Chocolate and custard tiffin pieces

What a lovely Autumnal day. I was looking through some older recipes today that I had tried and this was one of my favourite. Deliciously rich, sweet and moreish. I really like the Hummingbird recipes as they always seem to work out and have great flavour and this didn't let me down. They were 'Chocolate custard squares' but seem to be a variation of tiffin. they took a little while to make as they are in three layers but they are very worth it. 

Ingredients: -

Base:

100g digestive biscuits (the recipe says amaretto biscuits but these work fine)

60g unsalted cashews

40g cocoa powder, sifted

100g caster sugar

150g unsalted butter

80g desiccated coconut

2 eggs

For the filling (I halved the original amount):

100g unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp custard powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

250g icing sugar

2 tbsp whole milk

For the top:

150g Dark chocolate

25g unsalted butter

(You could add kahlua but I opted not to)

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven and line a baking tray (I used a brownie tin) with parchment sealed with butter.

2. In a food processor, blend the biscuits and cashews to breadcrumbs then add the cocoa powder and sugar and blitz again.

3. Pour the crumbs into a mixing bowl and add the butter (melted) and coconut. Mix well then add the eggs and mix again.

4. Press the mixture into the tin and bake for 15 minutes.

5. The filling: cream the butter until fluffy in the electric mixer. Add the custard powder, vanilla extract and icing sugar and mix. Slowly add the milk to make it smooth. 

6. When the base is cooled, spoon the filling on top and put in the fridge for one hour.

7. Topping: Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over hot water and spoon onto the custard top when it is set. 

8. Put in the fridge for several hours until everything has set then cut into 16 small squares. 

Cup of tea, feet up and one of these... perfect for an Autumn night in...

Cold curing veg pot

I'm very excited to have created a dish and it taste good! I had bought some ingredients to try a recipe a few day ago but, due to a cold / sore throat this week, I just didn't fancy it. I pondered what to do with the ingredients instead and in a 'Ready Steady Cook' moment, here it is...

(Serves 2)

Ingredients: -
1 aubergine
1 courgette
1 red onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt / Pepper
1/2 bunch of fresh parsley ( I actually think that basil would be better but I had parsley so we'll go with it.)
1 garlic clove
1 can of plum tomatoes
Mozzarella
Olive oil

Method: -
1. Slice the aubergine in half lengthways then in half moons, 1/2 cm thick. Repeat with the courgette but slightly thinner. Place them on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt / pepper.
2. Put them in the oven at 200C for 15minutes.
3. Put a pan on a medium heat. Add olive oil, chopped garlic, cumin seeds and cayenne pepper. Heat for 1-2 minutes.
4. Thinly slice the onion and add to the pan. Saute for 5 minutes until the onion is soft and absorbs the flavours.
5. Add the aubergine, courgette and half the parsley (chopped) into the pan and then the tomatoes. Put the lid on and simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Transfer into an oven dish ands slice the mozzarella thickly on top.
7. Put in the oven for 10 minutes until the mozzarella has melted. Serve with the rest of the parsley on sprinkled on top.

I also roasted some new potatoes to serve with this. Cut them in half lengthways and put them on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook at 200C for 50 minutes until golden.

Not very easy to serve but it was healthy and delicious. It is very satisfying to create  a dish, what else have I got in the cupboard...

Apple and treacle birthday tart

So not the traditional birthday cake but I thought the time had come in my life when I should make my own pastry and one of my favourite puddings is treacle tart. Still working through the Bake Off book, I came across this apple and treacle tart. 

The pastry seemed to be trouble free as it didn't need proving (though my skills might) but it was very flaky after it had been cooked. The recipe also used quite a lot of breadcrumbs so the result was quite, well, bready. It did have a lovely treacle sweet taste with bursts of lemon and due to the pastry, was all very light. Not bad for a first try. Next time I think I would rather a richer version with more treacle but for a lighter and healthy (there was less golden syrup and half wholewheat flour) one, this was not bad. It wasn't quite dense enough for all my birthday candles (hehe) but it did the trick. 

Ingredients: 

100g Plain flour

100g Plain wholewheat flour

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

150g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

2-3 tbsp cold water

150g golden syrup

1 medium bramley apple

65g breadcrumbs (from bread, not rolls I discovered)

wax and juice of 1 lemon

Method: 

1. To make the pastry; using an electric mixer (I gave in his time) mix the flours, salt and baking powder. Add the chinks of butter to make a breadcrumb texture then add the water while the being mixed. When it forms a dough ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 20minutes.

2. Roll out the dough 20 so it is bigger than the pie dish and lift it in by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Prick with a fork all over and keep in the fridge until ready.

3. Heat the oven to 180C. Warm the syrup in a saucepan until runny then put in grated (peeled) apple, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and juice. 

4. Spoon into the pastry case and trim the overhanging pastry. I made leaves with it on top. Being a birthday, maybe I should have made '30' out of it...

5. Bake for 30minutes until golden.

6. Serve warm....with custard (a must!).

T took me out for a delicious birthday dinner (smoked haddock, mashed potato, poached egg and mustard sauce) and a very lovely pudding (sticky toffee pudding - classic, rich and filling. Another of my favourites). A lovely way to see my thirties in... 

Chocolotta

What a beautiful Autumn day! The sun is shining, it's still a little warm... just lovely. The kind of day where you just want to be outside absorbing it all. I love this time of the year when the leaves change colour and the air becomes fresh and crisp. I found some conkers and their shells yesterday on a countryside walk. I thought they would be lovely for my class to do some printing with tomorrow with a trip to the nature area to get some more. A lovely birthday weekend with my party yesterday and I'm looking forward to a meal out with T tomorrow. 

Being a lot of chocolate about this weekend, I thought I would share this little gem. You could not possibly walk past this shop and not go in. The smell alone lures you let alone the mountain peaks of cocoa that look like they are growing out of the finely hand crafted timber tree and bowl shaped decor. There was chocolate of every flavor, including apricot brandy, irish kiss, sea salt caramel, coconut milk and cardamon orange. They had the interesting idea of including a mini pippette with little chocolate pieces to add and extra flavour zing. Oh the novelty. We could all be pretend scientists for a bite. It was called 'Dark sugars chocolates' located in London's Brick Lane. 

Being a spice fanatic, cardamon orange had to be one to try. After spluttering out a cocoa cloud, the soft chocolate ball was quite delicious. We also tried a salty caramel chocolate ball. This is always a good combination and it was a tasty nibble.  Naturally we had the free sample too and wow; that was some strong chocolate. If there was a chocoliser test then I may have been over the limit. For the chocoholic in you, definitely worth a try. 

I'm awaiting my untraditional birthday cake in the oven so I will reveal all next time...

Pecan shortbread; cake or biscuit...

I'm not quite sure how I feel about turning 30 but it is happening on Monday. You always picture what you think your life will be like at 30 when you are younger; that you will be ready, organised, and generally got things sorted. But really your 20s just end with a sudden halt and 30 is there and that's that. If nothing else, it is a good chance to reassess things and check you are on the path you want to be. Maybe I am being dramatic and it is just another year blah blah blah. Down to the important things in life... what birthday cake do I make... I will come back to this but for now I will share this lovely recipe.

I'm still excited by the British Bake Off book that T got as a new job present. I have been mooching through the book and tying to decide on what to bake first. Going in order seemed only logical. I went for a 'one spoon' challenge (the easy one - I thought I should work my way up as they are Paul and Mary standard) and made some chocolate and pecan shortbread ('Pecan shorties' in the book). I learnt that using icing sugar makes it a lot less crumbly than caster sugar (though not quite as sweet it seems).

The magic ingredients: -        

75g Pecan halves

250g Plain flour

175g unsalted butter, softened

85g icing sugar sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

100g Dark chocolate

Abracadabra: -

1. Heat the oven to 180C and toast the nuts in a small tin for 5-7 minutes. Leave to cool and chop coarsely.

2. Beat the butter with  wooden spoon in a mixing bowl until creamy. (It is just more rewarding using manually labour and not going for the electric mixer. Burn the calories before you make it!)

3. Beat in the icing, one spoon at a time, then add the vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the flour and nuts to make a firm dough.

5. Divide into 12 small pieces and put on baking paper. (The book says 20 but mine worked out nicely as 12)

6. Squash the balls down with your hand so they are flat and 1 cm thick, 5.5 cm across.

7. Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden (This is the book, mine were in for 20 minutes but it depends on the personality of the oven.)

8. Put on a wire rack to cool after 5 minutes.

9. When the biscuits are cold, heat the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of hot water. 

10. Dip the biscuits in the chocolate (careful of fingers, it's hot!) and leave to cool. 

These are by far the best shortbreads I have made and would work equally as well with milk chocolate and maybe some desiccated coconut sprinkled on them so it sticks to the chocolate. I would never say no to some cinnamon in the biscuit mix either. 

I'm new to this blogging stuff and I'm not sure if I need to share it differently to what I'm doing or if people are reading it / like it so please feel free to leave a comment :) 

To apricot or not to apricot...

Another dinner recipe form Dennis Cotter. So impressed was I by the previous ones that I have gone in for another. This one being 'squash, chickpea tagine with apricots'. At first I wasn't sure about adding dried apricots but somehow the whole recipe came together and, in spite of making enough for double the amount of people, this was another success. he really knows how to work the flavours as well as being healthy. Every mouthful hit with a different experience. Here goes...

The food bits: -      

1 Butternut squash

Olive oil

1 Courgette

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tbsp fresh ginger

1.2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2/ tsp ground cumin

4 cardamon pods

1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

100ml veg stock

Rind of 1 orange

6 dried apricots

200g tin of chick peas drained

1 tbsp fresh parsley

1 tbsp fresh coriander

1 lemon for squeezing

The cooking bits: -

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. Peel, deseed and cube the squash and put it in the with olive oil for 30minutes.

3. thickly slice the courgette and halve lengthways then put in the oven for 15 minutes.

4. Reduce the oven to 170C

5. Saute the onion for 5 minutes in a casserole dish with olive oil.

6. Add the garlic, sliced, and spices for 2 more minutes of cokking. Stir frequently.

7. Add the tomatoes, stock, orange rind, apricots and chick peas. Bring to the boil, cove rand put in the oven to simmer for 45 minutes. 

8. When it is removed from the oven, stir in the chopped herbs and squeeze over with lemon juice.

Delicious.

Toilet food

As Saturday's lunch spot had only puddings that wanted to leave and go on holiday, we went on another quest for something sweet. We found 'The Attendant'. Once a grim London toileting establishment, now a transformed cafe. Still with urinals and toilet systems but, ironically, not a functioning toilet in sight. It was quite small inside but I was surprised how many people could fit in. More lively than some with its 'Chemical Brothers' soundtrack and also a good crowd. People sat (on trendy stalls) in their own urinal with a small sandwich selection (it was the end of lunch hours) or some carrot cake, banana bread, cookies or three different types of brownie. Again, me and T got two and shared. First we tried the carrot cake; a good size, good flavour, although I would have liked some spice in there, and some cream cheese on top. Traditionally this would have been sweetened by icing sugar or such like but this was pure cheese (hmm). For seconds we had 'The Elvis': banana brownie with crushed nuts. A strange sensation - full banana flavour with hints of chocolate ad a brownie texture. It sounds odd but somehow it worked. For somewhere a bit different, I think it would be a good addition to the London tourist guidebooks.

http://www.colourtesting.co.uk/attendant/

Milky bar kid takes on vegemite

Yesterday we went into london to watch the Tour of Britain (well done Wiggins!).  A london trip always means a lunch stop so i consulted my best coffee shops guide and we ended up at 'Milkbar'. The trouble with looking at a coffee guide and not buying coffee but wanting food is that the food isn't always the best part. It was perfectly nice but there were only three options. I had vegemite (not sure why it isn't marmite when in England, this is surely an Ozzie thing?) and cheese, T had ham and cheese. So it was nice bread, nice taste, nice tea to accompany and nice decor (arty prints, milk bottle stencils, shabby / arty paint dripped seats), chilled music. All in all, it was nice. Maybe milk is the new 'vanilla'. The menu was also a bit misleading as it had a range of bagels. However, come the weekend, this option is only good enough for the weekday workers, us weekenders only had the likes of a sandwich. Hmph.

Atmosphere: 8  Interior: 6 Lunch: 4 Pudding: 2 (two sad looking options) Drinks other than coffee: 5 

Gluten free, adjective free, raspberry and chocolate brownies

Back to the recipes... I like to try and follow or create at least one recipe every week and this week it was gluten free raspberry and almond brownies. This easy-to-follow recipe is from another blogger at londonbakes.com While I don't have to eat gluten free, a family member recently found out that he has to so I thought I would do the honourable thing and try a recipe. I may have forgot to share them with him (they were pretty good) but I did share the recipe :) This is a great blog with a lot of good looking recipes that I'd like to try. The original recipe was to use cherries but the shop had sold out so raspberries it was.

Here goes: -
300g Dark chocolate
175g unsalted butter
170g demerara sugar
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
50g ground almonds
35g cocoa powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
50g raspberries (or cherries)
Flakes almonds to sprinkle on top.

The labour: -
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a brownie tin with baking paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water. Then pour into a bowl, add the sugar and mix well.
3. Add the eggs one by one then the vanilla essence.
4. Gently mix in all the dry ingredients.
5. Pour the batter into the tin and shake until even (I'm sure there is a chef-y term to be used here).
6. Put the raspberries / cherries on top and push some in. (It wasn't in the recipe but I coated the raspberries in cocoa powder first so that they didn't sink).
7. Scatter the flaked almonds on top and cook for 30minutes.

I was worried that these would be too squidgy, which they were quiet on the first day but by the next day they were quite firm and a good flavour. The raspberries did make those parts of the brownie a bit too moist so maybe cherries would have been better (should have gone to another shop). For my first gluten free attempt I was quite pleased. Thank you londonbakes.com I will visit again.

After teaching many lessons on how to write instructions to year 1 children, I like to make sure I have all the right components and can't help but read it back in a teacher voice. I would have told the children to write more adjectives, hehe.

(8. Add adjectives.)

The outsider

Outside Kings Cross Station, we found a (disappointingly) little food market. I had looked it up on the internet after I was given a recipe book full of lovely sweet treats for 'Outsider tart'. After Googling if they had a shop, I thought, why just go to the shop when I could go to a market of new and exciting foods. This is why it was a little disappointing; there were only a handful of stalls and we nearly walked passed it. However, we (with T) did find the delightful bakery stall full of goodies. The stall was rustic with wooden crates to put the treats on and colourful, stripy, Joseph-would-be-happy-for-his-dream-coat sheets. They offered creative combinations with quirky names, such as 'mile high', 'Hepburn', 'cheeri-oreos' and 'billionaire'. Admittedly, it took a while to decide. T went in favour of the 'snickers' bar - a vanilla crumbly tart with lots of nuts and plenty of gooey caramel. I went for the more traditional brownie in my ongoing to guest to find the best one. T's was delicious! A winning combo. For a snickers, I did wonder where the chocolate was but the caramel more than made up for it's disappearance. The 'Hepburn' brownie was rich, half cake-like and half dense chocolatey-ness. Pretty good but it did get a bit rich half way in. They do have a full shop and online shop with a 'barkery'. Not a typo but dog treats. As long as you don't get them confused... Overall, I would definitely go back for more but only eat half of one tart at a time.

A very 'Bad brownie'

Of course we had pudding at Street Feast too. Remember when it was good to say 'bad', as in bad meant good... well we tried 'Bad brownies'. This was in fact the name of the brownie company and they were very 'bad'. We obviously had to try the award winning salty caramel. It is hard to make the perfect brownie - soft, rich and sticky in the middle with a gentle crunch on the edge... Bad brownie had a good consistency but it was very sweet. With rich chocolate, a gooey caramel centre AND crunchy caramel on top, it was quite a lot. But we may have appreciated it more if we hadn't had three courses of street food stalls before. A good brownie but not my favourite. They did offer other inviting flavours which  woudly try. While it was sweet, I wasn't put off. Bad but not too bad.

Rola wala wala wala bing bang

I know I have raved about Street feast already but ...we had a third course. We couldn't resist the delicate yet full tacos at Rola Wala.  Intrigued by the bar grill signage and sizzling large pans in display we had to try the mini delights of indian street food heaven. I tried the beetroot channa daal with beetroot, paneer dal, coconut, mint, lime, and pineapple chutney. While it was very spicy, the textures and flavours were a brilliant combination and brought you right to India. The other options were the trendy Goan pulled pork and, T's preference, BBQ chicken tikka. I love these kind of markets. They can be as entertaining to watch as well as deliberate over food. I always feel inspired by the people fulling their food dreams in the bustling atmosphere. One day... After this third course, we were well and truly full. Though, there is always room for dessert...

Pizza rivalry

Ok, I know I said I found the best ever pizza but I have now found it's rival. 'Street feast' was an amazing market and we couldn't stop at trying just one type of food, obviously. The second course was a stone baked thin, crispy, melt-in-the-mouth pizza from 'Pizza Pilgrims'. There were three options available at the market so we went for the simplicity of a margarita. Just divine. Tangy sweet tomatoes, a stringy combination of mozzarella and parmesan, a sprinkle of basil and a craving for more.  We were perched upon a limited selection of stalls but in the midst of a great food vibe (overlooking lobster macaroni cheese). This was the small version of the company but there is a shop on Dean Street, soho, and Kingly Street, Carnaby, where there are more topping options. Why go to Rome when the pizza is here! 

A whole street full of feasts!

After what felt like a long week at work I was very excited about yesterday. Street feast! I had heard about this market through the magic of the internet and it sounded amazing. Lots of food, sweet and savoury, and a new area to discover. It was based in Dalston, London, and will be on each weekend for the next month. Please go, it is fab! You are stamped into a run-down but ultra chic area with barrels for fire, music and a great selection of fooderies. We had to walk around a couple of times to make sure we made the right choice before indulging. First up we tried 'Killer Tomato' tacos. Who has ever heard of frying avocado?! What a brilliant idea! Soft in the middle and crispy around the edges, the avocado was placed on top of a flat round taco with cumin-lime mayo, red onion, garlic oil and chilli flakes (just enough to give a kick). The other vegetarian options sounded just as appetizing: chilli-dusted beetroot, sour cream, pomegranate, hot sauce and confit garlic; and aubergine in achiote, pickled pineapple, crushed peanuts and coriander. What great flavour combinations, I wanted to try them all but had to give the other places a fair try.

It opens at 5pm and is free to get in until 7pm when it costs £3. Very worth it. I will definitely go back and try EVERYTHING. We were there a little early but apparently things get lively at 8.30ish. With plenty of bars and a food paradise, I can see why people would settle in for the night. 

Halloumi ...for the love of cheese

Survived the first week back! Behaviour of the children improved and after a sweat pant wearing, TV watching sofa fest, I'm ready for the weekend. Today I have another simple dinner treat to share.

Halloumi has to be one of my favourite cheeses but it's never tasted as good as this recipe. A simple marinade in orange zest and olive oil left for an hour. The cooked on a medium high heat in its marinade for 4 minutes on each side. A relevlation! I wander what other fruits add such a zing!

The rest of the dish consists of: -
1 aubergine (still in season)
8 plum tomatoes
couscous
1 red onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
150g broccoli
200g chick peas (from a tin)

Cook the couscous by pouring boiling water over it until it is just covered and leave for 10minutes. Cut the aubergine in half then in thick slices. Cover then in oil and leave to roast in the oven for 15minutes at 200C. Also roast the tomatoes for 10minutes after a little cover of oil. On a medium heat, warm 2tbsps of olive oil, add the onions and cumin and fry for 5minutes. Boil the broccoli for 4minutes and add to the onions. Quite a simple dish so far but what it turns it into a particularly delicious dish is the chermoula (a Moroccan marinade).

Chermoula: -
1tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsps corriander
2 tbsps parsley
3 garlic cloves
3 tsps paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
zest of half a lemon and orange
olive oil

While the rest is cooking, put all the chermoula ingredients into a mini food processor, except for the oil. Blitz it up the add the oil slowly until it makes a paste. Simple and yum.
Finaly, put it al together; add the aubergine and tomatoes to the onion / broccoli mix. Add the chermoula and mix it all together with a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Serve together with the halloumi on top.

It is always good to have an easy and simple but flavourful recipe on hand for when you don't have much time to cook. This, I think, will become one of my new key recipes. Delicious.

Frangipane and... plain pears

After getting used to some lazy school holiday days, a new class was quite a shock to the system! I should probably mention that I'm a primary school teacher. At the end of every school year, your class have been trained into the role model pupils who can read your every mood, then you have to say your good byes and start again with another lively and unruly bunch. I was hoping not to raise my voice on day one but, in the inspiring words of others teachers 'don't smile until Christmas' and the behaviour will be sorted. Roll on Christmas. It was a lovely surprise to come home and find that T had bought me the new British Bake Off cook book! I'm looking forward to many a new recipe... for now, this has been our pudding this week...

Poached pear and frangipane tart from Bea's of Bloomsbury. Bakewells are one of my favourites so I thought a pear version would be a good treat. However, it turns out the wine is a vital ingredient in poaching...and I didn't use it. The frangipane is tasty in it's almond spongey cakeness but the pears are, well, just pears with the odd tickle from cinnamon (I do love a Christmas spice).

First, blind bake your short crust pastry (yes I cheated and bought it as I had school deadlines to worry about). This doesn't mean cook it without looking, it means it needs baking a little before the filling goes in to prevent 'soggy bottom'.
Next, the pears. So I boiled them for 30minutes in: -
2/3 pan of water
700g caster sugar
grated zest on one orange
vanilla essence
3 cinnamon sticks
4 cardamon pods
2cm fresh ginger
4 pears

All the essence of good flavour. How did it go so wrong! The pears were a good firmness but just didn't hold much flavour.

Anyhow, the frangipane: -
250g butter softened
2 eggs
250g ground almonds
1tbsp cornfour

Mix the butter, sugar and eggs (slowly) in an electric mixer then fold in the almonds and cornflour. Slice the pears (when cooled) into the pastry base and spoon the frangipane around it. bake for 35minutes at 170C. Even though it wasn't reaching its full flavour potential, it has made a good pudding. I do love a frangipane.

Aubergine... I found you at last

So, I have continued to experiment with recipes, opting for savoury this time. This recipe is a Denis Cotter masterpiece: 'chickpea, aubergine and broccoli salad with bulghur, sunflower and a lemon and yoghurt dressing' (just to lower the tone, I put it with some breaded fish). Not all recipes I try work but this was lovely. After not eating aubergine for the first 25 years of my life, I am now fully on-board. I'm really enjoying Denis cotter's recipes, they are full of flavour and not too complicated to make.

Here's the science: -
1 aubergine
25g sunflower seeds
2tsp soy sauce
200g broccolli
50g bulghur
200g chickpeas
1tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves
1/2 red chilli (amend to your taste buds)
3 tomatoes
3 spring onions
2tsp chopped parsley
2tsp chopped coriander
olive oil
200ml natural yoghurt
juice of 1 lemon

I adapted his recipe to suit two people. Some things I halved and others I kept to suit my tastes. This recipe doesn't take long if you multitask! Put halved and sliced aubergine in the oven for 15minutes while toasting sunflower seeds (10mins). Also pour hot water over the bulgur (15mins and leave it to do its thing). At the same time, heat a frying pan, cook the chickpeas for 5 minutes (stirring often), add the cumin, chilli and garlic and keep on the heat for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, herbs and spring onions then stir in the bulghur. While doing this, the broccoli should boil for 4minutes. Add the broccoli and aubergines to the mix. The dressing involves squeezing the lemon juice on the natural yoghurt, stirring half in the mix and drizzling half on top. Add the soy sauce to the sesame seeds and put them on top (this is a revelation - I'm going to put it on top of most dishes form now on). Et voila! A master piece.

After the amount of times I just wrote broccoli, I still want to type it with two 'l's'. Sounds a lot at once but somehow it just works. The dressing is as delicious on other dinners / salads too. Thanks Denis.

When in Rome...

It has been two weeks since our trip to Rome and as the rain has drawn in the end of British summer, I thought I would reminisce... I know Italy is known for coffee and coffee is in the blog title, but I want to talk about the pizza. Being a foodie, naturally I googled places to eat before going; food is surely a highlight of anyone's trip(?) I still salivate at the best pizza I've ever had... perfectly crisp from the thin oven baked base, sweet juicy tomatoes, salty capers and just the right amount of tuna, onion and olives... Never has a pizza tasted so good. I was recommended the margarita, but I like a bit of variety in each mouthful. I also neglected to notice the lack of cheese on my pizza written in the menu until it arrived. Dove e la cheesa?! It was 9pm on the day of travel, forgive me, I guess it was just a healthy pizza but that made it all the more delizioso. The pizzeria was called 'Li Rioni', the pure essence of an Italian name. No other pizza could compare to this in the quaint, cobbled and vespa led streets. We had to go back. We had planned our order: crispy fried and stuffed courgette flowers, fried cod fillets (the locals were doing it, when in Rome...), little tomato risotto balls and the piece de resistance, an oozing cheesy margarita... turns out it's closed on Tuesdays. Pasta it was... For the one amazing night of pizza we shared, grazie Roma...
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/jul/13/top-10-pizza-places-rome
#rome #pizza