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February 6th, 2010 by urban foodie
 Last night I died and went to chocolate heaven. No, not another night of vivid dreams but a real live shop, Artisan du Chocolat in Notting Hill.
This is newest chocolate boutique from local artisanal chocolate makers Gerard Coleman (chocolatier) and Anne Weyns (General Manager). They have been making chocolates together since 2000, first on a stall in Borough Market and now expanded into Selfridges and two shops of their own.
They are truly local producers, the cocoa and many flavourings come, of course, from around the world but they are all mixed, refined and conched (aerated and smoothed out) in their Kent atelier, where the chocolates themselves are also produced by a small team of 10. They are already making waves, Heston commissioned his tobacco chocolates from them, Gordon has them at Claridges and Time Out listed their hot chocolate as ‘the best in London’, I tasted it and have to agree, chocolate ambrosia.
The shop casts a magical glow onto the street, its full height windows showing off the carefully balanced light/dark, curve/line play within. Inside most of the walls and cabinets are white, with the occasional contrasting rich brown, vivid orange or jungle green. The effect is lightly hushed and terribly chic, like a designer boutique crossed with an art gallery.
 The chocolate is clearly the star here, and what a star it is, chocolate in all its forms. Truffles, fusion bars, dipped fruit peels, covered nuts, hot chocolate, lolly pops, pantry slabs, wafer thin Os, spherical pearls and screen printed squares – there is plain chocolate, fruit chocolate, spiced chocolate, herbed chocolate, tea and flower infused chocolate and, for the adventurous, tobacco infused chocolate*. I am giddy with choice!
A charming and passionate Zoe shows me around, guiding me through all the flavours, offering me tastes of everything. I can hardly resist any of it, each chocolate tastes better than the last and everything is beautiful.
The attention to detail is astounding, feasting the eyes as well as the tongue. The wafer thin mints are decorated like painted Moroccan tiles and melt rich yet fresh mint on the tongue, the house truffles look unassuming but are the best I’ve ever tasted, the Valentine hearts are vivid scarlet and darkly spiced and the salted caramels – well… forget your river of chocolate Mr Wonka, I’d like to swim in a river of the salted caramel (or at least sit with a pot of it and a spoon – entirely possible, and, apparently, not unknown for customers to do).
 The salted caramels are becoming legendary and have been given suitably legendary packaging, channelling the Channel Numbers range exquisitely (see picture), I know what all my girlfriends are getting as presents from now on.
And, on the subject of girlfriends (and boyfriends) of another sort, their new Valentine range has charming ‘wood effect’ hearts, a love potion hot chocolate and heart medallions you can scratch your own message into, so if you want to win hearts this Valentine’s day make sure it is these ones you offer to your lover and watch them melt into your arms.
www.artisanduchocolat.com
Chelsea - 89 Lower Sloane street London SW1W 8DA
Notting Hill - 81 Westbourne grove W2 4UL
Also, Selfridges and Borough Market
* I tasted some of this, it was subtle and sweet, definitely tobacco-ish with that unmistakable tingle at the back of the throat. A very unusual but civilised smoke!
Tags: boutique chocolates, local chocolatier, London chocolates, valentines chocolates
Posted in Local Food | No Comments »
January 31st, 2010 by urban foodie
 As regular readers will know, I am no baker. I think it is something to do with my style of cooking which is of the handfuls and glugs school, rather than the more precise gs and mls - it seems I can’t try a recipe without tinkering, and that so often spells disaster in (beginner’s) baking.
For evidence please see earlier posts on the cupcake - my nemesis.
However, there is nothing quite like home baked bread on a weekend morning. Biscuits, tarts and cookies make the very warmest of presents that everyone likes to receive, simple gestures of affection that don’t carry any financial baggage.
So, for the last few months, I have been trying my hand at baking, with the help of a bread machine for Christmas and a new sieve.
I had not a few early disasters, but I ploughed on with help from various cookbooks, forums and, most of all, from better bakers on Twitter (special thanks go to @scandilicious, @goodshoeday and @foodnetworking for genuinely helpful tips and tricks).
Now I have nailed the breadmaker thang, the last two loaves (a spiced fruit loaf and granary bread, pictured) were fab and my ginger biscuits are truly scrumptious!
I’m not claiming to be a pro, but having now got a slightly firmer hold on this baking lark I thought I’d share the knowledge I have picked up so far, in case you have use for it.
Oh, and I’ve included the recipe for ginger biscuits at the end as these are really, really great.
 Tips & Tricks
- If a recipe calls for cold butter, make sure it is really, really cold butter – freeze for a few minutes before using then grate into your flour. Also, pop the formed biscuits into the freezer for a few minutes just before they go in the oven.
(this helps the outside of the cookie to remain butter free)
- Creaming (room temp) butter and sugar with an electric hand-whisk - cream the butter first with the whisk then add the sugar bit by bit.
(this avoids getting sugar all over the kitchen – see this vid)
- Use only quick yeast in the breadmaker – and make sure it is high quality and FRESH
(I use Doves Farm, the Tesco quick yeast didn’t work very well)
- If you use olive oil instead of butter your bread will be more like a light ciabatta, very tasty!
(I’ve only tried this with white – note when I say tried I mean experimented as had no butter and it was midnight…)
- Atmospheric pressures can have an effect on bread if it is raining and your loaf top is soft/bread a little doughy use 10-20ml less water.
- Use the measuring spoon that came with the breadmaker.
BEST ginger biscuits
Ingredients
Makes about 20
100g butter (unsalted, at room temp)
175g golden caster sugar
250g plain flour
150-200g crystalised ginger
1.5 tbsp golden syrup
2.5tsp ground ginger
0.5 tsp bicarb of soda
pinch salt
- Preheat oven to 180 C (Fan), lightly grease 2 baking trays with butter
- Chop crystalised ginger quite finely
- Whizz butter in a deep bowl with an electric hand-whisk, gradually adding sugar, cream well (3-4 mins – you can also do this by hand with a spatula, just takes longer)
- Sieve flour into the bowl, mix well and then add other ingredients and mix again (to make a sticky dough)
- Shape dough into 20 walnut size balls, lay on tray giving them enough space to spread.
- Bake for 12-15 mins, they will look a little pale and will be very soft but they firm up out of the oven
- Once firmed up (3-4 mins) transfer to wire rack to cool – can be stored in an airtight box for up to a week
Tags: baking, baking disaster, easy baking, ginger biscuits
Posted in Food Facts, Recipes | No Comments »
January 18th, 2010 by urban foodie
 If there’s one thing I love about winter it’s the squash, coming in all shapes and sizes and adding some much needed colour to the veg box.
They look great before you cook them and taste utterly divine cooked, all that melty sweetness. There is a simple formula with squash, match it with butter, bacon, onions or a combination of all 3. I chose to leave out the bacon and use feta instead (it’s the saltiness that works, you see) in this simple supper dish that I’ll certainly be making again.
I used a squash from my aunt-in-law’s allotment, not sure what kind, a sort of long gourd with pale yellow skin and a thick green pinstripe, you can use whatever squash is to hand. I’m of the school who doesn’t like to eat the skin but I know there are those that do, if you are one - go for it!
Allow for one medium-ish squash per person for a main course or 1 between 2 for a tasty side to a simple grill of meat.
Ingredients
Makes 1 main course/2 sides
1 medium squash
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
big knob butter (30-40g)
100g feta (1/2 packet)
Rosemary and thyme
S&P
- Heat the oven to 190 C
- Cut squash in half, scoop out all seeds and fibres, squash garlic cloves a bit to split skin (leave on) and put in each cavity with butter and a sprig of rosemary, S&P
- Put in oven and roast for 50 minutes
- 15 minutes before end chop onion and fry gently in olive oil with a little salt
- When squash is done take out of oven, discard rosemary branch, squeeze out garlic cloves and scoop flesh into a bowl (keeping shells intact)
- Mash lightly with fork, crumble feta into bowl with rosemary and onions
- Scoop back into shells and back into oven for 15 minutes until lightly browned on top (use the grill if you are impatient to eat, as I was!)
- Serve with rice (I like brown) and a green salad
Tags: baked squash, stuffed squash, vegetarian recipe
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes, Uncategorized | No Comments »
January 2nd, 2010 by urban foodie
 And so we start 2010, hopefully with a spring in our step and a heart full of good resolution. I have my plans for the coming year and I’m sure you do too. Doubtless some of them will include eating well and maybe doing an extra bit for the planet… If so, you’re in luck!
In one easy, inexpensive and tasty swoop you can get yourself well underway.
If you live in N/E London (Hackney/Tower Hamlets) you can sign up to this rather unique local box scheme - Growing Communities. I did 2 years ago and haven’t looked back. They do all the legwork for you, growing some produce themselves (Hackney salad anyone?) and sourcing the rest from local organic producers, a few select French and Italian co-operatives (for oranges, lemons and the like) and fair-trade organic bananas from further affield. This means that you get excellent local produce (81% from the UK last year) but you also maintain a good variety in your box.
 All you have to do is pop by on one weekday night to your local pick-up point to get your seasonal fruit and veg - a real bonus if you live in a flat, as I do, and don’t have anywhere for deliveries to be left. You can check what you’re getting online before you pick-up - handy as it gives you time to work out what’s for dinner. They are a charming and welcoming bunch, plus there are often extras like fresh farm eggs to buy, free leftovers to top up with and a swap box if there is anything this week that you don’t like.
The scheme is surprisingly inexpensive, just £44 a month for a week’s worth of veg for two - they also do a smaller bag for one.
I say surprising because you couldn’t buy bog standard veg in the supermarket for that much, but here you’re getting really high quality, fresh organic produce. It hasn’t flown around the world accumulating thousands of air miles, or been picked green so that it lasts the weeks before it reaches your plate. And you’re supporting local communities and small producers to boot.
 The boxes are always good and varied, you get a rich diet of fruit and veg balanced by the seasons - at first I wasn’t sure if I would like not being able to choose what I was eating, but actually it is rather liberating to get what nature gives you, it makes you a bit more creative in your cooking and you know you’re always eating a healthy amount of veg (if not the over-full veg drawers soon let you know it).
I have discovered the wonders of many new vegetables, like squash, so infinite in its varieties and rich in its colours. I have also learnt to appreciate the waiting for a fruit to come back in season, eating it only at its peak and enjoying it so much more. Of course if you do have a craving for passion fruit in January, so be it, you can happily buy the odd bit of tropical fruit or un-seasonal tomato as an occasional treat, but honestly, I very rarely feel the need.
There are 7 pick-up points around Hackney and Tower Hamlets - with a new Green Lanes pick-up opening in Feb (View Pick-ups on a Map). They also run the Farmer’s Market in Stoke Newington (10-2 every Saturday, William Patten School, Church St, N16) where you can shop for local fruit and veg and also meats, cheeses and more.
So as far as New Year’s resolutions go, this one is a really easy one to keep!
Find out more on the Growing Communities site
PS Growing Communities is the only one of its kind, so far. If you don’t live in Hackney but would like to get involved they are always looking for other groups around London to mentor to get their very own growing community up and running.
Tags: local produce, local veg, seasonal fruit and vegetables, veg box scheme
Posted in Local Food | No Comments »
December 6th, 2009 by urban foodie
 Somewhere high on a hill is a man who makes gin, Sacred Gin. That man is Ian Hart, that hill is Highgate, and the gin is a real London gin and utterly delectable to boot.
From the outside it looks like any other family home in this North London suburb of large square houses. But inside this house holds a special secret, there are glass flasks and coils, rubber tubes, liquid nitrogen streams and many unusual liquids bubbling about - from darkest amber to purest crystal clear - because, in this house, a master distiller is at work.
Before I got there I was a little unsure of quite what I’d find – a small factory distillery perhaps? – and was quite delighted to discover this sort of overgrown chemistry lab in a back kitchen, with the pump housed in the garden shed (all properly authorised and certified of course). Although it may look like a mad scientist kind of set up, Ian is more like a flavour alchemist, and the spirit he produces is about as far from home brew as a vintage champagne is from Strongbow.
Ian has always loved wine and spirits, he’s been collecting wine since he was 18, and has a fine, fine palate, coupled with a passion and curiosity that has urged him into setting up this boutique micro distillery.
 And when I say passion I really do mean passion, he has created this very unique gin using an ancient gin recipe and a lot of trial and error. Nothing is automated, it is all done by hand, with a care and attention to detail that shines through in the final product.
And I’m not the only one who thinks so, Ian has been nominated for spirit producer of the year, and Sacred Gin is for sale in Fortnum’s and on the bar of the Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, amongst many others.
Each of the 12 different botanicals are distilled separately to maintain their individual flavours, first in a hand warm distil (no overheating here to burn the flavours), then a cold one and finally a nitrogen super cooled one. This means that every subtlety in the flavour is extracted, and because they are mixed post distillation you really can taste the individual flavours as they bloom in the mouth.
I came to find out about the gin, but soon we were onto vodka (Sacred Vodka coming soon, he’s just perfecting the recipe, lucky me I got to do some tasting and even take a bottle of version 2 home!) and distilled wine, pear eau de vie, sloe and damson gin and discussing the possibilities of Christmas pudding vodka – and that’s not just Christmas pudding steeped in a bottle of vodka as most of us would make it, oh no, he would distil the very essence of Christmas pudding to blend with his vodka. Honestly the man is a distilling wizard, constantly experimenting and expanding his repertoire, all for the love of distilling. If you took teens into his kitchen I bet they’d be taking up their chemistry classes like a shot.
 Of course you understand all of these glasses were only teeny, actually very lovely antique gin glasses, and sipped at delicately. Which is how come I am still able to type…
Oh, and all done in the name of research.
It’s a hard life sometimes spending my Saturday afternoon sitting with delightful people (his partner Hilary joined us), trying an array of marvellous spirits and chatting about tastes and flavours, but I’ve been out there battling on to bring you news of a wonderful local product, a genuine local producer and what I think is a perfect Christmas present for foodies and spirit lovers alike.
Right, that’s me off to mix what just might be the perfect martini…
Sacred Gin ~ £26 a bottle from Fortnums or online at www.sacredspiritscompany.com
Tags: foodie christmas present, London microdistillery, sacred gin
Posted in Local Food | 3 Comments »
November 30th, 2009 by urban foodie
 Now that the MA is done I find myself with *gasp* a bit of actual free time. I’ve been trying to put it to good use and so have been reading lots of my fellow food bloggers’ missives. They are a great bunch (see Blaggers Banquet and WMPC for validation) and love to share their recipes.
I have also developed a soup addiction, since the massage. It’s just so easy, you make soup for lunch on the weekend, freeze 4 portions and that’s your lunch for the week. Simply reheat in the work microwave. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now and have enough random batches to have a different soup every day!
Anyway whether you are cooking for the week or just fancy a home made, delicately spiced and sweetly flavoured lunch this is a great one, that I discovered on The Food Urchin’s excellent blog, from the delightful Moro Cookbook. It is so good that I think I’ll get off the laptop and make some more…
Ingredients
Serves 4
4 tbs olive oil
half a large onion, sliced
2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
1 rounded tsp black cumin or normal cumin seeds
750g raw beetroot
1 large potato
1.25 ltrs of cold water
3 tbs of red wine vinegar
1 small bunch fresh parsley
100g Greek yoghurt, thinned with milk and seasoned with crushed garlic
sea salt and black pepper
- Slice onion and heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat
- Add the onion and a pinch of salt, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to colour
- Meanwhile thinly slice garlic, peel and dice beetroot and potato
- Add garlic and cumin to pan, cook for 2 more minutes to release their flavour, followed by the beetroot and potato
- Pour in the water, bring to a gentle simmer and cook until soft, about 15 minutes
- Roughly chop parsley, put the vegetables and cooking liquid in a blender or whizz with a blender stick until just smooth. If using blender you can just scoop out and blend the solids, returning to the pan once done
- Add the vinegar, half the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. You may need more salt than you think to balance the acidity of the vinegar. Serve with a little yoghurt on top, the rest of the parsley and an extra drizzle of olive oil
Tags: beetroot soup, lunch idea, Moro cookbook
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | 2 Comments »
November 22nd, 2009 by urban foodie
 Sometimes it takes a couple of native Londoners to really get lost in the middle of town. I think it is mostly lazy presumptuousness - of course I know where I’m going, or at least my fellow urbanite will do – coupled with a little plain laziness.
And that is exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago when I partook in a charming internet experiment entitled ‘Where’s my Pork Chop?’.
WMPC, as it is affectionately known, is the brainchild of fellow blogger Dan, the FoodUrchin, where he gets other bloggers to make extra of their dinner to exchange with him for goodies from his allotment or suchlike. Wednesday was my turn, which is why I found myself up bright and early wandering around the South Bank with some speed but little direction.
We were looking for Canteen, a fairly new eatery on the South Bank that neither of us had tried before – I was to give Dan his dinner in exchange for my breakfast (apparently things had been a little slow on the allotment recently, ‘things’ were mentioned but ‘people’ may have been more precise…).
In the end we resorted to using the iPhone AND asking, but really it was just sheer perseverance that got us to our destination – ok, ok, I know it wasn’t quite like reaching the summit of Everest, but we still felt a little heart leap when we spotted the place.
Anyway, having now done our officially recognised amount of exercise for the day (there are a lot of steps on the South Bank), we felt we had worked up a well deserved appetite.
And so to breakfast.
It’s funny, I never used to be much of a morning person, and some might say still am not, but having breakfast with a virtual stranger was actually a lot of fun. It helped immensely that the company was charming and that we had just tons to chat about, food, food photography (thanks for the white balance tip Dan, it has made a real difference), food blogging – can you tell there is a common theme here…
The coffee at Canteen was good and strong too, which may have added a certain power to the talk. However, unfortunately for Dan, his bacon, eggs and hash browns weren’t quite as good as my eggs Florentine, which were pretty tremendous – perfectly cooked eggs on vibrant spinach smothered in a deliciously lemony hollandaise.
The place is arranged in cute old fashioned canteen booths each with their own little lamp, think 1960s Britain rather than 1950s America, but reworked in a very modern style, it certainly has a charm to it. The menu is very best of British, breakfast is a big feature, as are puddings and pies. Given its handy location (behind the Festival Hall, for any others who may be searching), excellent eggs and my penchant for booth dining I’ll certainly be going again.
After the breakfast we did ‘the exchange’ and I handed over a portion of that old favourite, sausage and butter bean casserole, with a little Hackney grown salad and French dressing on the side.
Regular readers will have noticed I have posted about this dish before, it’s a great one, using fennel seeds to create an unusual savoury flavour. It is the only time I really use these seeds, I should do it more, they really are tasty… Anyway, I digress, below is the recipe for this very simple but very tasty supper, make it yourself I guarantee it will be a firm family favourite in no time. The FoodUrchin certainly seemed to like it, high praise indeed!
PS If you’d like to get involved in WMPC drop Dan a line, he’d love to hear from you. Getting your dinner cooked for you by another food lover, what’s not to like!
 Ingredients
(ever so slightly adapted) from Nigel Slater in the Observer
1 medium onion
2 large cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
5 sausages
500g passata
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can butter beans (plus a half/small can if you can find it, no biggie if not)
Serves 2-3
1 Peel onion, cut in half, then into 6 or so thick segments
2 Warm a 10cm pool of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes
3 Add fennel seeds, bay leaf and garlic (crush or chop) and sausages, brown lightly all over
4 Add passata and 1 tablespoon mustard, bring to boil and then put in drained and rinsed butter beans and S&P
5 Simmer for 20-25 minutes (I usually like to chop sausages up into 3 pieces after about 10 minutes - just to be sure they cook through)
6 Stir in last tablespoon of mustard and serve with a bit of green salad, a hunk of bread and a spicy wine.
Tags: Canteen, Eggs Florentine, FoodUrchin, WMPC
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
November 17th, 2009 by urban foodie
Now that the MA is done I find myself with *gasp* a bit of actual free time. I’ve been trying to put it to good use and so have been reading lots of my fellow food bloggers’ missives. They are a great bunch (see Blaggers Banquet and WMPC for validation) and love to share their recipes.
I have also developed a soup addiction, since the massage. It’s just so easy, you make soup for lunch on the weekend, freeze 4 portions and that’s your lunch for the week. Simply reheat in the work microwave. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now and have enough random batches to have a different soup every day!
Anyway whether you are cooking for the week or just fancy a home made, delicately spiced and sweetly flavoured lunch this is a great one, that I discovered on The Food Urchin’s excellent blog, from the delightful Moro Cookbook. It is so good that I think I’ll get off the laptop and make some more…
Ingredients
Serves 4
4 tbs olive oil
half a large onion, sliced
2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
1 rounded tsp black cumin or normal cumin seeds
750g raw beetroot
1 large potato
1.25 ltrs of cold water
3 tbs of red wine vinegar
1 small bunch fresh parsley
100g Greek yoghurt, thinned with milk and seasoned with crushed garlic
sea salt and black pepper
- Slice onion and heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat
- Add the onion and a pinch of salt, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to colour
- Meanwhile thinly slice garlic, peel and dice beetroot and potato
- Add garlic and cumin to pan, cook for 2 more minutes to release their flavour, followed by the beetroot and potato
- Pour in the water, bring to a gentle simmer and cook until soft, about 15 minutes
- Roughly chop parsley, put the vegetables and cooking liquid in a blender or whizz with a blender stick until just smooth. If using blender you can just scoop out and blend the solids, returning to the pan once done
- Add the vinegar, half the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. You may need more salt than you think to balance the acidity of the vinegar. Serve with a little yoghurt on top, the rest of the parsley and an extra drizzle of olive oil
Tags: beetroot soup, Moro cookbook, tasty lunch idea
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | No Comments »
November 16th, 2009 by urban foodie
 Well the night has come to a close. The food has been cooked, served and eaten, the cocktails shaken and drunk (a lot). The Hawksmoor has been over-run by the London fooderatti and is now returned, spic and span to it’s usual form of best-steak-house-in-town - they have a coal grill in the kitchen you know. And some of the auctioning has closed - although only some, you can still join in on Ebay from Tuesday am.
And what a night it was, all 50 seats were filled with foodies. There may have been a very high staff to customer ratio (nearly 1 to 1) but hey, we’re professional eaters, not professional restaurateurs. At least it meant that everyone actually got their food, pretty much on time…
Oh the food, the food - Brock Hall Farm goats cheese with pomegranate seeds and vanilla salt on Peter’s Yard handmade sourdough crispbreads, chicken skin crisps, mozzarella, basil and heritage tomato kebabs, cheesy gougeres - and that’s just the canapes.
 For starters we served Fish for Thought monkfish and beetroot tartare (pictured left, photo taken by MathildeCuisine), followed by beef stew, lamb hotpot, Laverstoke Park Farm buffalo steaks with béarnaise sauce. All served with sauteed potatoes, parsnip crisps and St John Restaurant’s handmade sourdough bread with organic butter from Sainsburys.
Everything was served family style to save us novice waiting staff from crumbling under the weight of orders, I was front of house with 8 others, and meant that with self serve portions no one went hungry (except the staff - how hard for foodies to be around so much food and not eat it, of course we had a few bowls of the deliciousness stashed in the back, and the odd martini helped too).
Before pudding we had a pause for the auction, and the free-flowing Chapel Down sparkling wine and Blagotinis ™ helped an already generous crowd to donate even more money into the Action Against Hunger pot. There were some cracking prizes on offer including a private cookery lesson in the Konstam kitchen, Hidden Tea Room afternoon tea and Launceston Place tasting menu.
Then came golden chocolate fondant cake, titillating Bompass & Parr jellies, tea and chocolate truffles from Lahloo Tea and Damian Allsop. There were a few hairy moments getting the gold-leaf nippled boob jellies out of the moulds, but thankfully there were lots of people on hand to help (or was that to stand around laughing and making innuendos - oh yes, that would be the latter ;).
And yet it still wasn’t over with a formidable selection of cheeses from Pong, Barbers’ 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar and Trethowan’s Dairy Gorwydd Caerphilly.
It was a fantastic night, both fun and worthwhile, guests left with a cheer in their hearts, a belly full of food and laughter and a goody bag fit to bursting with yet more lovely foody stuff. The generosity of suppliers was only surpassed by the generosity of the diners (and the stamina of the hardworking bloggers). If you’d like to join the team of donors it isn’t too late, we have lots more wonderful auction prizes on Ebay, starting Tuesday morning, there will be a few items released every day for at least a week, so check back daily for new goodies.
So dig deep and remember, it’s all for chaaaarity, mate.
PS A big thanks to all our donors, listed below
| Abel & Cole |
Gower Cottage Brownies |
Pizza Paradiso |
| Absolute Press |
Grazia Magazine |
Pure Package |
| Andre Dang Communications |
Gü |
Purely Pesto |
| Anon |
Habitat |
Quadrille |
| Aqua Amore |
Hampstead Teas |
Racine |
| Artisan du Chocolat |
Harvey Nichols |
Rare Tea Company |
| Ashburton Cookery School |
Hidden Tea Room |
Red Magazine |
| Atelier des chefs |
Hillfarm |
Riverford |
| Beas of Bloomsbury |
Innis & Gunn |
Rococo |
| Bibulous tickets |
innocent |
Rude Health |
| Big Bang Restaurant |
Interflora |
Ruinart |
| Billington’s Sugar |
jackoshea |
Rules |
| Bob Books |
James Hoffman |
Sainsburys |
| Bompass & Parr |
Jamie Oliver |
Sara Noble |
| Books for Cooks |
Journey’s End Wines |
School of Artisan Food |
| Bramley and Gage |
Junction Tavern |
Selfridges |
| Brays Cottage |
KitchenAid |
Sheen Suppers |
| Brockhall Farm |
Konstam |
Sheffield Knives |
| Caldesi |
Lahloo Tea |
Sillfield Farm |
| Champagne Penet Chardonnet |
Lahloo tea |
Sipsmith |
| Charlotte Street Hotel |
L’Anima |
Square Meal |
| Chilango |
Launceston Place |
St John |
| Chocolate Ecstacy |
Lipton Infustions |
Steve Madden |
| ChocStar Van |
London Pride |
Sugar Grain/Caroline Aherne |
| Chris Windsor |
Maldon Salt |
Sugar Rock Bakery |
| Citywire Holdings |
Marston’s Pedigree |
Susie’s local butcher |
| Cleanseas |
Mat Follas |
Swan House/Coburg House/Rose Cottage/noeight |
| Cricketer Cheese |
Matthew Walker |
Tante Marie Cookery School |
| Daas Beer |
Maze |
Teanamu |
| Daylesford |
Merchant Gourmet |
The Anglesea Sea Salt Company |
| Decoder |
Miele |
The Dorchester/Coworth Park |
| Denhay |
Mien Tay |
The Queens Head, Brandeston, Suffolk |
| Donald Russell |
Moro |
The spice shop |
| Dorset Cereals |
Ms Marmite Lover |
thebalconygardener.com |
| Dukes Bar |
Muji |
Theo Randall |
| Ella’s Bakery |
Munchy Seeds |
Think drink |
| English Wine Group |
Murdoch Books |
TinyTeas |
| Eric Lanard |
Naked Wines |
Tom Ilic |
| Escape Boutique B&B |
Nicolas |
Tonic |
| FeelGoodDrinks |
Northfield Farm |
Trethowans Dairy |
| Firefly |
notonthehighstreet.com |
Tŷ Nant |
| Fish for thought |
Observer Food Monthly |
Unearthed |
| Fishforthought.co.uk |
Octopus Publishing |
Upbeat |
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Tags: action against hunger, blaggers banquet
Posted in Food News | 7 Comments »
November 16th, 2009 by urban foodie
 At this time of year the lurgy, especially if you have to mingle daily with the hordes on public transport, is inevitable. Along with all the sensible things you should do (Lemsip, vitamin c and lots of liquids, etc, etc.) there is one other thing that will make you feel warm and cosy inside: the hot toddy.
The perfect remedy for any cold (temperature or sickness), it warms and sooths and relaxes like nothing else. Drink it by a fire if you can, but a comfy sofa will also do.
I like mine heavy on the lemon and fairly easy on the whiskey, and I tend to use a really good whiskey, which may sound sacrilegious but I find it gives a lovely flavour, plus it’s only takes a shot to make an entire mug of toddy.
A hot toddy is also prescribed for those who think they might be getting a cold, just as a precautionary measure you understand…
Ingredients
Makes 1
1/4-1/2 lemon
1 heaped teaspoon honey
1 shot of whiskey (40-50ml)
boiling water to top up
1 Put kettle on to boil
2 Put honey, lemon and whiskey in a mug
3 Add boiled water to fill mug, sit down and make yourself comfortable - inhaling the aroma will also help those poor sinuses.
Tags: hot toddy, whiskey
Posted in Cocktails | No Comments »
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