Month: September 2011

A drive through Yorkshire

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One of the days we stayed in York, we rented a car for the day and drove out to the countryside. The first stop was Fountain’s Abbey, a well preserved old abbey cared for by the National Trust.

Our initial plan was to stop at a few different places along the road and maybe go for a walk, but it was raining heavily most of the time, so we had to eat our picnic inside the car and rush out to take pictures and then straight back inside.

It stopped raining (for a little while) just as we pulled into the village of Hutton-le-Hole so we could have a look around.

Despite the weather, we really enjoyed driving around and seeing more of the county and its wonderful nature. It was moors filled with heather, sheep everywhere and winding roads.

The city of York

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We have spent Monday to Friday this week up north in York, the English city that was the capital during Roman times, which you can see evidence of all over the town.

York is a small, but very cosy town, with lots of old buildings and narrow cobbled streets. We had a look around the city and went for a walk on the old city walls, made a visit to the museum where we learned more about the history of York and the amazing Minster. We also wanted to visit the Treasurer’s house, but we had completely missed the fact that they were closed on Fridays, the day when we intended to go. Oh well…

We rented a flat instead of staying in a hotel or B&B, because we wanted to be able to stay in if we wanted to. He priority with this trip was to rest, sleep, unwind and recover from a busy summer, so sightseeing was secondary.

The flat we rented was really nice and close to the train station which meant that we could walk everywhere. It also had a TV (which we actually don’t have) and it was actually really nice to watch crappy day-time television. The flat also came with a DVD-player and a selection of good DVDs, so we stayed in most nights.

After a few days among super friendly people, fresh air, colder more autumnal weather, it was really nice to come back home to London yesterday.

Friday!

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Friday again. A day I normally get very excited about but less so this week when we’ve had all week off. Never the less, it is always nice with the weekend approaching.

We have spent this week in and around York in the north of England. It has been a nice break from busy London and we feel really rested.

Later today we’re taking the train back to the big smoke and although we’ve had a great time away I am quite looking forward to seeing my own kitchen again. 🙂

Next week’s menu is looking like this:

Tonight: homemade pizza

Saturday: Remsan’s girolle cannelloni (Swedish recipe)

Sunday: toasts (away for lunch)

• polenta with chorizo and mushrooms

• Tuscan bean soup

• chorizo stew with carrots and parsnips

The one thing we’ve got planned this weekend is to celebrate Anna’s 30th. Have a great day, dear!

And to the rest of you: Have a nice weekend!

Gitto’s Damascus chicken wings

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We went on holiday to Syria in March, before the country fell apart more or less, and felt very lucky that we got to visit before everything took a turn for the worst, but you also feel a bit guilty for it. We got to experience the lovely country and then just left and went back home, and didn’t have to deal with what came next.

It is terrible what is happening in the Middle East and I certainly don’t want to belittle all that. But. I did fall in love with the country and especially its food, and that is why I want to share this great recipe with you.

The most wonderful spice blend I got to taste in Syria was za’atar that is very popular all over the Middle East. It is a spice blend consisting of thyme and sesame seeds mainly, and as all other blends it can taste very different depending on the specific ratios. The one we tried and bought from a whole saler in Damascus was just fabulous and something I really treasure since we got back.

And when I saw that a Swedish food blogger had come up with chicken wings with za’atar I just couldn’t resist trying it.

It was very unusual, I bet you, just like me, think of chicken wings and chilli sauce, not za’atar. But this was new and fresh and together with a lovely feta dip this was a great weekday treat.

The original recipe is in Swedish only, so my translation follow below:

Damscus chicken wings, serves 2

400 g chicken wings

70 g or so of ciftlik paneer (or proper feta)

100 ml milk

a few mint leaves

100 ml za’atar

100 ml olive oil

vegetable oil for deep-frying

1/2 cucumber

Turn the oven on 75C. Split the chicken wings by the joint. Place in a colander. Pour a litre of boiling water over the wings and then place them on a wire rack with a baking tray underneath. Let them crisp up in the oven for 40 minutes.

Mix cheese and milk and add the mint. Mix za’atar and olive oil in a bowl. Cut the cucumber into batons. Deep-fry the chicken wings in 180C oil until nice and golden, for about 6-7 minutes. Fry in batches and place on kitchen towel. Mix the chicken wings with the za’atar mixture and dig in.

Blueberry cheesecake

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For the August birthdays at work I made lavender blondies and this blueberry cheesecake. I wanted to use summery flavours before autumn is here knocking on the door.

I found the recipe for this cheesecake on a Swedish food blog, Matplatsen and it is quite box standard. Making the filling I used a stick blender, and that worked, however a good processor would work even better. And make sure not to omit the top layer of creme fraiche, that is (literally) the icing on the cake and makes it so much nicer.

Blueberry cheesecake, serves 8-10

Base:
250 g digestives
100 g butter

Flling #1:
450 g Philadelphia cheese or other cream cheese
200 g blueberries
3 eggs
125 ml caster sugar 

Filling #2:
300 ml creme fraiche
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Turn on the oven and set it to 180C. Crumble the biscuits and mix with melted butter. Press the base into a springform until firm. Bake in oven for 5-10 minutes. Mix the ingredients for filling #1 until smooth and pour into the springform. Bake in a low oven for 25-30 minutes or until just set.

Mix filling #2 and spread it onto the cale. Bake for another 5 minutes. Leave to cool completely and refrigerate until serving. Decorate with fresh blueberries and icing sugar.

York

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The picture is borrowed from http://www.designmeawebsite.net/web-design-york/

We’re off from work this week and are staying in York until Friday. I am very much looking forward to it. To  go for walks in the countryside and on the moor in wellies and a quilted Barbour, breath fresh air and look around the town.

It is only a month ago since we got back from a week in Sweden, and although that was wonderful as always, it is not relaxing in the same way a ‘real’ holiday is. So that is why this week will mean a lot to us. We want to have lie-ins every morning, decided on the day what we want to do, stroll around the streets and go to the pub and relax with good food.

 

Anna’s lavender blondies

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One of my favourite Swedish blogs is Anna’s Scanian pantry (SkĂĄnska Skafferiet), partly because she lives in ‘my’ county but also because her recipes are wonderful. She combines the new with the old and comes up with interesting flavour combinations. One of these great combos is the white chocolate, almond and lavender one used in this blondie recipe – it truly is divine!

Anna’s lavender blondies, serves 16

200 g white chocolate (Fairtrade)

250 g butter

4 eggs

300 ml caster sugar

250 ml plain flour

a pinch of salt

Chopped:

100 g white chocolate

100 g blanched almonds

2 tbsp lavender
Turn the oven on 200C and cover the base of a rectangular baking tray with parchment paper. Break up the 200 g of chocolate and melt it together with the butter in a sauce oan. The chocolate must not be too warm and does not need to melt completely. Stir with a fork until a glossy mixture.

Add sugar and salt to the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Add the flour while stirring. Chop the remaining chocolate, lavender (not necessary really) and almonds. Pour the batter into the baking tray and scatter the chopped stuff on top. Press it down into the batter with a spatula.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 22-25 minutes. The top should be crispy and should have let go of the sides but the middle should be smudgy. Fill up the sink with cold water and place the tray there to cool down. Then place the tray in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting into squares.

Meeting fellow food bloggers

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During my long weekend in Gothenburg I had time to meet up with two food bloggers. Both Åsa who I had lunch with on the Monday and on the Saturday Charlotta invited me over to her flat for some icecream.

She had made three different types of icecream; raspberry, blueberry and liquorice (how Swedish!) and served them together with an amazing liquorice sauce that even non-liquorice lovers would like.

It is fascinating how well you can get to know someone online. We talked about that and realised how much we know about each other, and meeting IRL was a good way to fill in the gaps.

Friday update

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It is Friday again, and that means a little London update from me.

It has been a short week because of the Monday bank holiday, but I still managed to go out twice. On Wednesday I met Gaby at Busaba and enjoyed calamari and a crab pad thai. Delicious, and I really must say that this restaurant chain is great value for money. The food is fresh, tasty and cheap and although dining at communal tables with benches the interior is very pleasant with dark wood and burning incense.

Yesterday I met up with four girlfriends at da Polpo, where I have been before, and we had a great time as always. It is another great-value-for-money-place and it is nice to go out with friends for a nice meal without it being too expensive.

I have not made a weekly menu for next week, because we are going away, but during this weekend we will enjoy the following, probably:

Have a great weekend!