Fiona Beckett recently threw down the challenge to produce the ‘ultimate’ macaroni cheese. I think it’s fair to say I was up for that with bells on. My enthusiasm escalated to such lofty heights that I ended up producing a cheesy carbilicious beast of mammoth proportions; a behemoth capable of providing an extra  insulating layer around my ribs that would keep out the winter chills and probably stay put well into spring. It fed two of us twice a day for two days plus three men for dinner on a third.

Before Creation of course, there was only me. Me and my hungry brain trying to figure out what would make my ‘ultimate’ mac ‘n cheese. I dipped my toe into the idea of going down the purist route (read ‘no pork’), but I’ve learned not to try and trick my tastebuds for the sake of principle. Usually I use bacon, but this time I wanted to somehow gently infuse the porky flavour throughout the dish and hit on the idea of simmering a small ham hock to make stock before cooking the macaroni in the golden swiney liquor. Pasta cooked in ham stock. Yes. The meat I teased from the bone into silky pink nuggets; every now and then a porcine treasure bobbed up from the bubbling cheesy depths.

When it comes to the cheese, I’m a cheddar girl. Extra mature, naturally. A mac needs guts and only x-rated quantities of a well ripened cheddar can produce the tang I crave; melted into silky bechamel with a smidge of the Montgomery smoked to play off the pork, finished with a good shake of white pepper. I often prefer its sharp, ripe intensity over the black stuff; hugely underrated.

And finally to the crust. For me, it must be crisper than a  winter morning in Siberia and for this I could think of nothing more suitable than Japanese panko crumbs, mixed with yet more CHEESE.

Shattering crust, cheesy steam, rich, gooey pasta; sauce oozing through every tube. Crispy burnt edge bits tumble into soft, unctuous, silken stodge. How could I forget such a classic? The divine chorus of carb and dairy, singing to the tune of winter weight gain.

Mac ‘n Cheese for an Army

The quantities here got a bit out of hand so you might want to halve it! This filled a  14 x 12 x 3 inch dish if you want to feed your entire neighbourhood. Do the hock first, then while the pasta is cooking, make your cheesy sauce. If the pasta is done before the sauce, add a few drops of oil and stir to stop it sticking together.

For the hock

1 small ham hock
1 bay leaf
Six black peppercorns
A few parsley stalks
1 carrot, halved
1 stick celery, halved
1 onion, halved and stuck with a couple of cloves

Place the hock in a large pan and cover with water. Simmer for a few hours then strain into a bowl and reserve the stock for cooking the pasta. Flake the meat from the bone, taking care to avoid any bits of skin or sinew, chop into bite size chunks and reserve for mixing into the mac.

For the sauce

Triple this bechamel recipe, adding about 500g cheddar of your choice plus 150g smoked cheddar melted in at the end. Season with plenty of white pepper but no salt (the hock and cheese are both salty).

425ml milk
40g butter
20g plain flour
A swift grating of nutmeg (optional)
White pepper to taste

Melt the butter over a gentle heat and add the flour, stirring quite vigorously to make a paste. Let this cook for a few minutes, stirring vigorously the whole time. Begin adding the milk a little at a time, making sure each bit is incorporated fully before adding the next. Towards the end you can start pouring larger amounts in there. Add the nutmeg and cook over a low heat, stirring, for about 10-15 minutes. When it starts to thicken, add the cheese and allow it to melt. Season with the white pepper to taste. If you need to keep it to one side, cover with some greaseproof paper to stop a skin forming.

For the macaroni

700g dried macaroni

Cook the macaroni in the reserved ham stock, topping up with a little water if necessary.

For the topping

Panko breadcrumbs (enough to cover), mixed with a good couple of handfuls of grated cheddar. I grated a bit more on top and added a bit of parmesan too simply because I had it lying around but that’s optional.

Assembling and cooking the mac

Mix the sauce with the macaroni and ham hock pieces then check the seasoning before piling into a well buttered baking dish. Sprinkle on the crumb topping, grating on more cheese if desired. Bake at 200C until golden brown and crisp. Allow to cool a little before serving and serve with a salad of bitter winter leaves or a summer salad with a sharp dressing.

I finally got around to making Gastrogeek’s aubergine dhal after months of bleating on about it. The addition of smoky burnt aubergine flesh is simply inspired and the dish lived up to expectations even after the long build up. With a lot left over though, I wanted to try experimenting with stuffed parathas, which would also solve the problem of not having any bread left to scoop everything up with.

Most recipes instructed to make a dough first, then roll each piece out, spoon a blob of cold dhal in the centre and then pinch it around and seal as if making a dumpling. The ball is then pressed down and rolled out, thus incorporating the lentils. I suppose you could call that ‘stuffed’ – the dhal was certainly stuffed inside the dough at one point, but the rolling basically just mushed the whole lot together.

This method does not make things easy when it comes to rolling. Despite liberal flouring, it was hard not to end up in a big, sticky mess as the lentils burst forth from the dough with alarming force, taking no taming whatsoever no matter how gently I rolled and flipped and turned. There had to be an easier way.

It made sense to me to try mixing equal amounts of flour and dhal at the very beginning, so the curry becomes the water that holds the dough together. Since they are not really ‘stuffed’ anyway then what would it matter? I made another batch and it worked well; I added just a drop of water to bring it together completely and the result was a much more workable dough that rolled out to a neater, thinner paratha. I didn’t fold the dough over though, so they weren’t as flaky as a regular paratha. Next time, next time.

I cooked them in a cast iron skillet in a little oil, brushing each with an indecent amount of ghee. We scooped up mouthfuls of leftover rogan josh, pumpkin and coconut curry and one of my favourite chutneys: walnut and mint. The recipe comes from Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Curry Bible’ and is well worth a try. You just stick walnuts, mint, garlic, chillies and lemon juice in the blender, then mix with seasoned plain yoghurt. The result is rather hot with a tangy kick from the yoghurt and it has that immensely satisfying texture of blended walnuts, just like that of muhammara.

I’m not exactly the world’s most skilful paratha maker, but I did manage to produce some buttery, toasty, curry scooper-uppers, which had a pleasing sour and smoky kick and a bit of texture variation from the lentils. A welcome addition to the leftovers repertoire and one well worth the extra couple of pounds in weight gained due to my inability to control myself around clarified butter.

Dhal ‘Stuffed’ Parathas

This isn’t the most authentic recipe you’re going to come across but it is easy, so do what you will.

Equal amounts of dhal (cold) and chapatti flour. If you can’t find chapatti flour then use a 50/50 mix of wholemeal and white flour.
A pinch of salt
Ghee, for brushing
Oil, for frying (I used groundnut)

Mix the dahl and flour together with your hands and then add a drop of water if needed to bring it together. Knead it on a lightly floured surface until the dough becomes smooth (apart from the lentils, obviously). Then cover and leave to rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide into balls roughly the size of a small lemon and roll out to 10-15cm wide circles. You basically want to get them nice and thin. You can then try folding the parathas like I forgot to do, in half and half again before re-rolling. This should give you some nice flaky layers. I imagine this might be harder with the stuffed ones however, as the lentils make the dough a bit lumpier.

Heat a heavy pan until very hot (I used a cast iron skillet), then fry each in a little oil (about 1tsp) on both sides until brown blistered patches appear. Brush liberally with ghee once cooked and set aside on a warm plate while you finish the batch.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Walnut and Mint Chutney (from The Curry Bible)

60g walnuts
30g mint leaves
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons plain yoghurt
4 birds eye chillies (I used 2 larger green ones)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whizz the walnuts, garlic, mint, chillies, lemon juice, salt and 5 tablespoons water in a blender until you have a smooth paste. Using a fork, whip the yoghurt in a separate bowl until light and fluffy. Mix the paste from the blender into this. Taste and adjust the balance of seasonings as necessary.

Last Sunday Lizzie and I took part in the Nom Nom Nom cooking competition hosted by Cookery School and Qype. Pairs of contestants were challenged to come up with a three course menu (including one cold course), which was ‘simple, sexy, sustainable and seasonal’. To be perfectly honest, we entered on a bit of a whim and then as the competition day loomed near, quickly realised we would actually have to cook stuff, and that it would be judged by the likes of Dan Lepard, Tom Aikens and Allegra McEvedy. Eeek!

With this in mind we decided it might be a wise move to test it out first rather than going in cold. Despite the practice session being worryingly peppered with mini crises – notably a transport fail, a broken oven, a bee sting and a box of eggs that jumped straight from the fridge to the floor, we were pleased with the results. Our menu was to follow a fruity theme, with a crab and mango salad to start, followed by duck with gooseberry sauce, chard and fondant potato and a dessert of cherry samosas with apple marscapone.

We’d managed to push on through our practice session with the help of some generous gin and tonics and so in honour of the beverage decided to call ourselves the Go Go Gin Girls and back it up by sinking three rounds each throughout the course of the competition proper. Pretty good going I think you’ll agree.

The refreshment was most welcome after a frantic dash around sunny Marylebone Farmers Market followed by a last minute panic spree round Waitrose, which we found shut when we first arrived. Despite this irritating setback which saw us enduring half an hour in the devil’s coffee shop – Starbucks, we managed to find all necessary ingredients and hot footed it back to the cookery school with literally minutes to spare.

I’m pleased to say that we managed to turn out the whole meal exactly as planned – on time, well cooked and we thought, delicious. The only problem really was that, erm, we lost. We held our breath as the winners were announced – ‘here’s a clue…the first course was something fishy’ (yes!), ‘followed by duck..’ (yes! our hearts were really pounding now) ‘…and the winning team is…The French Connection!’ Oh. WE WERE ROBBED! And thoroughly serving winners they were too, closely followed by runners up More Ginger’s Vicar?

All is not lost though readers, oh no, for there is such as thing as the ‘viewers choice awards’ – and so this is where you fascinating, intelligent, good looking, witty readers come in. Please, please vote for the Go Go Gin Girls! Here’s the link or you can click on the Nom Nom Nom badge in the right hand column. We’ll be posting the main course and dessert over the next couple of weeks but in the meantime, did I mention, VOTE FOR US!*

Crab and Mango Salad (serves 1)

100g crab meat – a mixture of white and brown
1/4 mango, diced into 1cm cubes
Small handful mixed leaves
The green parts from 1 spring onion, finely sliced
Sesame seeds to garnish

For the dressing

1 small red chillli, de-seeded and chopped
1 small handful mint leaves and coriander leaves, chopped
1 small clove garlic
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 small piece ginger (about 2cm square), chopped
A good pinch of sugar
1 tbsp flavourless oil
Salt and pepper

- Begin by making the dressing. Crush the garlic, ginger and chilli in a pestle and mortar with the salt until it is broken down and combined. Add the mint, coriander, lime juice, pepper and sugar and work in well. Add the oil and mix again. Adjust the quantities as necessary.
- Combine the crab meat with the mango cubes.
- Place a chef’s ring in the middle of a plate and add the mixed leaves, pressing down gently. On top of this add the crab and mango mixture, again pressing down gently before gently lifting off the ring.
- Swirl the dressing around the sides and sparingly scatter with spring onion slices. Garnish the crab with sesame seeds and serve.

*I’ve never used so many exclamation marks in a blog post. Can you tell we would like to win?
For Lizzie’s post about the starter and a drunken hug picture, click here.

Thanks to Chris Osburn for the top and bottom photos.

I was invited to a preview of Belgo Centraal’s ‘Lobsterfest’ recently, a special menu available throughout the month of June with the aim of celebrating, well, the lobster. It’s an ingredient I usually associate with either paying a fair wad in a restaurant or (for much less money and twice the excitement), the ultimate coastal holiday pleasure of eating by the sea side just steps away from where it landed. Obviously I was willing to give Belgo’s lobsters a chance though and I wondered how well a central London beery place would treat them.

Inside, Belgo Centraal is a vast space with communal style dining benches, an open kitchen and lots of signage depicting references to Belgian beers. The place was absolutely rammed on a Wednesday evening, creating a nice buzzy atmosphere.

The waiting staff are donned in what I think might be traditional beer serving outfits – elaborately stringed aprons – which look like they might be a bit of a nightmare when it comes to relieving oneself as per the man on glass above. Our waiter did seem knowledgable about the beer too though so perhaps it’s not all just for show.

After appropriate refreshment then, we started the fest with a (very) cheesy-mustardy lobster Thermidor (£8.80) and a red Thai lobster (£8.50), both of which, if I’m completely honest, would benefit from a much lighter touch to let the lobster flavour shine through.

This was followed by a whole grilled lobster slathered in naughty Pernod butter and served with frites and salad (£16.95) and the Surf ‘n Turf, steak/lobster option, again with Pernod butter, frites and salad (£16.95). The steak was fairly unremarkable and personally I’m a black ‘n blue kind of gal but I still found myself chowing down happily due to the buttery goodness on top.

The stand out dishes for me were the rich bisque (not the best ever but good value at £4.95) and the lobster salad (£16.95) – generous chunks of meat with crispy vegetables in a light dressing – a simple preparation which allowed the sweet flavour of lobster to hog the limelight.

If you are looking to eat the most perfectly cooked or straight-from-the-sea freshest lobster of your life then you’re not going to find it here. What you will get however, is a shellfish supper, which you may or may not care to wash down with copious amounts of beer, that won’t break the bank.

Belgo Centraal
50 Earlham Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9LJ
0207 813 2233
http://www.belgo-restaurants.co.uk/

If you have no idea what I’m talking about when I say, ‘Eating Eurovision‘ then um, where have you been?! If you follow me or any of the other participants on Twitter, you surely couldn’t fail to notice the desperate pleas for help. Our challenge (set by food journalist Andrew Webb), was to each draw a Eurovision participating country and then go forth into the city with the aim of seeking out some traditional cuisine. To be perfectly honest, I thanked my lucky stars when I pulled this Danish beauty out of the bag and tried not to show too much relief when others plucked countries like Moldova.

My first investigations yielded the suggestion (thanks Charmaine) of Madsen restaurant in Kensington and, although it does look rather nice, I wanted something a bit more traditional, more full-on nitty-gritty hardcore Danish. My trusty friend google turned up ‘The Danish Club‘ (a stones throw from Green Park tube), founded in 1883 and patronised by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark no less! Full of excitement, I was straight on the blower to the lovely Lizette Bang, who invited me (and my mate) over for a traditional ‘Danish Platter’ – result!

I will admit to feeling a little out of place when I rocked up in my usual clobber to find something akin to a beautiful stately home awaiting me. It was the kind of place where you automatically start whispering and worrying about your posture – pillars, chandeliers and paintings with eyes that follow you around the room. The staff inside were warm and charming however, and fears of not being worthy slipped away as we moved through to the dining room to begin our Danish adventure.

We kicked things off with a strong, dark and super malty Danish beer which Lizette tells me may have been ‘Christmas Beer’ (Juleøl) – so popular that the Danes drink it all year round.

A measure of seriously potent Aquavit (Akvavit) arrived at the same time but (on the advice of our waiter) remained untouched until the food arrived – the idea being that you sup it as an accompaniment to the herrings on the Danish platter. You take a bite of herring, followed by a sip of Aquavit.

The platter is apparently a very traditional meal, typically served at lunchtime and bulging with fish, fish and more fish. Oh, and meat. As suggested, we started with the herrings (my favourite part of the meal). There were three kinds – the first marinated in Madeira, the second straight up pickled and the third served in curry sauce – all sweet, soused and incredibly soft, almost buttery in texture. Among the other fish we devoured were smoked eel, fried plaice, prawns and smoked salmon. Among the meats, a Danish meatball (frikadeller), crispy bacon and pate with rye bread. It is the use of rye bread which makes Danish cuisine different from that of other Scandinavian countries apparently – the bread is spread with butter and the fish piled on top to make an open sandwich, or Smørrebrød.

Amongst all that fish nestled some welcome crunchy beetroot and mystery pickle, which my friend and I tried and failed to identify as pickled pear. Together with some crispy fried onions, the whole plate was a fishy, meaty extravaganza of contrasts although in the end, it defeated even two ladies with seemingly bottomless pits where our stomachs should be.

At this point the restaurant was really filling up, as was the surrounding bar. I imagine this place is a real haven for the Danish community in London – there are some 600 members of the club, although Lizette would like to encourage more of the 40,000 strong Danes in the capital to sign up. I left the Danish Club feeling rather privileged actually, to have been so generously invited and to have enjoyed such warm hospitality. A huge thank you to Lizette and the staff at the Danish club for making my Eurovision challenge a success and a pleasure.

Posts from the other participating bloggers here.

Without doubt the most enjoyable aspect of London life for me is the diversity. I think I’m right in saying that London is the most multicultural city in the world, so imagine what that means in terms of food. I’ve been exploring the capital’s various cuisines since arriving here 2 and a half years ago and I’ve really only touched the tip of the iceberg.

So here’s an event which gives a good excuse to go out there, meet new people and learn about what food means to them – the basic challenge being this:

“Can 25 food bloggers eat the cuisine of the 25 Eurovision finalists in 25 hours all within the M25?”

The idea (fresh from the brain of food journalist Andrew Webb), is that bloggers (or groups of bloggers), will each draw a Eurovison finalist and then get out in the city and track down a cafe, shop, restaurant, whatever that is frequented by the people from that country. We want you to talk to them, explore their cuisine and of course, eat it – then report back in the form of a blog post. In short, it’s a challenge about going out there and getting involved.

Think you’re up to it? Important details about how to take part can be found on the brand spanking new Eating Eurovison Blog and you can sign up for the event at our Ning group.

Sigh. It’s a tough life being a food blogger. I mean, having to traipse around top London venues drinking fabulous cocktails, all based around the premium brand, multi-award winning Whitley-Neill gin. I mean, really. Earlier this year, Whitley-Neill threw down a challenge to create a cocktail based around the spirit, using only ingredients that originate from a tree (the gin is made with juniper berries and other natural stuff – hence the tree link), with the people at WN also donating some of the profits to Tree Aid. So, considering that I was drinking for a good cause, I thought it only right and proper to dive in head first.

As far as I am aware, the judging for the competition is currently in progress. In the meantime, a gaggle of lucky bloggers embarked on a mini crawl around the capital to sample the entries. Our first stop and meeting place was the lobby bar at One Aldwych – our first cocktail a spiced, warming creation named ‘Africa’, sweetened with a touch of amaretto. Despite the reference to far flung shores (Whitley Neill was inspired by Africa and contains two African botanicals), the cocktail was rather wintery with subtle scents of anise and cinnamon, a welcome tonic to the bitter weather outside (especially for me – I got lost, as usual). Continuing with the African theme, our second tipple, ‘Savannah Plain’ (top photo), was considerably sweeter than the first with a predominant flavour of mango and, although I enjoyed the sunny tropical vibe, it was a little on the syrupy side for my taste.

Still inside half an hour and we are on to our third, which I think was the ‘Maple Neill Kumquat’. You can hardly blame me if I get them mixed up now can you? Flavoured with maple syrup and kumquat, it tasted almost confected – sticky and jammy.

It was at this point that a plate of the most amazing buttery olives appeared that had us cooing for the next, ooh, twenty minutes over just how fantastic they were – Italian, apparently (according to the bartender), from ‘the heel of the boot’, to be precise (pointing to his heel in order to make the point clear). We could hardly express our delight over the olives through mouthfuls of juicy little physalis coated in caramel, like teeny weeny toffee apples but just better in every way.

Our fourth and final cocktail in the lobby was ‘The Lost Cherry’ (above), a rose and maraschino cherry perfumed mixture. Strong and scented like Turkish delight, it was delicious and, although I loved this (I adore the flavour of rose), I would have liked a touch more cherry – a little too ‘lost’ perhaps. A strong contender at this stage nonetheless.

Four cocktails down and on to the next venue, Quo Vadis. We were ushered upstairs to a rather swanky bar (think books, sofas, piano – one of those members places decked out like someone’s house) where the highlight of my evening was to occur – a skilfully hilarious rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, on a piano. The pianist was really rather brilliant, actually and not camera shy, either.

The ripples of giggles in the room at this point were down to the combination of the piano playing, rapid gin consumption and these undeniably phallic ice cubes. Very mature, us bloggers.

Here we sampled two cocktails, the first, ‘Une Amandine’ featured elderflower (I would have liked a bit more but then I do love it) and a dash of absinthe (just what we needed..). Next up, my favourite cocktail of the evening – the ‘Reciprocal Cocktail’ – the most beautifully complex drink I have had the pleasure of quaffing in recent memory. Featuring flavours of licorice, pink peppercorns and grapefruit zest, the layers of flavour were really rather impressive (and no, I don’t normally prattle on about ‘layers’ and the like). I could have easily downed another and probably, another. It was so refreshing to taste a cocktail that wasn’t predominantly sweet and fruity.

Soldiering on to our next port of call, (Bureau at Kingly Court), we apparently crashed right into a speech by Dianne Abbott celebrating the election of Barack Obama, and most of us didn’t even notice! I blame the gin induced haze…Here we guzzled a ‘Tippler’s Tree’ (maple syrup, lime and chocolate bitters), followed by a ‘Passing Thyme’, (above – truly delicious and definitely my ‘runner up’, hooray for herbs in cocktails!) followed by a ‘Rise Marmalade’ (below), sweetly spicy and orange scented.

Our fourth and final destination was Match, where we finally caved to the hunger (none of us had eaten dinner) and ordered the (now typical in bars and pubs everywhere), arrangement of things on a wooden board, which was really rather average to be perfectly frank.

The cocktails here were ‘The Whitley Angel’, flavoured with rhubarb and lemon and ‘Whitley Bay’ with kaffir lime and sambuca which both sound fantastic although my memory of them is not entirely clear. To be honest, you guys were a bit unlucky coming in at the end. I mean, just look at how much gin we have consumed by this point. Good job we’re not the professional judges…

While the ‘Reciprocal’ was the clear winner for me, ‘Passing Thyme’ came a very close second and also planted the idea firmly in my head that I wish to enjoy herbs in my cocktails forever more. This was strengthened by the fantastic ‘raspberry’ sour’ with rosemary that Chris and I ordered (not part of the competition), because obviously we just hadn’t tried enough cocktails already….

The evening definitely opened my eyes to the versatility of gin and also to just what I’ve been missing by always ordering the same damn cocktails. I wish the best of luck to all the competitiors and thank you to all my blogging friends and peers for another lovely evening. (Lizzie, Niamh, Chris, Tim, tikichris, Annie, life on the edge and Melanie). Thank you also to Johnny Neill (creator of Whitley-Neill gin), Sally from Relish PR and of course to the bar tenders for contributing yet further to the demise of my liver with those fabulous drinks – what a way to go…

…how? In a delicious lip-smacker of a meal that’s how. Last week, Food Stories was rather chuffed to be dining with film (and now Good Oil) producers Henry Braham and Glynis Murray along with fellow bloggers and London foodie folk. We all gathered for some delicious home cooked grub, (courtesy of Braham and Murray’s charming son, Ben) – each course showing off the versatility of this splendid ingredient, squeezed, oozed and (cold) pressed from hemp seeds (no, it won’t get you high).

The oil is ridiculously healthy, seriously sustainable to produce and boasts a delicious, unique flavour. The predominant taste is nutty, although not overpoweringly so. You can basically use it just like an olive oil, which is exactly what I intend to do over the next few weeks and, most likely, beyond. You see, the taste isn’t the only good thing Good Oil has going on, it’s packin the essential fatty acids, Omega 3, 6 and 9, contains half the saturated fat of olive oil and zero trans fats – now that’s just showing off.

Pea and pecorino crostini

We kicked off the eating with some pea and pecorino crostini, a rather happy shade of green, smooth and chunky at the same time, fresh and slightly cheesy, with a gorgeous nuttiness from the oil.

Good Oil mash

Next up was a delicious venison and cranberry casserole served with Good Oil mash – I loved the little bursts of sweetness from the cranberries all soaking into the spuds. The oil made the mash feel wonderfully virtuous – I visualised the goodness going in, feeling healthier by the second.

Cheese, bread and salad arrived shortly afterwards and I wasted no time in drizzling some of the oil onto the blue and Cornish Yarg, which I can highly recommend. To finish, we feasted on vanilla ice cream drizzled with, you’ve guessed it – some more of that oil.

Ice cream with Good Oil

Strangely, I wasn’t the least bit sceptical about this combination and I am pleased to tell you with confidence that it works, it really works! If that meal doesn’t show you the versatility of Good Oil then I don’t know what will – although I’m sure to be cooking up a few ideas over the coming weeks. This morning I tried out Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s suggestion of sprinkling it on toast and very nice it was too.

Cheese, bread, salad and Good Oil

It was lovely to hear the story behind the oil – from the tragedy of the foot and mouth crisis, through the loss of entire crops and even a visit from the old bill – “growing a big field of hemp are we?” Braham and Murray have spent eight years refining the flavour of the oil – this is not the musty, dusty old bottles of hemp oil you used to see in a darkened corner of the health food shop, all weird and overpowering (hold your nose and swallow, it’s good for you!). It’s always a pleasure to spend time with people who truly believe in their product, and that is certainly the case here. I shall be welcoming Good Oil into my kitchen as will my fellow diners I am sure. All seated around the long wooden table, we couldn’t help commenting on how it felt like one big Good Oil family!

Henry Braham, Epicurienne and the dogs

Check out the Good Oil website for more information about the products and history. There’s also the Good Oil facebook page for titbits and recipes (you can even request a free sample).

A few weeks back, Krista from Londonelicious called for posts from fellow Londoners, the challenge being to outline their very own perfect Saturday in the capital. I loved this challenge, as not only did I get to think about my favourite places (although I agonised when it came to choosing) but I also added some new destinations (mostly food related) to my list (yes, there is a list). If you are visiting London, some of the best foodie and cultural treats are amongst this roundup, so come embrace this fantastic city and eat, drink and be merry like a local!

Firstly, here’s Krista’s original post, where the whole thing kicked off.

ML at SPAstic, Tales from a London Spa takes you around South Kensington and Notting Hill for a culture-filled day that ends in Holland Park.

Su-Lin at Tamarind & Thyme gets some culture AND shopping in as she trolls central London, with the riches she imagines.

Two entries from Mini-et-moi, a great site for modern mums in London. Sarah takes in Marylebone and The London Transport Museum while Michelle explores the South Bank, tots in tow.

Gourmet Chick hits all the foodie haunts–Ottolenghi, high tea at The Ritz, and Borough Market.

Danielle at Bloody Brilliant starts with a full English and then heads east to explore Brick Lane and Spitalfields.

Over at Gourmet Larder, Gregory  begins his day in Borough and then works his way south through Clapham and Vauxhall.

Leah from Curiosity and The Cupcake arrives at Broadway Market bright and early and then enjoys a leisurely stroll through Victoria Park and east London.

Christine over at If Music Be The Food of Love has a musical slant to her day as she explores Hampstead and hits the town with her idol.

Blogger Priyanka begins at Cafe au Lait in Brixton and ends her day at Meson De Felipe and The Beehive in Borough.

Another blogger choosing to start around Borough Market. Helen at Food Stories kicks off her Saturday with a visit to Tower Bridge, wanders over to Borough and then ends her day with a visit to Shunt and by checking out Dinner in The Sky.

Lizzie of Hollow Legs is very busy geographically and takes us through Blackheath, North Greenwich, Trafalgar Square, Belgravia, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, and then back to Shoreditch.

Charles of London guide Tipped.co.uk and his own blog, Grumblemouse, spends his perfect day in Islington, The City, Borough Market, Greenwich, and Shoreditch.

And finally, new-to-the-scene Liz (of Liz Does London, not to be confused with Lizzie above) hits Chelsea, Hyde Park, Notting Hill, and Parson’s Green.

I think that’s everyone. Thanks to all the great bloggers who contributed their perfect Saturday. Please feel free to republish this post on your own blog and add your own perfect Saturday…in London, or elsewhere.

I’ve been a bad Daring Baker. I missed the last few challenges, once deliberately (I thought I might have a nervous breakdown if I attempted yet another layered cake after the Opera) and then the next couple of months I just ran out of time, plain and simple. Chris was less than impressed when he didn’t get those chocolate eclairs I can tell you. Anyway, this month, I am offically back with a vengeance, chomping at the bit to try a new recipe for one of the best foods in the world, pizza.

The difference with this dough is the cold fermentation process, which I hadn’t even realised existed, let alone tried. You make the dough, then whack it in the fridge and finish the process the next day. We were asked to try ‘spinning’ the pizza, which I honestly tried to do but failed miserably. That shiznit is hard. If you want to see something truly impressive, check these guys out. Chris took a picture of me attempting to spin the dough, but I am basically a blurry patch in the middle of an incredibly messy (and perfectly in-focus) flat, so you don’t get that one I’m afraid.

I made pizzas with three different toppings and I wanted to get away from the same old flavours. First up, the anchovy and broccoli with rosemary, chilli and lemon infused oil. I basically wanted to re-create my all time favourite pasta dish, on a pizza. The base is slathered with a roasted garlic tomato sauce, dolloped with the odd blob of mozz and then strewn with blanched broccoli florets and salty anchovy fillets before drizzling with the spicy dressing. This is now one of my favourite pizza toppings, end of. it was really delicious – punchy, unapologetic and really rather pretty. That base is mighty fine too, crispy and thin but yet cloud like inside, almost like really thin ciabbatta.

Pizza purists, avert your eyes. I now bring you a pizza that will traumatise your sensitive souls. We couldn’t stop laughing at the idea of making an English breakfast pizza….. On that slab of crust right there you see bacon, mushrooms, onions (ok, so not usually in a brekkie), tiny cubes of black pudding (yes, really – we are sick) and an egg, plonked right on top (you can see below I overcooked it, damn). And we did eat it for breakfast. I kid you not. I even had brown sauce with mine. Please don’t stop talking to me.

I wanted our third and final pizza to be autumnal and decided to try out some roasted butternut squash as I thought the sweetness might work well, which it did. I used some caramelised onions for yet more gooey sweetness and then some extra rosemary-chilli-lemon oil to cut through and give it some bite. On the whole, it was delicious. I did experiment however, with using labneh (with onion seeds) in place of the cheese, which wasn’t entirely successful. It turns out the labneh flavour wasn’t quite tangy enough to hold up on this pizza. It was good, don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t good enough.

Apart from the fact I managed to slightly burn every, single, pizza (I got distracted) – I loved the base recipe, although I’m not sure whether I loved it enough to stop looking for ‘the ultimate’. I totally conquered that pizza sauce though and some of those toppings were keepers, although perhaps not the English breakfast. Well, not very often…

So am I forgiven for being a Daring Slacker? I hope so because I still don’t regret my decision to join the club, I just hope it’s not another layered cake next month…

Edit: I forgot to mention that the host was Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yums.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled – FOR GF: 4 ½ cups GF Flour Blend with xanthan gum or 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup corn flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1 ½ cup arrowroot, potato or tapioca starch + 2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast – FOR GF use 2 tsp
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar – FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

Or

2.  FOR GF: Add the oil, sugar or agave syrup and cold water, then mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough.
3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.
4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

Or

8.  FOR GF:  On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the number of desired dough balls from the refrigerator.  Place on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a gluten free flour. Delicately press the dough into disks about ½ inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil. Lightly cover the dough round with a sheet of parchment paper and allow to rest for 2 hours.
9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

Or

10.  FOR GF: Press the dough into the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough).

NOTE:
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

Or

11.  FOR GF: Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

Or

12.  FOR GF:  Place the garnished pizza on the parchment paper onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

Or

13.  FOR GF:  Follow the notes for this step.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.