Tiny wee pop up

My Diana Henry inspired lunch: yummy baked sweet potatoes with marinated feta.

When I'm stressed I tend to read loads of cooking books the facts seem to allow me to drift into imaginary meals and exciting culinary trips. Recently I found Diana Henry's book Crazy Water Pickled Lemons in Oxfam and have been transported to a world of re remembered and new found foods. Consequently I have decided to do a tiny wee pop up restaurant at my house this weekend, with some recipes inspired by this book. I have a few places left if people are interested let me know. It will be held in Sherwood, on the 19th of May, 5 courses for £25.

the menu:

Appetizer

Grapefruit and Campari Granita

with baby brioche

To Start

Middle Eastern scotch quail egg (v) 

or

Ajo Blanco

(white gazpacho)

For Main:

Greek herb pilaf

with

Greek roast chicken

or

Sweet lemon prawns

or

Kalamata olives and feta (v)

vegan option available on request 

Served with:

Baked Sweet Potatoes

and

Minted Aubergine Salad

To finish:

Mangoes with orange blossom syrup and sweet labneh

or 

Stuffed figs dipped in chocolate

with

Fine coffee and tea

give me a bell if your interested 07514625697

Banana bread

As some of you know I have been really busy attending the Hive start course for the past few months. That is why I have been REALLY bad at keeping up with my blog. However on Friday I handed in my final plan, so this weekend I sheltered from the rain and read all the papers I haven’t read for the past 2 months.

So to de stress and use up all my wonderful freshly laid eggs (my mate Amy is providing me with free range and very happy duck eggs which are beautifully luminescent) and get rid of some of the Thomson twins too ripe bananas, I made Dan Lepards Dark Banana and Ginger cake from this weekends Guardian.

I love banana cake; I could take it or leave it before I lived in Australia. However when I lived in Melbourne I worked in a cool little café that sold banana cake toasted with butter for breakfast. Amazing. Now I’m back in England (and maybe a bit more grown up and sensible) traditional banana cake is a little extravagant for breakfast (don’t you think?) so Dan’s Dark banana and ginger cake seemed like a good solution. And it is but it tastes a little more like parkin rather than banana cake, but beautifully moist and subtly nutty from the wholemeal bread flour.

Normal boggage will be resumed asap, sorry again.

Going to be doing a mini pop up on the 19^th of may if your interested drop me an email on info@nottsunderground.co.uk.

xbx

Mothers day photo diary

There is some thing very wonderful about the rich glossiness of roasted beetroot don’t you think? I love cooking with beetroot so for our family Mothers day fuddle I got inspired by a photo on Pintrest to devise this yummy tart tatin and it was proper nice even if I do say so my self! Also check out the amazing flowers I got from Lesley at Rainbow flowers they are out of this world !  

 

Assignment for Pop up Nottingham

Click on me to link to the Pop Up Notts artical

You may have read this post (if you follow me on face book you may have) but just wanted to share this with you. Also check out Pop up Nottingham (which is who I wrote the post for) some interesting events going on.

P.S. I promise to stop using this photo!

 

Spread the love photos

You want to see what went down my yard this weekend?

The menu

pita at dawn

first course

Bloody Valentine cocktails in the drawing room!!!

keep your eyes peeled for the next event
xbx

Word from the Underground

Spread the love

You may have been aware that I’m making moves to formalise my Pop up restaurant/cafe, and I am trying to find some different venues around Nottingham, to hold my events, as well as find a unit or venue in which to cook from.

So the purpose of this post is really to see if you my Undergrounders know of any interesting and exciting venues in your local areas, that may be adaptable for a pop up restaurant, whether it be a cute community centre, an old shop, a café that’s not open in the evening, or a pub that no longer uses there kitchen or even a house, barn or out building. As long as it’s interesting and as long as I can some how cook and serve food (essentially it needs running water and electricity near by) I’m up for it.

So I’d be grateful if you could put your heads together for me, and send me an email if you think of any thing, and I’ll get doing more pop ups and so you can eat more scrummy food.

Many thanks

XBX

info@nottsunderground.co.uk

Feb's Top 5

This month I started at the Hive its really interesting being back in a Uni environment. This got me thinking about the good old days at Uni and I hoiked out some old sketch books. I started reading and gradually all this art theory about the placement and value of objects came back to me.

So this month I’ve done some shots of my favourite things of this month I hope you like it because I’m going to do it every month!!!!

Honest words:

I was 21 and I climbed a REALLY big mountain in Canada with this mad man. I cursed all the way to the top and when I reached the top I remember having this complete moment of calm, every little bit of my life made sense for one second (then I had to climb back down!). Since then there are very few things that can recreate that feeling but not to sound to cheesy King Creosote and Jon Hopkins gig on Tuesday night did this. I was mesmerised and bewitched by Jon Hopkin’s instromentship (I think I made that word up) and Kenny Anderson’s beautiful voice. Even the most hectic of days could not take my mind of this gig.

Go and buy this album its beautiful.

The fish slice of wonder:

I broke my fish slice 6 months ago and have found it hard to replace. It has to be suitable for none stick pans, have the correct bendiness but also enough rigidity to flip and egg easy over and quite frankly this is hard to find. But IKEA have solved the problem and now I can fry my eggs easy over with out popping them (thank the lord!).

Soda Bread:

Easy, quick and good for you. I’m trying to sort my diet out and eat more breakfast, so seeded soda bread is my savior. With soup, stew or honey it’s all good!

Honey that money can’t buy:

I like honey but I don’t love it, until now! Honey that money can’t buy, was a gift from the talented Alison at Every day Angels. You have never tried honey until you have tried this honey! Amazingly complex flavor,(like wine) it had had subtle floral tones and some thing of the freshly cut grass about it.

Finally the pot that went wrong!

The other day I was in a bit of a daze and glazed my earthenware pot with a stoneware glaze usually I would be gutted but I really like the finish. I think I’m going to hang it up in my new house!