Fahrenheit to Celsuis

Measuring by weight rather than cups? What is this business?! Baking in the UK can be a bit difficult. As to no surprise, I joined the baking society at Queen Mary, University of London (if ya didn’t know, that’s where I’m currently studying). I walked into the society fair (society = club here) and that’s the table I gravitated towards. So for the first meeting, we had to bring our “signature dish.” I don’t have one… or at least I don’t think I do, but I brought cookie dough cheesecake bars ‘cause I got really great compliments for those back home (see ‘Hug from Inside’ blog entry). Despite being a wonderful country full of art, culture, dry humor, and scrumptious chocolate bars (Crunchie bars are the BEST)… they do not have graham crackers! Oh the horror! As an American, I can’t imagine anything else for the crust of a cheesecake. Luckily malted digestive cookies are a decent substitute. However, they aren’t as aromatic and sweet as graham cookies. Shucks.

For the next club meeting, our theme was “healthy.” First of all, I have to say, WHAT THE HEY?! If you’re going to be healthy, don’t bake. ‘Nof said. Baking is about BUTTER and SUGAR. There are healthy recipes, but baking is not for people on diets. Being a student and not wanting to spend money on too many ingredients here, I decided to work with what I had and made a red and yellow plum tart. I used the basic recipe for a tart crust (very similar to a pie crust recipe) and then cooked the sliced plums with cinnamon and brown sugar. I also sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on the crust (yeah, really not going for the healthy theme) to give it an extra crunch. It turned out good, but it was a bit too sour for my taste (I tried to not add too much sugar into the filling), but other people liked it. The filling is really based on your taste (no precise measurements here). If I had more ingredients, I’d probably add corn starch to the filling and maybe other fruit.

Oh! And I got to take a chocolate truffle making course! For the “cheap” price of £49 you can sign up for a chocolate course with ChocolateDelight. Now, this is actually a cheaper option because the other courses from other companies look questionable and dinky and yet charge more. There are also two day courses that go more in-depth, but they are much more expensive and who has two days to kill for chocolate making (I wish I did…). Truffles are fairly easy and it’s all about temperature. I did learn a bit about chocolate history, which was pretty cool. I also got lost and showed up half an hour late (yeah, my map skills are nonexistent), but I didn’t miss much. You can watch a cute and crazy video the instructor made if you’re curious about the general process (musical style!). Also, one fun and simple recipe  I learned was for chocolate crisps (at least that’s the name I’m giving it ‘cause I don’t remember what they are called). Take tempered chocolate (which will cool hard) and mix in a bit of mint extract (or any other flavor you want) and coarse brown sugar. Spread the mixture evenly over parchment paper on top of a slab until it’s about the thickness of the sugar grains. After it hardens, use the back of a knife and run it along the chocolate to break up the sheet. Then crinkle up the parchment paper and the chocolate pieces will easily peel off. This is great for snacking and with tea and coffee.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get really comfortable and use to baking here, but it’s a start! I just have to make sure I convert Fahrenheit to Celsius so I don’t burn anything. Oh, and lastly look out for Delia Smith’s home cooking lessons online! They come out February 28^th and should be wonderful (I went to a recording of the Graham Norton Show and saw her!).

More Than Fish & Chips

I’m in London! So it’s my bad that I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been too caught up with exploring the city and going to plays and events that I haven’t had much time to sit down and write. It also doesn’t help that they have great TV shows streaming here (boy do I love Channel 4—you should check out ‘Black Mirror’, ‘My Mad Fat Diary’, and ‘The Undateables’), so if I’m not out and about, you might find me curled up on my bed watching shows.

So rather than boring you with loads of writing, I figure I should just overload on you lots of pictures (with bits of writing, but I tend to ramble so let’s hope I can keep it short). I mean let’s be frank, you don’t really read all of it do you (and if you do, please let me know so I can bake you something scrumptious)?

First off, let’s talk about a couple of restaurant meals that USC has graciously paid for (well… it’s part of my tuition, but I like to think that USC is actually doing me a favor for once and paying for something). Wagamama is great! Decently priced Japanese-fusion food. Their Wagamama Ramen was delicious and filled with goodies. You know you’ve had a good ramen when you don’t run out of veggies and meat. And then, on USC’s expense, I had a ginger cheesecake (candied ginger pieces were in the cake) with a cappuccino.

Next USC paid meal was a Joe Allen. A set menu. YES! I started out with the mushroom and leek tart with a lovely poached egg on top and Hollandaise sauce. Lovely. The best thing I had on the menu really. I guess tart equals crispy pastry in this country (I was imagining a quiche originally). And I have to say that was the best poached egg I’ve had. Great texture overall (smooth and creamy and crispy). The chili con carne was aiiight. I wanted something hearty and got excited by the fact that there was going to be guac (missing my Mexican food here). And lastly, the dessert wasn’t on the set menu, but I had this peach and berry cobbler. Except it wasn’t a typical cobbler or should I say American cobbler. Rather, it was like a scone placed on top of some stewed fruit. Still good, just not what I expected.

Moving on from USC meals, I got to go foodie exploring here. What I mean by that is I got to use my handy dandy eat.shop london book (I love the eat.shop books! I have one for LA as well). First stop: Rock& Sole Plaice. This is the third oldest fish and chip shop I believe. I had cod and chips (shared it for like £16, but it was a large and you can choose a smaller and cheaper option). It’s not cheap, but it’s the best fish and chips I’ve had since I’ve been here. Not to oily, crispy, the fried batter stays on the fish (I can’t tell you how important that is) and it came with a great sharp tarter sauce. Oh, did I mention the décor is fantastic?! It’s underwater themed and it’s just so fun and tacky. LOVE IT.

 

And there’s the Radisson Edwardian Grafton Hotel. No, it’s not renown for it’s food, but I got an excellent discount (only £10!) for afternoon tea. Typically afternoon tea is somewhere between £20 to £40, but I found this website that alerted me on discounts. One thing I forgot to do was print out the deal (makes sure to do that if you ever use the site so that the restaurant knows what you’re talking about), but thankfully Samantha brought her smart phone with her. There weren’t any fancy teas nor was there champagne, but plenty of finger sandwiches, scones, and mini pastries!

And lastly, Look Mum No Hands! So sadly, I didn’t actually have a meal there (hopefully I will sometime soon), but I did have a good latte. The environment is just so hipster and adorable. It reminded me of LA actually. What is really cool about this restaurant/café is the fact that it’s partly a bike repair shop. The owners incorporated that with their décor and have fun painted gears hanging from the ceiling. There’s also free wifi, so it’s a great place to study. I wish it was closer to my school though! So much effort to get there (when the temperature is as low as it is in London, getting out of your warm room takes a lot of will power).

I’ll be posting more frequently from now on. I figure I shouldn’t let these accumulate. I’ll have an entry about baking and truffle-making soon and I also need to talk about more London food adventures (I literally just got back from having a wonderful Indian meal in White Chapel) and Germany. Ah! How I love food.