Reciplace

Merry Christmas!!!

I haven't done much in the way of blogging this month.  Work has been brutally busy, and is only getting busier.  It's now Christmas Eve, and I haven't even done any Christmas shopping!  I'm at work now, hoping to buy a few online presents that just require printing off, before I leave at lunchtime.  Shameful.

I'm in London for Christmas this year.  It should be a good feast.  I'm planning a lovely breakfast complete with bucks fizz, fruit salad, ham and mustard, and rye bread.

Lunch is a grazy-affair of olives, cheese, biscuits and balsamic onions.

Dinner is root veg and goats cheese salad, roast potatoes, honey roasted carrots, and pork loin stuffed with apricot and pine nuts. With a lovely bakewell tart sent to me from my Veggie Bowls playing friend. Yum!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Spelt risotto with beetroot and greens

Here's a quick little after work knock-up I made.  It's funny how sometimes, when you least expect it, you can create a dish in a hurry with whatever scraps you have in the house, and it turns into something worthy of the Masterchef finals.

I'm really into spelt lately... it's got some great health benefits over wheat, and a fab nutty flavour that works really well in bread. 

Risotto is a great after-work-too-tired-to-cook-need-to-finish-off-this-weeks-veg-box kind of meal.  So I decided to trade in the Arborio rice for some pearled spelt.  I then threw in some garlic, red onion, greens and cooked beetroot.  A little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to finish it off, and shabam!  Another quick, healthy weeknight meal accomplished. 

Good Food Channel Goes All Masterchef

My friend Nora from work represented us (Good Food Channel) at the BBC Good Food show in November at the Masterchef challenge. 

Of course, she did brilliantly.  Read all about it here: http://uktv.co.uk/food/blogpost/aid/632348

Hummingbird Bakery Green Tea Cupcakes

I'm enormously addicted to Japanese matcha (green tea) flavoured desserts.  I'm not hugely into desserts (much to my chocoholic mother's astonishment), but matcha really appeals to me.  I think it's because it's sort of sweet and bitter at the same time, and tastes chalky and powdery like delicious Pepto-Bismol.  

While in Japan, we ate matcha candy, matcha rice balls, matcha cake, LOTS of matcha ice cream, and even matcha pancakes.  This crazy bright green powder actually tastes nothing like green tea - but when whipped up into a dessert, it becomes a totally bonkers taste sensation.

These cupcakes are from my new cake-porn book, The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. They were totally moist and yummy - and the frosting on top was a matcha fueled explosion.  I took the leftovers into work, and they were a hit!  Even with the people who weren't sure about the taste of green tea in a cupcake.

My only complaint about them would be that they might have a bit too much matcha powder in them.  Matcha desserts in Japan are usually a more subtle shade of green - and these look a little like Oscar the Grouch green.   And at £7 for a tin of matcha powder to make 12 cupcakes, I'm not sure I'll be rushing to make them again any time soon.  But I think the dozens of other recipes in the Hummingbird book will keep me plenty occupied until the next time!

Where to buy fresh yeast in London (Scandi Kitchen)

 

I have a lot of people coming to my blog searching for, "where can I buy fresh yeast in London?".   Although I talk about fresh yeast quite a bit on this blog, I may have never actually said where I buy it. 

I've heard rumours that you can ask for free fresh yeast at the bakeries of large Tesco and Sainsbury's.  Frankly, I'd be surprised if anyone working at these "bakeries" even knows what fresh yeast is, seeing as everything they sell has been intensively manufactured off site and part baked before they even get it. 

I think that any real bakery worth their salt will sell fresh yeast if you ask them nicely.  If they don't have it, it might be a sign that they too are having their bread sent in from elsewhere.  Down in my part of London, you can find fresh yeast in Luca's Bakery, and the East Dulwich Deli, both on Lordship Lane in Dulwich.

But the place I always buy my fresh yeast from is The Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield Street, London.  It's conveniently located 3 minutes away from my office, and on the way to my gym.  There's no having to politely ask anyone if you could inconvenience them for a block of yeast - they proudly sell it in the fridge near the counter.  And for the bargain-rific price of 45p.  

They also sell loads of lovely food things, and serve amazing open faced sandwiches on rye bread for lunch.  Yum!