With bright evening- even those which follow crummy rainy mornings- I find myself with the urge to eat ’summer tea’. This is a loose concept, I’ll admit, but generally just means the sort of food you wouldn’t feel so satisfied by had you just come in from the cold, and were eating to a dark window.
On Sunday night I had been up at the gorgeous St Giles Cathedral (had I ever been inside before? I’m honestly not sure I had!) for their Music at 6 series to see my pal Chris singing with Rudsambee (that’s him with the tufty hair, second bottom from the left on the piccie!). It was a great little concert (only 45 minutes) with a polish lullaby my particular fave. I walked out at nearly 7pm, into a cool Edinburgh evening with the sun still shining, and ambled my way down the Royal Mile and home. Of course this is a complete lie, one cannot simply amble (into Mordor)anywhere during the fringe, least of all down the mile. However I must look mean as I made it from North Bridge to St Giles (and back again) without being offered a single flier!
I shopped on the way home (in a nasty supermarket but it was after 7 on a Sunday) and picked up this simple feast: corn on the cob; british lamb chops (teeny, so two each and still a delicate portion) seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled and the bits and pieces for a wee greek salad- you know, to match the lamb. Served with a glass of New Zealand Sauv Blanc, even though it was a Sunday, because, you know, I’m in training. I had cooked the lamb a little more than I would have liked but otherwise it was scrummy. Light enough to leave room for some pud later too!
With Dougal swotting for a qualification at the mo (CCNA if you’re interested) I have agreed to be super-supportive by making tea every night whilst he gets his head into the books from 6:30-7:30. This has the bonus for me that, having got stuck in a rut somewhat with cooking (you might have noticed by the lack of blogging!) I feel some impetus to cook originally again. Follow recipes, that sort of thing.
This beetroot salsa recipe came from the BBC Good Food website. I didn’t serve it with ‘firm white fish’ (which, if the picture is anything to go by means something like cod) but with lemon sole, as it was reduced to clear at the fish counter and about a quarter of the price of anything else. Can’t fight economics. I also didn’t use ready-cooked beetroot, but peeled and cooked my own. (I clearly haven’t been looking after my hands of late; there are now clearly visible dry patches stained brown by the beetroot juices!)
The composition wasn’t quite as the recipe suggested; I halved the recipe, meaning it to only do the two of us, but then forgot or didn’t halve the beetroot amounts- in fact I probably used more than was called for. The pieces weren’t as small as they might have been either, as I was cutting it up hot whilst in a hurry as the fish was ready. So this was probably more of a beetroot salad than a salsa.
It was yummy, in any case. Went great with the fish (just panfried after dipping in seasoned flour) and I took the advice of a commenter on the recipe page and served mashed potato on the side. I might pare back the spring onion in future, but that’s only because raw spring onion increasingly seems to upset my insides. If you were a raw spring onion fan I don’t suppose it would be a problem.
Would you find Dougal and I eating Cream Tea (well, that was Dougal) whilst huddling under an umbrella in the lashing Edinburgh rain. Hey, it was nice when we sat down! The location was Eteaket, one of a number of trendy new ‘tea boutiques’ (tea is the new coffee you know! or is it the new cocktail?) to have sprung up in Edinburgh in the last year.
We’ve never managed to get a table before but then we’ve never accepted one outside before either. The experience was a bit hit and miss though, so I don’t know how much of a hurry I’ll be in to go back. Both our sandwiches (Dougal’s mature cheddar with smoked ham as part of his cream tea, mine a New York Deli Pastrami & Swiss) were on slightly dry bread- like it had been sliced for a while. And we had to wait an absolute age for our teas (a lapsang souchon for Dougal, Ceylon Lovers Leap for me- both delicious!) because of a broken down dishwasher. I realise this is the Fringe, as busy as they’ll ever be, but if your dishwasher breaks down you call in all your off staff and pull out all the stops. A Tea Place that can’t bring tea with food? I wonder if the dry bread related to the dishwasher problem- all sliced in advanced to get staff onto dish washing duty rather than made up at the time.
So the wait for the tea rather took away from the joy at the dainty cups or Dougal’s very pretty afternoon cream tea. There were also tray bakes, a (admiteddly very nice!) scone with thick cream and what tasted like home-made strawberry jam, and a mini cupcake. I got the mini cupcake cos Dougal only as a wee appetite. And the salad with my sandwich had been a bit wee for my liking. More like a rocket and tomato garnish, boo.
And yeah, after a while the rains came on. But it was largely vertical rain and it wasn’t cold out, so we hid under our brollies whilst the girls next to us through the window lol’d. Good Stuff.
Video below, shot by Ednbrg, illustrates some more ‘only in the Fringe’ behaviour….tourists being practically blown away on the Royal Mile whilst watching entertainers that they can barely hear for the howling gales. Still, I love it.
Actually right now it’s more a sort of orangey-yellow, because of the fantastic sunset coming in the window. This is a recipe, originally from Good Housekeeping, but honed over the years by my parents and their eating experiences.
Red-cooked Pork (chops)
Pork chops (nice and cheap) braised long and slow in the oven with soy sauce, sherry, ginger, garlic, star anise, honey and stock. Served with rice, cabbage and courgettes. I realise it might have been more authentic had I tossed some caraway through the cabbage before serving. Or perhaps I am making that up.
Anyway, it was scrummy. Might not strike you as fitting food for August, but even though the weather was lovely today our flat is still cool. Takes a couple of days of sun to heat the place up.
Sorry it’s been quiet here. Not doing a lot of cooking, and the internet has been unplugged to facilitate painting. I’ve enjoyed the change of pace actually. I’m going to catch up on blog-reading tonight and then disappear offline for another couple of days. Suits me fine.
Right now Dougal is making scones, using Richard Bertinet’s recipe (he passed over Delia’s recipe so these scones better be good!). Scones were absolutely vital, as my mum gave us some Blackcurrant Jelly (made on Monday) and we felt it deserved a fitting companion. It’s too hot for porridge, too.
