Christmas Cabbage

So as you may all remember I started this blog with an image of my trainers and soon conversation about them tailed off. Well in a happy turn of events, the trainers have been worn and used. After an awful week of bus drivers diverting, getting lost, stopping early I finally conceded that it might be time to utilise my legs. So I walked the 2.4 miles from work home, stopping off at Co-op.

On my walk I had a sudden and unexpected craving for sausages and braised cabbage and after all that walking I was hank marvin! Incidentally, whilst I'm on the topic of Co-Op they also had an amazing gluten-free section with a crossed grain on their sausages meaning I didn't have to read the back of the packet!

Anyway back to my dinner. As I carried on my walk back, weighed down by sausages and red cabbage, I suddenly realised I'd never cooked braised cabbage before and that my well thought out plan was actually flawed!

Determined not to be beaten I put my caramelised onion sausages in the oven and set about preparing my cabbage and inventing my very own braised cabbage recipe which went something like this:

1. Hack Cabbage and heat deep saucepan with a little olive oil
2. Add cabbage to pan with a cup of water, quarter of a cup of cider vinegar and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
3. Add a cinnamon stick, bay leaves, sultanas, orange zest and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
4. Leave simmering away and should hopefully be done at the same time as the sausages

What I didn't bargain for is that in that saucepan I had created Christmas, not literally obviously, but the aroma was Christmas.

Dinner served.

Brownies

I know I often write about savoury meals and savoury adventures but today as I sat on the bus on my way home all I could think about was a warming cup of tea and a piece of brownie and as it happened thats exactly what I had as soon as I got in.

Fortunately, I had been home for the weekend and my lovely Mum sent me back with some brownie and yes its gluten-free and yes its delicious. For all of you that have the idea that gluten-free food is on the whole unpalatable, just one piece of this brownie will change your mind forever. I sort of wish some sort of tool was invented so I could send some brownie chunks into cyber space! As I am unaware of any technology like that you will just have to take my word for it.

Here's a picture (before they all go):

If you want to try these amazing bundles of heaven then I have included the recipe below:

Best Brownies in the World

Brownies + Tea = perfect winter afternoon combo

Cuisines

I was thinking a few days ago about cuisines as my boyfriend and I decided to treat ourselves to a mid-week dinner out but the questions always the same...where do we go, what do we feel like?

On this occasion, we were both thinking the same thing...Indian and it got me thinking about my relationship with different cuisines. Indian, for example, is my comfort food. I know that I don't even need to worry about the gluten aspect as they use very little, if any gluten in Indian cooking. I also like the flavours and the fact that there is a dish for whatever "spice mood" your in.

The Indian restaurant we went to was London Bridge Tandoori and it was delicious but it got me wondering, how many other cuisines there are in the world that are not as established as Indian or Chinese that we don't explore.

If I could, my exploration would include travel round the world but that is simply out of my reach for the moment so the next best thing is a cuisine exploration in the kitchen or in restaurants.

I have so far explored Indian (obviously), Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican, Thai, British, Ethiopian, Jamaican, Spanish. Most of these explorations have happened at Brick Lane market on a Sunday. I have to say, if you have never been, you should go, not only are there a multitude of food stalls there are also plenty of gift stalls and you can always pick up something unique.

Back to the food, cuisine exploration is a must for me but what about you? What cuisines have you eaten? Cuisines aren't just about the food but they are a journey into a different culture so I will continue my journey and let you know where I end up next.

Getting Serious

I started my blog as a way to keep my passion for writing alive but the more I have written on my blog the more I have realised that if I'm going to continue I need to get serious. I started thinking about my passions in life and how they connect to my blog so the first big one is food.

Its probably no surprise by now that most of my blogs are food related in some way because its something that has always interested me. From 5 years old, I was baking cakes, with assistance I hasten to add (for those of you who are visioning a health and safety disaster). The single biggest reason for this is of course the g-word, yes I mean gluten-free. When I was younger there was no free from range so I had to learn from an early age what I could and could not eat. Trust me there have been numerous occasions over the years of people who don't understand the concept of gluten-free convincing me as a small child that I could eat sausage rolls! Thankfully I had those early lessons from my Mum that prevented any serious disasters.

It got me thinking though, those early lessons have left a fascination and a passion for food. Just last night, my boyfriend and I made a stichelton, spinach and thyme tart with gluten-free walnut pastry and it was delicious. It also wasn't simple. The gluten-free pastry was hard to work when refrigerated it became brittle but we persevered and managed to create something delicious. It bucked the trend of gluten-free food being less than palatable.

So I guess you are all wondering the point of this blog, well when I first started out I said it would be eclectic and lots of differing things but from now on food will form a main focus. That's not to say you won't get the odd bit of my eclectic personality.

I also decided if I am to get serious I need to start making my blog consistent, no dipping in and out when I feel like it so I am going to start by trying to do 3 posts a week. The other thing about getting serious with my blog means starting to properly follow other bloggers and start commenting on their blogs. I love writing for whoever reads my blog but I also want to open up a conversation with other people with similar interests.

As I promised this would have a main focus on food, I will leave you with a picture of the soup I've got cooking. Jamie Oliver's sweet potato and chorizo, a uni favourite and one of my personal favourites:

Meat Feast

I expect many of you have been eagerly awaiting news of the meat banquet and I have to say only now have I felt able to write about this colossal meal.

The process started off with the below meats:

Bottom left: Pig's Trotters
Top left: Pork Hand
Top Right: Rabbit
Bottom Right: Lamb's Hearts

The Pork Hand was scored, rubbed and chucked in the oven to slow roast for a couple of hours, whilst the trotters were boiled, stripped and fried; the rabbit was casseroled and the hearts were stuffed. With so much in the oven it was hard to keep track of timings but we persevered in the quest for delicious food.

The veg was boiled, the mustard mash mashed and the meats were soon ready. The taste adventure began with everyone sampling each meat accompanied by a glass of red wine. Now I can be squeamish but every dish was delicious in its own way. I was most scared of the heart as I don't really like liver and had a feeling the texture would be the same but it wasn't it was rich and gamey and at times I forgot what I was eating and just enjoyed the flavours.

The best part of the meal was combining all the flavours for one mammoth taste sensation. I know for many of you this post won't turn you towards under used cuts of meat but the trotters, hearts and pork hand combined cost less than a tenner but also gave an added enjoyment for us as we pondered how to cook our meats. Lets just say that given the choice I would choose a meal like this over the supermarket meats any day!

Can't wait for my next culinary adventure!

My new temporary home

As many of you know I moved house yesterday and am very fortunate that some very lovely people have agreed I can stay with them for a bit until my house search begins. Its been a long, drawn out moving in process. For a start, I started moving stuff little and often but some things have to be done on the last day so my boyfriend and I made the final journey from South West London to East London armed with drying rack, bag full of condiments eg mustard, flour, sugar, food colouring etc and about 2 holdalls. We were a sight to behold!

However, on arrival at my new temporary home I felt very much at home. I unpacked all the bags, put the condiment bag away in the kitchen and put a washing load on. (The drying rack was immediately useful!) After this we decided the best course of action was to go to the pub as one of us wanted to watch the football so off we trotted to the pub.

What was to follow would blow all our minds...

After the pub, we went to the butchers and bought some unusual cuts of meat and decided on a banquet where we each cook and prepare our cut of meat. So the Banquet is for today but we needed something for dinner last night so someone had the inspired idea to make a meatloaf. I for one have never had meatloaf before so was excited at the prospect of trying something new.

We found a recipe (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/my-favorite-meatloaf/)
Definitely recommend it and went about preparing the most colossal meatloaf I have ever seen.

This was the meatloaf pic from the recipe but ours looked pretty similar just a bit bigger!

So having been in my new temporary home just 24 hours I am already having my eyes opened up to a whole world of food possibilities.

My Favourite Restaurant in London

My boyfriend and I are sometimes hard to please when it comes to eating out. For a start, my other half doesn't like chain restaurants so sometimes when you are starving and just want some food, it is excruiatingly painful to have to walk past restaurant after restaurant that can satisfy my hunger. Secondly (as you all probably guessed) is the gluten-free issue and the killer question, 'is this gluten-free?' which leaves many staff running for the exits. Thirdly, is his height: let's just say he'd be at home in a basketball team! We always have to check that his legs will fit under the table, then which side is easier for him to sit in and where can he sit so he won't obstruct the staff and other diners. In small restaurants, it can be a bit of a mission.

Now last night, we booked a table at a restaurant Brawn that we had tried to go to before but got turned away as they were so busy. This time we booked ahead. Walked in and did the checklist: not a chain, height..fine and the gluten-free aspect taken care of with complete aplomb. The menu came back with the glutenous items crossed out and when we placed our orders they were quick to spot one of them contained gluten and checked whether that was ok (which it was as it was for him not me).

After the arrival of our bottle of red, came the starter of a platter of charcuterie with a brawn (pig's head) terrine, salami and a pork paté and of course some bread for the gluten one. Next came main courses, mine was a black brawn dish with braised red cabbage and a green caramelised apple and his was pig trotters with some salad. The plates looked quite small but even a quarter of the way through we were both struggling to finish our meals. Although we did manage to find space for a delicious chocolate ganache with nuts, cream and meringue which we shared because we were about to explode!

I cannot put into the words how delicious the food is here but having been to plenty of London restaurants we both decided that Brawn is by far the best.