Team Inglis

balconies and blues...

2011-06-05T12:29:00.001-07:00

Not too sure what just happened. We moved to Zurich and somehow didn't blog for three months. Whoops. Things have been busy and crazy but exciting and wonderful. For now, here's just a little peek at some delicious jambalaya. The weather is hot and we're pretending to be in New Orleans while sitting on the balcony listening to blues...

It's been a long time...

2011-03-05T13:32:00.001-08:00

Oops, somehow managed to not blog for a couple of months... what can I say, things have been crazy busy. But, seeing as we've just moved to a new country and all... thought maybe it would be time to jump-start the old Team Inglis. So, you might already know... Freddy and I arrived in Zurich yesterday. Fell fast asleep for the entire afternoon in the hotel then woke up and ate MacDonalds and cake in front of British television... we needed to start the transition slowly.

Today we moved into our new temporary flat. It's incredibly nice, super modern, and in a very good location. Couldn't ask for anything better really. The sun was shining this afternoon so we took a little walk along the river and did a tour of Zurich's trams... there was a protest going on and so it was slightly confusing figuring out how to get to the city centre. Freddy is doing an excellent job of navigating though... especially considering all I do is tug on his shirt whining variations of, 'where are we? are we there yet? where are we going?....' Delightful as ever.

Anyway, Zurich is beautiful and we are both happy. Planning to hit up Ikea tomorrow... pretend like we are in Sweden and eat lots of hotdogs and buy some candles. Til later.

p.s. we also managed to survive our first grocery shopping trip without any dramatic arguments about which butter to buy... and even managed to arrive just as all the cakes were being marked down 50%. Good to know. xx

Jambalaya and Apple Crumble

2011-01-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

Ok so its true I can't really cook at the moment with my hand but have been wanting to post these recipes for a while. Jambalaya is a new favourite as we often have the ingredients for this at home and apple crumble is a super quick and easy dessert.

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

the holy trinity: green bell pepper, onion, a couple sticks of celery (you know its going to be good when the first three ingredients are called the 'holy trinity')

one chicken breast

chorizo

prawns

salt and pepper

cayenne pepper

olive oil

bay leaves

thyme

a few cloves of garlic

1 fresh chili

1/2 a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

700ml chicken stock

300g rice

Directions:

Slice up the chicken breast and chuck in a large saucepan and brown for a few mins with olive oil, a spoon full of the tinned tomatoes, and chorizo sliced (in chunks). Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Add the bell pepper, onion, garlic, and celery (all finely sliced). Add the rest of the seasonings (bay leaves, chilies, etc...). Fry the mix for about ten mins, till veg is nice and soft. Add the rest of the tomatoes and the chicken stock and bring to boil. Then pop in the rice and cook for 20-30 mins till rice is done. Five mins before the dish is done add the prawns (fresh or frozen is fine). I admit it doesnt look like much, but tastastic.

Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/8 cup sugar

40g butter

400g apples

1/4 cup brown sugar (to sweeten the apples)

1 tbsp water

cinnamon

nutmeg

cloves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Peel, core, and cut apples into chunks. Put apples in a saucepan with brown sugar, water, and spices. Heat until they soften slightly. Mix the oats, flour, butter, and sugar together with your fingers. Place the apples in an oven proof dish and cover with the crumble. Place in oven for about 20 mins. Delish with icecream!

Oxford snow day...

2010-12-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

It came down in the bucket loads today. Oxford was deserted for a Saturday and absolutely beautiful.

Graduation day...

2010-12-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I graduated from the London School of Economics. Was lovely to have my parents over from Egypt to celebrate with Freddy and I. We drove in from Oxford then hung around Covent Garden and Knightsbridge. So thankful to be finished and not to have any more essays to write.

because sick boys need ice cream...

2010-12-09T12:59:00.001-08:00

As you might already know Freddy has been unwell this week after having surgery on his thumb. This was just the thing to help him get better.

Ingredients: 1 banana, 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream, pink sprinkles, hot fudge, whipped cream.

Directions: cut banana length wise, fill with ice cream, top with whipped cream, sprinkles, and hot fudge.

Blueberry Pancakes

2010-11-28T04:04:00.000-08:00

We have been making these pancakes for the last couple of weekends. Jenny has had Saturdays off and its a great way to start the day!

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 cup plain flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

140ml milk

a pinch of salt and sugar

a splash of vanilla essence

some blueberries

Directions:

Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. Add the yolks to the rest of the ingredients above and beat into a batter (except the salt, sugar, and blueberries). Whisk the egg whites with the salt and sugar until they form stiff peaks. Then fold the whites back into the batter. Add a dollop of the batter to a warm frying pan. Once it starts frying add the blueberries to the uncooked side. Then flip over. Fry for a bit and then your done. MmmmMmmmMmmm.

enjoy!

gobble gobble...

2010-11-25T13:10:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn is here...

2010-11-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hyde Park, London.

saturday morning...

2010-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mmm.... my coffee from Saturday morning. Brought over by Freddy who doused it in every available topping.

Tomato soup for stephanie

2010-10-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Im on a bit of a food blogging binge at the moment. But we are making some pretty tasty treats and have a few new regular recipes that we make all the time, so am trying to get them up on the blog.

Made some tomato soup the other day... it was good.

Ingredients: (serves four)

Soup

1kg ripe cherry tomatoes (but I reckon any kind of toms are good)

4 large tomatoes

1 fresh red chili

4 cloves of garlic

1 ciabatta loaf

2 small red onions

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

a small bunch of fresh basil

a few dollops of creme fraiche

olive oil

salt and pepper

Directions:

Turn on oven to 220 celsius. Get our tomatoes and quarter the big ones. Stick on a roasting tray with the peeled and crushed cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Chop up chili and add. Toss everything around and put on top shelf of oven for 12-15 mins.

Peel and roughly chop the onions and put into a hot saucepan and some olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Leave to soften, stirring occasionally. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and leave to reduce down. Once the tomatoes are roasted and are slightly blackened on top add them to the saucepan. Give them a good mix around and leave for a few minutes to bubble away. Get your blender ready. Pour the mix into the blender (in batches if blender is not big enough to take it all at once) and add the basil. Give it a good old blend around and once finished pour back in the pan (to keep warm). Add some creme fraiche or sour cream when serving.

We also made some homemade croutons using ciabatta, which we tore up and sprinkled with salt and olive oil and popped in the oven for 10-15 mins.

Guacamole platter

We had a guacamole platter with this meal. Made us feel pretty super healthy.

Ingredients:

Tomato

1-2 fresh chilies

a handful of coriander

2 ripe avocados

2 limes

bulb of fennel

1 carrot

cucumber

breadsticks

Directions:

Destone and peel avocado. Either chuck in food processor with chilies, tomatoes, and coriander or chop finely. Then squeeze the limes over the mixture. Chop up the rest of the ingredients to use as things you can dip into the guac. MmmMmmMmm (the fennel was surprisingly good)

Taste 7/10

Price 5/10

Difficulty 3/10

I made some dinner, it was good

2010-10-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

So Jamie has a new book. I know Jenny and I are such suckers for his recipes. I'm not saying that we like all his stuff, but he does some pretty tasty stuff going on. And his palate is pretty similar to ours. So here is: Chicken Skewers with satay sauce and fiery noodle salad.

Ingredients: feeds 4

Satay

bunch of coriander

1 fresh red chilli

1/2 a clove of garlic

3 heaped tablespoons good-quality crunchy peanut butter

soy sauce

thumb sized piece of ginger

2 limes

Chicken

4 breasts

runny honey

Noodles

250g dried medium egg noodles (1 nest per person)

100g unsalted cashews

1/2 a medium-sized red onion

1 fresh red chilli

a small bunch of fresh coriander

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

1 lime

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp runny honey

Garnishes

2 gem lettuces

coriander

soy sauce

limes

Directions:

So technically this should take 30 mins, but realistically more like 45. Stick some skewers in water. For the satay chop up a small bunch of coriander, garlic, 3 tbsp peanut butter and a glug of soy sauce. Peel and chop the ginger and add. Grate the zest of both limes and add the juice of one. Throw into a food processor or chop finely. Your call. Chopping by hand is obviously more work and takes longer. Also add a splash of water. Use half of this to marinade the chicken and the other half as tasty dip with the meal.

Chop up the chicken and stick them on the skewers. Toss with satay sauce. Drizzle with olive oil and stick in oven. Put on the top shelf and use the grill function (so only heat from above). 8-10 minutes on each side (or until cooked through). When you flip them over drizzle over with honey.

Put the noodles in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and a plate, then leave to soak for 6 minutes. Put a medium frying pan on a low heat. Bash the cashew nuts with a rolling pin or a pestle. Add to the warm pan and leave to toast. Peel the red onion half and add small bunch of coriander either to a food processor or chop finely. Put in a serving bowl with some soy sauce and olive oil and the juice of 1 lime and the fish sauce and sesame oil. Taste the sauce and season to taste. Drain and add the noodles. Toss everything together. And serve with chicken and lettuce. Sprinkle over with the toasted cashews (add some honey at the end of the toasting process for extra goodness).

Price: 4/10

Taste: 9/10

Difficulty: 4/10

simple pleasures...

2010-10-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

peanut butter and sliced bananas on warm baguette.

amateur barber shop in the kitchen

2010-10-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Freddy's hair before and after. I took scissors to his head a few weeks ago...

locked outside

2010-10-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Back at the beginning of October, on Freddy's birthday, we tried to spend the afternoon at the Ashmolean. It turns out the museum is closed on Mondays so instead of going in we ate sushi and sandwiches outside in the sunshine.

happy birthday Freddy!

2010-10-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

This morning Freddy received the cutest gift from his family. Designed by Vivi, it's an I-patch... easily mistaken for an I-pad, which he is also enjoying.

Hope this year brings you everything you want and more. xx

little fishie...

2010-09-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Freddy and I arrived safely home today after a lovely trip to the US. I'm currently on the bus into London to stay at a friend's house and go to London Fashion Week over the weekend. Then on Tuesday I'm starting a two week work experience at a political think tank. Freddy is currently at home playing his new game Halo Reach online against Patrick who is in London. He's going to be pretty busy too over the next couple weeks. I've got loads of beautiful photos from the last two weeks and I'm going to upload some of my favourites on here. First up is Obie playing playing in the pool in his backyard.

two weeks and you're mine...

2010-08-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Red Robin I am coming for you.

Snickerdoodle cake...

2010-08-15T09:19:00.001-07:00

Today is the 1st birthday of my other blog The Style Crusader. In honour of the momentous occasion Freddy suggested that we bake a cake. Since he isn't a mahoosive fan of my chocolate cake I thought we should try a different sort. I opted for this Snickerdoodle version, in my opinion the king of all cakes. If you love cinnamon, like I do, then this cake may become your very best friend.

The cake: get yourself a standard cake mix (either white or yellow will do fine), 1 cup of milk, 1 stick melted butter (113 grams), 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 tsp cinnamon. Make the cake mix as the directions on the box say and then add the milk, butter, vanilla and cinnamon to it. I was a little concerned because it basically just looks like a sloppy watery mess. But don't worry, it will cook beauitfully and be so moist. Bake the cake as indicated on the box.

The frosting: 1 stick (or 113g) of butter at room temperature, 3 3/4 cup of icing sugar, 3 tbsp milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 1tsp cinnamon (I added a bit more cinnamon... just put in as much as you fancy). Blend up the butter with an electric mixer until it's fluffy and then add the sugar and milk. Blend on low until the sugar mixes in. Add the cinnamon and vanilla and blend on medium until it is light and fluffy. If it feels too stiff you can add a bit more milk. The recipe I saw advised to put the frosting in the fridge until you are ready to use it, but this made my frosting quite difficult to spread (hence my manky cake). So, pop it in the fridge if you want... but I wouldn't recommend it, or if you do maybe blend in a bit of additional milk to help soften it.

Once your cakes have cooled just frost those bad boys right up and serve them to some hungry people as quick as you can. This is my favourite cake... hope you enjoy.

pop up garden...

2010-08-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

We came across this pop up garden last weekend in Ealing Broadway. There wasn't anyone there to protect it and it was very difficult to resist stuffing our bags full of flowers and herbs...

'that's not my name...'

2010-08-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

sweet tooth...

2010-08-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

A carrot infused medley: cake, sorbet, and some creamy stuff. Mini ice-creams in an assortment of flavours. These are the scrumptious desserts we had at the Cherwell Boathouse after the graduation last week... courtesy of Andy's parents. So yummy.

graduation day (take 2)...

2010-08-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Friday Fred had his Masters graduation ceremony. Which seemed a little funny seeing as he has just finished his PhD. He got to wear a different robe though, got hit on the head with the New Testament by the dean and this time it was held in the Examination Schools so we could actually see what was going on. Well done Freddy... now we just have to wait for the third one.

the road to citizenship...

2010-07-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

While the road to citizenship has certainly been a long and strenuous one (not to mention gut wrenchingly expensive) the aftermath of all the efforts was extremely enjoyable. A British feast followed by a picnic in Hyde Park and classical music at the Royal Albert Hall... welcomed me into citizenship - must better than the ques at the Croydon citizenship offices.

and he's off...

2010-07-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Freddy has just headed off to his PhD viva which starts in 5min... it was pouring down rain this afternoon and it just stopped a couple minutes before he had to walk out the door. Perfect timing.

we want what fred wants...

2010-07-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Which undoubtedly meant we were going to be eating kebabs when we headed into Uppsala with all the boys from the lab. This started a crazy obsession that I now have with kebab pizza... it sounds so wrong, but is actually so very right that I had to eat in two nights in a row.

we're back...

2010-07-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

We just arrived back from Sweden today. Had the most beautiful two weeks doing absolutely nothing but hanging out in the sunshine, sailing, swimming, and playing. It was really wonderful and so relaxing. More on some of our holiday adventures later... but for now, I'm off to bed.

'i just need to find landskap...'

2010-06-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

At the end of our first official day in Sweden I am left looking like a lobster. Freddy and I spent the morning at the lake then came home and ate tasty salami and gouda. We headed over to Maggan's place for some dinner in the late afternoon. She used to watch Freddy when he was a little boy... he tends to reminisce about their time baking and reading stories. We played pool and discovered that Vivi is a little shark. I was 'forced' into eating three very yummy pieces of strawberry cream pie, felt ill, and then once we got back home begged Freddy and Vivi to cycle with me down to the grocery store to buy my favourite candy... which I then stuffed my face with (after jumping on the trampoline). Lesson #1 of the holiday: 'I'm not hungry but I'm on holiday' (as I reach my hand into a massive bag of sour candy).

and we're off...

2010-06-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

We arrived into Stockholm late this afternoon. It is so beautiful and fresh. Spent the evening lying in the grass getting bitten by bugs, playing football and eating the most decadent chocolate cake ever. We are so happy to be here. Here's to two more weeks of pure bliss...

a sure way to a girl's heart....

2010-06-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Girls like feeling special. Even though they say that 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' if the food is heart shaped I'm pretty sure it's the way to a girls as well. Last night at Bella Vita in Broadway we had three pizzas and a plate of pasta delivered all in the shape of a heart. It was the most hysterical and wonderful dining experience I think I have ever had. The staff were so insanely friendly. Calling each of us Maria and joking that they didn't have any chicken to put on the pizza, after Jackie asked if they did, and then bringing it out with the lost ingredient firmly in place. The kitchen is open so you can see all the chefs making the food and I even got the opportunity to go back and check it out (see the last photo). Not only is the atmosphere so much fun but the food is actually really good. If you're ever in East London be sure to check it out. It's my new favourite. Oh, and be sure to ask for Tony Peroni. He's the guy that will hook you up with a heart shaped pizza if your after one.

almost there...

2010-06-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

3 exams down and just 1 left to go. spent yesterday studying for hours on end with my friend meera at the candid cafe in angel. they seriously have the most decadent cheesecake...

floatin along...

2010-06-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

2 x 5,000 word essays submitted, first exam completed and three to go. 12 days and counting...

A day of good food

2010-05-23T02:58:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Yesterday Patrick came over to visit and we had fun while Jenny had to work on her essays. The weather is PHENOMENAL! You would think we were living in mexico (or somewhere equally as sunny and warm). In fact it might be too warm... but Im sure I will rue this moment in the rainy weeks to come. So apart from playing loads of squash and swimming we also did some cooking. Here is what we made:

1. I have been craving asparagus... in a big way. In fact on friday night, lying bed all I could think about is how hungry I was and I needed to eat asparagus... weird, I know. Maybe I have a sulphur deficiency or something (and I know I dont think thats possible either). So here is what I made for lunch.

Ingredients (serves 2):

6 Asparagus spears

6 Bacon rashers

2 Eggs

salt, pepper, olive oil

Directions:

Heat your oven to 220 celsius. Wrap asparagus spears with the bacon. Pop them in a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil. In the pre-heated oven for ten minutes. Soft boil some eggs when the asparagi are almost done. Then enjoy with some crusty bread.

2. Smashed broad beans and peas on toast (a nice summery starter)

Ingredients (serves 4):

150 g shelled peas or 500g if still in their pods

250 g shelled broad beans or 700g if still in their pods

Small bunch of mint leaves

sea salt and black pepper

olive oil

50g pecorino cheese or parmesan (freshly grated)

juice of one lemon

4 pieces of nice bread

1 clove garlic

2 large balls of buffalo mozzarella

Mash up your peas with your mint leaves (either in a pestle and mortar... or food processor if you own one... we tragically dont). Then add the beans and mash some more. Add a pinch of salt and a few table spoons of olive oil. Give it a further bashing. Stir in the cheese and 3/4 of the lemon juice. Have a taste and season with some pepper or more salt or more cheese. Toast the bread and then rub with the piece of garlic (cut it in half first and peel). Then add the pea and bean mix, finishing with half of the mozzarella, and a drizzle of olive oil and perhaps a dash of cheese.

3. OK burgers should really get a post of their own... but at the same time everyone knows how to make burgers! Its the easiest thing ever and its one of those dishes that you should spend a life time perfecting and the one time you do it perfectly you have to forget what you put in the recipe. But Im going to write down what I do (mainly for myself so I dont forget), with the caveat that my burgers haven't reached perfection yet.

Ingredients (serves 2):

250 g beef mince

1 clove of garlic

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tuc cracker (finely crumbled)

1/2 of a whisked egg

1/2 a chili (finely chopped)

1/4 of an onion (finely chopped)

salt (or soy sauce) and pepper

olive oil

ciabatta (or hamburger breads, but jenny and I currently have a love affair with ciabatta)

accoutrements (up to you, we added some of the left over pea and bean smash... tasty)

Directions: Mix everything together (using your hands). Then make some patties. Throw these on the bbq (in which case brush with some olive oil).

Im not going to do the traditional taste, price, difficulty. They are all super easy, all super tasty, and reasonably priced.

a brief break...

2010-05-22T03:18:00.000-07:00

spent the day yesterday lying in the park working on essays.... or at least attempting to work on essays. today i'm a bit sunburnt and stuck back inside to properly get some work done. oh well, it nice yesterday while it lasted.

p.s. yes, fred is pulling a very common english park faux-paux of having his shirt off - but i actually told him him should so he could avoid getting a horrible farmers tan.

Rhubarb and crispy pork stir fry

2010-05-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

MmmMmmMmm. Made this dish and took these pictures a while ago but decided to have it again last night, and it was as just tasty as I remembered it to be. Chicken tends to be our stir fry meat of choice so its fun to have something else. However, it does take a while to prepare the pork so unless you get home early its definitely a weekend dish. Also great to eat in the summer (very fresh tasting).

Ingredients (serves 4):

1kg pork belly (de-boned, and rind cut off, and cut into 3-4cm cubes)

sea salt and black pepper

vegetable oil

375g medium egg noodles

4 spring onions (chopped)

1 red chili (deseeded and finely diced)

Bunch of fresh coriander

Bunch of fresh baby watercress

2 limes

for the marinade:

400g rhubarb

4 tbsp honey

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 cloves of garlic

2 red chilies (halved and deseeded)

1 heaped tsp five-spice

a thumb sized piece of ginger (peeled and chopped)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 celsius. Place pork pieces in a roasting tray. Put all the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender and make a nice smooth paste. Pour this all over the pork and cover the roasting tray tightly with tinfoil. Pop this in the oven for about 90-120 mins till pork is tender but not coloured.

Once that is done pick the pieces of pork out of the pan and put to one side. The sauce in the pan will be pretty much perfect but if you want it thicker feel free to put it on a gentle heat for a bit to reduce it and add salt (soy sauce) and pepper to taste.

Put a pan of salted water on to boil. Then add the pieces of pork to a frying pan or wok with a splash of vegetable oil and fry for a few minutes till crisp and golden. Around the same time add your noodles into the boiling water and cook for a few minutes (or whatever it suggests on the packet). Once done add the noodles to the bowls and place pieces of pork on top. Add the sauce and then drape with the coriander, water cress, spring onions and chopped fresh chili. Finally give a good squeeze of lime (half a lime per person).

Taste: 9/10

Price: 5/10 (not super cheap, but definitely not expensive)

Difficulty: : 4/10 (not very hard, but takes a bit of time to prepare)

awesome hair & caravans...

2010-05-14T03:04:00.000-07:00

last night it was meera's 23rd birthday so it only seemed fitting to go hang out in a caravan and pretend to be in mexico. barrio north had such a great atmosphere - definitely a perfect choice for a celebration. happy birthday meera! hope 23 is the best year yet...

a little dollop of heaven...

2010-05-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

cupcakes are good... especially when they are malteser flavoured, from ellas, and are topped with glitter. happy friday.

mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches...

2010-05-03T10:44:00.001-07:00

the only way to eat your sandwich. nom nom nom.

edamame...

2010-05-01T01:01:00.000-07:00

Oxford isn't particularly well known for it's incredible cuisine - but one restaurant that seriously stands out from the abundance of chains is Edamame. A tiny Japanese place that is open only a few hours a day and has special sushi nights only on Thursday. You can spot it by the long line of hungry and impatient people that stretches out the door. Get there for 5pm or be prepared to wait your turn.

what better way to start the day...

2010-04-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

pastries and lattes in the sunshine: heavenly.

Could it be more perfect?!?

2010-04-25T02:35:00.000-07:00

There are a few food related things that Jenny and I love:

1. Avocados (seriously delish... a nice exotic mixture of something between a fruit and a vegetable.

2. Pita bread (all the advantages of bread but super tasty and convenient for stuffing with food)

3. BBQ chicken (definitely one of the best things to do with chickens in general)

So you can imagine how excited we were when we opened Jamie's new cookbook and discovered a recipe with all three of our favourite things. To be honest I felt a bit annoyed bc its a super simple recipe and felt like I should have been able to come up with it myself if I had just thought about it. But then again, Im not a professional chef.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 chicken breasts cut into bite sized chunks

4 pita breads

1 lemon cut into wedges, to serve

for the marinade:

a thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

a tablespoon paprika

a teaspoon chili powder

a teaspoon turmeric

a teaspoon ground coriander

3 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

for the avocado dip:

2 ripe avocados

a teaspoon ground cumin

1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)

1 fresh chili (finely chopped)

a small bunch of fresh coriander (finely chopped)

1 tablespoon olive oil

juice of a lemon

a splash of soya sauce (optional... but tasty)

Directions:

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and toss the chicken chunks in the marinade until everything is covered. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30mins (the longer the better).

Once the bbq is going (we use coal so it takes a while to get started) make the dip. De-stone and peel the avocados. Mash up the flesh with a fork or potato masher and then mix in the rest of the ingredients for the dip in a bowl.

Put the chicken bits on skewers and pop on the bbq for a few mins till cooked all the way through. Once done, add the chicken and dip to the pita breads (I recommend toasting them lightly just before you add the stuff).

Taste: 9/10

Price: 2/10

Difficulty: 2/10

Enjoy! xx

a really really good earthday...

2010-04-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

so you might know that it was earth day yesterday and my birthday. what a special collaboration there... i remember that dawn (whose name i totally wanted when i was younger) from the babysitters club's birthday was also april 22nd and earth day (she was a total environmentalist: vegetarian, recycled, didn't drive... uh, even though she was like 12 in the books)... it was pretty stinking cool that i shared a birthday with her. anyway - yesterday was a perfect day. thanks so much to everyone who called, sent cards and hundred dollar bills in the mail (you know who you are) and wished me happy birthday. it really was such a special day and seriously ranks up there in the best birthdays ever. i just wanted to show you a few photos from the day... i've got more coming soon. so, kicking it off is a very excited girl sitting in university parks with a package that arrived specially for the special day.

freddy and i outside the fabulous gees (the best restaurant in oxford) after a seriously good lunch.

photo shooting it up in park town afterwards... i'm wearing some of my new birthday goodies that i got from my mama and papa (thanks mom & dad). (new bday goodies include the headband, sunglasses and dress)

gorgeous and delicious birthday cake that i got from the lovely girls i work with (i promised grace i would send her a piece in the post - since it was pink of course - whoops...). oh, and just so you know - my official nickname at work is jenny p from tennessee (said with a faux-exagerated american southern accent), hence the 'jenny p' on the cake. anyway, it seriously was a perfect day. thanks to everyone that made it so special.

the big bang...

2010-04-21T04:45:00.001-07:00

we went to the Big Bang for a friend's birthday a couple weeks ago. i'm not going to lie, i was less than thrilled about going. i'd gone once before a couple years ago and really wasn't impressed. we had to sit in the basement which was dark and not very pleasant plus the sausages were pretty dry and not very tasty. so this time when we went my expectations were seriously low and on the way there i was asking fred if we could get mcdonalds on the way home, you know, as a back up plan. as it turned out i was totally wrong about the place and was so impressed. we got to sit up stairs where it was lovely, light, and provided a great view to the funny people going in and out of bars across the street. plus we ordered the most amazing meal. i think it was called the whole hog? maybe that's not right - but basically it was one of each sausage on the menu (the picture above isn't even all the ones we got - there was more) and one of each type of mashed potato on the menu. we shared it between four of us and it was seriously seriously divine. my opinion of the big bang in oxford was radically transformed - now i love it - so long as i can find 3 people to drag along to share the whole hog with. it's the only thing to order when you go.

the barbie cake that was made for the birthday girl. yum. actually, we got a bit bored and decided to light her head on fire (after it was dismantled from the cake)... but i'll spare you the photos.

first BBQ of the summer...

2010-04-19T04:58:00.000-07:00

although all this volcanic ash is reeking havoc on travelers it seems to be working in england's favour. once again we had a beautiful weekend. not only did we celebrate by having our first bbq of the year some slightly psycho boys also had their first dip in the english river (more on that at another time, i skipped out though - it looked a wee bit too cold for me). so chef jamie, err, i mean fred, whipped together some utterly delicious skewered chicken, vegetables and halumi delights for us all...

waiting patiently for the heat to start developing.

mmm... food.

the vegetarian edition for pauline - what a thoughtful cook.

cooking away.

fred had to go upstairs for some supplies and was a bit unsure about leaving the BBQ in other people's hands, so he had to check in on us.

but they were cooking away nicely and were absolutely delicious. so well done to freddy for kicking off BBQ season successfully!

and as for me? (aww you'll see) i made ice cream cookies for everyone - no pictures, sorry. was slightly overcome by the ravenous nature that develops between me and ice-cream.... oh, and we topped the night off by playing some just dance. although everyone was a bit hesitant in the beginning they all loved it. how could you not? it's pretty much the best wii game ever and the perfect ending to any good night.

Caesar Salad

2010-04-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

So as you have probably noticed from our recent posts the weather is wonderful here at the moment. Unfortunately this is typical of England, where in April and May there are a few glorious weeks and then the weather turns dreary and cold and summer never really arrives except for a few days throughout the summer months. But shouldn't really complain as it is still lovely. However, it is always tricky to figure out what to eat for dinner when its warm. Hopefully there will be lots of bbqs and salads. So to usher the summer in I tested out this dish from jamie.

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

4 whole chicken legs

1 loaf of ciabatta

3 sprigs of rosemary

olive oil

salt and pepper

12 slices of bacon or pancetta

1/4 of a clove of garlic

2 anchovy fillets

75g grated parmesan

1 tbsp creme fraiche

juice of 1 lemon

2 or 3 cos or romaine lutteuses

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 celsius. Place chicken legs in a snug fitting roasting tray with pieces of torn-up bread (thumb sized pieces). Sprinkle with chopped rosemary and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Give it a good mix with your hands and the lift chicken on to the top so its resting on the bread pieces. Put into oven for 45 mins. Take it out and add the bacon strips on top and put back in oven for another 15-20 mins.

For the dressing pound the garlic and anchovy fillets in a pestle and mortar. Scrape into a bowl and whisk in parmesan, creme fraiche, lemon juice and three times as much olive oil as lemon juice. Season dressing to taste. I like it a bit sweeter so honey or mayonnaise are good options to add. Perhaps a bit of mustard. Basically anything you like.

Once the whole chicken thing is done. Tear chicken off bone (after you allow it to cool slightly) and bacon into small pieces. Mix together with lettuce and add dressing. Delish!

Taste: 8/10

Difficulty: 2/10

Price: 2/10

here comes the sun...

2010-04-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

spring has officially sprung in england. it's unlikely to last long... but today we decided we'd better enjoy it while we can. we headed off to the university parks to soak up some sun, lounge around, and play some games.

trying to soak up some much needed vitamin d and colour...

rose, boules, clear skies... what more could you ask for?

freddy got to throw the first ball of the season.

mmm... seriously delicious platter of mini burgers, chips, pita bread, humous, and fried calamari (the vegetables were definitely the weakest link).

if only everyday could be this carefree and fun! oh, and we are both officially slightly sunburnt. i'm not going to lie though, i'm a little pleased.

another cycling adventure...

2010-04-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

last friday freddy and his friends decided to go on a cycling trip. they, of course, picked a very cold and rainy day to embark on this adventure. the weather didn't put them off though... after 2 hours of fiddling with their bikes and humm-ing and haa-ing they finally set off.

trying to decipher the map.

one of the members of they cycling team, Ben, had forgotten his helmet and so was trying to get mine to fit on his head... everyone was waiting for him, and eventually we reached the conclusion that a boys head is too big for a girls helmet - regardless of how hard you try to push it on.

90 tastes good...

2010-04-05T12:37:00.001-07:00

we spent the weekend in wales celebrating easter and fred's great aunt nancy's 90th birthday. yes, that's right, 90th. this is fred's father's mother's oldest sister. got that? so the whole Inglis family (and the other branches) got together from all corners of the earth... Sweden, New York, Italy... everyone came to celebrate this joyous and most monumental occasion. we stayed at the beautiful Morgans Hotel in Swansea and enjoyed a gorgeously delicious lunch. it was such a lovely trip and we enjoyed such lovely company. thanks family inglis!

Fishcakes.

Roast beef with (massive) yorkshire pudding.

Vanilla creme brulee.

Strawberry cheesecake.

Auntie Nancy: the birthday girl herself - immaculately dressed, feisty, energetic, and so funny. By the end of the evening we were all struggling to stay awake and she didn't look phased in the slightest. Oh, if all of us can remain as positive and joyful as we grow older... she really is quite the inspiration. Happy birthday Aunt Nancy!

Vivi's Visit (the rest)

2010-04-03T14:00:00.001-07:00

I know, I know... we promised to do this ages ago, but the stylecrusader/masters and PhD have been keeping us busy. Also with Picasa web albums sharing loads of photos is super easy and doesn't require the effort of blogging. But I promised to do this so here it is:

Here we are walking into town. After Vivi's Bday extravaganza we just hung out in oxford. Decided to go check out the Ashmolean (our new favourite place).

In the entrance to the museum. Also turns out that I'm related to Vivi... probably wont come to a shock to most of you reading this but I was surprised how similar our faces look!!! I mean we're not identical twins but you can see the resemblance.

I think Vivi enjoyed the museum but it definitely made us hungry.

Huh, these aren't quite in order, back in the museum, trying to take cool pics.

Ah, this is what I was trying to allude to earlier... the mission. Our favourite mexican place (the carnitas burrito is amazing... it is a life goal to be able to make a burrito that good... almost there just need better tortillas and pork). Also interesting to note that the Mission is one of our first posts we ever did on the blog, and will also feature prominently in our ultimate guide to oxford (a new idea we have had recently... not sure if we've mentioned it on the blog before).

On Vivi's last day it was just the brother and sister as Jenny had to work. Did the regular sightseeing tour (Christ Church, Hertford Bridge, old buildings, etc... I get pretty blase about the whole affair as I see it everyday).

A bit of amateur photography from yours truly. Jenny reckons she might be a better photographer than me because of the whole stylecrusader thing. I think I have my moments though.

It was a great visit, short but sweet (perhaps too short but some of us have to work for a living... fortunately not me). And we will see Vivi again this weekend (another reason to get this post done!). Next I promise I will try to post the hilarious vids of us dancing to the wii game.

sunny at 7, raining at 11...

2010-04-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

gorgeous blue sky in london today... i pulled the blinds open at Emerald's flat on portobello road and immediately woke up. we headed off to Brick Lane to people watch and check out the vintage shops.

my latte was decorated with a heart.

Emerald posing with some graffiti while wearing her fabulous new clogs.

so apparently retro cockneys wear plimsoles... ah, well better get some then.

rails of vintage dresses all for 22 quid... Emerald got that red one with the white swirly pattern. so cute.

Brick Lane and the surrounding area is covered in graffiti. it somehow manages to avoid looking trashy and outdated and instead just adds to the charm.

of course in traditional english style the clouds came in and it started pouring with rain... we took it as a sign that it was time to head off. but of course not before the wretched rain flipped emerald's umbrella inside out!

it looks like REAL indian food...

2010-03-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

over a year ago i bought a certain someone a curry cookbook... but it was only last week that we finally opened it up and made a recipe. both of us love indian food. there is an indian restaurant right around the corner from our place that we get to deliver us food when we are feeling incredibly lazy, but i thought that the time had come to try making it ourself. after all the cookbook was looking slightly sad up on top of the fridge with all it's neighboring books laughing that it had never been used to make anything delicious. look whose laughing now (that's right... the indian cookbook...).

anyway. basically this meal was incredible. i chose it because it had the least amount of strange and obscure ingredients. i had everything already in my cupboard which meant no trips to any far away indian shops. we cooked it again tonight for the second time, but this time made the full recipe so that we could have leftovers. you can make it as spicy or as mild as you like, just adjust the amount of chili powder you put in. ok, so here it is... chicken jalfrezi.

ingredients

4 chicken breasts

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp salt

5tbsp sunflower or olive oil

1 large onion (finely chopped)

2 tsp garlic puree

2tsp ginger puree (make these purees yourself just finely grate them both)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp coriander

chili powder (to taste: 1/2-1 tsp)

300g tinned chopped tomatos (recipe recommends only 150 but we put almost a whole tin)

150 ml warm water

1 large garlic clove finely chopped

1 small red pepper

1 small green pepper (both deseeded and chopped into 1 inch pieces)

1 tsp garam masala

indian bread or basmati rice to serve

directions

part 1: cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes and put in a bowl, add the lemon juice and half the salt and rub into the chicken - cover and leave to sit

part 2: heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 8-9minutes, until lightly browned. add the garlic and ginger purees and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, and chili powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. add the tinned tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

part 3: add the marinated chicken, increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring, until it changes colour. add the warm water and bring to the boil. reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

part 4: heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan over a low heat. add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until browned. add the red and green peppers, increase the heat to medium and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then stir in the garam masala. fold the pepper mixture into the curry. remove from the heat and serve immediately with bread or cooked basmati rice.

the rating

expense: 4/10 - once you've got the spices and chicken the rest is super cheap

difficulty: 4/10

taste: 9/10 - seriously so yummy.

p.s. and yes, incase you were wondering this is jenny and yes, i am cooking more these days. i hope you are all impressed with my wifely domestic skills.

Tuna and Artichoke Panini

2010-03-28T08:47:00.001-07:00

So we made this recipe AGES ago (actually we have a few we need to post! Jenny's been cooking up a storm recently with some amazing meals). We had fallen into a bit of a rut and decided we needed to try something new. Jenny found the recipe here and its really tasty! It says to use a food processor but I just chopped things up finely.

Ingredients (serves six so we just halved the recipe)

3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 (6-ounce) cans tuna in olive oil, drained
1 (12-ounce) jar marinated artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (16-ounce) ciabatta bread, halved horizontally
1 tomato, diced

Directions

Puree the olives, oil, garlic, and zest in a food processor until smooth and spreadable. Blend in the mayonnaise. Toss the tuna, artichokes, lemon juice, and pepper in a medium bowl, keeping the tuna in small chunks.

Hollow out the bottom and top halves of the bread. Spread the olive puree over both cut sides of the bread. Spoon the tuna and artichoke mixture onto the bottom half of the bread. Sprinkle the tomatoes over. Cover with the bread top. Cut the sandwich crosswise into 6 pieces and serve.

taste: 8/10

price: 3/10

difficulty: 2/10

enjoy! xy

mmm... english breakfast.

2010-03-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

early one saturday morning emerald and i hit up this little beautiful london location for some breakfast. not only do they make a mean meal but they've got a seriously charming little selection of goodies to tempt you on your wait out. really lovely.

i am the boss.

2010-03-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

freddy is spending the weekend in holland and so i am home alone. you know what that means, right? i am in charge. which means pizza hut... my way! supreme with no mushrooms and double pepperoni. yum yum, and i've got left overs to see me through the weekend!

Wiener Schnitzel Freddy Art

2010-03-15T02:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jenny had the day off. A big treat for us as normally Jenny works on Sundays. We decided to have a spring clean and sort out our lives a bit as they have been pretty hectic as of late. I also thought we should try to expand our repetoire of recipes and decided we would try to make some schnitzel... one of my favourites. Jamie has a pretty good recipe in his book Cook so this basically follows his ideas but with a few of my own twists.

Ingredients (serves 2):

Pork escalopes... I just used some pork loin steaks I found in the shops and then beat them heavily with a rolling pin.
Bread crumbs
1 Beaten Egg
Flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Butter
Half an orange (juice and zest)
50g sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
3 apples peeled and diced (1 cooking, 2 eating)
Water cress
lemon wedges

Directions:

First make the apple sauce that goes with the schnitzel. Add the juice and zest of half an orange to a suacepan with a knob of butter. Melt the butter slowly and add the sugar and spices. Mix together. Once the butter starts to foam add the peeled and diced apples. Stick the lid on the pan and leave to simmer slowly until the apples become mushy (20 mins). To help it along you can smush the apples with a wodden spoon every once in a while.

Once that is going hammer the pork with a tenderising type hammer or rolling pin or heavy frying pan so they are about .5 cm thick (pretty thin). Then get four large plates (I realise this makes a lot of washing up but its the best way to do it... trust me. Salt and pepper on one plate. Flour on the next. Egg on the third. And bread crumbs on the last. Then take the flattened pork steaks and dip them in each plate and pat them a bit on both sides. So pretty simple really. Once they are breaded you can put them to the side until they are ready to be fried. That too is simple, just add a couple of glugs of olive oil to a hot frying pan. Add the schnitzels. Fry for a few mins on both sides. Serve on with apple sauce, some water cress to garnish, and lemon wedges. MmmMmmMmm.

I think a good addition might also be to have a cold cucumber salad on the side. Im not exactly sure what form this will take but I think it will involve cucumber strips (acheived by peeling the cucumber into strips), some salt and pepper, perhaps some dill and/or parsley, and finally some white wine vinegar. And then into the fridge (or freezer if you are running late).

Enjoy! xy

Vivi's Birthday

2010-03-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

The 25th of February was a while ago but we have been pretty busy with Vivi visiting and since then we have had to catch up with life a little bit. But it did happen and we did document it so thought I would do a quick blog post. So in the morning we woke up early (much too early for my liking... at least 8 o'clock) and gave Vivi ice cream in bed (an Inglis family tradition). Although she was away from home she got a few presents, lots of cards, and more money than I get paid in a month.

Unfortunately Jenny had to go to school so Vivi and I had some breakfast (apart from icecream) and watched the olympic highlights from the previous night. We then set off to the train station to go to London.

We arrived at Paddington and then set off to LSE to meet up with Jenny.

We had lunch at Wasabi, a great sushi place across from LSE and Vivi ate 13 pieces of sushi. I know it doesn't sound like much but I could only manage 11. For dessert we went to the Primrose Bakery to get some cupcakes. We were so stuffed that we got them to go and set off to Brick Lane to check out some sights.

When we got off the tube it was raining. But hey, you cant visit england without some rain! However unbeknownst to Vivi we were actually heading over to a shop that sells Banksy prints (Vivi is a big fan and so are we) that Jenny and I discovered over the summer on one of our adventures.

We told Vivi she could have any one she wanted and there was obviously a lot of choice so she had to take her time to decide. But after toing and froing she finally picked one that she liked and I think it looks really cool. Look forward to seeing it hanging on her wall.

After all that excitement we decided to eat our cupcakes - which were delish!

We then went to the natural science museum and took a look at the wildlife photographer of the year exhibition (one our favourite things to see when in London). Finally we were pretty exhausted and took the train home but had to wait around in Paddington for a while. Once we got home we could barely move but think we managed to get in a game of Just Dance. Will post about the rest of her trip soon and post some movies our dancing escapades. I really enjoyed Vivi's birthday... and I think she did too. It was a treat to have her here with us.

Ganymede tortillas....

2010-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

we love mexican food and we love everything to be spicy. when i saw these delicious little monsters on the Ganymede Kids blog i knew straight away that i had to try to make them for dinner. there wasn't a recipe so we just had to improvise and make up our own. we used a salsa recipe from a jamie oliver cookbook and even made our own refried beans. first time we have done that - pretty wild, right? these were so good, but a warning must be made... i went from starving to barely being able to stand up straight within 8minutes (maybe this is a testament to the fact that i eat way too fast). but they are like little monsters that jump in your belly and expand to make you so full - fred puts it down to the beans, beans always make you full.

fred's massive bite out of his... see, this is why i never offer to share with him. one bite and half of the thing is gone!

so we put some cheese, refried beans (with chorizo) and salsa into our tortillas... yumm. very easy, pretty cheap (although limes/avocados are a bit exotic in england so they aren't as cheap as they should be), and so good. they are so fresh tasting (lime...) but have such a great hot flavour as well (chili...). really wonderful and would definitely recommend it. they recommend making your own tortillas - which we almost did, but then realized we were a bit too pooped for that. next time we will give it a try though. thanks ganymede kids for the great idea!

Ingredients:

For the salsa

4 tomatoes

3 spring onion

2 red chilis

1/2 cucumber

Handful of fresh coriander

2 avocados

1 lime

salt and pepper

For refried beans

1 can borlotti beans (pinto or black also work)

2 spring onions

2 cloves of garlic

chorizo

2tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Chop up all the ingredients for the salsa as much or as little as you would like. I recommend to keep the avocado chunky. Add the juice of the lime and salt and pepper. So pretty easy so far. Then chop of the chorizo into small chunks and add to frying pan with the chopped spring onions and chopped garlic and olive oil to a frying pan. Fry for a few mins and then add the beans (drain first). Mush them up with a potato masher or a wooden spoon. If you like them more liquidy add some water. Serve with cheese and torillas.

looking on the bright side....

2010-03-02T04:23:00.000-08:00

it is not difficult to do when you pull the curtains open and get the sun glaring into your eyes. looking on the bright side can be difficult at times, but the english weather is making it easier. it hasn't been sunny in what feels like ages... but yesterday, the 1st of march, was a gloriously sunny day - and today we have been greeted by yet another. well, more importantly than the good news of the weather - we have got some more good news to report. freddy found out today that his lab has funding for him until october. this is wonderful news, because it means we wont have to attempt to live off my 1-day-a-week measly income, and freddy can take his time to figure out what he wants to do next. the world is his oyster and he can take his sweet time in figuring out... which oyster to pluck? i'm not really sure how that phrase would go... so congratulations to freddy! march is starting off to be a lovely month indeed.

p.s this photo was taken this morning before he found out the good news, can you imagine how spastically excited he is now?

the best chili ever?...

2010-02-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

well Im off to Berlin on tuesday for an interview, giving a tutorial tomorrow, Vivi is visiting on Wednesday till sunday, so not sure how much time I will have to blog this week (not that I do it that often anyway). And Jenny is pretty busy with thestylecrusader, has an essay due in on wednesday, and an interview for a work experience thing on thursday, so its turning into quite a hectic week.

But before all that thought I would do a chili recipe. So Im not sure this is actually the best chili ever. I think a truly excellent recipe is one that can never be replicated again and just lives on in memory constantly changing every time you make it. At least that is how my dad's curry (which IS truly excellent) is made. I think it must be the same for chili. It was made during the frontier days by cowboys smoking marlborough reds and wearing checked shirts (at least in my mind). I reckon they never had the same ingredients and just had to make do with what they could find and that is the same attitude I take when making mine. I think I also have really strong associations with chili and disney, as it was a dish you would get while watching buffalo bills wild west show. Also one final note, Stephanie, makes a really good chili where the tomatoes always taste really juicy, not sure how she does it but it is tasty.

Ingredients:

1/2 a bolognese recipe (as previously described)

1 (extra) tin of tomatoes chopped tomatoes

1 400g tin of kidney beans

1 400g tin of butter beans

ok so those tins of beans can be whatever you want, I like mixing it up and buying whatever I can find, but kidney beans are usually a safe bet.

salt and pepper

so that is the basic stuff, as for the spices have fun. Here is what I have been known to use:

dark chocolate (30g or so)

1tsp tumeric

1 tbsp cumin

1 fresh red chili (chopped and I like to leave the seeds bc they are spicy)

t tsp chili flakes (I have been known to make my chilis way too hot, but feel free to add cayenne pepper, chili powder... whatever you can get your hands on and your taste buds can handle)

1 tbsp honey

the more esoteric ingredients:

soy sauce (i put this in most things)

some ground coffee (just like the frontier days)

coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, garamasala... literally if there are spices you are trying to get rid of in the cupboard I would recommend using them.

Directions:

Just follow the directions for the spag bol post I have hyperlinked above and at the stage where you add the tins of tomatoes just add another tin and the beans. Also all the spices that go into the spag bol go great in the chili as well. Or alternatively what I do, is to defrost the left over bolognese and add the ingredients for the chili. Then just stew the socks off it (minimum of 30 mins... there is no maximum time... perhaps a couple of days?). Tastes great with cornbread (which I love). And tastes even better if eaten out of a pewter bowl. Enjoy!

Pancake Day!

2010-02-20T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

so this tuesday was Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake day. I suggested we should have pancakes for dinner, but Jenny reckoned that wasn't healthy enough so we decided to have them for dessert. Was surprised how easy they were to make and they were pretty delish.

Heres the recipe I used, it makes 6 pancakes.

Ingredients:

120g flour

pinch of salt

2 eggs

210ml milk

90ml water

1tbsp vegetable oil

1tbsp powder sugar

butter, for frying

Directions:

Sieve and mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. In a seperate bowl mix together the milk and water. Beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon and gradually add the milk and water mix to get a smooth liquid consistency. Stir in the oil and allow to stand for the 30 mins. Then just heat up your pan add a knob of butter and fry. Ill even attach a vid of me flipping the pancakes.

Sugar and lemon juice are pretty tasty additions or if you are Jenny, lots of nutella.

taste: 8/10

price: 2/10

difficulty: 4/10 (pancakes can be hard to flip)

'jenny come look at me, come look at me!'

2010-02-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

snowmaggedon (or whatever nonsense they are calling it over there in the states) has come back to bite oxford another time. freddy was very excited upon his arrival home... he was covered in snow and was desperate for me to come see him. haha, he is so funny.

happy valentines day...

2010-02-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

Alex's Portuguese Chorizo Chickpea Dish

2010-02-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a day! Jen has had a bad case of the stomach flu/food poisoning since about 4am this morning. She has only just perked up and is currently eating some ramen noodles. And Alexander (Lee) McQueen has died. So normally Im not that affected by celebrity drama stuff, but out of all the designers I think he is really cool. The stuff he has in his Bicester Village shop is really cool (I want this cool pair of brogues and this luggage that looks like a rib cage). Am already planning my trip out there to buy up all the good stuff... If only I wasn't an impoverished student.

But apart from that, things are going well. PhD write up is going swimmingly, weather is nice but cold, so all in all pretty good.

Right, now to the point of this blog. I have this friend (Alex), who I work with, who gave me the recipe and inspiration for this dish. I guess one would think from the title that he is Portuguese... you couldn't be more wrong. He is actually from Newcastle and looks eerily like Harry Potter. But he used to share a house with a Portuguese guy, etc, etc... and hence the dish.

Ingredients:

1*400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1*400g tin of chickpeas

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

chorizo

a couple of fresh tomatoes and/or a bell pepper

paprika

ground cumin (optional)

tumeric (optional)

some honey or brown sugar

some fresh parsley

salt and pepper

Directions:

Chop up the onion, slice the garlic finely, and chop the chorizo into bite size chunks (the exact size is up to you). Throw them all into a pan and start frying. You can add a glug of olive oil if desired to aid this process, but the chorizo should release a magic oil that makes everything taste sublime. Once the onions have turned golden and silky add the tin of tomatoes and some chopped fresh toms and/or the chopped bell pepper. Throw in the spices and sugar (I haven't put any fixed amounts as I have not yet perfected this dish, they are usually just a rough guide anyway as I rarely actually measure stuff out). Salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture to boil and leave to simmer for a few mins. Once you are ready to eat, add the chickpeas. They normally dont need more than 10 mins. Actually this part can be tricky bc you don't want them to be undercooked and if you cook them too long they can get mushy. When you serve add the fresh parsley on top. MmmmMmmm. Good with some bread on the side.

Taste: 7/10

Price: 4/10

Difficulty: 3/10

Fu Man Fred's Politically Incorrect Fancy Pants Stir Fry

2010-02-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

As promised no tomatoes (but dont worry fans they will return)! Although I have to agree with Jen, it must seem from this blog that all we do is eat. This is probably and unfortunately true, and meant that today I had to go for my first run of 2010 to stave off the inevitable weight gain.

So I make two kinds of stir fry, the first one with rice which can easily be converted into fried rice if desired. The second is with noodles (like chow mein). This recipe is for the second kind. Like any good chinese dish you can use any meat even tofu.

Ingredients:

200g Prawns (or chicken)

1 lemon

1 tbsp honey

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp coriander (dry and milled) or a handful of fresh

2 cloves of garlic

1 inch of ginger

2 tsp chili flakes

1 tbsp sun flower oil

vegetables for stir frying (broccoli, mange tout, red cabbage, pak choi, spring onions, soy bean sprouts, bell peppers, carrots, those tiny corn thingies)... I generally cheat and buy them all in a ready made package, but basically any veg you like

Noodles (the asian yellow egg kind, you can get them in most shops or asian specialty foods places)

Directions:

Create a marinade for you prawns. Juice the lemon, add the soy sauce, honey and mix together in a bowl. Have a taste to make sure all the flavours balance each other out nicely. Add the coriander and chili flakes. Slice finely or grate the garlic cloves and ginger. Add the oil. Leave prawns in the mix for at least 15 mins or so. While these bad boys are marinading take a look at the instructions on the noodles. Its usually something about boiling them in water for a period of time (around 10 mins or so). Go ahead and do that. You want your noodles prepared before you start frying your prawns, otherwise it can end in tears. Put a wok on medium to high heat. Add the prawns and marinade. Fry for 5-10 mins till prawns are cooked through. It shouldnt take too long. Add the veg. These just need to be in the wok till they are nice and warm, you dont need to actually fry them for any long period of time. Once the veg is warm add the noodles and toss with prawns and veg. Serve once everything is mixed together.

Taste: 9/10

Price: 4/10

Difficulty: 3/10 easy peasy japaneasy

you aren't going to like this, they have eyes...

2010-02-10T02:07:00.000-08:00

mmm... seafood. so nice to have in the cold weather when you are tired of all the heavy stodgy meals that have been seeing you through the winter. last night we went to loch fyne with some friends. it was delicious and very fun.

the colours were pretty impressive. i couldn't tell you everything we had... but there were definitely mussels, crab, lobster, crayfish, prawns and oysters. pretty decadent... but a perfect way to celebrate rachel passing her medical exams.

playing with your food is allowed.

i am not normally a huge fan of my food having eyes. but this time it was okay. i just wripped their little heads off quickly and tried not to look... sounds kind of gruesome, huh?

fred was left with a big dessert board and gave us an insightful run down of what was on offer. we decided to pass and instead came back to our place and had cupcakes (see below) and chocolate pots. mmm... delicious. a wonderful evening indeed.

(side note: our lives may look like they entirely revolve around food, but i promise that isn't the case)

banana & peanut butter cupcakes

2010-02-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

cupcakes are so good. i have become a little obsessed lately because there is a delicious little cupcake bakery right by LSE... so it has become a tradition to get cupcakes every friday between classes. what better way is there to start off the weekend? well, i discovered a recipe for cupcakes on sunday in a magazine and figured what better way to start off the week than with cupcakes? so... it is monday, and i have made cupcakes. ah... they are heaven. the recipe said they were based off a recipe from butter lane cupcakes in new york city.

Ingredients:

For batter:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flower

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk (i didn't have buttermilk so got a substitute recipe here)

1 1/4 cups ripe banana, mashed (i only had just under 1 cup and it is fine - so don't worry too much about exact measurements on this one)

For icing:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick softened unsalted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy

3. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix until batter is smooth

4. Combine all dry ingredients and mix into batter in 3 parts, alternating with buttermilk. Reduce speed to low and mix for 2 more minutes.

5. Line cupcake pan with wrappers. Using a spatula gently fold mashed bananas into batter. Scoop into cups until 2/3 full.

6. Bake for 25minutes and let cool.

7. For frosting, combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 stick softened unsalted butter and 1tsp vanilla extract. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and 3tbsp milk. Makes 18.

my cupcakes cooling on top of our ghetto (or you could say retro...?) 1980s stove.

the finished product. i haven't actually had a completed one yet... fred was just finishing up dinner as i was frosting them and i thought it would be wrong to spoil my apetite. but i am definitely going to gobble one up as soon as we eat (once i finish typing this). i did try one without frosting though... and they were delicious. i have only ever known frosting to make things to make things better... so i am sure they are going to be divine!

Spinach Spaghetti

2010-02-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

I realise that most of the recipes lately have been tomato based, but don't worry there are new and exciting recipes around the corner which don't use any tomatoes. And lets be honest tomatoes are great, I think they might even be a "superfood" (I am sitting at home chuckling preteniously at the thought of a super food... there is no such thing). So, yes back to the task at hand.

Ingredients:

1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

a couple of cloves of garlic

fresh spinach leaves (young ones, not old and stringy)

hand full of freshly chopped basil

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 tablespoon oregano

chili flakes (optional)

spaghetti

Directions:

Slice garlic thinly. Fry in saucepan with olive oil on medium heat until they start to turn golden. Add spinach leaves. Mix around and fry for a few mins. Add the tin of tomatoes, and some fresh tomatoes if you like. Add the basil, salt and pepper, oregano, chili flakes. Bring to boil and then leave to simmer. Cook the spaghetti as per usual. Serve with some cheese sprinkled on top. Its a pretty basic meal, but really quick to cook if you are in a rush. Also good if you have veggie friends. You can jazz it up by adding some chorizo at the garlic frying stage, or make it more filling by adding chickpeas at the very end.

taste: 7/10

price: 2/10

difficulty: 2/10

oh breakfast, how i love you.

2010-02-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

oh mama. breakfast: the meal of champions. it is so good.

you need to understand something, i got all of this food for 4.80 GBP. yah, that is insane. it was horribly delicious. chips (french fries) for breakfast... i know, right?! seriously, only in england. our friends, andy and lou, have been telling us about the 'half moon cafe' for ages. they live in hammersmith and they very kindly let us stay over at their house when we are in london... and they always say, 'in the morning, go to the half moon cafe.' but we tend to always be running late so have never gotten a chance to go. until this morning. ah, beautiful crisp saturday morning... with nowhere to go and nothing to do except sit and eat a lot of good food and drink good coffee.

the food is very tasty and the price is very reasonable. if you ever happen to find yourself walking along and see this sign... be sure to take the time to stop and grab yourself some fried up delicious food.

it doesn't look like much from the outside... but sometimes those are the best kinds of places.

Spaghetti Bolognese a la Inglesi

2010-02-02T05:51:00.000-08:00

I've seen in the news lately that there has been a movement in Italy to stop making bad bolognese and educated people about what it should really taste like. In 1985 some Italian chef wrote down what he thought should go into a spag bol and it includes stuff like milk, carrots, and white wine. I use none of these ingredients as my recipe is firmly routed in swedish cuisine. This is a dish we used to eat quite often at home and I never got tired of it. It is also the thing we eat on the first night of going on holiday (if it was self catered, which it often was). I've made a few additions and hopefully improvements on the recipe that was handed down to my by mama mia herself (not in the religious context).

Ingredients (serves a small army... but no worries just freeze it and I use it as a base for many other recipes)

500g minced beef
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1 beef stock cube
2 500g tins of chopped tomato
3-4 fresh tomatoes
1/2 glass red wine
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
spaghetti (100g per person?)

Directions:

Finely chop onion and and peel and put garlic in a garlic press (or chop finely). Add to a saucepan and with a splash of olive oil. Fry on medium heat till onions start turning golden. Add beef mince and sprinkle over crushed beef stock cube. Fry till beef has browned nicely. Add the two tins of tomatos and mix in with the rest of the stuff on the pan. Chop the fresh tomoatoes roughly and add to the pan with the red wine. Bring to boil and then simmer (this can last for ages... my friend Harry suggests a few hours as a minimum... but I reckon 30 mins is fine... I guess the longer the better). Add the two bay leaves and I normally add the oregano now but my mother always told me to add it at the very end bc it can make the sauce bitter (in my experience this has never happened). Salt and pepper to taste and then just leave to sputter till you are ready to eat.

As for the spaghetti. Just cook it like is says on the package. A few tips though are to add plenty of salt to the boiling water and use LOADS of water as it prevents it from all sticking together.

Serve with parmesan sprinkled on top, some nice rustic bread, a green salad, glass of wine, and a good movie (like the Godfather trilogy).

Price: 3/10 (good cheap food)
Difficulty: 2/10 (one of the first meals I learnt to cook)
Taste: 9/10 (simple flavours for simple people)

too. much. food.

2010-01-26T15:33:00.001-08:00

a wise woman once told me, 'every time i eat artichoke dip i instantly gain 2 pounds.' i seriously don't doubt the truth of that comment. this stuff is seriously potent... you might as well dump cheese, mayonnaise, and a little more cheese into a blender and drink it... ok that's not entirely true. but it is pretty intense. i am sure i have probably put you all off of it now... lets just say its a seriously delicious melted cheesy goodness. the recipe is one that is meant to be based on one used by the olive garden. i have never had it there so i can't vouch for how close of a match it is... but i know it was super simple to make and very good.

here is the recipe:

ingredients: 8oz cream cheese, 14 ox artichoke hearts drained/chopped, 1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed (i just used two big handfuls of fresh), 1/4 cup mayo, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1 clove garlic finely minced, 1/2 basil, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese grated, 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (i didn't have this so didn't bother), and salt/pepper to taste

directions: cream together mayo, cream cheese, parmesan, garlic, basil and garlic salt. mix well. add the artichoke hearts and spinach and mix until blended. grease pan, pour in dip and top with cheese. bake at 350F/180C for 25min or until the top is browned... i like to leave it a little extra so that it is very hot!

we had it with tuc crackers (freddy's favourite crackers of all time) along with cheese and black olive m&s crackers. also had a selection of m&s deli meets... which were so good with the dip.

as if that weren't enough food... i decided to try out a new recipe i found: marshmallow milkshakes.

ingredients: 3 scoops vanilla ice cream, 1 large dollop yoghurt, 1 tablespoon whole milk, 5 jumbo marshmallows, whipped cream

directions: toast marshmallows under a broiler (more on this later) - put the milk, yoghurt, and then ice cream in the blender, blend carefully and just until you get a 'donut' - add three of the toasted marshmallows to the blender, and whirl it until they are just broken up and distributed evenly, be careful not to over blend it - pour shake into a glass, top with a dollop of whipped cream, break the last two marshmallows on top - repeat if necessary. it probably will be.

now... just so you know, these two photos were not taken by me nor were they taken in my house. i got them here. ok... so that is what the marshmallows are supposed to look like: white, fluffy yet firm, browned on top. this, on the other hand, is what my marshmallows looked like

yeeeah. a big fat mess pretty much. i gave it another try though and they turned out better the second time around... still no where close to as gorgeous as they should have been, but hey - i think they tasted the same. that gooey mess is going to haunt you in your sleep...

cupcakes...

2010-01-23T10:25:00.001-08:00

I went to the Primrose Bakery for the first time on Friday.

It is so good. It is right by LSE and is the perfect place to spend a Friday afternoon between classes. Not only are the cupcakes seriously divine but the bakery is so lovely. Its so chic, sweet, and just the most beautiful little place to sit. It sort of feels like a fancy little diner.... just without the sweaty biker men and instead just beautiful cupcakes (seriously, it feels like a dream).

Meera with her lemon and coconut cupcake.

They have cheeky little decorations around like these little cupids.

Mmmmm... my chocolate marshmallow cupcake and latte.

Flowers.

The cupcakes are seriously almost too pretty to eat.

Little yellow bakery on the corner in Covent Garden... definitely worthy of visit.

Minestrone Soup

2010-01-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

So, I know we are blogging like fiends at the moment. But this can be ascribed to two factors. 1) Jenny is "working" from home, instead of going to the library. 2) Im trying archive as many recipes as possible to get my full repertoire of dishes that I cook on the blog. This makes it easier to decide what we should make for dinner as we can just check the blog.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

6 tomatoes (or 1 400g can of tomatoes without the juice)

1 large carrot

1 leek

3 sticks of celery

1 red onion

1/2 a cabbage (i just buy a bag of ready chopped cabbage)

1 clove of garlic finely sliced

1 tbsp rosemary

500 ml vegetable or chicken stock

1 and 1/2 handfuls of torn fresh basil

90g spaghetti

salt and pepper

olive oil

parmesan

Directions:

Score tomatoes and place briefly in boiling water. Skin, deseed, and dice roughly. Peel and quarter carrots lengthwise and then chop. Quarter leeks lengthwise and then chop. Cut celery in half lengthwise and then chop. Peel and chop onion. Try to chop all veg about the same size. Roughly chop cabbage.

Put olive oil into a pan on medium heat. Add the carrots, leeks, celery, onion, garlic and rosemary. Let them sweat for about 15 mins till they become tender. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a couple of mins. Add the stock, bring to boil and simmer for 15 mins. Add the cabbage and cover pan for 10 mins, then add the basil and pasta. Simmer until pasta is cooked (10 mins or so). Taste and season.

Enjoy!

Taste: 7/10

Price: 2/10 (veg is cheap)

Difficulty: 3/10

the new ashmolean...

2010-01-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

The Ashmolean underwent a massive $100-million renovation. I think it re-opened back in September... and we have been meaning to go, but just never got around to it. Which is pretty silly seeing as we cycle past every time we go into town and it is 10 min from our house. Anyway... we finally went this past Saturday and were seriously impressed. It is way bigger than it was before. They have kept the older parts the same, which is nice (it is always sad when places just totally destroy how something was), and there is plenty of room for all the new fancy and shiny things.

Massive staircase that meanders up the wall. It is all much brighter, lighter, more open and spacious than it was before.

Love how they put the sculpture on the right back together.

Busts.

Pocahontas's daddy's cape. Seriously.

Special commissioned artwork about the building of the new Ashmolean...

Going down all the stairs...

Kisses goodbye before cycling home.

Video of the snow that we forgot to post

2010-01-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

I realise that the video is a bit too large but I think thats the smallest size I can embed into the blog directly from youtube? Enjoy! xy

the fondue recipes

2010-01-18T05:14:00.000-08:00

In case you want to try this at home.

Cheese Fondue

Ingredients (serves 6)

500g Emmental

300g Appenzeller

200g Gruyere

400ml dry white wine

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp corn flour

pepper

Large loaf of rustic bread (sourdough or something similarly dense)

Directions:

Grate all the cheese. Peel clove of garlic and slice in half. Rub the garlic all over (the inside of) your fondue pot. Heat 300ml of wine in your fondue pot. Add cheese. Mix together till all the same consistency. Add the corn flour to the remaining wine and dissolve. Add this mixture to the cheese. Stir until all is the same consistency. Add pepper to taste. Meanwhile cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Once the cheesy goodness is simmering lightly enjoy by dipping bread into it. A fresh green salad goes really nicely with the meal.

Taste: 9/10

Price: 5/10

Difficulty: 5/10 (can be a bit finicky getting everything melted)

Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients (serves at least 4 but probably way more depending on how hungry you are)

500g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

500ml milk or cream or mixture of both

Fruit/marshmallows/cookies... whatever you think sounds good dipped in chocolate. We used strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, cherries, and bananas

Directions:

Heat milk (either in fondue pot or on in a saucepan). Either grate or finely chop the chocolate. Add the two together and stir till the chocolate is completely melted and mixed in with the milk. Allow to simmer slightly. Once mixture is warm and thick dip pieces of fruit in it and savour.

Taste: 9/10

Price: 4/10

Difficulty: 4/10

fondu and pipes...

2010-01-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

Mmm... cheese. What's better than cheese? Melted cheese... followed by melted chocolate. Oh yes... that's right. Fred managed to receive two, yes two, fondu pots this Christmas. Two fondu pots actually works out very well... one for cheese and one for chocolate (it could be worse... we could be like my sister who has five). We decided to have some people round and try it out... it went down a serious treat.

Waiting anxiously.

The chef hard at work.

Cheese and wine.

Mix together....

Cheesy goodness.

Stage two: chocolate fondu. Yummm.... yummy yum.

Dippin away.

What better way is there to follow a decadent dinner than by sitting by the fire in tweed jackets and cords smoking pipes...?

a quote...

2010-01-15T15:25:00.001-08:00

'you know why i like my beard? when i have it i feel like a norse god.'

- Fred

i say, if that's all that it takes to make you feel like a norse god... keep it.

hello from hammersmith...

2010-01-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

i am spending the night in london at some friend's house. they are out of town skiing so i've got their whole flat to myself... i felt a little apprehensive about staying in london by my self (why isn't freddy here?!?). i made it here safely though and without any troubles, some minor door/key issues were quickly overcome with the help of my telephone bodyguard. i quickly jetted over to starbucks afterwards, which thankfully was just across the road, and treated myself to a venti vanilla latte and a chocolate and caramel shortbread (which i totally forgot about until now... which means i have a nice little breakfast in store for me)!

anyway... i actually had some stuff to accomplish tonight. so after fiddling around with the internet, television, and my camera i finally decided to get to it and finish my essay that is due tomorrow. thankfully it is done... and ready to be handed in (phew, one thing i can check off my list).

i've got a full day tomorrow with lectures starting at 9am and going until 4pm... fridays are definitely my heaviest days, which is nice in a way... because it will make me appreciate the saturdays in my life all the more.

these are the kinds of things that make me appreciate living in the UK. this flat isn't overtly lush... i seem to be slightly enamored by the bathroom... seriously though, who installs these kinds of toilets anymore?? there is something slightly magical about flushing the toilet like that though.... i have to admit.

this flat isn't overtly lush... check out how sweet the bathroom features are. granted, no water comes out of the 'hot' tap... but it looks nice nevertheless.

the shower faucet tap is equally covetable.

totally fancy chandelier in their living room and there is seriously intense moulding all throughout the house.

the kind of dinners i eat when i am alone: smushed peanut butter sandwich (that spent the whole day being carted around in my bag) and milk from a wine glass.

Yes it is Wednesday and snowing again

2010-01-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

Right,

Jenny and I have been discussing some very important blog stuff. How to indicate who has written a post. I know there are probably only 10 people who actually check this blog regularly and I'm sure they have no problem differentiating between our posts (mine are easily identifiable by my witty yet incisive prose!). Obviously one way would just be to sign the end of the blog. I also thought of having different coloured text which would have worked with the old grey background. But Jenny has suggested, and we will try, using a distinctive and colour coded sign off.

Jenny= xx
Freddy= xo (like Gossip Girl... also I thought xy might be more appropriate but making science jokes isn't actually that funny)

I realise this is probably just for our benefit, and we probably check our own blog more in one day than all the hits from other people we get. This is, however, to some extent a way of chronicling our lives (like a diary or memoir) and is not just about letting our family know what we are up to (so, therefore, differentiating between who wrote what is important... I think)

ohh my, wednesday already?

2010-01-12T03:57:00.000-08:00

Woke up to a Wednesday morning with snow bucketing it down...

Have been back in England for just over a week now. It seriously feels like so much longer.

Anyway, I discovered how truly wonderful one of my Christmas gifts are on Monday went I went into london:

Teavana Tea Thermos with Strainer

I have long been presented with the problem of making coffee in the morning, putting it in a thermos thing, getting on my bike, getting to the train station, getting on the train, taking a sip of the coffee.... and feeling disgusted by the fact that over the course of 20min my coffee has become less than luke-warm. Seriously, all I ask for is something warm to drink without having to drink the vile coffee they sell at the station. Well, the problem is absolutely and totally solved. I got this thermos for Christmas and I used it yesterday for the first time. I am not kidding you... I think it actually made my drink even hotter (ok, maybe that's not possible). But, I made it all the way to Paddington and I could still just barely sip at it because it was still so piping hot. Now that is an invention I can get behind. And, it's not very big or heavy... so isn't a pain to carry in your bag after you are finished - and seriously no leaks at all.

Am looking forward to trying out my new Gingerbread flavour Nespresso coffee tomorrow during my early trip into London (on the bus at 7am... that's too early, right?) and having it stay nice and toasty warm! Hopefully some of the snow will have cleared by then!

Brrrrrr

2010-01-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

It is still freezing cold over here and our house continues to be covered in icicles and lots of snow.

Mac n Cheese

2010-01-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a food post I meant to do before Christmas but didnt get around to. Again this was a dish that I never really liked growing up (and again its a jamie recipe). I think I didnt like it bc it was always a dish of last resort, in that it was only made if there wasn't anything else too interesting to make (it can be kinda boring and can be made quickly... both of which are not true for this dish!).

Ingredients:

salt and pepper

30g butter

1 and a half tbsp flour

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

3 bay leaves

500ml semi-skimmed milk

300g macaroni

4 tomatoes

75g grated cheddar

50g grated parmesan

some thyme

little bit of Worcestershire sauce

sprinkle of nutmeg (optional)

a big handful of fresh breadcrumbs

olive oil

Directions:

Melt butter in large ovenproof saucepan over low heat. Add flour and turn heat to medium to make a roux. Fry it for a little bit (gets rid of the floury taste). Add garlic and stir around till garlic is golden and sticky. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to boil and then simmer on low heat. Preheat oven to 220 C.

Add pasta to a pan of boiling salted water and cook according to instructions on packet. Roughly chop tomatoes and add salt and pepper. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Stir it all around. Take off heat and stir in cheeses, tomatoes, and thyme. Add Worcestershire sauce and nutmeg if you fancy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don't worry if its too wet bc it will thicken in oven. Bake in oven for 30 mins.

While that is cooking put breadcrumbs and thyme into a pan with some olive oil on medium heat. Stir till breadcrumbs become crunchy and golden. They make a nice addition to sprinkle over the mac n cheese. A nice green salad also goes great with this dish.

Enjoy!

Price: 4/10 (I am always shocked that cheese seems expensive)

Taste: 8/10

Difficulty: 5/10 (it takes a while bc you have to put it in the oven but the more you make it the faster if goes)

Goulash

2010-01-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Ok so haven't done a food post in a while and am desperately trying to avoid work. So for the last year Jen has been going on about beef stew and how she really wants to eat it. I usually ignore this request as it is usually followed by a description of how in the States you can buy really good stew in a can?!? Growing up I was rarely fed food from a can (I know I was spoiled) so it just doesn't appeal to me. Actually beef stew in general has never been a favourite of mine. We used to eat kalops (a swedish beef stew) a lot at home and it never really appealed to me. However all this changed when we went to Moya (a slovakian restaurant) before Christmas to celebrate Gabe's PhD viva. I decided to have Goulash and I loved it. I know its silly, its essentially beef stew but if you call it Goulash I seem to like it more... a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, or perhaps not in my case. So after scouring the internet for a recipe here is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

250 g beef (the longer you have to stew it the worse the beef can be, I didnt have long so I used sirloin... I know pretty plush, but it was only 6 quid for 400 g)

1 onion

1 clove garlic

butter/olive oil

salt and pepper

200 ml beef stock

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 bell peppers (sliced)

2 tomatoes (sliced)

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp mccormicks spicy all season (optional)

Directions:

Chop steak into cubes. Fry with onions, garlic, and butter/olive oil (or both). Salt and pepper. When steak is brown add beef stock and tomoato puree. Mix it all around. Add peppers, tomoatoes, paprika, and I used this all season spice I found lying in our cupboard. You can also add a splash of red wine. Bring to boil and the let simmer for 30 mins with lid on the pan. You can leave it for as long as you want I reckon but you might want to add the veg at a later stage in that case. Easy peasy. In moya they served it with dumplings, but we just ate it with bread which was equally nice.

Price: 7/10

Taste: 9/10

Difficulty: 4/10

"Frozen Britain"

2010-01-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

Freddy and I arrived back to England on Monday night. Desperately sad to have left the US and all our family there. We are still pretty horribly jet-lagged. We have gone to sleep both nights at 4am... and did not wake up Tuesday until 4pm. Managed to get up today at 1pm... so we are getting a little bit better.

We didn't realize it but we have come back to the UK in the middle of the worst cold spell since 1981... yesterday at 4pm it started to snow. Oxford never gets a lot of snow - so we weren't expecting much. It normally doesn't stick and if it does it isn't too impressive. When we looked out our window around 8pm there were buckets of snow outside and it looked absolutely magical. This morning (okay, afternoon) we woke up to about a foot of snow outside

The view out our front window.

Taking out the recycling with snow well above our ankles.

Don't think we will be cycling anywhere for the next couple of days....

Freddy at the backside of our house.

Cold and windy as we headed to the shops to stock up on supplies.

The front of our house all covered in snow.

Decked out in some newly acquired mid-west winter buffalo check gear.

Not many cars made it out of our street today...

Thankfully we didn't arrive back into the UK last night... we probably wouldn't have made it into Heathrow - and if we had it would have been a nasty and long trip into Oxford trying to move luggage in all that snow. Luckily we are both at home and haven't had to try to commute in to any jobs or anything today. Classes start back up for me on Monday... so until then I am just trying to get my essays written while staying warm by the fire and drinking lots of tea.

Hope you aren't too cold and snowed in wherever you are!

let it snow...

2009-12-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

A white holiday season is always so much fun. Luckily we managed to get some snow here this past week. We made a trek out into the wilderness (umm.. okay, a walk to Starbucks) the other day. It might not seem like much - but it really did feel like an adventure. We all got bundled up - took the wagon for the kids to sit in - and marched off to Main Street in search of winter adventures. We triumphed in our journey... and came out the other side successfully. Despite a few tears, falls, and seriously windy moments in the cemetery.

Playing in the snow.

Dad's winter weather gear.

Everyone happy and warm... a luxury that wouldn't last long.

Our snow mobile...

Getting 6 adults and three kids out of the house and dressed in winter gear was not a simple task.

Stephanie with her camera and Swedish winter hat.

Now we just need some more snow so we can test out the new sled!

merry christmas!

2009-12-25T17:46:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Freddy and I are here in St Louis for Christmas! It was 50 degrees yesterday (totally not Christmas-y - no coat even needed...) but today it was 23 and snowing! So much fun. Was really great to spend the day with lots of family and little kids. We got more presents then we know what to do with... and we've got enough candy, cookies and leftovers to last until next year.

Hope everyone has had a lovely day!

My family has certain traditions that we've carried on from many years ago... one of those is making a birthday cake for Jesus. Thankfully we've got some new little people who can help in the design now... there were a few years when my sister and I fought it out in some serious fights... a manger or a christmas tree? sprinkles or candies? what colour frosting? Well, this year all bets were off as a 3 year old and 2 year old took to the cake...

Uncle Freddy helped to write 'Happy Birthday Jesus' ... but it just got covered up by heaps of sprinkles.

Another tradition is that we always get new pajamas on Christmas eve... you normally get to pick yours out - but this year we swapped my mom's J.Crew ones for this lovely fleece primark pink and leopard one piece (it even covers your feet). I didn't think she was going to wear them... but she totally kept them on the whole time.

Everyone was very excited... there were tons of presents. We had to open them in two installments - first with the kids awake and then more when they were taking their nap.

Obie got a new train set.

Grace got kitted out in more princess gear than I have ever seen. Dresses, pajamas, magic wands, colouring books, pencils, stickers, lipsticks, nail polishes, handbags, nintendo games... all disney princess themed. She was seriously pumped.

Not only did she dress up in her own presents... she dressed up in her brothers too.

Freddy had fun playing with the new doll house.

Blowing out the candles on the birthday cake.

We played outside in the snow... it was seriously so cold though, so we didn't last too long.

All bundled up with Obie's new bike.

All the rubbish...

Family portrait.

Stephanie has requested that we are at the mall tomorrow morning when it opens... so we are off bright and early to try to find some bargains! Wish us luck!

the arch..

2009-12-25T17:36:00.001-08:00

We are in St Louis for Christmas at my sister's house. We went down to see the arch because my childhood best friend, Mellissa, came to visit - and she had never been to St Louis before. So, the arch is a must.

Obie dressed up in his uncle Freddy's winter gear.

Papa and his grandson in matching jackets and hats.

Re-united after 8 years...

Taking photos of taking photos...

pizza hut officially now delivers...

2009-12-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

i know this is old news to much of the western world... and probably the non-western world too, but to the quaint little town of oxford this is seriously big news. pizza hut now delivers! i know this may not sound like a big deal, but trust me, it is.

so, fred went to holland on saturday to visit a friend. i was pretty upset at first because i couldn't go too. i have had to work every day since saturday. it just doesn't seem fair that fred always gets to go on trips... i know, i know... it's not as if my life is that rough. but, nevertheless i just felt a little bummed.

as it happened though, i have had a great weekend. despite fred being in holland and having to work every day... and this is due to two very important factors.

1. i got to order pizza hut. for the first time. EVER. in oxford. and what did i order? a large supreme deep pan pizza and two sides. that's right. i was home alone and blew almost 20 quid on horrific greasy overpriced heaven.

the box did wish me 'seasons greetings' though...

so wrong. but yet so right.

2. the x-factor final weekend.

can you believe that if i had gone to holland i would have missed the x-factor final?!! ok, the x-factor is lame, i know that. it's rigged, it's hype, it's just cowell/cheryl promo, it's symbolic of all that is wrong in the world... rah rah rah rah rah. this may all be true but it is also truly fabulous and utterly addictive.

i'm not going to lie, i've devoted every, yes every, saturday and sunday night to x-factor since it started a couple months ago. so i've kind of invested a lot into it, right? i couldn't put all that time and effort (not money, i didn't ever vote... until the final) and then miss out on the end. right?! so, in light of the momentous occasion - i had some girls round and we made mulled wine, had chinese take away, minced pies and watched the x-factor final.

it was amazing.

we've got the x-factor.

joe mcelderry: the winner

to summarize: if your husband decides to ditch you and go hang out with his friends in a foreign country make sure it's the x-factor final weekend, that you've got some good food, and good friends to spend time with.

A big sigh of relief...

2009-11-30T08:54:00.000-08:00

It's Monday evening. That was always either going mean pure panic or... well, something less than that. I have avoided panic, because I managed to get my essay handed in on time. I'm not overly filled with joy because I'm not really sure how it was was.... but regardless, four days ago I had two essay to write and now they are both finished. That is something to be thankful for.

So now I am a pretty happy girl. Living in fear of deadlines is not nice. Next essay is due December 11th, and I have every intention of having in done by next Wednesday. That way I can avoid the panic, the fear, the nail biting, the late nights, the manic induced coffee moods, and the grumpiness... procrastination has never been easy for me to avoid. But, I am going to do better with this next essay.

But for now I have the entire evening to take it easy and not worry about any essays.

Here is what I am going to do: vacuum the living room, take a bath, play my new favourite ipod app game called flight control (if you don't have it yet, get it, now), lay on the sofa with a massive blanket and watch t.v., eat home made pizza and hopefully some apple crumble, and snack on after eight mints.

Yes, that is the plan for the rest of my evening... ah, freedom is fabulous.

The Sunny South

2009-11-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

I know it looks crazy (end of november, freezing outside) but it was very sunny today so jenny had to don a pair of sunglasses so she could do her reading.

Lawrence of Arabia... perhaps Fredrik of Middle England

2009-11-28T12:51:00.001-08:00

Ok. So I meant to write about this last week, but life has been pretty hectic and last week just slipped through my fingers. Looks like this week will be even busier, with parents visiting, tutorials, experiments, demonstrating (to name just a few of the planned events).

Two weeks ago Alex (pictured below), a postdoc in my lab, suggested that we should cycle to bath. Why not?... i thought. Bath is nice, Ive been there before and my bike is pretty nice.

To be honest I did know it was quite a long way (our route was 75 miles). The day before was the stormiest day of the year, but luckily it cleared up on sunday. And so we set off at 8 in the morning. Here is our route. Sorry I don't know how to take a screen image with the mac so Ive just copied the link to the map.

Link: <http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=marston+street,+oxford&daddr=Upper+Rd+to:A4183%2FHinksey+Hill+to:A4183%2FOxford+Rd+to:Hanson+Rd+to:B4017%2FWootton+Rd+to:Honeybottom+Ln+to:Main+St+to:A338%2FGrove+Rd+to:Manor+Ln+to:Oxford+St+to:A4+to:51.438601,-2.074699+to:bath&hl=en&geocode=FfOZFQMdbBbt_ymd4GooTMF2SDH8SLotfwOTuw%3BFYVBFQMdv-js_w%3BFYRAFQMdLLDs_w%3BFXgfFQMdfKvs_w%3BFfa1FAMdRm7s_w%3BFYrVFAMd1yns_w%3BFfXPFAMdZNPr_w%3BFYjZEwMduKPq_w%3BFRhKEwMdAkvq_w%3BFQDNEQMdSrXn_w%3BFRKHEQMd-k7n_w%3BFRCAEAMdOSHm_w%3B%3BFbQEEAMdMgfc_ykt4T50pnhxSDEJmm3W0CeLEw&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=12&sz=12&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12&sll=51.438387,-2.010841&sspn=0.101656,0.308647&ie=UTF8&ll=51.527543,-1.62323&spn=0.811647,2.469177&t=h&z=9>

So yes, early in the morning, dressed up in the all the lycra (spandex for our american brethren) I own, I set off. This was definitely a good decision. However, I made one key error. I don't own any cycling shorts, and this is definitely a huge mistake, because although I do have a fancy gel seat on my bike, after 9 hours on a bike you need all the cushioning you can get.

Something like this. Apparently back in the day tour de france cyclists would put a raw steak down their shorts in attempts to assuage the chronic pain.

The first few hours till lunch time were wonderful. We made a good time to wantage (our first rest). Unfortunately alex got a puncture, so had to fix it (twice... the first time wasn't so successful). These are the only pics I took (of alex fixing his bike). After this I was too tired.

Then it started to get really hilly... I was shocked. England is supposed to be flat! and my bike doesn't have any gears. Now its not all bad. It just means you have to man up on the hills, but the worst is going downhill bc my bike also doesn't freewheel so I have to peddle every rotation of the wheel. This is rough when you are going down a steep hill bc it gets pretty wobbly as your legs are wildly flailing up and down.

Luckily Jenny had been baking the day before so I had plenty of muffins to keep me going. We got to Marlborough around lunch time and luncheoned in a pub. This was really nice and think I would have taken the train the rest of the way because I was so thoroughly exhausted after eating (but they didnt have a train station).

We were worried that we wouldn't get to Bath before dark and cycling on small A roads can be pretty dangerous, so we altered our route to a boring but quick one. We did cycle past some cool looking barrow mounds. I thought briefly about taking some pictures but my will to live was slowly ebbing away and being replaced by the pain from sitting on a bike for so long.

Our plan was to stop in Chippenham and take the train for the last 15 miles, but once we got there, we assessed the situation, I took as many ibuprofen as I could get my hands on (and would have bought a raw steak if I could have found a shop) and decided we would cycle the last bit as well.

We finally rolled into Bath (after having to ask the locals for some directions... as we only had some printouts from google maps). Once in Bath we headed to the hot baths... the only ones drawn from natural volcanic springs. That was amazing, but made even better by the nine hours we had spent on the road (definitely recommend them to anyone who is visiting the area). They have a pool on the rooftop where you can see the whole city and lots of steam rooms.

We then had a farcical episode of trying to find somewhere to eat, which ended with us standing outside the train to Oxford with crisps and sandwiches bought from sainsbury's being told there was no room on the train for our bikes. I almost lost it. A train that can hold hundreds of people only has room for 6 bikes?!?!?! and you could see the twisted joy in the conductors eyes as he informed us of this. So we went to the pub and waited for the next train. Luckily there was room on the next train so I was back home just before midnight. It was a long day, and I think I had barely got in bed before I fell asleep.

It was actually loads of fun looking back at it, but it was definitely painful. But then people don't climb Everest bc its easy. My thoughts on the trip: cycling shorts (a must for long bike rides), fixed wheel bikes (very trendy at the moment, but not practical and should be left on the track), cycling (fun), muffins (good), spas (amazing), english trains and first great western (rubbish).

Also here is a picture of my trusty bike (I still like it... thanks Ezra).

Thanksgiving?

2009-11-26T14:35:00.000-08:00

My plate is empty... and waiting for the Thanksgiving fairy to come deliver my meal.

Sadly, I don't think she got the memo. I think my plate is going to stay empty.

Thanksgiving forgot to come to England. Sadly, it's not like Santa (who finds you no matter where you live) and whose Christmas magic seems to start two months before the 25th of December. Sadly, there was no Macy's Thanksgiving parade on t.v., no football, no pie, no turkey or stuffing, no day off work or school, no Thanksgiving magic, no anticipation of Black Friday sales, no extended family, no awkward 'I'm thankful for...' conversations.... no Thanksgiving.

Sadly, it was just another day. Sadly, it was predominately marked by the stress of essays, and the insanely crowded nature of London public transport.

I guess I will have to forget about the Thanksgiving fairy this year... and wait patiently for Santa.

p.s. I hope Thanksgiving magic found most of you out there.... and that you enjoyed it thoroughly.

My day so far...

2009-11-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

1. I woke up at 6am (because I forgot to buy my train tickets in advance) to catch the bus.

2. It was pouring it down... so when I got to the bus station I was sopping, yes sopping, wet. Shoes: soaking. Jeans: soaking. Jacket: soaking. Head? Managed to survive because I've devised a way to fit my hood under my helmet and this keeps my face/hair pretty dry. Bag? I managed to fit it into a plastic m&s carrier bag so it also remained pretty dry.

3. Tea. Ah... warm tea on the bus and the very last coffee cake muffin. (This was a happy moment)

4. In the library at 9:30am - it was pretty empty, and this was a nice change.

5. 11am: Dilemmas of Equality lecture on redistribution or recognition.... with an extra hot vanilla latte.

6. Yesss... I broke my '1 starbucks a week rule'.

6a. I thought it was necessary considering my checkered morning.

6b. Checkered in that I am stuck wearing seriously wet converse ALL day.

7. 1pm: back in the library (which is now full to the brim).

8. Experienced difficulty finding an outlet socket that works (whyyyy don't hardly any of them work?!?) I've had to position my diary against it so that it is at just the right angle to let the power seep through.

9. Found out a friend has bought a spare copy of Glamour, which I am going to get - which means I can work around my 'no purchasing fashion magazines until christmas break' rule.

10. Avoided doing any real work by making a list of all the things I've done so far today...

coffee cake muffins

2009-11-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I needed muffins. Fred suggested bran muffins... no-no, no, no-no, no way Jose (see Nacho Libre).

I had a certain type of muffin in mind.... the king of all muffins.

I'm not going to lie to you - these are not for the faint hearted or calorie conscious. These are buttery, sugary bad boys. So, make at your own risk. They are addictive.

Surprisingly I didn't get this recipe from Jamie, but from the notorious Martha Stewart.

I don't know why but I found the wording of this recipe slightly confusing... it may have just been because I was on a muffin craze which rendered me unable to understand the English language. Anyway, I don't have any recommendations for this recipe - other than that I wound up with way more streusel topping then i could use. So, maybe this means it makes more than 12 muffins and you don't need to fill each muffin spot with very much batter - so there is more room for the topping. I'm not sure, see how it goes.

Tastiness: 8/10

Difficulty: 3/10

Expense: 3/10

Makes 12 muffins.

FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
FOR THE MUFFINS
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature plus more for pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Confectioners' sugar, optional
Directions
Prepare streusel topping: In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffins: Butter and flour a jumbo 12-cup muffin tin (or two 6-cup muffin tins). In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. With mixer on low, beat flour mixture into butter mixture.
Divide half the batter among prepared muffin cups. Top with half the streusel mixture, then remaining batter, and top with streusel. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.