Tag: Blogging

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Blog

Arbroath Smokies

My foodie journey north in our motorhome has now reached Scotland. Climbing the east coast, we stopped in Angus to seek out the famous Arbroath Smokies.

The Smokies are haddock, caught fresh in the North Sea and unloaded from the fishing boats in little Arbroath Harbour (shown in my photo below), where they are then smoked.

Smokies are one of those delicacies that benefit from a Protected Geographical Indication, or PGI. This is a status that is given to regional speciality foods that use traditional methods unique to a particular location. It is designed to stop cheap imitations that are made elsewhere, or to lower quality standards, being passed off on shoppers as the real thing. Other famous examples of a PGI are French Champagne and Parma Ham from Italy.

In such exalted company, you would be excused for thinking that, nowadays, the Arbroath Smokie might be the subject of the full celebrity foodie treatment: perhaps a modern visitor centre with an audiovisual introduction, factory tour, cafe and souvenir shop with a coach park outside full of tour parties. Well, prepare for a surprise.

The process for catching, producing and selling the fish looks like it has hardly changed in decades. The centre of operations remains a modest-sized smokehouse and shop front on the harbourside, accessed on foot via some old narrow lanes.

The rear of the somewhat humble building still looks out directly on the North Sea. The whole operation is full of charm.

The service is friendly, with lots of free tasters over the counter, and the prices reasonable. We were momentarily tempted by the business’s other delicacy, Firecracker Salmon, which is local salmon smoked with a chilli kick, and which tastes amazing. However, we settled on a couple of Smokies to take away. The skilled shop assistant filleted them for us in seconds.

When we reached our motorhome stopover for the night, I wrapped the Smokies in a foil parcel and warmed them outside on the Cadac, for about 15 mins. The aroma that was released as the foil parcel opened was awesome. My main photo at the top of the post captures that moment.

I served them very simply in the evening sun, with a half of lemon to squeeze over, sweetcorn and some boiled new potatoes. They were delicious!

Coincidentally, around this time I managed to buy some tickets to see ABC early next year. With full orchestral backing, Martin Fry will be performing The Lexicon of Love in full, along with their other hits.

This tribute to a Motown legend just has to be the next track for the ADK Playlist, therefore: ABC with When Smokey Sings.

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Blog

Leicestershire and Rutland

I am off on my travels again – this time a motorhome journey north with my wife to explore Scotland. First stop along the way is the East Midlands which, at the time of our visit, was basking in temperatures in the upper 20s Celsius. Or maybe it is just always this warm up here?

We’ve based ourselves on the south shore of Rutland Water, the largest man-made lake in England, and one of the largest in Europe. It’s a great environment for wildlife, sailing, walking and cycling. We carry our bikes on the back of the van, so enjoyed the off-road, waterside cycle track to the beautiful Normanton Church, captured in my main photo above.

The local markets, delis and farmer’s shops have been great. Farndon Fields is an excellent farm shop in Market Harborough, well-stocked with lots of local fresh produce. We combined our visit with brunch in their on-site restaurant, the Farmer’s Kitchen. My Eggs Benedict had perfectly soft-poached eggs over slices of baked ham on a toasted muffin – chopped chillis topping off the Hollandaise Sauce with a spicy kick.

Saturday morning brings a foodie market to the village of Thrapston. I picked up these pork and chorizo sausages from a local butcher’s stall, to cook up later on the Cadac. The Cadac is my gas bbq that plugs directly into the motorhome’s gas tank via a socket on the outside wall. They tasted as great as they look here, glowing on the griddle in the evening sunshine.

The people like their cheese an orangey shade of yellow here. Red Leicester is nationally famous, of course, but Rutland Red less so. It is a more mature, hard cheese, an even deeper shade of orange, but still mild tasting. Here it is adorning my evening cheeseboard with customary glass of red alongside. The blue cheese is from neighbouring Derbyshire.

Speaking of Red Leicester, how about incorporating it when baking Welsh cakes? I bought these when I saw them at Thrapston Market. They were delicious.

I understand that a pork pie is not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, but I felt I had to try one of these famous Melton Mowbray delicacies when I found them in a butcher’s shop in Oakham. I found it had a good short pastry base, golden flaky top and soft salty filling – a very enjoyable lunchtime stop.

There you are – just some of the fine local produce I’ve been gorging on while visiting the scenic delights of Leicestershire and Rutland. It’s been a really enjoyable first stop on the journey north.

For the next track on the ADK Playlist I have turned to this band who were formed in Leicester in the 1990s. This track became a massive hit when it was remixed by Fatboy Slim – here’s Cornershop with Brimful of Asha.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Korean Salmon Noodles

Here’s another tasty dish using the Korean Sauce recipe you can find in my Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich post. The Sauce is really is versatile and, once made up and in a jug in the fridge, it can spice up and make more interesting a variety of other dishes.

In today’s offering, it serves both as a topping for baked salmon, and as a stir fry sauce for veg, served over noodles as shown in my photo above.

Servings

A main meal for 2.

Timings

With a batch of the Sauce already made up, this dish takes a further 15 – 20 mins.

You Will Need

  • a jug of Korean Sauce – follow here for the recipe
  • 2 salmon fillets
  • 1 onion
  • a few mushrooms, chopped
  • half a green pepper, and half a red pepper, cut into strips
  • 1 pack of fresh beansprouts
  • 1 pad of dried noodles
  • a few scallions, chopped

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a roasting tray and place the salmon fillets in it. With a basting brush, spread a few spoonfuls of the Korean sauce over the top of the fillets and place in the oven for 15 – 20 mins.
  2. Heat some oil in a wok and chuck in the onions, mushrooms and peppers. Stir fry until the veg is all nicely charred. Add in the beansprouts and a few spoonfuls of the Korean sauce. Stir again so that all the veg is coated in the sauce.
  3. Place the noodles in a pan of boiling water for about 2 mins, then drain.
  4. Serve the stir fried veg over a bed of noodles, topped with the salmon fillet. Garnish with chopped scallions.

Customise It!

Mix up the stir fried veg as you wish – bok choi, mange tout or carrot sticks would all be excellent. Sprinkle sesame seeds over if you like – they go really well with the Korean Sauce.

Next track for the ADK Playlist is from a band whose music I have been exploring recently. I always thought PSB stood for Purple Sprouting Broccoli, but now I know it also stands for Public Service Broadcasting. They make an interesting sound, incorporating samples from classic, archived audio files, with clear influences including David Bowie and Kraftwerk. Here’s a track to introduce them by, using Mission Control’s commentary on the moon landing. This is Public Service Broadcasting with Go!

Categories
Recipes Sides

Korean Cauli Roast

Here’s a delicious side dish that is built for sharing as part of a spicy banquet or feast, ideally with some cold drinks. Give everyone a fork each and let them tuck in, choosing a roasted floret or two and twirling it round to become coated in the spicy Korean Sauce.

The recipe for the Korean Sauce can be found in my Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich post. Although I made the Sauce originally to pour over pulled pork, I found it goes equally well with other dishes, as shown here with roasted cauliflower florets. If you’re not making the pulled pork, or if you want the Sauce to be vegetarian or vegan, just add water in place of the pork juices.

Servings

Served alongside other sides and mains, this will feed 4.

Timings

5 mins to steam the cauli, then 20 mins to roast.

You Will Need

  • 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
  • a saucepan of Korean Sauce (vegetarian version)
  • 3 – 4 scallions
  • half a carrot
  • a handful of sesame seeds

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180C.
  2. Put the cauli florets in a steamer basket over a pan of boiling water for 5 mins (I find this helps the cauli become tender and succulent in the roasting process).
  3. Warm the Korean Sauce on the hob or in the microwave.
  4. Remove the cauli from the steamer and lay out on a roasting tray.
  5. Brush all over with the Korean Sauce, and put in the oven for 20 mins.
  6. Remove the roasted cauli and place in a serving bowl. Drizzle over some generous spoonfuls of the Korean Sauce, and garnish with chopped scallions, carrot sticks and sesame seeds.

Customise It!

There will already be chopped chilli in the Korean Sauce, but you can add a bit more as a topping if you want an extra fiery kick. Matchsticks of cucumber also work well as a topping, and give a kind of antidote to the heat!

Here’s an old track I heard in a friend’s car the other day, and which I hadn’t heard in years. It has a really catchy chorus, so you may find yourself humming it, as I have been this week. This is Dr. Feelgood with Don’t You Just Know It.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich

I ordered this for lunch recently in a hipster cafe-bar that had a very tempting variety of dishes on the menu. I thought it was amazing so decided I would try to recreate it myself.

I’ve roasted pulled pork before in my electric slow cooker, but hadn’t really created anything I could call a Korean sauce.

After a bit of reading up, I treated myself to a couple of specialist ingredients I hadn’t bought before, but which seemed to be quite key to the whole concept: rice vinegar and Gojuchang paste. The rest of the ingredients, such as dark soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger and so on, are things that I tend to have in usually.

I’m glad I invested in the specialist foods – particularly the Gojuchang paste, which has a distinctive dark and smoky taste with a chilli kick. I found both in the Asian aisle of my local Sainsbury’s.

Servings

A meal for 4 with some left over for lunch the next day.

Timings

20 mins to prepare the pulled pork, then 6 hours in a slow cooker. It took me about 25 mins to make the sauce while the pork was finishing off.

You Will Need

For the Pulled Pork

  • Joint of shoulder of pork between 1kg – 1.4kg
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 500g carton of tomato passata
  • 60ml cider vinegar
  • 1tsp paprika
  • 1tsp ground cumin

For the Korean Sauce

  • oil
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, chopped into fine rings with seeds removed
  • 60ml dark soy sauce
  • 2tbsp rice vinegar
  • 50ml runny honey
  • 1tbsp Gojuchang paste
  • cornflour
  • water

To Serve

  • Brioche rolls
  • spring onions
  • half a carrot

Method

  1. Switch on the slow cooker and turn to a high setting.
  2. Heat a little oil in a wok or large frying pan and sear the pork on all sides. When nicely browned, transfer to the slow cooker bowl and season with a few twists of sea salt and black pepper.
  3. Put the other ingredients into the wok or pan, and stir to combine in the heat. When warmed, pour over the joint of pork. Put the lid on the slow cooker and leave on a high heat for 30 mins. Then reduce to medium setting and leave for 5 and a half hours more.
  4. Start making the sauce about 40 mins before the pork is due to finish.
  5. Heat some oil in a saucepan and add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Leave until sizzling and softened.
  6. In a jug, combine the soy, rice vinegar, honey and Gojuchang paste, then pour into the saucepan. Give it all a stir and leave to simmer.
  7. When the pork has completed its 6 hours, remove it from the slow cooker and leave to rest in a rectangular serving dish.
  8. Tip the juices from the slow cooker into the saucepan and stir.
  9. Add a paste of 2 tbsp cornflour and 1 tbsp water, stirred so it forms a creamy liquid. Stir it in and watch the sauce thicken. Do this again until the sauce has a thickish consistency so it will cling to the pork when poured over.
  10. Using 2 forks, dive into the pork joint and pull it apart from the centre. You should have lovely soft, flaky fibres of tender meat. Pop one in your mouth to appreciate how good it tastes.
  11. Pour the sauce into a jug and serve alongside the dish of pulled pork.
  12. Serve with the rolls, halved and lightly toasted on the inside, with a garnish of chopped scallions and carrot sticks.

Customise It!

I will be posting other recipes that use the Korean Sauce, but which will be vegetarian or vegan. For these, don’t add the pork juices, and use water instead.

Here’s a track for the Playlist from The Wedding Present. I’ve seen them live a few times and they are always worth the ticket price. Their sound is a cross between Buzzcocks and Orange Juice, so no surprise that I’m a fan. This is My Favourite Dress.

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Spiced Apple & Oat Muffins

I still have lots of apples from the garden around for baking with at the moment – you’d almost think they grow on trees…..

Even after making my Dorset Apple Cake, there were still plenty more to combine with oats and spices in these tasty muffins, shown in my main photo above. Great with a cup of tea, for dessert or breakfast, and lovely with a few spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt on the side.

Servings

12 muffins.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, 25 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need

  • 190g plain flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • half tsp salt
  • 1 and a half tsp mixed spice
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 170g finely chopped apple
  • 60g sultanas
  • 1 egg
  • 60g oats
  • 150 ml milk
  • 90 ml vegetable oil

Method

  1. Warm the oven to 180C and grease a muffin tin or mould.
  2. Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice into a bowl. Add the sugar, chopped apple and sultanas, and mix so that the fruit is coated in flour.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, oats, milk and veg oil.
  4. When the oven is up to temperature, combine wet ingredients with dry, and stir to mix. Spoon into the muffin tin or mould and bake for 25 mins. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Customise It!

Cinnamon or nutmeg will go just as well as the mixed spice if you wish. A handful of toasted chopped nuts would be a good addition.

With a number of posts recently featuring spice, it’s amazing that I have thus far managed to avoid adding a track by the Spice Girls to the ADK Playlist. This probably has something to do with the fact that I am not a massive fan. This song, which I do like, comes fairly close, however. Bryan Adams and Mel C (aka the Sporty one) with When You’re Gone.

Categories
Bakes Blog

I am a Bake-Off Winner!

This week I’ve received the exciting news that I have won an award in the Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2023!

My Spicy Veg Strudel was joint winner in the Savoury Bake category, along with a magnificent Courgette and Mint Tart. You can check out all the award winners here.

I very much enjoyed entering the Bake-Off for the first time, and winning an award is, shall we say, the icing on the cake.

Well done to Mel and Gary for organising and hosting such a fun event, and Jeanne for judging. Massive praise to all our Bake-Off entrants: you demonstrated the creativity and innovation of the online baking and foodblogging community, with such a consistently high standard of bakes.

So here’s a well done message to all involved in customary ADK style: Fatboy Slim with Praise You.

Categories
Breakfast Desserts Recipes

Spiced Plum Compote

A plentiful supply of fresh plums has been arriving off the trees and into the ADK kitchen recently – I guess it’s that time of year. Here’s a very quick and easy way of cooking them up for use either as a breakfast topper, on oats or muesli, or as a dessert, with milk or natural yoghurt (see above). There are only 4 ingredients and the whole exercise will take about 10 mins.

And it’s delicious.

Servings

At least 6 servings.

Timings

10 mins.

You Will Need

  • 9 – 10 fresh plums
  • 1 tbsp demerara sugar
  • 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
  • juice of 1 lemon

Method

  1. Chop the plums and discard the stones. Place in a saucepan with the other ingredients.
  2. Bring to a boil and stir, then reduce to a simmer for 5 – 10 mins. Switch off.
  3. Allow to cool, and serve over oats, nuts and seeds or muesli, with milk or natural yoghurt, as a breakfast or dessert dish.

Customise It!

If you don’t have 5 spice, then mixed spice, cinnamon or nutmeg will be fine. Another idea is to chuck a cinnamon stick into the saucepan as the compote is cooking, if you wish.

Today’s addition to the Playlist is a track that came on a few days ago while I was driving. I’d forgotten how great it was, especially with the unmistakable jangling sound of Johnny Marr on guitar. Add in Bernard Sumner from New Order on vocals and you have one mighty Mancunian supergroup. This is Electronic with Get the Message.

Categories
Blog

The Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2023!

It’s arrived! This weekend of the 26th and 27th August sees The Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2023 taking place.

It is being hosted by Mel, Jeanne and Gary over on Caramel. The theme this year is Express Yourself, so expect to see lots of culinary creativity and innovation on display.

Please go take a look at some of the amazing bakes emerging from the ovens of the WordPress baking and foodblogging community. There’s an emphasis on fun and celebration – all participants deserve praise for their efforts, so feel free to leave some likes and appreciative comments, please.

I’m pleased to say that one of my creations from A Different Kitchen is included in the many entries, so do keep a special eye out for this.

Being a food blog with the strapline Good Food, Great Music, I have given some thought to what an appropriate playlist might be for the Bake-Off. Martha & the Muffins, perhaps? Sweet? Bread, Sugababes or the Spice Girls?

And then there is that famous TV show to acknowledge. Maybe The Proclaimers with Sunshine on (Prue) Leith? Frankie Goes to (Paul) Hollywood, anyone?

The Stones have a few contenders – Brown Sugar obvs, but also, perhaps, It’s Only Swiss Roll (But I Like It) (erm, one of their lesser-known hits).

Well done to all our Bake-Off entrants – you are all stars. May your meringues be majestic, and your Battenburgs beautiful. And to all you Victoria Sponge makers, here’s a musical reminder not to forget the baking powder: Gabrielle with Rise.

Enjoy this year’s Bake-Off, everyone.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Kale & Puy Lentil Curry

Here’s a medium curry that is both vegetarian and vegan. While the base comprises a number of fresh vegetables and spices, the undoubted stars of the show are two particularly healthy ingredients.

Kale grows in our garden and seems to keep on producing new crops as the seasons progress. It is a source of fibre, calcium, vitamins and antioxidants, which help us stay well by removing toxins from the body.

Lentils are a good source of protein for anyone following a meat- or dairy-free diet. Puy Lentils are the variety that pack the most protein per calorie.

Servings

A meal for 4.

Timings

25 mins to prepare and cook.

You Will Need

  • a little oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • half a red chilli
  • 2 cm piece of root ginger
  • 2 – 3 mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp curry powder (I’m still using my Qatari Spices)
  • 8 – 10 tomatoes (I used fresh as we have lots growing in the garden)
  • 1 400g can of coconut milk
  • 8 leaves of kale
  • 60g Puy lentils
  • a handful of nigella seeds
  • 6 – 7 cardamom pods
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • basmati rice

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a wok, and add the crushed garlic. Chop the onions, chilli, ginger and mushrooms and add to the wok. Chuck in the curry powder and give it all a stir.
  2. Let it sizzle for a few minutes, then quarter the tomatoes and add in. Let them squash down in the heat, then add the coconut milk.
  3. Fill the empty coconut milk can with water and pour in to the wok. Chop the kale leaves into 3 or 4 strips, and add in with the lentils. Check the liquid level at this stage, and top up with more water if necessary – there should be just enough liquid to cover the veg. It will reduce down to a creamy consistency as the kale and lentils cook.
  4. After about 10 mins, add in the nigella seeds, cardamom pods and garam masala, giving it all another stir.
  5. After another 10 mins, spoon out a lentil to check it is cooked. You should just be able to bite through without it becoming too soft or mushy.
  6. Switch off and serve with steamed or boiled basmati rice.

Customise It!

It’s a vegetable curry, so add in whatever veg you have to hand or like to use. Peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots – all will go well.

I’m going to be off on my travels again soon, this time exploring Scotland. More of this in upcoming posts, but for now I’ve been getting in the mood and listening to some great tracks from Scottish bands. Here’s one of the best, Glasgow’s Franz Ferdinand with Do You Want To.