Eggs and homemade bread on la Balcon

It's that time again, well... I'm slightly late!

The seeds have been sown! Mother Richardson has provided the goods, now it is time to geminate. Living in a flat with a tincey wincey balcony is not going to halt our green fingered desires, although it was somewhat contradictory walking up through Forest Hill with bag of organic compost slung over one shoulder, Sainsbury's wares over the other, anyway we are good to go. Heirloom Alicante  and Roma tomatoes, Calabrese sprouting broccoli and Boltardy beets will be starting starting their lives in the bottom of Sir Simcocks kindly donated egg box!

Fresh noodles to order: Brick Lane again

Do Sunday morning strolls get any better than this?

Fresh Churros on Brick Lane!

What isn't being made fresh on Brick Lane today? That is the question!

Homemade Bombay Mix in Whitechapel: Unbelievable

The week of Boule!

Tajine revival!

"Good afternoon tajine sir, splendid to see you again, I'm awfully sorry for neglecting you so, It's been some time since we last bonded, I feel we should at least give it another go".

The tajine surfaced this afternoon for a spot of lunch. It's such a beautifully rustic vessel for cooking and also eating out of, thick earthenware haggled tactlessly haggled from an Arabian last January in Morocco.
No 'meat' (lamb) in sight though for this dish, just mackerel, boiled Cyprus potatoes, a little whipping cream, lemon juice, a handful of shredded winter greens and two eggs cracked on top, seasoned with cracked white pepper and a little sea salt. Baked in the oven for about 15 if the tajine is pre-warmed. A fat slice of toasted French Boule accompanied with a little unnecessary wholegrain mustard (too much acidity, the lemon was citric enough to cut through the cream and mackerel).

The Spence Bakery: Rye baby

Rye Baby! The Spence Bakery in Stoke Newington, just off the high street was delightful to have stumbled across the other day. The bakeries selection of rye breads is by far the largest I've found yet, all home made in the back of the shop each and everyday. Spence allow all of their loafs a generous amount of time to rise  to enhance and develop a fuller flavour and texture. I sliced and toasted up a fat wedge as soon I walked in the door, slathered on a little butter, toasted wholemeal seeds, golden, nutty and delicious, perfect with a little honey.

http://www.thespence.co.uk/#

Behave!

An early summer tart of asparagus and pea, delightful! Chris, you missed out!

Thanks from the woods

Late I know, but I just wanted to post thanks for all that came to fish bbq in the woods. It was indeed a delight, a plethora of fish, all fresh that day from Billingsgate fish market, mussels, salmon, mackerel, squid, sardines and sea bass all grilled with streams of lemon juice, herbs and french bread all enjoyed on Forest Hills Forest floor, beautiful.

One thing I have been pondering since this little event, inspired by the reactions of those who attended, is ways in which I could potentially bring this experience to the masses. Witnessing enjoyment on that level was particularly inspiring. What avenues are here for me to exploit though that is the question.

Salt-Beef rant 2

The salt beef beigel store at the end of Brick land (Brick Lane Beigel Bakery) as we all know is revered, sworn by and ardently frequented by all that know of its admired and appreciated 24 hour existence and rightly so, their salt beef, gherkin and mustard doused beigels fail not to hit the spot anytime of the day or unearthly hour of the night, it is truly a gem. But, I must confess that whilst cycling through Hoxton last Wednesday, eyes prying for a morsel or two, I may have found its contender.

Halting in my tracks as a swarm of people crammed into a tiny cafes gangway, instantly compelled I breathed in and entered Franca's I believe it was called. Tiny, and with a menu so crammed I could make out one laminated sign 'New York Special', I saw 'salt beef £3.50' under the description and thought god yes. I stood for five minutes in the midst of 6 seemingly volatile yet confusingly coordinated Italian staff whilst golden omelets oozed on the back griddle, spaghetti flung into fresh, creamy sauces then promptly slapped into polystyrene containers. Coffee flying, steam rising whilst I stood, mouth watering profusely, observing my magnificent sandwich undergo construction. A large brown roll sliced, a fat wedge of firm, juicy pink salt beef undergo the knife, piled unashamedly thickly, gherkins, tomatoes and emmental cheese immediately followed by a brief grilling rendering distractingly golden. Now when I say this sandwich permeated my days remaining thoughts, I mean I thought of nothing else. It kept appearing before my eyes like little sun spots, little salt beef sandwiches flashing before my eyes. It was particularly good, different to Brick Lane, but worth the detour.

Salt-beef rekindling x

Omnipresent, pervading, pointless, revealing, baffling, overrated, insightful, tiring, provoking, mind numbing and faddish. Welcome to the blog. There's no doubt I could summon  at least ten thousand further adjectives to describe that which I am begrudgingly surrendering to. But truth be known, it is more simply a matter of me not being the least bit faffed in setting up my own website, just the prospect fills me with an array of undesirable emotions. So I declare that I shall update, as frequently as humanly possible events relating to that which I have been seemingly devoting my life, design and food. Impossible to exclude food. Therefore I feel the perfect rekindling topic is to be... Beef. Salt-beef as it so happens, and so it begins.