Australia Day (26/365)

While the weather wasn't what I ordered for my first Australia Day in a dozen years, we still managed to barbeque with friends.  It was a nice chilled day, and Pickle obviously enjoyed himself - here he is all tuckered out after the 5 minute drive home!

26 January 2013

Cheers, KangaRue :)

Fun & funky bibs (review & competition)

I had become disappointed with the bibs of a leading baby brand, that had stained with just a few uses, so had been looking to get Pickle some new, more durable, but still comfortable bibs.  Luckily, I stumbled upon Bibisili on Twitter.

Not only were these bibs functional with crumb-catchers, but the designs are just gorgeous.  On ordering my Pickle's first two, I discovered the silicone is also soft to the touch and he loves to wear them.  He delights in the comments he gets when wearing them, and his friends have even asked to borrow them!

Coupled with the bibs being eco-friendly and lead, BPA and phthalates free, there are now 13 adorable designs.  And quite frankly, I just love them.  They've been put through some workouts... scrolling through my photos of Pickle, I realise just how many there are of him eating(!), yet there's not a mark to be seen on them.

Bibisili is celebrating its 1st birthday this week, and to celebrate, they are giving away bibs for three lucky Little Ones.  Enter via the Rafflecopter tool below, there are multiple ways to enter and increase your chances.  But if you can't wait you can get 20% off orders until 10th December, using the discount code BIRTHDAY.

Disclaimer:  While Pickle has been gifted with two of the bibs in the new designs, my enthusiasm and words are my own, as were my earlier purchases.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One of the best meals ever!

Last year for my birthday, BoyWonder surprised me with a trip to Kent for lunch at fabulous The Sportsman restaurant in Seasalter, Kent.  While our meals was gorgeous, I didn't blog it at the time - I'm sure out of spite, as I was newly pregnant with Pickle, and BoyWonder was the one who got to try all the culinary delights that were banned for me: caviar, oysters, soft and smelly cheeses, and the complimentary wines we were he was lucky enough to be treated to. I think this deserves a renewed acquaintance with The Sportsman, don't you think?

So I was intrigued where BoyWonder would take me this year.  I fathomed we were going to Royal Tunbridge Wells from the postcode on the invite that arrived on my phone, but managed not to snoop investigate further.  When we strolled up to Thackeray's, I was intrigued.  Was this restaurant dedicated to Jake Thackeray, the singer I used to torment my Mum with?  (She has never heard one of his songs through, as she bursts into laughter well before the third bar starts... and my Mum has a very unique laugh.  Go on Mum, click on the link, I dare you!)  Indeed not, the restaurant was named after William Makepeace Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair, who once stayed on the premises.  And a book I've been meaning to read for some time.

It turns out, Thackeray's is the restaurant Richard Phillips started when he branched out for himself after working for the likes of the Roux brothers and Marco Pierre White. It looks quaint from the outside, but has elegant and theatrical interiors which remain sympathetic to the character of the building.  We were a little early, so chose a glass of Mercier Brut champagne, which was biscuity and refreshing, and I managed to nurse it through the first four of our courses - we were having the Chef's Tasting Menu!

The amuse bouche of the day was a crayfish terrine, served with caviar and a watercress foam.  Absolutely delicious, perfectly seasoned and beautiful presentation.

Next was a ballontine of Landes foie gras, with caramelised spiced white peach, brioche pan perdu and white peach jelly.  This was divine, but it is pretty hard to screw up foie gras!  The jelly was a perfect accompaniment to the foie gras and brioche, though we weren't as thrilled with the taste of the caramelised peach which was a little bland, but did lend a complimentary texture.



We had a choice to make for the next course, and decided to go for one of each option and share.  As it was, we only got a brief taste of each others as we were happy to stick with our preferred option.  I went for the Roast Fillet of South Coast Brill, served with haddock brandade, roast cucumber, and cockle and cucumber ketchup.  The "ketchup" led a fresh tanginess to the dish that lifted it to a delightful level, allowing the freshness of the sweet flesh to shine through without being fussy.  BoyWonder went for the Pan Fried Diver Caught Sea Scallops which came with a pumpkin and caper puree,
smoked eel, pickled Kentish apple and smoked hollandaise.  The small morsel I got to taste was delicious and perfectly cooked.  Both dishes were beautifully presented yet again.

To refresh our palette, a clementine sorbet was then served.  Oh my, it was delicious; though more a granita than a sorbet, the fervent flavour was refreshingly tart, and we could have quite happily consumed a bowl of the stuff!

While we again had a choice for the next course, we both decided to go with the Roast Fillet of 28 Day Hung Herefordshire Beef.  Rosemary scented layered

potatoes, a Kentish blue cheese beignet, creamed celeriac and a red wine and bone marrow jus accompanied.  The potatoes were delicious, the jus had an amazing depth of flavour and I loved the beignet, which was basically a posh cheese popper! The d'Arenberg The Stump Jump Shiraz 2008, was a perfect match, with deep plum, earthy and spicy flavours and scent.

Rather than go for a typical dessert wine, BoyWonder made the inspired choice of the Domaine Schlumberger 'Fleur', an Alsace Gewurztraminer which went brilliantly well with both the cheese and dessert courses, where a sticky would likely have been too cloying.  The Brillat Savrin a la Truffe was a soft cheese from Burgundy layered with sliced black truffle.  While it sounded impressive, in truth this was the least inspiring dish of the day.  Perhaps they should have checked closer to home, as the Tunworth I bought from Neal's Yard Dairy as part of our Chrismukkah cheeses on Essex Eating's recommendation, was far more impressive.

A choice for our desserts again, and we decided to split and "share", though we were both so enrapture with our individual choices that it was a mere smidgen of the other's dish that we got to try! BoyWonder went for the Kentish Raspberry Souffle with cherry sorbet and raspberry soup.  The "soup" was ceremoniously poured into the souffle at the table.  Hats off to the pastry chef on my Assiette of Chocolate, as I believe this was the most visually impressive dish of the day, and that really is saying something. It tasted sensational too with macerated
cherries (and I don't normally like booze and fruit combined), the red cherry sorbet made an appearance again, along with a chocolate tuille and a white chocolate and pistachio ganache.  I'm drooling just remembering it.

Now BoyWonder is extremely fussy meticulous about coffee.  The most infamous being the dining-disaster of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.  Miraculously he was extremely happy with the coffee.  My fresh mint tea was also well received - more restaurants should take note, as it's not hard to impress with a well-considered caffeine-free option.

There's nothing worse than a disappointing sweet end to the meal. Luckily our Petits Four continued the impressive standard.  While one was covered in marzipan - evil stuff - the sponge inside was light, the chocolate one was rich and balanced with cocoa, the jelly-gum was bursting with berry juiciness, but my favourite was the home-made marshmallow.

The Chef's Menu was £69 per person and there is also the option of ordering a glass of wine per course for a very reasonable £30pp extra.  We chose to order just a few wines by the glass, and there is quite a wide selection of wines that have this option.  The staff were lovely: knowledgeable and helpful without being intrusive.  We believe that this was one of the best meals we've ever had and I'd highly recommend making a beeline to Thackeray's.


So some questions for you:

• How will BoyWonder top this next year?  (Suggestions welcome!)
• Will Vanity Fair make it off my bookshelf soon?
• And most importantly, if my Mum opens the Jake Thackeray link, will I hear her all the way from Australia?

Cheers, KangaRue :)

This is not a sponsored post.

4/366 - My First Birthday

Today is my first birthday.  Well, my first birthday as a Mummy.  I was spoiled by BoyWonder and Pickle, so I thought I'd share with you the picture of my best boys taken at the start of my birthday lunch at Thackeray's.

4/366

While Pickle may have BoyWonder's looks and personality (so far), his eyes and one other attribute he obviously gets from me!

Our meal deserves a blog post of it's own, as it was possibly one of the best meals we've ever had.  It sure beats our meal at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.

Cheers, KangaRue :)

Beyond Brunch

You've got to love the irony.  BoyWonder had a friend coming over from the US, on the 4th of July... so we just had to take him and his friend to Hawksmoor for a traditional English brunch.  We've been a couple of times before, yet I've never made it past the brunch items.  This time I was determined to hit the Sunday Roast.  But before I get to that, I had to try the remaining Bloody Mary on the menu (there are three, but I've also been lucky enough to try the award winning special produced for the Ketel One promotion).  The Bloody Mary No. 16 is made with beef broth instead of tomato juice, and is served warm - I would have preferred it a bit more spicy, as I like my Bloody Mary's with a real kick, but it was really lovely.

Now, I'm not sure how he snuck it past me, but BoyWonder ordered a Zombie.  Last time he had one of these, he went missing on the train home, and lost a couple of hours.  But he did only have the one drink this time, which made a difference.  These things are lethal; with three rums, Falernum aand Absinthe (as well as grapefruit & lime juices, Bitters, Grenadine and spiced syrup), it's not surprisingly that only one is allowed per person.  A work friend of  BoyWonder's had his first Zombie, and lost his post-lunch afternoon!

The brunch selections for the rest of the table, were a huge success yet again - the HkMuffin and the Hawksmoor Breakfast didn't disappoint (you can read my previous blog on these here).  Oh, and I reverted to my favourite Bottomless Bloody Mary (No. 7) which is based on a 1921 recipe made with gin rather than vodka with fresh horseradish and a dash of Meantime Stout to the classic tomato juice, Worcestershire Sauce and Tabasco (extra for me please!).

"Traditionally, large joints of meat were roasted on a spit over an open fire.  To achieve a similar flavour we start ours on real charcoal and finish them in the oven"... then they add potatoes roasted in dripping, a Yorkshire Pudding, carrots, spinach, whole roasted shallots, and lashings of bone marrow and onion gravy.  Now my Mum makes the best roast.  Well, so I thought.  Sorry Mum!  This was absolutely kick-ass amazing.  The beef was so flavoursome - the quality is obvious - but it was also cooked perfectly, I couldn't have asked for any better.  The potatoes were fluffy on the inside, but nicely crisp and crunchy on the outside, and the Yorkshire Pudding was perfect with enough crunch at the top, but enough density and chewiness on the bottom... and the gravy is brilliant!

I desperately wanted to try the salt-caramel icecream... I really wanted to have it with the chocolate brownie, but I just didn't have the room for it.  But then there was the cornflake icecream too (this is to die for, and is something that must be experienced - I successfully convinced a couple of others at our table to try it and they weren't sorry they did).  In the end I decided on a scoop of each of the ice-creams.  BoyWonder had the cheese plate and from the slithers he allowed me, the quality of the rest of our meal was maintained.

So I'll just have to go back again to try the desserts.  I think I'll have to go and just try the desserts!  And perhaps the champagne cocktails that are the remaining "breakfast cocktails" I've yet to try.  Oh the tortures I endure to bring a thorough review!

Cheers, KangaRue

Ag-solutely Delightful

 Recently catching up on my Twitter feed, I heard a couple of people discussing The Royal Norfolk Show.  As they were discussing good food, it grabbed my attention, a quick google, a phone call to BoyWonder and we decided to take the day off work later in the week to head up there.

I love Ag Shows, but it had been years since I've been to one - The Royal Easter Show in Sydney was something that I loved going to as a kid.  The animals, produce displays and shows meant a great family day out, but as I got older, the focus of the show seemed to become more commercial with increasingly ridiculous prices for showbags and rides.  To be fair, there now seem to be some more reasonably priced showbags, but with the most popular lolly bags being $12-15 and the kids character bags at $20-25, it's not going to be a cheap day out for anyone.

But back to The Royal Norfolk Show...  it was a proper Ag Show.  I had a brief stint at an Agricultural Advertising Agency in what seems like a lifetime ago, and BoyWonder grew up in the country, so we know what a real Ag show is like.  And this one didn't disappoint.  After a quick glimpse at the dogs, we legged it over to the food tent to watch Dr. Tim Kinnaird demonstrate making the most beautiful Rose Macaroons (with natural colouring made from beetroot extract).  I'd sent a couple of cheeky tweets to Tim a day or two before the show, so it was lovely to meet him afterwards for a giggle.  And while I completed meeting the Masterchef 2010 finalists, I never did find out who was which of the hear-/see-/speak-no-evil monkeys.

Further wanderings around the food tent, we discovered Edinburgh Gin.  Now I'm usually a Tanqueray girl, but OMG, this is absolutely delicious.  A distinct yet subtle taste of botanicals, some specifically Scottish in origin (juniper berries, milk thistle, pine and heather) as well as the distillation taking place in "Jenny", a Scottish Copper Pot Still, have led to my changing allegiance at home, and hopefully out-and-about as it becomes more widely available.  The Sheep Dip Whisky that originally caught my attention at the stand was also really nice - beside the great name - with hints of orange, and low-peatiness, so yes, a bottle of this also made its way home with us.

Time for some lunch.  I'd been tweeting with Sarah from Bray's Cottage about the show (it was her tweet originally that led me to discovering it was on), I was on the hunt to try The Perfect Pork Pie.  Now, I'm not usually a huge fan of pork pies - I find them too fatty with too much jelly.  BoyWonder decided on a medium traditional pork pie (supposedly for slicing or sharing between two!) and I went for a Thai chilli version.  WOW!  This really is the best pork pie I have ever tasted.  The quality of the meat from home-reared rare breed pigs is obvious, it was well seasoned with a hint of onion marmalade, and the pastry was lovely as well.  Now I just need an excuse to order some!

Off to check out some livestock, everything you could possibly imagine from birds, alpacas, cows and bees... but my favourite was this inquisitive pig.  I named him Bacon.  I think BoyWonder's perverse sense of humour must be rubbing off on me - growing up he (briefly) had lambs named Lamp Chop and Mint Sauce.  Then we wandered around the farm equipment, saw the tractor show, with some really old tractors as well as the most modern bells-and-whistles variety.

Pork crackling and some craft stalls later, we spotted some bikes.  I had been on the verge of buying a new bike over a year ago before I put my back out.  Then my physio said no cycling (anything sitting was putting pressure on my problematic lower back).  So the old bike remained in the shed - it was just to heavy for me.  Lighter in weight and cheaper in price than the one I almost bought a year ago, I fell in love with this gorgeous pale-gold traditionally styled bike... Pretty isn't she!  I've now started cycling to work, and one week in my back has been pretty good, my knee has bothered me more. 

We apparently "had" to see the ferrets.  I've not been won over, though they have soft & silky fur, they stink.  So we headed back to the dogs, and saw the cutest puppy - we'd been speaking to her owner at the start of the day - win the best of the Toys category.  Now, I've wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for a while... the name Grace Kelly has already been chosen to join Lulu & Hermes in the handbag inspired names of our fur-babies.  And I think BoyWonder may be won over now as well.  Time and budget restrictions mean it won't be happening anytime soon, but how long can we resist these big brown eyes?!

What a fab day out!

Cheers, KangaRue

PS.  Do you like Ag-shows?  Have you ever been to one?  And are my pun-titles killing you?

Master Canapes

I follow quite a lot of foodies on Twitter, I enjoy reading about where they've been, what they've experienced eating out and cooking in.  Inevitably we retweet each others general comments and blogs, which is a great way of discovering new people with similar interests.  I started following @JustCookIt this way before realising it was MasterChef UK 2010 finalist, Alex Rushmer.  It wasn't long before I saw him tweeting with Dhruv Baker, the winner that year...  about coming to Canary Wharf to distribute canapes.  Well, that was just not something I could pass up!

So come lunch time I trundled out of the office to find out what these guys were up to.  There was a portable road-side cafe, but a posh one, with a basic, but working kitchen.  People were casually walking up and trying the canapes, getting the promotional material from the finance initiative that was sponsoring the day.  The guys had made a LOT of canapes... more than they'd made for their City sojourn the day before... but they were going quick - more than half had gone in the first hour of a five hour stint!  Yes, they were popular.

But most people missed out on the best bit - the guys were absolute sweethearts, happy to have a quick chat and patiently pose for photos while keeping the canapes flowing.  They really seem to appreciate their fan base, while still having their feet firmly on the ground.

But back to the food!  This is the important bit, because it was this experience that encouraged me back to blogging after my Three-Star Disappointment.  Dhruv had created a 3-course menu of canapes utilising simple yet powerful ingredients, and then gave them a twist... Yes, they looked absolutely beautiful, but more than that, they were delicious!  I loved them.  

The "starter" was a sea trout with beetroot jelly and a hint of horseradish on a crisp wafer.  Surprisingly fresh and the jelly and horseradish united and lifted it.

The "main" was my absolute favourite though (I managed to sneak a second one... hmm, perhaps that could have been why they had to make so many more?!).  The chicken parfait and vanilla foam tartlets had a sauterne & cognac soaked raisin in the bottom of each and were beautifully garnished with a teeny spring leaf, which was so pretty.  I watched while a new batch was whipped up, and the speed of filling the tartlets was impressive.  

The "dessert" was great too - which just goes to show how good the chicken parfait was, that this didn't win the top place.  Not only was it absolutely yummy, but it was so much fun.  Champagne Jelly with fruit caviar was served with "Space Dust" popping candy to put the bubbles back in! Love it, love it, love it!  If only all canapes were this good... 

I have to thank Dhruv and Alex, not only for a lovely diversion from my working day; for making my boss very jealous when I told him what I'd been up to... but mostly for helping me get my groove back!

Cheers, KangaRue

Gotta love the irony of eating Reindeer on Christmas Day!

I've had a fun Christmas season this year.  Whilst not as manic as previous years, there have been good friends and fun nights for which I'm very thankful.

This photo was taken in Oxford Street after cocktails with BoyWonder at Molton House.  I love the London Christmas lights, though not the crowds!  Glad I got the iconic taxi & bus in this shot.

I took a couple of days off work to organise the food for Christmas Day.  After visiting Neals Yard Dairy for our Christmas cheeses, I did a mammoth shop for the bulk of our food for the day - while the venison & pates were brought at Taste of Christmas (see previous post).  I spent the rest of the time baking shortbread.  Whilst shopping I took the opportunity to do some BookCrossing, dropping the first book in the oil & spice aisle, one I left in the trolley (suitably bagged to avoid the snow) and one in the coffee shop, where I enjoyed a festive hot chocolate!

Our Christmas Day started with Skype calls to our families in Australia - it was lovely to see them all and we even got to "show" them around our house!  We then kick-started the meal with smoked salmon, philly-cheese, rye bread, drizzled with lemon and cracked pepper, accompanied by the first of three bottles of Champagne for the day!  Our next course consisted of pigs in blankets accompanied by a very spicy Bloody Mary.  BoyWonder then did his amazing Champagne Prawns (accomanied by more Champagne of course!)...  Time for a nanna-nap before the "main" of saddle of venison, this stood for 12-hours in olive oil and a white peppercorn crust.

Our wine of choice for this course was Black Tempest Sparkling Shiraz which was delightful with rich blackberry & liquorice tones... a great combination.

The venison was absolutely delicious, with the "fillet" melting like butter in our mouths.  It was coated in duck-fat and basted every 5 minutes for approximately 35-40 minutes - due to the lack of fat in venison it cooks very quickly.  It sat while the jus (gravy) was made from the venison juices deglazed with brandy and white wine, mixed with stock and reduced before adding double cream... this is not a low-fat day after all!!!  Our meal was completed with roasted duck-fat potatoes that BoyWonder cooked to perfection, along with Brussel Sprouts (don't tell my Mum!), spinach, pumpkin, sweet potato and carrots.

We have yet to tackle the Christmas Pudding with a choice of Brandy Cream or Cointreau Butter nor the cheeses and pates, let alone the mince pies and shortbread... there's always tomorrow!

 

Happy Chrisnukkah to all!

 

Cheers, KangaRue

Friendship and Food

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have a few friends that, no matter how long it's been, when I do eventually see them again we click; Sue is one of those friends. We met years ago through work; and though our lives have taken us to different companies, countries and directions, when we get together we have such a great connection. We laugh, commiserate, share tales and generally have a whale of a time.

On this occasion Sue was in London for only 24 hours... so after meeting her at the airport we shared news of the last 7 or 8 years over a bottle of wine into the wee small hours - she also met BoyWonder for the first time! The following day was planned for glamorous swanning around...

We started the day trying on jewellery, discovering some lovely handmade pieces by designer Andrew Geoghegan and then headed over to the 5th Floor Bar at Harvey Nic's for Champagne, then downstairs for make-overs. After a spot of shopping for Sue's girls (OK, I bought some "snow" for Christmas too), we headed to lunch.

Le Café Anglais is an elegant restaurant, with magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows and tables that are a discreet distance apart - I'll be sending my boss here in the future - and good for our catch-up without annoying nearby diners. I'd missed our long weekend lunches in Sydney where a few of the girls would get together for discussions and debates over the broadest range of topics - there were some pretty eye-opening exchanges!

One thing I learnt from this lunch is not to expect to do all this catching-up and actually remember to take pictures of the dishes or even what they were called... I do however remember the hors d'oeuvre that was recommended to me by Essex Eating, the Parmesan custard with anchovy toast was out of this world! I must mention that our waitress was lovely and knowledgeable about the menu - we wanted a Pinot Noir, and rather than pointing us to the "safe" and higher priced Bourgogne she recommended the lovely Nittnaus from Austria, not something I would have felt confident choosing.

Thankfully I did take a photo of the weekday lunch menu so I was able to check back on most of the other dishes we had. Our starters of the creamiest & buttery Burrata was a great combination with the smoky aubergine. Both my plaice with brown butter and Sue's choice of lamb were lovely, though I'd be interested in sampling the more adventurous a'la carte menu, which is where we headed for dessert.

This proved to be an exceedingly tough choice. I pondered having the chocolate soufflé, but wanted something a little more refreshing. I can't remember what it was called (nor for the life of me what Sue had!) but I went for this spectacular concoction of vanilla mousse encased in raspberry sponge roulade. We each enjoyed dessert with a glass of Monbazillac.

A mad dash through the rain ended our day of glamour somewhat unceremoniously, as did the epic traffic to Heathrow. And while in the future I may forget exactly what we'd eaten, it's the experience with my friend that I'll remember.

Cheers, KangaRue