Week 4: "Whoever thought a tiny candy bar should be called fun size was a moron." - Glenn Beck*

Week 4: (mostly) Slow by our community manager

Feels like summer is here. Bring on the crisp lager, German wheat beer, pizza and tasty salads. In the warmer weather I like to eat cooler foods like salads. And ice cream!

Monday 15 July 2014

A boiled egg with E5 Bakehouse sourdough toast and 1 cup of Tanzanian coffee with raw milk.

I had a course to attend. So I made a sandwich to take for lunch: sourdough bread with cheddar, tomatoes, mayonnaise, whole-grain mustard and pickled gherkin. And I'd bought some chilled espresso drink, as I knew there'd be only instant coffee on the course, and no good coffee shops nearby. I was disgusted to read later on the espresso shot that it contained "natural coffee flavouring". What?

The course content felt like it was designed for primary school children. Sigh. We finished early and I came home and did some proper job searching. I decided to use up the short crust pastry and made a caramelised yellow and green courgette and red onion tart with a tasty layer of Sriracha sauce on the bottom.

When my former Californian flatmate - lover of spicy foods - left, she bequeathed me a large bottle of hot Sriracha. I'm addicted now. It's like salt and pepper, a dash can make a lack lustre dish, or enhance a good one.

I had an early dinner with a piece of tart and a quinoa salad I made. I'd sniffed and looked at the quinoa very carefully as it had been over a week since I cooked it. (Spoiler, I'm writing this on Tuesday, so it was ok). Quinoa with tomatoes and fetta, lemon juice, seasoning, chopped chives.

Out in the evening I ordered a pint of Peroni, the only half decent draught lager they had, and nearly fell over when I was charged over £5! And no it was not a swanky bar but a London Bridge pub.

A small chocolate bar while wincing at a graphic TV show that had some brilliant lines about quinoa:
"What is this?" says Lee suspiciously.
"Quinoa. It's a superfood" Arby.
"Super" says Lee grudgingly.

Tuesday

A boiled egg with E5 Bakehouse sourdough toast and 1 cup of Tanzanian coffee with raw milk.

Took a piece of tart for lunch. We finished early again at the hellish course, they could have run it in one day. A complete waste of time.

Dinner: another piece of tart, and a room temperature pasta salad with macaroni (cooked, then left to cool), tomatoes, fetta, mustard, mayonnaise, chopped chives, seasoning. And Sriracha sauce of course. I have a new bottle and I'm using it.

Clotted Cornish cream with strawberries, oh yes. With a sliced nectarine.

Wednesday

A boiled egg with E5 Bakehouse sourdough toast and 1 cup of Tanzanian coffee with raw milk.

Lunch was a spicy Caribbean vegie pattie with chilli tomato sauce.

2 pieces of tart with steamed broccoli that I topped with hommous as I forgot to buy a ( lemon, I love a squueze of fresh lemon on broccoli). It actually worked very well.

Clotted Cornish cream with strawberries, oh yes. With a sliced nectarine.

Thursday

A boiled egg and 2 cups of Kenyan coffee with raw milk.

Rye crackers with tomatoes, hommous or tahini.

Another coffee.

I was out and didn't really have dinner. Enjoyed some beers in the gardens on the Southbank eating supermarket savoury bread snacks - definitely not real bread - and Kettle crisps, enjoying the beautifully balmy night watching The Eye light up (which always makes me think of the David Tennant Dr Who episode).

Later back home some more crackers with cheese. A chocolate bar and a sliced nectarine with a lone ice cream scoop - I'd run out.

Friday

A boiled egg and 2 cups of Kenyan coffee with raw milk.

I chopped a whole cauliflour and cooked it in 2 batches, frying in olive oil on the lowest heat, plus the last yellow courgette (can't go wrong with 2 caulis for £1 at the local fruit'n'veg stall). The following is a cut down version of an Ottolenghi recipe (WAIT, don't run away, it only has a few basic ingredients and it's easy!) Mix as many of the vegetables as you need with plain yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice and season to taste. A fresh cool dish for a hot night. Unfortunately I forgot the mint, next bowl I'll remember. I enjoyed a bottled German wheat beer.

Ate the last piece of savoury tart.

Yes, you guessed it, on the hottest night of the year it's ALL about ice cream with a sliced nectarine. Drizzled with tahini as an experiment, which worked well. And I do mean a drizzle, not topped with, or poured over, or drowned in.

Saturday

A boiled egg and 1 cup of Kenyan coffee with raw milk.

Tasty cold brew coffee at Broadway market. I'm a keen price checker, especially at the moment as I'm looking for work. So, cherries were £10 a kg (actually £9.99) at the organic fruit'n'veg stall and £8 for standard (£7.99) at the green grocer. I bought some organic ones as they were my first cherries of the year (and English). I'd forgotten how insanely glossy cherries are. They somehow seem alien. I was also pleased that Chegworth Valley still had yellow courgettes, my favourite.

Beautifully hot days are perfect weather for one of my favourite meals: buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes, basil, balsamic, olive oil and seasoning.

On a delicious hot night it's all about cooling foods for me. A couple of slices of fresh sourdough with cheese and tomatoes. Lots of water. A Cypriot lager - Keo. Later, the final bowl of fried cauliflour prepared as above this time with home grown mint from my window sill. The mint makes all the difference, don't forget the mint!

Clotted Cornish cream with strawberries and fantastic sweet juicy fresh cherries, I was almost drooling. So good.

Sunday

A boiled egg with E5 Bakehouse sourdough toast and 2 cups of Tanzanian coffee with raw milk.

Out for lunch at a Japanese place. I ordered cold noodles, love that dish and shiitake & bamboo shoot gyoza. Plus a rather strong Japanese lager, 6 or 7% I think. I also tried the squid, but wasn't reassured by the answer of "China" when I asked where they sourced it. My friend loved his pork belly ramen.

A not bad wheat beer and a beer made with blood orange and hibiscus at a nearby brewhouse and ribs joint.

Later at home, my simple favourite: buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes, basil, balsamic, olive oil and seasoning.

I admit it, I bought a trashy chocolate ice block cos I was seduced by popping candy, and a new flavour chocolate. The ice block was actually pretty good, I wanted more popping candy!