All Things Considered

River Cottage Store & Canteen

We're just back from a trip to the South West for the opening of Angie's exhibition at Hybrid in Honiton.

Took the the opportunity to try Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteen in Axminster. Located at the back of their local produce store, the Canteen showcases food from the South West, open pretty much throughout the day. I guess that knowing so much about HFW and River Cottage from the various TV shows and books, it could potentially have been a disappointment. But no such worries. Great service, friendly staff and very hearty food. I think we would have felt we'd earnt it more if we'd walked round the Golden Cap estate that day, not the day after.

Stiffkey Stores

I thought I'd have a blog about two North Norfolk coastal hot-spots seeing as they are fresh in my memory after five relatively rain (and pain) free nights happy-camping at Stiffkey

I knew that Stiffkey Stores had changed hands last year and I'd heard very complimentary words about the new owners, Andy and Alice, but I hadn't expected it to be quite so damned attractive. With their stylistic changes, Stiffkey Stores has been transformed into a coffee shop, home wares and gift shop (no tat), book shop, wine shop, post office and grocery store selling lots of local produce. They bake cakes, make delicious tarts and pot up salads ready for take-away picnics. And they don't grumble when I turn up with a good fifteen minutes worth of St. Jude's mail to weigh and stamp. Stiffkey Stores is open seven days a week but I'm unsure of the opening times.

I blogged about Wiveton Cafe last year when it opened towards the end of July. This year it opened in May ready for the bank holiday visitors and  to provide refreshments for punters picking the early varieties of home grown fruit and veg. This year, the cafe has a bigger kitchen with more chefs helping the brilliant Ali Yetman cook with produce grown and reared on the estate - a fabulous example of low food miles. A shop has also been added where you get your picked fruit weighed and where you can buy seasonal produce cooked by Ali in the months the cafe is closed. I can't recommend this place enough for families of all ages who want to relax, eat, pick fruit and savour the beautiful view. For opening times, click here.

Jones Dairy

A recent child free weekend in London allowed us not only to walk at a fast pace, covering many miles, but it also meant we selfishly could do just what we wanted - when we wanted to do it.

For me, being in London is like being a kid in a sweet shop – so much to see and do. Confused by this, we started our Saturday by walking to the practically ghost-like street of Columbia Road (the flower market is on a Sunday).

It was just off Columbia Road, along Ezra Street which made we whoop with joy. This café is so brilliant, that I would almost drive from Norfolk every weekend to sit, eat and dream of having my own gaff just like it.

The cafe was an old dairy where once stood eight cows, suppling the raw ingredients for the homemade cheese shop next door. The cows have gone to pastures new but the beautifully antiquated shop with its original fittings still sells cheeses, sourced from dairies around the British Isles and the Netherlands.

Getting back to the café, the food is truly excellent. Eat kippers, homemade yogurt, smoked haddock omelet (I highly recommend), and bacon and eggs all cooked by an ex Moro chef, in a kitchen no bigger than the average sized bathroom.

I guess we were fortunate that we went on a Saturday; I imagine Sunday would be too busy for words. To see the opening times, click here.

Flippin' Tasty

Sugar and lemon or Nutella and bananas? I have to admit to having both, twice, and with ice cream.

February can be a little dull after the joys’ of Christmas and January’s smattering of snow which we couldn’t  even fight with, but Shrove Tuesday is a day of glistening sweetness to cheer us up.

Pancake day (Shrove Tuesday) gained its name, as it was the last opportunity for Christians to use up their eggs and fats before embarking on the forty day fast leading up to Ash Wednesday. I’ve no idea where the pancake flipping frolics came from, but if you are one of those people who relish sports days and Village Fete’s physical challenges, then you would probably enjoy the race at Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. Click here for an application form to take part although I fear it may be a little too late for this year. Sorry.

Mr. Sprout

We’ve been to New York several times now, and the along with iconic sites such as Central Park, the Guggenheim and Grand Central Station, coming across Mr. Sprout in delis and food stores across the city always raises a smile.

I confess that I was slightly concerned what the hotel staff would have thought if they’d discovered us taking this photo on the roof of the hotel. But we got away with it.

I’m a fan of sprouts - always have been - though I realise they’re a vegetable you’ll either love or hate. I remember (but can’t lay my hands on) a Nigel Slater recipe that involved ‘shredding’ as fine as you can and frying with bacon and a bit of butter - resulting in a salty, earthy version of crispy seaweed (well, that’s what I thought at the time).

I should imagine there’s a statistic somewhere claiming that 99% of UK sprout consumption is on Christmas Day, but what a shame if this is the case.

The BBC Food website will tell you all you need to know (and more) about the humble sprout.

Irn Bru

Not sure how long it's been on air, but last night we caught the fantastic new Irn Bru advert for Christmas.

A pastiche of "We're walking in the air" - both in its music and animation - not only does it promote Scotland's most popular soft drink, but I should imagine the Scottish Tourist Board will be fairly happy too.

We're walking in the air,
I'm sipping on an Irn-Bru.
My chilly snowman mate
Said he would like some too.

You can enjoy the advert in full on the Irn Bru website.

Hope & Greenwood

I came across Hope & Greenwood, 'purveyors of splendid confectionery', through an article in a magazine some months ago. At that time their site wasn't yet launched, so I had visions of them selling my childhood tooth decayers like Spangels and Texan Bars. Sadly they don't, as of course the manufacturers ceased production of these sweets years ago, but they do have a fabulous selection of other tradional British sweets: parma violets, flying saucers, rose and violet creams as well as a feast of other glass jar favourites. I think that having a bag of vintage sweets on your journey to your old fashioned farm holiday, could be a perfect time-trip hit. Read above....

The Perfect Pie

The friends behind Brays Cottage, Nell and Sarah, believe in quality foods, local produce and the Slow Movement. The rare breed pigs are lovingly reared in North Norfolk by Nell at Brays Cottage. Nearly all the meat from the pig is used for the pies, meaning you get hearty mouthfuls of succulent meat in amongst the crumbling pastry and onion marmalade.

So with fussy food critic Giles Coren exclaiming ... 'this was quite the most extraordinary pie I had ever known: deeply porky without any nagging gameiness, spicy without being peppery, firm and insistent in its flavour and very lean, and with just enough fat to lard the mouthful but not grease the palate', it admittedly makes me want one NOW.

This got me thinking about how great a parcel of pork pies would be to give or receive at Christmas, and because you can order them on-line either cooked, chilled, or frozen, it means that you don't have to pig out on them in the festive week! Apart from purchasing them on-line, the perfect pie can be found at the monthly Golden Triangle Farmer's Market, a number of Norfolk Deli's, and a few other locations. Click here to find the full list of stockists.

Squat lobsters

On our our trip to the beautiful Applecross peninsula on the West coast of Scotland we finally got a chance to eat at the Kishorn Seafood Bar - close to the Loch Kishorn.

We watched the spectacular landscape pictured here disappear under a thick blanket of cloud as we sat down to a bowl of squat lobster tails freshly caught in the loch.

Related to hermit crabs they apparently aren’t in demand for export but I can’t think why as I think they were better than any prawn or langoustine I’ve tasted.

A cup of tea seemed  to go very well though there is a wine list. If you're ever anywhere in the north west of Scotland, this is a place that's well worth the detour.

Spelt

Recently, I've been cutting down on my wheat consumption in an attempt to become more energised and less sluggish. I have been replacing the favoured British grain in my own baking of bread, biscuits and pastry in favour of wholegrain and white spelt flour.

How different spelt is to wheat I'm not too sure. There seems to be some debate over it's species classification. Some say it's related to wheat but has different properties which makes it easier to digest. In baking terms, the two have similar charactaristics however, spelt contains more proteins, vitamins and minerals but less gluten hence it's revival in our wheat intolerant society.

The ancient spelt grain or farro as it's also known in some countries, was once an extremely popular crop but lost it's appeal with farmers due to it's slow growth. The husk of spelt is tough and requires the grain to be de-hulled and broken away from it's husk making it expensive to mill - hence wheat's stalwart presence in the shops and bakers today.

Although spelt is slow to grow, making a loaf with just spelt flour is quick and needs (pardon the pun) little kneading. The resulting loaf is delicious dense, moist and nutty - often difficult to buy but simple to make.