Tag: Blogging

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Blog Music

Piano Man

This weekend I went to see Billy Joel play live at the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, London.

Early on in the set, he announced that he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that he had no new songs to play. The good news was that this meant he would play all his greatest hits. Cue a loud cheer from the festival crowd.

And what an impressive roster of hits he has. I associated him most with easy listening, FM station-friendly ballads like Just the Way You Are and She’s Always a Woman. His set showed, however, a very much wider range of musical influences.

He’s in piano jazz territory with New York State of Mind, gospel in River of Dreams, and a capella with a hint of doo wop on The Longest Time.

His rock n roll side is there to see on We Didn’t Start the Fire and It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me. Then there are simply great pop songs like An Innocent Man, My Life, Tell Her About It and Movin’ Out.

It was clear that his backing band are very able musicians, and I liked the fact that, unselfishly, he gave over space to them to showcase their talents. This was unexpected and helped keep the set fresh. In the middle section of River of Dreams, the percussionist took centre stage for some powerful lead vocals as they segued into River Deep, Mountain High, Later in the set, the guitarist sang Nessun Dorma, with Billy accompanying him on the piano. The encore included a rousing version of A Hard Day’s Night.

Possibly the greatest reception came for Piano Man, his song about the hopes and fears of a set of characters in a New York bar, told from the view of the resident pianist. The whole of Hyde Park joined in the singalong chorus. Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers came on to help sing Uptown Girl, which must be a contender for the perfect pop song (and which I am adding to the ADK Playlist).

On one of the hottest days of the year, Billy Joel played all these hits and more, carrying on for 2 hours as the sun slowly set over London. Now in his mid-70s, I do not know if he will perform on these shores again, but if not, this was a special and memorable way to bow out.

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Blog

Don’t Look Back Into the Sun

I recently spent a few days in Margate on England’s Kent coast. I had heard a lot about how it was regenerating itself from a classic, but decaying, traditional seaside resort into a modern centre for music and the arts, with independent cafes and eateries.

Beach, food, music and the arts – it sounded like my kind of place.

The town’s provenance as a centre for the arts is well founded. The long sea front has unbroken views facing west, and the quality of the natural light is what reputedly attracted classical artist JMW Turner to reside and paint here. The description of the light is accurate – there are cracking sunsets every evening, especially this time of year when the days are long (see my main photo above for one example).

This is the home of Tracey Emin, and the town’s heritage trail is full of references to other legendary Brits who have also made this their place of abode. Here is the vista that inspired TS Eliot to write his epic poem The Wasteland. Hawley Square, with imposing terrace houses looking out over a beautiful old public garden, has been home to John Keats, Lord Nelson and, erm, Hawkwind.

The artistic regeneration has been kickstarted by the arrival of the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, built on the site of the guesthouse that Turner stayed in while visiting here. It has a huge window looking out to sea, dressed for our visit by Brazilian abstract artist Beatriz Milhazes. It reminded me of a stain glassed window, see below.

Dreamland, shown below, is a 1930s amusement park, restored to all its retro glory and serving also now as a venue for visiting bands. The summer programme includes Placebo and Queens of the Stone Age, so they are clearly having success in attracting top quality music.

Near the Turner, and just across from the main beach, is the Old Town. Programmed for clearance in the 1960s, it was, thankfully, saved and is now a thriving centre for independent shops and cafes. We enjoyed grabbing a takeaway coffee or sandwich and taking it over to eat on the beach. Takeaway of choice was Sub Rosa, which specialises in fresh bagels. Below is my soft, chewy and delicious ‘everything’ bagel with cream cheese.

It is impossible to tire of the views across the sands, see one example below.

In another direction, you may just spot one of Antony Gormley’s iron men figures gazing out to the horizon. Be warned, however – he does get completely submerged at high tide (the statue that is, not Antony Gormley, obvs).

While there is lots to enjoy and get excited about at Margate, I do need to add some note of caution and balance, before everyone signs up to a short break there. The regeneration is still, very much, a work in progress! The arty points of interest, vintage clothes shops, adventurous foodie cafes and cappuccino bars rub shoulders with a serious amount of shabby and decaying buildings, graffiti and neglected public spaces. If that sort of thing disturbs you, then it may be best to leave your visit till the rebirth of the town is a little further down the road.

With its juxtaposition of crumbling facades of a once great English seaside resort, artistic heritage and modern day grunge, you may be excused for thinking Margate would be the perfect place for those bohemian songsters, The Libertines, to open a boutique hotel. Well, guess what? Pete, Carl and co have invested in the Albion Rooms, a stylishly kitted out 8 room hotel with bars and music venue (see below). It also has a recording studio, which is used both by The Libertines and local indie bands.

So I will finish by adding The Libertines to the ADK Playlist. Here’s a track that could easily have been written about the glorious view from Margate’s beach, just across from the Albion Rooms. This is Don’t Look Back Into the Sun.

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Blog Snacks

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Summer is cricket season, and there are few better ways to spend a warm, sunny evening than going to a Twenty 20 (T20) match. Especially so when you take along a rye sourdough doorstep sandwich, with pastrami, pickles, salad and mustard mayo, as shown in my photo above.

What’s the back story to my Pastrami Blast sandwich, as I call it? Read on.

In the T20 Blast (as the competition is called), each team has only 20 overs (i.e. 120 bowls) and about 90 minutes in which to score runs. The solemnity and gentle patience of Test cricket (which is played out over 5 days) goes out the window, as the batsmen try to whack as many shots as possible over the boundaries and into the crowd. The whole affair is accompanied by lots of cheering, whooping, hollering, bursts of fire, pop music etc. You get the picture.

Food and drink is an important part of the enjoyment. There is a good variety of outlets on offer at our local ground, and fans are free to bring in their own food if they wish.

When I was in Australia this winter (their summer) I enjoyed following the Aussie version of T20, which is aptly entitled The Big Bash. Adopting the Melbourne Renegades as my team, I saw them play home games at the Marvel Stadium. It is quite something having Marvel as your stadium sponsor – see my photo below. Who needs security guards or CCTV when you have Iron Man (in Hulkbuster guise from Avengers: Age of Ultron) making sure no spectators step out of line?

The T20 Blast reminds me a lot of baseball, which I have enjoyed watching on visits to the US, at the home stadia of the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.

I’m reminded of a meal I bought while at the Mets Stadium, billed as Hot Dog and Chips. Seeing the word Chips in place of the standard fare of French Fries that was on offer at every other American diner, I presumed the Mets were offering fans the plump, deep fried fingers of actual potato that we are more used to eating in the UK. Imagine my surprise when I found my Hot Dog to be served with what we in the UK would call a bag of crisps. Two nations separated by the same language, eh?

My most recent visit to the T20 Blast was to see my local team, Hampshire Hawks, play the Essex Eagles. With thoughts of baseball in my mind, I decided to make and take in my own deluxe sandwich, influenced by some of the great varieties I have enjoyed in New York delis. Here’s how I made my Pastrami Blast.

I began with a generously sized portion of freshly baked rye sourdough bread, and lined it with a blend of white wine mustard and mayo. To this I added about 5 slices of pastrami and some pickles.

Next up are sliced tomatoes and chopped scallions (or spring onions) picked fresh from the garden. The inside of the upper slice is also now lined with mustard mayo.

Next, I added pieces of crunchy iceberg lettuce, and pressed it all together.

Wrapped in foil, I opened it up at the game (see my main photo at the top of the post), enjoying it with a pint of East Coast IPA from the bar, and (you guessed it) a bag of chips i.e. potato crisps.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the baseball games I’ve been to in the US – watching the sporting drama unfold on the pitch, savouring the continuous round of hot dogs, beers and sodas, and observing the customs that are so much a part of the game’s culture. One is the 7th Inning Stretch, where the spectators are encouraged to partake in communal aerobic exercise (presumably to help work off all the calories consumed during innings 1 to 6).

There is also the singing of this classic, which I am adding to the ADK Playlist. In a rather neat closing link, I am going to see Billy Joel play live at Hyde Park in London this weekend. Wonder if he will play Take Me Out To The Ball Game?

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Sides

Royal Blood Orange Salad

Now here’s a vibrantly coloured salad to liven up your patio table and get your summer lunch guests talking.

Slices of fresh orange are combined with wafer thin slivers of raw beetroot, in a sweet and sour dressing, topped with roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds infused with the taste of fennel.

The inspiration came from a chef I admire a lot, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. That deep shade of purpley-red that the fruit takes on from the beetroot juices (see my photo above) reminded me of blood oranges. As the music of Brighton duo, Royal Blood, was playing a lot in the ADK Kitchen when I was making this, I decided to call it my Royal Blood Orange Salad.

Still with me? Here’s how it’s made.

Servings

This is a side salad, rather than a main. Along with other salads as part of a summer lunch table, it will serve 4 people.

Timings

10 mins to chop and prepare, before leaving to marinate for 2 hours before serving. 15 mins to make the roasted seed topping, which is added just before serving.

You Will Need

  • 2 small beetroot, raw
  • 2 medium sized fresh oranges
  • 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp soft brown sugar
  • seasalt and freshly ground black pepper

For the roasted seed topping:

  • 2 tbsp fennel seeds
  • half tsp seasalt
  • 1 and a half tsp caster sugar
  • 40g pumpkin seeds
  • 40g sunflower seeds
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

Method

  1. Peel the outer skin from the beetroot. Using a vegetable peeler, cut the beetroot into wafer thin slivers.
  2. Trim the top and bottom off each orange. Then, standing each orange on a chopping board, trim off the skin and pith, leaving a fleshy orange ball. Cut horizontally into slices about 1cm thick.
  3. Put the beetroot and orange in a bowl and add the white wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Toss to combine, and place in the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours.
  4. Meanwhile, prepare the seed topping. Begin by pre-heating the oven to 180C.
  5. Using a pestle and mortar, grind the fennel seeds, salt and sugar to a fine powder. Then place the powder in a bowl with the pumpkin and sunflower seeds, oil and 1 tbsp water, and stir to combine.
  6. Line an oven tray with baking paper, and spread the seed mix out upon it. Place in the oven for about 8 mins.
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  8. Remove the marinated orange and beetroot from the fridge, giving it a gentle stir. Sprinkle the cooled seed mix over and serve.

Customise It!

Mmm, an interesting one! There’s quite a delicate mix of flavours and colours in here, so I’m wary of messing too much with it. There is something faintly oriental about the sweet and sour dressing, so the next time I make this I think I will try Chinese 5 spice in place of the fennel seeds and see how that goes.

The roasted seed mix I really liked, so much so that I kept some for snacking on (see my photo below). It was also great as a topping sprinkled over muesli at breakfast time.

I was experimenting with this salad in the days before seeing Muse at Milton Keynes Bowl (see Hysteria for more). Royal Blood were supporting Muse at the concert, and I was playing their music in the ADK Kitchen in preparation for seeing them live.

They were great to see, and went down very well with the 65,000 crowd. I was particularly interested to see if and how Mike Kerr could reproduce that distinctive sound when playing live. If you haven’t heard them, he manages to draw a very expansive range from one bass guitar, making it sound like he is playing two or more guitars. I noticed he was making a lot of use of foot pedals to achieve distortion. Incredibly, he could produce chords by simply banging the frame of the guitar with his fist, without touching any of the strings.

Royal Blood are popular, well regarded and critically acclaimed. It is very much deserved. Here they are with Boilermaker.

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Blog

Hysteria

My summer of great live music continued this weekend, with a trip to the 65,000 capacity Milton Keynes Bowl to see Muse.

I’ve been a fan of the globetrotting Devon trio for many years, but until now have been put off going to see them live by the fact they only ever play enormous venues. However, with the current Will of the People Tour and album being another massive critical and commercial success, I decided that this was going to be the only way I would ever see them play. So, last autumn I took the plunge and decided to join the Ticketmaster online queue to buy tickets.

Muse are known for putting on a spectacular live show, and this one lived up to those expectations. The stage production was dramatic, exciting and high quality, with burning fire on stage, streamers and confetti spraying out over the arena, and searchlights beaming across the night sky.

Huge screens relay scenes from the band’s own post-apocalyptic science fiction movie, in which masked and hooded freedom fighters rebel against a towering, horned tyrant. The backdrop to the stage is a huge, animated model of one such fighter, the mask of which acts as a prism through which constantly changing lights and colours are emitted. The band members are intense and energetic, and the whole production high octane.

Ironically, I read a recent interview with singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy, in which he said the band had decided to make their current stage show less complicated than previous tours!

While the stage show is amazing to watch, it is ultimately the music that counts, and the band were on top form. They played for 2 hours and featured tracks from right across their career, from early songs like Plug-In Baby and Hysteria, to new songs from Will of the People. I’m pleased to say they took in lots of my favourite tracks, such as Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, Undisclosed Desires, Madness and Psycho.

I have only ever been to Milton Keynes twice before, and each time to see a concert at the Bowl. The first time was David Bowie on his Serious Moonlight Tour, and the second time for Simple Minds on their Once Upon a Time tour. Both of those were quite a while ago, so it is good to see that the Bowl is once again hosting top quality bands like Muse.

It is something of a trek for me to get to Milton Keynes and back, but I am really glad I made the effort on this occasion. Next up on my exciting summer of live music will be Billy Joel in London.

Wow! A few days’ rest and recovery are in order, and I’ll be back at the weekend with some food-related stuff. In the meantime, here are Muse at their hi-energy best, with Hysteria.

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Blog

Fresh Strawberries

This time of year, paying a visit to a Pick Your Own (PYO) Strawberry Farm can be a lot of fun for all the family. Just look at this character greeting us on arrival this week at our local PYO – how could one resist?

The previous occasion when I visited a PYO Farm was Christmas Eve. We were in Victoria State, Australia, and had decided to make fresh strawberries the pudding course in the dinner for 9 that we were hosting on Christmas Day. Strawberries for Christmas? It sounds a bit weird to we northern hemisphere types. Even more so when the PYO Farm’s festive musical accompaniment to the strawberry picking includes Shakin’ Stevens belting out Snow is falling, All around us… (What? There was a bright blue sky and it was 30C).

Just to put any concerns at rest, let me make clear that this post will not conclude with me adding Shaky to the ADK Playlist. Phew!

This week’s trip was to Pickwell Farm in Southampton. The coastal area stretching east from the city’s outskirts towards the village of Hamble has been a soft fruit growing area for decades.

As my photos below show, the strawberry plants are plentiful, and the fruit ripe and rich in colour.

Here is the haul from our visit – a kilo and a half of fresh strawberries.

The kilo has been made into jam, by boiling the fruit in water with preserving sugar. The half has been made into fresh ice cream – I used the recipe I posted last summer which you can check out here. Alternatively, you could make Eton Rifles Mess!

Do you have a Pick Your Own Farm near you? If so, why not check it out. With the fruit still on the stalks, you can be assured of optimum freshness, and be your own boss of quality control. You will be doing your bit to support local businesses and reducing food miles. What’s more, the prices should be much less than you’ll pay in the supermarket (hey, there must be some trade-off for providing all that manual labour!) Best of all, it is a really fun activity.

I toyed with adding Strawberry Fields Forever to the ADK Playlist with this post. However, good though the Beatles are, they aren’t really my era, so I’m going instead for a fave Scottish band, Franz Ferdinand. This is Fresh Strawberries.

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Recipes Snacks

Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil Baguettes

I was lucky enough to enjoy today’s dish (shown above) on a lunchtime visit to the home of my good friends, Kelvin and Eva. It was another hot day and we had just been for a walk in the shade of the woods to cool down. We sat under the parasol in the back garden and enjoyed these amazing toasted baguettes.

I am pleased to say that Eva has agreed to write a guest post sharing the recipe. Over to Eva!

——————

One of my favourite hot weather snacks for this year is Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil Baguettes. I used to make a lunch dish with mozzarella, a few tomatoes and fresh basil just spread out on a plate, served with a balsamic dressing. However, since eating this version on holiday in Tenerife, while overlooking the sea, with the sound of the waves and the fragrant smells of the flowers and trees nearby, I am now a convert to this version of the Italian starter.

You Will Need:

  • One fresh baguette
  • One good quality buffalo mozzarella cheese
  • 2-3 ripe tomatoes
  • A hand full of fresh basil leaves
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Balsamic glaze

Method

  1. Cut the baguette into 15 cm long sections and slice through each section to make two halves.
  2. Put the inside of each slice under a grill to crisp it up.
  3. Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella, and arrange them on top of each baguette half, finishing with the basil leaves.
  4. Sprinkle some sea salt over each slice along with a generous drizzle of good quality balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
  5. To make it look even more appetising, I finish with a balsamic glaze!
  6. The perfect drink for me to accompany this little snack is a cool glass of French Rosé! A truly European feast!

As a guest poster on A Different Kitchen, I get to choose the latest track for adding to Kevin’s Playlist. Having been given the inspiration for this dish on holiday, it has to be my favourite Spanish song which we heard played and sung several times on our walks along the promenade. It’s a very catchy song and you won’t be able to get it out of your head for some time!!

This is La Camisa Negra  (the black shirt) by Juanes.

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Blog Music

When the Sun Goes Down

I spent a great evening this week, in the company of 45,000 other music fans, witnessing the arrival of the Arctic Monkeys in Southampton, on the UK leg of their 2023 world tour.

They were in great form, performing tracks from across their back catalogue, as well as some from their most recent album, The Car.

It is now around 17 years since they made a big splash on the music scene, with their cleverly written cameos of northern life set over brash and urgent guitars. Alex Turner’s lyrics, were, and have remained, consistently witty and well-crafted.

Like many others present for the show, I have liked their music since those early days, so the decision to open their set with a rousing version of Brianstorm got the evening off to a terrific start.

Anyone listening to their most recent album will know that, these days, their influences seem to be as much Burt Bacharach as The Strokes, with the gentle melodies, crooning vocals, acoustics and string arrangements that fill out The Car. A number of those featured here, namely Body Paint, Perfect Sense and There’d Better Be A Mirrorball. For the latter, the Monkeys’ very own mirrorball descended from the rafters, glistening and illuminating the vast stage as it rotated.

In total, the set lasted 1 hr 45 mins, culminating with an encore of I Wanna Be Yours, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, and R U Mine.

Funniest part of the evening came during a set from the support act, Swedish rockers The Hives (who were terrific). Singer and frontman Pelle Almqvist had said to the audience on a number of occasions how pleased they were to be in Southampton, and then decided to ask some fans in the front row to introduce themselves. Where are you from? he asked the first young man. Portsmouth came the reply.

Anyone who has experience of fierce rivalry between neighbouring cities will understand how a small chorus of boos then emerged from around the mosh pit. I got the impression the significance was rather lost a bit on Pelle, however.

I will definitely be adding the Hives soon to the ADK Playlist, so watch this space.

My favourite tracks in the show were probably a very upbeat and rocky 505, and the extended version of Body Paint, which looks to have become something of an anthem performed live. For that reason I’m adding it to the ADK Playlist, so that when I hear it back now, it will remind me of a great concert.

The Arctic Monkeys are due to headline at the Glastonbury Festival next weekend. I believe it is being televised by the BBC, so it will be a real treat for any music fan. I will take the opportunity to watch it all again.

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Carrot & Orange Traybake

Give the humble carrot a whole new taste twist in this delicious traybake!

Coarsely grated, carrot helps the cake mixture to stay moist, and adds texture. Together with soft brown sugar and a dusting of cinnamon, the cake is firmly on the brown/orange/cream colour spectrum, which I find very pleasing, and very 1970s.

What’s more, flavouring the soft cheese frosting with orange gives me a basis for adding one of my favourite ever bands to the ADK Playlist.

More of the music in a moment. First of all, here’s how to make Carrot & Orange Traybake.

Servings

How many individual portions this makes depends on how small (or large!) you decide to cut the slices. Mine made around 20 slices, each about 6cm x 4cm, to fill two tins, one of which is shown below.

Timings

10 – 15 mins to prepare the mixture, and 25 mins to bake in the oven at 180C. Add 10 mins for the orange frosting.

You Will Need

  • 225g butter or spread
  • 225g soft brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • half tsp salt
  • 3 tsps mixed spice
  • 300g carrots

For the orange frosting:

  • 100g butter, softened
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 200g soft cream cheese
  • 1 tsp orange extract
  • cinnamon for dusting

Method

  1. Turn the oven on at 180C. Grease and line a baking tin (the one I used is 23cm square).
  2. Put the softened butter and sugar together in a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.
  3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of the flour after each one. Mix in each time, using the whisk.
  4. Add in the rest of the flour, the salt and mixed spice, and fold in with a spatula to incorporate.
  5. Grate the carrots – I used an electric food processor with grating tool fitted. Add the grated carrot into the mix and fold in again with the spatula. Make sure that all the grated carrot is wet with a coating of the mixture.
  6. Scrape the mixture into the baking tin and level the surface. Put in the oven for around 25 mins, until it is golden all over and a skewer put into the middle of the cake comes out dry.
  7. Let it cool in the tin for about 30 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to complete the cooling.
  8. Make the orange frosting by putting all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing together with an electric whisk.
  9. When the cake has completely cooled, transfer to a chopping board. Spread the frosting evenly over the top, and dust with a little cinnamon. Cut into slices and keep in a box or tin till they’re all eaten. That won’t be long, however.

Customise it!

If you wish, you could use chopped walnuts to sprinkle over, in place of the cinnamon. I used orange extract as it gives an intense flavour, but if you like you could use a little orange juice, and/or zest in the frosting, instead.

Did someone say Orange Juice? Here’s Edwyn and the lads with Felicity.

Categories
Desserts Recipes

Eton Rifles Mess

“Sup up your beer and collect your fags,
There’s a pick your own farm down near Slough….“

Ok, well maybe those aren’t quite the opening lyrics of the classic song written by Paul Weller, The Eton Rifles. However, this time of year means strawberries in the fields, summer days spent picking the juiciest and ripest to fill your punnet, and making them into that seasonal classic dessert, Eton Mess.

This dish originated at Eton College in the 1930s, and consists of broken meringue pieces, chopped strawberries and whipped cream. However you combine them, in my experience, they always end up looking a bit of a mess, hence the name (my main photo above is a case in point, though please note the sprig of fresh mint strategically positioned for artistic effect).

“Get out your mat and pray to the west,
I’ll be in the kitchen making Eton Mess…

That also may not be a totally accurate quote from the song. However, for me, this dish always brings to mind The Jam’s classic track about class hierarchy perpetuated by old public schools.

Ready to tear down the House of Commons in your brand new shoes? No? Settle for making some nice meringues?

Here’s how to make Eton Mess.

Servings

This should give you dessert for 4 people.

Timings

The meringues take 1 hr 30 mins to bake, during which time you can prepare the cream and strawberries. Once the meringues cool, it will then take seconds to combine.

You Will Need

  • 3 egg whites
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 100ml double cream
  • a 250g punnet of fresh strawberries

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 150C.
  2. In a clean bowl, whisk up the egg whites with an electric mixer till they form silky, white peaks.
  3. Add the sugar in spoonfuls at a time, whisking again after each one until all the sugar has been combined.
  4. Line a baking tray with baking paper, and drop the meringue mix on to it in dollops. You should get around 10 meringues.
  5. Place in the warmed oven for around 1 hr 30 mins, till golden. Leave to cool. They will be crispy on the outside, and slightly chewy at the centre.
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream until thick.
  7. Chop the strawberries.
  8. Crush the meringues into pieces, and mix with the strawberries and cream to make a right old mess.
  9. Place in the fridge until serving.

Customise it!

It is possible to add other summer berries, like blueberries, if you wish. You could also try mixing mascarpone in place of the double cream.

No surprises as to choice of track for the ADK Playlist. This is The Jam with The Eton Rifles.