Tansy's Kitchen

October Cooking

2011-10-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

I love cooking in Autumn. The garden looks amazing. Despite the fact that i never get around to planting much there is a harvest. There are rosehips and wild rocket, nasturiums and the last of the tomatoes.The old grape vine that my freind eric planted sixteen years ago turns a beautiful shade of orange and produces little sweet black seedless grapes. It's the start of soup and hot-pot season, turning on the oven just makes the house more cozy.

Apple Trees

Lovely English Apples are everywhere. Lots in my freind Laura's Neigbors garden. Laura goes scrumping and brings us boxes of apples. I have made apple-sauce and put it in the freezer to have on top of porridge some snowy winter day. I have made soup and apple crumble.

October means Canadian Thanksgiving. This year we found some fellow Canadians and had a party. My freind Pam, from Vancouver, came with her boyfreind Mark. Pam runs Rhapsody cafe in Winton. Laura from Sarnia, who I met in the Dancing Goat, came along with her boyfreind. Laura also bought along the most amazing still warm from the oven Apple Crisp.I also had the pleasure of making dinner for Rosie from Rosie's cafe in Boscombe. Finally I got her out of Boscombe and into my living room. Samantha Brightwell a freind and brilliant artist photographer came and impressed Tom and Raven with her vintage camera. My dear freind Matt from Las maggies days and Bruces new baseball watching freind also joined us. So did my daughter Raven and her freind Tom.

Bruce Griffin our resident Canadian and guests

For my Canadian freinds can you spot Bruce Griffin. He spent the day making a Canadian Play list

and a slide show of Canadian sites.

Butternut Squash, Apple and Ginger Soup served with wild rocket and Nasturium from the garden. We served this soup at Camden Bar and Kitchen in Ashley Cross for a week and people went mad for it. The apples and squash are roasted with maple syrup and garlic in the oven. This picture is taken in my kitchen.
You can see my vintage owl pepper pot and 1980s kettle amd the yellow roses my husband bought me. The recipe for this soup has been promised to many customers so it will be the next blog post.

Through the caravan window

Yesterday was a rainy day. October 30th the clocks changed and as usual I was up before the rest of my family. I took a cup of tea out to Raven's caravan and watched the garden wake up .

October is over and so is Baseball season. The world series ended a few days ago - Hooray I get my husband back. Though it seems he is slowly being weaned off sports on the computer , last night he came to bed with American football instead.

Stories and Food

2011-09-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Before I cooked I wrote. Poems and stories filled up my head and spilled out into, notebooks, and filing cabinets.Cafes were only ever a place to write or a waitress job to pay for a place to live and my typewriter rental. In 1982 I lived in Toronto I waitressed at a cafe and I paid $25 dollars a month to rent a large Olivetti typewriter.

Cooking only used to be about writers block. In 1985 I worked in Breadspreads, a Toronto sandwich bar. I fell in love with the building next to the sandwich bar. It was an old building with wooden floors and a vintage elevator. Despite having an apartment a short subway ride away and despite not caring about the fact that it was an office building with no proper living facilities I rented a small studio in the building. I spent my nights there watching downtown Toronto being re-built. At night when I couldn’t write I opened up the sandwich bar and I cooked. I cooked for construction workers, Bike-Couriers and office workers. My food was just writers block half bitten stories. I made two soups a day and specials.
Sometimes on Seafood Chowder days the whole pot would be reserved and sold before it was even fully cooked. Once two customers fought over a whole strawberry rhubarb pie and tried to outbid each other.

While I was at Breadspreads an office Tower was being built across the road. I fell in love with the Tower it was sixty-eight storeys high.
Elevator engineers came from Switzerland and cooked in the tiny kitchen for their co-workers. An Iron worker who was also a First Nations person would go back up to the Reservation on the weekends and come back with bison for me to cook. Toronto’s Bike Couriers fueled up on my pasta and soups.
Food became more about stories and people and gatherings than writers block.

Then in 1993 Eric Bow and I opened Las Margaritas a Mexican Restaurant on Poole Quay we cooked, Tamales, Mole, Texan Chillies, Mancha Mantal. We fed tourists, the locals and our neighbors. Every year to Celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead we closed the restaurant and invited regulars and friends for our Grande Fiesta’s. On Christmas Eve we took home our staff and our friends for Midnight supper. Las Maggies traded for ten years. In those years I had a baby girl, I took writing courses. I wrote and mothered and I cooked.

Now in 2011 I have found that after cooking in the basement at the glorious Cafe Boscanova for four years and now in the tiny little shack at the back of Camden that I am missing the stories and the writing and missing the people. Food has become about order sheets kitchen politics and profit. The only writing I ever do is menu’s and staff rota’s.

The writing and stories have been neglected so badly that I didn’t even notice nearly all my word documents had disappeared from my computer.Luckily my computer was backed up say they have all been returned. Stories will soon be appearing here as well as recipes .My notebooks through out my life have been filled with a jumble of recipes, stories and poems. It is about time my blog reflected who I am as well.

To read the Tower a peice of short fiction about Toronto and cooking and food
http://tansystorytales.blogspot.com/

Next Supper Club Dates

2011-08-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

New Supper Club Dates

Saturday October 8th 2011.
Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner.Complete with Real Canadians.Bloody Ceasars
Wild Turkey-Chilli- Baked Ham and Maple Syrup Blueberry and Pumpkin Pies.
Bruce Griffin playing the Blues.

Bring your own Bottle

Saturday November 5th 2012
Mexican Fiesta
A feast based on the Mexican Day of the Dead- Traditional Mexican dishes to include Empanadas,Tamales,Mancha Mantel,Carnitas - Bring your own bottle.

Cooking Flowers In A Field

2011-07-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Once I cooked daisies and four leaf clovers in the garden, dishing them up in small plastic bowls for the fairies,robins, worms and whoever else came to eat.

Once I grew courgettes in my garden. Courgettes have the most beautiful yellow flowers; I knew you could eat the flowers but I never had a recipe,a courgette flower and a deep fryer all at the same time.

This is about to change; Stuffed Courgette Flowers are on Ms Marmite Lover's Camp Bestival Menu. http://www.ticketline.co.uk/kerstin-rodgers-tickets
This weekend I will be cooking with Ms Marmite Lover and her team.

For 16 years I have had a grape vine growing in the garden and for all those years I have thought of making Grape Jelly (a kind of North American jam). A few times I went out and bought the sugar and a jelly bag, but I never quite got around to making the jelly. Wednesday morning,before I head to Camp Bestival, I am going to pick some vine leaves and take them with me to add to Ms Marmites Lover’s stash. Vine leaves will also be on Ms Marmite Lover’s Camp Bestival Menu.

Ms Marmite Lover is Kerstin Rodgers,owner of The Underground Restaurant in London and pioneer of the Supper Club movement in the UK. She is also author of "Supper Club", http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supper-Club-Recipes-underground-restaurant
a truly gorgeous book - quirky, down to earth,and inspirational.

I am no stranger to cooking. I know it is not really a glamorous job. It's mostly hard work. I am using up some of my holiday days from my regular gig to cook at Camp Bestival. For five days I will be living in a tent. (I have bought one and have even practised putting it up). I will be cooking with people I have never met.(I love meeting people while cooking!). There will be three sittings a day:one o’clock for a long lazy lunch, seven o’clock for dinner,and midnight for the secret supper. Food will be served on lovely vintage tableware in a marquee. Waitresses will be dressed in Vintage pinnies (and other clothes of course).

This is exciting for me. Last year my daughter Raven went to Camp Bestival with friends. I loaded her into the car with a stash of homemade banana bread and some baby wipes and waved goodbye. It seemed my whole street was going somewhere. My husband Bruce invited me to walk up to Lidls (Bruce love Lidls). We walked around, bought olive oil and dark chocolate and went home.

This year things will be different.

Cheap White Bread Toasties

2011-06-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

It is such a joy to get out and about and see what the rest of the world is doing. When my daughter was a toddler a half term treat outing consisted of a short train journey to the New Forest, a look at the ponies, a walk in the woods a little picnic. Things have changed at thirteen, the Girl loves to shop and she loves Brighton. She also loves her B.F Tom. Yesterday the three of us set out on an adventure. The deal was sometimes we would hang out together and sometimes we would seperate. After a couple of hours apart we met for lunch.

The Marwood Cafe 54 Ship Street in Brighton has inspired me to never ever give up my clutter.
I just have to learn to embrace it Excentric Bohemia Cosy could be the new look. At the Marwood cafe computer towers with cushions make great chairs,doors are used to make counters tables and seats.The look is definitely not Cath Kidson , but thats ok cause I am a bit bored with that look. I loved the bra over the lampshade, loved the art on the wall and so did the teens.

The menu was perfect because the Marwood has no kitchen to speak of; the blackboard offering was "cheap white bread toasties" made in a cheap but very effecient toastie machine. £2.50 per toastie. They were perfect.

I can't blog about coffee because I am not a proper coffee geek but I have worked with coffee geeks and been served amazing coffee daily. Marwoods coffee was a joy I had a pretty little piccola. After we had devoured out toasties we shared a slice of Victoria Sponge there was nothing cheap and white about the sponge it was £2.50 a slice and it taste as gorgous as it looked.
.

Camden Cooking

2011-05-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Almost a week at Camden Bar and Kitchen Ashely Cross and I will be honest and say" Oh my Goodness Me." I am not sure I have ever cooked in such a tiny tiny kitchen..Much much work to do, and some serious menu tweaking. The kitchen is cozy or its a cupboard, or its like when you have a dream that you are at work but actually you have fallen asleep in a cupboard.
The said kitchen is made all the more cozy with the company of the Lovely Fiona. Not only is Fiona a great help at a million things like lighting the gas oven,the oven terrifies me and the pilot is right at the back so you have to lie down practically on the floor to get it lit. Fi is also good at showing me how to get a pan scarily hot for steak and she has been learning my recipes really quickly. We have had some fun when I showed her how to make red onions Barbie Pink and she has now tasted cactus for the first time. The food has all gone out looking really pretty some of it even with purple pansies on top.There has been much positive feed back. The kitchen can only get better I don't think it will get bigger but maybe more shelves. I know I can do this..and I love the walk to work and never having to take the bus. I will say though I do miss Mr Lovett and his genius skill with space and shelves and problem solving and I really miss a huge kitchen and loads of storage space.
I am hoping once I get this kitchen organized I could have a few excursions perhaps do a couple of sessions with Sarah from Travels with my Aunt World Cafe,she must have some tips on cooking in a small space. I need to take another trip up to London and check out Broadway Market. How much space do those stalls have? Street food is often amazing food cooked in small spaces.I have so much to learn..

I am on the move

2011-04-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

After four years of taking the Yellow Bus from Parkestone to Boscombe I am leaving cafe Boscanova.
Since the cafe opened it's doors four years ago, I've cooked gallons of soup made hundreds of specials, and introduced Boscombe to Canadian Pancakes. I've cooked ribs and chicken for Brian Wison and his band, and Cuban pork for a salsa band. I have cooked curry and fajita wraps in a tent at the Boscombe community fair. I have cooked in feilds and village halls and at the Bournemouth Tatoo Festival. I am so proud of the work I have done at Boscanova.

A big Thank you to Joe Lovett for choosing me to set up Cafe Boscanovas kitchens and trusting me with the food for so many years. Special thanks to Toyah Cannings and Sarah Farendon my two main girls for the whole four years. It would be impossible to count how many Boscanova breakfasts and lunches those girls have sent out. We did good girls! and we sent out some amazing food.

A special thank you to all the customers who have eaten the food over the years, and popped their head around the kitchen door and let us know how much they enjoyed it.

I have not hung up my pots and pans yet . My next venture is a little closer to home. I love new places and this one is brand new. So new that it's not even open yet . I have seen the kitchen it's about as small as a caravan but it has a little window. Soon the floor will go down and the sink will be plumbed in
and shelves built and cookers in place. I will keep you posted.

Popped up and Popped down I am feeding Blackbirds and Teenagers

2010-12-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

Snow I love it! Someone is skiing down the middle of my road. Most people on Palmerston Rd have given up on going anywhere. The schools are closed and none of the cars are moving. There is an unofficial spontanious street party across the road in Alexander park. A lady well past 40 was sliding down a small hill on a plastic bag the park is packed with kids and parents and whatever you can slide on. Someone should start playing Bing Crosby and take some chestnuts and hot chocolate over there. Snow makes me feel like we are all living in a musical .

Raven is home and so are five of her freinds. I have a big pot of spagetti on. The hallway is full of wet boots
mittens and coats. I have just made Hot Chocolate with whipped cream Marshmallows and Candycanes.
In the garden loads of blackbirds are feasting on the grapes that I for the tenth year running have not made into grape jelly or wine.

Ok this weekend was supposed to be my Pop up South American but I have decided I just have to re-schedule.I am really really sorry that it is such late notice but I have already had a few cancelations and with the weather forcast and how difficult it can be to get around I have decided this definitely is not the best weekend for it. Gatwick is closed , trains have stopped, schools are closed and tamale flour may or may not arrive. I am thinking now that some time after Christmas may be better when there is no threat of snow or severe weather.I think this is going go to be a stay in and make popcorn and cranberry decorations and write Christmas cards kind of weekend.

Pop up Menu

2010-11-30T22:24:00.000-08:00

Just four more days to go

The food is ordered, the furniture is moved now the cooking starts. Hopefully if the snow is not too much of a distraction the corn husks for the tamales and the masa harina will arrive by courier today along with cactus paddles and some rather pretty chillies. Bruce has already chosen his corner of the room for the piano.Raven and Ellie have not chosen their outfits but I know they definitely don't want to wear any of my vintage aprons.
Here is a rough draft of the menu, things may change a little as I get creative

Tortilla chips with Tomatilla Salsa
Empandas Picadillo with Raisin and Cranberries

Cactus Flautes with Prickly Pear Jam

Oaxcan Turkey Mole poblano
Pork and White Bean Chilli

served with Pumpkin Bean and Cheese tamales
Plaintain Mash and Fallen Leaf Salad.

Julie's Morrocan Feast.

2010-11-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

Almost a year ago I cooked for a 50th birthday party at Cafe Boscanova. The party was for the lovely Julie. Julie is one of the cafe's favorite customers. Being the sweetheart she is Julie has never stopped complimenting me on the food and never stopped asking for some of the recipes from the party . To start with there was a sort of MiddleEastern antipasta. Plates of olives, flat- breads, and roasted veggies . That was followed by two tagines. A chicken tagine and an aubergine and sweet potato tagine. Both tagines were topped with pears cooked in honey and tumeric.They looked really pretty and it seems everyone fell in love with them.

Some of the ingredients I used at Julies party came from Makkah foods.http://www.makkahstores.co.uk There is a branch in cosmopolitan Charminster and another one on the much less comsmoplitan Ashely Rd in Parkestone. In Makkah you will find lovely flat breads that are nothing like the weird cardboard stuff that you get at the supermarket.They also have a complete treasure chest of spices.Sometimes you can even buy Ras El Hanout a classic Morroccan spice. The ethnic produce always look amazing
I recently bought a pommegranite that was the size of a small cabbages and such a beautiful ruby red colour

Anyway as requested here is a bit of a recipe

Sweet- Potato-Tofu- and Aubergine Tagine. serves 2-3

one large aubergine cut into cubes
2 sweet potatoes
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
1 red pepper
a handful of spinach
1 pack of smoked tofu about 250gr (optional)
3tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp of corriander
1/2 tsp of powdered ginger
tsp of marigold stock powder
1 pear
3tsp of honey
1 tbs of tumeric

preheat the oven to 180 degrees

Dissolve the stock powder in a cup of boiling water
add to a frying pan.
Toss in the cubed aubergine .
Cook 2-3 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon.

Put the aubergine in a shallow casserole dish
add cubed sweet potatoes sprinkle with the corriander, ginger, cumin, and 2 tsp of the cinnamon. Stir and then top with the remains of the stock.
Cover with foil and place in the oven,Cook for 45 minutes to an hour until the sweet potato is tender.

Cut the red pepper into cubes and add to the tagine, add the chickpeas if you are using tofu add the cubes now. Add a spoonful of honey and another spoonful of cinnamon. Cook uncovered for another 15 minutes.

To serve stir in spinach and add the honey poached pears. Garnish with lots of fresh mint and pommegranite seeds. Serve with Couscous. I know everyone wanted the recipe for the pears cooked in honey . That will be in the next post.

Pop up South American Restaurant

2010-11-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to beleive it was 1993 when my sister Karen and I would rent movies on a Saturday afternoon and stand in my kitchen in Parkstone, making tamales to serve at Lost Maggies at dinnertime. For those of you who don't know,Lost Maggies or, more formally, Las Margaritas was the Mexican cantina on Poole Quay that I spent ten years of my life running with Eric Bow and Pam Skuce.

Karen was a big fan of Tommy Lee Jones so for a while on Saturday afternoons it was tamales and Tommy- Lee. Tamales take some folding and tying but by the end of the afternoon we would have about sixty of them ready to be steamed for dinner. Then we would dress up for work. In those days it would often be funny dresses from the charity shops and weird hats because we were so overjoyed that we worked for ourselves and we could wear what we wanted.

Lost Maggies has been gone now for seven years. Recently, I have definitely been feeling the urge to have a Pop Up restaurant thingie in my living room. Why not? I ask myself, I have three sinks in the kitchen,a stainless steel table, a health and hygiene certificate, hundreds of vintage aprons and table-cloths. I love to cook.

My sister Karen is back in Canada but I have my lovely 13 year old daughter Raven and her best friend Ellie to serve tables. My husband Bruce Griffin has been roped in to to play the blues for us.

So here goes: December 4th there will be a Pop Up Mexican restaurant in my living room complete with live blues music. There will definitely be tamales and mole poblano and empanadas and maybe mancha mantel. Mmmmm. Three courses of lovley South American food with a slighlty eclectic touch.

Bring your own bottle or two - we will have room to keep it cool.

Suggested dontation will be £10- £12 per person,with tables of two,four and six available.

to book a table email me at

beetscooking@googlemail.com

Cold Porridge or Grandad's Breakfast

2010-07-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post.Sadly my lovely mummy died unexpectadly in May leaving Grandad cooking for one.
Even as a passionate and experimental cook I know cooking for one can be a dreary chore,especially when it also means shopping and eating and washing up by yourself as well.
It would be easy to get into a habbit of eating standing up by the cooker or fridge, or spending a lot of time with what Grandad calls " Lonely Guy Meals. "
I have been thinking a lot about food recently. I have spent so much time in the last few years in a basement kitchen in Cafe Boscanova cooking for customers who are mainly strangers. I have had to ask myself other than quickly throwing food together for husband and daughter when was the last time I prepared a meal and sat down with good freinds and loved ones?
When did I last have people over for dinner?
I have spent lots of time looking at funky interesting food to woo our customers but not so much time working on a salad that my almost 13 year old daughter will eat happily and willingly. I make sure that the breakfast veggie sausage patties that we make at the cafe contain all kinds of of pulses, seeds, and grains but i am not always sure what my own girl eats for breakfast.

The next few blogs are going to be about sharing knowledge of food that makes
the necessasity of eating and cookinga little easier and its going to be about food for freinds and family.

I am starting with Grandad's breakfast.I am going to keep in mind mind he is on a budget,he doesnt like to use loads of dishes, and often wants little and light.

Cold Porridge
Yes i am serious ! The best thing about is it tastes a bit like cold rice pudding, but it is better for you. It is made ahead so you can just grab it from the fridge in the morning.
You need
glass measuring jug or bowl
100 gr of porrige
200 gr of milk
3-4 tablespoons of fresh fruit compote
100 grams of greek yougurt.
agave or maple syrup to taste
glass or bowl.(In grandads case the glass with the lid that mother's diabetic chocolate spread came in.)

Cooking porridge in the microwave is so much easier than on top of the stove.
just keep an eye on it so it doesnt overflow

Put 100 gr of porrige in a measuring jug
Fill with milk until it reaches 300 grams
Cover and cook until done stirring a couple of times
Leave to cool in fridge for several hours.

Put cold porridge in a bowl add the yougurt and fruit compote and mix with a fork until smooth. I love to add a drop of rose water at this point to give it a lovely tukish delight flavour, you can add a little cinnamon, or vanilla or just leave it plain.
Pour into glass or bowls. To serve garnish with some more fresh fruit and add a little agave syrup or maple syrup if you like it sweeter.

work work work

2010-03-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

No blogs for a while I am writing the new summer menu for Cafe Boscanova- I i am cooking loads. Just not cooking a lot at home.
did recipe for magazine last week.

Cafe Boscanova broke a record on Saturday 211 meal served beween 8.30am and 3.45pm. Hundreds and hundreds of pancakes. The grill was stacked full. Every table was full by 9.am. People were queing for brunch it reminded me of queing for brunch at milestones in Vancouver.
At the moment I am messing with chillies. I Want to make ancho chilli jam. Ordering Chillies to make casabel and coffee barbeque sauce.

Friands - half term - The Dancing Goat

2010-02-14T05:45:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of the half term and I had the weekend off. Sometimes my family misses out because I cook at work and then at home I am too tired to be creative. Not this half term I was up at 5.30 in the morning and while still in pjs with one hand on my cup of tea and one on the remote for catch up tv I started baking. Around 10.A.M I left the house and the baking for a stroll to lower Parkestone with my husband Bruce. Had lovely Saturday morning coffee (double shot flat whites at the amazing Dancing Goat.)

Then back home to watch the Opening of the Vancouver Olympics. While i was out Raven took some pictures of the friands and made this cheery collage.Look at the lovely colours. Rosewater and blueberry baby friands,my version of Turkish Delight and Pistachio and lemon baby Frainds all in a picture with my baby girl.

Tofu

2010-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Tofu Scramble

Tofu marinating for a sandwich

Mmm Tofu
Sometimes just the mention of tofu in a dish on a menu can stop it from selling.
It seems in the U.K people have not had many great adventures with Tofu. Tofu is often seen as some kind of a penance for wanting to be a vegetarian. But it doesnt have to be.Tofu is amazing.You can make tofu cream if you whip tofu in a food processor with cashew nuts and vanilla. You can make a Tofu chick pea scramble. A lovely alternative to scrambled eggs. Silken tofu can be used to make dairy free sauces for pasta, or creamy salad dressings.

One of my favourite ways to serve tofu is in a sandwich

It made me so happy a few weeks ago when i made one for my twelve year old daughter, Raven. She loved it! It's a special kind of joy watching your kid eat complete protein and enjoy it. It's like the feeling i used to get when she would say "Mom can i have another apple. "

I like to serve tofu sandwiches on a Portugese Roll mainly because the Portuges rolls will stay nice and crusty not go all soggy like those burger buns that fall apart in your hand the minute you place any food on them. If you can't find Portuges rolls any crusty roll will do.

The tofu sandwich i make at home and the one that we serve at Cafe Boscanova looks surprisingly like a fillet of fish on a bun.
I use clearspot organic tofu it comes in 250 gr packs i get mine from http://ecovenient.wordpress.com/

Here is How.

Cut the tofu into sandwich size squares

Marinate the tofu in
a quater of a cup of shoya or tamari soya sauce
a quater cup of water of water
and a couple of tbs of cider vinigar
a clove of crushed garlic and a tsp of grated ginger

leave for a couple of hours or overnight or even twoor three days.

When you are ready to serve

Mix together half a cup of Golden corn flour (that is the Polenta corn flour)
not corn starch.
a quater cup of bran flakes- they should be really thin almsot like fish food.
and 4 tbs of Engevita nutritional yeast flakes- (delicous but you can manage withouth them if you cant find them.)

Coat the tofu in the mix turning constantly until it is nicely covered then shallow fry. When the outside is golden serve on a portugese roll with a little salad.
I had an Asian Slaw with mine. Kids might prefer it plain with a little ketchup.

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwich

2010-01-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

Every two months i get an emailed request for a recipe from the cafe for a small local magazine. The recipe is a hard thing to write because normally i only have space for 300 words. Anyway this months breif was "It's Valentines do something with chocolate."
Here is my something with chocolate, the recipie is not mine, it is taken from a Canadian book called ExtraVeganZa by Laura Matthias. I love this book but i am really struggling with some of the recipes and need to make them more England freindly. Maple syrup is used lots in healthy Canadian bakeing but it is so expensive in England. I replaced some of the maple syrup with agave syrup. I will soon be experimenting with brown rice syrup or date syrup in some of my baking.

I have to credit Joe lovettt my boss at Cafe Boscanova for the beautiful picture
though he origally bought a great camera to take pictures of his new little boy
some of his food pictures are amazing.

Chocolate- Espresso Cookie Sandwich

At Café Boscanova we often get requests for vegan and wheat free baked goods.
This year we have resolved to do some experimenting. Home baked cakes with real eggs, butter and sugar are always preferable to shop bought cakes. With home baked goods you don’t get the synthetic flavourings, colourings and stabilizers. But with changes in trends and more people wanting lighter options, some improvements can be made to the food we bake at home.

The chocolate almond cookies in this vegan ice cream sandwich are made with spelt flour, which is gluten- friendly; they are sweetened with maple syrup and agave syrup rather than white sugar. Layered with vegan ice cream, this is a delicious and indulgent desert.

For the cookies
Ingredients.
375ml whole spelt flour
¾ cup white spelt flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar
¼ cup of cocoa powder
½ cup canola oil
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup of agave syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp of almond extract
2tsp espresso powder
1cup of vegan dark chocolate chips of chunks
½ cup almonds coarsely chopped.

In a mixing bowl combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar cocoa and espresso powder. In a separate bowl mix the oil, syrup, vinigar and almond extract, whisk until combined. Mix into the dry ingredients and stir them together.
Add the almonds and chocolate chips. Drop small spoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet. Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes.

Thai Carrot and Red Curry Soup,

2010-01-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hooray, Hooray we have had snow,this is the weather of my youth. It is such long time since I have felt that familiar crunch under foot.The other day in Alexander Park I felt like I was walking into a Christmas painting. There was a man with a light meter and a pinhole camera trying to take pictures of the snow and kids of all ages laughing and sliding down the path on boards and boxes.

I know its not fun for everyone. The news is full of weather related disaster stories. England is just not prepared for snow. Unlike Ontario we don't have a fleet of snow ploughs to come out over night and clear the roads. Nobody has snow tires.

When it comes to cooking,cold weather is inspirational.I love to bake on a snowy day. It's an excuse to make the kitchen even cozier by turning on the oven, a pot of soup bubbling away on the back of the stove completes the picture.

At work this week we have sold more soup than any other week.
I am not surprised, who would want a baguette in this kind of weather and it's not as if you can eat your baguette while walking to the shops on a lunch break.
You need all your senses to walk on the ice.

Thai Carrot and and Red Curry Soup

1tbs of sunflower oil
1000 grams of carrots- chopped
1/4 litres of water
3tbs of marigold vegan stock powder
2tbs of ginger grated
2tbs of chopped lemongrass
1/2 block of coconut
a large handful of corriander.
1-2 tbs of thai red curry paste

Put the oil into a large pan
add the carrots, the finely choped lemongrass and the ginger.
Cook together for a few minutes stirring constantly
add the water and the stock powder.
Bring to the boil and then simmer the mix until the carrots are soft
this should take 20-30 minutes
Add the half bar of coconut red curry paste to taste
and another half litre of water.
Allow the flavours to cook together and the coconut to disolve.
Blend the soup until smooth. Throw in a handful of corriander.
adjust the thickness by adding a little more water or the heat by adding more or less curry paste.
Serve topped with green chillies. I served mine with cranberry and ginger chutney

This soup makes a lovely main course meal if you want to add chicken or tofu and lots of bean sprouts.

Jamaican New Year -Salt Fish and Akee

2010-01-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

Apparantly this New Years Eve three quaters of the population stayed home. It certainly looked like that when i wandered up to Waitrose on New Years Eve. I was amazed,I had never seen so many people walking around with shopping lists. Trolleys were rammed full of champagne, and all kinds of snack foods. The Mascapone cheese had completely run out. It Seemed like everybody was in a cooking frenzy. I don't know what i was doing in Waitrose but just being there with all those people preparing to cook made me feel more like cooking.

I had been soaking salt fish for a day and i knew i was going to make Salt fish and Akee. It is strange cooking something you have never seen and never tried. I had seen salt fish plenty years ago when i lived in Toronto, but i had never cooked it. I had a tin of Akees in my cupboard for a month but i had never opened them and I had no idea what any of it was supposed to taste like.
That is kind of working backwards for me normally I taste something and then try and re-create it. Since i had no idea whether I would love or hate Akees and salt fish I also cooked a goat curry,jerk chicken,fried plaintains and coconut coleslaw.
Wow the akee looked so weird. They have a light creamy flavour - vaguely like scrambled eggs and they taste fabulous when mixed with the salt fish and what reminded me of a very cajun sauce.
Food was delicous. It is so exciting to try new things.

The Recipe I used was from my current favourite cookbook "Spoonin with Rosie" by Rosie Lovell. I have had it since September and i still have so many things i want to try.

Next blog will have a recipe I promise.
Thai Carrot and Red Curry soup sold like mad at Boscanova during the holidays. I will be posting the recipe on Wendnesday.

Pho

2010-01-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

Pho, seems to be appearing in places other than the Vietnamese cafes in London.
Pho is my husband Bruce's ultimate comfort food,his best hangover food.
in his twenty plus years of being a bar musician in Toronto it always bought him satisfaction and salvation when nothing else could.

I took the picture of the packaged Pho in Brighton This soup is made by Eat.I Wish i could have bought it and tried it. I am curious,wouldnt the the noodles be soggy.
What about the fresh squeeze of lime juice and fresh herbs added just before eating. How could it keep that fresh Asian flavour? Unfortantely Raven and i were staying in a Travelodge so we couldnt take it home and try it. And I certainly didnt want to be carrying a pot of noodles home with me on the coach the next day.

The other pictures, the actual steaming bowl of Pho was taken in my kitchen. Sorry i did not clean the kitchen and organize a proper food photo shoot thingie. Soup got made and eaten too quickly. Bruce was coming down with a cold so i made him his favourite.
Pho is traditionally a clear delicate beef broth usualy containing thinly sliced beef and rice noodle. It can be served with with fresh wedges of lime, hoisin sauce, hot sauce, Cilantro, Asian basil, bean sprouts. It can come with all of these or just a few of them.
Kensington Market in Toronto where Bruce and lived when we got married had some amazing Pho restaurants. Now we live in Parkestone Poole and there is not a Pho restaurant to be seen. I try and try to recreate this dish for him but so far i am only almost there.

Recycled Kitchen

2009-08-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

I like my kitchen to be created from all kinds of recycled treasures.
Look at my lovely tool trug. It's made of beautiful aged wood. It cost me pennies
in a charity shop. Turned on to its side it makes a lovely home for Moroccan glasses
and magical spices.

Old Cupboards In The garden And a Bath Full of Herbs

2009-08-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

My Kitchen Really

2009-08-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

I believe that anyone that has worked as a cook and in kitchens as long as I have should just be given a kitchen for free by the government.Sadly this is not the case. All through the years we had "Las Maggies Restaurant," my kitchen at home in the rented house consisted of broken cupboards installed in 1977.
It was only after we bought the house in 2003 and planned on re-selling it that we bought new cupboards. Fortunately the house didn't sell. A few months later two of the cupboards fell right of the wall. I never put them back. But I did eventually find a use for them,after they had spent several years cluttering up the shed I have filled them full of soil and started a herb garden.
For a while i didn't bother with cupboards on my kitchen wall,then one day I was on the way to the shed with some wooden drawers. Look what lovely wooden shelves the drawers make.

Just in Case you think I Didn't do anything in May

2009-08-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

In May of this year Cafe Boscanova did our first ever wedding.My boss Joe is the absolute best at setting up tents for me to cook in- Joe's friend Cathy Mussart came down from London to help as the rest of the team were busy back at the cafe.

The wedding menu contained loads of veggie food. The bride and groom were both veggie.They are also both huge fans of Cafe Boscanova and practically begged us to do the wedding
The Food was was cooked and served in a tent at the beautiful Holton Lee in Wareham
After weeks of planning and hours of cooking even I was surprised when I saw how lovely the food looked.What a great eye Cathy has for a buffet table- I had never seen my Indian Sari's and vintage dishes arranged so beautifully.

The best thing was people loved the food and Joe, Cathy and I worked well together
we served 75 people but it was so relaxed and chilled.

Monday Morning in London

2009-04-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Coffee Coffee
Here be the best Coffee in all of London

London

2009-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

You remember that I said I was cooked out. I just wanted to write some stories and chill at home well I still haven't done it. Stories I miss you !

Two weeks ago I took a National Express coach up to London. It is time to write the Cafe Boscanova summer menu. My plan was to go to Camden market on Sunday, see if I could get some new inspiration, and on Monday I would check out coffee bars. One of the places I wanted to look at in Camden is called the InSpiral Lounge. The InSpiral Lounge is well known for their selection of raw and vegan foods.
It is a funky little place right by the river.
There was a hot buffet and a salad buffet and although it was all vegan, it was not that interesting.
The food looked good enough , but it also looked a bit like a student pot-luck supper, amateurish and thrown together. I had a slice of vegan carrot cake. It was certainly delicious but at £3.25 a slice i think it would be unlikely to sell back in Bournemouth.

I wandered on to the food part of the market. Street food is always gorgeous especially on a sunny day. Because food is my business i looked at lots of things other than the actual food. It is fun to look around the back of the stalls to see how much food is prepped up ready, and whether they use gas grills or electric,and how many staff can comfortably keep the customers happy. The biggest line up was at the Mexican stall selling fajitas and veggie chili. It looked like the easiest operation too, except for the giant cookie stall.

Carrot Cake.

2009-03-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that sometimes i get ''Cooked Out. '' That is my saying for being tired of cooking. Sometimes I do too much reading about food, too much shopping and definitely too much cooking. Sometimes I just want to eat toast and spend time writing stories.

This week I finally made a carrot cake. I love Middle-Eastern ingredients, so I was desperate to try this lovely Carrot cake. It contains tahini, Pomegranate syrup, and pistachio nuts.
Next week i am going to make it again i want to try it with more orange zest.I was a little short on oranges last week, but even with out the orange Zest the cake was gorgeous.

After a long busy day in the Boscanova kitchen on Saturday I came home and had tea and cake with Raven,my daughter, Ravie took some pictures.

The recipe is by Dan Lepard he is a master Baker and also writes a weekly column in the Guardian Magazine on Saturdays.

Carrot Orange and Pistachio Cake

Makes one very large cake
75g tahini
125ml sunflower oil
3 tbsp pomegranate syrup or treacle
Zest of 3 oranges, and 100ml juice
225g light soft brown sugar
3 large eggs, separated
200g carrot, grated finely
100g chopped pistachios
175g plain flour
2½ level tsp baking powder
2 level tsp ground cinnamon
½ level tsp ground cloves
½ level tsp nutmeg

Butter three 20cm round Victoria sponge tins and line the base of each with a disc of non-stick baking parchment. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted). In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the tahini, oil, syrup, orange zest and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in one whole egg plus two yolks (reserving the whites) until combined, then stir in the grated carrot, pistachios and juice. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices together, then stir them through the mixture. Whisk the egg whites until white and fluffy, then fold through the mixture. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave to cool in the tins, then layer with cream cheese frosting (see Icing and topping after baking).

Soup -Black Bean Chipotle and Cocoa

2009-02-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

In the winter months, I spend a lot of my time making soup. Soup is the ultimate comfort food. Often my first thought when i wake up in the morning is 'what soup will I make today'?

I am a big fan of back beans and although I said I wouldn't give away my black bean burrito recipe, I have had a special request for a black bean soup recipe. The recipe is for Iggy who must have eaten a large proportion of the pot i made last week.

Some of the ingredients are hard to find particularly the chipotles. Chipotles are smoked jalapenos they give the soup a lovely smokey flavor. In the next few days I will post a list of specialty suppliers..If anyone is desperate to make the soup right away they can buy some chipotles at the cafe.

I have had to cut down quantities as the pot I make at the cafe usually serves about 60. This recipe serves 4-6. In my opinion it's not worth making much less.. if it's too much freeze some or give some away to your friends or neighbors. Soup is a pot of happiness, much nicer sometimes than flowers.

Black Bean Chipotle and Cocoa Soup

500 gr of black turtle beans.
I tin of tomatoes
4tbs of double concentrate tomato puree
3 large cloves of garlic
6 tbs of cumin
2 chipotle chillies + 3 spoons of adobe sauce
1 tsp of salt
1 decent size glass of red wine. (optional)
3-4tbs of chopped coriander
3 litres of water.
Square of dark chocolate about 1 inch in size.

Soak beans overnight- drain.
Peel and thinly cut 3 onions
Put them in a large pot and cook in oil until translucent
Add the beans to the pot cover with the water.
Add the three garlic cloves.
Bring to a boil then simmer for an hour or until the beans are tender.

Add the tin of tomatoes
the chillies, wine, and salt.

Blend the whole mix either in a mixer, blender or with a mixing stick.
Return to the saucepan. Add the dark chocolate. Add the cumin. Before serving top with chopped coriander.

Spring In A Teacup

2009-01-28T00:54:00.001-08:00

It is freezing again! A cold wind from Russia apparently.Snowdrops are out in the garden and daffodil bulbs are poking their heads out. Last weekend Raven took some pictures of snowdrops in a teacup- This is a great way to use those lovely flowery teacups that nobody wants anymore. I have loads of them stashed away in my cupboards.

Black Bean Burrito

2009-01-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went out by myself for Lunch. It was my day off. I chose a place to eat and was amazed to find a Black Bean Breakfast Burrito on the menu. This is pretty unusual because in Dorset Burritos and black beans are not very common.

We sell them at Cafe Boscanova but that is mainly because my cooking is hugely influenced not so much by the ten years running a Mexican restaurant, but by the years before living in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.I still remember getting Black Bean Burritos out of vending machines at Mac's Milk on Denman street in Vancouver.

At Boscanova we sell Black Bean Burritos and Chicken and Black Bean Burritos and black beans with our Hueveros Rancheros. Even our soups often feature black beans. So Yesterday I had to try the Burrito for curiosity's sake. It was described as having a spicy ranchero sauce scrambled eggs and black beans.

First of all it was not a burrito i would describe it as a perhaps a quesadilles, but without the cheese. It was more like a tortilla folded in half and dried out in a hot oven. There were about thirty black beans inside the tortilla they were like tiny slightly hard beads. The bland ranchero sauce seemed to serve only one purpose to make the bottom of the whole contraption really soggy. There was one piece of Coriander, or Cilantro as we call it in North America.This was a garnish. Things that were definitely not anywhere near the burrito were garlic, cumin, chili, cheese or anything that would give it some oomph.

Of course I didn't complain, my meal was hot, it wasn't burnt and there were no foreign objects in in. I guess it was just their version but I have to say i am really proud of the Black Bean Burritos we serve at Cafe Bocanova.

At Cafe Boscanova our burritos are served like little packages folded in a square which is more Mexican style. We stuff them with cheese, salsa, and our beans have loads of flavour. All of our Burritos are garnished with loads of chopped coriander fresh salsa, chillies and guacamole.

I can't remember when I learned how to make black beans but our staff and customers love them. I have decided not to publish a recipe for the Cafe Boscanova Black Bean burrito. Some things just need to stay secret.

Favourite Cupboard!

2009-01-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

Finally a picture of my favorite cupboard- i think it's Art Deco. It actually has a built in thing for sifting flour. I like to fill it with flowery tea-cups and lots of vintage cookware. Sometimes when I cook i turn on the computer and listen to the Bob Dylan hour. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/dylan/

Matcha Muffins and Mole Poblano.

2009-01-15T00:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the day started well.I spent the morning at home organizing my kitchen.
I cleaned my vintage cupboard so it could have its photo taken for this blog and I completely cleared my stainless steel work surfaces so I would be ready for some serious cooking. I was planning on making Mole Poblano and Matcha Green Tea muffins. The biggest mistake I made was going out.

Working with food I rarely wear makeup- the heat usually melts it to my face or the mascara sticks my eyes together. Cooking is not a glamorous job! Yesterday I decided even though I was only walking up Ashley road to get chili and garlic I would put on a little makeup. What a mistake that was.

A day later I am still wearing the makeup and my face is completely purple on one side. My finger is swollen and both my knees are bruised. All this because I fell over and landed on my face. It wasn't too bad- the purple spots on the pavement that I originally thought were blood were in fact my squashed blackberries. People helped me up and put me on a bench. A couple of minutes later I hobbled home. At home I covered my face with an ice pack. I drank hot tea with sugar for the shock or maybe because they do it on T.V. Then I slathered the pavement burn on my face with aloe vera.

This must be proof that getting older is no fun. The last time I fell over was fifteen years ago.I was drinking gin martinis with Frank Murphy in a bar in Toronto. After three or four martinis I fainted. As was the custom,I was not allowed to leave the bar until an ambulance attendant had checked me over. A light was shone in my eyes, they asked me my name, my age, and who the prime minister was. Once I had answered the questions correctly I was free to go. Murphy and I went to another bar and drank more. I didn't have any bruises on me and the next morning i didn't even have a hang over. How things change.

This morning I ate the squashed blackberries for breakfast.My face is even more purple and my finger is bigger than it was. Now my friend Laura is going to get me some chili and garlic from Ashley road and I am determined to make the Matcha Muffins and the Mole Poblano today instead.

Thai Green Curry

2009-01-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

This recipe uses Inuina Thai Taste Curry paste available from Waitrose for £2.16. Unlike a lot of other curry pastes it doesn't contain fish sauce.If you are not veggie and you have fish sauce at home you can add about about a teaspoon to the curry for added seasoning and a more authentic taste.

1 pepper red or yellow cut into strips or cubes.
half an aubergine cut into 1-inch cubes
10 small mushrooms cut in half
250 gr of tofu cut into inch cubes
400 ml of tinned coconut milk
4-6tbs spoons of Inuia Thai Taste Green Curry Paste
1 pack of beansprouts
Washed spinach
2tbs of chopped coriander to garnish

Place aubergine in a pan with 250 ml water and cook in the water until soft about 7 minutes.Drain and set aside.

Cook tofu in a non stick pan with a tbs of oil- set aside

Put peppers in non stick pan and cook until skins are slightly browned add mushrooms and stir fry for a couple of seconds

Empty tinned coconut milk into a jug and add the curry paste.Mix together with a fork add to the pan with the peppers and mushrooms.

Next add the drained aubergine and the tofu along along with a couple of handfuls of bean sprouts and a handful of washed spinach.Cook on low for about6 minutes.Before serving top with chopped coriander.Serve in a bowl with rice or noodles.

Detox

2009-01-07T02:48:00.000-08:00

The local supermarkets have marked down the last of the mince pies and Christmas foods. At Waitrose Chocolate Santa Claus, and mince pies have been replaced with detox teas and tissues. No wonder nobody likes January!

I have been at work the last two days. It is hard to know what to feed people in this Arctic chill. This is the time of year everybody decides to save money and pack their own lunch.

Specials at Cafe Boscanova this week are Curried Lentil and Apricot soup. It's good for you - warming and gorgeous. It is also meat free, wheat free, and dairy free,so it fits in well with a lot of those detox diets. For under a fiver we also have a Thai Green Veggie Chili. Made with aubergines,red peppers,spinach,and tofu. The recipe will be published here very soon.

I have dedicated this recipe to Jamie my downstairs kitchen companion and Oli one of the Cafe's veggie waitresses. I am hoping they both try making it at home.

Raven my daughter pictured below baked her own lunch-box cookies this week- we got the recipe from the spelt flour package and we love it. They contain no white sugar they are nice and chewy and no packaging to throw in the bin.

2009-01-07T02:44:00.000-08:00