I’ve been so busy at work the past week, not had time to post at all in between everything. Plus me and the boyfriend have had a few fallings out, probably down to stress (mine) and hunger (mine as well – I’ve been too busy to get in a proper lunch, and I am not someone to mess with whilst hungry!). We were living on “convenience foods” for awhile – not fast food necessarily, but we had a few takeaways from the Thai restaurant across the street and pasta and sauce a couple nights in a row. Totally unimaginative but hey, needs must. And if I’m not cooking, I think he just pulls shit out of the cupboards at random and hopes for the best. We had Chinese noodles with tomato and seaweed Italian pasta sauce last Thursday, and spelt tortellini with Thai red curry sauce, bamboo shoots and chorizo the day before. Fusion food, or just plain weird? I feel like I’m eating like a student already, and I don’t go back to higher ed until October.
My boyfriend just got back late last night. He’s had a stressful few days trying to sort out some money – he’s on Jobseekers just now, but there was a problem with his application and he’s not had his first lot of money just yet. He’s not signed on in a long time, but it’s such a hassle to get back into the system and he’s quite frustrated about it right now. To top that off he was at his mum’s and a whole load of fast-flying shit has been hitting the fan from all sides recently. He’s worried about his mum, his gran, his big sis, his brother-in-law…and to top it off we’ve just had to shell out an insane amount of money to get the animals sorted (dog’s been sick, cat needs some pretty expensive dental work).
This week we are back on track though. We had a lovely weekend, went to visit a friend out in rural Fife and spent Saturday evening spending some quality time with some good mates in his cottage. Well, I say “quality time”. What actually happened was I was so overtired from my week of doing my best headless chicken impression that I passed out on the couch about half an hour after we got there. We had to put on “Man on the Moon” three times so we could all watch it as pretty much everyone passed out at some point, so we’d all see about ¼ of the film each. I had the first ten minutes covered!
The boys woke me up at regular intervals to feed me – we had lamb leg steaks from Hugh Grierson Organics grilled very simply, with some sautéed mushrooms and steamed carrot batons. Mmm…healthy! I went back to sleep. About an hour later it was followed by “John’s pie”, named because our friend John decided to stare at the pie in the oven until it was ready. The pie was apple, and it had come from North Country Lass Saturday morning at the farmers market. We had it with some jersey double cream, and I polished the lot off in about two minutes then passed out again with the bowl inches from my head. Ah, food coma, how I have missed you!
I woke up quite early the next morning and put the film back on. I have to mention Jim Carrey really does a very good Andy Kaufman, and you can definitely notice how much Carrey was influenced by Kaufman. As my boyfriend says, if there had been no Andy Kaufman, there would have been no Jim Carrey! I managed to stay awake for the whole movie this time, and by the time it was finished everyone was pretty much up and about. I had a homemade Scotch egg from Piperfield Pork while I was waiting for the boys to wake, and it was absolutely amazing, and a perfectly buttery fruit scone from North Country lass. Oh my god, I have to talk about this Scotch egg now. Imagine all the Scotch eggs you have had in your life, remember their taste, texture, colour. Now forget it all – these were nothing like the bog standard eggs you might find in the supermarket filed under “picnic snacks”. I first sliced mine in half as there were five of us and only four eggs, but twenty seconds later went back for my second half before anyone got their grubby little mitts on it. The egg was cooked just right, hard boiled but without that slightly dry texture you get from the yolk if it’s been in the pot too long – not to mention the slightly repulsive greenish tinge eggs so often get. I like mine soft boiled for the most part, and this yolk was bright golden yellow, almost orange, light and fluffy. I don’t think I have ever seen a hard boiled egg so perfect in my life. I never knew I could have so much to say about a boiled egg! The meat the egg was wrapped in was melt-in-your-mouth, not over-seasoned. Nothing like the usual dried out coating Scotch eggs sometimes have. All in all, a quality egg. I’d spied them before at the market, but never bought one before – thought this would be a nice treat to take for the boys and I will definitely grab some next time Piperfield are at the market.
For lunch we had some chicken broth with veg from the Good Soup Company with some house seeded sourdough bread from Falko Konditoreimeister. Followed by a slice of North Country Lass’s pork and apple pie. Pork and apple have always been one of my favourite food combinations, ever since my mum let me make my own after school snacks and I laid out a plate of cold cut ham with Motts apple sauce as a dip. Mmm…
Speaking of food combos, a book arrived in the post for me the other day. I ordered it from Amazon a week ago but had completely forgotten about it – gotta love mail order shopping, feels like Christmas every other day. “The Flavour Thesaurus” (Niki Segnit) is a compendium of every possible food and flavour combination you can think of - some are quite bizarre. You have the basic list of foods, separated into categories like Meat and Fish, and then these are matched up with a variety of complementary flavours. There are some more obvious ones, like chilli and chocolate, and some particularly bizarre ones like blueberry and mushroom. I think it will be an interesting read, and my poor boyfriend will just have to put up with random trials over the next few weeks…
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Super-easy cullen skink
I’ve been feeling a bit poorly lately, which is no real surprise as my boyfriend was ill last week, the germy bugger. He spent a week lying in bed feeling sick and shaky and tired all the time, which is what I now have but with the added fun of what feels suspiciously like the beginnings of a migraine. I used to get them in high school but hadn’t had one in years – hopefully this isn’t a sign they’re coming back! I can’t really take any time off work at the moment either, nor do I want to as there is so much to do in the next couple weeks here. So my solution last night was soup. Soup will cure all!
We had a couple fillets of peppered smoked mackerel and one undyed smoked haddock fillet from Creelers – plus the leftover crushed jersey royals from Sunday dinner – in the fridge, so I thought I’d make Cullen Skink.
Cullen skink is traditionally made with finnan haddie, a smoked haddock. It’s a hearty fish and tattie soup, and you can find it on the menu of pretty much any restaurant up and down the country that claims to have even the vaguest whiff of Scottish theme about it. BIG favourite round the Royal Mile area. I’ve had some good ones and some bad ones, but the best I’ve had was probably in the Roseleaf in Leith, where it was more a stew than a soup, with big chunks of potato and discernable flakes of smoked fish. This is most definitely not a soup that should be served even remotely smooth.
I wanted to use up the leftover tatties and the smoked fish – I’d actually bought the fish in anticipation of making Cullen Skink, but didn’t get around to it at the weekend. We’ll usually make more potatoes than we’ll need so I can use them in soup or stovies during the week…our friend Andy turned up on Sunday evening for his dinner after the Highland Show, so I was quite lucky to have any potatoes left!
The onion came from the famers market from Phantassie Organics. I’ll usually buy our onions on a string from our favourite local butcher, W. Christie, but this time of year they don’t have any. Oh their onions are so good, pink ones that taste slightly stronger (but sweeter) than regular yellow onions, but more versatile than red. Phantassie’s onions are pretty good too, and I’ve stopped buying supermarket onions altogether. Supermarket onions tend to break down faster I’ve noticed, so even though they stay “fresh” for longer, when you cook them they don’t hold their shape as well. They also need more flavouring – I don’t cook with salt as a general rule, but I’ve noticed without salt they’re pretty much tasteless. I’d usually have to throw in some balsamic as well, just to get some flavour into the bloody things! Vegetables should not be that difficult! Now we use “proper” onions and I just need to sauté them in a bit of butter and oil for them to taste nice.
I don’t use salt in my cooking unless it’s for a large joint of roast meat, or for the crackling on a pork roast. I sprinkled the teensiest pinch of salt on a mutton joint recently, and if I’m honest, in the quest for the perfect crackling I have been quite liberal with the old saltshaker, but we use sea salt only, and a tiny box of Maldon flakes lasts us for aaages. My boyfriend doesn’t use any salt, and when we moved in together I stopped salting my food during cooking as well. If I’m totally honest, I sometimes compensate by using things like slightly salted butter, cheese, cream or organic stock cubes. I won’t “add” extra salt though. I think the smoked fish in this recipe is salty enough to flavour the soup without needing to add anything, and as the mackerel is peppered already the seasoning was 100% taken care of.
I’d originally planned to add some double cream to the soup at the very end to add richness, but discovered the cream had gone off (and my boyfriend wasn’t willing to risk it as he’d felt dodgy all last week). What we did have was half a pot of half fat crème fraiche left over from my lunch yesterday (see previous post “Turkey and avocado sandwich filling”), so I added that at the end instead. We don’t drink much milk at home but I’d bought a litre on Monday from RealFoods for when we have guests who drink tea. What I’d really like is to have our milk delivered in glass bottles, but I don’t think there is a milkman in our area.
I love the fact the parsley I used here was grown in our very own “garden”. If you can call the 7 x 3 foot balcony a garden!
It may not have cured my bug, but it was definitely what I needed last night in my pathetic sniffly state…and it definitely helped that the whole thing can be cooked in one pot.
Super-easy Cullen Skink
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest - farmers market)
1 medium to large onion, chopped (Phantassie – farmers market)
2 peppered smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed (Creelers – farmers market)
1 large smoked haddock fillet (Creelers – farmers market)
Semi skimmed milk, about half a litre carton (RealFoods)
Leftover crushed new potatoes (I used leftover jersey royals from M&S I’d crushed with some butter for a side to our Sunday tea)
Half a tub of reduced fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
Parsley (own grown)
Sautee the onion in a little rapeseed oil until they’ve gone slightly translucent, but not too soft. The onions should still have a bit of bite to them as the next step is to poach the smoked haddock in the same pot. Add the smoked haddock fillet to the onions and pour about half a litre of milk over to cover. Poach gently for a few minutes until the fish is cooked – give it a prod with a fork to check, and if it flakes easily it is cooked.
Using a wooden spoon, gently break up the fish directly in the pot. In a bowl do the same to the smoked mackerel fillets. Now add the mackerel, as well as the potatoes, to the soup, gently breaking up the largest pieces but retaining the integrity of the potatoes and fish. Add more milk if necessary, but remember to keep the soup chunky and thick. Finally, stir in the crème fraiche and chopped parsley to heat through.
We had a couple fillets of peppered smoked mackerel and one undyed smoked haddock fillet from Creelers – plus the leftover crushed jersey royals from Sunday dinner – in the fridge, so I thought I’d make Cullen Skink.
Cullen skink is traditionally made with finnan haddie, a smoked haddock. It’s a hearty fish and tattie soup, and you can find it on the menu of pretty much any restaurant up and down the country that claims to have even the vaguest whiff of Scottish theme about it. BIG favourite round the Royal Mile area. I’ve had some good ones and some bad ones, but the best I’ve had was probably in the Roseleaf in Leith, where it was more a stew than a soup, with big chunks of potato and discernable flakes of smoked fish. This is most definitely not a soup that should be served even remotely smooth.
I wanted to use up the leftover tatties and the smoked fish – I’d actually bought the fish in anticipation of making Cullen Skink, but didn’t get around to it at the weekend. We’ll usually make more potatoes than we’ll need so I can use them in soup or stovies during the week…our friend Andy turned up on Sunday evening for his dinner after the Highland Show, so I was quite lucky to have any potatoes left!
The onion came from the famers market from Phantassie Organics. I’ll usually buy our onions on a string from our favourite local butcher, W. Christie, but this time of year they don’t have any. Oh their onions are so good, pink ones that taste slightly stronger (but sweeter) than regular yellow onions, but more versatile than red. Phantassie’s onions are pretty good too, and I’ve stopped buying supermarket onions altogether. Supermarket onions tend to break down faster I’ve noticed, so even though they stay “fresh” for longer, when you cook them they don’t hold their shape as well. They also need more flavouring – I don’t cook with salt as a general rule, but I’ve noticed without salt they’re pretty much tasteless. I’d usually have to throw in some balsamic as well, just to get some flavour into the bloody things! Vegetables should not be that difficult! Now we use “proper” onions and I just need to sauté them in a bit of butter and oil for them to taste nice.
I don’t use salt in my cooking unless it’s for a large joint of roast meat, or for the crackling on a pork roast. I sprinkled the teensiest pinch of salt on a mutton joint recently, and if I’m honest, in the quest for the perfect crackling I have been quite liberal with the old saltshaker, but we use sea salt only, and a tiny box of Maldon flakes lasts us for aaages. My boyfriend doesn’t use any salt, and when we moved in together I stopped salting my food during cooking as well. If I’m totally honest, I sometimes compensate by using things like slightly salted butter, cheese, cream or organic stock cubes. I won’t “add” extra salt though. I think the smoked fish in this recipe is salty enough to flavour the soup without needing to add anything, and as the mackerel is peppered already the seasoning was 100% taken care of.
I’d originally planned to add some double cream to the soup at the very end to add richness, but discovered the cream had gone off (and my boyfriend wasn’t willing to risk it as he’d felt dodgy all last week). What we did have was half a pot of half fat crème fraiche left over from my lunch yesterday (see previous post “Turkey and avocado sandwich filling”), so I added that at the end instead. We don’t drink much milk at home but I’d bought a litre on Monday from RealFoods for when we have guests who drink tea. What I’d really like is to have our milk delivered in glass bottles, but I don’t think there is a milkman in our area.
I love the fact the parsley I used here was grown in our very own “garden”. If you can call the 7 x 3 foot balcony a garden!
It may not have cured my bug, but it was definitely what I needed last night in my pathetic sniffly state…and it definitely helped that the whole thing can be cooked in one pot.
Super-easy Cullen Skink
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest - farmers market)
1 medium to large onion, chopped (Phantassie – farmers market)
2 peppered smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed (Creelers – farmers market)
1 large smoked haddock fillet (Creelers – farmers market)
Semi skimmed milk, about half a litre carton (RealFoods)
Leftover crushed new potatoes (I used leftover jersey royals from M&S I’d crushed with some butter for a side to our Sunday tea)
Half a tub of reduced fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
Parsley (own grown)
Sautee the onion in a little rapeseed oil until they’ve gone slightly translucent, but not too soft. The onions should still have a bit of bite to them as the next step is to poach the smoked haddock in the same pot. Add the smoked haddock fillet to the onions and pour about half a litre of milk over to cover. Poach gently for a few minutes until the fish is cooked – give it a prod with a fork to check, and if it flakes easily it is cooked.
Using a wooden spoon, gently break up the fish directly in the pot. In a bowl do the same to the smoked mackerel fillets. Now add the mackerel, as well as the potatoes, to the soup, gently breaking up the largest pieces but retaining the integrity of the potatoes and fish. Add more milk if necessary, but remember to keep the soup chunky and thick. Finally, stir in the crème fraiche and chopped parsley to heat through.
Turkey and avocado sandwich filling
I think I may be date dyslexic. Monday evening I was absolutely convinced Tuesday (yesterday) was the day I had plans to have lunch with my old boss, and as we’d decided on sandwiches at 1 (rather than pistols at dawn) I made up some healthy sandwich filler to take in to work in a plastic tub, and I’d even bought a healthy sunflower seed roll from RealFoods after the gym on Monday.
When I got in to work I checked my calendar, where it very clearly said in all its highlighted glory, our lunch was on Thursday. Thursday 1 July, not a difficult date to remember.
Well I had the roll anyways and it was very tasty. I overfilled it and it got messy, but I think totally worth it. Now I have to think up another sandwich filling for my lunch tomorrow…ah, such a hard life. It only took me 3 minutes to come up with the last one, and I now have leftover filling that I will introduce to a jacket potato from the canteen at work for my lunch today. Hello potato.
Turkey and avocado sandwich filling
A few slices thick cut, ready cooked turkey breast (I used a packet of Waitrose Free Range hand carved turkey breast, which was probably 150g of turkey)
1 avocado, cut into medium chunks (RealFoods)
Half a tub of half fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
A handful of cherry tomatoes (J&M Craig - farmers market)
Chop the turkey breast into roughly the same size chunks as the avocado. Quarter the tomatoes and add. Spoon in the crème fraiche and toss everything together. This will keep in the fridge for a couple days if you leave the stone for the avocado in the tub with the rest of the ingredients.
When I got in to work I checked my calendar, where it very clearly said in all its highlighted glory, our lunch was on Thursday. Thursday 1 July, not a difficult date to remember.
Well I had the roll anyways and it was very tasty. I overfilled it and it got messy, but I think totally worth it. Now I have to think up another sandwich filling for my lunch tomorrow…ah, such a hard life. It only took me 3 minutes to come up with the last one, and I now have leftover filling that I will introduce to a jacket potato from the canteen at work for my lunch today. Hello potato.
Turkey and avocado sandwich filling
A few slices thick cut, ready cooked turkey breast (I used a packet of Waitrose Free Range hand carved turkey breast, which was probably 150g of turkey)
1 avocado, cut into medium chunks (RealFoods)
Half a tub of half fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
A handful of cherry tomatoes (J&M Craig - farmers market)
Chop the turkey breast into roughly the same size chunks as the avocado. Quarter the tomatoes and add. Spoon in the crème fraiche and toss everything together. This will keep in the fridge for a couple days if you leave the stone for the avocado in the tub with the rest of the ingredients.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Market day
The fridge is full again, and all is well.
I finished work earlier on Friday as we had friends visiting. They turned up just after lunchtime so my boyfriend entertained and fed them full of cheese (and chutney) until I got home. Neither of us fancied cooking so I dragged one of the boys out to Peckhams to stock up on snacks for a munch. We came back with far too much cake and some random savoury tarts – and one of those kitsch “lucky” Maneki Neko cats from the oriental supermarket near my house for my friend. Oh my it is so camp, but that’s the look he’s going for in his bedroom, so it should be perfect.
I also found a lovely 3-panelled Buddha’s head wood relief on sale, much like the one I’d seen in Linda’s Restaurant in Toronto only on a smaller scale. I’ve no idea where to put it but I’m sure we can make a space. I’ve gotten right into my Asian art recently, especially the Tibetan and Himalayan. The house at the moment is a mix of Tibetan singing bowls, third-eyes and turn-of-the-century gas chandeliers. I’m not sure we have anything “new”, but I’ve always appreciated a good antique. We even have an impressive sword collection of Ghurkha knives and samurai swords from as far back as the 1500s.
Friday was pretty chilled out, we sat in and some of the boys had a drink. I made it to midnight then passed out in the granddaddy armchair – so good for slumping. The boys had rearranged the furniture and dragged the orange sofa out from hiding so we didn’t have to sit in a half-moon around the telly.
The boys left quite early on Saturday morning so I went to the farmers market by myself. I had to do the bank mission as well so I stopped by Clarks Deli on the way home and picked up a random selection of cheeses, some pears and a head of pink garlic. I also got a few strawberry tarts from A la Carte and a brownie for our electrician Paul, who has put in some serious effort t for us since he started at the beginning of the year. I ended up giving Paul a couple tarts and the brownie to take home to his family, and my boyfriend made a crack about Paul telling his wife he was bringing home an Edinburgh tart.
The farmers market was pretty crowded by the time I got there as it was a lovely day, and there’s nothing like a bit of sunshine to get people out in hordes for some alfresco shopping. I started at the far end so hit Creelers first, as I do most weekends. I am so predictable. Sadly no Cullen skink until winter, but I bought some cooked langoustines and some fish soup. Last week when I was at their stall, a couple people ordered the oysters and made a point of saying how great they were, so I ordered three and wolfed them down with a squeeze of lemon. Yum! I couldn’t do that with the boys with me as I think the idea of raw shellfish freaks some of my friend out.
Next it was Arran’s Cheese shop. I went for the cheddar with peppercorns and another with caramellised red onion as I fancied trying something new. I also bought a pot of crowdie like I do every weekend, and the lovely lady threw in some free oatcakes.
This week the Cairn o Mohr stall was at the market, so I got a bottle of elderberry (the sweeter of the two reds), a bottle of cider and some of the sparkling elderflower – which is non-alcoholic. I’m not really a big drinker usually and I love their sparkling elderflower. It’s tangy and not overly sweet like most elderflower drinks, and it’s so refreshing in the summer. I appear to be stockpiling the cider.
I went a little overboard with the meat and dairy this week, which does go to show that shopping whilst hungry is a bad fucking idea! Luckily I have a very skinny boyfriend with a very big appetite, so no doubt he’ll polish off a couple packets of sausages to himself one morning. Unfortunately the guy from Puddledub Pork was out of the reduced salt bacon by the time I got there, and he did mention he had brought less than usual this week by accident. I got a couple packs of middle bacon instead, some pork chops which my boyfriend is working his magic on tonight to make into a Thai green curry, and some lemon and fennel sausages. Let me just say I’ve bought these sausages several times, but I’ve never tasted one as he usually polishes off a packet before I get around to it. They sound tasty though, and lighter than your average Joe sausage. To add to the sausage-fest I also bought a packet of curried sausages from Ballencrieff Pedigree Pigs. These I’d tried before and liked, but my boyfriend loves all things curried so here I am, indulging him.
The bloke from Hugh Grierson recommended the mutton this week, and suggested a long slow roast in a very low oven. 120ºC for 5 hours he said, with a cup of water chucked in to keep the whole thing moist. I also got a packet of chicken wings for snackage. I’d planned to do it on the Saturday night but we got sidetracked and ended up at our neighbour’s flat for the evening. The boyfriend was doing some gardening for her with her boyfriend, and me and my neighbour “supervised”. It was a quality evening, as we’d not really spent much time with them since Dee’s gran died, and they’re lovely folk. My dad and Dee’s dad Mr M would love to pal around with each other, and Mr M has made jokes about taking my dad for a spin in his flash new car. We should set a date.
I should mention my flat used to belong to Dee’s family, back in the day. She’s not much older than me but she’s lived on the street for most of her life – her gran Maidie used to own the entire building as a hotel in the 70s, and my bit used to be the hotel bar and lounge. We’re in the process of restoring it to its former glory, which is taking some amount of blood, sweat and tears. Luckily, not mine – we’re getting builders in to do the work, the same company that ripped down and rebuilt the big front bedroom after a flood last year. We’ve got the best group of guys doing the work, totally honest, efficient and hardworking. Not typical at all in Edinburgh! Paul hails from out of town and is a good mate of my boyfriend’s brother-in-law. He puts in some amount of exceptional effort pretty much every weekend, rewiring the house and making sure we don’t burst into flames! The wiring is so dodgy in these houses as a total nut job cowboy did the conversion into flats about 10 years ago. We’re still all paying for it! Paul and my boyfriend just ripped a 21-foot long tube of metal ducting from an extractor fan out of the false ceiling, which could easily have come crashing down on our heads!
So back to the food…always back to the food. I bought a couple packs of buffalo steak from Puddledub Buffalo as both me and my boyfriend prefer the taste to regular beef steak. It was a packet of ribeye and a packet of popseye this week. We had the ribeye I’d bought last week for dinner on Sunday night, with chips (from frozen, I’m ashamed to say) and some cabbage sautéed in butter. That head of cabbage has been lingering for ages now and we’d just been pulling leaves off the outside to feed the rabbit so it was getting down to a fairly manageable size by Sunday night. We fried the steak in a pan with some balsamic, then heated up some ready-made green peppercorn sauce from TrueFoods. I quite like their sauces as they come in handy pouches instead of a plastic tub, so slightly less waste. The George was far too grotty to even attempt an emergency clean! We had it with some of the horseradish cream I’d bought from Stichill last week, which is by the way so far superior to supermarket creamed horseradish I don’t even think they should share a name. It would be an insult to Stichill’s horseradish to even compare the two.
Then it was on to SS Dei Naufragati for some mozzarella-based fun. I bought a tub of straciatella, which is mozzarella strands in cream, and some ricotta. I love “tasting” at this stall as I firmly believe that food sampled is totally fat free. I must have consumed half a tub of straciatella on the spot.
From Stichill I bought four large pots of jersey double cream and some roasted red pepper dip. I plan to make ice cream at some point this week with the double cream and some of the whopping 6 punnets of strawberries I bought from The Strawberry Shop this week. I also bought four punnets of cherries, but as I’m already halfway through them I doubt there will be cherry goodness left for frozen treat fun.
This week was Belhaven Fruit Farm’s cider week, so I tried and bought a couple bottles each of the “red” strawberry cider and the ginger cider. The ginger is quite different, lovely and warming but refreshing at the same time – sort of like “hard” ginger beer. The strawberry cider I think may become addictive. It’s definitely not as tangy as regular cider, not “dry” at all, and not overly sweet like some fruity ciders. I’m a big believer in only drinking alcohol that tastes nice rather than to get pisht, but I could drink quite a lot of this stuff! Luckily the cider stall is only ever in town once a fortnight, so next week it’s back to the ice cream. Mmm…gooseberry, here I come!
From the middle-stretch of the market I got a loaf of spelt and honey bread from Falko Konditoreimeister, a tub of broccoli soup from The Good Soup Company, and a “posh” chicken and mushroom pie and a loaf of carrot cake from North Country Lass (half of which we gave to Paul for his hard work). The guys from Falko are the same as the guys who work in the shop during the week, so I’m sure they think I’m stalking them – especially as they know I live round the corner from the shop.
To finish off I bought some onions from East Coast Organics and a half dozen eggs, some “Something Different” toms from JM Craig, and then it was back home with my super-heavy trolley to try to fit everything in our newly cleaned fridge!
I finished work earlier on Friday as we had friends visiting. They turned up just after lunchtime so my boyfriend entertained and fed them full of cheese (and chutney) until I got home. Neither of us fancied cooking so I dragged one of the boys out to Peckhams to stock up on snacks for a munch. We came back with far too much cake and some random savoury tarts – and one of those kitsch “lucky” Maneki Neko cats from the oriental supermarket near my house for my friend. Oh my it is so camp, but that’s the look he’s going for in his bedroom, so it should be perfect.
I also found a lovely 3-panelled Buddha’s head wood relief on sale, much like the one I’d seen in Linda’s Restaurant in Toronto only on a smaller scale. I’ve no idea where to put it but I’m sure we can make a space. I’ve gotten right into my Asian art recently, especially the Tibetan and Himalayan. The house at the moment is a mix of Tibetan singing bowls, third-eyes and turn-of-the-century gas chandeliers. I’m not sure we have anything “new”, but I’ve always appreciated a good antique. We even have an impressive sword collection of Ghurkha knives and samurai swords from as far back as the 1500s.
Friday was pretty chilled out, we sat in and some of the boys had a drink. I made it to midnight then passed out in the granddaddy armchair – so good for slumping. The boys had rearranged the furniture and dragged the orange sofa out from hiding so we didn’t have to sit in a half-moon around the telly.
The boys left quite early on Saturday morning so I went to the farmers market by myself. I had to do the bank mission as well so I stopped by Clarks Deli on the way home and picked up a random selection of cheeses, some pears and a head of pink garlic. I also got a few strawberry tarts from A la Carte and a brownie for our electrician Paul, who has put in some serious effort t for us since he started at the beginning of the year. I ended up giving Paul a couple tarts and the brownie to take home to his family, and my boyfriend made a crack about Paul telling his wife he was bringing home an Edinburgh tart.
The farmers market was pretty crowded by the time I got there as it was a lovely day, and there’s nothing like a bit of sunshine to get people out in hordes for some alfresco shopping. I started at the far end so hit Creelers first, as I do most weekends. I am so predictable. Sadly no Cullen skink until winter, but I bought some cooked langoustines and some fish soup. Last week when I was at their stall, a couple people ordered the oysters and made a point of saying how great they were, so I ordered three and wolfed them down with a squeeze of lemon. Yum! I couldn’t do that with the boys with me as I think the idea of raw shellfish freaks some of my friend out.
Next it was Arran’s Cheese shop. I went for the cheddar with peppercorns and another with caramellised red onion as I fancied trying something new. I also bought a pot of crowdie like I do every weekend, and the lovely lady threw in some free oatcakes.
This week the Cairn o Mohr stall was at the market, so I got a bottle of elderberry (the sweeter of the two reds), a bottle of cider and some of the sparkling elderflower – which is non-alcoholic. I’m not really a big drinker usually and I love their sparkling elderflower. It’s tangy and not overly sweet like most elderflower drinks, and it’s so refreshing in the summer. I appear to be stockpiling the cider.
I went a little overboard with the meat and dairy this week, which does go to show that shopping whilst hungry is a bad fucking idea! Luckily I have a very skinny boyfriend with a very big appetite, so no doubt he’ll polish off a couple packets of sausages to himself one morning. Unfortunately the guy from Puddledub Pork was out of the reduced salt bacon by the time I got there, and he did mention he had brought less than usual this week by accident. I got a couple packs of middle bacon instead, some pork chops which my boyfriend is working his magic on tonight to make into a Thai green curry, and some lemon and fennel sausages. Let me just say I’ve bought these sausages several times, but I’ve never tasted one as he usually polishes off a packet before I get around to it. They sound tasty though, and lighter than your average Joe sausage. To add to the sausage-fest I also bought a packet of curried sausages from Ballencrieff Pedigree Pigs. These I’d tried before and liked, but my boyfriend loves all things curried so here I am, indulging him.
The bloke from Hugh Grierson recommended the mutton this week, and suggested a long slow roast in a very low oven. 120ºC for 5 hours he said, with a cup of water chucked in to keep the whole thing moist. I also got a packet of chicken wings for snackage. I’d planned to do it on the Saturday night but we got sidetracked and ended up at our neighbour’s flat for the evening. The boyfriend was doing some gardening for her with her boyfriend, and me and my neighbour “supervised”. It was a quality evening, as we’d not really spent much time with them since Dee’s gran died, and they’re lovely folk. My dad and Dee’s dad Mr M would love to pal around with each other, and Mr M has made jokes about taking my dad for a spin in his flash new car. We should set a date.
I should mention my flat used to belong to Dee’s family, back in the day. She’s not much older than me but she’s lived on the street for most of her life – her gran Maidie used to own the entire building as a hotel in the 70s, and my bit used to be the hotel bar and lounge. We’re in the process of restoring it to its former glory, which is taking some amount of blood, sweat and tears. Luckily, not mine – we’re getting builders in to do the work, the same company that ripped down and rebuilt the big front bedroom after a flood last year. We’ve got the best group of guys doing the work, totally honest, efficient and hardworking. Not typical at all in Edinburgh! Paul hails from out of town and is a good mate of my boyfriend’s brother-in-law. He puts in some amount of exceptional effort pretty much every weekend, rewiring the house and making sure we don’t burst into flames! The wiring is so dodgy in these houses as a total nut job cowboy did the conversion into flats about 10 years ago. We’re still all paying for it! Paul and my boyfriend just ripped a 21-foot long tube of metal ducting from an extractor fan out of the false ceiling, which could easily have come crashing down on our heads!
So back to the food…always back to the food. I bought a couple packs of buffalo steak from Puddledub Buffalo as both me and my boyfriend prefer the taste to regular beef steak. It was a packet of ribeye and a packet of popseye this week. We had the ribeye I’d bought last week for dinner on Sunday night, with chips (from frozen, I’m ashamed to say) and some cabbage sautéed in butter. That head of cabbage has been lingering for ages now and we’d just been pulling leaves off the outside to feed the rabbit so it was getting down to a fairly manageable size by Sunday night. We fried the steak in a pan with some balsamic, then heated up some ready-made green peppercorn sauce from TrueFoods. I quite like their sauces as they come in handy pouches instead of a plastic tub, so slightly less waste. The George was far too grotty to even attempt an emergency clean! We had it with some of the horseradish cream I’d bought from Stichill last week, which is by the way so far superior to supermarket creamed horseradish I don’t even think they should share a name. It would be an insult to Stichill’s horseradish to even compare the two.
Then it was on to SS Dei Naufragati for some mozzarella-based fun. I bought a tub of straciatella, which is mozzarella strands in cream, and some ricotta. I love “tasting” at this stall as I firmly believe that food sampled is totally fat free. I must have consumed half a tub of straciatella on the spot.
From Stichill I bought four large pots of jersey double cream and some roasted red pepper dip. I plan to make ice cream at some point this week with the double cream and some of the whopping 6 punnets of strawberries I bought from The Strawberry Shop this week. I also bought four punnets of cherries, but as I’m already halfway through them I doubt there will be cherry goodness left for frozen treat fun.
This week was Belhaven Fruit Farm’s cider week, so I tried and bought a couple bottles each of the “red” strawberry cider and the ginger cider. The ginger is quite different, lovely and warming but refreshing at the same time – sort of like “hard” ginger beer. The strawberry cider I think may become addictive. It’s definitely not as tangy as regular cider, not “dry” at all, and not overly sweet like some fruity ciders. I’m a big believer in only drinking alcohol that tastes nice rather than to get pisht, but I could drink quite a lot of this stuff! Luckily the cider stall is only ever in town once a fortnight, so next week it’s back to the ice cream. Mmm…gooseberry, here I come!
From the middle-stretch of the market I got a loaf of spelt and honey bread from Falko Konditoreimeister, a tub of broccoli soup from The Good Soup Company, and a “posh” chicken and mushroom pie and a loaf of carrot cake from North Country Lass (half of which we gave to Paul for his hard work). The guys from Falko are the same as the guys who work in the shop during the week, so I’m sure they think I’m stalking them – especially as they know I live round the corner from the shop.
To finish off I bought some onions from East Coast Organics and a half dozen eggs, some “Something Different” toms from JM Craig, and then it was back home with my super-heavy trolley to try to fit everything in our newly cleaned fridge!
Thursday, 17 June 2010
RIP Boudiche
I just found out yesterday one of my favourite shops has gone out of business. It was my Pilates teacher who mentioned it at yesterday’s evening class, possibly as her studio is just around the corner from it. I knew the girls who ran the shop and they’re lovely – it was a proper fancy knicker shop, very glam, almost like an old-school dressing room you could imagine Bettie Page lounging about on the chaise longue. I’m not a girly girl and I’m not a fan of abundant frilliness – I look like a tranny in too much lace – but this place was more glamour and less shrill prink and girly.
So it is with great sadness that I’ll say now, RIP Boudiche.. I’d bought many a corset and many an impractical but irresistible gorgeous pair of undies over the years, and I’m sure Fiona and Clare will go on to do great things wherever they choose to go next.
x
So it is with great sadness that I’ll say now, RIP Boudiche.. I’d bought many a corset and many an impractical but irresistible gorgeous pair of undies over the years, and I’m sure Fiona and Clare will go on to do great things wherever they choose to go next.
x
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Steamed honey soy salmon parcels with rice noodle stir fry
We had salmon for dinner last night, which is a pretty big deal in my house as my boyfriend is not a fan of fish – childhood trauma, fish bone, choking etc. The topic has come up before how we should try to eat more fish, but we’re the kind of household that resorts to meat in a pinch, and to be honest I’m a lazy cook on days I work. So Monday to Friday we slap a slab of meat onto a plate with potatoes or rice, or pasta if I win that night. We don’t do much to the meat except grill it on the George with some balsamic.
Except last night, I had a big tail piece of salmon from Creelers calling my name in the fridge. Too often I buy fish and have to freeze it at the last minute because we’d totally forgotten about it, but I was determined that food I’d bought fresh would be eaten fresh from now on (dagnabbit!)), so into the oven it went. We even went all-out with the healthy eating and had loads of veg with it.
The fish and the onion came from the farmers market, the fennel from RealFoods (my regular stop off point in town on days I go to Pilates class), and the rest of the veg I picked up in Marks and Sparks yesterday on my way home – I don’t usually get veg from the supermarket, but their food hall is ok (I was there to return some clothes I’d bought in a moment of madness) and I only picked up produce sourced from the UK.
Oh, and I don’t always do measurements. I am a firm believer in seasoning to taste, so there will be no “tbsps” and “grammes” here. Where possible I’ve included the source of the produce)
Steamed honey soy salmon parcels with rice noodle stir fry
Honey
Soy sauce (I use Kikkoman or ClearSpring)
Chilli oil
Salmon tail end, cut into fillets
1 bulb fennel, julienned (RealFoods)
1 onion, thinly sliced (Phantassie – farmers market)
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest oils – farmers market)
Bok choy, shredded (M&S – UK)
English chestnut mushrooms, sliced (Phantassie)
Broccoli, in florets (M&S – UK)
Spinach (M&S – UK)
3 cloves garlic, chopped (W Christie’s butchers)
2 packets Ready-cooked rice noodles (M&S)
Preheat oven to 180º C.
On the non-shiny side of a rectangle of foil drizzle some rapeseed oil. I folded a long sheet in half shiny side to prevent leakage. Make a bed of sliced onion and fennel. Place the salmon fillets on top, skin side down. Season
Mix up the honey, soy and chilli oil. At this point you could also add grated ginger or garlic but I just left it smooth. Brush or drizzle on the salmon fillets.
Wrap the parcels up – I found doing it in a triangle made it easier to open up and plate. Place on a tray and stick in oven – they should bake for about 30-35 mins.
About 10 mins before the salmon needs to come out, heat some rapeseed oil in a wok. Add the diced bok choy and stir fry. Add a splash of soy sauce and a little honey. Then add the rest of the ingredients in this order: mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, rice noodles, and finally spinach. By this time the salmon should be ready and the spinach should be wilted.
Plate the noodles and remove the salmon from its parcel. Serves 2 with leftover noodles for the next day
Except last night, I had a big tail piece of salmon from Creelers calling my name in the fridge. Too often I buy fish and have to freeze it at the last minute because we’d totally forgotten about it, but I was determined that food I’d bought fresh would be eaten fresh from now on (dagnabbit!)), so into the oven it went. We even went all-out with the healthy eating and had loads of veg with it.
The fish and the onion came from the farmers market, the fennel from RealFoods (my regular stop off point in town on days I go to Pilates class), and the rest of the veg I picked up in Marks and Sparks yesterday on my way home – I don’t usually get veg from the supermarket, but their food hall is ok (I was there to return some clothes I’d bought in a moment of madness) and I only picked up produce sourced from the UK.
Oh, and I don’t always do measurements. I am a firm believer in seasoning to taste, so there will be no “tbsps” and “grammes” here. Where possible I’ve included the source of the produce)
Steamed honey soy salmon parcels with rice noodle stir fry
Honey
Soy sauce (I use Kikkoman or ClearSpring)
Chilli oil
Salmon tail end, cut into fillets
1 bulb fennel, julienned (RealFoods)
1 onion, thinly sliced (Phantassie – farmers market)
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest oils – farmers market)
Bok choy, shredded (M&S – UK)
English chestnut mushrooms, sliced (Phantassie)
Broccoli, in florets (M&S – UK)
Spinach (M&S – UK)
3 cloves garlic, chopped (W Christie’s butchers)
2 packets Ready-cooked rice noodles (M&S)
Preheat oven to 180º C.
On the non-shiny side of a rectangle of foil drizzle some rapeseed oil. I folded a long sheet in half shiny side to prevent leakage. Make a bed of sliced onion and fennel. Place the salmon fillets on top, skin side down. Season
Mix up the honey, soy and chilli oil. At this point you could also add grated ginger or garlic but I just left it smooth. Brush or drizzle on the salmon fillets.
Wrap the parcels up – I found doing it in a triangle made it easier to open up and plate. Place on a tray and stick in oven – they should bake for about 30-35 mins.
About 10 mins before the salmon needs to come out, heat some rapeseed oil in a wok. Add the diced bok choy and stir fry. Add a splash of soy sauce and a little honey. Then add the rest of the ingredients in this order: mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, rice noodles, and finally spinach. By this time the salmon should be ready and the spinach should be wilted.
Plate the noodles and remove the salmon from its parcel. Serves 2 with leftover noodles for the next day
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Strawberry tarts
I really must post about this – last weekend I had the most amazing strawberry tart, and I’d like to share it. Well no, I wouldn’t actually like to share it. I barely let my boyfriend get a look in, but he's quick with the grabby hand and was close to the fridge.
Light pastry (I wouldn’t call it a shortcrust as it wasn’t stodgy like a typical sweet pastry shell), freshly whipped cream and a lightly glazed dollop of strawberries. It may have been the best thing I tasted all weekend.
Even my boyfriend liked it, and he is not a fan of the sweet. He claims it is because he is so naturally sweet himself, but I say it’s his supersensitive teeth and his fear of emergency dental surgery. Which he had a month ago.
The tart is seasonal and can be found in my gob - or at À la Carte in Bruntsfield. The address is 156 Bruntsfield Place in Edinburgh. If you’re one of those people who has their GPS permanently welded to their face (ahem my dad) the postcode is EH10 4ER.
The shortbread and cheese scones are something to write home about as well.
Light pastry (I wouldn’t call it a shortcrust as it wasn’t stodgy like a typical sweet pastry shell), freshly whipped cream and a lightly glazed dollop of strawberries. It may have been the best thing I tasted all weekend.
Even my boyfriend liked it, and he is not a fan of the sweet. He claims it is because he is so naturally sweet himself, but I say it’s his supersensitive teeth and his fear of emergency dental surgery. Which he had a month ago.
The tart is seasonal and can be found in my gob - or at À la Carte in Bruntsfield. The address is 156 Bruntsfield Place in Edinburgh. If you’re one of those people who has their GPS permanently welded to their face (ahem my dad) the postcode is EH10 4ER.
The shortbread and cheese scones are something to write home about as well.
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