Time for a coffee

January 23, 2011

Costa Flat White

Experience has told me that Starbucks though they now sell the flat white aren’t much good at making them. I have also found asking them to make a skinny flat white results in either excuses that this isn’t possible or that the end result will not be very satisfactory.

Costa however do seem to be able to make an adequate flat white.

Like most things, they don’t seem to come close to the ones I had out in New Zealand. Costa also don’t complain if you ask for a skinny flat white either.

The only thing I don’t quite understand is why is the flat white more expensive than other similar coffees on offer?

Oh and another question is a flat white different to a latté? It should be in my opinion, a latte should have less foam and a flat white should use a foam consisting of much smaller air bubbles than you would find in a cappuccino. Not every coffee place I go to knows that though. Ah well one day I will need to go back to Auckland for a visit.

January 16, 2011

Coffee at Pizza Express

When the Americano I had ordered at Pizza Express arrived, I wasn’t that impressed to be honest. It looked a little flat and there was no crema, something I normally expect to see in an Americano.

However appearances aside, there was a real depth of flavour and I really quite enjoyed it.

January 15, 2011October 7, 2020

Monte Bianco Pizza

So after a visit to the Bristol Aquarium we headed off to the Bristol Harbourside Pizza Express for lunch.

It’s quite a small Pizza Express so can get crowded. However we had a warm welcome.

After looking over the menu I went with the Mariann Bogdan created new pizza, the Monte Bianco. It was very different to the other pizza on the menu. It consisted of a base, but on top it had chicken, béchamel, fontal cheese, courgettes, red and yellow peppers and garlic oil.

So no tomato.

However I really enjoyed this pizza, it was lighter than a traditional pizza and lots of flavour, to be honest I am not sure if even needed the chicken. I might have replaced the chicken with mushrooms if I was cooking this at home.

January 15, 2011October 7, 2020

Penne with Spicy Sausage

I recently had lunch at a small Turkish place and decided to go with the penne pasta in a chilli sauce with spicy sausage.

It was very nice and quite tasty.

I don’t think the pasta was freshly cooked, it tasted in some respects like fresh pasta, but knowing the place I was in, I wonder if they used frozen pasta? The chilli was done well, nice and spicy but still subtle and not overpowering.

January 14, 2011

On the train…

Earlier this week on my way to a conference decided to have a coffee on the train.

In the past coffee on the train was basically a no no for me!

Why?

Well generally it was instant coffee and as a real coffee aficionado (or is that just a posh word for snob) I don’t drink instant coffee. So I would normally get a tea.

Things have improved in recent years and now on the high speed First Great Western services you can get freshly brewed coffee from freshly ground beans. As with any high street coffee outlet you can get your choice of cappuccino, latte, etc…

I went with an Americano and though pleased to see that it was Fairtrade, it was freshly made, I was disappointed with the resulting coffee. It lacked depth, character and flavour. Don’t get me wrong it was so much better than instant coffee, but was not special and to be honest on the way back I didn’t bother with the coffee.

January 10, 2011

Roast Potatoes

So do you like small or large roast potatoes?

Large roasties do take longer to cook, but often with their fluffy interior have more of a potato taste.

Small roast potatoes on the other hand are quicker to cook, are often more crispy. However you have to be careful with the par-boiling as too long and you will have roasted mash.

From a nutritional perspective, smaller roast potatoes have a higher fat content, so making them big makes them a little healthier!

So do you like small or large roast potatoes? Either way using the right potatoes is also important, I now prefer Maris Piper over King Edwards, do you have a favourite type of potato?

January 9, 2011

Baking Cakes

These cupcakes (or fairy cakes) are based on a recipe for a loaf cake.

It is based on a recipe from the BBC Good Food magazine for a chocolate loaf cake.

I had to adjust the ingredients as I had run out of cocoa.

Ingredients

175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
140g self-raising flour
85g ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder
50ml milk
1 tbsp cocoa powder
50g plain chocolate chips

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

Add paper cases to a bun baking tray

To make the cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder, milk and cocoa until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, then spoon into the cases.

Bake for 10-20 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

You could then drizzle melted chocolate over them, ice them, or leave them plain.

January 7, 2011

Old Empire

Old Empire is a very nice India Pale Ale. Despite the light colour it has a strong flavour. Though well flavoured it isn’t too heavy. I really enjoyed it and found it a great beer to drink whilst sitting down and having a chat.

January 4, 2011

Middle of nowhere…

Anyone who knows me, will know I am somewhat of a coffee snob! What that actually means is I like real coffee and I don’t like instant coffee.

Today I was at the Royal Forest of Dean College delivering some training and alas all that was on offer, coffee wise, was either Tesco Instant or powdered instant vending coffee from the canteen.

As I had a bit of a break at lunchtime, I popped out to Coleford to get a real coffee. I had missed my morning coffee as it is a bit of a hike for me to get to the Forest of Dean and traffic was quite busy.

After looking around Coleford I popped into Kaplan’s Café for a coffee and had a two shot Americano.

It was very reasonable coffee and I enjoyed it, certainly not an Illy or similar, but still very nice.

Just to note that the “edited” photograph of the coffee is using the Instagram App on my iPhone and the coffee was certainly not that yellow!

January 3, 2011

Poaching Eggs

When poaching eggs I use to use one of those poaching pans, you know the kind a frying pan that has four little “cups” into which you break your eggs over boiling water. The eggs come out as though they were a top sliced football.

Having once asked for poached eggs in a hotel and getting those that had been done in just a pan of simmering water, I knew that I would have to attempt to do it.

I was surprised by how easy it was and since then I have always poached my eggs in this way.

Simply put, bring a pan of water to the boil, I then stir the boiling water into a “spin” and crack the egg into the spinning vortex. Turn down the heat to a simmer.

At this point I put my halved bagel (or slices of bread) into the toaster when this is done then I know my eggs are done.

A lot of books I have read (and seen Chefs on the TV) say that you should add vinegar to the water to “stop the egg from breaking apart” as you cook it. Personally I don’t add vinegar as I find it has a minimal or negligible effect (in other words I have seen eggs break apart even with vinegar in the water) and it also adds a vinegar flavour to the egg. I certainly noticed this when I last had poached eggs in a hotel recently.

I find that actually the best thing is to use really fresh eggs, it is old eggs that fall apart when poaching and not the use of vinegar, however I may be wrong on this. Though as you can see in the picture of my eggs above, still nice and whole!