Crab House Cafe

When you move into your first flat in central London, you realise that you can never go outside again. Because going outside means spending money, money that you don't have. So I've had to say goodbye to evenings out on the town, eating at restaurants and visiting the cinema on any day other than 'Orange Wednesdays'. Last weekend I was lucky enough to obtain a cheap train ticket home to Bournemouth. So I took the opportunity to have a good catch up with my best friend. As a lover of all things seafood, he decided that we absolutely needed to visit a particular restaurant in Weymouth, Crab House Cafe. It was the first time I'd been out on a Saturday night since goodness knows when. 

We embarked on the epic journey to this hidden gem in his little Fiat Panda and I worried that my ever-growing food standards would hinder my enjoyment of the evening. It's a long way to go for a bit of fish. But after our meal, I would have traveled a hundred miles further. It was a particularly chilly night, with a cutting wind blowing from the waterside, so we wasted no time in getting through the door. We were greeted immediately by (probably) the happiest looking man I have ever met - Alex was convinced that the waiter fancied him, totally disregarding the fact that he might just enjoy his job. The atmosphere in Crab House Cafe is a relaxed and rustic, with the kitchen slap bang in the center and fish counter laden with their succulent fresh catches. 

We were given our menu - which changes daily depending on what they have caught - and a wine list to peruse. A small menu is a virtue and I still really struggled to decide what to have. Their wine list had a good selection of wines and beers to accompany the seafood. Alex chose their house Oyster Stout, which was smooth, treacle-y and aromatic, whilst I opted for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (Isabella da Silva, 2010, Chile). Recently I have had some bad luck with Sauvignon Blancs (one of the only white wines I enjoy drinking), but this was crisp, fruity and sweet. It went down very easily to say the least. On the house, we were brought a board of bread and olives laced with seafood. As any good diner knows, you don't fill up on bread before you meal but the farmhouse look of this miniature loaf was begging to be ripped apart.

Spicy Mussel Bisque

Country Oysters

To start we had the Country Oysters (oysters cooked in cream with bacon) and a Spicy Mussel Bisque. I am a big oyster fan but have never tried the cooked variety before. You do lose the seawater tang in the cooking but the flavour coming from the sauce was worth it. Half a dozen was not enough. The mussel bisque was presented beautifully and had quite a kick to it. It was heady, rich and not overpowering - a beautiful bisque.

Plaice stuffed with Crab and Cheese

Sand Sole cooked in garlic oil

As soon as our starters had been cleared, our mains arrived. Alex opting for the Plaice stuffed with crab and cheese and myself for the Sand Sole cooked in garlic oil. The two sand sole fillets came off the bone incredibly easily and were perfectly cooked. On a bed of roast vegetables and potatoes and with a deliciously pungent sauce, this was a satisfying (and surprisingly filling) meal. 

Dorset Apple Cake with Cream

Chocolate Bourbon Tart with Whisky Chantilly Cream and Chocolate Wine.

I wasn't going to have a dessert as I was already full until I saw the Chocolate Bourbon Tart with Whiskey Chantilly Cream and Chocolate Wine. If not for the curiosity behind chocolate wine itself (was that just a really pretentious way of saying chocolate sauce?), then for the combination of two of my great loves - chocolate and bourbon. Alex was handed a sizeable slice of Dorset Apple Cake with cream and my tart arrived looking as good as it tasted. It turns out chocolate wine is genuinely just chocolate wine and was served in the cutest little glass I have ever seen (so easily pleased). The only criticism I have of Crab House Cafe is that my pastry was a little bit rock solid and quite difficult to cut through. It could have done with a little more time to come up to room temperature. But this didn't distract too much from the exquisite taste. 

I have to say that this is, without a doubt, the best meal I have eaten all year. Alex states that it was the best meal that he has ever eaten. Go to the Crab House Cafe for the crab, for the excellent service, for the skilled chefs, for the reasonable prices, for the changing menu, for the oyster farm. Just go, you won't be disappointed.  

Venison with Fondant Potatoes, Chard and a Red Wine and Blackberry Jus.

This is a great, easy weekend dinner. Venison is a pricey meat but it's worth it for a once in a while treat. Perfect with a tangy, berry sauce, some fresh spring greens and potatoes. This sauce was created using freshly foraged blackberries from Richmond Park.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Venison steaks
• 2 Large Desiree or King Edward Potatoes
• 250g Butter
• 1 Fresh Sprig of Thyme 
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Shallot
• 400ml beef stock
• 200ml red wine
• 1 tsp redcurrant jelly 
• 50g blackberries
• 4 Stalks of Chard

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Add the red wine, half the beef stock, shallot, redcurrant jelly and blackberries into a pan. Reduce slowly until it's a luscious, thick sauce. Put to one side.

Peel your potatoes and cut the ends off. Cut in half width ways so they are flat ended tubes. 

Melt 150g butter with a splash of oil in a pan. When the pan is very hot, add your potatoes and brown the ends. This should take about 5-6 minutes. Add the thyme, garlic and the other half of the beef stock. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

Melt the rest of the butter into a new pan. Make sure it's not too hot. Add your venison steaks and sear on either side. Cook the steaks on a low-medium heat for 12 minutes to achieve an medium/rare consistency. Keep coating the steaks in the melted butter to keep them moist. 

About 2 minutes before your steaks are cooked, cook your chard in boiling water for a few minutes. 

Plate the greens and potatoes, add the steak on top of your greens. Pour over your jus and enjoy.

Why Diets Make Me A Bitch.

Diet is just a horrible word. There is nothing remotely attractive about it. It is has so many negative connotations that you just want to throw yourself in front of a bus. A bus made of chocolate and lard. Generally I live by the rule of 'everything in moderation' whilst trying to eat fresh veggies and fruit whenever I can and I don't get fat. Granted, I'm not a stick but I don't want to look like an Ethiopian child or Renee Zellweger circa Chicago. I like looking as though I would know how to cook a good roast. 

However, there is something about the women of our generation that has given us all a strange relationship with food. Most of the women I know will confess to being big food lovers, but still be terrorised by nagging guilt when thinking about an extra piece of pie. We can narrow down the cause to social pressure. We don't want to be labelled as "the fat one" in our friendship group, and we spend hours analysing and internally criticising each others shapes, fashion, even faces. For this the media is nearly entirely to blame - I'm sure you'll agree. But there's not a lot we can do about it now. We have been brainwashed to believe skeletal is beautiful and we must be dieting at all times or else 'the men' won't want us anymore and will run off with their secretary (who is like totally a size 6 and can put her legs behind her head). 

As a feminist, I try my absolute hardest to not fall into this never-ending cycle - we must not conform to physical expectations demanded of the modern woman! But naturally I do feel insecure about the way I look on some days of the week, but I also know that this doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things. 

All of this strong willed nonchalance has been rocked recently by a looming and imposing event. A wedding. Not even my own wedding. But the wedding in which I know many photos will be taken and immortalised forever. Sneaky photographs of me laughing with a mouthful of chocolate cake or trying to fit my fist into my mouth (something I do alarmingly frequently). If I'm going to be captured being my foolish self, the last thing I want is to look fat as well. "Haha, look at that chubby girl with a mouth full of chocolate cake. I bet she lives  in a house full of cats and cries whilst eating Carnation caramel out of a tin with her chubby sausage fingers and keeps Rolos between her chins." Not me, thank you very much. 

With only four weeks to go, I decided that it was time for a crash diet. Let me say now that crash diets are dangerous and stupid. I knew this before I made the decision and I still know this now. But I need to look good, dammit! The plan was 900 calories per day with a high level of protein and a low fat intake. I've been tracking my eating habits for a good few months now with online food diary - My Fitness Pal. This was spurred on my watching Channel 4's Secret Eaters and worrying that every time I had a sandwich that I was going to end up on the show. This way I was just increasing my knowledge of calorie contents and ensuring that I ate a balanced diet. I haven't lost any weight through doing this, so I guess that's a good thing. 

About a month ago on BBC 2, they showed a Horizon on the subject of fasting. If it's related to food and it's on television, I'm going to watch it. It covered several different types of fasting processes - from a four day 50 calorie fast to intermittent fasting (where you could eat 600 calories one day and 1 million the next). But the science behind it made a lot of sense. When we eat protein, our cells are in "go-go" mode and don't have time to heal themselves. Giving your body a rest from this allows it to self heal and improves your overall health and well-being. Many people even live on what is called a VLCD (or very low calorie diet) that entails eating only 600 calories a day. But these people eat bucket loads of veggies and fruit. One particular participant was a 100 year old man and he was running a marathon. Well, you can't argue with that. 

600 calories a day sounded a bit low for me (if you want the reality of this check out The Extreme Dietry of Robyn Wilder). So I began my 900 calorie task at the beginning of this week. Monday went well and once I had passed through the hunger wall, I was living in a soft focus, heady land of dizzy doolalary. Tuesday was even easier. Then Wednesday hit and I was still doing fine until it came to lunch time. I was wandering around Sainsburys trying to find some lunch when I started to black out. I've never fainted in my life and I wasn't going to start now. I had to grab a shelf for support and composed myself before picking up a jacket potato and heading back to enjoy the starchy goodness. I'd had a particularly bad day at the office and was lightheaded and grumpy when I arrived home. I snapped at Rob for no reason what so ever and flung myself down on the bed, stomach grumbling furiously. I completely lacked in the required energy to put a healthy meal together, so after sulking for a while, I cooked a turkey breast and solemnly munched away. Rob sat down next to me with a huge plate of butcher bought sausages, potatoes and onion gravy. Why wasn't I eating this too?! The night ended with me spontaneously bursting into sobs.

I've discovered that no matter how bad I look in the photos, the feeling can't be worse than how I felt yesterday. I will crash diet for no one. I'm so sorry food, please take me back. I didn't mean those awful things I said when I left you, it was the heat of the moment. Now excuse me whilst I dislodge the Rolos from my fat rolls... I had been saving them for a special occasion.

For further reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLAGxUbp-U.

Rhubarb and Raspberry Pie

Guess what?! I bought a pie dish. A gorgeous, kitschy pie dish. I bought it from Waitrose and it was ten pounds and I don't even care one tiny bit. Look at my excited face. LOOK AT IT!

Watch out Great British Bake Off, I'm coming for you next. If the show was for bakers who give it a good go but normally end up with flour in their hair and manage to mistake salt for sugar... Oh wait, that has happened this year. Perhaps I might be in with a chance.

The pie dish was christened with a classic fruit pie - rhubarb and raspberry. Rhubarb is such an undervalued fruit. It's quintessentially British, the tartness is to die for and it's also great in savory dishes (Rhubarb noodles anyone?). The combination of this with sweet, delicate raspberries and a classic sweet shortcrust pastry was going to be a winner. Shortcrust pastry might be the one area of baking that I can actually make a half-arsed go at. No soggy bottoms here please.

Rhubarb and Raspberry Pie

This is a nice simple recipe, no blind baking or making any sort of fruit compote for the middle. If you wanted to buy shop bought shortcrust pastry and forgo the lattice top, then it may be the easiest pie ever.

Ingredients

Pastry:

500g plain flour

100g icing sugar

250g butter - chilled to the point where you can grate it

2 eggs

A dash of double cream

Filling:

43g Plain Flour
2 sticks of Rhubarb, diced
2 punnets of raspberries
250g Golden Caster Sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 tablespoon cold unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
1 large Egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons Double Cream
Sugar for sprinkling

I'm not sure Paul and Mary would approve of the slapdash lattice top.

Directions

Start with your pastry. Sieve together your flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Having chilled your butter to the point of extreme solidness, you can grate this into the bowl also. This will need to be done with speed as the butter warms quickly and will become unmanageable.

There are two keys to a good shortcrust pastry. The first is to try and keep the dough as cool as possible, so when you're not working it, get it straight in the fridge. The second is to work it as little as possible. Doughs that are kneeded or mixed a lot become stretchy and smooth in quailty - doing this will make your shortcrust rubbery in texture. To get a nice crumbly, buttery crust, try your very hardest not to over mix it.

Once you have grated the butter into the flour and icing sugar, make the mixture into breadcrumbs by using your fingertips to rub the flour and butter together. Keep going until all of the butter and flour have been combined into a breadcrumb like consistency.

In a small jug, whisk the eggs and cream together. Add this to your breadcrumb mixture. Use a wooden spoon to bring the mixture together. Once it has started to form a dough, use your fingers to finish the dough. Don't overwork it!

Put your dough in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

In another bowl, add your rhubarb, raspberries, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Delicately mix these ingredients together as you don't want to smush your raspberries. A little bit of smushing is okay, don't beat yourself up about it. Put the mixture to one side.

Grease your pie dish and preheat the oven to 180C or gas mark 4.

Once your dough has chilled, take 2/3 of it (put the other 1/3 straight back into the fridge) and roll it out into a round shape that's big enough to cover your pie dish. Use flour on the work surface and rolling pin to stop the dough from sticking. The best way to transfer your dough from the counter to the pie dish is by using the rolling pin to gently roll the dough up. You can then unroll it over the dish and press down to fill the corners. Use a sharp knife to trim the edges.

Fill the pie with the raspberry/rhubarb mixture and put into the fridge.

Rescue your remaining dough and use this to make your topping. I went for a lattice top because I like to show off and then instantly regret it because I can't do it like a pro. If you want to do that then I suggest giving this Bon Appetit video a quick gander: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTHTt49e58w.

Either way, roll your remaining dough out and then either use the lattice method to top your pie or place the lid on top of your pie in the same way we transferred the base. If you have gone for a solid lid then make two little holes in the centre of the pie - this will let the steam escape and ensure that your lid doesn't puff up.

Use the beaten egg and cream mixture to glaze the top of your pie and sprinkle liberally with sugar.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the top to ensure the pastry doesn't catch (blacken). If your lid is getting a bit browner than you'd like, make it a little foil hat and place it on top to protect the pastry.

Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool before serving. Serve with lots of yummy cream!

Guest Post: August Foodie Pen Pals

I have a special treat for you all - a post written by someone other than me! So without further ado, let me introduce to you Rebecca Doyle...

I’m definitely a ‘foodie’ but I’m not a blogger, so please excuse my lack of writing skills. August was my second month of foodie pen pals, it also happened to be a surprisingly busy and discombobulating month, but I’ll spare you the details.

Georgie’s parcel couldn’t have arrived at a better time – I was struggling with two OU deadlines and in a fair bit of pain from a spinal condition. So I was in a somewhat delirious state when I opened the box… Georgie’s handwritten letter (with photo included!) talked me through the carefully chosen contents of the parcel. She’d gone with a Spanish/Mexican theme after I’d told her that I was brought up with Spanish and Middle Eastern culinary influences.

I dived in… to discover not only some chilli crostini, but also some homemade chilli jam – things were looking up. I had to try these two together straight away. A yummy, sticky chilli jam with a really feisty kick on the crunchy crostini – oh yes, a winning combo already! 

Like a demented, deadlining nutcase, I munched through way too many of these in one sitting, the chilli firing a new enthusiasm and clarity for the assignments I was tackling. Thanks Georgie! Also in the parcel were some homemade custard tarts. Not those horrible bland, anemic, eggy ones that our post-war relatives seem to enjoy so much, but those of the Portuguese variety. Oh dear, how did you know, Georgie? Delicious. They were also great the next day heated briefly in the oven.

Next up ... a chorizo, one of Georgie’s favourites, and something I’m also a little partial to! She had kindly included a Thomasina Miers recipe for Chorizo and Potato Quesedillas – which looks delicious. However, I’m afraid this chorizo didn’t get as far as those lovely looking quesadillas, but I will try that recipe soon.

After sampling a couple of little slices with the crostini and chilli jam (very nice too), I used the rest of it that evening in a very simple potaje (stew) with ingredients I had to hand – butter beans, potatoes, red peppers, lots of garlic, some oregano and thyme from the garden, smoked paprika and some tomatoes. Real comfort food inspired by the recipes of my Spanish abuela.

Lastly, there was some homemade Mexican hot chocolate mix. I love a bit of cinnamon in my hot chocolate – perfect for late-night study. Thank you so much for creating such a fun parcel, that helped fuel me through those essay deadlines that I’m so rubbish at hitting. Thanks also for introducing me to your blog and all your
great recipes. Stuffed peppers this week!

Thanks to Rebecca for a lovely and horrendously ego-boosting post. You can follow Rebecca on Twitter - @beccasbonbons.

August Foodie Pen Pals

I know, I know... It's September now isn't it? Autumn is looming eerily upon us, although it feels like we're still waiting for summer. But this post is better late than never! This month I received a parcel from Carl Legge of http://www.carllegge.com/ fame. He is a permaculturalist living on a peninsula in Northern Wales, so we are quite far removed from each other, but looking at his blog I was very excited to see what would arrive this month. I would thoroughly recommend his blog for reading! Unfortunately, we had some trouble with a certain courier (who I'm sure will never be trusted again!) who managed to damage the box and it ended up leaking. Part of me is still suspicious that "damaged" meant the delivery driver eating it's contents but we will never know.

Today my box arrived and a small crowd gathered at work to watch me open it. It was very clearly very well protected this time, as I pulled back the multiple layers of bubble wrap, feeling like a kid at Christmas. Carl's box was lovingly put together with a comprehensive letter of explanation, two recipes and everything labelled gorgeously. 

Drum roll please for the contents of my box...

First up we have fresh herbs from his garden! As lovely as our flat is, I do miss having a garden now and Carl has told me that an indoor herb garden may be possible - good news! So these were very well received. There's Chives, Flat leaf parsley, Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary, Prostrate Rosemary, Bay leaves and Oregano. I'm especially intrigued by the oregano, as I've never cooked with the fresh version before!

Three different types of garlic... Three. I nearly had an aneurysm. These are all homegrown by Carl. There's Early Purple Wight, Garlic Music and Chesnoil White. I am in garlic heaven. I've made three different garlic butters for Rob and myself to do a tasting with. We both favoured the Early Purple White variety as it seemed to have a more pungent flavour than the others. Vampires beware!

A bottle of homemade chilli oil. Everyone who had eaten my food knows that I get a bit enthusiastic with the chilli. I even put fresh chillis on my salads at lunch. Carl warned that this may be a little bit hot but I tried some straight away and it has a lovely kick to it! Not too hot for this daredevil however... He also included the recipe for this, so I will be making my own supply shortly.

Then came the Billy Bars... I will share with you what Carl had told me about their name as it's a great story... 

"The name of these spiced muesli bars is an old one with a family history.I wanted healthy but tasty bars for my young son which didn’t have the processed sugars and fats in of most commercial ones. So I invented my own. Now when my son was little (and even now) if he asked what something was called I would answer  William” as a joke. So when I was looking for a name for these bars, I chose the alliterative ‘Billy Bars’."

You can find the recipe for Billy Bars here: Billy Bar Recipe

I tucked into one of these immediately and shared it with a few colleagues. It was very well received! Tasty but without the guilt of having a donut or some other artery clogging treat.

Finally was a Soda Bread Mix. My experiments in baking bread have been less than successful in the past. Paul Hollywood I am not. But Carl assures me that I'll be fine with this one! It's a mix of wholemeal spelt flour and white tybalt flour from his favourite Welsh Water Mill, Felin Ganol, in Ceredigion. He has included a great recipe from Dan Lepard’s book Short & Sweet, which I will hopefully be trying this weekend! Please cross everything you can for me. 

Carl also included a beautiful egg candle made by Deb, which I have added to my already worryingly big collection of candles.

I've been very lucky to have such great foodie pen pals so far, and am already planning for the next swap. If you love food, this is a great project to get involved in and you don't need to have a blog to be a pen pal! The Europe branch is up to 200 members and growing, so I implore you to "get involved". Think of all the tasty food you could be receiving every month!

Chorizo Carbonara

So, it's been a little while since I've blogged. This is totally unacceptable, but I've been having an extremely busy august. Firstly Rob and I moved into our own bijoux love nest in South West London. We've been enjoying access to butchers, fishmongers and cheeseries and the amount of greenery. Having my own kitchen is a complete blessing and we've been experimenting with different recipes nearly every night.

As well as sorting out flat admin, my mother's impending wedding is approaching at an alarming rate.  Last weekend we enjoyed a great hen do - baileys, boats and feather boas all featuring!

You may remember the foodie pen pals project that I wrote about last month. I really enjoyed creating my box this month, but due to unforeseen courier issues I still haven't received my box. Apologies for the delay in this, I will be posting as soon as I receive my anxiously awaited parcel.

Luckily amongst the crazy month that was August, we encountered a bank holiday and I found the time to set up a  post. Bank holidays are made for relaxing and eating deliciously rich fayre. This time, after a long National Trust walk, we tried a Chorizo Carbonara. I've never had a good carbonara before, only the gloopy microwaved versions. Rob tells me I am missing out greatly, and after trying this version, I will be ordering a carbonara on our next visit to an Italian.

This recipe comes from Hugh Fearnley's River Cottage Everyday. It's fantastically quick and requires minimal effort with maximum tasty gain.

Chorizo Carbonara

Ingredients:

Enough spaghetti for 2 hungry people

1 tbsp olive oil

175g Diced chorizo

2 large egg yolks

100ml double cream

Salt and Pepper to season

In a jug, beat together your egg yolks and cream and season with pepper and a smidgen of salt. Put to one side.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the spaghetti. Cook to your preference (I would suggest an al dente texture).

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan or skillet. Add your diced chorizo and cook until golden and crispy.

Drain your pasta and add it to the chorizo pan. Pour in your cream/egg mixture and whisk together, taking the pan of the heat. Serve immediately! There's no need to worry about ensuring the egg is cooked, the heat from the pasta/meat will cook it.