Monday, January 28, 2013

Island Winter Sunday Lunch


January is mid-Winter here in the islands, which doesn't mean a huge change in temperatures but it's cooler in the evenings and the sun sets just after 6pm. The island sparkles with daily rain squalls, everything is green and all the fruit trees are bearing fruit again.  We're beginning to appreciate the nuances between the seasons on our island, although it's hard to ever see any seasonal difference in the supermarkets as produce is shipped in from all over the world (giving us probably one of the worst carbon footprints on the planet). One therefore has to find small pleasures in subtle differences and if anything, seasonal rituals become even more important to mark the changes throughout the year. 

Food is a good place to start.

On Sunday we had friends around for lunch and we decided to go the 'whole hog' and have a good old roast with lots of root vegetables and a 'proper' pudding, not the kind of cooking or eating one would want to be doing in the torpor of hot and humid Summer afternoons.

We settled on a pork loin which we served with roasted polenta rosemary potatoes and roasted root vegetables including celeriac, turnip and butternut. Along with some peas and apple horseradish sauce we also made  Bill Granger's Almond & Raspberry Slice from his eminently 'cookable' book Holidays, which I seriously overbaked but which normally turns out brilliantly.


                                               Sunday Lunch Pork Roast

We adapted Nigella Lawson's Cinghiale recipe from her tome Feast,  as the spicing is surprisingly similar to the jerk seasoning we use here in the West Indies. Obviously without the scotch bonnets. We used tasty, local pork which the butcher deboned and rolled for us - just remember to ask the butcher for the bones and rind so as to make gravy and crackling. Much to everyone's silent disappointment, I'd forgotten to this step on Sunday.

1 1/2   tbsp juniper berries
1 1/2  tbsp allspice berries
1 1/2  tbsp red chili flakes (scotch bonnets if brave)
6 cloves garlic, bruised
2 tbsp molasses
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup rum
2 cups red wine
6 lb. tied pork loin, weighed without bones and rind (bones and rind are reserved)
  1. Whizz up all the spices in a coffee grinder or bash with a rolling pin in a freezer bag. Turn into a bowl and add the bruised garlic cloves, molasses, oil, Worcestershire sauce and the sugar. Whisk together  before adding the rum and wine.
  2. Put the pork loin into a large freezer bag and pour in the marinade, leave overnight in the fridge or longer, if you can.
  3. Let everything come to room temperature whilst you preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a roasting tin with foil, as the sugar in the marinade will make the pan burn.
  4. Place the loin on the bones and pour 2 cups of the marinating liquid over the pork keeping back any marinade to make the gravy later. Roast the pork for 30 minutes per pound plus an extra 30 minutes. We always use a meat probe to check if the meat is done (should have an internal reading over 140F).
  5. When the pork has cooked about half way, put the rind in a shallow roasting tin and put it on the rack under the pork. When the meat is cooked turn the oven up to the hottest it will go to let the crackling cook. After about 20 minutes, the pork will be ready for carving and the crackling should be ready.
  6. Make the gravy (which I didn't on Sunday) by removing the bones and whisking in the remaining marinade with whatever juices remain into a saucepan, adding as much water as you need to dilute into a gravy. 

                         Polenta-encrusted rosemary roast potatoes

  1. Allow one potato per guest
  2. Peel, cut into 3 pieces and boil for about 5 minutes in lots of salted water
  3. Finely chop about a handful of rosemary, mix with 2 cups of polenta and salt and pepper
  4. Drain potatoes and pour in a good slug of olive oil
  5. Sprinkle polenta mixture over the potatoes and shake up in the saucepan with the lid on to make sure all the potatoes are coated and also slightly bashed up (for maximum crusty roasted-ness)
  6. Roast for about an hour, turning over a couple of times




Monday Morning

 
We are well and truly back into our weekly routines now and we're starting to find some rhythm with the bakery too.  I did a bit of juggling last week with the new food blog kicking off and ended up posting it most nights past midnight, but that too will find it's own pace in time.

The weekend was busy with parties and entertaining. On Sunday James went on one of those very special days: An island treasure hunt where the boys go from island to island looking for clues and treasure. They went to Fallen & Broken Jerusalem, Dead Mans Chest and Salt Island - having to snorkel in from the boat with clues been tied to masts of sunken ships and the like. Thrilling stuff as you can see from their beaming faces.

Happy Boys and Birthday Boy Sam

The boys and I love to listen to music in the car, especially on the drive into school in the mornings. Today we put on a new CD and Shosholoza sung by the Drakensburg Boys Choir came blasting out of the speakers, which had us choking up with memories of South Africa, and then to almost finish us off (tears were running down my face by this time) was Johnny Clegg's Asimbonanga  which is a hauntingly beautiful song about Mandela ("we are all islands") when he was still imprisoned. We decided that it made us heartsore for Africa, not homesick - as home is here, but what a wonderful start to the week.


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Old Fashioned Lamingtons

Thanks to James & Georgie for the cool flag


Sheila walked into the kitchen to find Bruce stalking around with a fly swatter
"What are you doing?" she asks
"Hunting flies" is the response
"Catch any yet?" asks Sheila
"Yep" says Bruce " three males and two females"
Intrigued, she asks "How can you tell them apart?"
Bruce replies: "Three were on a beer can and two were on the phone."

Apart from the Australian rugby and cricket teams whom we really don't like, some of our best friends are from Australia and lots of our family live there too.We really enjoy Australian food and our boys particularly love Lamingtons, so we thought we'd make them for the bakery tomorrow as it's Australia Day on the 26 January.

Quite a few Ozzies live here on the island, but as most of them play for the BVI Rugby Team, they are all off to St Lucia (with their Lamingtons) for the weekend to play an international game. Can't see them being eaten with tea, somehow.

Our recipe comes from a real Australian institution namely the Australian Woman's Weekly Magazine who have been publishing great recipes for generations of home cooks. I can remember my mother using them when I was a child and Tyler (like many chefs) loves them for their well-tested consistency.  This recipe comes from "Sweet Old Fashioned Favourites".

                                                                    
                                                     Old Fashioned Lamingtons

6 eggs
2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
1 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup cornflower
25g soft butter, chopped
1/3 cup boiling water

Icing
4 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
20g soft butter
3/4 (180ml) cup

2 cups of dessicated coconut (you really need lots)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F 
  2. Beat eggs in a mixer for about 10 minutes until really creamy
  3. Add the sugar slowly
  4. Mix in melted butter/water mixture
  5. Sift the flours three times and fold into egg sugar mixture
  6. Pour into a 23cm heavily greased square tin
  7. Bake for about 25 minutes. A skewer should come out clean
  8. Turn out onto a wire rack
  9. When cool, cut up into 16 squares
For the icing:
  1. Sift all the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl
  2. Add the butter together with the milk
  3. Stir over a double boiler on the stove top until smooth and glossy
For the messy part:
  1. Quickly dunk the sponge squares into the chocolate mixture
  2. Shake off excess chocolate and roll into coconut, which you've put into a shallow bowl
  3. Put back on rack and let them dry off
Although the Lamingtons appear simple to make and are totally delicious, they are actually quite fiddly.  Best thing really is buy them in and set out on your prettiest cake plate, remaining vague about  their provenance.

Hot Tip: Leave your apron on.


The 7 year old tucks in
.


Next Post: Island Winter Sunday Lunch

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Boat Bruschetta



You know how one thinks of about a thousand smart things to say after the put down, well the same with me and entertaining. I'm not one of those 'oooh-just-happened-to have-it-in-the-freezer' kind of people and rarely can whip up anything quickly (apart from myself) and so it was this past weekend.

There we were on our bareboat catamaran from the Moorings BVI, enjoying an apertif with the sun setting behind St Thomas Yacht Club. We had sailed over for the weekend with other families from the Royal BVI Yacht Club  so that our sailor children could take part in the Martin Luther King Regatta. The occasion called for some canapes, but the most we could offer up at the time was some shop-bought ham on Tyler's good multigrain loaf cut into teeny squares, which was good enough - but I did long for something a tad more elegant. Bruschetta (pronounced 'bruce-ketta')  immediately came to mind, not that we had the wherewithal that particular evening. A  bit of planning, as always, is required. 


                                                            Boat Bruschetta

Grab some baguettes and pre-prepare a couple of 'toppings' at home and then plonk them, when cooled,  into tupperwares. The only real worry is to make sure that there is a good bread knife on board and how to switch on the gas (Hot Tip: Ask the Captain). After some quick slicing, grilling and spooning all that there is left to do is to lightly trip up on to the deck bearing platters with the ease of a Nigella, which frankly I've been practising in the mirror for years

Israeli Hummus

2 tins chickpeas
4 large crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor, blend/pulse chickpeas with all the ingredients. Keep it a bit grainy - don't overblend. Keep tasting for the right balance of tahini, cumin, garlic and seasoning.

Mushrooms with truffle oil

1 big punnet of Portobella mushrooms, wiped free of grit, chopped small
Knob of butter & slug of good olive oil
1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp truffle oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Quickly fry off sliced mushrooms in butter & olive oil in a smoking frying pan
In a bowl, add finely diced parsley and the truffle oil to the mushrooms
Add seasoning to taste, and a few drops more truffle oil if the flavour is not quite there. The truffle oil should not be too overpowering and the taste of mushrooms should be foremost

Tapenade
Rick Stein's recipe works for us

1 cup pitted black olives
2 Anchovy fillets
2 tbsp capers
3 crushed garlic cloves
Salt & pepper to taste

Whizz everything together in the food processor. Take care again not too overdo it or you'll end up with olive baby puree - yuch.

You will also need some good bread. We use our bakery's sourdough baguettes:



To put it all together:


  1. Get some colour onto the bread by grilling on a hot griddle
  2. With the help of some young sailors, quickly plate up and rub garlic cloves onto the toasted bread and sparsly drizzle with some olive oil
  3. Make sure all the 'toppings' are at room temperature and then heap onto the bread
  4. Serve looking breezy and nautical

                                                                        Salut !







Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Sports fans

So, we had a rather fab weekend.

Both Georgie and James were racing in the Martin Luther King Regatta on St Thomas over the weekend, and it was the first time Tyler and I had managed to go along and support the boys at an international regatta, as we usually just work instead.

Sailing in another country is not quite like packing up the soccer kit and driving over in the school bus.  It requires logistics spelt with a capital L and squibillions spelt with a capital $. As eight kids were competing from the BVI, we managed to organise two bareboat catamarans from our new sponsors The Moorings  to haul all the boats, sails, kit, dinghies, sailors, coaches, parents, siblings, wine, beer, crisps and 500 towels for three days over to our sister US island.

By the time one has finally arrived it does take quite a few G & T's to restore ones faith in humanity, but this weekend was definitely the way to go. We may just have the new equivalent of the Barmy Army (The Parent Posse?) in our devoted support fin the children's quest for world domination in small boats. On tropical islands, mind you - I would feel slightly less enthusiastic about the Isle of Wight, for example.

The Supporters Tents BVI Style
 
'Parent Support' means lots and lots of time spent watching tiny little white boats sailing all over the place from bobbing dinghies (a small price to pay):


 

And then one further supports ones children by yelling things like "TRIM your sails" and  "jib NOW!" and "Arrrghhh what are you DOING???" and also "EEEKKK watch out for number 84 STARBOARD" etc etc. Then one mutters "Good Grief I need another beer it's so stressful" to ones equally stressed out fellow parent supporters.  


This carries on the whole day, with various breaks for lunch and time out to rover from the stress of it all but not the big sailors. They, poor sods, get lunch in their boats so they can carry on racing.

Then they all come back to the yacht club, talk strategy with the coach, hang out on more boats and then do it all again the next day.



The sailors are then rewarded with prizes and showered with kisses from their grateful parents who've all had a rather excellent weekend supporting them, catching up with friends and reading Jilly Cooper. The parents then very heartily endorse youth sailing as a wonderful family sport and eagerly ask when and where the next regatta is going to be. For the children's sake, of course.


As you can see it's tough being a racing parent, but someone has to do it.

(Thanks to Nadia for the brilliant photos. Our boat dropped their camera in the sea)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Make the apron

Pinned Image
The famous apron 'pin'

We have been without Internet access for a few days which was quite interesting. I went cold turkey for the first few days and felt quite anxious about missing anything important but then it soon joined all the other things that I don’t really miss like American TV, over-priced boutiques and Mr Delivery (not to be mistaken for Dudu, Woolies, Waterstones and Burts Bees all of which I miss very much).

I’ve decided that my new year’s resolution after all the usual ones of cutting-down-alcohol-losing-weight-yada-yada, is to spend less time online. I’m still deeply addicted to Pinterest but do recognize it as the ultimate ‘virtual reality’ which encourages procrastination of the worse kind: I’d much rather ‘pin’ a gorgeous artisanal-looking apron than make the damn thing (even though it goes onto my "To Make" board) which I did end up starting to make this weekend, as I had a lot more time - ha! Funny thing is, is that my 'artisanal apron pin' is by far my post popular repinned- pin (I do realise that I'm speaking double-dutch for some. Please bear with me) which must mean that most people are just like me ie. armchair artisans.

I also love the chattiness of Facebook and all the gossipy goings-ons, but really a couple of times a week is sufficient rather than a couple of times a day (I think I've now seen enough of everyones holiday photos, lovely as they are were and I see the skiing ones are starting now). Anyway let’s see how we go. I'm not promising anything, but ever the quest for squeezing more time out of the day.

We’ve just about recovered from Christmas: The house is back to normal (although I have been allowed to keep The Saint for 2 full days a week now) and we’ve had a small respite in the Bakery for the past couple of weeks. The Family is now ‘expecting’ however and we are preparing for a new member of the Family. Sorry for being so cryptic but we havn’t signed any of the final documents yet, but when we do – we are off on a new adventure and the due date is soon!

Boys are racing this weekend (Copy:Paste) and we are going over to St Thomas to watch them and to do some shopping (for the new arrival) which is exciting as we’ve not been able to support them up until now.

January is deepest ‘Mid-Winter’ here in the islands and last week was blissfully cool – bordering on chilly, in fact. On Saturday night I was in leggings, a long sleeved TShirt and my fluffy lambskin slippers which I’d not worn since 2010. GracieBoyCat immediately attacked them (one of the disadvantages of being blind and horny) as he thought they might finally be his Teenage Sweetheart. They are now looking a little worse for wear, but I did enjoy flopping around feeling all Winterish, sleeping under blankets, watching movies in bed and making casseroles for supper. Amazing how the small things in life make one happy. Slippers, how sad.

PS When silly old Blogger is working properly again I'll post a picture of the said apron. Bet you can't wait. Shall I post one of the slippers, too? Life must be slowing down here in the islands, although it dosn't feel like it on the ground















Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year



Georgie's Lego Candelabra
We had a really lovely New Years Eve at home with a fabulous meal set with all the linen, crystal & silver and then some pyrotechnics on the balcony. Most of us managed to last out until Midnight, but some of us had to be woken up to be informed that it was the new year. Then we carried on sleeping and had a super lazy New Years Day doing absolutely nothing. I cannot remember a day when we all did nothing but sleep, eat and read.
 
Today is the last day of our holidays (the Bakery is already open) and I thought I'd better do my post now as I already have that slight tight throat and queezy tummy feeling which comes with a To Do List the length of my arm. I can also see that my temper is already shortening again. Holidays, whilst very welcome are also a little bit cruel, as just as you are starting to relax and the deep purple shadows are fading under ones eyes, it's back into the maelstrom again slightly off-kilter for having switched off a bit.  Many people are already back at work so my Blackberry is pinging and I'm currently working on the bakery accounts. There are cupboards to tidy, school clothes to sort out, fridges to clean and the usual mound of washing. I have to keep reminding myself that these are the Wonder Years, but they are - really!

Our new awning
We are looking forward to 2013, not that 2012 was bad or anything, just tough. Our plans are much the same as last year and 2013 will hopefully see the bakery mature.  We will soon start wholesaling with another oven and a van being acquired, although we are enjoying having the little bakery shop. We are also planning our first family visit back to South Africa & England in August (it would have been almost 3 years since we had left) which will be a highlight of the year. There are some other big changes in the air, but these will depend on how the bakery does.

To all our friends - both here and absent - we hope everyone stays safe, healthy and prosperous. Our biggest hope however is either to see you or hear from you so please stay in touch!

 Here's to 2013. Day 2.

Holidays at home. Just noticed the dog on the cushion. Also William seems to only own one TShirt.