Would like to have: Sodastream

Get busy with the Fizzy

I have been spellbound. I am obsessed. I am being held tight in a retro-embrace that I never want to shake myself free of.  You see, I’ve watched the adverts for the revamped sodastream and boy oh boy do I want one.

According to the blurb on their website, the origins of the home carbonation market can be traced back to 1903 when Guy Gilbey (of the famous London Gin dynasty) invented the first SodaStream machine. This large machine was used by butlers in the country houses of British aristocrats. As the 20th Century unfolded, SodaStream machines got smaller and became fixtures in homes across the U.K. and throughout much of the world.

I vividly remember wanting my own sodastream when I was little and having glasses of home-made cola at friend’s houses. Or seeing the gas cylinders and syrups for sale in Safeway and wanting, oh wanting wanting wanting, one so badly. Those little bottles promised endless fizzy fun but alas, I never got one. In the same way my parents – for reasons I still find it hard to fathom - never let me had Lucky Charms or Salt and Shake crisps, the Sodastream just wasn’t to be.

Or so I thought. But this little babe – The Genesis drinks maker in White – I know, I know, how very Phil Collins, is a steal at £59.99. And the flavours on offer? How about kiwi pear or mango apple? A fruity lemon number, lipsmacking ginger ale or ominously named ‘Xstream’… and how would I be able to resist making my own cocktails at the end of a boozy Sunday dinner, the possibilities are surely endless.

Ice to meet you.

Seeing as I don’t own a microwave, a cheese-toasty machine or a George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine, I think it’s high time I invest in a kitchen gadget. And whilst I am at it, and sating my 80s nostalgic urges, I should surely invest in a Mr Frosty Icemaker. Another product of startling genius that I’ve been lusting after for decades. That’ll do the trick. Unless I’ve missed any classic 80s/QVC goodies? Let me know if there’s anything else missing from my wishlist, and oh, I’ve already got a Teasmaid on it. Want.

Recipe: Toska kook (Swedish Tosca Cake)

Slice of Sweden

What do you think of when you think of Swedish cuisine? Of reindeer sweetened with berries and mountains of creamy potatoes?  Of pickled herring and gravalax and Crayfish parties? Gallons of cider and shots of schnapps?  Or do you think of Ikea cafes. The break from tealights and flatpacks to inhale meatballs and dime bars and make-up with your partner after the spat over whether you NEED that new lamp?

I think of all of this and I think – my heart rate quickening – of the cake and coffee. Because, boy, do those Swedes do coffee-breaks well. Cinnamon rolls, sweet little buns and chocolate balls - served with a brew that knocks your socks off!

On a New Year holiday to Stockholm a couple of years ago, the boy and I warmed our snowbitten fingers and flushed cheeks in wonderful cafes in Gamla Stan and on beautiful Djurgården island with all of these treats and more. A few weeks ago my lovely Swedish friend Mette made me a Princess cake - layers of cream, sponge, jam and custard, draped in silky green marzipan – and if I didn’t just nearly explode with joy whilst eating it. Mette: truly, you’re a legend.

So with the opportunity to bake something for my boss’s birthday tea, and him being married to a Swede – I took my chance to exercise some of my Swedophile urges. I looked far and wide for a perfect recipe. A fruit cake maybe? Pretzel-shaped cookies? Or some tiny saffron buns? I settled eventually on a recipe – from Nami Nami - on a Toska kook, a Swedish Tosca Cake.

The cake looked curious and I made a number of “strategic” errors whilst baking (more of this later) but it was a truly stonking recipe and one I will make again soon without doubt.

To buy:

For the base: *4 medium or 3 large eggs *200ml sugar *400ml plain flour *1.5tsp baking powder *100ml milk *125 butter, melted and cooled    And for the topping: *75g butter *100g flaked almonds *150ml sugar *4-5tbsp double cream *1 tbsp plain flour

To make:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200Oc/180Oc fan and butter your tin. Make sure your tin is large enough. This is very important. You will need a 25cm tin – not a 20cm tin as I foolishly used.

2. Make the sponge cake by whisking the eggs and sugar for a few minutes until the mixture is thick, pale and creamy. Sieve the dry ingredients in. Then gently fold the milk and melted butter into the egg mousse. It will almost look like pancake batter but don’t fret!

3. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about twenty minutes. I popped my cake on the bottom shelf of the oven and turned it around  whilst it was baking to cook it evenly in my fan oven.

4.  To make the tosca topping, add the almonds, sugar, cream, butter and flour in a small saucepan, warm and bring to the boil. Stir to make sure it doesn’t burn.

5. After the cake has baked for twenty minutes spoon the tosca mix on top and then return to the oven, on the top shelf, and cook for another ten minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn though!

Also note that your tin MUST be large enough. I very quickly realised – as the sponge cake started to rise over the top of the tin – that there would be trouble ahead - but threw caution to the wind and poured the topping mix on nonetheless… before long it dripped first onto the floor of my oven and then all over my baking tin, which I used to catch the goo and was not only a criminal waste, but a right bugger to clean.

6. Once the topping is a lovely golden brown colour, remove the cake from your oven and cool on a wire-rack. 

Sweet and scrummy

 So, barring my stupidity this was a pretty simple cake. Soft and gooey with a crunchy hyper-sweet topping. If you like almonds or florentines I suggest you give it a bash. My boss told me the Swedish word for “yummy yummy” and I have totally forgotten.. but really, yummy yummy does the trick quite nicely.

You got served- Mr Tea Towel

There is no Plan Tea

Do you know what I like?  Tea. I ruddy love tea.  All things tea in fact. Tea-breaks, tea cups, tea pots and yes, even the humble tea-towel. And this may be my All Time Favourite Tea Towel. Ever.  A hugely generous accolade, no doubt, but look at it.  Pink, simply designed, slightly stupid – emblazoned as it is with Mr T!- I ask you, what’s not to like?

I’ve had a Mr Tea Towel like this for about 3 years now, and upon close inspection I spotted no less than five medium holes (medium in that I could wiggle a finger through but not my whole fist) and about 3 stubborn stains, of the kind that would give the makers of Cilit Bang a migraine… so, there’s a bit more life in it yet! But soon I will need to replace Mr Tea and send him to the big cupboard drawer in the sky and when I do I will go to the wonderfully named To Dry For where I can snap this bad-boy up afresh, for £7.50. Though as the website says itself: “I aint doing no dishes fool!”

x

P.s. can I just clarify that this post is in no way a promotion or endorsement of the new “A-Team, There is No Plan B” movie, release date 30/07/10 in the UK, which frankly looks abhorrent . Thank you.

Recipe: Beef and pak choi Noodles

Where's the beef?

Uh oh. I feel rather sheepish. With burning, blushing cheeks, I realise it’s been nothing short of yonks since I updated Would Like to Eat and the fact that some of you lovely readers have had to pull me up on this is an outrage. It’s a dereliction of my duty. But a perfect storm of being busy at work and flat-out broke (I’m saving for an American road trip, have an awful bank and am perennially feckless…) has meant that I’ve not been eating out and I’ve not been eating ANYTHING decent in. And I couldn’t possibly confess the full depths of filthy food I’ve been scoffing of late. But let’s just say that there may, ahem, be mini chicken kievs and curly fries in my freezer… Ahh… my cheeks are burning brighter!

Anyway, all of this is set to change. So I trust you accept my apologies and stay with me as I leap back onto the domestic bandwagon!

Tonight, for example, I had a night in alone and rather than buy one of those glum little roast-dinner-meals-for-one or tuck into my default solo dinner (cinnamon toast and a mug of tea), I thought I’d make something proper, like.

And so to noodles. A bowl of noodles is surely one of life’s most incredible pleasures: all slurpy filling goodness. My boyfriend can’t quite handle my obsession for noodley broths so whenever he’s out – i.e. at the cricket/pub – and I’m in I go noodle-crazy. Thick juicy udon noodles,delicate spindly rice noodles, crystal glass noodles, heavy egg noodles, silky ramen noodles, giant flat noodles. Gosh. Be still my beating heart. As long as it isn’t pot noodles.

To buy:

*a handful of rice noodles (about 30g or so)   *150g beef sirloin   *olive oil   *giant pinch of ground cumin   *salt and pepper   *half a small onion, very finely sliced   *thumb-sized fresh ginger, sliced   *pinch of chilli flakes   *fistful of mushrooms, I used chesnut but oyster or shitake will taste fab   *200ml chicken stock   *1 pak choi, washed and chop the end off.

To make:

1. Boil a kettle and pop the noodles in a pyrex bowl, add the hot water, cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Then drain and leave submerged in a bowl of nice cold water.

Slurped.

2. Meanwhile, rub the beef with the oil, cumin and pepper. Place in a really hot wok and sear on all sides.

3. Add the onion, ginger and chilli flakes and fry at high heat for a couple of minutes.

4. Take out the steak, leave to rest and slice. Set aside for a mo.

5. Add the mushrooms and pak choi to the onions and ginger in the wok and stir. Pour in the chicken stock and season to taste.

6. Serve the noodles and broth in a big bowl, pop the sliced beef on top and throw on a bit of coriander if you have it knocking about.

Feeds one and takes minutes to cook and a similar amount of time to wolf down. (Recipe originally Mr Jamie Oliver’s but I messed about with it slightly. I know, I know, how very dare I! ) Not the cheapest of dinners but will hopefully make me big and strong. If you’re a veggie then use more veg or tofu if you like. Yummy.

Review: Al-Dar II

Meat Feast

74 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 4TZ

t – 020 7584 1873

w – www.aldar.co.uk

First things first. I like to think that I approach life with a cheerful disposition. That I am positive and upbeat. That, dare I say it, I want sunshine to rule the day. My boyfriend would surely scoff but then he has seen me fly into foot-stomping huffy little rages because I can’t fix my puncture or because the jelly hasn’t set in time to scoff for pudding. But that’s by the by. I like being happy, nice and not moaning on (too much).

However. Some things in life sorely test this. Buses that aren’t even full and drive past without stopping when you’ve already been waiting 25 minutes in the rain, cretinous idiots in the Question Time audience who talk about prisoner’s getting a playstation in their cells because of human rights legislation and, it would seem, a lunch at Al-Dar II.

It’s one of those places that I repeatedly walk past on the Kings Road that I have never bothered to go into – mostly because about 95% of the shops and bars on the Kings Road are either fully of braying Sloaneys (yes I’m talking about you Henry J. Beans) or so ridiculously expensive that it is literally a waste of time even looking at their wares – but to say thank you to a girl at work who had helped us on a big project my boss and I decided to head there on Thursday for lunch.

Al-Dar on the Kings Road

It didn’t get off to a great start when our sullen waiter gave the table he had promised us away to another bunch of diners and then squeezed us onto another one which was already occupied by a lady who had been enjoying some solitude. It ended poorly when, upon asking for the bill (and yes, doing that pretending-to-write-on-your-hand sign language that EVERYONE seems to do when asking to pay) the very same waiter looked at me like I was an oikish little upstart before skulking off in the most obnoxious fashion.

In between? We were served some diet cokes, a plate full of pretty tender but not much better than kebab-house meat, some perfectly fine pitta breads and a plate full of hummus that tasted of air and distinctly average pastries and salad. The decor in Al-Dar is rubbish too. Dreadful kebab-house seating which I guess it would be fair to say is authentically Lebanese, but when you’re paying Kings Road prices (and gee whizz, a quick inspection of the bill revealed that this is indeed the case) a touch more finesse and glamour might have been good.

After the meal I did a quick straw-poll and both of my lunch-buddies Louise and Pete rated it a 6/10. At the time I was thinking it deserved around a 5 and could see why it had earned these middling marks. However, the following morning I re-assessed. And, like Mervyn King downgrading the UK’s economic forecasts, I had some bad news for Al-Dar.  The food was OK, it really was and I had a fun and enjoyable lunch. But this was all about the company – about jokes about Auntie’s buns and dirty dancing with MPs - and not about the ambience that the restaurant created. The rude service was shocking and inexcusable and the meal (which came to about £30) nothing less than a rip-off.

Mezze

So average food, dreadful service and sky-high prices, yet it was pretty rammed whilst we were there and every time I walk past it is heaving. Considering everyone I have spoken to says it has mixed-reviews (a euphemism surely) the great mystery is why this place is still open. A bigger mystery is why anyone who had been there would ever go back.

Would Like to Bake: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcake

According to that font of all knowledge, the perennially useful Wikipedia, Red is used as a symbol for guilt, sin and is associated with sex. Now these cupcakes are certainly sexy, guilty and sinful. But please, don’t let that put you off. A-ha, I know you, as if it would!

Pinched from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook you will need:

*60g unsalted butter at room temperature   *150g caster sugar   *1 egg   *10g cocoa powder   *20ml red food colouring (Dr. Oetker if you can find it)   *1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract   *120ml buttermilk   *150g plain flour   *1/2 teaspoon salt   *1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda   *1 and a 1/2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar   and for the Cream Cheese Frosting:   *300g icing sugar   *50g unsalted butter   *125g cold cream cheese.

This makes twelve(ish) cakes.

To make:

Stir It Up...

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 170Oc or Gas Mark 3.

2. Put the butter and the sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. If using an electric whisk then start beating at a medium speed and then turn the mixer up to high. Slowly add a beaten egg and beat until it’s all well incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract to make a thick, dark paste.  Add to the butter and sugar mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined and coloured.  Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a spatula and add to the mix. DO NOT LICK THE SPOON (See picture below.)

 

4. Turn the mixer down to a low speed and slowly pour in half the buttermilk. Beat until well mixed and then sieve in half of the flour. Add the rest of the buttermilk, mix and then add the flour.  Beat until it’s all smooth and perfectly combined. I bought my buttermilk from Waitrose but I was worried about how many shops would stock it.

She Wore Red Velvet

5. Turn the mixer down to a low speed and add the salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar.  Beat until really well mixed and then turn up the speed again and beat for a couple of minutes. 

 

6. Spoon the mixture into the paper cased which you have laid on a baking tray. I used double-cases so that they would hold their shape but if you have a 12-hole cupcake tray then that’d be perfect. Make sure you don’t over-fill the cupcake cases (2/3rds full).

 

7. Bake in a preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touches or a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

 

8. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly and then pop them onto a wire cooling rack and leave to cool entirely.

 

9. When the cupcakes are cold start to make the cream cheese frosting.

All that whisking can make your kitchen resemble a blood-bath!

 

10. Beat the butter (at room temperature) along with the icing sugar. Take your cream cheese (I used full-fat Philadelphia) out of the fridge and add to the bowl and then beat until it’s light.  Keep beating the frosting for about five minutes until it’s smooth but thick. Be careful not to over-beat as it can get all runny.

 

11. Time to frost the cakes. I spooned a big dollop on each cake and then used a fork to make swirls and loops in the mixture.

 

12. Add a little sprinkle of cocoa on top of each cake and get ready to indulge.

 

So, apart from the fact that my vest was totally covered in red-colouring spatters, my kitchen resembled a CSI-investigation Crime Scene – I have expected Horatio to turn up, nudge his Raybans and say “here’s what we’re going to do… the washing up..”- and my tongue burnt from that overdose on Dr. Oetker… they were fun and easy to make.

Red red cake