The Question of Thai Basil

Well hello again folks, it's been a quiet week on the old foodie front! We haven't been out even for a coffee, however, we did have friends over last night and my husband cooked a really nice Thai Red Chicken Curry.

Ok, here's a question for any foodies out there. We did have a pot of dried Thai Sweet Basil from Waitrose, but it seems to have been discontinued.  We did find a large bag of whole dried Thai Basil leaves in a deli which crush easily, but don't seem to soften enough to be edible.  At the moment we're using the whole leaves as you would bay leaves and taking them out at the end of the cooking time - anyone got any suggestions on how they're best used?

Anyone who wants to try a nice, simple pud that tastes divine - try this, again we had it last night after the thai curry.

Recipe
Greek yoghurt, about 15 - 20 cardamom pods crushed, caster sugar to taste - mix it all together (the smell will knock your socks off!!) and serve spooned over fresh mango chunks/slices.  Sounds like it shouldn't work, but believe me it does!

Tonight we're having pork braised with apples in cider - yum! See you next week!

Thai Basil
Product of the week

Chilli Hot Chocolate!

Hello again everyone!

I was planning to blog about the new River Cottage Canteen and Deli in Royal William Yard, Plymouth, this week, however I've found out that it doesn't open until the 15th!! Doh!  Never mind, it's looking good through the windows, and staff are clearly in and being trained. We shall wait with baited breath!

Of course, as it wasn't open to sample, we had to pop back in to the Royal William Bakery, because it would have been rude not to! Two lattes and two shortbread biscuits the size of teaplates (one stem ginger and one chocolate chip) we staggered out and ended up having lunch for dinner because we were still so full!

I was really sad earlier on this year to see the doors of one of my favourite stores, Whittards, close in Plymouth - so imagine my joy now that they've reopended for business inside Drakes Circus shopping centre.  This has to be my product recommendation of the week.  You must try their tub of Chilli Hot Chocolate, it really is heaven in a cup and guaranteed to warm you up on a cold winters night.

Recommendation of the week

So, what else has been happening on the foodie front?  Well, we've caught up on I Player with all of Nigel Slater's current series and have already tried a number of recipes (we can recommend the prawn, noodle, chilli and coconut soup) and we have more planned for the coming week.  My husband made the best thai red chicken and butternut squash curry the other night, it really was amazing. Today's my day though and we're having roast pork with roasted veg - let's hope the crackling is successful!

Well, I shall see you next week with some more foodie news, but if you want to see more of my blogs and you have any interest in jewellery and gifts, why not take a look at my other blog because next week (Thursday) I will be featuring a great artist Phiona Richards of Rare Notions, who makes the most amazing book scultputres and jewellery from damaged and unwanted books.
http://slicksilverjewellery.blogspot.com/

Weekend Munchies!

Hello folks - hope you've all had a lovely week and that you enjoyed last week's blog about the Royal William Bakery.  I had to go back on Friday to show my husband it's gorgeousness and whilst he tried out the variety of toast I had a thick slice of Banana, Pear and Chocolate sweet bread with butter which was amazing! mmmmmmmmm...........

So what's tickled my tastebuds this week then?  Well, kicking off with the above of course, we then settled down to watch our foodie hero, Nigel Slater, and made notes for future try-outs.  I love his obvious relish for good food and I like the way that there are no hard and fast recipes, merely guidelines, suggestions and enthusiasm for experimentation.

It's been my turn in the kitchen today so this has been the plan.  For brunch I pinched a good friend's recipe and made cheese scones and as I don't like mustard I used a good kick of paprika instead.  I served the warm cheese scones buttered with poached eggs on top and a sprinkling of parmesan - lovely - thanks Sam and Heather!!

We're not vegetarians, but we often eat meat-free meals because we like them, so tonight will be another recipe that I've nicked - this time from my daughter-in-law Josie.  We're having Butternut Squash and Feta pie.  There's nothing like the comforting stickiness of roasted butternut squash - my alltime favourite vegetable.  If you want to try this, it's the easiest thing in the world.  Just cut up the squash into chunks, drizzle with olive oil and place on a tray with a couple of whole garlic cloves or more if you prefer and roast in the oven till cooked.  In the meantime, slice a red onion and fry gently in olive oil and when it's softened stir in some brown sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar to caramelise the onions.  Roll out some shortcrust pastry and place on an oven tray.  Combine the butternut squash, squeeze the garlic out of it's skin, the onions and some cubed feta cheese together and pile in the centre of the pastry and fold the edges over to make a freeform pie and bake until golden - fab-u-lous!!! We usually have whatever salad is to hand with this one.

As for chocolate this week, I've been eating 50% milk chocolate from Hotel Chocolat which is the bar that used to be called Macho Milk - very nice.

See you all next week! I believe that the new River Cottage Canteen and Deli will be opening soon at Royal William Yard so I'll take a look and let you know.



 

Slicky's Fantasy Food Haul Goes to the Bakery

Hi all, thanks for coming back to read my food blog!

Last week I heard about a new artisan bakery at the Royal William Yard, Plymouth called the Royal William Bakery and I promised myself that I would indeed check it out.  Today I dropped my husband off at his OU tutorial and thought I'd pay them a visit.

It wasn't what I expected - it really was so much more.  I expected a shop - not as such.

Think rustic, think rough hewn refectory tables made from thick planks held up by chunks of RSJ and long benches.  Think shelves stacked with homemade breads, lemon curd, jam, peanut butter, bright green pesto and bags of homemade muesli and flours.

Along the back wall I was able to watch the chef baking bread and pizzas for lunch and at a high bench in the centre stood breakfast served from 8.30 - 12.00 (lunches apparently start at 12.30).  As I wandered around I met Clive Cobb, the owner, who told me to treat the place as I would my own kitchen.  You can choose a beautiful large glazed pottery cup and filled with muesli or treat yourself to toast and for the princely sum of £2.50 you cut your own slices of bread from all the artisan loaves on offer on the table, toast it yourself, grab a nice chunky plank (no plates here), grab a seat and help yourself to butter from the big earthenware bowls on the table. There's also the option of fresh croissants or pain au chocolat and a range of beautiful scones.  Prices are simple and there is an honesty policy of simply telling the person on the till what you ate.  The concept is great - the food is even better. The coffee was also wonderful.  All of the above items are available to take away too.

I couldn't resist something to eat with my coffee and so I plumped for an almond, apple and pear scone with butter which melted in my mouth.

We are planning another visit on Thursday for breakfast either for breakfast or lunch so that my husband can see what I've been raving about!! The lunches also look amazing!

So, if you find yourself looking for something a little bit different and a little bit special then take yourself down to the Royal William Yard and follow your nose to the Town Mill Bakery.  There is a website if you want to see more www.townmillbakery.com for those in the Lyme Regis area and
for those nearer to Plymouth check out http://www.theroyalwilliambakery.com/

On another note, as you may know, I also publish a jewellery blog and if you take a look at this week's blog I have a competition for two lucky winners to each receive an aluminium ring - why not take a look! http://slicksilverjewellery.blogspot.com/

See you next week for another culinary haul!

Celebrating National Chocolate Week

Hello, and welcome to my other blog!  I blog every week about jewellery and design matters, so I thought it was about time I introduced you to my other love (other than my husband and family of course!!) - food!

I am a foodie and luckily so is my husband.  We don't eat huge meals, we're not greedy, but we do like trying new recipes and we like cooking for each other and family and friends when we get the chance. It's a nurturing thing!

This week my husband is working away and so I've been cooking dishes that will last for more than one day.  Today and probably the next couple of days in fact I will be eating beef stew with dumplings, lots and lots of fresh vegetables and I have given it an extra kick with a large teaspoon full of smoked paprika - the smell is wafting in as I type. Mmmmmmmm.

I've had a couple of successful finds this week.

I tried fizzy Lemon Sherbet drink from Marks & Spencer which, although it contains sugar, is very sharp and tangy and I noticed that they had a few more old favourites including one I hadn't heard of which was Rock Shandy - orange and lemon apparently. Very refreshing though.

My second find took me away from my normal place of worship (Hotel Chocolat) back to Marks & Spencer and I celebrated the end of National Chocolate Week with a bar of their Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Salt.  Very nice!!

I've also heard that an artisan bakery has opened it's doors at the Royal William Yard, Plymouth, so I shall pay a visit there and let you know what it's like.  I understand that they're selling savoury danish pastries with feta cheese, red onion and tomato which sound amazing.

Well I hope you like my new blog, very different to my other one, but I hope you will feel inspired to check out both! See you next week!