Chatiryworld

Festive and seasonal

Here's our christmas dinner: vegetarian haggis, braised red cabbage, parsnip and carrot mash and roast Shetland blacks.  All made by Jon, although I did cut the onion for the haggis, but then also cut my finger so the scar from my last cut is going to be a wee bit extended.  But at least I didn't need to go to hospital this time.

Jon's mum wasn't able to come up and join us due to illness and the weather but we entertained his sister and we'll have a second dinner later this week.  There's also a beach bonfire party at my dad's that I'm looking forward to, but it would be nice to be able to see my mum and family at this time of year too.  So many parents, so many miles...

The snow has finally started to melt but here's some snowmen in our local park:

Yuletide

I made this yule log from Nigella's Christmas book today.  Gosh it's sickly! (Jon says that's a bit harsh but I don't think the cake heard me.)   Would using even darker chocolate have made a difference - I used Green & Blacks 70% stuff. The swiss roll bit wasn't particularly traumatic, I followed the instructions and it worked really well.  Not sure I'll make this again though, but will look out for a different recipe maybe.  I like to have a chocolate cake at this time of year as I don't like fruit cake.

Hope you're having a lovely time over the holidays, festive and seasonal greetings to you all!

Monday, December 21st 2009

Here's a really sweet idea from not martha, a gingerbread house that perches on the side of your coffee/tea/hot chocolate.

Monday, December 14th 2009

Want to make a gingerbread house with a difference?  Have a look at this architect-designed modernist LA house.  For something more traditional, my cousin made one with her family recently, it's very sweet.

Birthday nommage

Now, where was I before I got rudely interrupted by illness this week?  Birthday food, that's where!

Last Sunday we went all out on domestic god/goddessness (of the atheist variety, natch).  I set up the Clothkits toys to be having a little picnic for Emily to join in.  She was more interested in the Charlie and Lola colouring book but enjoyed eating the heads of the fairy cookies (they may look like angels and be from a christmas cookie set but it's still only November so that makes them fairies) and picking at the Lanarkshire cucumber and cherry tomatoes I got at the farmer's market.  The cookie recipe was from Nigella's Feast .

For lunch we put on a Big Spread.  Jon made sausages and chicken goujons from Rachel Allen's Favourite Food at Home .  I also made some hummous from the same great book.  Jon also made stuffed jacket potatoes (both bacon and vegetarian versions) from Nigella's Christmas and I made mini pizzas (own recipe) and sweet potato falafel from Leon.  As usual, we also provided blue corn chips (or black crisps if you're two) and Mr Vikki's chutneys to nibble on.

On my birthday we ate lunch at Henderson's Bistro.  Despite being a bit of an Edinburgh institution we had never eaten here together, although I've eaten at their restaurant many years ago and sometimes stopped at the deli for a cheap and filling vegetarian lunch to keep me going whilst shopping.  We shared the above mezze and then I had spinach pancakes and Jon had the Moroccan stew.  Both were delicious and we vowed to return, especially when we don't have a massive chocolate cake at home and can enjoy one of their desserts.

On Tuesday we went to check out the restaurant at the new John Hope Gateway at the Botanics.  It's lovely, gorgeous food in a gorgeous building.  I had the above stack of pancakes with fruit, yoghurt and maple syrup whilst Jon went for the full Scottish breakfast.  Stuffed, we went over to North Berwick for a walk via a quick look round the Mark Hearld and Friends exhibition at the Scottish Gallery.

And then my throat started hurting...

Pumpkin and goats cheese lasagne

I got Nigella Christmas last year, although I briefly wondered if it would be one of those novelty books that I just look at for the pictures and don't really use, it has earned its keep.  I've been wanting to make the pumpkin and goats cheese lasagne for a while, but the recipe is for one that feeds 12-15.  I think we could get 12-15 people in our house, but they wouldn't be able to sit round a table to eat the lasagne though.  Jon's mum came up at the weekend, so that was one person more than usual to help us out with eating good food.  I divided the quantities down by 3, still too much for us but it meant yummy leftovers the next day.  By the time I'd hacked into the pumpkin and got rid of the seeds and skin there wasn't quite enough flesh so I added a courgette as well. 

The result was delicious, and if you need any further recommendation, when you Google 'nigella pumpkin lasagne' you get Jan Moir near the top saying it 'looks like a foot spa full of vomit', so cooking it is like sticking two fingers up to the Daily Hate and everything it stands for.  Or something like that.

Shame there's none left.

My Place and Yours: A View of Your Secret Weapon

Hmm, this week's My Place and Yours was a bit of a toughie, what is my secret weapon?  I think it has to be the Magimix .  We got it back in February and it's been a fabulous addition to the kitchen.  I'm writing this just before 10am and it's already been used this morning, to finely grate carrot and parsnip for a loaf.  It makes fantastic pizza dough and buttercream icing.  I've used to make several recipes I'd done pre-Magimix and it's improved all of them.  It can deal with stiffness of Nigella's chocolate Christmas cookie dough and grates the beetroot for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's chocolate beetroot brownies in an instant.

This definitely hasn't sat in the cupboard unused, which was always what I thought happened to food processors after the first week.  You just need to be very, very careful when washing the blades up though...

Lunch at The Kitchin

Back in January Jon went with his work colleagues to swanky Edinburgh restaurant The Kitchin. He loved it, so when we got married in May, said colleagues clubbed together to buy us some vouchers so we could both go and enjoy the wonder that is The Kitchin.  Thanks Jon's colleagues!

So this Tuesday we went along for our much-anticipated lunch.  According to the staff AA Gill was also in, I couldn't confirm this though, everyone looked like meedja types to me.  I'm not sure that I've ever been to a Michelin starred restaurant before, a quick look at the 2009 list reveals that the Summer Isles Hotel in Achiltibuie is starred, but I ate there back in 2005 and it was soup at the bar.  I've certainly never eaten anywhere so posh, this is a 'proper' restaurant with 'proper' service.

Which I must admit I found a little intimidating at first, I like eating in relaxed places, Porthminster Beach Cafe and the Victoria Inn, both places we went to on honeymoon in Cornwall, were my kind of restaurants, excellent food, great service but a laid back atmosphere where you feel comfortable.  I gradually got used to it though, even if the filling up my glass of water every time I had a drink from it did grate on me.  I'm just not used to that kind of very attentive service I suppose.

I would definitely return to The Kitchin though because the food is just outstanding.  I told them when I booked that I was vegetarian, normally I don't approve of having to ask for vegetarian food beforehand but I let this one go as a few of Jon's colleagues who went out on the meal were also vegetarian, and they raved about what they were served.  We went for the set lunch menu, but as there were no vegetarian dishes on this they simply let me have the ones on the a la carte menu for the same price.  So, what did I have?

First up, a mini bowl of roast pumpkin soup each, I went for olive bread to accompany it and Jon went for sourdough.  It was the perfect consistency (I like my soups thick, but not quite on the scale of baby food!) and the toasted pumpkin seeds set the flavour off beautifully.

My starter was pressed leek terrine with Jerusalem artichokes and hazelnuts.  I was a bit nervous that the terrine might be fatty, but no, just delicious pressed leeks (as promised).  I don't think I have ever eaten Jerusalem artichokes before, we've been getting our veg box delivery for a year and they've never turned up, I had even kept an eye on recipes using them because I knew they were one of the classic veg box items that people don't know what to do with.  I'll certainly be investigating them more as the way they were prepared here (centre) was lovely, the hazelnuts and dill working brilliantly together.

Whilst eating our starters I became aware of a small table being set up behind us, I think I've seen them in other restaurants for placing griddles of Mexican food on, or so the waiter can carve the meat at the table.  Someone must be having something pretty amazing I thought, wonder what it could be.  Well, turns out that someone was me.  I had Robin Gray's vegetables, cooked en papillotte with vegetable stock and served with celeriac puree.  The waiter brought the foil parcel, puree and some beetroot to the small table and proceeded to open up the parcel and prepare the dish ready to present to me.  Yes, it may look like a pile of vegetables, and yes, that's what it is, but what superb vegetables they were, with a few chestnuts as a contrast.  Rich yet light at the same time.

Finally, dessert.  With nothing chocolatey on the menu I went for a warm orange pudding served with sea buckthorn sorbet and seasonal fruits.  Very, very good, even if I had no idea what sea buckthorn was (apart from guessing it was a seaside plant) until I wrote this.  I think the, um, brown thing on the side may have had chocolate in it though.

And that was our trip to The Kitchin.  We had a short walk around The Shore before getting the bus home and watching Ratatouille for the bazillionth time.  I would highly recommend The Kitchin, save your pennies up as it's worth it.  Plus £24.50 for a set lunch is what a lot of places charge for christmas dinner and this is far, far better.

This is the bowl that Hugh made

with the yeast sponge that Jon made

that becomes our delicious bread.

Our wedding gift from my mum and Hugh was this amazing wooden bowl for Jon to make bread in, as he had read it was best to make bread in a wooden bowl.  Hugh has also made a lovely page on his blog with images of the bowl and our wedding.  We have great families.

We spend our lives eating cupcakes

That sounds like the start of something that could be quite profound, doesn't it?  It's not, it's just that I seem to be blogging about cupcakes recently.  Jon and I don't actually spend our lives eating cupcakes, mainly because it would make us fat and unhealthy.  These are some slightly squashed (they travelled in Jon's bag from North Berwick) mini ones from Cath's Cupcakes.  Isn't that a great packaging idea? 

We headed out to North Berwick today for a food fair organised by Slow Food East Lothian.  We recognised a few stalls from Edinburgh Farmer's Market but there were several that were new to us, including Cath's Cupcakes (incidentally these are very tasty and highly recommended.  We didn't spend that long at the fair and I was disappointed at the lack of hot vegetarian food available, all there was for lunch was a cheese platter, and that may not be much good if you are a strict vegetarian, or like me, can't eat too much cheese.  Jon enjoyed his burger and I created a sandwich of sorts using marinated olives and feta and a roll I was kindly allowed to buy separately from the meat soup.  We finished off with chocolate ice creams (sorbet for me, and that tasted pretty rich!) from The Chocolate Tree, who produce an amazing array of chocolate goodies.  A wander along the beach rounded off our time there nicely.

Yesterday I met fellow blogger, knitter and librarian Catrin from everyday life (wearing her gorgeous candle flame shawl).  She has come over from Sweden to have a little tour of the UK to celebrate her birthday.  We went to knit and eat cake at K1 Yarns, and managed not to buy the entire shop, then enjoyed lunch at The Elephant House.  Lovely to meet you Catrin and enjoy the rest of your stay here!