Celebrations in Carluccio's

It was no ordinary Sunday. It was the first day of sunshine after the big storm, Herbert was about one month old and it was Valentine's Day weekend. Me, Herbert and Jon decided to find a place that served Eggs florentine until late afternoon, a dish I had been craving for a lifetime, well, at least nine months. After a little walk through Castlefield we found it on the breakfast menu in Carluccio's, and luckily they were serving breakfast all day.

We ordered a cup of goodness each while Herbert was asleep in the buggy, which fitted well beside our table for four.

Then our food was served. Poached eggs and spinach topped with hollandaise on toasted Italian bread (£7.65). Oh, I was in heaven. I don't think it was that much more magnificent than any other Eggs florentine I've had, but I had longed for it for so long. Soft egg yolks really are life.

Jon's dish; crepes. Warm thin pancakes with honey, yoghurt and berries (£4.95). He wasn't as excited as me, but it was still pretty good for a Sunday breakfast.

As soon as we started eating Herbert woke up, and Jon entertained him while I scoffed my eggs.

Overall it was great. Carluccio's in Spinningfields has a nice (and baby-friendly) atmosphere. It's on the edge of being somewhat pricey for serving good but not outstanding food. But you know what you'll get, and there are no hidden surprises, which I think some people find comforting. On other occasions the service has been a little so-and-so, but this bright afternoon there was nothing to complain about.

So no, this was no ordinary Sunday: It was pretty close to a perfect one.

 

 

Pepper, Feta Cheese and Green Olive Quiche

My attempt at making quiche actually turned out ok. It could have been better balanced - less milk in the egg mix, as well as less feta cheese - but I was rushing. I also forgot the tomatoes. I also ended up using plain flour, as opposed to wholegrain, simply because that's what we had. Oh well, good thing I've always considered improvement an important part of everything I do and I'm excited to make this better next time.

Funny also how both me and Jon thought that it tasted nicer cold the day after. Perhaps I should always let it rest in the fridge for a day before serving?

Pepper, feta cheese and green olive quiche

Serves 2-3 
Prep time: 25 min
Cooking time: 20-25 min

Pastry
125g butter
3 dl flour
2 tblsp water

Egg mix
3 eggs
2.5 dl milk
Black pepper
Chilli powder

Filling
1 small onion
1 packet of feta cheese (200g)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
10-15 green olives

Mix the flour and butter, and work it thoroughly using your hands to make sure there are no lumps of butter left.
Add water and work the mix into a dough, and leave it in the fridge for 10 min.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C and start preparing the other ingredients.
Mix the eggs, milk and spices in a bowl.
Chop the onion, feta cheese, peppers and olives into cubes, or whatever shape and size you prefer.
Flatten out the pastry on an ungreased oven tray about 25 cm in diameter, and make sure the pastry covers about 2 cm up the edges.
Put the filling on top of the pastry and finish by pouring the egg mix over everything.
Top it with some black pepper and basil or any other spices you like.
Place it in the oven for 20-25 min.

 

Adapting to baby life and a messy pasta

Although life is undoubtedly better with a newborn in the house, everything else in life has had to take a step back. Sleep and food in particular. I'm not complaining though, actually the opposite. I love the feeling of an added purpose, one somewhat more important than my latest run or the sort of beans I'm using in tonight's stew.

But while sleep has been almost non-existing over the last weeks, I've managed the task to eat at least every day (hurrah!), and quite often one in particular quick and easy meal. I wouldn't exactly recommend that you eat this about three times a week like me, but to anyone without time and inspiration on their hands, it's a meal that isn't completely lacking in nutritional value. I decided to let this dish go by the glamorous name: fresh pasta with stuff.

It's basically a choice of fresh pasta (that takes about three minutes to cook), in this case ravioli filled with basil and pesto, but for us it's more often tortellini filled with various cheeses, spinach, herbs or tomato. The rest of the dish is a colorful mix of whatever you've got at home, just make sure that there's at least one source of protein except from cheese. In this case soy pieces and green peas. Other stuff in this picture; halloumi, onion and red pepper. Throw it all in a pan with olive oil, add some black pepper, salt and herbs and it's done in less than ten minutes. Simple and quick, and therefore baby-friendly.

For Christmas I got two cookbooks, which I haven't really been able to skim through yet but I hope they will inspire me to cook more proper food. Like tonight, when I'm a little sick of messy pasta and gonna attempt to make quiche with peppers, feta cheese and olives instead. I must be crazy, but I've already planned every single step and know where I can take breaks in the process to fulfil certain baby needs. Yeah, it's all new and exciting - it really is - and sometimes doomed to fail. Fingers crossed this will work.

Flavours of Walrus

Walrus nibbles

One Saturday in late January me and Jon decided to go up town, bringing Herbert for the first time. We went to our regular charity shops and as usual we ended up in the Northern Quarter looking for somewhere to eat. The only problem these days is that we've got a big buggy and we either have to keep it beside us by the table or fold it and have the carrycot on our table/seat.

Just as we expected, Home Sweet Home was crammed full, so was Teacup, and the Marble pub 57 Thomas Street. That's pretty much all our regular places and they're always super busy at weekends, so unless you've got ten or more minutes to queue, go somewhere else.

We had been to Walrus once before and although there's nothing mind-blowing about the place, we decided to check it out. Success at last...

A quick glance at the menu makes me think that Walrus doesn't really bother much about the food, it appears to be more of a drinks/cocktail place, and that's probably a wise concept for a place located on the edge of the Northern Quarter. From that perspective, though, you have to say that the selection isn't too bad, and the quality of the food is better than you might expect.

We ordered halloumi skewers (£4.50), baked portobello mushroom (£4.50) and chips (£2.50) to share. These options are under the category "half plates" and that's exactly what they are, so don't expect to be filled up by these alone. It's more like tapas; various bites of nice texture, with flavoursome dips and fresh pieces of salad on the side.

Halloumi & Cucumber Ribbon Skewers, Pea & Mint Bon Bons

Baked Portabello Mushroom, wilted Spinach & Melted Brie
with herb crust

Walrus Thick Cut Chips

The service in Walrus is good and although it isn't the busiest place north of Market Street, it feels busy enough for a Saturday afternoon. But perhaps best of all; our buggy fitted, folded under the table, and the carrycot on the seat beside Jon. One's priorities inevitably change with a baby on board.

We came prepared with expressed milk for Herbert, so everybody got a taste of the good stuff. I even had a little bit of American IPA. If you're looking for a decent selection of quality beer however, I'd suggest you look around the corner.

No food but a baby

To say I've not been very good at updating this blog lately is an understatement but I promise I've got a legitimate excuse; someone got in the way. After nine months of waiting he finally arrived in the middle of January, a few days prior to his due date. So while lagging behind on cooking and blogging, I've learnt all the more about night feeding, nappy changing and buggy racing.

These past weeks have completely turned life upside down - as it should be with your first newborn I guess. And although I'm not gonna leave the blog blank for a month again, life is just going to have to be this irregular for a little bit longer. I've no intention to snap out of the glorious baby bubble and rush back to real life yet. To be honest, I've only got about two to three days a week where I feel like somewhat of a functioning human being so I'm not even sure that I could, even if I tried.

In a couple of weeks however, I'm allowed to start training again and I think that will bring back some sort of a daily structure, both regarding exercise and eating. I've signed up for a 10k run in May and when I've got a goal, I'm pretty likely to live up to it. But maybe I'm just being naive.

So, regarding food - hmm, what's that? - his diet consists of breast milk, and I probably shouldn't reveal too much about mine and Jon's eating habits as of late. Unglamourous, quick and not quite as nutritious as I would like, but we'll get there. I guess the coming blog posts will be a good indication whether we manage or not.

PS. I'm pretty sure I don't have many mums-to-be reading this blog but if you are one, this will be the only advice I'll ever give you: prepare by loading your fridge with fast, easy-made food. Don't even consider it proper meals, just make sure you get something, anything, down quickly and spend the rest of your baby-free time trying to catch up on sleep. Simply: focus on surviving.

Afternoon refuge

Coffee. Music. A genius. Yes, every time I read Vonnegut I have to add a new book to my favourites.

Stretford Road. Rain and sunshine. One can also call it a good description of my current mental state.

Baking accomplished and two celebrations

No, the headline is not about the gingerbread biscuits that I decided I wanted to make 1.5 weeks before Christmas; the Swedish carnations still haven't arrived. I guess they'll come when they come, there's nothing I can do about it.

It's about the bump. I wish I could have the same relaxed approach to it as to the dried flowers but my patience is being put to test at the moment, and I'm not even overdue. But this baby is ready-baked, an incredible milestone if you knew more about my medical history, and I want it here now.

I'm not doing a summary of December as I was tired all the time and crap at both cooking and blogging. Pot noodles and ready-made pizzas pretty much sums it up.

But Christmas passed and although I didn't make a majestic dinner, I did make lentil balls. And instead of cheddar and oregano I put in feta cheese and fresh coriander - a really good move. Highly recommended. Just change those two little details in the original recipe and let yourself be blown away. You're welcome.

Apart from that, I made boiled potatoes with butter and salt, a salad with roasted beetroot and red onion and fresh feta cheese, walnuts and a bit of lettuce. Dip-wise I made a Swedish Christmas must-have - 'rödbetssallad' - with 3 tbsp mayo, 1 tbsp yoghurt, 2 chopped beetroots, 1 peeled and grated apple and 1 tsp of black pepper. Simply delicious.

Yesterday was New Year's Eve and I ate like a hungry horse. Maybe my body is starting to load for labour, or maybe it's just unconscious greed as I know this is soon gonna be over...?

In the afternoon I went for a walk and when I came back Jon asked if I wanted to go for another walk and I said yes. After a nice crisp promenade to Castlefield we ended up in The Knott, one of Manchester's best pubs with their highly impressive beer selection. Oh, I'm looking forward to a pint now.

We weren't intending to eat but after seeing and smelling some of the other guests' orders we couldn't resist our temptations.

I ordered a grilled halloumi and wild mushroom burger with spiced wedges (£5.50) and Jon had a falafel wrap with hand-cut chips (£5.50). Although I am a little stunned about the amount of Manchester places serving veggie burgers of this sort, I was happy with the flavours, especially the green pesto. The salad was dressed in a nice dressing as well and wedges just spicy enough.

Halloumi and mushroom burger with wedges

We both agreed that my dish was the highlight of the two but Jon's worked well as an afternoon filler too.

Falafel wrap with chips

Later in the evening we had salad, carrots, five dips, nine veggie snack things, three cheeses and four different crackers and crispbreads. How I can even move today I don't know but apparently I can as I just started the new year by doing squats and core exercises. Hello desperate uterus stimulation and happy new year.