Frivolitea

4th January 201612th January 2016

Cookbook Challenge January Week 1

So it has begun, it is week one of the cookbook challenge and I m slightly regretting planning to cook a new recipe on the first day back after the holidays and on the same night as I needed to go and do the food shop….. But I did it.
I’ve chosen Everyday Super Food by Jamie Oliver as my book this month.

For this week’s recipe I chose Bombay Chicken and Cauli Poppadoms, Rice and Spinach. I’m going to try and blog each week showing some photos of the process not just the finished product. I really liked this dish, it was simple to make and had bags of flavour. It also gave me opportunity to start using my thermomix more as the recipe included making a mint dressing

and a marinade to make for the chicken.

I particularly liked the addition of cauliflower to the dish.

This is defintely a recipe I’ll add to the regular midweek meals list!

Here’s the finished dish and the photo from the book.

3rd January 20163rd January 2016

Coppi

I’ve been wanting to try out Coppi for a while. We have been to Bartali, its little sister on the North Coast, and I spend most days jealous of the executive chef Jonny Phillips’ Instagram feed! I am pleased to say that Coppi did not disappoint.
What I love about Coppi (and Bartali for that matter) is the flexibility of the menu. If you want a big meal, 3 courses, then you can have them, but the cichetti and pizzetta allow for flexible eating and an opportunity to try lots of things. That’s important when you are indecisive like me.
We chose the crispy artichokes and chilli Mayo from the cichetti specials and five other cichetti dishes: Sicilian lamb and pistachio polpettina, feta fritters with truffle honey, goats cheese and smoked tomato pesto arrancini, crispy pork belly and pickled radicchio and duck ravioli fritti and truffled porcini aioli.

We also couldn’t resist the portavogie prawns, lemon and garlic butter, grilled focaccia and rocket from the starters section and the duck, hazelnut and truffled honey Pizzetta.

Everything had bags of flavour, simple yet brilliantly executed and the portavogie prawns were so delicious that I to restrain Mr Frivolitea from licking the plate! My only comment is that all our cichetti were deep fried and that wasn’t clear from the description. That isn’t a criticism as it tasted fantastic and it certainly wasn’t greasy or oily but I might have chosen differently to ensure variety had I realised.

We rounded the meal off with a perfectly boozy and light tiramisu and I had a glass of prosecco. The bill – £40 for two people. You can’t go wrong with that. We will certainly return and Bartali is definitely on the list for a revisit in the summer!

1st January 20161st January 2016

The Cookbook Challenge

I love my collection of cookbooks and I enjoy nothing more than an afternoon on the sofa, flicking through recipes. The problem is I don’t always use them and challenge myself to do new things.

Mr Frivolitea and I had been chatting about our plans for 2016 and one plan we had made was to try one new recipe a week. A couple of friends on Facebook starting discussing the same thing!

So…. A Facebook group was born. A place where we can encourage each other to stick to the challenge but also discover the books that people use and celebrate the results!

Why not join us….. https://www.facebook.com/groups/129597497415126/

1st January 20161st January 2016

Haptik (again)

If you’ve read my previous blog about Haptik then you will know that I love this place. I really admire the commitment of Johnny and Rachel to bring quality coffee and a local art space to Newtownards. I love the feel of the place and I love the fact that lots of local people of all ages have embraced it and go regularly.

On previous visits, Haptik had not yet served a breakfast or lunch menu so our visit this time was a great excuse to try some food.

We had Mike’s fancy cheese on toast with mushrooms and spinach. Mike’s Fancy Cheese Co. is an artisan cheese maker local to Newtownards and the main reason for choosing the dish.

Oh my! It was delicious, the cheese was complimented by the mushrooms, onions and spinach in a creamy tarragon sauce and a sprinkling of nuts and seeds.

The menu at Haptik is small, creative and seasonal and as you already know the coffee is spot on.

We will keep going as often as we can!

22nd December 201523rd December 2015

Mince pies

Mince pies are a favourite in our house. Mr Frivolitea has been asking for days when I’m going to make some. Well today was the day. Here’s my recipe.

Rich shortcrust pastry

250g plain flour

175g butter ( cold and cubed)

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp cold water

I make my pastry in my thermomix:

Put the flour, butter and sugar in the thermomix and pulse on turbo until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the egg mix and pulse until just coming together to a dough. Tip it out and bring together to a ball, wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30 mins before using.

If doing by hand, rub the butter and flour together to resemble breadcrumbs, mix in the sugar then add the egg mix to bring together into a dough.

I make mine the traditional way with a pastry bottom and top. I put a larger circle of pastry in each mince pie tin and prick with a fork. I add about 1-2 small spoonfuls of mincemeat (this year I made River Cottage apple, pear and ginger mincemeat). I dampen my finger and run it round the pastry before adding the smaller circle of pastry on top, pinching to close. I finally add a little cross with a knife before baking for 12-15mins at 200c.

20th December 2015

Mincemeat biscuits

I love making edible gifts for Christmas presents and this is one I’ve made a couple of years in a row now. This recipe makes about 24 biscuits.

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, softened

100g soft brown sugar

200g porridge oats ( I use stringer porridge oats, from a local farm in Bishop Wilton)

100g plain flour

6 tablespoons of mincemeat ( I made my mincemeat using the river cottage Apple, pear and ginger mincemeat)

Method:

Heat the oven to 170c

Mix the butter, sugar and flour together, then stir in the oats and mincemeat.

Take small amounts of the mix and roll into balls. You should have enough mix to make aobut 24 balls. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment. Flatten each ball slightly. I like to sprinkle them with a little Demerara sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Take them out of the oven and leave on the tray to cool for 5-10 minutes before putting on a cooling rack to cool completely.

I like to put them in an airtight jar with some ribbon and a nice label and give as a gift.

19th December 201519th December 2015

Roast haunch of venison

I was given a beautiful haunch of venison as a gift recently and so planned a meal for friends with the haunch as the star of the show. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

Haunch of venison (mine was just over 2kg bone in but this would work with boned and rolled too)

2 onions sliced

Marinade:

Bunch of rosemary (half chopped, half as sprigs set aside for later)

2 small lemons (zest and juice)

4 tablespoons rapeseed oil (I use Yorkshire rapeseed oil, made just up the road from us on the Yorkshire wolds)

Method:
Put the haunch of venison in a container. Mix the marinade ingredients together and put the marinade over the venison (this can be left overnight or a few hours depending on what time you’ve got).

When you are ready to cook the haunch, turn the oven to 220c

Make incision marks in the haunch and put the sprigs of rosemary in the incisions

Put the onions in an oven proof dish, set the haunch on top and pour over any marinade that is left

Cook the haunch at 220c for 20 minutes. Once this time is up pour 500ml vegetable stock into the dish and turn the oven down to 200c. I like my venison medium to medium rare so I cooked it for 20 minutes plus 15 minutes per 500g.

30th October 201530th October 2015

Blacksmith Arms, Westow

We love pie, really, really, love pie, so when we saw pie on the menu on a meal out with friends it was inevitable. (I should point out however that we only eat pie if it’s proper pie. Stew with a hat on does not constitute a pie in Mr Frivolitea’s world).

We’d never visited the Blacksmith Arms before despite it being not too far from where we live. Our friends suggested it for a meal out and I am so glad they did, and three of the four of us had pie.

I chose the chicken and ham pie from the specials board:

Mr Frivolitea chose the steak and ale pie:

The pastry was superb, the pie did not skimp on fillings and the meat was top quality. The vegetables and chips were cooked to perfection.

My only slight criticism, which would not be a criticism for many, would be that the pie was too big, I simply couldn’t finish it and desperately wanted to!

I couldn’t manage pudding after all that pie but the others did. Mr Frivolitea opted for the dark chocolate fondant despite its 15 minute wait time. He confirmed that it was definitely worth the wait, rich and delightfuly squidgy.

Our friends had the specials board pudding, vanilla panacotta with an apple crumble topping and apple sorbet. The apple sorbet was a particular hit.

I did hesitate before writing this blog. The food here was so good that I wanted to keep it to myself!

I can’t recommend this place enough. The food was of top quality, the pub cosy and inviting, and the staff really helpful and friendly. It’s clear that the Blacksmith Arms take huge pride in what they do.

We will definitely be back. A lot.

21st October 201521st October 2015