin and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until lightly browned.
Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temp


• 1½ tsp vanilla


• 2 cups (230 grams) confectionary sugar


• 3 tbsp milk


• 3½ oz (100 grams) milk chocolate, melted and cooled to room temp


• 4-6 drops red food colouring

Cream butter until smooth – about 2 minutes.
Add vanilla.
Slowly add the confectionary sugar until well blended.
Add the milk and then beat on high for approximately 5 minutes or until it reaches a “fluffy” frosting consistency.
To make the chocolate buttercream take half of the frosting and slowly fold in the melted chocolate.
To make the pink buttercream, slowly fold in the food colouring to the other half of the frosting (adding it slowly until you get the colour you are looking for).
Frost on completely cooled cupcakes.

Mid-week revelry

Faster than a speeding bullet, the past few weeks have flown by. So much so that I truly can't believe we are welcoming in the last week of May. The weather the past few days hasn't helped much either. One would think it was March around these chilly parts.

I was long overdue for one of my Sunday night cooking extravaganzas – so this past weekend scheduled it in. On Saturday I'd done my rounds at the posh supermarket and bought my achingly expensive groceries. I’d even mapped out all the dishes I’d be making. There really wasn’t much to stop me....just the devil's brew. Saturday evening’s festivities had plenty of that and left me (put mildly) less than well prepared for Sunday’s domesticated activities (unless one considers sitting in your jammies lying on the couch until 3 as a “domesticated activity”). Needless to say, the feast creation plan didn’t turn out much. Instead I ended up out with a friend eating an undercooked pizza around 8:30 p.m. Truly pathetic.

Since my Sunday of cooking turned out to be a bust I had two options:

1. Try and freeze my wild salmon and cross my fingers that the dozen or so herbs and vegetables I’d bought would last until next weekend …OR…
2. Suck it up and create a mid-week feast

There really was only one option - there was no way I was risking all of my groceries. As a result it's been a delicious week, complete with:

1. Fresh Corn, Courgette, and Feta Fritters
2. Sesame Mirin Soy Salmon
3. Brown Sugar Brownies with Dried Cranberries and White Chocolate Chips
   

Fresh Corn, Courgette, and Feta Fritters

(Inspired by Bill Granger’s Bill’s Food – Corn Fritter and Zucchini Fritter recipes)

2 ears of corn – kemels removed
2 small courgettes - grated

¼ cup cilantro (coriander) chopped

¼ cup feta in small pieces

5 green onions diced (just white and pale green parts)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 eggs

½ cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup (approx) Olive oil for frying

- Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl

- Heat olive oil in a large non-stick frying pans on medium-high heat

- Drop fritter batter by heaping tablespoons and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes on each side

Makes about 14

Sesame Mirin Soy Salmon

(Adapted from Bill Granger’s Bill’s Food – Glazed Salmon recipe)

80 ml (1/3 cup) mirin
80 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 Tsp sugar
2 Tsp fresh lemon juice
2 salmon filets (wild if possible)

Dressing
125 ml (1/2 cup) mirin
62 ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce
2 Tsp sugar

1/8 cup sesame seeds

- Marinate the salmon in the first 6 ingredients for 1-2 hours
- To make dressing, bring 3 ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, reduce heat, and let it thicken – about 12-15 minutes. Set aside
- Heat the grill in your oven to about 275 Celsius
- Remove the salmon from the marinade and place it under the grill in a non-stick pan for about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it!
- Serve the salmon by pouring the marinade over and sprinkling with sesame seeds

Brown Sugar Brownies with Dried Cranberries and White Chocolate Chips
(Another old-time family favourite…the original version skips the white chocolate and cranberries and uses semi-sweet chocolate chips instead).

½ cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup dried cranberries

- Preheat oven to 350 F° (176 C°)
- Cream the butter and sugar
- Add eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla
- Fold in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips
- Bake in an 8 inch square pan (or 7 by 11) for about 30 minutes until tester inserted in the middle of brownies comes out clean

The Adventures of Scrappy and Pickle

Once upon a time in a land brimming with Miami Beach outfits and a public transport system that seethed and heaved like an overheated German Shepherd, you could find two bumbling superheroes, Scrappy and her side-kick Pickle. Scrappy and Pickle had recently been separated as Pickle had been off fighting her nemesis Dissertation Man. Dissertation Man was currently in hiding and while Pickle had plans to fight him off for good, used the brief sojourn to board her invisible plane (yes, just like Wonder Woman’s!) and pay her old crime-fighting comrade a visit.

Scrappy considered herself somewhat of the fashionable sort fighting bad outfits with a roll of her eyes or a look of confusion. Pickle had always been the perfect crime-fighting sidekick, doing her utmost to keep Scrappy out of trouble and away from offensive outfits and minicab drivers who tried to steal lovely parcels, from let’s say…Fortnum and Mason. When not saving the world from these evil-doers, Scrappy and Pickle could be found at a number of different eateries, ensuring that they stocked up on all the proper food and drink a super hero might need.

The reunion started off with wine near St. Paul’s Cathedral, fresh fruity tutti cocktails at the Charlotte Street Hotel, and ace tapas at The Salt Yard on Goodge Street.

Highlights from the Salt Yard:
- Marinated Beetroot with Goats Cheese, Pinenuts and Vinaigrette

- Courgette Flowers stuffed with Monte Enebro cheese and drizzled with honey
- Cornish Crab and Chilli Croquetas
- Roasted Chorizo with Moscatel Vinegar

The next day found Scrappy and Pickle once again out and about looking to right the wrongs of meanie minicab drivers. It took the better part of the day to do, in the meanwhile Scrappy and Pickle filled up on some much needed sustenance.

Gordon Ramsey's The Narrow:
This Thameside pub near Limehouse was brimming with sunshine and positive energy (and outfits). After a bit of discussion around what they should share, Pickle and Scrappy decided to skip going halvsies and each ordered the hake and chips with marrow fat peas. This was one of Scrappy and Pickle’s better decisions that day. The coating of the fish was crispier and leaps and bounds more palatable than Scrappy’s aqua net mall bangs from 1988. The fish was moist, the chips not too chunky, and the marrow fat peas were delicious enough to make even the most finicky veggie-hating child ask for seconds.

Nothing could stop Scrappy and Pickle now…except perhaps for a key lime pie or some patty pan squash stuffed with fresh corn and feta…

Iceland and the Northern Lights

Apparently the hotdog is one of Iceland’s national foods. How this came to be I’m not entirely sure, but last weekend’s visit to Reykjavik had me consuming 2 within a 24 hour period. Honestly, this was more than my total hotdog consumption in the past 12 months.

Furthermore, I’m not sure why I insist on travelling to the most expensive cities in Europe ($9-$10 beer as a benchmark) but I can only imagine that the lowly hotdog has been raised to its glorious national iconic status because at 230-250 króna (£1.60) it’s the most affordable meal out. And, calling a spade a spade here…they’re pretty tasty too.

The main difference with the Icelandic hotdog is that the casing seemed to be just a teensy bit thicker than normal. So while normally I’d just bite and eat away, it took some extra oomph on the molars to break through to the mystery meat within. A nice addition to the standard optional accoutrements was the option of fresh and/or fried onions. Feeling quite strongly that eating raw onions is worse than being stuck in an elevator with Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” being played on repeat, I opted for the fried onions. Like the hotdog, they were not of home-made ilk. Instead, they were the miniature ones that come in a tin can. I suppose one must give Iceland credit for being consistent in the hot dog’s artificialness. Regardless, the fried onions, adhering to the hotdog via a glue stick of ketchup were delicious. Would I make a habit of hunting these Icelandic dogs down now that I’m back in London? Let’s say that they were on sale at the airport…but Dana decided to pass.

The other gastronomic adventures of note were Viking beer and the 3-course lobster tasting menu at Laekjarbrekka.

Like the Virgin Mary who was discovered on a piece of French toast (and then quickly sold on ebay for $28,000), my first pint of Viking beer had a eerily scary picture in the foam on top. Depending on the angle, it was a map of Iceland. I thought perhaps this was because Viking beer is made with “pure Icelandic water” (the poopy sulphur smell having been removed) but looking around the table no one else seemed to having anything even remotely similar. The beer is a golden pilsner, and while I typically prefer my brewskies a bit darker, it was the perfect pint.

The restaurant Laekjarbrekka is situated in one of the oldest buildings in Reykjavik. With a laminated, free-standing sign outside their front door to woo in passing tourists, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. That said, what welcomed us inside was the quaintest little dining room, complete with an elderly Icelandic piano player who kept us entertained with a wide variety of show tunes.

The lobster in Iceland is quite different from traditional New England lobster. They're much smaller (think langoustines) due to the colder waters. There was a moment of panic when I was signing up for the lobstermenu as I don’t generally trust little lobsters. However, everything worked really well becaused they highlighted the tender meat of the lobster tail and for the most part didn’t serve it in its shell.

On the menu:

Lobster soup with crème and cognac – The others loved this soup. For me it was the biggest disappointment of the meal, but this is partly due to the fact that I tend to avoid crème based soups like oncoming traffic in a game of Frogger.

Grilled lobster tails in garlic-butter, tempura fried lobster, and lobster Wellington with cap and portabella mushrooms – I found all three of these dishes outstanding. A few of the others felt the tempura lobster was reminiscent of what one might get at a fish and chip shop. I’d agree in the context of the fried battering, but disagreed because the lobster meat was outstanding. If I could get it at my local fish and chip shop on a regular basis I’d be a much fuller-figured lady.

Desert was simple and straightforward, served inside a toffee almond “basket” was fresh fruit salad and an assortment of ice creams and sorbets. Because I’m a sucker for homemade ice creams (the mass produced Ben & Jerry’s stuff not being my thing), the desert had me classily licking my plate. Literally. Licking my plate. Ok, with my fingers if I'm honest, but is this really any better? The only thing better would have had to be seeing the Northern Lights, completely randomly while being locked out of our apartment our first night. Smooth operators, ladies. ;-)