City Girl Goes Country: A Weekend in Devon

Topsham tranquillity

One of the things I love about having a diverse mix of friends scattered across the country is the joy of darting off in different directions to visit them and get a taste of their daily life. This particularly grey weekend I decided to pop down to Devon to visit my wonderful University friends SH and KG for a weekend of good food and lots of laughs.

I'm widely known amongst my friends for my inherent bewilderment of the country. It's not that I don't love and appreciate the rolling hills, peace and tranquillity and tiny villages where everybody knows your name. I'm just not really kitted out to belong in these places. Visiting country towns feels like I've invaded some foreign land, ramblers strolling past with their walking sticks and backpacks and vast array of sturdy walking shoes and gilets somehow managing to look appropriate and stylish all at the same time.

To every body's constant amusement the best sensible outfit I can construct is my fancy Melbourne wool blazer that cost me a month's rent, a pair of holy leggings and my bright white trainers that have a token scattering of mud from the one time I wore them. After years of lying to myself and others that I love the great outdoors, conjuring up a forced expectant smile at the prospect of another camping trip, I have finally embraced my city roots feeling safe in the comfort that I can order food at 2am, always get a cab by a mere wave of the arm and spend my Friday night's perched in a cocktail bar dressed up in my finest.

That being said I was excited for my weekend ahead to embrace my dormant country side and hopefully eat lots of beautiful local food. Saturday morning SH tentatively laid some ideas on the table, did I want to ramble along a river, go and have some lunch or visit the Devon County Show. To her and my surprise, I opted for the county show.

A Day Out at Devon County Show
http://www.devoncountyshow.co.uk/

As soon as we had paid our entrance fee I realised that the County Show was a big deal in these parts, the place was packed with healthy rosy cheeked children, dogs and roaming farmyard animals sporting prize winning ribbons. Completely inappropriately dressed as usual I hobbled around clutching my vintage bag tripping over hundreds of dog owners and patches of non-descript mud. Scouring the show for something that would take my fancy aside from alpacas and stalls informing me how to disinfect my farm it finally hit me. The food tent.

The tent, as expected was superb, Devon seems to really be making headway with some beautiful local produce. I sank a gorgeous organic coffee made from some local beans, tried the local Pebblebed fizz (http://www.pebblebed.co.uk/), drank some free ale, had the sweetest and butteriest cupcake with thick coffee infused frosting and finished it all off with a delicious Tom's Pie (http://www.toms-pies.co.uk/) with it's perfect pastry crust and creamy chicken filling.

Another exciting foodie part of our day was a pleasurable half an hour in the Dart's Farm tent, a local food mecca where I had previously enjoyed a delicious Sunday roast with beautiful lamb and a selection of freshly picked seasonal veg including the best red cabbage I have ever eaten (http://www.dartsfarm.co.uk/). This time Dart's Farm slightly eccentric owner and head chef from a local Topsham restaurant were rustling up a series of free treats including farm fresh strawberries and hand made hot fudge with vanilla pod infused creamy ice cream. The local sexy rugby team were causing a bit of a stir haphazardly hacking up a Dover Sole and roasting some vegetables.

Sexy rugby cooking

After my day on the farm, resting my sore feet my country friends decided to give me a break and send me to Exeter for a taste of the city.

Exeter: The Big City

Exeter, I'm reliably informed, is the equivalent of a metropolis down south and I must say that I've fallen a little bit in love with it. The medieval streets were unusual and interesting, the central cathedral was beautiful and every step I took I felt like I was living back in some distant historical time, wandering around in my bodice trying to find the butchers. In amongst the history, Exeter has a vibrant centre and some interesting independent bars playing live music by candlelight and serving delicious looking pizza platters (http://oldfirehouseexeter.co.uk/).

We decided to go and grab some dinner and miraculously snagged a table at basement wine bar and restaurant Rendezvous.

Dinner at Rendezvous 10
38-40 Southernhay East, Exeter EX1 1PE
http://www.winebar10.co.uk/

Moreish Pinot Gris

Rendezvous is a beautiful little wine cellar bar hidden down some non-descript stairs in a fancy bit of Exeter. As soon as we wandered into the warm room full of candles and excited chatter I knew that I was in for a treat. Everything on the menu looked great and I was instantly torn between lamb or steak. Having eaten a lot of steak recently I opted for the lamb rump, medium rare with a stack of dauphinoise. Inappropriately for my main we ordered a beautiful bottle of French Pinot Gris which was light, fruity and delicious and happily swigged while we indulged on some salted nuts.

SH had some local grey mullet and a beautiful looking swirl of mash while KG opted for the pea risotto that looked light and cheesy. I really loved my main although it almost defeated me with it's richness and size. After many giggles and feeling full to the rafters we wandered off into the night to drink more wine, miss trains and crash a wedding or two.

After a lovely tranquil Sunday in Topsham as my train ambled away I suddenly in a flash had a glimpse of how my country life could be, a stables, maybe some flowery apron and AGA cooking up some organic vegetables from my patch. Maybe I'd wear pearls and wellies and write a book about how living in the city had defeated me and how I decided that deafening silence and a border collie suddenly made sense.

Ordering another Starbucks and tucking into the Guardian Guide with it's infinite listings of gallery openings, plays, new restaurants and city fashion I realised in a moment that it would never be for me. But that's ok, how wonderful it is to embrace all aspects of life without prejudice and with an open mind.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get home to clean this mud off my suede boots. Why does my new dress smell of horse?

Taxi!

A Weekend in a Welsh Kitchen

The long weekend was looming and I decided to take a trip back home to catch up with family and friends. I arrived back ravenous and in need for some serious lunch, thinking that my mum would present me with her usual speciality of a mug of sugary tea, marmite on toast and a chunk of smoked applewood cheese (not that I'm knocking that lovely treat). Instead I arrived home to my mum busy grating beetroot and chopping flat leaf parsley and informing me that we're going to have the ultimate steak sandwich. What a treat.

The Welcome Home Ultimate Steak Sandwich (a la my mum/ a la Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals)

Ingredients

1 large good quality steak (rib eye or rump) quite thick
Some jarred red peppers in oil
Lots of flat leaf parsley finely chopped
3 big dollops of horse radish
A long baguette or rustic bread (we used a half baguette toasted)
A drizzle of olive oil
A splash of balsamic
Lots of salt and pepper
Some sprigs of thyme
A large handful of rocket or other peppery leaves

First you need to get your baguette or rustic bread, slice it down the middle and drizzle with olive oil instead of butter. We toasted ours so that the olive oil sank deliciously into the bread. Next get your three big dollops of horseradish cream and smear all over one side of the bread. Top with a handful of rocket and get on with your dressing.

To make the dressing upon which to set the steak simply get a few jarred peppers in oil and finely chop with the parsley adding a splash of balsamic and a nice twist of salt and pepper.

Now it's time to prepare the steak. Get your slab of beautiful meat and generously season on both sides with salt, pepper, a drizzle of good olive oil and some sprigs of thyme. Warm up your scalding hot dry pan and flash fry the steak for around 3 minutes per side before taking out to rest upon your dressing. Leave it for 5 minutes or so for all the juices to escape before rubbing the steak into the dressing and juices to coat well.

Now lift your steak up, set aside the dressing underneath into a pile and carve the steak on an angle avoiding any tough chewy bits. You should have a nice medium cut with only a flash of pink.

Assemble the delicious pieces of steak (trying not to eat it all like I did) on to the sandwich topping with your reserved dressing. Cut into three nice generous pieces.

We had ours with a simple green salad, some grated beetroot topped with parsley and feta and some large field mushrooms quickly cooked in the oven topped with a chunk of cheddar. Bloody delicious.

My Mum's Moussaka and Garlic Potatoes (Vegetarian)

Garlic potato aftermath

As a child I used to hate this dish, I thought the gooey soft aubergines looked like weird insects and the whole dish was beyond my palate. Now as a fully fledged member of the adult community I can see the absolute genius  of a simple white sauce with egg yolks that somehow tastes as delicious as if I had grated half a block of Davidstow but mysteriously contains no cheese whatsoever. The vege sauce is quick to assemble and this amount will feed 4 with some leftovers for scooping cold out of the bowl the next morning for breakfast (I'm destined to turn into Nigella).

Ingredients

One chopped white onion, lots of garlic chopped, a bag of quorn mince, oregano (fresh and/or dried we used both), lots of quartered fresh tomatos, a couple of tins of tomatoes

A couple of aubergines, sliced and salted

Flour, butter, milk and two egg yolks

A bag of small baby potatoes, whole cloves of garlic (skin on), one lemon quartered, a little oil, salt and pepper

First make your 'meat' sauce by frying one chopped onion, lots of chopped garlic and then a bag (or as much as you like) of quorn. When the quorn has some colour and the onions have softened add the oregano and chopped and tinned tomatoes with generous seasoning and leave to simmer.

Meanwhile get on with your potatoes, fill a saucepan with cold water, add your potatoes and skin on garlic cloves and boil until softened.

Now it's time to fry your aubergines, do so in batches turning often so that they don't catch. They will absorb a lot of oil, my mum uses sunflower but you can use olive oil. Some people salt the aubergines first and others don't. We do..because we love salt. When you have finished frying your delicious aubergines set them aside.

Now, get a deep oven safe dish and pour in your faux meat sauce and layer your aubergines on the top and start on your white sauce. First, make a simple roux by melting butter (or margerine to keep the fat down) and adding flour to thicken into a paste. Slowly add the milk and stir or whisk into a creamy sauce, if it is a little thick loosen with some more milk. You can add a touch of nutmeg or some cheese if you like but we don't. Now it's time to add the egg yolks while the sauce is off the heat. Stir in carefully and make sure you don't curdle or scramble. 

Pour the sauce over your assembled mousakka and bake in the oven until the top is golden.

While this is baking remove your potatoes, ensuring they are soft and heat up a little oil in a pan. Squeeze out the garlic cloves making a nice garlicky oil and squash the potatoes a bit quickly adding them to the hot oil. You can add some herbs here if you like and salt and importantly lots of delicious lemon juice. Fry until crispy and delicious and serve with salad and a scoop of delicious moussaka. 

Vegetarian perfection....

Get Well Soon Jerk Chicken

Following my epic 4 and a half journey home ready for various get togethers I was struck down with a bit of a cold, feeling like I had Bambi legs I reluctantly cancelled all my plans and decided to spend the day drinking steaming cups of tea in my pyjamas. The perk of my day was our decision to make a nice spicy chicken dish for lunch.

This recipe is a bit vague and can be adapted, you can add different amounts of savoury or sweet depending on your taste. The addition of pineapple juice cranks the sweetness up ten notches so if you aren't into that sort of thing then omit.

I'm not really into chilli heat but do crank it up for this, I loved the spicy note in the back of my palate mixed with the sweetness. Mmmm.

We served it as some bizarre French bistro fusion with some crusty baguette and a few buttered new potatoes. Rice and peas would be a nice accompaniment if you fancy being a little bit more Caribbean. Whatever you like really, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get back to feeling sorry for myself.

Ingredients

3 chicken legs skin on (or you can use breasts, whatever you fancy the most)

(For the sauce) A teaspoon of all spice, as much rum as you can handle, a drizzle of honey, pinch of fresh or dried thyme, two scotch bonnet chillies (if you can handle it), nutmeg, garlic 5 spring onions chopped

A teeny bit of fresh pineapple juice

Season your chicken legs and pan fry until golden (watch your hands those things go a bit nuts!)

Whizz together all the other ingredients using a blender and pour over the chicken

Place in the oven for around 25 minutes until gooey and saucy.

Delicious

Pre-gig Hawaiian Chicken

After enough sleep to revive Margaret Thatcher and hardly leaving the house I was starting to feel a little better. My parents had purchased me a ticket to go and see 1960s band The Zombies for the evening before heading back to Nottingham the next morning. We decided on a nice light early dinner, scouring the cupboards my mum decided to make something that I hadn't had for about 15 years, her own recipe Hawaiian Chicken.

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts or a whole chicken or shredded up cooked chicken
Half of a fresh pineapple ideally or tinned if you can't be bothered to chop
Some diced cooked ham
A tin of sweetcorn

Pineapple juice (not too much)

An array of diced peppers, I used little sweet ones and big ones
Some fresh chillies as hot as you like
A diced white onion

Season and pan fry your chicken until crispy and delicious. Remove to a large baking dish and add your onions and peppers until soft and releasing a nice liquid. Add in your pineapple and pour over the chicken reserving the sauce in the pan. Now it's time to add to your sauce, pour in the pineapple juice adding a little touch of cornflour if you like to thicken. Taste and season, we added a little more salt at this stage. Pour over the sauce and bake for about 15 minutes. When it's done stir in some sweetcorn with a little butter and chopped ham into fluffy white rice and serve.

So after a weekend of abysmal weather, about 5 pounds heavier and not doing very much apart from cooking I had a wonderful time. I learnt that Nuts in May is one of the funniest TV shows of all time ('I want to see the zoo she said I want to see the zoo'), 'Do you want to come and see my etchings?' is a sexual come on and Psychedelic 60s music is back.

Also, as you can see I got my wish...1am post-gig cheese on toast with my mum. I love you Wales, goodbye for now.

Home sweet home

1,000 page views

Beautiful life full of food

Today HYKAEI reached 1,000 page views and I got rather excited. It's been lots of fun starting the blog and it's outing into the world has seemed to bring me good travelling fortune as since it's inception i've had the opportunity to explore lots of England, Ireland, Wales, France, Germany and Australia with an exciting stint in China coming up.

I recently had a discussion with my dad about how we use different devices to help us learn about ourselves and grow as a people. I've used my career and my love of food and travel and it's wonderful to have a space to talk (and often annoyingly rave about) my passions.

It's also been an interesting device to explore aspects of often travelling and experiencing life solo. Perhaps this blog has allowed me a little bit of company on my journeys, safe in the knowledge that I will share my experiences on here with anybody bored enough to listen.

So thank you little blog of mine and thank you to my wonderful readers.

So let's raise a glass of your finest to travelling, food and adventure. To always being open minded and curious. To taking every chance that comes your way and enjoying every last bite of this lovely little life. 

Have your Steak and Eat It: The Meaty Version

To contradict everything vegetarian that I wrote in my previous post I absolutely love steak. For me there is nothing better than a great rare steak, a dollop of English mustard, a glass of red wine, some triple cooked chips and a big pot of hollandaise or pepper sauce for dunking.

When I lived in Melbourne I was absolutely spoilt for choice with venues serving up fantastic steak, I frequented two hatted Rockpool on not one, not two but three occasions (ah so that's where my money went). I also enjoyed beautiful dining at Steer with handsome housemate PW and Euro ladies man LM on more than one occasion and I reguarly visited the Napier for great value kangaroo with Melbourne foodie RF.

So moving back to the UK was a bit of a steak anti-climax. The problem is that despite watching a hundred videos educating me on how to cook the perfect steak I absolutely suck at it. I do everything by the book, I season the meat, leave it to get to room temperature, smear it with oil before putting it in the scorching hot pan as oppose to pouring the oil directly in. I leave it sizzle for one side for the appropriate amount of time for medium-rare NOT turning it (for fear of all hell breaking loose) until agonisingly eventually turning it to reveal a blackened bleeding mess rather than the beautiful scorched perfectly done meat ala Heston or Jamie.

I didn't know what I was doing wrong, well actually I did. I firmly decided that steak is a dish best served in a restaurant. From then on I vowed never to attempt to cook it but to jump at the opportunity to eat it whenever i'm in decent restaurant. With that in mind when I first moved to Nottingham I took my mum to a 'gastropub' in the Lace Market. Now I'm no snobby food critic but it was bloody awful, and by bloody I mean literally...bloody awful.

With the taste of failure and badly cooked pepper sauce in my mouth I vowed not only not to cook steak again but never to mention it's name in Nottingham. Steak was dead to me, that was until I went to The Library.

The Library (http://www.thelibrarybarkitchen.co.uk/) is a great little spot in Beeston, looking a little worn around the edges now and forgiving it's somewhat crazy menu and bizarre outdated website it's a great place for some candlelit treats and a damn good glass of Australian Shiraz. I eyed the steak nervously, could I do it? Could I dare risk £13 of my hard earned academic cash to run through the gauntlet of chewy meat and bitter disappointment? Feeling in a ballsy mood I decided to go for it, and for once, my steak gamble paid off. The meat was beautiful, the chips were perfection, I could have happily drank my pepper sauce neat, even the salad was brilliant.

I'm raving now, but seriously, if like me your are jaded by steak and apparently incapable of achieving anything remotely edible at home go to the Library. Just go, book a train, do it.

Actually i'm going to do it, right now. I'd better get moo-ving
Now THAT was bloody awful.