the breakfast chronicles; balans soho

breakfast martini

i and i have a breakfast ritual that often gets subsumed in the chaos of daily life.

every so often we defy our schedules and meet - this time it was to celebrate the completion of i's final dissertation draft. however finding the right place proved more challenging than i had thought. i'd been craving eggs...scrambled ones. a forty-five minute web trawl and a dedicated breakfast blog later (that's london review of breakfasts) i had found a place.

balans has a pretty extensive breakfast menu including classics like the full english, omelets and benedicts. there were also pancake stacks and french toast for which we had no space. i had to construct my breakfast - scrambled eggs with a side of field mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. that's the only downside, they don't have a veggie breakfast. i landed up with the eggs benedict which she enjoyed. i have to admit that for a busy place balans scrambled eggs were really good. the real treat for both us were the bloody mary and breakfast martini. as someone who isn't particularly keen on bloody mary's take it from me when i say it was good. the breakfast martini finished off on a nice rounded taste of bitter marmalade and like its counterpart cocktail was really good. we've already earmarked the pancakes and french toast for a return visit. but meanwhile if you are in a mood for eggs i'd say give balans a try. 

the nordic bakery - once again

i am back at the nordic bakery.
this time with h. this was a the ultimate sugar rush brunch because aside.
aside from a cinnamon bun each h decided we should sample the oatmeal cookies that were sitting in front of the till, still warm from the oven. definitely made with lots of butter because they had spread themselves thin. their edges were dark and crisp and they were studded with whole hazelnut and chocolate chips.i haven't always seen them around so if you happen to visit and you do see them, do have them. they are well worth the calories
in any case, if happiness had an index to measure it it would be the calorie.
if all else fails remember
weekend calories don't count
(at least that's what a very close friend of mine told me!)

the photographers' gallery cafe

i collect cafes. especially independent ones that don't have replicas sprouting up on every high-street. the photographers' gallery cafe has high ceilings and a linear seating made up square tables joined together to form a rectangle that cuts through the centre of the room. the walls, spotlit always have something interesting to offer. i am here to write my dissertation. i love writing at cafes. it gets my creativity going. it's got to do with the people and the space as well. there is the sporadic sound of the coffee machine. i had tea, not the best earl grey ever but my thick slice of lemon cake was sheer perfection. there was the sharp clean scent of citrus, a hint of grated zest and the whole thing just melted on the tongue. there is a nice selection of cakes (which made it hard to choose), apparently all supplied by Jo's who makes them at home. and there are also sandwiches which i haven't tried yet. however judging by the cake it's unlikely that the experience will be disappointing.

from the kitchen of 90, highbury and islington

cooking for people who love eating is always a pleasure. last night we did just that and it was very much a communal enterprise. i and i with the help of s and e threw together a rather successful meal that was accompanied by lots of cold citrusy white wine, laughter and fantastic conversation. dinner was… parcels of foil baked haddock accompanied by a new potato salad tossed in a generous glug of olive oil with flecks of fresh dill and dijion mustard. pan-fried asparagus rubbed with olive oil and placed on a bed of finely chopped garlic to flavor it spinach sautéed in olive oil in which i had fried plump cloves of garlic and then sprinkled some balsamic over there was also a large round of bread cut and spread thickly with garlic butter (press garlic through a garlic press or pound in a mortar and pestle, then combine with butter. you can add some dried herbs if you fancy) which we wrapped in foil and put into the oven for a good twenty minutes, at the same time as the fish was baking.

we finished of on a fruity note with grilled peaches that i basted with a syrup that was made of honey and balsamic vinegar warmed slightly over the stove for the two of them to mix together. they were served with greek yoghurt lightly sweetened with honey. there were also red red strawberries tossed with whole leaves of fresh mint, a liberal sprinkle of sugar and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. 

the final note of the evening was fresh coffee served in large white cups 

i must admit that for me the best part of the evening was the time spent in the kitchen with i, chopped, washing, cleaning and cooking. we got substantial attention from the host and lots of help in putting everything together. m in particular had a field day mixing coin sized thick slices of new potatoes with olive oil, mustard and dill. there was much picture taking of the food as well as smelling of herbs that had been chopped. of course the garlic chopping was shied away from by the boys and i really didn’t want to have i chop garlic when she was all dolled up and looking lovely in a red dress. 

the food itself was thoroughly enjoyed (and no i am not making that up). i think the only leftover’s we had were the potatoes.

here are the recipes

for the fish 

get fresh fillets of haddock (one per person)

preheat oven to a hundred and eighty degrees celsius. 

place a fillet on a piece of foil large enough to wrap and seal it in

baste the fish with olive oil, sprinkle liberally with fresh dill (parsley works really well too)

grind some pepper and salt on to it 

top with a thick ring of lemon

fold the foil over and then seal the edges to make sure none of the juice escapes during baking. 

bake for twenty minutes of when the fish flakes easily

the new potato salad

boil new potatoes in generously salted water (they should be firm, don’t over do them)

cut into thick slices and when still warm toss with a liberal amount of olive oil, dijion mustard and lots of freshly cut dill.

pan fried asparagus spears

wash spears and then do away with the woody bit of stem at the end

rub with olive oil and toss with some finely chopped garlic

heat a frying pan with a little bit of oil until it is smoking hot

then lay the spears on and fry for five to seven minutes

season with a sprinkling of balsamic right before you tip them out of the pan

sautéed spinach with whole cloves of garlic

wash and roughly chop up the spinach leaves (you can use baby spinach if you like)

in a wok heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and sauté whole cloves of garlic until they caramelize. 

then toss in the spinach leaves and let them wilt 

(the leaves should retain the brightness of their color. don’t over cook or you’ll lose the flavor)

a food filled saturday

the large window at nordic bakery

i did a walkabout london yesterday with a friend who is visiting from back home. soho revealed a host of new places to sample. in between i had a quick lunch at 

flat white. it’s a tiny café on berwick street with a very distinct vibe and a really dense smell of coffee. lunch was bite sized pieces of baked butternut and grilled mozzarella with a generous amount of caramelized onion chutney, sandwiched between two slices of crusty well toasted white bread. i finished of with the trade mark flat-white which bore a perfect fern in its foam top (just in case a flat white is an antipodean style coffee which is served as a strong shot of espresso served in a small cup with textured milk). a short walk (including a walk-out of maison bertaux) owing to indecision over dessert and my friend’s craving for cinnamon buns we landed up at the nordic bakery.