by Anna on February 8, 2010
I have a little thing about chocolate cake. I think it’s because I’m mostly not a cake person- but put a rich dark chocolate cake in front of me and you may find my cosying up to you, rubbing your back affectionately and gently sighing. It can’t be made with bakers chocolate or cheap cocoa and if it’s dry then I’ll probably hand it straight back- but if it’s moist and tender, dark and rich I’ll be your best friend forever. I may be picky but I’m fiercely loyal.
We can all do with a little chocolate cake in our life. A recipe for a good one may just be the quickest way to attract new friends. I gave youone years ago- but if you’re looking for a more day-to-day cake, the kind you have with a cup of tea rather than candles and a happy birthday chorus then I think you’ll find this one soon taking prime positioning in your recipe file.
As a pound cake it’s a little dense- by which I mean it can hold it’s own weight making it fantastically convenient for being scoffed over the kitchen sink. Lets be honest, there are times when plates are just so overrated. I’ve studded this beauty generously with chards of deeply dark chocolate- 85% cocoa, if you can get it. Because it’s flavour is so robust most of it should end up in the cake and not in your mouth, which you’ll thank me for later. No, seriously you will. The ovaltine is optional, but it adds a very subtle malted flavour- nothing brash like the effect of adding spirits or orange zest. If you decide to omit it just add it’s weight in flour. But enough of my gibbering there’s cake to be had so go forth, make cake and make friends.
p.s the missing slice is due to my lovely husband- always forgetting that there a photographs to be taken before food can be eaten!
Keep reading for the recipe….
by Anna on January 29, 2010
They say popcorn is a healthy snack- well not the kind you buy in family-sized buckets at the cinema, nor the kind that’s photographed, but air-popped kind, that’s the low calorie one. Like everything though, there is a limit to how much one can eat before it becomes unhealthy- yes even air-popped. I am 110% certain that I have reached that limit, and yes I am the teeniest bit ashamed to admit it. After a long day at work Don comes home craving pasta covered in cheese and if I have been unfortunate enough to have worked an equally long day he will unquestionably find me sprawled out on the sofa scoffing popcorn drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and Maldon sea salt. I can see the disappointment in his face as he notes that his wife was clearly too exhausted to cook him dinner, again. It’s not a habit that I’ve become proud of but there are evenings (and I hate to admit it but also the odd lunch or two) where I’ve been working so hard that all I want to eat is something crunchy and salty, preferably sat on the sofa watching idol, with a cup of tea- fresh mint, which I think marginally raises my level of class.
I’ve tried to make big meals at the weekend to last us through the week but whilst Don is happy to reheat and eat, I am most pleasant to be around when I’m sat with a bowl of popcorn. It’s just a passing phase, I’m sure- not the lack of a nutritious dinner but the popcorn itself. If I’ve been cooking food all day the last thing I want is to sit down in front of a plate of it. Popcorn has a lovely way of being inoffensive to my palate.
The popcorn photographed came as a result of one exceptionally lazy weekend which led to a rather loose handed pour of kernels into a scorching hot pan. Rather than fish them out at the risk of seared fingers I popped the lid on and shook the pan until I was left with what can truthfully only be described as a popcorn explosion. Something had caught my eye over at Smitten Kitchen a few weeks ago so I snuck back over and sourced out the guilty culprit. It looked even more desirable that I had remembered the first time, so it was not even a question that I was going to give it a go. It’s disgustingly good- you’ll want to remove it from your house as quickly as possible and emphatically impose it upon your friends. They will without question declare you a culinary genius and you’ll be pleased that you no longer have to face its ogling eyes each time you pass through the kitchen.
The only problem of course, is when you decide that you really ought to make it again. And again. And again. And then once you’ve left batches for the doorman and then the cleaner and you’ve finally made friends with your neighbours, you’ll probably find yourself sick of the stuff. And only then will you decide that despite your new-found popularity, you probably don’t need to make another batch.
I had an idea after making the Smitten Kitchen recipe to turn this into a sort of trail-mix. The caramel popcorn takes the place of chocolate and forms little clusters of sweet and salty joy along with toasted mixed seeds, roasted almonds and dried cranberries or cherries. It’s not something that you want to carry with you on a hike but it’s perfect for serving to friends for an energy-fueled game night.
The recipe makes a lot more caramel than is photographed- the idea being that you can tailor it to your own ideal level of sweetness. If you don’t add it all though, you will have to be very quick about stirring to insure that all of the seeds get picked up by the caramel and stick to the popcorn. I like to spread out all the dry ingredients in a large greased roasting tin before I pour over the caramel- that way each ingredient stands its best chance of being sugar coated.
Just don’t start making this in place of dinner- because that would be just plain wrong.
keep reading for the recipe
by Anna on January 18, 2010
I turned 27 today. You probably think I ought to be out partying. In reality I think I ought to be out partying but the truth is I just could not get my act together this year. That and the lack of stamina I seem to have after a week at work. Perhaps I’ll do something in February, once I’ve gotten used to the idea that I’m closer to thirty than I was on January 17th. I guess I sort of thought that turning 27 would be just like any other birthday- I’d wake up, be surrounded by cards and prezzies to open in bed and when people asked me if I felt any different I would just shrug and say, nope! I used to be thrilled that I was getting older- as far as I was concerned one couldn’t get old fast enough. First it was old enough to get my ears peirced, then it was old enough to drive, to finish school, to finish college, to finally be the one who isn’t asked to make the tea, to get married, have kids and finally, finally be the boss. And then life could just stop once I was married with kids at the top of my game because I would have finally reached the age of perfection.
The thing is waking up 27 I do feel different. 27 is like the critical age- it’s that much closer to 30, it’s the one when people finally start giving you a bit more respect in the work place and finally your age some what qualifies you. It’s the one age where kids in their early twenties suddenly think of as adult and when parents start thinking you’re not too young to marry. I have always been the baby in the kitchen. The one whose opinons held absolutely no credibility purely because of my, and I quote: lack of life experience. I was the one who always go teased for being so young- questions like do you remember… were quickly followed by a sigh and never mind, you probably weren’t even born then. I sort of liked it. Not the part that warranted me unqualified in having an opinion but the fact that it was assumed that I was young and therefore somewhat envied.
This year things have changed. I look at pictures from a few years ago and find myself saying out loud- look how young I look! It’s not that I’ve suddenly become grey-haired and wrinkly but clearly something has changed. I was not asked for ID once this year! Okay, so maybe in the bars when they are checking everyone- but not one booze store carded me and I’ve been to quite a few. Perhaps it’s just me that’s unable to see my greying hairs and wrinkles- poor eyesight, I believe that’s a sign of ageing too. Last week was a particularly brutal week for me in the kitchen- for the first time I wasn’t the youngest. And not only that but even though there was less than two years separating me from the baby I was quite mistakenly grouped into the older generation. There was no never mind you probably weren’t even born then for me. I wanted to cry out- but WAIT I WAS BORN IN THE 80′S TOO!!
So, turning 27 hasn’t been all it’s cracked up to be. There were no presents in bed, no treasure hunt, no novelty cake with candles- no party. But there will be, I just have to adjust. The problem with having a birthday so soon after New Years is that you’ve spent the last three weeks working out how to better yourself and then BAM! you’re a year older and yet depressingly you’re still in the same place that you were last year. My only good fortune today, was the large spot that popped up above my right eyebrow. On most days I would pop the little bugger and try desperately to cover up the carnage- but today I let it go, because only teenagers get spots and that made me smile.
On that note, I give you hot and cold fregula salad. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting fregula before let me be the first to introduce you. So long as your not carbo-phobic or gluten free I think you’ll find yourself to be good buddies. If you can’t bare to buy another packet of grains when you already have plenty of half-used packets in your cupboard, then fear not because it’s easily substituted with rice, brown rice, Israeli couscous, farro, barley- you get my drift. The title isn’t exactly original but it tells it like it is. Hot fregula and broccoli are tossed with raw tomatoes, carrots, spring onions and tuna with toasted pinenuts, lemon and olive oil. You could have it all cold but I’d stay away from trying to heat it all up- I think you’d miss out on all the flavours. It’s healthy, but warming at the same time, unless of course you opt to have it cold in which case it will just be healthy and filling. Feel free to mix up the veggies, I used up the dregs of my fridge- mighty good tasting dregs they were too.
keep reading for the recipe
