The Silver Spoon for Children - and easy garlic & olive 'focaccia'

My hatred of cooking with the children has been mellowing apace, and half term week last week was an opportunity to poke that little bug bear of mine and find it less irritating than it has been, and actually rather enjoyable. 

It has come about that with the move to the new house, we no longer have a dishwasher. Well, actually, we now have 2 new and incredibly reluctant dishwashers, Blue and Pink. Based on the rule that operates in the Recipe Junkie household that if you don't cook, you wash up, there has been a veritable stampede towards the kitchen pre-dinner. 

The breakthrough for me addressing my horror of cooking with the children has, I think, been the move away from baking WITH me, from Blue wanting to concoct utterly over the top and unrealistic creations and Pink with her "call me when it's time to lick the bowl" approach, to them both wanting to cook actual meals, WITHOUT me . Baking is my solace, my relaxation, my treat, whereas I cook meals every day of the week, and much as I enjoy it, it's nice to have someone else do it every now and again.

And so here we are, and while on one hand I am wishing time would stand still, that they wouldn't grow up, that Blue wasn't starting secondary school in a mere 3 months' time, that Pink wasn't obsessed with pop stars and needing me to have Mother-Daughter chats about growing up, on the other I am positively delighted that in this area, they are becoming more confident.  Both still require a certain amount of oversight/supervision/intervention in the kitchen, especially when it comes to such things a draining hot pans of pasta, but I'm trying really, really hard not to take over, to take a back seat and to let them get on with it, and the results have been pretty impressive.

While Blue has been perusing more adventurous recipes, fuelled mainly by the constant ravening hunger of an 11 year old boy, Pink, who's a stickler for following instructions for things like this, has been keen to find 'children's recipes' and I've been particularly impressed with The Silver Spoon for Children book which she was given for her 9th birthday recently. 

40 recipes taken from the adult version of this seminal Italian cookery book, simplified and aimed for children as young as 9 to be able to manage with minimal supervision. It's a big, colourful and sensible book with real food in it, good basics as well as some good 'techniques' to learn. 

Food-wise, the book includes 4 sections, lunches and snacks, pasta and pizza, main courses and desserts and baking. The recipes are lots of good basics, and recipes that build on each other - for example pizza dough, then pizza margherita, followed by pizza napoletana and sausage pizza. It might not seem very adventurous, but it's a good sensible approach and for kids trying to cook on their own, very straightforward.

The only things I'd like to have seen would be a list of equipment for each recipe alongside the ingredients ("Mummy! I need a LID for this PAN") and also a time estimate at the outset, but in fairness, it's good for encouraging children to read through the recipe all the way to the end before even donning an apron. Pink also found it difficult to follow the recipe steps across the double spread, which meant she kept jumping from step 3 to step 7, rather than crossing to the next page for steps 4, 5 and 6, but the pictures/steps are numbered, so that probably says more about her than the book...

Pink has so far selected to make a tomato and mozarella salad - hardly rocket science, but lots of tomato slicing and talking about ingredients, and then yesterday, a 2 course meal: spaghetti with tomato sauce followed by stuffed peaches.

Unfortunately, my phone died so I can't bring you pictures of the finished article, but it was delicious. Both the spaghetti and tomato sauce, and the stuffed peaches for dessert.

I was particularly dubious about the peaches, requiring as it did, the stones to be removed fairly neatly, eggs to be separated and various bits of fiddling about, but she managed it pretty much single-handedly. And did I say everything was pretty fool-proof and delicious? It is. I'd definitely recommend this if you're thinking of buying a cookery book for a 9/10 year old who's interested in cooking proper food.

And what did I add to proceedings (apart from being sous-chef, occasional crisis manager and sauce stirrer?) well, to stop myself from interfering too much, I made a quick 'focaccia' type bread to go with the spaghetti and make it more of a Sunday dinner. I am not in any way claiming this to be a genuine focaccia - for a start it doesn't have nearly enough olive oil in it - but it's a good filler and pretty darn tasty, as well as being quick and easy to knock up. It's also good with a sharp cheddar cheese the next day...

Olive & Garlic sort of 'Focaccia'

1 sachet easy blend yeast
2 tsp caster sugar
400g strong white flour
100g semolina flour
2 tsp fine sea salt
3-4 fat cloves of garlic
black olives
leaves picked from a good 5/6 sprigs of thyme
sea salt

You'll also need a tray bake tin around 30 by 23 cm with sides around 4 cm, and some good olive oil or rapeseed oil

Measure around 325 ml hand hot water into a jug, stir in the yeast and sugar and leave for a few minutes.

Combine the flours in a large bowl with the salt.

Gradually stir the yeasty water into the flours to make a rough-ish dough, then tip out onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes or so till you have a smooth dough. You can also knead in a mixer.

Leave the dough in a warm place to rise - it shouldn't take too long, may be 30-40 minutes, then take your tin and generously lug olive oil into the bottom - may be a tablespoon's worth. 

Shape the dough into a rectangle in the tin, cover and leave for another 20 mins or so, and get the oven on to pre-heat to 230C.

While the dough is on its second prove, peel and finely chop the garlic (bash the cloves first with a rolling pin, it makes it easier to peel them - a tip I learnt from The Silver Spoon for Children), chop up the olives into halves. 

After 20 minutes or so, stick your fingers into the puffy dough to make lots of dimple-like indentations then scatter over the chopped garlic and olives, the picked thyme leaves and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Glug some more oil over the top, then pop in the oven and bake for around 15-20 minutes till golden and delicious.

Hotter shoes - Finding my 'perfect pair'

In which I am introduced to the world of Hotter Shoes and skip off to live happily ever after with my #perfectpair...

Reader, let me lead you away from the kitchen, away from my comfort zone, to the wardrobe, a place of anxiety, of insecurity, a place where I stand and fret - not about having nothing to wear, but simply what to wear. Particularly where shoes are concerned. I don't buy shoes that often, but when I do, it's often an impulse - shoes that I like the look of, but that don't fit me quite right, or don't quite give me the versatility that I need, and certainly aren't comfortable enough to wear more than once. My shoe wearing history is littered with footwear that my feet start to scream if I so much as look at them. "Don't put THOSE on" they scream at me. "Remember last time?" they wail. "The blisters? The back pain? The AGONY"...

Not only that, but at 43, I frequently feel ill-equipped for the various sartorial challenges life throws at me. In preparation for the occasional smart occasions I am required to attend, I find myself whispering "Don't forget earrings" to myself at increasingly frequent intervals, and panicking about whether I can get away without wearing tights, from about 5 p.m. onwards, fretting about not having the right shoes, only to pull on my boots of last resort which "will do".

Secretly, I think a lot of why I love living out in this most rural of places is that no one expects anything other than comfy clothes, and practical shoes most of the time.

But I do crave elegance, I crave style. I crave gorgeous shoes. And one day, just ONE DAY, I would love to feel both properly dressed for the occasion, and deeply comfortable not only with what I was wearing, but actually comfortable too - outfit, shoes, bag, the works.

Well, I say one day, but it actually happened, this weekend. I was at a wedding. I felt glamorous, I felt well-dressed. I remembered my earrings. And reader, I was wearing knock out shoes.

Shoes that made my feet feel dainty (I rock a wide fitting size 7). Shoes that complimented my outfit. Shoes that had a heel. Shoes I could walk in - run in even; shoes I could (exhausted children notwithstanding) have barn danced in all evening. 

Hotter Shoes.

Now you may have dismissed Hotter shoes as shoes for old ladies with bunions, and indeed, in the Hotter Shoes range, there are plenty of comfortable sandals available. However, do not be fooled. There are also a significant number of awesome shoes; shoes to totally fall in love with. Shoes that fit properly, yet look fabulous and feel great. Shoes that you can wear all day and wake up the next day without feeling totally crippled.

I was invited to attend a Hotter Shoes blogger event organised at the Carmarthen store - plenty of lush nibbles, some Welsh bloggers to meet, as well as the Hotter Shoes PR ladies, Mel and Jenny, and the Carmarthen Hotter store team - all very lovely people. A great opportunity and what's more, I knew I was going to be able to choose a pair of shoes to take home with me (yes! a pair of shoes!). Fed up with my failure to have the right shoes for the right occasion, I went with the forthcoming wedding - and a particular skirt - in mind.

Rather than struggling to find one pair that would be right (as I feared might be the case), it was actually difficult to choose only one pair.

After much deliberation, and trying on, much  marching up and down, discussion, humming and hah-ing, I chose a pair of navy patent and suede 'Michelle' shoes - a cute heel, and yes, very versatile. It was a tough decision - I did feel torn: I was also very keen on a rather lovely pair of pink Antoinette shoes, some flowery Hattie wedges and despite my determination to come away with something pretty, I did keep getting distracted by the range of sandals and walking boots available ( you can take the girl out of the country...).

Decision made, and wedding duly attended, I can honestly, hand on heart tell you that these are some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. The shoes went on at 10.00 a.m. and were still on at 6. They would have stayed on longer but the kids flaked out and I drew the short straw and had to bow out of the barn dancing. But I have absolutely no doubt that my shoes would have seen me through.

But the brilliant thing is that they don't look like comfy shoes. They look like (and they are) lovely shoes. They go with trousers, with skirts and they make me feel smart and elegant, but also able to walk, run, go about everything I need to. As a trial run, I wore them last week while delivering a training course, quite a stressful scenario and not one that awkward new shoes would have enhanced, but it simply wasn't an issue. First wear - no blisters, no rubbing, no problems. And a friend who had been less then complimentary about Hotter shoes when I told her I was going to the Carmarthen event, and who I saw the day of the course, said that she had totally changed her mind and would be visiting...

Clearly there's been a huge amount of thought gone into the technical design of the shoes, including air bubble technology in the soles of the shoes, but also, to the styling. And it's also worth mentioning that the staff in store are completely brilliant - attentive, trained to fit the shoes properly, know the shoes, and committed to help you find your perfect pair, not just make a sale. Liz helped me at the Carmarthen store and quite honestly, I would trust her to find me the right pair of shoes any day.

And in fact it was so hard to choose that I availed myself of a promotional 20% discount that was kindly available to us on the night and bought the wedges too...

And if you're feeling like you'd like to chuck out your preconceptions about Hotter Shoes (you should do), you can receive a 10% off discount, valid until 31st July 2015, if you purchase online  and enter voucher code PMATEN at the checkout. 

The code entitles you to 10% off plus FREE delivery for first orders only. You are entitled to 10% off the total order value of any full priced items in the Hotter range (excluding shoe care products) plus FREE delivery.  This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offer or on Sale or Factory Clearance items and gift vouchers.

The discount code can be used on our website from Friday 22^nd May and ends on 31^st July 2015. 

Food for Thought, Cardigan

The anniversaries are coming thick & fast, aren't they? February seems to be the month for the Recipe Junkie clan to 'do things'. The latest? Well, we've been in Wales a year. 

And it looks like we're staying, with plans afoot for a permanent home, of which more when things are further down the line...

It seems like an age ago we were traipsing round rental properties, looking at schools and generally hanging out in cafes in Cardigan between appointments as the dreadful winter of 2013/2014 raged around us, and I did more than occasionally wonder what on earth we were doing.

Anyway, it's all turned out mostly magnificently. Not saying there haven't been ups and downs, by any stretch, and certainly it's fair to say that what this part of the country has in jaw-droppingly stunning scenery, empty, clean beaches and a slower pace of life is balanced out by various inconveniences. Broadband that could more properly be likened to having a couple of pixies doing tightrope on a very old and frayed bit of string to distribute the 0s and 1s (or whatever code it is these days), for one, and the fact that at the moment, I have to get in the car to do anything. I even have to get in the car to walk the dog who has started to refuse to leave the house on the lead. He goes and sits by the car until I relent and take him down the beach. He simply refuses to go on what was our standard 'round the lanes' walk. I mean, I see his point, but it's not always helpful. And what I'm going to do in summer when many of our favourite beaches are closed to dogs, I don't know.

Anyway, back to the original point, one of the cafes I hung out in quite a lot when we were organising the move here was Food for Thought in Cardigan.

We can recommend the squdgy lemon slice

Cardigan is a town of cafes. Something for everyone, and it seems a new one opening every week (well we've had a flurry in the last 3-4 months, and even - gasp - a 'chain' taking up residence in place of the much mourned 25 Mile). But Food for Thought has been around for a bit and I love it. It's great for coffee and cake, and they have a good selection of lunch meals from sandwiches to more substantial specials.

I have to say that since moving here, I've tended to only go there for coffee (until recently it was the only place selling decent coffee open before 10) but they've been upping their game on the food stakes (perhaps in response to the opening of the coffee chain and also an artisan bakery/coffee shop which I'll be visiting soon) and have been filling their Facebook page with tauntingly delicious sounding Asian inspired lunches. So my friend and I indulged ourselves, and went for lunch.

It's warm and cosy - a big bonus when it's either freezing cold, lashing with rain or - worst case scenario - both, I love the semi-vintage decor and combination of chairs and tables or big comfy sofas, the staff are friendly, and the food is good. They can be a little slow, but then, that's life in Ceredigion... 

The '30g' Salad

No, it's not a solitary, meagre 30g of salad, but what I thought I might rather catchily call a '30g' salad if, you guessed it, I used 30g of all the ingredients. As you'll see, though, it didn't quite work like that, partly because 30g of chick peas just seemed to measily, but I managed a pretty delicious lunch based on 30g or multiples thereof.

And yes, I am trying to lose some weight, and yes, along with the rest of the world, I'm regretting the excesses of Christmas. My clothes are getting too tight, and frankly, I need to shed a few pounds because I can't afford to buy new clothes. Also, there's a small matter of a 25 year school reunion coming up. 25 years. Since I left school (if it was 25 years since I'd started school, I wouldn't be feeling so positively old about it all). And while I am perfectly happy with who I am & what I look like (mostly) these days, I have a definite sense of impending assessment. I know that it absolutely shouldn't matter one jot what my erstwhile classmates think of me these days - but deep down (actually, not that deep down), I do.

There's also the small matter of aging (as evidenced by the 25 year reunion issue) and the fact that I want to remain healthy and fit for a good long while - and no one else is going to do that for me.

So while I'm not jumping on any particular dietary bandwagon (been there, done that, mostly failed miserably), I'm trying to eat a bit better, embrace the leafy greens in my life. Count a few calories and do more exercise. Lock down the peanut butter. 

Salad can be a bit tedious, truth be told, and so I've had to re-approach the subject with a bit of imagination. Of course, salad doesn't have to mean 'leaves', but I am quite fond of leaves provided they are punchy in terms of flavour and texture. I love good watercress - used to eat armfuls of it in Hampshire where it's native and readily available. Rocket is also something I'm partial to, and I'm looking forward to the summer to get some of our own salad growing again. In the meantime, I'm always on the look out for other interesting leaves. Kale is very much the leaf of the moment, and Florette Salad are producing baby kale as a new leaf, and have a website for lots of interesting baby kale recipes to try out - leafy greens are so good for you and if they pack a flavour punch too as I suspect a good baby kale leaf should, well that's pretty much sold it to me.

Anyway, I couldn't find any baby kale out here on the edge of the western world (the supply chain obviously hasn't got this far yet!), so I made this salad with watercress, spinach and rocket which is one of my favourite combos. As & when baby kale hits Cardigan (or we get some growing in the garden) I'll try it in this. Chick peas are one of my favourite pulses, and a bit of tuna fish is good for a protein hit. And do check out the pomegranate molasses in the dressing!

Just a little note - the dressing is for a much larger bowlful of salad - possibly for 4 people, I'd say, while the salad ingredients here are for one. So use about 3 tsp of the dressing for your plateful of salad and save the rest for another lunchtime.

And if you were interested, or following the 5:2 diet, this plateful comes to 240 calories. Not bad.

'30g' Salad

For the salad
30g bagged watercress, spinach and rocket salad - or use a combination of your favourite leaves
30g sliced raw mushroom
30g sliced raw red pepper
60g drained chick peas
60g (drained weight) tuna in spring water

For the dressing
3 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp harissa paste
1 tbsp rapeseed oil

Combine the salad ingredients on a plate or in a bowl, and put any leftovers in the fridge straight away in appropriate storage containers to prevent more 'accidentally' slipping on to your plate.

Stir together the dressing ingredients.

Drizzle about 3 tsp of the dressing over your plateful of salad.

Consume.

By the way, this doesn't mean that there won't be any more cake here, there just might be a bit less. At least until after 28th February...


This post was sponsored by Florette Salad

Hot Smoky B*****d Chilli Sauce

So back to the routine...

Kids back to school, snow, BT being rubbish and reducing my broadband service to the point where I think it must be provided by a couple of indolent pixies sauntering up and down a rather frayed piece of string. We've had weather like you wouldn't believe - hail, snow, rain and wind - my goodness, the wind is something to behold - and that was just 5 minutes ago...

As you may imagine, cooking has been of the utilitarian, comfort food variety recently, and also of the 'using up the left over leftovers' (if you catch my drift) variety. Nothing new or exciting has graced our plates as far as what I've produced from the oven or stove, but what has kept culinary stagnation at bay has been the introduction of Hot Smoky Bastard Chilli Sauce to our table.

putting a tingle into our tacos...

I came across this delight via a friend who happened to mention it on her Facebook page. I'm a sucker for a good chilli sauce, and was keen to try.

Having pestered said friend for details and been put in touch with Mr Hot Smoky Bastard himself, I was able to collect 2 prized bottles (one for the Husband as 'a Christmas present' - on the strict understanding that it be shared - and one for another relation, although as we haven't seen them yet, I'm seriously thinking of unwrapping the second bottle from the Christmas paper and keeping it, such is the rate at which the first bottle is disappearing) from a location outside Cardigan a couple of days before Christmas. It had the feel of an illicit trade - small bottles of exclusive sauce brought from Leicestershire to the wild west coast of Wales, bottles given out to those who'd asked, exchanged for coins of the realm...

But enough - this is not rum smuggling from days of yore, or even anything slightly dodgy, much as I occasionally wish my incredibly middle of the road life might be. It's simply getting hold of some darn good chilli sauce. You see, in order to get the kids interested in more exotic food, I've steered away from using chilli in cooking, adding depth of flavour with smoked paprika and concentrating on getting them to try things. But while this has worked for the kids, the Husband and I miss our chilli hit, so I'm always on the look out for something to hit the spot. In fact, my strategy has worked and both kids are now ready to take on more chilli, but that doesn't remove my desire for chilli sauce. Oh no.

 I'm not just looking for heat mind, but interest too, and this bad boy has bags of both. It's not 'blow your ears off' hot (which is fine by me, just to be clear), but the sweet smokiness combined with a tingly afterburn is bang on.

We deployed it to great effect with the Boxing Day leftovers, and it's been a key feature of our table ever since.  Handmade in small batches, this is a sauce to seek out.

Cardiff - puddings and pumpkin seeds

So where was I? Ah yes, skipping out of Wahaca in Cardiff last Saturday evening, admiring the pretty lights, replete with tacos and tequila, but not actually full to busting, having decided we didn’t fancy their puds and willing to try our luck elsewhere. 

Obviously the cocktails had gone to our head as we recalled the heady days BC (Before Children) when we lived in a flat in south London and on the rare occasions that we had any money to speak of, we would skip (figuratively of course, for we were young and hip... er actually no, we weren't but we didn't actually skip. It's figurative, OK?) off into the centre of Soho for late night cake, coffee and a walk along the river… 

Eager to repeat the experience, we were sadly brought up short by a distinct lack of comparable establishments in central Cardiff providing what we actually had in mind. The pie shop was closed up too, and most of the other places we found were heaving boozers, music thumping, pavements outside slick with beer (well, Wales had just beaten South Africa) so Carluccios had to do. Oh how times have changed. 

*insert nostalgic sigh for the days when a heaving boozer with beer-slickened pavements and thumping music would have been my idea of a top night out*

The waitress in Carluccios looked at us slightly askance when we declared our desire only for pudding and coffee, but she installed us at a table and produced a couple of the finest espressos I've had recently. There was nearly a major crisis when it transpired that they had (gasp) RUN OUT of lemon tart, but we managed to make do with 2 of their rather delicious chocolate offerings - a warm chocolate pudding for me, baked with ground almonds and served with ice cream, and a rich chocolate torte with raspberry coulis for the  Husband. I also managed a heady Amaretto - I love the stuff but hardly ever drink liqueurs so it was a real treat. I could actually just sit and sniff it and then drink it by dipping my tongue in the glass. But that's not for polite company, so I managed to restrain myself.

Of course, a cracking night out requires a decent breakfast the following morning, and while neither of us felt too shabby, despite tequilas and digestifs, a certain gravitas was required when it came to the contents of breakfast. We were staying on a room only basis in our hotel, so headed out to Bill's to enjoy their breakfasts and their industrial shabby chic restaurant.

I'd never heard of Bill's before and I was a bit disappointed to find out it was part of a chain, because on first glance it didn't feel very chain-like -nestled as it is in a lovely arcade, with a very independent feel too it, even down to the fleece blankets thoughtfully provided for those wishing to enjoy one of the outside tables. Then I spotted the blackboard hanging from the ceiling indicating that it had first started in a greengrocer's in Lewes, which is pretty far from Cardiff, and I was also a bit embarrassed because they seem to be EVERYWHERE. How have I not found out about this before?

Anyway, I can't vouch for the lunches or evening meals, but they do a cracking breakfast at Bill's. I had the eggs royale - smoked salmon and poached eggs on sourdough toast with hollandaise, scattered with pumpkin seeds which was a bit of a surprise addition, but I liked it. The Husband pondered out loud the fact that if he had a big breakfast, he'd feel full and have to moan about it, which lead me to believe he'd go for something else, but in fact he plumped for the full monty - the 'Bill's Breakfast' and enjoyed it hugely. And yes, he did moan about feeling full afterwards, but only in a half-hearted way. Lovely coffee too, although a couple of our drinks orders were missed or arrived very slowly - and in fact the Husband's second Americano just didn't arrive which meant we had to top up on caffeine in Cardiff Bay. But with the sun shining, that was no bad thing...

Recipes from a Normal Mum

So Blue turned 11 on Monday in a whirl of Lego, lemonade bottle rockets, Jonny English, a sleepover notable for reminding me (as the older sister of 2 brothers) exactly how much hilarity farting causes a group of pre-pubescent boys, the now obligatory cinammon buns and a roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner that was memorable if nothing else for absolutely the best Yorkshires I've ever made: beautifully risen, light, fluffy, golden. Yorkshire pudding of dreams. But I digress (although there is a point to me telling you that.)

It was a busy weekend, and in the interests of stocking up in advance, I made a smoked fish tart for the Husband and I to eat on Friday evening, with a view to leftovers that would feed us quickly and easily should the need arise.

I took the opportunity to delve into 'Recipes from a Normal Mum' by Holly Bell, which I acquired via a Facebook competition run by the lovely Crumbs . Suffolk Smokehouse Tart falls in the 'Food for the Great Outdoors' section - mainly because it's inspired by Holly Bell's summer holidays on the Suffolk coast. Very good it was too. I must admit to buying the pastry, but I'll make it again with the pastry included in the recipe because I like the idea of the addition of the ground mustard seeds. How the tart turns out depends on the strength of flavour of the smoked fish you select - I used what turned out to be quite mild flavoured smoked mackerel I tentatively picked up in Aldi - and it was totally delicious - warm from the oven and cold over the weekend, a big hit.

I have to say I wasn't sure about this book. Firstly, I have to say that the title put me off slightly. Normal Mum?? Who is the Normal Mum here? Not me that's for sure. But then I guess "Recipes from a Deranged, Sleep-deprived Mum" might not have the same attraction, and any way, I doubt Holly Bell is deranged or sleep deprived in that desperate way you can be after your first child  - she has 3 kids - she's an old hand. But you know what I mean - 'normal mum'. Is anyone 'normal'?

Rant over, and on to the second reason for my hesitancy: it's not because I didn't think the recipes wouldn't be any good, because the Smokehouse tart shows they most definitely are, but because I'm not sure it's a book I need any more. I know that saying you don't NEED a cook book is a bit of a heresy in these food blogging parts, but hear me out. In some ways, this book takes me back to the dark days when I was a deranged, sleep-deprived mum. The days before Blue became ill when I would weep at his refusal to eat the salmon fishcakes that Annabel Karmel assured me he'd love, and then weep a second time when I allowed him to smother said fishcakes in ketchup to get him to eat them... and then when Blue was ill and Pink arrived and I sleep-walked through my days, going from one meal to the next in a total fug of confusion, panic and indecision. That culinary rut when you feel you should create delicious and tempting meals for everyone, but either because you've gone back to work, or the second child came along or for some other reason, you feel completely and utterly devoid of the ability or energy to do so. Or was it just me? (Please, please say it wasn't just me...) 

Anyway, this is very much a book to get you out of that rut, and to get you to remember that you can absolutely cook interesting food for your kids and the adults in your life - that the 2 aren't mutually exclusive, and it doesn't need too much effort. It's also a good mix of sensible, nutritious food and the treats and quick fixes which, I'm sorry, but everyone needs, and never more so than when you've got small children. Mini mash ups is a genius idea for small kids, and well, Banoffee Hazelnut Cookie Crumble anyone? Hmm I thought so.

The book is divided up into sections aimed at the different scenarios you might be called on to cook in - feeding a crowd, feeding kids, feeding your partner... and although I haven't tried anything other than the tart, there are a number of recipes that I'm mentally adding to my meal plans: I love the sound of the Guerilla Gardner's Baghdad Beef Stew, the garlic mushroom crackle pie and Stew's keema matar - all the slightly more 'adult' recipes. The specifically children's recipes are great - just the sort of thing I'd have wanted to cook when the kids were smaller - but not now.

And to be honest, I think that's where I am these days. I am mostly out of that rut. Blue's requested food for his birthday weekend included chilli with all the trimmings (guacamole, hot salsa), and the delights specified at the outset of the post. A testament to the fact that the weaning days, the fussy days, the days of meals for them and meals for us, the days of food-related despair. I can cook pretty much as I choose - and if I need to adapt a recipe slightly, I have the confidence to do that. I have Nigella to thank for that, and to a lesser extent Hugh. Tana Ramsey also helped. But if it had been around when I needed it, I think Recipes from a Normal Mum would have done the job too.

The best steak sarnie ever?

Last Saturday, I had the best steak sarnie I think I've ever eaten. That includes plenty of steak baguettes in the kingdom of delicious rare beef (or boeuf) that is France. Yes really.

And where was this little piece of carnivorous heaven? The Watership Down Inn in our old North Hampshire stomping ground.

Back visiting friends at half term, Saturday found us not exactly at a loose end, but having discussed with out hosts how we didn't expect them to entertain us, and how they were totally happy with that as they had jobs to get on with too, we decided that the weather was too good to do anything other than enjoy the Autumn colour and go for a long walk, taking in a pub en route.

We walked mostly along the road from Overton to Freefolk, pausing to take in the site (and sight) of the newly opened Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery that has taken up residence in the beautifully restored paper mill at Laverstoke (sadly we didn't visit on this occasion, but hopefully soon). 

The Watership Down Inn is a little way on, along the main road - and to be honest it's not a great part of this particular circular walk, but now that I know a steak sandwich of such lusciousness awaits at the other end, well, I expect it's walk I'll be doing on future visits.

In truth, the Watership Down Inn has had its ups and downs over the past few years. When we first moved to the area, it was a bustling, lively pub doing great value family food. With the extensive gardens and climbing frame it was a fab place to go with kids. A change of owners (may be 2) meant that standards definitely slipped but it's been with the current owners for the last 18 months and it's definitely worth a visit. The decor is fresh, the chairs are endowed with lovely soft sheepskin, and everything about it sings "good place to be".

We were 4 adults and 3 kids. 3 of us grown ups had ciabattas, the Husband had gammon egg and chips ("but no tomato" even though it was part of the meal) and pronounced it very good indeed. Blue indulged in the burger - fashionably encased as so many are these days in a brioche bun, but definitely a heavyweight, tasty burger - 2 patties, cheese, proper decent garnish (Samuel L Jackson would have been proud), and the 2 younger girls in our party had the 'mini' pizza which was much better than anticipated, being actually a chunky piece of ciabatta topped with tomato sauce and cheese - no insipid frozen piece of pap that often gets served up as part of a 'kids menu'.

And my steak ciabatta. I asked for it to be rare expecting medium rare at best, but rare it was. There was plenty of the advertised watercress, and generous smearings of the mustard mayo. The ciabatta was soft enough to allow a delicious soaking in of meat juices, but still substantial enough to hold the sandwich together. And the chips? Nothing short of divine. Hot, salty (but not too salty). Good and chunky. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside... The kind of chip I expect every potato would like to become.

According to the men of the party, the beer was also good, and Fred the dog heartily approved of the bowl of dog biscuits available... It was so great that despite the lovely Autumn weather, we found it hard to drag ourselves back outside, and head up to the Harrow Way for the walk home along this ancient by way. But we did and it was great. 

Lovely friends, good times, great food. Perfect!

Thai Monkfish Curry

So I may have moaned more than once on here that I never win anything. Well, not since I won 12 bottles of gin via a competition in an 'in-train' magazine on what used to be called the East Coast Mainline...

Well, that streak of not winning was recently broken when I entered a fish recipe into a little competition that Pembrokeshire Fish Week were running earlier this summer, and knock me down with a feather (or a wet fish) - I won!

You can read my winning recipe here - but what I want to tell you about is my prize.

A fantastic box full of delicious fish and shellfish from Claws Shellfish, a Pembrokeshire based .family run seafood company.

After a bit of to'ing and fro'ing, I picked my box up in Haverford West on a Friday afternoon. We had friends coming for the weekend, and I was stressing that I hadn't got the chicken I'd intended to knock up a Thai chicken curry with, out of the freezer.

But I didn't have to worry, because as well as some fresh fish that I could pop straight in the freezer, my box included a dressed crab, a pot of mackerel pate, 4 scallops, some smoked salmon and a cooked lobster. I needed little more than some bread, salad, some chorizo to cook the scallops with (always in my fridge - the chorizo, not the scallops) and some stuffed mini peppers (and a bottle or 2 of white wine) and we had a feast.

The box also included monkfish, salmon, and a lovely piece of haddock all of which went in the freezer at the time, but has been much enjoyed since. I used the salmon in a version of the quickest (and most delish) fish pie ever, using sugar sap peas and full fat creme fraiche for extra creaminess and comfort.

The monkfish was fantastic in a Thai inspired curry recently. It's a fairly firm fish which can take robust flavours and responds well to quick cooking, perfect in this kind of easy but tasty meal.

*****

So what should follow now is a recipe, but I started this post a good 3 weeks ago and forgot to write down the exact ingredients. What I do know is what the photos tell me - which is that I used courgettes and mangetout peas, and served the curry on noodles.

I can also remember that I made the sauce by frying off a couple of tablespoons of shop bought Thai curry paste, adding a tin of coconut milk, and then adding bits of tamarind paste from a block that I bought not long after we moved to Wales, to taste. The paste that I should have used to cook a curry for our friends, but fed them lobster instead...

The addition of the tamarind paste took the edge off the slightly artificial flavour that my (cheap, inferior, bought in a supermarket in a moment of madness, to be honest) Thai curry paste had. I'd been quite worried about dinner before adding the paste in, and frankly, it rescued dinner and created a sauce worthy of the monkfish.

So this serves to tell 2 tales. Firstly, that Claws Shellfish sell fantastic fresh fish and shellfish, and if you have the opportunity, you should visit their stalls in Haverford West or St Davids Farmers Markets, or anywhere else you find their produce. Secondly, that having some tamarind paste in the fridge is a good idea if you are prone to panic buying jars of cheap Thai curry paste.

Hmm.

Smoky sardines and tempting tuna

Of course every one knows that the very best way to eat a tin of sardines is to carry it to a deserted beach on an early Autumn morning. Spend the morning running round, skimming stones, playing chicken with the waves.

As lunchtime approaches, light a fire, open the lid slightly, empty out some of the oil, then soak some kitchen paper in the rest of the oil and stuff it in the top of the tin. Place the tin on a flat rock next to the fire and light the oily kitchen paper. Allow the sardines to get hot and smoky, then eat hungrily...

Granted, this is something that our present location makes more possible for us than it does for others, but even if you're not close to the sea, this is well worth remembering for those occasions when beach fires could be on the cards...

We made good use, then of the tinned sardines and mackerel fillets that were included in a box of goodies that arrived from John West a couple of weeks' ago. 

I guess perhaps we should have done something more adventurous (in a culinary sense) with them, but there's some salmon and tuna left for that - I'm thinking fishcakes - perhaps with some Asian spicing as suggested in the helpful recipe booklet that accompanied the goodies.

What I was more interested in in were the tins of John West Infusions - tuna lightly drizzled with flavoured oils - and the 'Steam Pots' - couscous with a tin of Infusions to stir in after the couscous has been plumped with boiling water - that I received. 

I'm not one for buying 'quick food fixes', tending to go for the raw ingredients and making it from scratch - and any food you might buy with the word 'Pot' in the title has me naturally eyebrow raising, due to associations (intended or otherwise) with MSG-laced noodle affairs, the kind of which you won't catch in my kitchen - no siree...

Tuna Infusions first - in a number of flavours, chilli & garlic, basil, soy & ginger, lemon & thyme, coriander & cumin. These are really really tasty - the tuna is meaty and succulent (although I usually buy tuna in spring water for calorie reasons, tuna in oil really is lush) and the flavours that infuse these pots of loveliness are tasty - not overpoweringly so but give the tuna genuine 'zing', and importantly for me, taste very natural. The Husband and I really enjoyed these, and surprisingly, so did the children. They've never really embraced tuna, but both of them gobbled down these infusions (basil for Pink, Chilli & Garlic - yes, really - for Blue) on top of a jacket potato and pronounced them delicious. Big hits then, and definitely something I'd consider buying again.

The steam pots are essentially pots of dried flavoured couscous plus a complimentary infusion pot. So, Tuna Infusions with Chilli and Garlic and Spicy Red Pepper Couscous, and Tuna infusions with Basil and Sun Dried Tomato Couscous. You get the idea. 

In terms of creating your lunch (or dinner, or whatever) you just add hot water to the couscous and leave to soak for 5 minutes, then stir in the tuna. And despite my misgivings, they are pretty good - and satisfying. I'm a fan of couscous anyway, although wouldn't normally add tuna to it, but the Tuna Infusions work very well in this context. My only gripe is that unlike the Infusion itself, there are far more ingredients creeping into the couscous. Things like potato starch, tomato powder - and quite a lot of sugar and salt. To be honest, I probably wouldn't buy these as a complete package - although I might well buy Tuna Infusions to eat with my own couscous in future - but they are a world away from the noodley horrors that sprang to mind when I saw the name Steam 'POT' - so don't let that put you off.

So there you go - tinned fish has just taken on a whole new dimension for me. And even if my favourite way to eat it is still on a wild, Welsh beach, I'll bet that a few Tuna Infusions start creeping into my cupboards...



Disclaimer: I received a box of various John West products in return for writing this post, but was not required to mention any specific products, and all views expressed are my own, honest opinions.