Apple Skillet Cake

One of the reasons I wanted to participate in this blog stems from my own lack or organization.  I find recipes everywhere, in magazines, on other blogs, and even in cookbooks (who does that really?).  The difficulty lies in that in finding recipes everywhere, I often can’t find them anywhere when I go back searching for them later.  This happened with my favourite soft ginger cookies and this week, nearly happened with the Skillet Apple Cake recipe from an issue of Canadian House and Home.  I had made “Mom’s Saucy Apple Cake” from the October issue of Canadian House and Home several times, each time thinking, I’ve got to put this in the blog or I’ll lose it!.  Well here it is, the issue is on its way to the recycling bin in the sky, but the recipe is here for good. This cake is addictive.  Warm from the oven it tastes amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Once it cools down it’s equally tasty with a cup of tea after work.  I have modified the recipe from the original, splitting the sugar 50/50 white and brown to give it more caramel flavours.  The original called for a full cup of white sugar.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt to butter mixture and combine

Sliced apples ready for the skillet

Ready for ice cream

Apple Skillet Cake - based on a recipe from Canadian House and Home (October 2011) 1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 c butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
1 c flour (all purpose)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 c chopped, peeled apples
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Prepare a 9″ skillet (oven friendly) or cake pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, and eggs until fluffy.  Add the vanilla.

Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Arrange the apples in the skillet (it doesn’t have to be pretty, just evenly spread).  Pour the batter over the apples.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.

Anniversary in Amsterdam

Finally, after nearly 2 years on this soggy little island, we were able to ride the rails 4 hours to Amsterdam.  The ride via Eurostar (with a stop in Belgium) costs about GBP130 and, given it goes from city-centre in London to city-centre in Amsterdam, is about as easy as intercontinental travel can get.

We took a 3-day long weekend, and given the small size of the city (about 1 million people with a famously compact pedestrian-friendly core), it was just enough time.  Hotels are a touch expensive (not much choice under EUR100) but the beer was cheap and the food was great!

We stayed in the Jordann, a gentrified neighbourhood just outside the old central area.  In Amsterdam the old centre is the capital of vice (reminded me a but of Queen & Bathurst) but the Jordann is more grown-up, less pott-y, more quiet, and filled with gorgeous shops and cafes.

We’ll be back.

Koning Bridge?

Not all of the buildings in the city are totally vertical. Most of the city was built in the 1600s when the Dutch economy was Europe’s largest

Lovely weather!

Electric car. These things were everywhere…

…as were these Dutch bikes!

Public art exhibit. Oddly, most the the Dutch we encountered spoke fantastic English, only a few had the characteristic Dutch accent

Can you import a street? To Toronto? Wholesale?

Check out these guys, schlepping a crate of bananas up to the 4th floor.

Bike garage outside the central station! Look at ‘em all!

A typical scene – this may be the largest hill in Holland!

Inside Antwerp’s rail station (we had a bit of a detour on the way!)

Anne Frank House

View from out hotel room!

The sun came out for us – autumn is a great time to enjoy European cities, with leaves changing color and tourists at a (relative) lull

Note the size of the windows in these places. Many of the street-level apartments do without window coverings, so you can see the lovely things locals have in their kitchens and living rooms

Canals everywhere

The Vondelpark, a huge greenspace just south of the old city centre

Scene in the Vondelpark

Wooden shoes! We only saw one person wearing these – the guy giving the tour at the wooden shoe factory. Needless to say we chose not to pick up a pair…

We went on a bike tour with a couple of New Zealanders (yup, they were potheads)

Flowers galore

And the high-speed Thalys train in the bizzare Antwerp station (note the bi-level rail lines)

Ottolenghi’s Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Figs

Summer has arrived.  We haven’t seen much of Summer this year, the days have been cool and frankly, up until this last week, I hadn’t actually felt hot.  Yes, it may be October, but the mercury has finally climbed above 25 and the sun has come out, Summer is here and it must be celebrated.  What better way to celebrate than to go to the local park with a few friends and a few tasty beverages.  Yesterday, after going to our local market, we went to London fields to enjoy some of our bounty.  Turns out, some other folks had the same idea.

It seems all of London was at the park this weekend

Not to be put out, mr416expat and I are heading to Regent’s park to meet up with some of my co-workers this afternoon.

In last week’s Yotam Ottolenghi’s weekly Guardian column, he posted this fabulous recipe for Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Figs.  I can attest to its deliciousness both warm from the oven and served cold as a tasty salad.  We made it last week and if it wasn’t too warm to turn on the oven, I would love to make it again for the park this afternoon.

Perfect for the park

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Figs – Yotam Ottolenghi

4 sweet potatoes
75 ml olive oil
sea salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp white sugar
spring onions, cut into 4″ slices
red chili, thinly sliced
6 figs, ripe, quartered
soft goat’s cheese

Prehead the oven to 425F.  Wash the sweet potatoes, cutting them lengthwise and then into quarters.  Toss with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 25 minutes until soft but still holding their shape.  Remove and cool.  Arrange on a serving plate.

Combine the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until it thickens.  It will thicken further when it cools, so don’t leave it on the heat too long.

Heat a medium saucepan with a bit of oil, combine the chilis and spring onion in the sauce pan and fry quickly on medium heat.  Spoon over the sweet potatoes.

Scatter the figs and goat cheese over the sweet potatoes, then drizzle the whole salad with the balsamic reduction.

Open House London – Carradale House, Glenkerry House, & Robin Hood Gardens

While cycling to the earlier tour at Balfron Tower, I got a little lost and stumbled upon a couple of other estates in the neighbourhood – Robin Hood Gardens, as well as the nearby Carradale House and Glenkerry House.  One good turn deserves another, and London city planners loaded up these council flats in the unluckiest bits of London, especially the East End and South London.

These high walls were everywhere – tall barricades with viewing slats. It reminded me of a medieval castle, and not in a good way.

Imposing walls!

What could be nicer, than living in a garden?

It’s sometimes easy to think these estates are built on terrible land – but a 12 minute walk away is Canary Wharf, London’s new financial district, which the global HQs of more than a few heavy hitting banks and consultancies.

Carradale House – with its regal missing letters, and inviting walkways

Masonettes on the ground floor

Glenkerry house – completed in 1979, by which time the Brutalist style was well on its way out.

View of Robin Hood Gardens from above (mid-left of photo)

What a beaut!

I wanted to get in on the shuffleboard game but they didn’t take Canadians.

More of Carradale House

Open House London – Balfron Tower

One of the things that’s fascinated me about London is the council housing (aka, housing projects / social housing).  After WWII much of the UK’s housing stock was either rotten or bombed out.  Rather than replacing rows of terrace housing with more of the same, they built massive concrete housing estates in low-, mid-, and hi-rise form.  The idea was to eliminate overcrowding, and bring modern touches (indoor plumbing, flow-through ventilation) to the masses.  The heyday of the council house was from the late 1950s through to the late 1970s.  Though Toronto has  some social housing projects like Regent Park, the UK went much further.  It’s hard to believe, but by the late 1970s one in three Britons lived in council housing.  14% of all UK residents live in social housing today.  The number in Toronto is 5%.

One of the most famous pieces of council housing is Balfron Tower, designed by the famous architect Erno Goldfinger.  The tower is due to be completely refurbished and sold off as private flats (essentially, condos) rather than being rented out as social housing.  This building is fantastic, and awful, and fantastically awful.

The entire estate was divided by concrete barricades, which reminded me of some type of trench or medieval fortification. It’s like this place was designed to get you mugged.

Detail of balcony. Note the dutch door to the left. On the right, each unit has a balcony with an integrated concrete planter (painted white in this flat).

Double pane glass. Outside, sister buildings to be discussed in a future post.

Artist’s project, chronicling the building’s flats before refurbishment (the artist Rab commented in the comments section below, and links to his project site)

Now that’s a hallway. I wonder if it was intentional to have the (really rough) concrete play off the (really smooth) tile.

I managed to keep my spitting in check (mostly)

Space age phone! These were installed circa 1980, and featured a CRT monitor to view your visitors at the main entry way.

Living room of a 2 bedroom flat. Note the large windows and double-entry to the balcony.

Mr. Goldfinger, the architect himself. Also the namesake of a Bond villian.

View of Canary Wharf (new financial district) from the tower. That’s the HQ of Barclays, Citi, and HSBC.

A beautiful rainbow, beside a not-so-beautiful gas storage tank.

Another one of these walkways.

While in the tower, it started raining heavily. This is the water seeping into the walkway after a 20 minute shower. I’m not sure it was designed to work this way.

The tower from afar – note the separate elevator/lift shaft, and walkways to the main living section

Brownfield…no kidding!

Indoor plumbing as promised!

Here’s the money shot, with sister building Carradine House in the background.

There was a lot of concrete.

Detail of the distinctive lift shaft and external walkways

I’m still not clear on what a drying room is.

Entrance way to one of the walkways.

This isn’t a Sarah Richardson Design kitchen.

Meat Box

While Mr. 416expat and I were exploring a food festival we came across Field and Flower. Started by a couple of guys straight out of agriculture college, they offer a selection of locally raised and butchered meats delivered once a month.  Each month you log into their website, select your order and presto, it arrives the last week of the month.  We signed up for their introductory box offer and waiting the 3 long weeks for our box to be delivered.

For the vegetarians in the crowd...best skip the next few pictures

Delivered to Mr416expat's office

A lot of meat.. I think enough to last us a month

The box contained bacon rashers, minced beef, minced lamb, stewing beef, a roaster chicken, 6 sausages, a massive pork chop (could feed 3 people), a flank steak, and two boneless skinless chicken breasts.  It’s a serious amount of meat for our small freezer but after some preparation (aka eating everything else in the freezer) we managed to fit it all in. Over the last week we have had some delicious meals.  I made a turkish inspired lamb kebab with tomatoes and pita, toad in the hole (thanks mum!) and had bacon rashers for breakfast on the weekend.  Today’s goal is to get that chicken roasted so that I can make stock overnight.

There is one fairly substantial barrier to me signing up for Field and Flower full time (getting a monthly box).  Currently they deliver their meat via courier in styrofoam coolers with gel style ice packs (ensuring same day delivery and that your meat stays cold but not so environmentally friendly).  If there was some way these coolers and packs could be reused I would sign up on the spot.  Unfortunately styrofoam and I are not good friends and the idea of regularly receiving a styrofoam cooler which (1) can’t be recycled and (2) we can’t store and reuse ourselves, is not appealing.  Until Field and Flower sort out a more sustainable delivery system, I’m not sure I can regularly support them.

In Toronto we supported Plan B Organics, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) that delivered a box of vegetables to a local depot each week.  Within the CSA structure, you buy a “share” of the summer’s produce, and if it’s a dicey summer for tomatoes, you won’t likely see tomatoes.  It’s a way of supporting smaller farms and of avoiding some of the less desirable traits of mega farms.  Plus, the vegetables were delicious!  I’ll admit, there were some weeks when I thought to myself, “seriously?  more lettuce?” But overall I was quite pleased with the product and the service.

Growing up on a dairy and sheep farm we had a pretty ready supply of meat.  I was probably the only undergrad student whose freezer was regularly stocked with steak. Once we settled in Toronto (with a chest freezer) we bought lamb from my dad and chicken from my aunt.  I would have loved to go in with another family to get a beef cow, but we moved to the UK before plan came to fruition.

Check out what’s available in your area – it might be a 100 mile market, a CSA, or a meat share program.  It’s an amazing way to support small farms and growers!

Peak District – Exploring the North on a Bank Holiday weekend

This Bank Holiday weekend we hired a car and fled 3 hours to the North of England, to experience the countryside, real ale, and funny accents.  Success on all 3 counts.

We stayed near the industrial city of Sheffield, home of Pulp and a pretty good university.  We also drove by the largest estate in the UK, Park Hill Estate, which is 1) fantastically designed and 2) in the process of being refurbished into market rate flats.  Multicolored panels have replaced the grey bits, and I think it looks great.

The trip consisted of trips to twee towns and countryside (pictured below) and periodic breaks in country pubs to warm up and sample the local ales (pics, sadly, not included).  Ale in the North tends to be poured through a sparkler, which changes the feel and taste quite a bit.  I didn’t like it as much as I anticipated, but at least now I know the difference, and it’s all so tasty.

First stop, Chatsworth House, one of the top 5 “stately homes” in Britain.

…which was under not so stately scaffolding. In the photo, the real house; in the blurry background, the same house under marshmallow-wrap.

Here’s a more flattering view. I’d still live there.

A stately home needs a stately fountain!

Gotta have modern sculpture in the garden. I thought this one was phallic.

Might as well tell the gardeners to have a bit of fun.

Grouses roamed freely, and seemed used to people wandering around the gardens. This one let me get within about 5 feet.

Why not build a maze? Everybody loves a maze. Till you lose a kid.

Chatsworth was neat because the art in its gardens was often modern, not stuffy. There were three Damien Hurst sculptures, as well as this inside-tree installation using woven reeds.

Where’s the burled walnut? Inside, of course.

Enough of the fancy house. We took a tour to see the countryside, the real star of the Peak District. Here is Ladybower Dam. We took a walk here. It rained on us.

Purple – now there’s a color you don’t really see in Canada (or at least Ontario). It reminded me a bit of the Big Bop at Bathurst & Queen. OK, not really.

Stream! Sheep! Hills!

Stream! Bridge! Hills!

We had the good fortune of snagging a VW Polo rental for the trip. Ran like a champ, and it’s sized like a 5/6 scale VW Golf.

It’s hard not to smile.

More shots of the lovely heather.

High on a peak now; yes, it was windy

The trip ended with a trip to the town of Bakewell, home of the Bakewell Tart (or, if you prefer, Bakewell Pudding). This is the original Bakewell joint. I think “twee” is the word.

Check out that deformed window! Gonna have to replace that, sometime next century!

Milk truck. Can’t get enough of these things.

So many cherry tomatoes

Last week saw me knocked flat by a particularly nasty bug leaving Mr416expat to hit up the market and purchase our groceries for the next week.  Mr416expat and I grocery shop quite differently so I was excited to see what he’d bring home.  One of the more interesting purchases included two quarts of cherry tomatoes.  That’s a lot of cherry tomatoes.

Living in Toronto our cherry tomato plant served as a snack bar for Mr416expat while he barbecued, worked on his bike, or puttered around the backyard.  Eventually the time would come when the tomato plant’s production outpaced Mr416expat’s snacking capacity.  If only I had this recipe then!  We would have eaten a lot fewer salads garnished with cherry tomatoes!

I don’t know why I didn’t think of roasting the tomatoes in previous seasons.  It’s brilliant! You can easily refrigerate or freeze the leftovers.  From the two quarts that we had, I had enough for two pizzas and a chicken dinner.

ready to be roasted

just about ready...i gently flipped these guys around and roasted them for another 15 minutes

There's chicken in there somewhere

pizza was consumed too quickly after being removed from the oven - here's a before shot

Roasted tomatoes

cherry tomatoes
garlic
salt
pepper
olive oil
bay leaves
dried herbs (try basil or thyme!)

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, toss with olive oil, sliced garlic, salt and pepper.  Spread in a single layer on a roasting pan/cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or your little sister’s silpat sheet which somehow accompanied you to England).  Roast for a good long while (I roasted mine for 45 minutes) at 375 degrees.  Turn the oven off and let them cool. Then use as you like!  I roasted potatoes, added seasoned chicken and the tomatoes and let it all cook together.  I also made a pizza and used the tomatoes as a topping.  Two quarts of tomatoes = 2.5 dinners!

My 30th Birthday!

For my 30th, my darling wife arranged a trip to the seaside! Sun, surf, a brew tour, and a Triumph TR6. Splendid.

Beachhouses at Southwold

My darling lass!

There’s a critter still in this shell

You know what they say about a guy with big hands…

I’d love to say the water was warm. As you can see, it wasn’t.

What a lovely pint of Regatta ale! Smooth, creamy, warm.

The only piece of British equipment in the place – a pressure washer. No word on the provenance of the dirty bucket n the background.

Huppmann? That’s German, just like all the rest of the equipment in the brewery.

Only German steel at this brewery

Accurately made German pipes!

More beachhouses – these seemed to be modernist 1960s ones. Like the council estates of beachhouses. Cheap & cheerful.

Hopsteiner – it’s all German stuff in this English brewery

Fuggles. Need to use that word more, but out of context.

Some sort of alcohol-measuring device from back in the day.

Brewmaster records – this one, from 1914!

The Brewmaster always smokes a pipe. Noted.

Keg-o-meter

Oldschool bus in downtown Southwold. Being British, it was broken down.

Adnams & Co brewery – I’ve had more than a few pints of this stuff in London, but it was neat to see where it came from.

A parade in Southwold! The last guy, the one with the horn, was my favorite.

It’s hard not to look cool when you’ve got a TR6. Now that’s a man’s car.

Our accommodations – Benjamin Britton House.

Daytrip – Battersea & Food Festival

The day starts on the river, far west and south, near Vauxhall station, looking downriver. Note the London Eye ferris wheel in the background – this is across the river from Big Ben.

Does this remind you of Habitat ’67 in Montreal?!

We took a riverside walk from Vauxhall Station to Battersea Park

London has some great bike lanes, but this isn’t one of them. Count the fails!

Rearward angle of the iconic Battersea Power Station (yes, from the Pink Floyd cover). The roof was removed in the 1980s and not replaced – note you can see the sky through the windows!

Food fest! We had discount 2-for-1 tickets (7.50 each) via a coupon code.

Cooking demo from two (apparently famous) celeb chefs. They made catelloni from scratch in 30 minutes – not bad!

I need a bathtub full of gin in my life. There was a lot of free booze at this festival and I had a tough time keeping the camera still by the end of it…

Jerking it up.

Battersea Power Station in the background!

Castillo de Diablo wine tasting. The presenter was truly awful – I kept the camera running in case he fell off the stage drunk! These wines were pretty bad too. Whites are terribly dry, and the reds hit & miss. We’ve had the Malbec before (GBP5 in the UK, C$10 in Canada) and it’s alright.

Squozen before your very eyes, and good value at GBP1.00 per glass

Gelatto – hard to get good stuff in London

One last view of gin & the river!