Time for a coffee

December 5, 2011

Not quite Chocolate Brownies

When the kids want to bake we usually make small cakes, however this time we decided to make chocolate brownies. However things didn’t go quite to plan as we didn’t have all the necessary ingredients.

The basis for my recipe was this one from BBC Food.

Ingredients for twenty brownies

375g/13oz butter, plus extra for greasing
375g/13oz dark chocolate
6 free-range eggs
350g/12oz caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
225g/8oz plain flour
1 tsp salt
250g/9oz white chocolate, chopped
2 tsp icing sugar

The problem we had was that the only chocolate we had in the house was milk chocolate, oh and we only had three eggs!

In the end I decided to use the following ingredients.

6½oz butter, plus extra for greasing
6½oz milk chocolate
3 free-range eggs
6oz caster sugar
½ tbsp vanilla extract
4oz plain flour
4oz milk chocolate chopped

I preheated my oven to 180°C.

I put some baking sheet and greased it with some butter before placing it in a baking tin.

Placing a bowl on a saucepan of simmering water I added the butter and the milk chocolate.

Once this had melted, I set it aside to cool slightly. I whisked up in another bowl the eggs sugar and vanilla extract. I added the butter and chocolate mixture and whisked this up.

I then folded in the flour until it was combined and then stirred in the chopped chocolate.

I poured the mixture into the baking tin and baked it in the oven for about 25 minutes.

After letting it cool for a while, but whilst the brownies were still warm I cut it into squares.

Not quite like proper brownies, but still very nice.

December 3, 2011

Another visit for Yo Sushi

Don’t go to Yo Sushi for two years and then I go twice in a week! After we enjoyed our meal last week, we decided to go again.

The first dish we grabbed from the conveyor belt this time was Crispy Salmon Skin ISO, classic Japanese made with crispy fried salmon skin. This was a mix of three textures, the crispy skin, the soft rice and the chewy seaweed. Very nice even if it was a challenge to eat.

I ordered the Salmon & Tuna sashimi, three slices of premium Yellowfin tuna and three slices of premium Scottish salmon. I had anticipated that both my wife and I would eat this dish, but in the end I ate it all, as she didn’t feel like eating raw fish that evening.

We then went for some hot dishes. Once more we ordered the Soft Shell Crab Tempura, which was described as soft, tasty and tender soft shell blue crab fried in a crispy and light batter with tempura sauce. I do like crab but this dish is mainly about texture, there wasn’t a strong crab flavour, but is quite nice. We also ordered the Chicken Teriyaki, grilled chicken in a sweet, sticky soy based sauce was very good, delicious and the sauce was just right.

Still feeling peckish we then ordered a couple more dishes, the hot pepper squid we had the week before and also tried the Chicken Katsu Curry, chicken katsu with rice, a mild curry sauce and Japanese pickle. This reminded me of a dish I had in bento box in Auckland in New Zealand.

The best way I can describe it is as a breaded chicken burger, fried, sliced, placed on rice and then covered in curry gravy! It wasn’t a horrible dish, but certainly wasn’t one I would order again or would recommend.

Overall we did enjoy the meal, the service was good and it’s an interesting environment in which to eat as well as interesting food.

December 2, 2011September 16, 2022

Flying for a coffee

I’ve decided I’ve really gone off Starbucks coffee, I find that it is over roasted and I’ve not really enjoyed that coffee drinking experience. So there I was at Bristol Airport at 6am thinking I want a coffee, I could choose between Starbucks and Soho Coffee Co.

I don’t want rehash my previous visit to Soho, but as I didn’t feel like drinking Starbucks I went with Soho. The experience was as it should be, the service was polite, fast and efficient and as for the coffee, it was really nice and I enjoyed it. When you have a nice experience it does make you want to go back.

November 28, 2011

A flat Flat White

I was less than impressed with a Flat White I recently had at Starbucks, it was flat and insipid. I wonder though how much of that was because it was in a paper cup? I’m not a great fan of coffee in paper cups and where possible I will “drink in” so I can have a proper china cup.

I still find it a little incredulous how much we pay for coffee in paper cups these days, we think it’s somewhat normal!

November 26, 2011

Time for Yo Sushi

I haven’t been to Yo Sushi for a while now, even though I enjoyed the meal I had there the last time I was there in 2009. I didn’t think it was that long ago!

Out on a evening shopping trip out with my wife, we decided that we wanted to get a quick bite to eat and as both like sushi, decided that we would go to Yo Sushi.

The first dish we grabbed from the conveyor belt was Assorted Fish Maki, two each of salmon, tuna and prawn and chive maki. These were very nice. I then picked up a plate of Avocado Maki, alas these were quite bland, but did have a nice texture.

We then ordered some hot dishes, which means as we could see into the kitchen we knew were freshly cooked. As might be guessed by regular readers of the blog, I went with squid, well I like squid. The Spicy Pepper Squid, is described as hot coils of spicy pepper squid topped with red chilli. I personally thought it was overcooked and a little chewy, but really enjoyed the dish, the chilli was a nice touch and added some heat to the squid.

The Chicken Teriyaki, grilled chicken in a sweet, sticky soy based sauce was very good, delicious and the sauce was just right. We could have probably eaten three of this dish, but in the end had just one. The grilled chicken was tender and there is something I have alway enjoyed about grilled chicken. This was well complemented by the sticky teriyaki sauce and dressed with sesame seeds.

As I was intrigued and had never had it before, I ordered the Soft Shell Crab Tempura, which was described as soft, tasty and tender soft shell blue crab fried in a crispy and light batter with tempura sauce. I do like crab but had not had soft shell crab before. This dish was mainly about texture, there wasn’t a strong crab flavour, but was quite nice.

Overall it was a really nice meal, though we preferred the hot dishes. We thought it was quite reasonable for the price we were charged.

November 8, 2011

Anyone for a doughnut?

Despite my reservations about Krispy Kreme Doughnuts I recently bought a box of them for my team at work (as a reward).

Slightly concerned about the Christmas specials, as it is really nowhere near Christmas. I really should have picked my own selection for the box, but as I was in a bit of a hurry I got a full box with a selection already in, which included the tree and snowman.

Personally the one I had was a little too sweet and sugary for me, but the rest seemed to go down well.

November 6, 2011

Environmental Pizza Box

Though I am not entirely sure how environmentally delivered pizza in a pizza box is… but I guess if you do order pizza, it would be better in a box like this!!!

Do you know I don’t think I have ever had pizza delivered… well maybe once.

November 5, 2011

Steak and Fries

After a series of games of ten pin bowling we decided to have a quick lunch at Frankie and Benny’s the chain of American Italian restaurants that you can find across the UK.

I decided to go simple and have the Steak and Fries.

A 6oz* strip sirloin served plain and simple with house fries and a pot of American mustard on the side. Simple but classic!

It was as it was described in the menu, a simple steak, cooked to my liking, tender and with some flavour served with house fries.

A simple but classic dish. Maybe next time I should be more adventurous!

October 29, 2011

I want a sandwich…

If I have a big meal in the middle of the day then in the evening I usually happy to have a sandwich.

But if I am going to have a sandwich and I have the ingredients and the time then I don’t want a ham sandwich made from ‘plastic’ white bread!

Without sounding too much like a Marks and Spencers advert, I want a sandwich made from freshly baked ciabatta bread, a thin spread of unsalted butter, filled with fresh rocket leaves, thin slices of milano salami and a dash of mayonnaise…

Now that’s a sandwich.

October 28, 2011

Bargain, not!

This is one of those bargains you find at Tesco and other supermarkets, £1.00 each or on special, two for £2.00… hmmm