Atrium quartet

Magnificently Russian on the first night of their British tour.

Shostakovich Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108
Falik Quartet No.8 (2001)
Arensky Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op. 35a
Schubert Quartet No.15 in G major, D 887

Live concert BBC Radio 3 7.30pm Monday night.

 

 

A bigger picture

David Hockney exhibiting at the Royal Academy 21 January – 9 April.

 

 

REM

First Sony Walkman, A-level sciences, avoiding A-level sciences, knowing every single word of Murmur, Reckoning, Fables, Document, Green, purple artexed bedroom, orange curtains, halls, Out of Time, Automatic, friday night academy, camper van, losing my religion, Engineering exams, avoiding Engineering exams, Monster, Cambridge, mine before they became stadium whores, escaping Somerset, New Adventures, Australia, Up, Reveal, Bath, greasy pole, Around the Sun, Accelerate, lost a bit here, travels, Collapse into Now, breathe.

I love you guys.  Good luck with future projects.

 

iPlayer gem for a happy hour.

 

Tomato tarte tatin

Adapted from bbc food website.  Photo from barbaricgulp.

Ingredients

• 500g/1lb 2oz ready-madepuff pastry
• 40 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes (any really – cut up if too big)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• pinch sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp honey
• goat’s cheese or feta for topping
• plain flour, for dusting
• small bunch fresh basil
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Place the tomatoes into a 20cm/8in ovenproof frying pan with the vegetable oil, salt and pepper and honey. Arrange together as tightly as possible.
3. On a well-floured work surface, roll out a circle of puff pastry the same size as the top of the frying pan. Place the puff pastry over the tomatoes, tucking it around them so the tomatoes are encased.
4. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the puff pastry is well puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to sit for a few minutes, then tip away the excess liquid (if any) and put a large plate upside down on top of the frying pan. Using oven gloves, press the plate down hard and then quickly flip the whole thing so the frying pan is upside down and the plate is on the bottom. (I do this over the sink because there is usually some leakage!)
5. Remove the frying pan. Once the tart is cold, sprinkle the goat’s cheese, rip up some mint or basil leaves and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
6. To serve, arrange the tarte on a plate or large platter with cold meats, cheeses, olives or salads.

This is lovely warm as well – puff pastry can go a bit soggy if left too long.

 

Blue skies over devonport

 

 

Watching

Some decent telly for a long January.

 

Crowdy reservoir

 

 

Crushed roast carrots with cumin and goat’s cheese

From Riverford Cookbook.  Picture from Eat the Earth.  Great looking mushroom burger recipe.

Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main

Takes 5 mins to prep, 50 mins to cook

750g carrots

4 tbspns olive oil

2 tspns cumin seeds (dry-fried and then ground)

2 tbspns pine nuts (dry-fried)

100g goat’s cheese (I’ve also used Feta)

1 tbspn chopped mint (oregano or marjoram)

good extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Scrub and trim the carrots, then cut in half lengthways. Roast them with the olive oil for 50 minutes at 180c. They should be tender, lightly browned and slightly caramelised.
Mash them with a fork and mix in the ground cumin. Put on a serving dish with the pinenuts, cheese and herbs. Drizzle with the oil and serve with pitta bread.

 

Hello starling

Bit thin on the ground out at Crowdy reservoir but a glorious cold evening.

 

Crumbs

Good recipes when imagination and ingredients are flagging.

 

My week with marilyn

An enjoyable adaptation of Colin Clark’s diary, written during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl.  Kenneth Branagh and Michelle Williams terrific as Olivier and Munroe.  Review here.

 

Niki and the dove

 

Once in a lifetime

Into the blue again

After the money’s gone

Time isn’t after us

Time isn’t holding us

Time doesn’t hold you back

Talking Heads

 

Nippy noodles

 

Spaghetti western orchestra

Part one.  Love.

 

The heart of the great alone

On at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.

The Heart of the Great Alone: Scott, Shackleton & Antarctic Photography

Until 15 April 2012

This exhibition of remarkable Antarctic photography by George Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley marks the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole.

Ponting’s dramatic images record Scott’s Terra Nova expedition of 1910–12, which led to the tragic death of five of the team on their return from the South Pole.  Hurley’s extraordinary icescapes were taken during Ernest Shackleton’s Polar expedition on Endurance in 1914–17, which ended with the heroic sea journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia.  Both collections of photographs were presented to King George V and are today part of the Royal Photograph Collection.

 

 

 

Jil sander

From last summer’s collection.

 

Roost

Via Hush blog.  Lovely recipes and photos here.  Domestic diary and food journey.

Here’s one of the many recipes providing alternatives to dairy, gluten etc.

Upside Down Pear Cakes (makes 9)

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 11/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup ghee, melted (or butter or oil of your choice)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of fresh apple juice
• 3 pears of choice (I used asian and red), thinly sliced (a mandolin works great!)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients and pour into dry, mixing to incorporate. Set aside.

Keep sliced pears aside.

Vanilla Honey

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod discarded

Mix the vanilla seeds with the honey until incorporated.

Pour 1tsp of vanilla honey into 9 wells of a greased muffin pan. I used a 12-well pan but only filled 9.

Place a few slices of pear on top the vanilla honey in each filled well. Pour batter over the slice pears, filling each well to the top.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

These bake like muffins so the tops may be a bit uneven. For presentations sake I used a serated knife and trimmed the top part to create a “flat” surface. You do not have to do this step but it will make it easy for the mini cakes to sit flat. If you do trim the tops save the scraps for a later snack

Once cooled slightly remove the cakes from the muffin pan and flip so that the pear side is facing up.

Pour some cardamom cream on a plate. Place a cake on top and drizzle with some leftover vanilla honey. Enjoy!

Cardamom Cream

Because we can not have fresh cream on our SCD diet I fermented the cream in a dehydrator, similar to how I make SCD yogurt. The result is a slightly tangy créme fraîche. The fermenting process allows good bacteria to consume the milk sugar, lactose, making this a “legal” dish for us SCD followers.

If you do not follow the SCD diet you can make this using whipped cream or store bought créme fraîche. Just add some ground cardamom and a touch of honey. The method below is for SCD:

• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 1 packet of yogourmet yogurt starter
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 3 TBS honey

Heat cream to 110F. Remove from heat and stir in yogurt starter. Fill two 8 ounce jars will mixture and incubate at 105F or 110F in a dehydrator or yogurt maker for no less than 24 hours.

After 24 hours place jars in fridge and allow to cool for at least 5 hours.

The result is a créme fraîche, simliar to sour cream but thinner and not as strong.

Pour into a bowl and mix in honey and cardamom. You can add more or less cardamom and honey to your liking.

 

The grocer’s son

French film on the redemptive effect of family, countryside and community on an estranged son.  Like taking a really big, deep, comforting breath.  Provence countryside looking fine.  Recommended.

 

Riverford field kitchen

An elegant sufficiency at Riverford Field Kitchen near Totnes.  Delicious food.  Would recommend two rather than three course lunch as current Christmas deal positively gluttonous.