hello again my little choux buns! Another week, another newsletter, although the news that I may be able to sit outside a restaurant in April excited me so much I managed to give myself acid reflux. I hadn’t realised quite how feral I was becoming in lockdown 3 (..? I can’t remember what number it is at this point).
Anyway, truly an exciting era for the newsletter as we received our first fanmail this week. As to be expected it contained everyone’s favourite honey and mustard dressing, Brianna’s Homestyle, as well as a bar of Tony Chocolonely’s Caramel Sea Salt (more on that later) and most importantly, a small hand crocheted purple witch to match the blooming crocuses outside my window:
Truly an excellent piece of work and henceforth shall be our new Newsletter mascot. (Thank you Alys for your sterling contribution and if anyone else would like to send me fan mail of the delicious and non-pervy variety, do get in touch.)
Anyway, it’s time to get on with the show.
Tony’s Chocolonely Caramel Sea Salt
I’ve been seeing Tony Chocolonely as a brand for a little while; after all it’s hard to ignore with its almost neon Willy Wonka esque packaging. (Does anyone else remember when they actually sold a ‘Wonka bar’ around the time the terrible Tim Burton film came out? They were apparently discontinued by Nestle in 2010 after ‘poor sales’. Obviously I saw this coming because nothing will live up to the hype of the movies, duh.)
I have noticed the company a lot more in the last few months, perhaps as it advertises itself as made without slave labour and there is certainly increased concern about the ethical production of the food we eat. Either way, I am very glad for the introduction; the chocolate is delicious. I was expecting the usual gooey caramel, but instead the caramel is in small harder shards so not to overpower (very similar to my beloved Daim bars), and the chocolate whilst milky and sweet has a richness and a very slight bitterness to satisfy those who prefer their chocolate on the slightly darker side. The piece de resistance however are the little flakes of salt that melt in your mouth for that little hit of savoury to balance it. The richness of all the flavours together means a couple of blocks is enough at a time, so you can easily relish the bar for a whole week (if you don’t get too carried away). I know this bar was a hit though, as the best part of writing this review was ‘having’ to eat a couple more blocks, just to make sure I got the tasting notes just right.
Laurie Colwin’s Potato Salad with Red Pepper (The Ruby Version)
So after several months of patiently waiting for it to be available to buy in the UK, I finally managed to get a copy of Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking, a well known and acclaimed collection of essays and recipes. So far I’m just dipping in and out but just as I read the chapter on red peppers there so happened to be a large bag of them reduced in Asda so I decided to try her recipe for potato salad with a few alterations.
I sliced the peppers and gently fried in olive oil with diagonal slices of garlic, along with a small touch of sesame oil for nuttiness and once they were nearly done, a touch of lemon juice. Instead of the red potatoes she recommends, I cut and boiled sweet potato instead, making sure once they were pretty much cooked to fry them to give them a crispy outside. Once the peppers are soft and slightly charred at the edges, I served with the sweet potatoes and a touch of freshly ground salt and pepper. If I’m honest, it was pretty darn good. The natural smokiness of the pepper combined with the freshness of the citrus and the sweetness of the potatoes was a winner, and the meal was entirely vegan, which is a nice plus!
Emma’s Potato Gratin
I don’t know her exact recipe but my flatmate Emma made an extra garlicky gratin using the leftover milk and buttermilk from pancake day as we had no cream, and it was very good (it tasted even better knowing I hadn’t made it).
Homemade Sweet Potato Wedges
I bought sweet potatoes for the salad, but there were so many of them and I am only one person that I’ve been spending a good chunk of my week trying to think how many ways can I use them up. I decided as I had a leftover brioche bun from previous grilled cheese experimentation the other week to treat myself to burger and chips, but making large sweet potato wedges instead. I made them by hacking the potato in large chunks; I read somewhere, I think in the Guardian, that thicker wedges are better than fries in terms of getting that perfect fudgey texture. I then drizzled in olive oil and added some garlic salt, dried basil, smoked paprika and a tiny bit of chipotle chilli, but it is very up to you what you add. Bake for about 30 mins or so (my oven is incredibly unreliable so it’s worth just checking on it regularly as nothing works to a precise time).
I then buttered the burger bun and fried the inside as if it’s a grilled cheese so the the bread has that slightly softer, toasted feel, added burger and cheese and served with the wedges and a large dollop of Hellmann’s garlic and herb sauce.
French Onion Sour Cream dressing?
After almost giving myself RSI from trying to hack my way through all these sweet potatoes with our cheap kitchen knives, I decided to bake the remaining ones to save myself the hassle. As I was waiting I was trying to think of potential toppings, and as I had a surplus of sour cream left over from fajitas, I decided to experiment. Last year I discovered you can make a really good sauce for meatballs using cream and veg stock, so I wondered if I could use the Kallo French Onion stock cubes I mentioned last week for a sour cream and french onion sort of dressing. I made the stock, let it cool, and gradually mixed more and more with the cream along with a sprinkle of garlic salt until it became runny and drizzled over the baked potato. It probably needs some tweaking, but it tasted pretty good, especially as the sour tang compliments the sweetness of the potato, while the onion makes it extra savoury.
Asda Hash Brown bites
Back when commuting to work was a thing, whenever I used to stay at my boyfriend’s flat in Archway I used to walk to the station to get the bus from work. The bus was about every ten minutes and the stop used to be right next to a McDonalds. In the cases where I would be waiting, it was the only time I was ever awake early enough for their breakfast menu when I wasn’t hungover/still drunk from the night before, so would treat myself to a hash brown or two for the bus ride over.
I haven’t done that in probably at least a year now, and currently fancied something that wasn’t toast or granola so decided to treat myself to these. There is something special about a cooked breakfast whatever it is, and considering they take about ten minutes to cook and only need a sprinkle of salt, it’s a nice way to start the day.
Aims:
we have a slow cooker that Emma bought and I have never used so might see if I can figure it out.
something not involving potatoes.
some way to become a Brianna’s or Tony Chocolonely’s ambassador so I can try their stuff for free.
That’s it for this week, but as always do get in touch! I’d love to hear your recipes, ideas or just a nice meal you had.
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