A Home-Slice of Barcelona

Photo 1
Photo 2

I probably didn’t do my due diligence before heading to Barcelona this past weekend. Because I was traveling with 8 others I figured I wouldn’t have too much say in where we would be eating…others would have received recommendations from friends/family/or guidebooks. However, what I didn’t take into account is that most people aren’t really too fussed about food. This weekend was more about good friends and good fun. Still there were a couple highlights, even if they are less about delicious freshly made tapas and more about comical Spanish culinary adventures.

The company was excellent and the sangria was cold at both of the restaurants we ate at on Friday and Saturday night. However, to say the food was not rock-star status would be putting it kindly. To sum up, both restaurants’ menu's had numbers and pictures of the food for easy ordering. Saturday night's dinner was a bit fancier than Friday's - the menus were plastic, not paper place mats like Friday (Photo 1).

Another funny little bit was the "Pizza Pastry" (Photo 2). Last week I had been sold by DU on this "amazing bakery" he was going to take me to. Now I know my standards are much higher than the average Joe - but what I got was the farthest thing from what I expected. I was taken aback because it literally looked like pizzas in the window - but no - they were pastries made to look like pizzas. Each one looked exactly the same! Complete with lime fruit slice "peppers" and maraschino cherry "tomatoes" - it might be one of the funniest things I had ever seen. I mean seriously folks; you even bought it by the "slice".

Hummus Pizza

Tonight I spent my second Thursday night ever here in Work-ington as I'm flying straight to Barcelona with a few of the WBQ crew tomorrow (yahoo to my first weekend away as a real Londoner)!

Since it's been a bit gloomy and raining, the plan was pizza and cards this evening. So while the others debated over Dominos vs. Papa John's (Papa John's winning out only to end up NOT getting delivered) - I made my favourite home-made pizza. Pizza as good as this (if I do say so myself) makes it ok to peer out of my corporate flat and see a highway, half a dozen smoke stacks, and some dodgy characters most likely doing unsavoury things near by. Viva la Work-ington!

Hummos Pizza

The thing with this pizza is that when you describe it to people they sort of pull a face and usually respond with something along the lines of “that sounds interesting”. Made best when assembled and cooked in the pizza ovens of the “Pizza Stand” in Weirs Beach, NH, it was still a success here in Work-ington, England.

1 pizza base
1 onion, sliced thinly
1tsp sugar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil
1/3 -2/3 cup hummus
1 courgette*
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp water
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ garlic powder
As much or as little feta cheese as you like (I think I used about ¼ cup)

1. Preheat oven to 220 Celsius or 428ish Fahrenheit

2. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium-low heat

3. Add sliced onion and 1 tsp of sugar and caramelise onions – you may be tempted to lose patience and turn the heat up on the onions, resulting in fried onions. While tasty in their own right – that’s not what we’re going for here! Relax, crack open a bottle of wine…and slowly cook the onions until they are lightly browned - make sure you stir frequently. (Personally I like them a bit well done, but that’s up to you – remember they will cook a bit more in the oven)

4. While the onions are cooking prepare the courgette. Note: I’ve also used broccoli on occasion and it’s equally tasty

5. Ok, so the chef in me would take you though the fancy shmancy way of preparing the veg – however, I’m going to instruct “straight-up” – exactly how I prepared….Slice the courgette thinly to start.

6. Place in microwavable bowl with 1 tsp olive oil, garlic clove, water, lemon juice and garlic powder. Cook in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes. Put aside

7. To prepare the pizza crust, take a dash of olive oil and spread on the base. On top spread the hummus as thickly or as thinly as you’d like – I usually spread about an 1/8 of an inch thick

8. Place onions on top, then courgette, and then sprinkle feta on the tipity-top of everything else

9. Cook in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until it’s to your crispiness preference

* Courgette = Zucchini (Why the American’s adopted the Italian word and not the French word I don’t understand?)

Coiffure Cocktails

Yesterday I headed to a new salon, Taylor Taylor to have a long over-due cut/colour. About halfway through my 4 hour appointment I started to have a bit of a panic. I realized that my lack of knowledge about the hair colouring/highlighting process was really going to be my downfall. About halfway through I realised that I hadn’t actually chosen the colours myself. Yuki, my colourist, who’s legally in the UK on a student visa to learn English had unbeknownst to me already decided. I swear I heard her say something like…”we’ll put a little colour in and then decide the highlights after.” Argh no, completely not. So you may be wondering – what on earth does this have to do with nibbles and/or tipples?

At Taylor Taylor you can tell that they really love what they do and enjoy being there. It also helps that they have a bar in the middle of the salon. Not a “pay as you go” type bar – but one that provides whatever type of liquid comfort you might enjoy (at no additional cost of course). I started out my consultation with a lovely cappuccino, followed not too far behind by a glass of champagne. I was feeling a teensy bit loopy from the residual affects of my cold medicine, and the chemicals from the colour seeping into my brain – so figured that would be it for me. About halfway through Yuki putting the colour in my hair, the lovely James popped over to me and said “I’ve just mixed the most gorgeous cocktail with fresh blueberries. Would you like one?” Now seriously folks, how could I resist? Side Note: One can probably read between the lines and now see how maybe I misunderstood what Yuki was doing to my hair and/or had a wee panic attack as to what I’d done to myself.

So when all was said and done, I was a bit shell shocked by the change. If popular opinion is any indication though – I think it’s been a winner – at least with the WBQ crew in Work-ington*. DU was so lovely and told me it was very Julia Roberts-ish and that I looked stunning (no prompting necessary)! I had another person tell me I looked younger (hip-hip hooray!) and PW told me I looked 100% better (um, ok…not entirely sure how I was meant to take this one)!

*Work-ington = Warrington, the northern city near Manchester where my current client is located.

Courtyard Cookies

Sunday evening was the first of many a summer night of eating outdoors at my flat. FM and I decided to test out our patio for the first time, KS joining in for the festivities. As our patio opens out to the ground floor of our Melrose-Place like courtyard we thought not only would it be a lovely way to spend an evening, but would also be an opportunity to perhaps meet a few of our neighbours.

To celebrate the event, FM and I had our first joint purchase - a hot-pink mini-bbq. FM would have been happy with either the blue or the pink – but I insisted on the pink (surprise surprise). So picture this - no furniture yet, just a picnic blanket spread out on our concrete patio, and a mini table-top pink grill. We “cranked" that bad-girl up...and were hysterically pathetic in the process. To make a long story short…our mini-pink grill wasn’t all that useful (although to be fair we didn’t allow the proper amount of time for the charcoal to go grey). Halfway through we abandoned the grill and thought to bring our meat inside to cook…well, ¾ of a bottle of red-wine, 4 ciders, a smoke detector going off, and 4 dried out chicken sausages later…we decided that whilst eating outside was a lovely idea…perhaps our mini pink bbq was not. Thankfully, there was still a little foodie treat that night. I’d whipped up some cookie dough in the afternoon and while I’d no idea if they’d be any good…I’d say they turned out delicious. I think the 5-6 that FM and KS ate each would have them agree as well. In honour of the Buckler Court* Courtyard…here you have the recipe for some super easy and scrummy “Courtyard Cookies”.

Courtyard Cookies

1 cup coconut, toasted

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

bit of salt

141.7 grams (UK) 1 1/4 sticks (US) butter

½ cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon-ish vanilla

¾ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 191°C (UK) 375°F (US)
Toast the coconut in the oven for about 3-5 minutes – keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt.
Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy
Add egg and vanilla and stir in flour mixture.
Add chocolate chips and coconut and combine.
Arrange dough on cookie sheet about a teaspoon in size and about an inch apart.
Cook for about 5-8 minutes (basically keep a keen eye on them as they cooked way faster than I would have thought.
Cool cookies.Eat cookies!

*Buckler Court - Where my flat is located.

Gilga's

Last night after a few drinks at a bar in Camden which hosted a disproportionate number of clientele sporting “school girl” and “school boy” uniforms – hen* and bachelor parties, I believe. The WBQ crew with the addition of a few extra friends headed over to Gilgamesh (Gilga's for those in the know). I had been there before with RL and had absolutely loved it. The venue is a massive restaurant and bar right in the heart of Camden. It’s surrounded by carved wood and ornate designs and rightly feels like a Babylonian palace. It’s a very sexy place from the seating to the lighting to the mix of western and eastern music.

The star of the night both this and the last time I was there were the Spicy Crunchy Tuna Rolls. I have had many a tuna roll in my day, and the ones served at Gilga’s might just be the best. The tuna is silky smooth and is surrounded by a teensy bit of the most gorgeous tempura crunch. The spiciness tingles the mouth without overpowering it. It is quite simply, a little bit orgasmic.

Tied for the best bit of an evening at Gilga’s are their cocktails. I think after drinking a cocktail at Gilga’s you realise that 90% of the drinks you order at other bars are pretty much cr@p. Order anything fruity and the fruit is so fresh you feel as if it’s been same-day couriered from some exotic tropical climate – just for your consumption. My first drink of choice, chosen by DU, and enjoyed by 3 of the 5 of us was a Strawberry, Passionfruit Caiparoska. Oh my god, so good. I had a taste of GF’s Ararat Cocktail which consisted of Green Apple, Tanqueray Gin, Nijizaki Lime sake and ginger and elderflower. Amazing! We finished off the evening with Passionfruit martinis – served quite appropriately with a freshly opened passionfruit floating at the top of the martini like a little cherry on our grown-up sundaes. OH MY GOD. (Yes, it really was that good).

Of course as the 80’s rock band Poison once sang – “Every rose has its thorn” – our thorn was the £9.50 price tag of each cocktail – for you lovely yanks – that’s (eek!) $19 a drink. Was feeling a bit guilty about it today, but then thought of all the vitamins I must have received from all of that fresh fruit. Can’t really feel guilty about that now can I?

*Bachelorette

The Engineer

Last night I went to the Engineer in Primrose Hill. It had been sold as one of the best gastropub’s in the city…highly recommended by both RL and ASH, although I later found out RL hadn’t actually eaten there before, he had just heard about it.

In lieu of JBS, RL came along with me. After quickly downing a cappuccino each to hopefully wake us up from the cold damp weather, I ordered an Erdinger Weissbier – a wheat beer from Germany. Good stuff. Good times.

We decided to go against the grain of the British style of eating out (each ordering a starter and main) and instead ordered a hodge podge of starters. We both ordered the soup of the day which was butternut squash and spiced apple. At first I thought I was a big fan of the soup – it was a bit different and very flavourful. I’m guessing the soup was made with granny smith apples or some similar tart apple – because it was overwhelmingly tart. As I continued to eat it I mentioned to RL that it was missing something. My guess is that if the chef that sautéed a bit more “savoury” into the base of the soup (e.g. celery, stock, onions) the edge of the tartness would have been removed and the flavours would have been a bit more balanced. As RL so effectively stated, “I feel like I’m eating heated jam”.

The shared starters were a bit more successful. The first, cured duck breast with melon salad, pickled ginger and soy was a bit rarer than I personally like (it was nearly quacking), but the flavours were nice when all eaten together. The second crispy potato and onion tart with rocket and truffle oil (photo above) was just ok. As a general rule truffle oil makes everything taste better, and it did in this instance as well. However, the tart wasn’t really a tart – more wafer-like actually, very thin. It always bugs me when I’m out eating something that I could very easily have made at home and which no doubt would have tasted better…this was the case here. Basically the “tart” was just a conduit to showcase some nice truffle oil. I would have preferred a nice tart that could stand alone in its own right. Our third starter, curried sweet potato and peanut samosas with cucumber raita was absolutely wonderful. A bit different from any typical samosa I’ve had before. The cucumber raita (a cool Indian yogurt concoction) was really refreshing. Once we’d finished the samosas I used some left over cucumber raita to doctor the potato and onion tart and make it taste much better!

Passport Chicken

For anyone in the US planning to travel internationally in the next 12 months my tip would be to make dang sure your passport doesn’t need to be renewed and if it does, get down to the post office ASAP. The US government promises a returned passport in 6-8 weeks. JBS had an 11 week lag time when she booked her trip to visit me, and instead of heading to the airport at the present moment, she’s no doubt on the phone with the airline begging and pleading to let her reschedule the trip because someone at the passport agency f-ed up. Unfortunately I’ve heard this story a few times from friends and family. My favourite little passport renewal story involves my friend KSL – apparently she received her passport within 1 week of an upcoming international trip. However, low and behold her surname* was spelled incorrectly. When she contacted the passport folks they told her she had filled it out incorrectly on the form. Um, it’s been her name for 30 years – she's pretty sure she didn’t misspell it.

So, whilst quite disappointed that JBS won’t be visiting this weekend – I had so been looking forward to my first US visitor and all our little culinary trips and treats we would have gone on…I still have no doubt that the weekend will be a good one.

In lieu of JBS’s arrival I was craving something yum. Here’s what I call old school comfort food Dana style:

I'd typically call this "Pomegranate Roast Chicken", but in honor of JBS, it's now called "Passport Chicken."

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Butter
1 small Onion, diced
2-4 cloves of Garlic, chopped
Whatever green herbs you have lying around (I use Sage, Rosemary and/or Oregano)
Paprika
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
3-4 Teaspoons Pomegranate Molasses

- Pre-heat oven to 180ish (Celsius) or 350ish (Fahrenheit)
- Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a sauté pan on medium high. Sautee onions until lightly browned, cool
- Using the olive oil or butter as a base make a paste combining the garlic and herbs de choice - Rub oil/butter mixture all over the chicken’s skin
- For added super duper flavour, separate the skin from the chicken and rub some of the mixture under the skin as well
- Rub some of the sautéed onions all over and inside the chicken, place the rest around the chicken in the pan
- Dust the chicken with the onion, garlic, and paprika
- Drizzle 1-2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses all over chicken
- Put in oven and cook for about 1.5 hours (depending on the size of chicken)!
- Every 30 minutes open oven and drizzle an additional teaspoon of pomegranate molasses over chicken

*Last Name