and just tuck in
Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies.
Now that’s a mouthful! These brownies are much lighter than most other brownie recipes this means that just one piece isn’t enough- even more than usual! You could substitute cherries for nuts if you prefered, or even other fruit, but I think cherries work the best.
I decided that I should be growing some of my own food as its much healthier for you and better for the environment. I’ve not had a garden since leaving my parents house so this is quite new to me. I decided to start off small and I have planted a couple of lettuce seeds in some pots. They have been in for about two weeks now- the time that the packet said it should take for them to grow. This is what they look like….
I was really pleased with how these turned out. It was my first time using one of those re-usable silicone baking mats and I found it worked really well. No sticking to the bottom of the tray for me.
I made about half as much mixture as last time and made them into considerably smaller balls.
I took them into work and they were all gone within about half an hour! Which is good going even for my office.
Two foods that I love most in this world- chocolate and cheese. So imagine my delight when whilst shopping I came across Wensleydale with dark chocolate chunks.
To some this may sound disgusting- to me this is heaven. I instantly bought some and was not disappointed. The combination is delicious!
I met up with an old friend who I haven’t seen for a few years. She recently moved to London, and by coincidence really near to where I live. She is also a fellow foodie so the natural thing was to go for a bite to eat together. I suggested heading to Walthamstow Village as its so lovely there, but I rarely visit as not many of my friends live in this part of London.
We went for a wonder and had a look at was on offer and decided that we fancied some Tapas.
I find that my cookies don’t seem to come out of the oven the same shape that they went in- they often seem to merge into each other and look a little bit like squares- but if you cut them into slices no-one would ever know and they actually look quite reasonable. As often is the case with my food it tasted a lot better than it looks, and as always with cookies tasted best when fresh out of the oven.
This recipe is basically the same as the cinnamon and raisin scones that I posted last month, except using cheese and tomatoes it gives it such a differnet flavour. I think I actually prefer savoury scones to the sweet ones- apart from if the sweet ones have dolops of clotted cream on them!
So it’s currently asparagus season which makes me very happy as its one of my favourite vegetables and I don’t like the idea of buying too much food that has been flown half way round the world if I can help it.
This dish would be quite healthy if I hadn’t put a cream and blue cheese sauce with it- but I just can’t help myself- I love the bad stuff too much.
First I placed the chicken fillets on a piece of tine foil and sprinkled it with chopped garlic and tarragon and seasoned with black pepper and salt. I then wrapped the foil so that the chicken was enclosed in it and placed it in my steamer.
I then prepared the asparagus and put them aside. I made the sauce using single cream on a low heat and gradually melted in the blue cheese making sure it didn’t boil. Seasoned with more garlic salt and pepper. Once thickening I added a splash of white wine continually stirring.
I put the asparagus in a separate steamer compartment on top of the chicken once the chicken was almost cooked. I love asparagus when it’s still a little al dente.
Once it was all cooked plated up with some baby spinach to garnish and large flat mushroom. I poured the sauce over the asparagus and chicken, it’s very rich so not too much to spoil all the other flavours. And Voila!
I like steaming the chicken as it doesn’t dry out, and the asparagus keeps all its yummy goodness and vitamins.
Walthamstow Market is the longest daily outdoor market in Europe, however is not the largest. Running almost the entire length of the street, approx 1 kilometer long, it has around 500 stalls selling everything from fruit and veg, to fabric, to household appliances. The produce at the fruit and veg stalls is always a good price, and much better quality than some street markets. It has quite a traditional cockney feel to it, but also incorporating all the influences from cultures such as Polish, Turkish and Afro-Caribbean.
On a Sunday a farmers market occupies the Town square at the top of the market, as the usual market only runs Tuesday-Saturday, with Saturday being at its busiest- often it is hard to get up the street against the flow of shoppers and browsers.
One spring afternoon on a wander around town with my camera I ended up near St Paul’s and looking for a lunch spot. I walked past POD, and had never seen or heard of this place before so had a quick glance in the window. There were several things about this place that caught my eye and made me want to go inside- the fact that it was healthy food, but also the fact that they were really big on composting their packaging and recycling as this is something that I’m really keen on.
I walked inside and they had a chilled cabinet with sandwiches and other cold lunches, and then also a hot section where they do seasonal stews and varying types of curry. They also have two sizes of their hot meals- great for those who want a light snack, or for those who want it as their main meal. I opted for a small Thai green curry. It was really nice- with a surprise of brown rice at the bottom that worked really well.
They have plenty of seating if you wish to eat in- which I did, and then have separate bins for their composting and recycling. I like this on a number of levels- not only is it saving the environment one tiny step at a time, it is hopefully making the customer a bit more aware of what can and cant be thrown away. Personally I think we should all try on compost more, as although recycling is great- it’s still expensive and you need energy to fund this whole process.
Even their furniture is ethically sourced from recycled materials.
“We build every pod from sustainable or recycled materials. We use recycled glass, sustainably forested oak timber, recycled flooring materials and furniture, organic paint and lots more.”
Their Website has a very detailed section on what actually goes into their food, and the nutritional value of each dish.
Abandon Spoon! 