Food and coffee memories - Part 1

I've been meaning to write this blog post for a while and for whatever reason it's never actually made it to the keyboard.

For those of you who know me, you will know that I love coffee.  Coffee and cafes.  Coffee and brunch.  Coffee and people watching.  Coffee and friends and chatter and gossip.

Photography by Sally May Mills © www.cremaandcrumbs.com

I do have to make sure I only have a maximum of 2 coffees a day now because otherwise it affects my sleep, but I do get by ok :)

When I was out in Western Australia I drank quite a bit more.  Because it's totally different over there.  The quality of the coffee is amazingly good (tasty, not bitter) it doesn't affect me in the same way - and the Australian baristas make it so well too.  They are seriously passionate about the quality of the coffee and are total experts.  I learned so much from them and even went on a coffee workshop when I was there to learn more about these delicious little beans and their origins!

I made some great friends in WA, one in particular was my great friend Warwick.  I say ' great' because Warwick was a whole 6ft 4in tall and towered above me.  I met Warwick in 2009 when we were on a tour together in the South West region of Western Australia.  I remember this tall Kiwi guy who was really laid back and unassuming.  When I returned to WA in 2011 he was the best buddy a girl could ever ask for.  We shared a love of the great outdoors, the beach and coffee... and people watching.  Warwick introduced me to all his favourite coffee hang-outs and they soon became mine too.  Hanging out over great coffee was one of my favourite things to do, even if I would often be whinging like a whinging pom! (Thankfully he trained me out of this terrible british habit and made get a little more 'laid back' like the Western Australians!)

Photography by Sally May Mills © www.cremaandcrumbs.com 

There were a lot of ups and downs during the time I spent in W.A;  I became homesick (yeah I don't know why, it's Australia, right?)  I also met up with a previous boyfriend and ended up (foolishly) falling for him again (the rest of that I'll fill you in on one day!).  Warwick did try to warn me, but as us girl's usually do, I didn't listen (Oops).  I guess you only learn the hard way sometimes.  Like the waves that came to the shore, I was learning which ones I wanted to ride and which to let go.   Thankfully, a cup of coffee was always close by to soften the blow.

Thankfully the happier memories still remain.  The mornings I spent having 'brekkie' and 'brunch' at my favourite cafes in Perth, and chatting with my new found friends...I will treasure forever.

Photography by Sally May Mills © www.cremaandcrumbs.com

There's so much more to Australia than the beach (which you hardly ever go to because it's just too damn hot)  the coffee and the food (and the blue skies) and people I met are what I'll remember the most.

Photography by Sally May Mills © www.cremaandcrumbs.com

I started reading a blog when I was over there called Crema and Crumbs.  Warwick and I would choose our next 'coffee place' to visit through this blog sometimes and when I returned home, reading this blog again bought back so many memories.  The photos really tell a story, and the colours and light really are that vibrant in Australia - Sally May Mills the writer and photographer behind the blog captures the cafe scenes and coffee perfectly - it's just how I remember :)  And she's kindly let me share some of her photos from her travels in this blog post for you all to see and experience a little bit of Australian sunshine and welcome too.

Check out her blogs Crema and Crumbs and Remote and Raw for more sunshine, food, coffee and travel inspiration.

As for the rest of my Australian adventures, memories and story .... To be continued.

Ice Cream Memories

My very earliest memory is holding a bowl of ice cream while chasing my brother around the garden of our house on a hot summer's day.  I even remember the bowl it was in.  My mum had this willow pattern set and I remember trying to scrape the little men in the boats off with my spoon.

I guess I must have been 3 or 4 years old.  

Fast forward 30 years and I still love scraping the bowl after tucking into some ice cream! (Who doesn't?!)  

I often remember things place-marked by a bowl of ice cream actually.  I love hot pudding with ice cream melting over the top in the winter, then in the summer I love a nice bowl of ice cream or sorbet to cool down with after a long day at the beach... 

Living in the Cotswolds, Winstones Ice Cream is a hands down favourite which I've been eating since I was little.  A local brand that I've been proud to grow up with and seeing Winstones today and still eating their amazing flavours (that they bring out all the time) always makes me smile.

So of course I was too excited when Ben Vear of Winstones Ice Cream family fame, bought out his new book 'Ice Cream' and other frozen delights this month.  How cool is this guy?  He's young, he's cool and he makes amazing ice cream.  I bet Harry Styles couldn't do that ;)

Watch my Vlog review below for a sneak preview of the delicious pages of ice creaminess.

The vanilla ice cream recipe is from Ben's book, and the Simple Peach Syrup over the top is below.  (Then over the top of that I crumbled some gluten free ginger biscuits from Waitrose).

Click here for the FREE recipe card Download 'Simple Peach Ice Cream Syrup'.

Ice Cream by Ben Vear is published by Absolute Press, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. Hardback, £20. Photography by Mike Cooper.

Enjoy the sunshine, and check this out - Winstones Ice Cream parlour is open until 7pm throughout the summer.  So no excuses not to have an ice cream supper on Rodborough Common.  

Gluten Free Banana Bread

What's your favourite food memory?

Shall I tell you mine?  Let me re-live this lovely memory with you and maybe it'll spark a foodie memory for you too.  (I tend to remember a lot from 'food' milestones!)

You see, when I lived out in Australia, before I started on the Gluten Free way of life, one day I went to this local cafe - a really cool cafe called 'Lemon'.  They did this banana bread as part of their breakfast menu and everyone seemed to be ordering this banana bread.  The waitress asked me if I wanted it toasted.  Hmm 'Toasted?' I enquired, 'do you recommend that?'  

'Oh yeah,' She replied in her friendly, peppy, Aussie drawl,  'it's awesome.'

'Cool,' I said, 'I'll have it toasted, thanks.'

A few moments later, banana bread arrived, toasted, warm, smelling outrageously of cinnamon, sweet banana and .... well, what I can only describe as heaven.  It was served with butter on the side, so I spread the warm fluffy banana bread with the butter and I took a bite.  My goodness, that bite will stay with me for a very long time.  Why, on earth, had I not discovered the sweet wonder of toasted banana bread before?  Pinch me.  I'm done.

And with that banana bread became quite a staple in my life down-under.  When I started working at the cafe there, they made banana bread fresh each morning and served it toasted with icing sugar dusted on top.  When working on the breakfast shift, we would be able to take a 15 minute break to have breakfast, choosing anything from the menu.   Looking forward to that Banana Bread break got me through a long shift, I can tell you!

Little did I know that the wonderful banana bread was probably contributing to my very poorly self at the time - with tummy cramps etc (now, looking back, it all makes sense).  But in some ways it was worth it while it lasted.

So, since going gluten free, I often crave banana bread.  So I woke up the other morning and was like, 'I'm going to make Gluten Free Banana Bread!'  And so I damn well did!  And do you know what?  It was absolutely awesome, toasted with butter on top :)

Here's the recipe - enjoy it and make sure you at least try a toasted bit with butter!!

R E C I P E
I n g r e d i e n t s


250 grams Doves Gluten Free plain flour
2 teaspoons Doves or Dr Oetker Gluten Free baking powder
125 grams unsalted butter (room temp)
250 grams caster sugar
4 bananas (ripe and mashed)
2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

M e t h o d

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).

Lightly grease a loaf tin and then line it with parchment paper. (No parchment paper? No worries, you will be fine with just a greased tray :)

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.

Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla extract and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine, be careful not to over mix.

Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for around 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out kind of clean and the top is golden brown (don't worry if the skewer doesn't totally come out clean - the bread is meant to be of a moist consistency :)

Leave to cool and then serve in thick slices with butter.

This cake is also awesome with cream cheese frosting and coconut on top! (Just saying ;)

A Birthday and a Beach

So another Birthday has arrived! And the sun came out!

I had a lovely day full of surprises - birthdays always make you smile for many reasons - like friends who live far away and remember (and are organised enough) to send you a card which arrives on your birthday.  My friend Jo, who I've known for 13 years and now lives in Canada, never fails to send me a birthday card every year no matter where in the world she is.  The envelope is always covered in pretty stamps and stickers and she always writes a nice little note with it too.

As for pressies, I got lots of new herbs and plants for my windowsill!  I am cultivating my first strawberries, basil and rocket thanks to Georgina, and then I got a nice bundle of Mint, Coriander and Parsley too!  I'm going to have to get some more windows!

Window box greenhouse via IKEA £12

As a birthday treat, I took myself to the beach for the weekend - the sun was shining and I needed some sea air, inspiration and relaxation, and I definitely found it here... listening to the waves and other people's funny conversations on the beach was great entertainment (a new phase of people watching, is people eavesdropping!) I then enjoyed a nice plate of Fish and Chips for dinner.   Sorry I didn't take a photo of the fish and chips to share with you (I really wish I had, to remember the moment) but I ate them all before I thought about it.  Yum.   I was as happy as the seagull who nicked one of my chips!

The easiest carrot cake - that's also gluten free!

It's finally here everybody!  Spring has sprung.  Yes, just look at that blue sky!  Spring is always my favourite time of the year in the UK - It's so colourful and fresh and the scents of spring flowers and cut grass are wonderful.

So with spring in the air I have been on a bit of a baking mission this past week.  My mission?  I've been recipe testing some gluten free baked treats and first up is a absolutely delicious, moist, scrummy carrot cake, that's not only gluten free, but can be made dairy free too - because it uses sunflower oil in it instead of butter.  Yes, you can believe your eyes and ears!  And it's flipping amazing.  Even if you're not following a gluten free or dairy free diet, this cake is absolutely delicious!

So I laid out all my baking stuff - you see the chocolate in the picture? - well, this didn't actually go in the carrot cake, but it did go in some chocolate brownies which I baked today and will blog about soon.. so stay tuned.

It's just that a picture of some carrots wouldn't have been quite as interesting!

As you know, I've recently moved house and I can't seem to locate my baking tins.  All I have is this brownie tin / lasagne baking tray, which you can actually make just about anything in.  So I used it again to make a carrot sheet cake.  I call it 'carrot cake slab!' :)

The best thing about this recipe is that you don't need a mixer to make it,  as there's barely any mixing at all.  Just grab a large bowl and a wooden spoon or spatula and go bananas!

Carrot Cake ... 
Ingredients


175g Plain Flour (Doves Organic Gluten Free plain flour)
2 tsp Baking Powder (Dr Oetker and Doves Organic both do gluten free versions)
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
tiny pinch Ground Cloves (when I say a tiny pinch I mean less than a teaspoon, ok?)
tiny pinch Ground Nutmeg (again, teeny tiny)
200g Soft Light Brown Sugar (sometimes called Light Muscavado)
200ml Sunflower Oil
2 Large Eggs (room temp)
175g graded carrot (I used organic, because they're sweeter)
Optional - chopped walnuts for the topping.

1. Pre heat your oven to 170 degrees.

2. Grate the carrots.  3 medium yields about 175g nicely. Any left overs can be sprinkled on a salad for later :)

3. Sift the flour and baking powder together.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and Sunflower oil.  Then add the eggs one at a time mixing gently until combined.

5. Then add the carrot and spices.

6. Then gently fold the flour mixture into the gooey mixture of sunflower oil and eggs etc.  Just until combined and gooey.  Don't over mix.

7. Pour into a cake tin and bake in the centre of your hot oven for around 30 minute (depending upon the size and depth of the cake tin, might take about 45 minutes if you're not using a brownie tin)  or until the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting (you can make this dairy free by skipping the cream cheese and mixing together about 50g of coconut oil, icing sugar and hot water and vanilla extract).

Ingredients
50g unsalted butter
200g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
teaspoon vanilla extract
Chopped walnuts for the topping.

Make sure your butter and cream cheese are room temp.

1. Mix together (with the whisk attachment of your mixer) the butter and cream cheese.  Then add in two parts the icing sugar.  Dumping too much icing sugar into the bowl at one time will cause an icing sugar explosion.

2. Add in a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix in.

3. Pour over the top of the cake.  Top with chopped walnuts if you fancy - I didn't because as you know I've got a nut allergy.  So just a simple topping for me - but I'm sure walnuts would be delicious on this!

Eat 2 slices immediately and save one for breakfast :)  Enjoy!!

A day out in Clifton, Bristol

You may or may not know that I've been without a sofa for the last month. I recently moved y'see and I've been saving up for a new one. (But things like car tax and insurance popped up and all the pennies were suddenly gone. Damn.)

While waiting for a new sofa,  I've mostly been having picnics on my lounge floor and really appreciating that sitting on the floor isn't actually as comfy or as 'cool' as I thought it might be.  And it's kind of hard after a while.

So I went to see a second hand sofa in Bristol and while I was there I decided to pop along to Clifton.  Clifton is a really cool village in Bristol that's just bursting with a cool creative urban vibe ...and a few Banksy originals dotted in between.

My Twitter followers were fast to recommend lots of their favourite eateries, so I set about finding one of them, the Primrose Cafe.  And I was far from disappointed!  I LOVED this place.  Walking down this little 'laneway' street reminded me of Melbourne so much - and the coffee was perfect.  I was one happy Clifton coffee'd up bunny.

a)  Thank you Primrose Cafe for this perfect coffee!  Do you send by courier? ;)

b) Beautiful colourful, fresh fruit and veg from 'Reg the Veg' shop in the same laneway.  I wish I'd bought my shopping bags!

c) A cool tea-towel in a shop window!  Clifton is full of artsy shops and galleries with cool unique finds from independent traders.  I liked them all!

d) The cool laneway - outdoor seating!  This looked even more beautiful in the sunshine (but it sadly went in behind the clouds when I took this photo!)

e) A really sweet little flower shop.

f) Crumbs magazine - I'd followed these guys for a while on Twitter so I was excited when I found a copy in a cafe here which I leafed through while sipping on a cup of tea.  I discovered so many other Bristol eateries that I am already planning my next excuse to go!

Thank you to all the Twitter'ers that recommended their favourite cafes!  I'll be back soon.  Love you all x

Speedy Thai Style Fried Rice - Gluten Free!

Oh my goodness what a lovely weekend it was here in the UK!  The first bit of spring sunshine - the blossom is coming out and it's the second time I've been out for a walk without my coat on. Hurrah!

This weather really inspires me with my cooking and I tend to always turn to Thai and Asian inspired dishes.  I'm going to share with you my secret go-to Thai fried rice.  I make it all the time, it's really yummy and I've been making it for years - it's like my Saturday night takeaway - but this is really much better than takeaway rice!  And it's SO quick too!  And it's gluten free as I use Tamari instead of soy sauce (Tamari is fermented soya beans instead of wheat,  which is what soy sauce is) I usually call it Angie's special fried rice - here's how I did it!


Ingredients

1 tablespoon of Sunflower oil
1 clove garlic – crushed or finely chopped
½ a red and green pepper (capsicum for you aussies)
broccoli – a good handful (I had some left over from Sunday lunch)
2 egg - beaten
1 pack of king prawns
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Some leftover rice (or cheat and use 1 pack of Uncle Bens micro rice like I did)
A small bunch of coriander - chopped
4 spring onions, finely diced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons of Tamari

Method

Add a tablespoon of sunflower oil to a hot wok and add the beaten eggs.

Scramble together immediately and when just cooked, tip onto a plate.  And keep it to one side.

Return the wok to the heat and add the other sunflower oil.

Add the garlic, peppers and broccoli, stir fry together until beginning to soften.

Add the prawns and stirfry some more.

Now add the rice.  Stirfry for another minute or two and then add the tamari and sesame oil

Add the spring onions.

Keep stirring until rice is heated through.

Add the Egg back into the wok and stir through.

Turn off the heat and add the coriander.  Stir through.

Serve and enjoy!

*Adaptations - If you want some heat or like chills, add a finely chopped medium chili at the same stage as the garlic :)

If you don't like prawns you can add chicken or leave out entirely and just enjoy with the eggs :)

Fig and Goat's Cheese Salad

I can't believe I've not discovered the awesomeness of figs before.  Where have I been?  Mars?   Sure, I've tried figs before, but they've just passed me by -  until now!

Some foods are just goddam perfik together.  Take figs and goat cheese;  Win.  Then put figs, goat cheese and a sweet vinaigrette (if you don't have pomegranate, you can just use good old balsamic vinegar)  and it's a win win WIN.

SO sweet, SO creamy, SO lovely.  And SO simple.  Lick your lips, this is a summer salad winner.  Did I mention this is also gluten free?  Yes, yes it is!  (I am a little excited, can you tell?)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses / vinaigrette or balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A good handful and a half of rocket mixed leaves (with some spinach)
4 figs, cut into halves or quarters
3 oz fresh goat cheese, cut into chunks or goat cheese curds

Place pomegranate molasses (or balsamic vinegar) or vinagrette with the oil and a little salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk loads.

Toss the rocket and salad leaves with dressing. Pile on a plate and top with figs and cheese (crumble it over and try not to eat some while you're doing it... I did... well a lot...it was yummy:)

Drizzle with a bit of extra olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scatter pomegranate seeds on top if you're feeling ultra fancy and you have some, I didn't, and I wasn't feeling fancy.

So this salad is really going to be my springtime go-to salad.  I can't believe I've not got into figs before!

Did you know I went out without my coat on today?  Yes, it's crazy.  A few more degrees and maybe I'll take my shoes and socks off too.

Here's a few notes from my weekend.
1.  Bowls.  More bowls I saw in John Lewis (I'm getting a bit of a bowl addiction!).  I'm imagining eating some of Winstone's Ice Cream from these lovely ones.  I hear they've got a new coconut flavour and I am just desperate to try some, in the sunshine, with my shoes and socks off!

2. This is a new coffee shop in Cirencester - Coffee #1.  It reminds me of what Starbucks used to be like - more Central Perk from F.r.i.e.n.d.s TV fame... very cosy, retro and did a nice selection of blended fresh juices.

3. Diamond Cucumber.  Just because.  Regular sliced cucumber is so boring, so I jazzed it up a bit.  It was a delicious organic cucumber too... and SO sweet and juicy.  You see, I AM getting into these springtime salad days!!

I hope you all had a great weekend too.  Chat or tweet me @dishesundressed or pop by my Facebook Page where I share even more foodie fun!

Lunchtime!

I LOVE lunchtimes.  I think the vision of lunch gets me through a drag morning on most days. But I'll be honest, I've got stuck in a bit of a lunch 'rut' recently and I needed some inspiring to re-excite my lunch times again.

So, as you know, my body really doesn't get on well with wheat and some gluten. But I'd heard some good stuff about Spelt (still has gluten, but lower amounts and also doesn't contain the genetically modified protein that is found in wheat that causes a lot of problems in our bodies..)  In technical terms, Spelt is a hybrid of wheat and contains only marginal proportions of 'Gluten'.  So low that even some Coeliacs find they can tolerate it. So, if you get bloated after eating wheat, feel tired, sluggish, then maybe give the Spelt a try.

I bought my fresh (made only 30 minutes before I bought it - wow, that is fresh - said the man behind the counter) Spelt Loaf from Wholefoods Market.  It was huge (reminded me of a hedgehog) and smelt delicious.   I am totally converted.  My lunch yesterday (above photo) really made my week!

Look at how colourful it was!

And, just in case you're wondering, here's what it was!

2 slices of whole Spelt Bread - one slice with Egg Mayonnaise on, the other with 1/2 an Avocado on.
A mixed salad with some grated organic carrot and tommy toms!
A nice grind of fresh black pepper (no salt! - I put so much Pepper on everything...)
And some honey and mustard dressing...which was just these ingredients:
..4 tbsp Dijon mustard
..2 tbsp honey
..80ml lemon juice
..225ml rapeseed oil

That's it!

Super-dooper quick and nutritious!  Go on - give it a try!  Health-up your lunch and swap your bread for Spelt!

You will feel so much better :)

What did you have for lunch today?