Cheesecake (1)

My family are big on cheesecake but not as big as I am. Felicity Cloake recently used the cheescake as one of her "Perfect" investigations and it has inspired me to try a few of my own. Today I decided to make the one she declared the best. Felicity's perfect cheesecake.

We started off well. I had the correct size tin and I had all the ingredients in bar the cheese and the sour cream. Once mixed and in the tin I was pleased with it.

When cooked, cooled in the oven and released from the tin the cheesecake was also "pleasing". The top had not cracked despite there being no bain-marie.

The problem came when I transferred it to the fridge. It kind of sighed and tried to escape over the edge of the plate. It had looked set, it obviously wasn't quite. Why? No idea. Here is the finished, not attractive, article.

Taste-wise it was fine according to the crew, and they quite liked the texture but there was one main criticism and I reckon that was totally down to Felicity. Unanimously they declared that the base was too thin and there just wasn't enough of it.

5/10

A photo-free lunch

It's half term - the last for Liz who retires at Easter - and a trip to the Hockney at the RA was booked. It was a fabulous exhibition and, after my disappointment with the Leonardo, restored my faith in the people who create these things. I want to go again. But I shan't because I won't have time to queue and neither will I be organised enough to book any of the extra tickets that have recently come online.

Afterwards we adjourned first to Fortnum and Mason as Liz had birthday presents to buy. Diamond Jubilee food goodies fitted the bill, and we then strolled Ritz-ward along Piccadilly.

The Wolseley is on the opposite corner of Arlington Street to The Ritz so although it is pretty posh it isn't really posh enough to compete. Photography is banned and I am presuming that this is because it is a self-styled celebrity haunt. Certainly they enforce the no-photography rule which is good to see. A couple of people were prevented from taking pictures whilst we were there although the only celebrity we spotted was Melvyn Bragg who these days doesn't exactly fill the gossip columns. Liz and I, it has to be said, are not the best people to be on a "rich and famous" hunt. There were 2 men who kept their hats on throughout lunch. She thought one was a ballet dancer and I surmised that the other could have been Terry Pratchett. I suspect we were both way off the mark. What is without question is that The Wolseley is the best place ever for people-watching.

It is a very bustly restaurant with everyone rushing around looking awfully important. The food was very good but I was a little disappointed that it wasn't exceptional. It was not, for example, as good as Les Deux Salons, with the exception of the puddings.

Liz began with a  mixed beetroot salad which was fresh, spiky and refreshing. She followed this with 7 hour baked lamb which in her words "was unexceptional". She loved her dessert, a slightly enormous "petit pot de chocolat".

I opened with delicately fried whitebait with an artfully executed tartare sauce. the capers had just the right amount of crunchiness. This was followed by a  medium-rare rib steak which was excellent as were the skinny fries - the gem salad was a little greasy. My ice cream coupe was the star for me - pistachio and nougat ice creams with hazelnuts and a butterscotch sauce. Just the thing for someone who's been on a diet since last September.

Liz had a glass of Corbieres,  I stuck to mineral water (notification of my sainthood must be stuck in the post). With a decaff coffee (GQS take note) the bill including service was £112.

It has to be said that the service which was friendly was also fairly slow and more than a tad haphazard. It didn't matter though as it was such fun eyeing everyone up.

Next time I go I will make a point of going either for breakfast or afternoon tea.

Lunch at Great Queen Street

I'm going to begin this blog with A Big Moan. I am very caffeine-intolerant. Twice I have been hospitalised after smallish doses. The effects are not pretty and very scary. I used to be a big coffee-lover but have had to wean myself off, and I succumb only to the occasional decaff if I really fancy that coffee taste. So when, after a fabulous meal, I am told by an embarrassed waiter that the chef "refuses to have decaff on the premises and suggests a herbal tea instead" then I think you may excuse me feeling more than a little miffed.

"Chef" needs to inspect his back passage. Nuff said.

I have not been to GQS for a good couple of years but Liz and I were at the National Gallery and so in the vicinity. (Both hugely disappointed in the much-hyped Da Vinci exhibition by the way)! I booked it because we had done Les Deux Salons to death and needed to be sure of a good lunch.

I don't know who Alexander is but the butter in my artichoke soup was exceedingly good, herby and pungent .

Liz thought her potted shrimps overdosed on butter. I put it down to the one-size-fits-all glasses that GQS still insist on using.

The main courses of plaice, and partridge were good too. I should apologise for always choosing plaice, or so it seems. Unfortunately it is usually the most unfattening thing on the menu and I have an Olympic Games to prepare for.

Homemade (non-alcoholic) ginger beer was refreshing if not exceptional. (I have given up booze for January at least).



The desserts were sensational! Seville orange sorbet was spot-on, being bitter-sweet yet fluffy. If I were a nit-picker I would say that the zesty bits were a bit chewy though.

The salted creme caramel was divine.

Our waiter, whose name I didn't catch, was excellent. Apparently people are always asking for decaff coffee and it makes his job quite embarrassing. But "Chef" will not be swayed. Am not sure if it still Tom Norrington-Davies but I seem to remember that one of the reasons I haven't been back was the coffee policy. Shame because the food and the cooking is ace.

Chocolate truffle torte

The recipe for this cake came from James Martin's website. Unfortunately it's not there any more but as I had saved it as a Word document I can reproduce it here. It is essentially Delia's recipe with changes to the quantities.  I used Green and Black's 35% milk chocolate because my family prefer it. And the sugar mice were there because they were reduced to clear in Waitrose. I haven't had a sugar mouse for over 50 years!

James Martin chocolate truffle cake

25g/1oz butter, plus some for greasing,
100g/4oz amaretti biscuits,
400g/1lb dark chocolate (70-75% cocoa solids),
4 tbsp liquid glucose,
4 tbsp rum,
1 x 568ml tub double cream, at room temperature,
cocoa powder, to serve.

1.      Line a 23 cm cake tin with baking parchment, then grease the base and sides with soft butter. Melt the butter in a small pan. Crush the biscuits, mix together with the butter, then spread over the base of the tin.

2.    Break the chocolate into squares and put them in into a heatproof bowl, with the liquid glucose and rum. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water, then leave it until the chocolate has melted and become slightly smooth. Stir , then take off the heat and leave to cool slightly.

3.    In a separate bowl, beat the double cream until only slightly thickened. Fold half into the chocolate mixture, then fold that mixture into the rest of the cream. When blended and smooth, spoon it into the prepared tin. Tap the tin gently to even the mixture out, then cover with clingfilm and chill overnight.

Just before serving, run a warm knife round the edge to loosen the torte, then remove from the mould. To serve, dust the surface with sifted cocoa powder.

Hugh's Parmigiana

My favourite cookbook at the moment is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg everyday. Famously carniverous, Hugh has made the monumnetal decision to eat far less meat and this book (and accompanying TV series) is the result of his endeavours. The book is beautiful - my cleaner took one look at it yesterday and rushed out to buy herself a copy. You just want to cook and grow everything within.

Sadly, my husband doesn't consider a meal without either fish or meat to be dinner so it will be some time before I have cooked my way through the pages. The Aubergine Parmigiana was made yesterday because my one-time colleague and long term friend Daniel was paying a Christmas visit. Daniel loves his food and he especially loves aubergines.

It is a very good recipe. The only change I made was to use 3 rather than 4 tins of tomatoes. I salted the aubergines as instructed - still not sure whether that was necessary but hey ho. It was very tasty indeed and Daniel loved it. I served it with olive ciabbata and a green salad.

For dessert we munched our way through a tray of baklava given me by my lovely friend Lulu. It was a perfect lunch. And it is Christmas after all.

Chris had Tuna pasta bake . . . .

Another sad day

Jumble was run over on Friday evening. The vet phoned us to say she had been brought in to him unconscious and that she had died shortly afterwards. We are all very sad because she was such a beautiful and intelligent cat. Very high maintenance - woe betide you if she didn't give her a sachet of food every 3 hours, very  talkative,  and very friendly when she wanted something. It is a year to the day that we collected her from the RSPCA and she went from being a fluffy but skinny, wary little thing to a chubby, still fluffy, confident lady. We miss her.

We still have Pannucci but there will be no more cats for us whilst we live here. It's too painful.

Pollen Street Social

I have not seen my friend Liz since our Dorset holiday in August and we had promised ourselves some culture and a lunch treat way back then. The plan was to do the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery. How very naiive of us! Liz applied for tickets on the day they became available, the website had crashed because of the unprecedented demand, and she spent 4 hours on the phone trying to obtain some. She had to admit defeat this side of Christmas but has secured a pair for January 16th. We shall be going then if she doesn't succumb to an urge to flog them on e-bay for a vast profit.

As Liz had worked so hard over this we decided to forego the culture part of our day and head straight for lunch. Because of spectacular success finding Bocca di Lupo and Les Deux Salons for our previous two excursions, restaurants that Liz has subsequently returned to, I was entrusted to come up with the venue again. Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social has had some very good reviews and it is comfortably near Oxford Circus which is on a direct tube line from Harrow and Wealdstone station walkable from my house. I booked around 3 weeks ago and was told they had no lunch tables available in the restaurant but that we could have a table in the bar.

The building is very swish indeed and very comfortable, Lots of wood, lots of glass, comfy chairs, lovely loos. The waiting staff were brilliant and the food was out of this world. An amuse-bouche of black olives came with a dish of something that tasted like taramasalata but wasn't pink. Liz though there might have been cream in it. It was a lovely start.

Because I love oysters I had to have oysters. These were West Mersea English molluscs and I chose the option of having chorizo with them. Genius. Totally fabulous.

Even more genius was Liz's Cornish crab vinaigrette, Nashi pear, cauliflower sweet 'n sour dressing with frozen peanut powder. Liz pronounced it the best starter she'd had for years and marvelled at how delicate it was. (The picture doesn't do it justice).

My main course was Rack of Cotswold lamb, braised shoulder, creamed spiced aubergine and black olive reduction. The lamb which I ordered medium rare just melted. It was a fabulously intense dish. I think that may have been goat curd on the side. One sniff was enough not to try it.

I am very sorry that I didn't take notes. Suffice to say that Liz's Venison dish was also amazing. I know Chanterelles, more pears and more cauliflower were involved. Liz is pretty sure that Jason Atherton has cornered the market in cauliflower!

Those who know me will be flabbergasted that we eschewed puddings. The menu was tempting enough but Liz thought they were nearly all outside her whey-allergy comfort zone, and I wanted cheese. I have been dieting for the last two months and cheese has barely passed my lips. So I ordered the cheese plate with piccalilli and green tomato chutney and Liz opted for the Chocolate table, handmade chocolates to die for. The cheese was spot-on although my chum didn't rate the goat as the best she'd ever tasted. The Comté was especially wondrous. Again an absence of a notebook plus a surfeit of punchy Temperanillo means I am hazy as to what the others were, other than delicious. Interestingly the piccalilli disappointed slightly, not edgy enough for me. (And more cauliflower)!

Our bill, which included a large G&T, an Armagnac which looked like it was called Danni Minogue, a bottle of fizzy water, and aforementioned Temperanillo came to £170 all in. The most expensive lunch I have ever had in fact. It was a good job it was pay day!

We had been given keys at the start of our adventure and these unlocked our "free gifts" on departure. "Tea on us". An unnecessary but nice touch.

And I will be back. And next time, guess what? I mentioned earlier that Liz had revisited the previous two restaurants. She dined with her erstwhile sister-in-law who is a Glaswegian GP. Said lady, Anne, was so impressed with Bocca di Lupa that she took many GP friends there when they were on a London jolly. (I really should be on commission). A few weeks ago she was London-bound again and Liz suggested Les Deux Salons. She loved it and said that next time she was down she would very much like to treat me to a meal somewhere special. Woo hoo!! Pollen Street Social here we come.