Mac is back!

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Queen of Everything

After a long absence and at Stuart’s request, Mac ‘n’ Cheese has made a reappearance on our menu. Todays weather hasn’t helped in the decision to go down the comfort food route. Earlier this week with the sunnier days I was thinking we were getting into salad season, but alas no.

My go-to Mac ‘n’ Cheese recipe is now in fact one that Jamie Oliver did in his Jamie’s America book. The recipe states its for 8-10 people, I am not sure where he got that from, unless he tested it out on 8-10 hungry cowboys. Its more like 10-12 people. So I made half that amount, since it is the 2 of us and you can only freeze so much.

Jamie’s Killer Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Ingredients (Serves 8-10 -apparently)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
45g butter
3 heaped tbsp. plain flour
10 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
6 fresh bay leaves
1 litre semi-skimmed milk
600g dried macaroni
8 tomatoes
150g Grated Cheddar Cheese
100g Grated Parmesan Cheese
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
couple of splashes of Worcestershire Sauce
Grating of Nutmeg
3 big handfuls of breadcrumbs
Olive Oil

Method

1. Get a large pan of water and bring to the boil
2. In another pan melt the butter on a low heat, then add the flour and turn the heat up to medium, stirring all the time, until you get a paste (a roux)
3. Add the garlic, keep cooking and stirring until golden and the garlic is sticky.
4. Add the bay leaves and slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time until you get a nice smooth sauce
5. Bring the mixture to the boil, then leave it on a low heat to simmer, stirring occasionally.
6. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas7
7. Cook the pasta according to the instructions.
8. Roughly chop the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper
9. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce
10. Give it a good stir and remove from the heat
11. Stir in the cheeses, tomatoes and thyme
12. Add a little Worcestershire sauce and grated nutmeg if wanted
13. Bake in the oven for 30 mins until golden and bubbling
14. While its cooking put breadcrumbs, thyme and olive oil in a frying pan, and fry until golden and crunchy
15. Serve the macaroni cheese sprinkled with the breadcrumbs.

Tart Attack!

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Tonight I picked up the courage to venture forth to a meeting of the Edinburgh Cake Ladies. A few weeks ago I rushed to put my name down for this latest event, and realised halfway through the email, the theme was ‘Getting Tarty’, which means only one thing… pastry.

Over the last few weeks there have been many trial tarts made (the good old Apple and Amaretto Frangipane that is quickly becoming my signature tart!) and all turned out reasonably well, though I am pretty sure that Stuart doesn’t want to see one of these tarts again for a long long time.

So today, after a day of frantically trying to make the tart, do some actual work and participate in a few meetings, I made it with the tart in one piece to the lovely Mimi’s Bakehouse at The Shore, where 20 other ladies were gathered with their wonderful looking tarts. I have to admit I was a little nervous on coming along as I knew no one, but I need not have worried, before long I was chatting to people, discussing pastry, cake, tarts and…toast.

At 6:30pm on the dot plates and knives appeared and the first cakes were cut into. I started off with a delightful Caramelised Onion and Mustard Tart made by Amy Malone. If I could have distracted everyone else I would have quite happily eaten it all!! (sorry there is no photo – I wasn’t quick enough to get one!)

Enough savoury, on with the sweet stuff! I didn’t manage to photograph or taste all 21 tarts – to be honest its too big a challenge, and even I have limits (though tonight I discovered my tart threshold was a lot smaller than I thought – need to get into training for the next event!)

So a brief rundown of some I did try, A Passion fruit Meringue, from Lea Harris – passion fruit, meringue, chocolate…need I say anymore?

A beautiful Lemon, Bergamot and Olive Oil tart from Catherine Foley

A tasty Raspberry, Lemon and Frangipane Tart from Sophia Jackson

A Chocolate Orange Tart from Alison, which to be honest I could have quite happily dived into…but I was restrained!

It was sadly at this point that I reached my tart threshold. Gutted, as there was so many other great looking tarts there! Around 8pm it was time to divvy up the remaining cake into our doggy bags to take home. I left on a sugar high clutching a box of these treats

From the bottom left, another slice of the Lemon, Bergamot and Olive Oil tart! Orange Iced Mincemeat Tart, from Allison Partick. Rhubarb Cream Tart from Victoria Blogg. Rich chocolate and Raspberry from Stephanie Stapleton. Rich Chilli Chocolate from Lois Wolffe.

I think I’ll save these for tomorrow night, I have enough of a sugar high to contend with, and could really do with getting some sleep! Thank you Edinburgh Cake Ladies for a lovely sugar filled evening!

St Patricks Day

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Queen of Everything

If you didn’t know already today is St Paddy’s Day in Ireland, and as it would seem the rest of the world. I think that its due to the fact that us Irish spread ourselves out round the world, giving everyone a taste of the craic.

In honour of such a great man who drove the snakes out of Ireland (true fact – there are no snakes in Ireland) and gave the Irish a 3 day weekend, I decided to make some Irish treats – some of which are not really typically ‘Irish’

As most people will know, us Irish also like a wee drink, and what better way to celebrate St Patrick than to include a Trio of Irish drinks in the feast!

So first up in this feast is a good old Beef and Guinness Stew, served with the Potato (naturally we cant have a meal without them), but in Boxty form. A Boxty is like a potato based pancake. There is an old Irish Rhyme about Boxtys as well:

Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, If you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get your man

So here’s how to make one!:

Boxtys

Ingredients

250 g raw potato
250 g mashed potato
250 g plain flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
large knob of butter, melted
125 ml milk

Method

Toss the grated potatoes with the flour in a large bowl.
Stir in mashed potatoes and baking powder until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and milk; mix into the potatoes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drop in the potato mixture, forming patties about 4-5 cm in diameter
Fry on both sides until golden brown

Now, after that, you need a dessert, so I made some Baileys Ice Cream, which was dead easy to make and was served with my trusted favourite – The Apple and Amaretto Frangipane tart (which also happened to be a trial run for the Edinburgh Cake Ladies ‘Get Tarty’ Event on Wednesday!). This ice cream was straight forward to make, though patience is required when you don’t own an ice cream maker

Baileys Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cup double cream
1 cup full fat milk
1 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup baileys
1 pinch salt

Method

Whisk all the ingredients together until all the sugar has been
dissolved.
Then freeze as you would normally freeze ice cream, either in an ice
cream maker or in a tub in the freezer whisking every half hour or so.
Because of the alcohol content of this ice cream it will usually take
around 12 hours to become hard

This is quite a boozy ice cream… which isn’t a problem!

And to finish, well it has to be an Irish Coffee… Bushmills 12 year old in coffee with cream, you cant get better than that!

Sláinte Mhaith!

Through the Pinhole

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Queen of Everything

I spent a lovely afternoon at the Botanic Gardens today, spring was definitely in the air as the place was abloom with crocuses, daffodils and narcissi. An added bonus was the Pinhole Photography Festival that is currently on there (ends Friday 16th) and the fact that everyday at 2pm they hold a beginners workshop. As luck would have it, we arrived there at 1:45pm and there was space on the workshop!

The workshop was lead by Kenny Bean, pinhole camera photographer, who talked to us about the pinhole camera, and how it works (the sciencey bit). He then showed us how to set the camera up and how to actually take the picture. Then we were let loose to find our spot.

Once back in the centre we then went through to the dark room, when Kenny talked us through how the magic happens. A few dunks of our photo in some different solutions and voila – we had a negative!

Whilst that was drying, and now knowing what we needed to to, we went off again looking for another photo opportunity. Back in the dark room, this was developed and left to dry while we turned our other negative into a photo, which was done by placing the negative face down on a blank piece of photo paper and sandwiched between some glass and cardboard, and then placed under at light for approx. 12 secs. Then back to the trays of solutions to develop our picture.

It was such a fun and interesting afternoon, as well as a little addictive. Looking at the images and thinking that these really came from a can with a hole in it, is pretty amazing.

The exhibition itself was fascinating, with works from the Edinburgh Lo-Fi group and other international pinhole photographers. Including one photographer who made a small pinhole camera that fitted in his mouth – so all his photos have his teeth in them!

Kenny himself uses a wheelie bin as a pinhole camera, with some amazing pictures. He also uses a technique where instead of soaking the photo paper in trays of solution, he paints it on, so there ends up being brush stroke effects round the edge of the photo.

Over the last year or so, I have been getting more into my photography and I am now the proud owner of a Lomography fisheye (in fetching Watermelon design!), a polaroid and a 110mm camera, on top of everything else. Unfortunately for Stuart, I came away today with that look in my eye of….’ I think we could turn that hall cupboard into a dark room’…. He is off now to hide all the tins!

Happy Pie Day!

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Or Pie Week as it actually is! In honour of this Week of Pie, for last nights dinner I made Minced Beef Pie. This, back in the day, made a regular appearance on our dinner table and its been a long time since I have had one. I didn’t used my Mum’s recipe for this (sorry Mum!) but Ruth Clemens recipe from the Great British Book of Baking

Ruth’s Beef Pie

Ingredients

For the Cheese Pastry:

225g Plain Flour
75g Salted Butter (chilled and diced)
75g Lancashire Cheese
1 Medium Free-range egg yolk
4-6 tbsp. ice cold water

For the Filling:

2 tbsp. Sunflower Oil
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
250g Lean Minced Beef
2 Carrots, diced
1 Celery Stick, diced (I hate celery so left it out!!)
4 tbsp. of Ale or Good Beef Stock
3 tbsp. Tomato Ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and Pepper
beaten Egg to glaze.

20cm x 15cm enamel deep pie dish

Method

To make the pastry, put the flour and diced butter into a food processor, blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
Crumble the cheese into the bowl and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs
Add the egg yolk and 4 tbsp. of cold water, run the machine until the mixture comes together to form a ball of dough (add more water if necessary)
Remove from the bowl and cut of a third of the dough for the lid. Wrap both pieces in Clingfilm and chill while making the filling
For the filling, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and cook until soft. Remove from the pan
Add the minced beef to the pan and cook until browned.
Turn the heat to low and add the carrots and celery and the onions back in. cook until all the vegetables have softened
Add the ale or stock, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer until the meat is tender and the mixture is thick. Leave to cool.
When ready to assemble, roll out the large portion of pastry on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle big enough to line the base and sides of the pie dish
Carefully press the pastry on to the base and sides of the dish, pressing out any bubbles of air. Brush the rim of the pastry with the beaten egg.
Spoon the cold filling into the dish.
Roll out the second portion of pastry to a rectangle to make a lid.
Lift the pastry over the dish and gently press it on the dampened rim to seal firmly. Trim off any excess pastry. Crimp the rim with your fingers.
Leave to rest for 10mins. Heat the oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5.
Brush the pie with the beaten egg to glaze. Make a small steam hole and bake in the oven for 25 – 30 mins, until the pastry is nice and golden
Serve piping hot with whatever you fancy – in my case… mash and peas!

At the curbside

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Queen of Everything

A post tonight on twitter regarding the lack of a food truck revolution in Edinburgh got me thinking (or more reminiscing) of the great food I ate during my autumn trip to the East Coast of America, which appears to be food truck central. This wasn’t just fish ‘n’ chip van style food or bland sandwiches, these were trucks selling great, homemade food, such as cupcakes brought to the Curbside by CurbsideCupcakes in Washington.

Street vendors selling hot dogs and pretzels in New York (Ok so maybe not so homemade but still just sometimes what you need)

And more food trucks than you can image, selling things from noodles to grilled cheese sandwiches to hungry commuters flying past on their way to or from work, in Boston.

So why hasn’t this phenomena taken off here in Edinburgh or even in the UK? is it because of legislation? or are we not a culture that would really be into food trucks?or just simply no one has ever thought of it?

One thing that makes this whole thing work is social media, Facebook, Twitter and more recently FourSquare. Using these means to announce your locations, to put up your menus and to entice people to the curbside has proved valuable in making these curbside vendors a success. The latter proving to be more popular stateside, though, it is becoming more popular in the UK.

So come on – someone out there please kick start a food truck revolution!!!

[New York image credit: jaroslavd]

Horatio Todd’s

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Another food post from Belfast (did I mention I ate a lot when I was there?). Horatio Todd’s is a local bar / restaurant in the Ballyhackamore area of Belfast. A recent article in the local newspaper stated there were 22 different bars and restaurants in the area – who knew? I remember the days when there was only a Chinese, a dodgy pub and a KFC!

Horatios is a favourite place of my parents, partly due to the fact that my Mum is allergic to cooking and will be here an any given opportunity (so much so the staff know them!). Its been a tradition for a while that we go here for Sunday lunch / dinner, and this time was no different.

They do a great Meal Deal – 2 courses and a wine or soft drink for £13.95. Needless to say we took them up on this offer!

I opted for the tempura prawns with a Hoisin and Fresh Ginger Dipping Sauce. The tempura was light and the prawns juicy yet well cooked, and the dipping sauce was tasty with a good flavour

And Stuart went for the slightly more exotic Warm Salad of Crispy Pork Belly and Local Black Pudding with Honey Mustard Dressing and Poached Egg, which I can only assume was tasty as it didn’t stay too long on the plate! The egg was beautifully poached, still runny in the middle, and the pork belly was cooked well.

For my main I stuck with Fish, and I had the Fresh Battered Haddock with Homemade Tartare Sauce, Mushy Peas and Fries. Again light batter, and juicy well cooked fish, along with nice dry, fluffy fries. I was stuffed afterwards!

Stuart went a little off piste with his main course, he choose the Chargrilled Chicken and Chorizo Tagliatelle with Sun-dried Tomato Sauce and Chilli Oil. Not particularly a wild choice, but he is fussy and is usually disappointed by pasta dishes in restaurants because you can make them just was well at home …. apparently. However, this he did enjoy, chunks of chicken, flavoursome chorizo and lots of tasty sauce. Only complaint he had was the pasta a little overcooked, I think this dish may have restored his faith in restaurant pasta!

As for dessert, well we gave it a miss – how could we possibly fit it in after all that! However, given my parents sacrificed a starter, they had dessert - Hot Sticky Toffee Pudding with Honeycomb Ice Cream. There is no photo, I didn’t get a chance to take one, the spoon was stuck in seconds after it hit the table!

Horatio Todd’s is also good later in the evenings for drinks (in particular cocktails) and also during the day for meeting friends, as they have sofa areas where you can chill, catch up and drink coffee (or something stronger!)

No doubt see you next time I am home Horatio!

Avoca

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Queen of Everything

This is one of my favourite shops. I want to buy it. All. Avoca is an Irish brand (though I have seen a Avoca items sneak into the likes of John Lewis), so every time I go back home it is law that I have to pay a visit.

They sell really cute home ware, pretty clothes, amazing blankets (which I will buy one day, instead of gazing at), fab cakes and cute kids things.

They also have a cafe, which sells really tasty food and errr…. cake! Unfortunately, for Stuart and my purse, they are online too! Once this flat renovation is over – Avoca watch out!!

Made In Belfast

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Queen of Everything

We were back in Belfast last weekend and we did spend a good lot of the time eating out. One place which I tend to back to time and time again is Made in Belfast. They have recently opened another restaurant in the Cathedral Quarter and its just as good as the one beside the City Hall which I have been know to frequent!

Its quite a quirky place with mismatched furniture, lots of soft cushions and rugs and other general cool stuff! I started with a Poshmapolitan (oooohhh its actually Apple Vodka instead of Vodka) which was really tasty and Stuart settled for a good old Belfast Lager.

Food wise I went for the Steak Sandwich, which came served in paper on a wooden board with skinny chips and a dollop of mayo, delish and very filling

Stuart went for the burger, and wow. It came served in a Falcon enamel dish and instead of a burger bun, two big thick slices of white bread. His came with beef dripping chips, which were thick, crispy and fluffy

There was definitely no room for dessert, but it was a great place to sit and people watch, and maybe drink a few more cocktails!

Queen of Everything

A blog about… well… everything!

Monthly Archives: March 2012

Mac is back!

Tart Attack!

St Patricks Day

Through the Pinhole

Happy Pie Day!

At the curbside

Horatio Todd’s

Avoca

Made In Belfast