Another salad...for dinner

15 degrees and sunny....apparently it is summer and my salad packed menu plan finally starting to make sense!! Last night I made yet another salad from the fabulous For the Love of Food.  This salad took a bit of time preparing...cooking lentils, sautéing onions and garlic, roasting courgettes, cooking peas and beans...but, I was home alone, had the time and...well...I just love being in the kitchen anyway!

I decided...at the last minute to add the end of the bag of orecchiette that I had opened earlier in the week. The addition of the pasta made this salad more substantial, but I will definitely try as it was meant to be...at some point...in the future.  The dressing is a simple yoghurt, oil and lemon juice combination that...I think could have benefitted from some heat (next time)...otherwise...totally yummy!

Small Ears with Broad Beans

I have been drooling over my two new cookbooks, meal planning and thinking ahead.  One recipe that jumped right out at me was Denis Cotter's Orecchiette with Broad Beans and Courgettes, a simple, fresh and gorgeous looking pasta dish.

I was immediately drawn to the bright green broad beans (cooked and then skins peeled off) and the use of orecchiette, two things that I would never have thought to put together.  Sometimes I makes these new dishes and then, when I am wolfing them down, I realise...hey! this is a variation of something I already make!...but with x, y and z...and this was one of those things...one of my standby summer dinners is spaghetti with courgettes...cooked exactly the same way as this dish (but with added lemon zest and chilli flakes).  Anyway...it was fantastic and brought a little bit of sunshine to yesterday's dreary day.

Belleau Kitchen Random Recipe Challenge: My New Cookbook

When Dom at Belleau Kitchen posted his June Challenge, My New Cookbook, I had to bide my time...it was days before my birthday and I was hoping for some new cookbooks (no word of a lie I haven't had a new cookbook since July last year). 

Well...didn't I just luck out...two new cookbooks in my hot little hands!! Denis Cotter's "for the love of food" an incredible vegetarian cookbook with recipes that remind me of Ottolenghi's Plenty (think long ingredient lists with incredible results) and Stephane Reynaud's "365 good reasons to sit down and eat", which has a seasonal, french recipe for every day of the year.  

What to make first? Such a hard decision.

I plan my meals for a fortnight and when I made this week's plan I was thinking...end of June, sun, heat, time for salads!! Denis Cotter has a whole chapter dedicated to salads that eat like a meal and I greedily chose a handful to fill my meal plan.  

So, have you been enjoying the sun in Edinburgh? I hear you ask...um....no.  It has rained for about a week straight...and it's been chilly....hardly salad weather.  

Sticking to my meal plan last night, with a quick tweak (or two), I made this easy warm pea salad with cherry tomatoes, basil, red onions and garlic.  The first tweak was my choice of pea...the recipe calls for sugar snaps but I used a huge heap of freshly podded peas instead.  The second tweak? serving it with some baked fish, pita and hummus...much more weather friendly.  

Edinburgh Larder...a fantastic escape from the rain

This blog didn't set out to offer reviews of restaurants and cafes...it is meant to be a log of my adventures in the kitchen and around the house...but since we've relocated to Edinburgh I can't help but want to SHARE with you some of the fantastic little (and large) finds I've...well...found!

It's a wonder I have any pennies left...coffee isn't expensive, but...I've been trying to limit my new experiences to once a week...it is only Tuesday and I've spent my coffee money for the week already!! Blame it on the rain (cue milli vanilli), blame it on my unemployment, blame it on the need to be out of the house for a few hours during the day...what ever I blame it on, the fact is...

Pottering equals coffee treat every time.

I found myself wandering around old town this morning (after a stop at the library and post office...no mail to Canada....strike) with a knapsack full of books, some un-mailable mail and the heavens threatening to open at any minute.  I can't say that today's cafe treat happened entirely by accident, I WAS on the hunt for a cafe...BUT the cafe that I had actually WANTED to try was CLOSED!!

So back along the Royal Mile I started walking (in the rain) past totally over priced tourist traps, wondering where I would be able to take cover...when I had to stop at the corner of a pretty small street to let a truck turn...and there I could just about make out a really lovely looking sign (awesome font and colours) for a cafe...Edinburgh Larder.

When I walked in I fell in love instantly...lovely wooden tables, big glass cooler case of salads, rustic breads...local produce...

I had a seat in the window, so I could watch the rain and the backpackers tumble out of the hostel opposite.  The windowsill was covered in cookbooks, some marked, some dogeared, some new...and a collection of cookery writing books as well...if I had all day I would have just sat there reading and eating and copying out recipes.

I had a huge bowl of porridge (cooked in milk....yum!) with brown sugar and a latte.  Major bonus points for the latte served in a mug...not a glass...hey! I am picky (I quizzed the guy working there...and he agreed with me) and yes, it would have made a difference.

Anyway, if you find yourself in Edinburgh old town close to the Royal Mile and North Bridge it is worth the detour to Blackfriars street.  I'll be checking them out for lunch next!

Edinburgh Larder

Sand Between My Toes

Back from a relaxing and (mostly) sunny holiday on the North Norfolk Coast...sand in the bottom of my bag...in my socks...in my toothbrush...everywhere!

I ate really well while I was away...a lot of crab and a lot of mayo...so needed something full of veggies, and warming when I arrived back in Edinburgh (to the grey skies and rain).  I bought a tin of beans, a few extra vegetables and...voila...

Cloudy and wet today...and just enough soup left for lunch! 

kedgeree leftovers...quick afternoon lunch

I whipped up a batch of indian spiced crepes (crepe batter minus the sugar and plus garam masala spice mix and some curry powder) and filled them with the left over kedgeree...so yummy!

Tea at the Balmoral...a birthday treat

David totally spoiled me this birthday...I mean...totally...he's been studying hard for his accountancy exams the past couple of weeks, and I am pretty used to exams conflicting with my birthday...but this year...he took the day off from studying and spoiled me rotten! He's been pretty sneaky too...collecting the mail and hiding away anything resembling a birthday card...which meant I had a pile of cards to open with my coffee in bed on the morning of my birthday....followed by a scavenger hunt through the flat to "find" my pressies....followed by waffles with butter and maple syrup for brekkie...and then...the best bit...Tea at the Balmoral Hotel in the afternoon.

The Balmoral's tea room is gorgeous, high ceilings, harpist, beautiful tables and linens, gigantic napkins...totally lovely.  We had the champagne tea and toasted my birth, our families and friends.  Then we got stuck in!

Finger sandwiches, fruit and plain scones, pastries and shortbread...this girl's perfect afternoon!