Lazy Tuesdays

The weeks after the autumn half term are always a bit busy for us. The Smallest's birthday comes up only a week or 10 days later and then Advent arrives at the end of November and church and school go  crazy with special services, concerts, and shows which need costumes, practice and attending. This year we have revamped Advent Adventure and that other local mad woman and I are attempting some mini yarn/fabric bombs on Chatsworth Road (Following the Star) so it has been busy.

But even so there have been a few departures from our normal re-hashed week by week menu and I am happy to report that they went down much better than they would have before our year of Travelling Tuesdays. We didn't do the all singing, all dancing affairs with dressing up and flags, but revisiting India, China, the Middle East, have all been very successful. 

Hej Danmark

So, after a terribly long silence I am finally recording our wonderful Danish evening. We should have perhaps got around to travelling there before now, seeing as the majority of the family are either one quarter or one half Danish, but we somehow have been delaying it.


This simply meant that it was a perfect Travelling Tuesday choice for the recent in-laws visit. How wonderful to have another thinking about the food and getting all excited about the cultural journey. I thought we'd make something pretty straightforward, maybe something Inge normally cooks for the kids when they go to visit, but it's a pretty meaty cuisine and we have a vegetarian in tow. (Did I mention that previously?!). But she had a brainwave, and fiskefrigadeller it was.


Of course we couldn't stop there. Not with the idea of a smorsgabord hailing from those Viking shores. Their 'Smørrebrød' is an almost limitless option with an amazing range of things on ryebread. We had the wild (pickled herring) from our wonderful cornershop, and the ristede løj (toasted onions) which Inge smuggles back in her suitcase every time she travels to Denmark. Sausage (a not very Danish chorizo the only thing in the fridge), pepper, hard boiled eggs and rather too much red onion just added to the spread. The only thing Inge couldn't provide, which you can't be without if you're travelling to Denmark is 'remoulade' a yellowish mayonnaise made with pickled cucumber or capers. I got the job of making it from scratch because it's 'really easy'. Ha! (hollow laugh). Unmitigated disaster more like. Think I may have got the quantities wrong so while it tasted pretty authentic it was more like soup than mayonnaise. Which, if you ever need to know, is not that easy to spread on bread.




THE DISH

Thanks to the Family Dinner Book for this.
FOR 4-6 SERVINGS, YOU NEED:




2 pounds mild white fish, like pacific cod, halibut or tilapia (check to make sure your choices are good for both your family and the sea).

1 cup un-seasoned bread crumbs

¾ cup milk or water

2 eggs, lightly beaten

½ small onion

3 bacon slices, or 3 ounces smoked salmon (optional)

½ lemon, zested

A small handful fresh parsley and/or dill

1 teaspoon salt (less if you are using the bacon or salmon)

Pepper to taste

Grapeseed or canola oil
Put the bread crumbs, milk, eggs, salt and pepper in a small bowl and let soak.


In your food processor, put both onions, bacon or salmon, lemon zest and herbs and pulse until fine. Then add your fish and pulse until everything has the consistency of a coarse pudding. (If you don’t have a food processor you can finely chop everything by hand, it will only take a few minutes longer, but be diligent, it needs to stick together in the end). Fold the fish into the breadcrumb mixture.


Heat up a heavy skillet and drizzle in a thin layer of oil to cover the bottom. With wet hands gently form about 1 heaping soup spoon of the batter into a cake or quenelle (mini foot ball) and slide onto the pan, repeat with the remaining batter. Let the cakes sizzle over medium heat for about 4 minutes before you check if they are golden and release easily from the pan, if they do flip them, if not wait a bit longer … it is best not to flip them too early as they will stick to the pan. If you are making more than one batch keep the first ones warm in a 200℉ oven.


Quick remoulade sauce
 YOU NEED:




1/4 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup Greek yoghurt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley and/or dill

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped tart pickles (I used capers)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon mild curry

pepper, to taste


To make 1 cup, mix everything together, put in a nice bowl, chill.


Cumber side dish (agurkesalat)


There's one recipe on My Danish Kitchen but I think Inge just made it up, to be honest. It's basically cucumber sliced very finely and marinated in vinegar and sugar with a little black peppercorn and dill thrown in.


THE REACTION


The worst thing about not blogging straight after the event is that I can't remember intimate details. The kids always like to have their grandparents over so it was a good vibe generally and there weren't too many complaints about travelling to Denmark. In fact it was with some shock ourselves that we realised we last went there in real life in 2009 - when the Littlest was only 3. Time to book another trip I think. Especially as he was the only one of the kids who tucked into the sild - in another shocking departure from his normal circumspection of all things new.







The table looked amazingly colourful and the mixture of coke/fanta (it was the holidays, after all) and Aquavit (the ubiquitous Danish liquor based on the humble potato) definitely contributed to the conviviality.


THE VERDICT


As with our visit to Sweden I have to report that the kids aren't ryebread converts yet. N remembered how much he likes it so maybe we should have it in the house more and gradually chip away at them. And though fishcakes are not their favourite either they did pretty well and a good time was had by all. We even say a Danish grace, 'natch.


Alle gode gaver,
de kommer oven ned,
så tak da Gud, ja, pris dog Gud
for al hans kærlighed.


It's the chorus of 'We plough the fields and scatter'. The English version is:

All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above,

So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all His love. I try and remember the last line in Danish by thinking of it as 'all his curly hair'. Which is why I'm not a linguist.


DESSERT




I don't know why we don't have æbleskiver more often. They're just like balls of pancake mixture and it is no secret that this family is overly keen on pancakes. I guess they're just a little bit harder to make, even if we do have the rather lovely special pan ... which on reflection could be used to make those terrible trendy 'pop' cakes.. if I could ever be bothered.


Æbleskiver


2 egg whites
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
60g butter, melted
475ml buttermilk
250ml vegetable oil for frying



In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they can hold a stiff peak. Set aside.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, egg yolks, melted butter and buttermilk and beat until smooth. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Place 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the bottom of each aebleskiver pan hole and heat until hot. Pour in about 2 tablespoons of the batter into each hole. As soon as they get bubbly around the edge, turn them quickly with a fork. Continue cooking, turning the ball to keep it from burning.


And later we had some good old Danish entertainment involving intergenerational music and some hygge... (roughly translated as cosy fun... for more see Visit Denmark).

  

Happy Apple Day!

Last Monday it was Apple Day. Birthed by Common Ground in 1990 in response to the loss of varieties and orchards it's an opportunity to celebrate the rather wonderful English fruit (which is only like it is now thanks to Chinese cross-breeding centuries ago). I decided that though we didn't manage to enjoy the frivolities at Stoke Newington Farmers Market this year we could still try a few varieties and eat them in all sorts of ways.

My colleague at work brought bagfulls of apples from his tree at home (unidentified variety) and a combination of our wonderful local MFR greengrocer  and Waitrose supplied some other rather lovely types:

Sunrise - very white skin with a rosy side to them. Aromatic, crisp.
Royal Gala - red and small and crisp and juicy.
Russet - drier inside, with a slightly weird rough yellow/brown skn, but very sweet.
Pirourette - the largest eating apple I've ever seen. Skin is bright yellow and red and the flesh is almost peach like in it's aroma and sweetness.
Cox - green skin, tart, crispy, juicy.
Nik's (unknown variety) - a bit like Cox but even juicier.

L-R Sunrise, Cox, Russet, Royal Gala, Nik's, Pirourette

So, for a starter we just cut them all up in slices, and savoured them all in their glorious difference.

THE DISH
Thanks to Womans Day for 10 savoury apple suggestions including:

Apple Stuffed Chicken

• 1 Empire, Fuji or Braeburn apple,  cored and finely diced
• 120 mls shredded reduced-fat Cheddar
• 30 mls seasoned dried bread crumbs
• 7 mls chopped fresh thyme, plus 3 large sprigs
• 15 mls lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground pepper,  mixed
• 4 skinless boneless chicken-breast halves (6 oz each)
• all-purpose flour,  for dredging
• oil
• 180 mls apple cider
• 120 mls chicken broth
• 10 mls Dijon mustard

Directions

1. You'll need 12 wooden toothpicks. In a small bowl, mix apple, cheese, bread crumbs, chopped thyme, lemon juice and half the salt mixture. On a cutting board, lightly press each chicken breast flat with one hand; using a sharp knife, carefully cut into side of breast to form a deep, horizontal pocket (do not pierce top, bottom or far side of breast).
2. Divide the apple mixture into 4 portions and stuff into chicken pockets. With the toothpicks, pin closed. Sprinkle the remaining salt mixture over breasts. Dredge chicken in flour to lightly coat; tap off excess flour. (At this point, chicken can be refrigerated, covered, up to 6 hours.)
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown 3 minutes per side. Pour 1/2 cup of the apple cider and the broth into skillet; add thyme sprigs. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Remove chicken to a serving plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Whisk mustard and remaining 1/4 cup cider into juices in skillet; boil mixture 3 minutes on high until reduced and slightly thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

Needless to say I did a quorn fillet too, stuffing in this way, for the Eldest. And you may well have noticed that my selection of apples didn't include any of these three, but I can't say that the dish was the poorer for it. Still yummy, I thought.

I cooked red cabbage (with apple) as a side...

THE REACTION
We did get a little of the 'Oh is it Travelling Tuesday? But it's Thursday!' response. Which surprised me due to the heavy chicken content. But they all really engaged with the taste testing of the apples to start with. 


THE VERDICT
N and I thought it was really tasty. Eldest ate it all, as did Mr Middle, but the Littlest MacInnes really complained for some reason. It was hard word getting him to even try it and after much bribing, cajoling and chivvying on our part, and generally grumpiness on his, he declared 'I only like chicken with bones in'. Well, at least he's purest about it.

DESSERT
Wonderful big Bramleys roasted with raisins in their middles and a honeyed liquor round the outside. Whoop de whoop! I realise I keep using a whole range of superlatives to describe the apples. Possibly not enough to gain me a level '6' at SATS but quite a lot nonetheless. I think it must be because my parents' garden had 12 apple trees. Enough to inspire them to call the place 'Orchard House'. My childhood was full to bursting with apples - apple charlotte, crumble, fritters, pie, baked, stewed, fooled. I loved it all. We could even earn pocket money picking up windfalls. So there's quite a lot of emotional baggage in the humble apple for me. Hopefully I passed some of that onto the kids on our Apple Day!

Lebanon

Ye hay. Another red and green flag in the series. I wonder if there's a beginning to be an obvious correlation between the ubiquitousness of the green and red flags on this blog and my predilection for Middle Eastern food? Today even Youngest got involved in creating the atmosphere with a hastily coloured flag to match the one Eldest printed from the Internet. There's something about that cedar on it... a little bit homemade somehow. In a good way. Sort of 'Welcome to our country. We like trees'.

My paternal grandparents were travellers. They had a bit of money and they had a bit of an adventurous spirit, so whilst my maternal grandparents were happy for a week in the deck chairs at Margate the Toynbees clocked up a variety of itineraries including Cyprus, Iran and Lebanon. In fact I'll never forget the genuine sadness in her eyes as Nana reflected that just when they thought they'd found the perfect holiday destination it descended into civil war. Maybe their love of the Arabic World was brought about by Grandpa's spell in North Africa in World War 2? I should probably investigate a bit further. Maybe my love of it began deep in my subconscious as I played with the wooden camel train that sat on their window sill and marvelled at the camel saddle which was a favourite place to sit.

THE DISH
So, I had falafel mixture in the cupboard. I admit it. And I have a vegetarian daughter who I am trying to school in the art of enjoying pulses. But I chickened out once more in deference to the boys in my life and also prepared, ahem, chicken.

Lebanese Grilled Chicken - Djej Mishwe - (thanks to Mama's Lebanese Kitchen)

• 6 pieces of chicken (breast or leg quarters with skin)
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice
• 1 cup of red vinegar (apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar)
• 1 garlic head
• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of Arabic 7-Spices (or black pepper) (I bought karasik baharat which is more a '5 spice really!)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

In a bowl, sprinkle then rub ground cinnamon on raw chicken, rub with half a cup of vinegar for a couple of minutes and then rinse well with cold water. This will help rid the chicken of any smell. Make cuts in chicken pieces (for marinade to seep through).

 

In a blender or food processor, grind/crush for 3-4 minutes the garlic along with the lemon juice, 1/2 cup of red vinegar, salt, and 7-spices. Once done, add the olive oil then run the blender for 1 more minute. Your marinade is now ready. 

 

Place chicken in a bowl, add a few lemon slices (with peel), pour marinade on and let sit in the fridge overnight. (Needless to say I was not organised enough to do this. It had about one hour, maz. Still yummy though!). The longer you marinate the chicken the more flavor it will have. Once ready for cooking don’t throw away the leftover marinade, you’ll need it later.

 

Why is it that gherkins always look so unappealing?

Grill the marinated chicken on a BBQ as you would other chicken, on low to medium heat for about 20-25 minutes. In the first 10 minutes of grilling, brush the leftover marinade on the chicken occasionally so they stay moist and absorb more marinade flavor.

 

The falafel were the 'granose' variety and you just add water and roll 'em up. Easy peasy and I would say they were pretty OK as far as 'instant' falafel go.

Then we had the usual trimmings: hummus, tomatoes, green leaves (shredded spinach), yoghurt, gherkins (I wish I'd been able to get the crazy pink coloured ones that are so prevalent in the West Bank - and I presume in Lebanon too) if only to shock the kids! Oh, and I had some curried chick peas left over. It's my new favourite quick recipe for things like church bring and share lunches! Not that I've noticed any of the children eating it yet, but hey. It's a Hugh F-W one from his Veg Every Day book - which we're only just getting to grips with.

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2cm piece of ginger, finely grated
• A pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 teaspoons curry powder or paste
• 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 5 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A handful of coriander, to finish 

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and sweat for around 8 minutes, until soft and golden, then stir in the ginger, chilli flakes, garlic and curry powder or paste. Fry, stirring, for 1–2 minutes more.
Add the chickpeas, tomato ketchup and enough water to just loosen to a thick sauce consistency. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
Serve in warmed bowls scattered with coriander leaves. Plain rice, quick-cook noodles, naan or flatbreads are all good accompaniments.

THE REACTION
All quite understated really. I think of it as a mark of success of this project. Though to be honest I have noticed a new phrase creeping into the lexicon of the family.. "is it Travelling today?" And I wouldn't say it is asked with excitement and anticipation. More dread and trepidation. But nothing that a little bit of Wadih al-Safi on You Tube couldn't smooth away! (Legendary Lebanese folk singer who died, aged 92, just three days before our Lebanese adventure).

THE VERDICT
I have to say that the empty plates said it all. The Youngest even declared he liked the falafel. Wonders will never cease.


DESSERT
The wonderful Petek Bakery, purveyors of all sweet things Turkish, supplied drippingly good baklava to finish off. Amazingly Mr Middle wouldn't even try it. Eldest is always game for that sort of taste sensation but none of them really loved it. I guess they were right to an extent... it was just a bit too soggy. Personally, I feel that when you've had them from the Palestinian sweet shop just inside Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem nothing else comes quite as close.  

The Land of Neil

Oh dear. Just when I thought I was on a new term 'roll' I have rather slid to a halt again. There seems too often to be a good reason not to do a Travelling Tuesday.  Tomorrow is a Tuesday but I am going to a funeral and I suspect that will be my excuse for this week. Mostly it's more mundane. Quite often it is because Neil is away, or back too late to partake and it always feels a little too much effort without him around. But last week I had a work away day, which meant he picked the kids up and made tea. And when I got home wonderful smells of nothing less than prawn curry were wafting through the air.

Prawn curry? Maybe he just has thicker skin than me, but I would never have made prawn curry for my kids for fear of the whiney backlash and the complaints about going to bed hungry. And yet, as I walked in, he had not only cooked, but served and seen it was eaten too! Granted I think the Eldest (who as our resident 'pescatarian' should jolly well know better) didn't eat any of her prawns, and the Middle one did eat his under sufferance with a mountain of rice to wash it down, but the Youngest actually declared 'I Love Prawns'. This of course only confirms my children's extremely annoying

habit of only one of them liking anything. Maybe two at a push. Never all 3. But nevertheless seems to me to be another Travelling Tuesday Triumph. Especially as this was no namby pamby creamy korma crap. This was hard core, homemade, quite spicey prawn and tomato curry, turned green with the amount of fresh corriander. (Which, in all honesty, I don't really like... good job I was eating a little later and the children didn't see me leaving a good bit of sauce on my plate!!).

So, I really felt he'd carried off as good a Travelling Tuesday as there ever needed to be. No pictures, alas, as it all took my a bit by surprise. But at least a record of a recipe... something that's been rather lacking these past weeks.

Thai prawn curry via Good Food

• 2 tbsp curry paste (they used Patak's Origional Balti curry paste N used Patak's Tikka)
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 200g large raw or cooked prawns, defrosted if frozen
• 400g can chopped tomatoes with garlic
• large bunch coriander, leaves and stalks chopped
• I think N added garlic and grated ginger too.... 

Drizzle some oil from the curry paste jar into a wok or large frying pan, gently heat, then add the onion. Sizzle over a low heat for 4 mins until the onion softens, then stir in the paste and cook for a few mins longer. Stir in the prawns and tomatoes, then bring to a simmer. If using raw prawns, simmer until they have changed colour and are cooked through. Season, if you like, then add the coriander just before serving with boiled rice and naan bread.

Does this mean we've done Thailand too now??

Morocco

I am thinking of doing a whole series of Tuesdays devoted to countries with red and green flags. Isn't this a great flag? Really, the Islamic countries have got it sussed with flags.

In the vein of focusing on food I want to eat more regularly with the kids I chose Morocco so I could use the tagine paste I bought months ago and once again indulge my own personal preference for meat and fruit combos.

I checked out the tagine paste's website for a recipe and it even suggested to use chard, a much delivered but mainly ignored vegetable from our locally produced organic veg bag. Yay. But my thirst for fruitiness and the plethora of damsons in the bottom of our fridge (still not yet made into jam... don't tell my mum and dad!) lead me to get inspiration elsewhere and to finally settle on such a mix up of recipes that I feel I could even claim this one for my own! I'll call it lamb, damson and swiss chard tagine. Thanks to this blog for the damson inspiration. I noticed she is currently blogging about a rich beef and coconut recipe from Malaysia, so maybe I'll go back there for a bit more inspiration soon. It's an Islamic nation. Maybe Malaysia has a great flag too?
  
THE DISH
Lamb, damson and swiss chard tagine.

serves 4
one glug extra-virgin olive oil

one pack of bone in lamb leg steaks shoulder, trimmed and cut into chunks (probably could use any cut)
1 large white onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 large carrot, chopped into thick rounds
1/2 a 90g jar Belazu Tagine Paste
400g (canned) chick peas, drained
8-10 damsons
1 handful of chard, leaves and thinner stalks only, cut into strips
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
roasted almond flakes to sprinkle over

Season the lamb with salt and pepper.
Cook the sliced onions in oil over a gentle heat until soft and translucent (about 15 minutes). Add the lamb to brown. Pour off excess oil.
Add the tagine paste (half a jar) with 150ml water and add to the pan.  Stir to mix well then cover with another 150ml water and bring to a simmer. Add carrot slices and can of chick peas.
Turn the heat to low and simmer, partially covered for 1 hour.
Add the chard and damsons and cook, partially covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
serve with a sprinkle of roasted almond flakes. (I should probably admit, at this point, that when I tasted it I thought that rather bitter harissa type kick, which is probably what gives tagines their unique flavour, would not go down well with the kids so I add a tablespoon of sugar... shhhh).

serve with couscous (made with veg stock with added raisins) and I threw in some warmed flatbread that we had left over from a raucous party at the weekend to please the son with the bread fetish.

THE RESPONSE
Always a little of an uphill struggle when I haven't got husband-help to gee up the children. Youngest was super hungry as we ate too late for him and when he realised it was an adventurous day he threw himself in the armchair declaring that  he would not have tea, but only eat a peach. This is not a good sign. It can take him many minutes, and usually some serious shouting from a parent, for him to come around. But the lateness of the hour helped me feel sorry for him. I too have a terrible temper when I'm hungry, and I can spot hypoglycemia a mile off, so I got him a mini bowl full of almonds, and a couple of bits of pitta, for him to eat in the armchair. It worked like magic and soon he was at the table, actually digging into the couscous. Though he was simultaneously still declaring he hated couscous.


THE VERDICT
Eldest hardly blinks an eye at whatever is on her plate these days. It's such a relief. She's always been the easiest in this regard, actually, but I guess it's not surprising that she has the most mature taste buds. But she also ate the chick peas, declaring that she likes them. This is also a relief as she's vegetarian and really I would have preferred to have simply left out the meat for her version of tonight's meal, rather than pack it out with quorn alternatives. Mr Middle is beginning to eat heaps when he likes it. And he's developing a taste for meat. So the lamb was going down a treat. But even he also ate the chard and the chick peas. And Youngest actually ate most of it too... a mini triumph. Oh and I loved it - loved cooking it, loved eating it. N loved it. If this was the only upside of Travelling Tuesdays it would all have been worthwhile.

PUDDING
Another cheat: a friend bought N a massive chocolate and pistachio cake for aforementioned '45s' party. Well, pistachio has to be a good Moroccan treat, surely? The chocolate was a bit too bitter for the kids and the marbled cake a bit too green in the pistachio bit, but I guess that just means all the more for me :-)

 With N eating later, it never feels so easy to do any of that 'other' crossing continents stuff. We did find Morocco on a map, and watched some fab folk dancing. We even learnt which was its capital city (a place I had never heard of) had a look at some images of Rabat online. It was only later, when I was looking more closely at the map on a computer that I came across the Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla along its border. The Youngest had spotted how close its most northern tip was to the southern tip of Spain and we did say briefly that it was the way you would choose if you wanted to get from Africa to Europe. But I had no idea that there are whole cities on the Moroccan coast which are actually Spanish, and that naturally they are a destination of choice for migrants feeling nervous about an illegal sea crossing.  Goodness alone knows why Spain keeps them at all. On a purely practical level they must give the government such a headache. Mind you both articles I read about them did also refer to Gibraltar. Give 'em all back. That's what I say. And the Falklands. Better stop there eh? Probably controversial enough without getting into other areas of the globe a little closer to home!

Ceuta and Melilla immigrants: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/07/hundreds-of-migrants-storm-border-at-spain-enclave/

With apologies to Bangladesh

I am feeling rather loathe to blog these days. Perhaps the recent TTs have been too much of a cheat? I don't feel I've got anything to shout about really! This week could seem like I was really scraping the barrel. I decided that really the aim of this project was to get my kids eating a wider range of food, but recently I have realised that encouraging them to eat some weird Brazilian cake is all very well, but slightly misses the point if the likelihood is that we'll never have that cake again. So, I have decided that this autumn will see us revisiting some 'popular' countries (aka those with good takeaways nearby!) so that we can branch out from Pizza Express as our restaurant of choice, and rock up anywhere for a meal without complaints and moans.

So, out came the Anglo Asian menu card, and suddenly we were on our way to 'Bangladesh'. I did do some cursory web research to check out what country our 'Indian' take aways really originate in, but the most I could get was that Balti dishes may have originally come from the Baltistan region of Pakistan. My own experience of authentic Indian food on the subcontinent was so far removed from anything I have ever eaten at a 'curry' house here in the UK that I feel (sort of) OK with extending the label of the Anglo Asian from 'Indian' to 'Bangladeshi'. But this little introduction is really a confession to all those for whom true Bangladeshi cuisine means a great deal more than a phone call to a Stock Newington take away.

THE DISH
Chicken korma
Murgh Makhani
Lamb passanda
channa massala
Bombay potato
home made (!) poppadums
home made raita
 
THE REACTION
For some reason Youngest was around and up for helping with the preparation. Which was lovely because I am sure it helps him get his head around trying the food. He made the raita and fried the poppadums - which was great until I put them in the oven to keep warm and burnt them all! Good job AA delivered some more. He enthusiastically dipped his poppadums into all the bowls of strange looking dips (which I never do!) but this maybe because they look like they're made of melted boiled sweets! And then made his way through a bit of chicken with generic 'mild' sauce and only had a very small bit of tomato ketchup on his rice.


THE VERDICT
To be honest, the shocking reality was that all the dishes were just a bit too creamy and sweet. Eldest had recently had a chick pea curry at school and was not impressed with the AA version 'it's too sweet', and I had to agree with her. The murgh makhani was a bit too much like korma - but maybe with a bit more 'kick' but I have to say that the chicken you get in these dishes always seems a little 'processed' to say the least. Surely there's a gap in the market for 'real' Indian restaurants? Even the lamb passanda sauce looked just like korma and the lamb was a bit tough. It came with a 'special egg friend rice' which seemed to be slightly crossing continents but which all the kids liked (ye-hay). The potato dish provided our only respite from cream and coconut, and it was fresh and tomatoey. Which meant, of course, that the boys didn't eat it, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

Mr Middle: Mum, I have tried that cucumber stuff.  Me: Nice? Mr Middle: No

At the last minute I remembered I'd brought nan bread ages ago. It's been in the freezer for 18 months so I felt very pleased with myself for getting them out to heat up but I totally forgot them in the oven and now their charred tendons are in the recycling bucket.  Ho hum. So, note for next curry take away: order some dishes that don't come in pale orange gloop! Maybe even make my own with happy chickens... now there's a thought!

At least we managed to get out the world map and talk a bit about Bangladesh, listen to some of its fabulous folk music and wonder at the flag, which I had no idea looked like this!

Having looked at the menu card again today I notice that they have a little section, which I didn't see when I ordered on line, called 'Bangladeshi village fish varieties'! Damn, had I seen that before we might have even been a little more authentic, as well as enjoying a generic curry! 

Mummy can I have some more reindeer meat?

There are some phrases you never imagine your children will use. "Can I have some more reindeer meat?' is certainly one of them. Which is interesting because that is exactly what Youngest said to me the other day.

 When you've schlepped along to the blue and yellow temple and emptied the contents of your purse into the Ikea tills the least it can do in return is inspire a Travelling Tuesday! And though there is an element of guilt in the recent marked increase in usage of pre-packaged TT fare, at which Ikea excels, I do have to keep reminding myself this is supposed to be a) fun b) kiddie friendly and c) do-able.

I did wonder out loud to the wonderful Annabelle, who joined us for the food, whether or not there was anything remotely authentic about the food you can buy at Ikea. But she reassuringly said that our Swedish friend told her that Ikea food isn't that far off the sort of food you get canteens up and down the country. So, authentic take-away/rubbish food then. Hooray!

THE FOOD
I sneakily began the introduction to Swedish fare in the car on the way home. Nothing like keeping two boys out shopping well past lunchtime to make them pretty much hungry enough to eat anything. And before they knew it they'd nearly finished the packet of dried elk meat sausages that I handed them (Vilt snacks).

The drinks went down a storm - the blueberry drink made lovely purple moustaches and the rhurbarb cordial (Saft Rabarber) is such a fantastic shade of pink that it seems to hardly matter that you can't really taste the rhubarb at all! And the grown ups seemed to manage their apple cider without any complaints.

But the starter didn't exactly have everyone salivating. There is a strong Danish gene pool running through our kids but we have been remiss at training them in the liking of pickled fish or rye bread. Two staples which the Swedes seem to have a penchant for too. Annabelle had even got the kids to make the rye bread (along with picking them up from school, getting them snacks, keeping an eye on her wee babby, making interesting conversation and generally being amazing) but that didn't seem to encourage them to try it even.


The Lovely Josie, who joined us too, was polite and adventurous, declaring 'I am not keen on fish' but getting on with it anyway. But apart from asking for some more reindeer slices my two boys and Mr Els got 'nil points' for their starter!

Starter
Rye bread with a variety of toppings: pickled herring (Sill Dill); salmon (Lax Najad) and sliced, smoked reindeer meat. For the first time in our whole married life there didn't seem to be a half eaten pot of 'rost aloi' (dried onions) or squashed tube of remoulade in our fridge. But we coped without them and downed our sorrows with Aalborg Aquavit (schnaps made with potato).  

Main
Meatballs, 'natch. It always takes me by surprise how tiny the Ikea ones are. Apparently that's common in Sweden. They make them with a combination of pork and beef and I was horrified to see that Skandikitchen says that the Danes tend to use a mix of pork and veal. Ewugh. I bought ready made rosti too. How much of a cheat is that?! Chucked in a few green beans and it was about the easiest Travelling Tuesday to date. The resident veggie got a couple of rosti with some melted ost (cheese) inbetween them.

Pudding
Also grabbed off a shelf in haste, but with enough chocolate to appeal to children, I actually forgot to get them out straight away as there was a lot of coming and going of people. Shame really because they were really not a big hit - overly sweet, pappy, full of fluff and without a grain of 'real' chocolate in sight - and we could have done with having some more people to share them amongst! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised with names like 'Sotsak Skumtopp' and 'Sotsak Kakaboll'. Ewugh.

THE REACTION

The very nice thing about doing Travelling Tuesdays with friends in tow is that there are generally less complaints from the children department. They don't complain about being so hungry so much. They don't complain about the food presented to them so much. This maybe due to the good influence of the Lovely J, but I think they are just generally chatting more and more easily distracted. It's also nice for our kids to have some others to rope into the whole 'making Swedish flags' shennanigans.

THE VERDICT
Mr M: I hated the starter but loved the potato pancake and I like the meat balls with ketchup.
The Lovely J: if you put it (the herring) on the bread with the cheese and meat you can hardly taste it.
Mr K: Guys guys look - I love these (the kakabolls!). They have coconut and mashed up biscuits inside and when we made them at school we made little ones. (Now there's a thing he didn't tell me about school one day. I do wonder what else they get up to!!).

As we were heading out of the door of Ikea, having already paid for our food shopping and balanced not one, not two, but three trolleys between me and the 2 boys, I noticed that they had 'crayfish' decorations. Not one who easily misses clues to a festival I was sorely tempted. But the crayfish themselves were not to be seen in the immediate vicinity and I didn't rate my chances at suggesting we might go hunting for them. Shame in a way - it seems like crayfish parties are big in Sweden in August and September. Hey ho. Maybe we'll do a crayfish party next year. Ikea sponsored, or not.

Cornish fare

How good it is to be on holiday in Cornwall in a summer like this one's been. Actually hot days, swimming in the sea and hardly being rained off from anything. Nothing to beat it!

We felt we should definitely taste the wares and were not disappointed by our wonderful (in absentia) hosts Holly and Rob who left home made scones and Rodda's clotted cream. The combination of that, the perfect retro tea cups and a glorious late afternoon sun drenched garden, made it pretty much my all time top cream tea experience. Even better when two out of three children don't like cream... so much more to go around.

The beer wasn't bad either. Nor the pasties, though I think we didn't really got very near to authenticity with them. Still, they were pretty tasty none the less. A bit like sausages I guess.. you just can't help but like them, but if you ever really did any investigation into the contents you'd never have one again. I read a quote by the comic Milton Jones over the summer. "Christianity is a bit like a Cornish pasty. There's definitely something in it, but sometimes it's difficult to find out what it is."  

The saffron buns looked fun, but weren't really. N and I just about finished them off toasted but the kids weren't interested and I couldn't blame them. Dry, overly yellow, and with a strange taste that, no doubt, was supposed to be saffron, but was almost certainly some dodgy food colouring. I'll stick with scones thanks!

Ramadan Kareem

I think this week might just have been one culinary mash up too far. 

I've been thinking about Ramadan a lot. Always keen to be inspired by ready made festivals its presence in the diary couldnt really be ignored. Especially after last week's 4th July bash and all the excess it seems to represent. It felt nice to try to introduce the concept of fasting even though Ramadan also involves feasting. It began on Wedsnesday which happened to be the day of Eldest's school yr 6 leaving "prom". (Don't get me going on the whole prom thing for 11 year olds. That's for another rant). 

I spent a happy hour or so perusing the Internet and though I was unable to yield any particular ideas for an Iftar (the meal to break the fast) I did happen across the Muslim Council of Great Britain's Meeting the Needs of Muslim Pupils in State Schools.  It's a fascinating read and I learnt loads. Not least that though children are not expected to fast a full day until they reach puberty they often fast from individual meals or do half days to get used to the discipline slowly and to enjoy the sense of community shared with the adults. 

Ramadan fascinates me. I am drawn to and repelled by its severity in equal measure. I feel glad I am part of a religious persuasion that doesn't require of me anything nearly as hard. And yet I feel totally amazed by the  commitment and satisfaction displayed by those who fast for Ramadan. I don't really know if the Council's guide for schools takes in a whole range of Muslim approaches to the month of fasting. Is there, as I suspect, a variety within the community, as there is with so many things which seem monolithic on the outside? The the report seemed to suggest unanimity of approach which I was surprised by. To be honest I was surprised that children fast at all. It mentioned that teachers should be aware that children may be very tired having risen before dawn for the suhoor (pre dawn meal). It suggested children be given something to break their fast even if they are being kept late, ie beyond the time for iftar (the meal at sundown) for detention for instance. And to offer children who have free school meals a packed lunch to take home if they wanted it. It even mentioned that some parents will keep children from swimming lessons in case they swallow water unintentionally (though it did concede that many feel this is unnecessarily strict). 

It made all the chocloate fountain plans for the "prom" seem ridiculously inappropriate for a school with so many Muslim kids in it. I got onto my high horse immediately and emailed the Head to see what was the likely fall-out. Would some kids find it very hard to be surrounded with sweet treats? Would many just not come? I had plans for providing some take-out boxes so kids could at least take some of the party food home if they were not able to enjoy it at the Prom itself. Wednesday was just mad for me and, to my shame, I never made it happen. But the kids seemed mostly to be there, and having a wonderful time, so families just must have made it work somehow. Like they do probably all the time when their particular needs are not catered for.

So, all this lead to me planning a Travelling Tuesday with a difference. I would simply delay our evening meal... I would not give any snacks after school but to talk about fasting, and the particular Islamic approach to it. So that we would feel just a little bit of hunger when so many neighbours are experiencing 18 hours without food. And then to break our (mini) 'fast' with some 'normal' food, knowing that curries and other things that may be gracing the tables of our Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Nigerian neighbours' iftars, would not go down well with the kids. I figured Muslims must break the fast with their 'normal' food so that in the case of British converts could that not be pasta or pizza?

I like to think that the idea, in theory, was a good one. In practice there were a number of definite problems:

1) A friend asked Mr Middle for a play after school and though I said I would pick him up before tea, I knew that he wouldn't arrive having 'fasted' since lunchtime.. that his post-school snacks would be much more impressive than any I usually serve up.

2) As I left with Youngest the long-suffering mum sent one of her many boys after us to see if he would like to join them. So that was two out of three who were not exactly going to know how it felt to be hungry.

3) As soon as I got home the Eldest's friend arrived so I could do the piano-lesson-run. It was a hot day and so I dished out ice creams. For everyone. Me included. It was only later when were half way to piano that I realised that generally ice creams are not allowed if you're fasting! (I was always like this as a youngster when I tried, several years in a row, to give up biscuits for Lent. It would be on about biscuit number 3 of the day, some way part through an evening, that I would remember that I shouldn't be eating them at all!)

4) On our arrival back from the lesson, we were all a bit hot and though I was careful not to fall into the ice cream trap again (!) I was a hairsbreadth away from glugging a pint of water before I realised I shouldn't be drinking either. 

5) When N arrived at about 7pm, relatively late from work, there was a distinct 'Where on earth is tea?' look in his hungry eyes. Hurray I thought - at least someone hasn't eaten since lunch. But he looked distinctly unimpressed when I told him tea would still be quite a while and though I did protest I couldn't quite bring myself to be hardline about the peach.

Except that it's the deciding what to eat part of feeding the family that I find so wearying. Happening upon Marks and Spencers 'Dine in for a tenner' seemed too good a deciding factor to pass up and I thought I could make it stretch to a family of 4 which includes 2 boys who don't eat much and a girl who's a veggie - and it certainly did stretch given that the boys had already had pizza by the time they arrived home! Even with a foreign twist (duck in plum sauce) it was possibly the weirdest iftar ever eaten. I love the idea that traditionally people have broken their fast with dates, so we enjoyed some lovely sticky sugary lozenges (well the kids didn't really enjoy them to be honest. Don't really understand it when they don't like sugary things) but that's probably where any likeness to an itfar meal stopped. We even finished off with profiteroles. I ask you.

I'd like to report that even though the 'travelling' aspect of the food left a lot to be desired all our conversation contributed to a fantastic insight to fasting, Ramadam and the Muslim faith. I wish. You'll have to look elsewhere for that... http://interfaithfriday.wordpress.com/ is a good start.. an interfaith innitiative in London and including a Christian's reflection on how it was to fast with Muslim neighbours for 10 days during Ramadan. There's a lot of inspirational stuff out there. Here? Here it's a bit more mundane! I think for me Ramadan will forever be linked to M&S 'dinner for two' and profiteroles. Just don't ask for any profound theological reflections!

Happy Birthday America!

(Mental note to self: must not use exclamation marks in every post title).

Travelling Tuesday moved last week to a Thursday to encompass and embrace the 4th July and the accompanying celebrations for American Independence Day.

As someone working on Israel/Palestine issues I am only too aware that one set of people's Independence Day can easily be another's catastrophe so it was with some trepidation that I approached 4th July. It helps that the lovely American friends in Hackney we invited to join us are exactly the sort of people who would uphold Native American/Indigenous/American Indian people's rights and claims for justice. And I would have been quite interested in having some conversations around this issue during our soiree. But limited time and other factors conspired against this. To be honest, though it's fun to invite others to share our Travelling Tuesdays, it does rather take away from any intentional conversation around the place/celebration we are sharing and I think it is quite possible that the kids remain as ignorant about what 4th July means to Americans as they did before we enjoyed our BBQ!

I feel like I am getting less and less adventurous with the food bit of this project. But I have to keep telling myself that it a) needs to be sustainable and I shouldn't beat myself up about its purity and b) sometimes the food will take second place to the celebration or festival itself and the religion/country behind it. (I am already planning an iftar for this week... but not one which most Muslims would recognise!)


THE DISH
So, an All American Bar-beeee-que. Hooray for the wonderful BBQ weather we're having at the moment. It would have been a sad state of affairs indeed to have to have eaten indoors!

Burgers - I never buy burgers. But I testify that Sainsbury's Taste the Difference burgers are totally awesome (well probably about as best as you'll get in a supermarket anyway!).
Corn - never quite got it on the BBQ due to lack of space (and a ridiculously mini BBQ which would get laughed out of town in the States!) but never the less it was very good.
Coleslaw - I cheated and bought some but, in homage to Ali Adeney Lawrence who made coleslaw for every single community event she ever went to, I added salted peanuts and raisins. Yum.
Veg skewers - A triumph of red, white and blue even if I say so myself. As I put the mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and, um, dark blue/black grapes on the skewers I did realise I should have plumped for black olives. But actually they went down a storm. BBQ-ed grapes. A new discovery??
Chicken - marinated in garlic and cider vinegar and lime.
prawns - marinated in sweet chilli dressing and lime. Lots of lime used generally. Such a great ingredient.
Green salad - no great shakes just chucked together what was in the fridge.

Firecracker punch - a mash up of various recipes I found which also seemed to get the thumbs up.
0.5 l ginger ale (or more if you like more kick. And adding ginger wine, of course if you want yours alcoholic)
0.5 l lemonade
a good glug of cranberry juice
a good glug of summer fruits cordial (undiluted - all the recipes I found have some sort of sickly sweet ingredient in there somewhere!)
juice of a couple of limes

I decorated the glasses with cocktail sticks of strawberries, blueberries and marshmallows, and plastered mini star-spangled banners everywhere for good measure!

DESSERT

We were somewhat drowning in berries and ice cream. But I didn't hear anyone complain. The raspberries in our garden are just about ripe too so it felt good to be celebrating the abundance of summer. Kari's mum had worked on blueberry farms in Indiana and I have fantastic memories of strawberry picking as a child. Mental note to self no 2: take kids strawberry picking this holiday.

And watermelon. We had watermelon. It just makes everyone happy. 

THE VERDICT
Unless you abandon your evening's conversation it is pretty difficult gauging exactly what kids eat on an evening like this, let alone gauge their response. It helped that Little Elizabeth (as we call her.. to distinguish her from the Minister!) inhabited the role of 'mum' to her family of 4 kids (most of whom are double her age) and I could happily abdicate responsibility of who was eating what to her. She even got them to wash their hands before dinner. (She can come again!).

But no one went to bed hungry. And we didn't have much left over. And though Justin had never before in his life drunk a Budweiser I don't think we did too badly at good ole U S of A authenticity for such an occasion (though we sort of run out of time for the sparklers I'd bought... though in the broad daylight of a summer evening they might have been a bit odd). And we even got to our second engagement of the evening in time. So all in all another triumph!