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Our new place in the country… we hope

Published on June 8, 2009 in Personal and photos. 2 Comments

The lease on our London flat is coming to an end so Tim and I have decided to go for something completely different and move to the countryside. After several weeks of mildly stressful house-hunting, I think our search is finally over. Today we found an awesomely cool converted barn in the middle of freakin’ nowhere (Oaksey, UK).

The place is a cool old barn with wood beams and a neat stone wall, but with lots of cool modern features like an open-plan living space and a big window opening out onto a massive south-facing garden (we think we’ll get a dog).

The pic above looks a bit suburban with its well-mown lawn, but up close it’s a nifty old barn made of Cotswold stone that looks out onto the country. Rumor has it we’ll even have some cows coming to visit us from time to time. I look forward to pimping out the garden with a bbq, table and chairs, an herb garden, and other good stuff.

The barn is located on Clattinger Farm, a 60.3 hectare enclave owned by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and a “Site of Special Scientific Interest”. It’s a little grassland oasis full of wildlife and pretty flowers. Plus, it’s on the outskirts of the Cotswolds, a range of hills in the south west of England and a designated “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”. I’m so excited to move. There will be lots of walking, cooking, working on our own thing, being free, and hopefully playing with our dog in the peaceful, English countryside.

Here’s a little snip about the farm from The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust:

Clattinger Farm is a precious remnant of a near-vanished type of grassland, the hay meadow. Its fabulous richness as a wildlife habitat is a tribute to the previous owners who farmed it traditionally, without artificial fertilisers. Acquired by the Trust in 1996, it is considered the finest remaining example of enclosed lowland grassland in the UK and is of international importance for its hay meadow wildflowers. It has legal protection as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and is part of a Special Area of Conservation.

Clattinger Farm is breathtaking in June, when the wildflower meadows are at their most colourful. A walk around the nature reserve will offer a glimpse of plants that were once common, but some of which are now extremely rare. Several species of orchid, including the Southern Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa), and the nationally rare Downy-fruited Sedge (Carex filiformis), are amongst its treasures.

Earlier in the season, in April, you can see the fragile, nodding heads of the Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), once common enough to pick by the armload, but now surviving only in a few protected spots.

And a few more pics of the place:

House Hunting - Barn Conversion - The One?

I shouldn’t get too excited. We still need to fill in the application and get all our references approved. But I’m excited.

The Barn in Oaksey - My Flickr photo set
Original advertisement
The contenders - All of our househunting pics

Orange Polenta Birthday Cake

Published on June 1, 2009 in food and recipes. 1 Comment

Happy birthday to Tim! And what’s a Tim’s birthday without a birthday cake? So today I made an orange polenta cake from a book Tim generously gave ME a few months ago: Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi, a London chef known for his particularly delicious and uncompromising vegetarian food.

This was my first foray into the cookbook, and my first polenta cake. Neither will be my last. We both loved the cake. It was a bit of a faff to make, only because I’ve never made caramel before and it took me three attempts to get it right (these instructions from Delia online and this video from Gordon Ramsay were particularly helpful).

My cake looks pretty close to the one in the book. And I’m pretty sure it tastes just as good. I’m happy. Tim, too.

Orange Polenta Cake

For Caramel Orange Layer

1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
2 navel oranges

For Cake

1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup superfine granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange-flower water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups ground almonds (7 oz)
2/3 cup quick-cooking polenta

For Glaze

1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon water

Make Caramel Orange Layer:

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Lightly butter a 9-inch round cake pan, then line bottom with a round of parchment paper and side with a strip of parchment.

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.

Remove from heat and add butter, swirling pan until incorporated, then carefully but quickly pour caramel into cake pan, tilting it to coat evenly.

Grate zest from oranges and reserve for cake. Cut remaining peel, including white pith, from both oranges with a paring knife. Cut oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Remove any seeds and arrange slices in 1 layer over caramel.

Make Cake:

Beat butter with sugar using an electric mixer until just combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in orange-flower water and reserved zest.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer at low speed, mix almonds, polenta, and flour mixture into egg mixture until just combined.Spread batter evenly over oranges (preferably with an offset spatula). Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Invert cake onto a cake plate and discard parchment.

Glaze Cake:

Heat marmalade with water in a small saucepan until melted. Strain through a sieve into a small bowl. Brush top of cake with some of glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Food for thought (literally)

Published on May 24, 2009 in food. 0 Comments

Mark Bittman on the way we eat, from his bio on the New York Times:

Taking control of our food - knowing where it comes from, selecting it and cooking it ourselves - makes us more thoughtful. Sitting down to a meal and eating with those we care about instead of standing over the sink with a bowl of cereal is an act of engagement rather than one of isolation. The way we interact with food says a lot about how we want to live our lives, and a move toward wholesome food and away from Pop Tarts and fish sticks can only portend good things.

(Thanks, Tim!)

Chit Chaat

Published on May 22, 2009 in London and food. 0 Comments

Had a nice outing last night with my old workmates from FTSE. Went to Pride of Spitalfields - my favorite pub on the east side - for a beer and a pub cat. I had a Sharp’s Doom Bar, a 4% bitter from Cornwall. It was warm. But the cat was totally chill and the company were sweet as always.

After drinks, we headed up Brick Lane for a curry at Chaat, a Bengladeshi cafe off on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch. The food was pleasantly non-greasy, though I did think it needed a bit of salt (my companions thought I was nuts). I’ve had better samosas, but the “paneer roti wrap” was fun, the channa salad was pleasantly spiced, and the tarka dal was delicious and garlicky. It doesn’t beat Rasa, and it doesn’t beat my own Indian cooking (if I do say so myself!), but the food was great for the price, the atmosphere was pleasant, and the staff were really nice. I give it a three out of five stars.

Family Recipes: Pumpkin Pie

Published on May 17, 2009 in food and recipes. 2 Comments

Lightroom Catalog.lrcat - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Develop.jpg

My fam’s been making this pumpkin pie recipe since 1978! It’s always a hit at the family parties. But why wait for the holidays for pumpkin pie? I’m making one right now, for no better reason than it’s yummy, easy, and gives me a good excuse to practice my pie crust technique!

Pumpkin Pie

1 16oz. can of pumpkin
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 13oz can of evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie shell, for a 9″ pan

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, brown sugar, salt and spices.
Blend in eggs and evaporated milk.
Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes,
until a knife inserted half way comes out clean.
Slice and serve with fresh whipped cream.

My Quest for the Perfect Veggie Burger

Published on May 9, 2009 in London, food and photos. 0 Comments

One step closer to the truth yesterday at Mildred’s Vegetarian Restaurant in Soho. Made with beetroot, pumpkin, peas and spring onion, this vegan burger was NOT a mush burger. And it tasted fab. Lots of whole fennel seed. Great texture. Yummy sweet relish and basil mayonnaise on the side.

Now, how do I accomplish something similar? I’m guessing lots of oil… and salt.

BTW, Mildred’s is a very nice restaurant, and reasonably priced (the veggie burger was £7.50). I would definitely eat there again.

Buckwheat Crêpes

Published on May 9, 2009 in food, photos and recipes. 0 Comments

Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com

I always wondered what it would take to break me of my Bircher muesli habit. Turns out it was the flu.

The antibiotics I’ve been taking are playing games with my taste buds, and instead of craving raw nuts and fruit, I’m instead craving cheese and dairy like they’re going out of fashion. I suddenly find myself in the mood for crêpes and blintzes, so last week I hit up Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for a bit of inspiration.

These buckwheat crêpes are my new favorite breakfast. Made with buckwheat flour, they’re chock full of fiber, manganese, magnesium and protein, and when combined with tasty fillings like fresh fruit, yogurt or cottage cheese, they make for a delicious, wholesome breakfast. My favorite crêpes medley so far is pictured above: filled with honey-sweetened cottage cheese, then topped with loads of fresh fruit and a dusting of powdered sugar. I also really dig fruit-filled crêpes topped with Greek yogurt.

That’s the awesome thing about crêpes - they’re totally versatile. In fact, these crêpes would do just as well with savory fillings, such as sauteed mushrooms, feta cheese, or any kind of veggie. I have a vision of filling these crêpes with pan-fried asparagus, then topping then with cashew gravy, but I usually eat all the crêpes up for breakfast before I get a chance.

Crêpes are traditionally made with eggs and butter, but vegans in the audience can have their crêpes and eat it, too. Check out this recipe for vegan crêpes and get cookin’!

Buckwheat Crêpes

Adopted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp butter, melted

Whisk together all of the ingredients Let the batter rest for at least an hour.
Lightly oil or butter an 8- or 10-inch nonstick skillet and place over medium heat.
Pour a couple of tablespoons of batter into the skillet. Swirl it around so that it forms a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. (If the crêpe isn’t thin enough, add a little more milk to the batter.)
When the top of the crêpe is dry, after about a minute, flip and cook the other side for 15 to 30 seconds. (The crêpe should brown only very slightly and not be at all crisp.)
Stack the crêpes on a plate as you make them. You can keep them warm in a low oven while you make the remaining crêpes. Or freeze the leftover crêpes, separating each crêpe with a piece of parchment paper.

Makes about 16 crêpes. Per crêpe: 57 Calories; 2.1g Protein; 2.4g Total Fat; 7.2g Total Carbohydrates; 28mg Cholesterol; 22mg Sodium; 0.8g Fiber.

Split Pea Soup for the Soul

Published on April 26, 2009 in food and recipes. 0 Comments

Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com

Split Pea Soup with Braised Spinach and Sourdough Bread

I haven’t had a flu in a long time. It’s the strangest sensation. I have no symptoms of a cold, such as runny nose or cough. I don’t have a fever. But my entire body feels like it’s been pummeled. My back aches and I’m so lethargic I can barely move. I’ve never slept so much in my life. I equate this to the way I felt after I had my wisdom teeth removed, passed out and exhausted in the bed. Only this time I’m not bleeding all over my pillow, or pumped full of codeine.

Now that I have sufficiently ruined your appetites, perhaps I could bring it back with a comforting bowl of yellow split pea soup? This is another hit from Mark Bittman, who makes a very valid point about vegetarian split pea soup in his book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian:

Meat-eaters automatically associate split peas with ham bones, so many vegtarian versions of split pea soup add a smoky taste through smoked chiles like dried chipotle or ancho. Tossing a piece of toasted seaweed into the pot is another way to add a “meaty” dimension. The truth is you don’t need either. Why muddle that distinctive pea flavor?

I couldn’t agree more. Once again, vegetarian food doesn’t have to mimic meat to be delicious. The proof: Bittman’s Yellow Split Pea Soup with Pantry Vegetables. The surprise is in the pumpkin, which dissolves beautifully into the soup, adding an extra dimension of creaminess and subtle sweetness. Apparently, this is the way they do it in the Caribbean.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

2 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups yellow split peas
6 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato, yam, plantains, pumpkin, taro root or any combination of the above
cayenne pepper (optional)
lime (optional)

Heat up the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add the split peas and stock to the pot. Cook for about 20 minutes.
Add the potato, pumpkin, or whichever root vegetable you are using. Continue cooking until all the vegetables and peas are soft, about 25-40 minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. You can leave the soup chunk or blend some if it if you like.
Serve with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and a squeeze of lime.

Serves 4.

My Review of Coleman Two-Mantle Propane Lantern

Published on April 26, 2009 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

REI

This two-mantle, match-light, propane lantern lights up your campsite when the sun goes down.

Coleman Two-Mantle Propane Lantern

You light up my life.

spacekadet London, UK 4/26/2009

Pros: Easy To Setup, Powerful Light Output, Long Run Time

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

What Is Your Gear Style: Minimalist

My sis and I were cooking dinner one night, lighting our way with this Coleman lantern. The obnoxious teenager’s nearby made a comment like, “jeez, i thought the sun went down hours ago.” That just goes to show how bright this bad boy burns. It’s great for doing any kind of camp set-up or cooking in the dark. We usually cook with one of these and our headlamps for task lighting. Works like a charm. Great for car camping. Remember to keep extra mantles on hand. They last a while, but if you do anything silly like knock over the lantern and ruin a mantle, it’s always good to have back-ups!

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Our “new” car

Published on April 25, 2009 in London and photos. 0 Comments

Meet the Vauxhall A(ce)stra. It cost £300 and already comes with an “I Love Dartmoor” sticker. It also runs. What more could you want?

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Our new place in the country… we hope