Morning Smoothie

First blog on the move via phone. No reason for months to pass without blogging!

So what with this heat, I decided to have a refreshing fruit smoothie for my brekkie. 

Blueberries, 

Blackberries, 

Skimmed milk, 

A couple of ice cubes 

& a dash of vanilla extract. 

Whizz with a hand blender & voila!

Yum!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Creamy Hummus

Summertime means sunny, hot days consisting of light eating and by no means eating roast dinners!! Unless a point is to be made. Anyway, I believe hummus is a great thing to have at the ready. Both meat and vegetarian friendly, it's healthy-ish and even more so when eaten with crudities or baked sweet potato wedges!

I have to admit the first time I tried hummus, the first mouthful I wasn't that impressed... I actually thought it was the blandest, 'health-food' thing I'd ever tried, and that I wouldn't be eating again... Well I got that wrong! I did try and make it a few years back, with disastrous consequences - honestly it was disgusting. But not one to be defeated I thought I'd give it another go. Have to say the results were good, however please note - this recipe makes a LOT! I now have three pots of the above, two of which are now in the freezer to be used once i get through the first pot!

This recipe gives you the creamiest, silky smooth hummus ever! A couple of pointers though, firstly, when adding the tahini, add a little at a time and keep tasting the hummus as you do it. It might be a case that you don't want to add the whole amount (I found it somehow took away some of the flavor of the chick peas and ended up adding a little more salt & onion marmalade).

Oh and secondly, I've recently broke my food processor !?! Trust me - don't try wizz up lots of ice cubes , just use a rolling pin and a bag. Anyway I ended up investing in one of those hand wizzer jobs from the supermarket. I made a point of buying the cheapest - about £7, and it's BRILLIANT. Less washing up, quick and easy and didn't break the bank. Ha, I'm such a geek to get so excited about a bloody £7 blender... hmm but hey if it wasn't for the £7 wizzer people wouldn't be eating hummus! ha ha !!

Finally you'll see it's measured using 'cups', it's an American measuring method. I've ended up following so many recipes I got myself a set of cups. If you're looking for a set try Here .

INGREDIENTS


    •    2 cups dried chickpeas
    •    2 tbsp baking soda for soaking + ½ tsp for cooking
    •    ½ cup tahini
    •    juice from 1 squeezed lemon
    •    2 garlic cloves
    •    ½ tsp salt
    •    1 teaspoon cumin
    •    ½ – 1 cup water, depending on desired texture
    •    2 tablespoons sticky onion marmalade

INSTRUCTIONS

• Soak chickpeas in clean water with 2 tablespoons of baking soda overnight.
• Drain, rinse and soak again in tap water for a few more hours. The grains should absorb most of the water and almost double their volume.
• Rinse the chickpeas well and put them in a large pot. Cover with water, add ½ tsp baking soda and NO salt. Cook until the grains are very tender, around 45 minutes to an hour. Regularly skim the surface during cooking process to remove foam and loose peels floating - this process can be quite therapeutic. Just make sure you get the majority of skins out as this will ensure for a smooth texture.
• When cooked, drain the chickpeas and transfer to food processor or use a hand-wizzer. Process into a thick puree. Allow to cool for a little while before you continue.
• Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt and cumin, then start the food processor. Add water, a little bit at a time, until you get the desired texture. Make it a little bit thinner than the actual desired texture, as it tends to firm up after a little while (especially if you don’t eat it right away and refrigerate it).

Pop-up Supper Clubs

As it has been the longest gap between posts ever, I've got another one for you already!!

You'll be realising that I've got lots to tell you about and things to blog about. So hopefully over this next month I'll have a chance to post about all my adventures, places I've been too, cooking and just general stuff I've found out along the way....

The first thing I want to tell you about is how I'm making more of an effort to find out what things are happening around London, and my local area (thus the previous post regarding Hither Green).

Now I'm sure you'll have heard about the recent influx and interest in pop-up supper clubs that has swept, not just over London, but also the UK. I, myself have been to two so far. Firstly, The Savoy Truffle Club, which is based in Blackheath, SE London and also recently Leluu which is a private kitchen based in East London, Hackney. Here are some very rough photos of my evening. sorry they're not amazing...I may have been a little tipsy by the time I remembered to take photos ;) Woops!

Uyen, the Lasdy who runs it, served up an amazing EIGHT course meal. It cost grand total £35 donation that was put discreetly in an envelope at the end of the night (by it being all 'donation' it keeps it legal) Myself and friends took a few bottles of wine, which come on, you end up taking a little more just incase you run out. So what happens... you end up drinking it all anyway!

Uyen, was first and foremost a designer and even had a shop on Carnaby Street. That was all before her blog and Supper Club took off. She is now cooking at Jamie Oliver's private kitchen and helping to raise money for his foundation.    I had quite a chat with her, not only has she got bundles of creative talent she also has a superb talent at cooking delicious food. There was around 14 people there that night, we all had 8 courses and no one was waiting for thing. Pretty impressive considering she just had her brother helping out. Anyway, she's seen my blog and has advised that if I want to take it to the next level I need to start tweeting. I don't have a twitter account currently, but am now seriously considering it. If anything, just to see if it really does make a difference.
Uyen, if you are reading this, 'Thank You' from Teressa, Gemma and myself. We had a fabulous evening at your home and I don't think I have ever loved every single course of a meal so much! Let alone all eight of them!

If you've never been to a pop-up supper club I can't recommend them enough! So much fun, exciting and just brings out the adventurous side in you. You never know who your gonna meet, where you're gonna go and what delicious food you'll get to eat. As a general rule you don't even get told where you're going until a couple of days before.

If you are tempted but aren't sure there's one near you, here is a great website with a list of all the supper clubs around at the moment. It was set up by Ms Marmite Lover, who herself runs a vegetarian super club. Go on try one out and let me know how it goes: Supper club Fan Group

Just found a few more photos for this post...

 

 

 

Hither Green & Surrounding Area

So like many others who live in this area we know how lovely it is. But when you read some reviews of the area they aren't that amazing :S

I thought I'd make a change to this, and devote my energy to have a good nose of the local area and tell what goes on, where to go and what you can do. Over the next few months my aim is to try and go to two of the places on my list per month - wish me luck!

Here is the list I'm planning to investigate - feel free to let me know of any other ones you think I should add :

Hither Green:
Cafe of Good Hope

You Don’t bring me flowers - 
A great little cafe on the main street in Hither Green, I briefly mentioned it before here.
Here is a review from another blogger:

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Hither Green Deli
Recently been taken over and the food and coffee smells amazing - am yet to try.

Deptford:
Deptford Project

Deptford Deli (was the Depford Properly)

The Waiting Room - Cafe

Manze pie and mash shop - Deptford
Here are a couple of reviews:
Pink Sauce
The hungry Cyclist

The london Particular - Cafe
A lot of people seem to like this place, here are a few reviews from other bloggers:
Scrambling Eggs
Hollow Legs
The Hatcham Supper Club
I Eat Everywhere

The Big Red Pizza Bus - Next to the Bird's Nest Pub
The Dame of Deptford also wrote about it here

Greenwich:
The Hill - Gastro pub /restaurant

The Creaky Shed - Green grocer

The Greenwich Union - Great little pub

Royal Teas - Cafe

Fishmonger - this is a fishmonger ;)

Cheese Board - Funnily enough a cheese shop

La Fleur - Florist and cafe

Blackheath:
Black Vanilla - ice cream shop & cafe !

Friday Food Club - Pop-up supper club

New Cross:
The New Cross House - just re-opened

Southwark:
Physic Garden - Plants, garden, Cafe, pop-up supper club, film screening, yoga, wood stove baking lessons.... this list seems endless!

If I end up visiting any other interesting places nearby that aren't on the list, I'll try and blog about those ones too.... Just need to decide where do I go first?