On the go…

I’m going to be elsewhere for the next week on a work trip but (fingers crossed) I’m hoping that at some point I’ll have a bit of free time to sneak out and take a few pictures

In the meantime, here’s a small-but-perfectly-formed chocolate biscuit of delight – crispy on the outside, a tiny bit chewy on the inside and completely wonderful all the way through. I’m going to take a little stash with me to nibble throughout the plane flight…

See you all in a week’s time  

Chocolate biscuits from The Perfect Cookbook by David Herbert

You’ll need:

125g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
125g unsalted butter, chopped
1 large egg
1 cup lightly-packed light brown sugar
1 and 1/4 cups self, raising flour, sifted

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line two oven trays with baking paper.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of hot water, stirring occasionally, until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and sugar with a wooden spoon until combined.

4. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Add the sifted flour and mix until smooth and thick. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

5. Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the oven trays, allowing 5cm between each for the biscuits to spread while cooking.

6. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the biscuits are firm to the touch and the tops have wrinkled slightly. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Cook’s notes

The recipe suggests this makes about 24 to 30. I think I managed about 40 odd.

David suggest good variations of stirring through a cup of chocolate chips for a bit of extra indulgence or drizzling the finished biscuits with melted dark, milk or white chocolate. I was too impatient to try any of those options!

Aya, Clarendon Street, D2

There’s something quite mesmerizing about watching little plates of sushi and sashimi move at a stately pace around a conveyer belt. All those different shapes, colours and combinations drifting gently by, waiting for you to snap out of it and decide which one to pick first.

It took me a while to choose because I’ve never tried sushi before (how can that be?) and was quite content to enjoy the visual feast for a while. But once I’d grabbed a plate of spicy noodles, I picked up pace a bit, trying some salmon, nori rolls, a bit of tuna and then wontons stuffed with more salmon. Yum.

Many other tempting dishes paraded by as well – mackerel, prawns, mussels, squid and a couple of things I couldn’t identify, but I was feeling a little unadventurous since it was my first sushi trip (oh the foodie shame).

Except for the little mystery bundles in the slightly blurry picture above.* They’d made a couple of sexy, twinkling rounds on the conveyer belt and Mr B. had noticed me eyeballing them.

‘Do you want to try them? I’ll go halves with you.’
‘Alright then. They’re such a gorgeous colour but I’ve no idea what they are.’

We asked the waitress and she told us it was fantail roe. None the wiser, we shrugged our shoulders and tried a piece each. Kind of peppery, kind of crunchy. Pretty nice. I’d eat it again.

Then I got home and googled fantail. DON’T CLICK ON THIS LINK if you’d rather not know what it is. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

However, it hasn’t put me off in any way, shape or form. In fact, the whole thing was a little bit addictive – it’s nearly dinnertime and I’d like some more, please. I want to know what all those mystery dishes are, work my way through the menu, try everything at least once, maybe twice for good measure. So I’ll be going back as soon as possible Although that’s all I need – a new food addiction…

*I’m not keen on taking photos in restaurants as I feel it’s a bit annoying for other customers – they didn’t ask to have a flash bulb popped in their eyes when they’re there to enjoy the food. But that green was so cool, I just had to show it to you. So I managed to turn the flash off and get a couple of sneaky snaps.

In good company

The very lovely Deborah over at The Humble Housewife has put together a list of Irish food blogs. I’ve added a link on the right-hand side to her post, as well as here, so if you’d like to check out what’s happening around the country, take a peek.

Maybe there are now enough of us for an Irish Food Bloggers’ Association. Maybe there already is one and I’ve just not realised! Time for some more surfing…

Centotre

‘Are you enjoying your meal?’ asked Victor.

‘Yes – I am. I really am,’ came my slightly tipsy reply. ‘I’ve had a cr@p day at work, perhaps the cr@ppiest ever. But this meal is making up for it beautifully, thank you.’

Victor looked at me. He doesn’t know me from Adam but I was quite clearly telling the truth. So he decided to take pity on me.

‘Well, seeing as it’s been that bad… What do you prefer? Red or white?’

‘Uuuurm. Red’ (I said I was a bit tipsy – it took a little longer than usual to remember.)

At this point, I was digging my way happily through dessert – a large slab of cassata siciliana, a sponge cake/ricotta/dried fruit combination, soaked in Maraschino liqueur (you’d think I’d had enough alcohol, but no) and topped off with bright green marzipan and creme fraiche on the side. It satisfied both my love of kitsch (bright green marzipan? c’mon…) and delicious puddings.

Back came Victor from the bar with a glass containing what has to be the best red dessert wine I have ever tasted in my life. Although that wouldn’t take much. Red dessert wine normally means port and that’s a bit too heavy for me, so I tend to avoid it. But this stuff…

‘It tastes like raisins… Or cherries! It’s so smooth! What is it?’ (That’s about as Jilly Goulden as I get.)

The wine that was dancing around on my tastebuds (Casa Roma – Rabosa Piave) turned out to have been produced by the Peruzzetto brothers in the Piave region of Italy – and they’re one of the very few left who use that particular grape (rabosa nero). It’s been aged in oak for a couple of years, which means that the tanins have mellowed out (according to Victor) and given it that smooth, rounded taste. If you’re a wine buff then this won’t be news but it really was the first time that I ‘got’ what that last sentence means.

The brothers Peruzzetto mainly supply America and just one restaurant in the UK – the one I was sitting in.

Centotre opened on George Street, Edinburgh a couple of years ago and has been busy ever since to much acclaim. Victor is Victor Contini, who you’ll usually find chatting away to old friends and strangers alike, making everyone feel welcome and comfortable. He runs the place with his wife Carina, and together they set out to provide Italian food made from the best possible produce. They’re so committed to doing it properly that they take a weekly delivery of goods from Milan and they know all their producers well. It probably also helps that they’re part of the family which runs the famous Valvona and Crolla delicatessen on Leith Walk. They know their onions. They know their pasta. And they certainly know how to run a successful restaurant.

So the quality of that dessert wine and the support of the small producer was no suprise – it completely fits in with the Contini ethos that runs through everything they do. But it’s not about swanky pretentious ‘oooh daaaarling, you must simply try this fabulous little wine I picked up in the Veneto, very exclusive’. It’s about ‘there you go, try this – we think you’ll like it because it tastes good.’ And if you ask where it came from, they’ll tell you, without any faff or snobbery. I’m so glad I asked. It turns out Luigi Peruzzetto is more than happy to show visitors around his vineyard, if you’re in the area. Personally, that’s unlikely to be any time soon but I’m filing that information away under ‘one day when I win the lottery’.

I realise I’ve completely ignored my starter and main course so far, which isn’t right as they were both excellent. Bruschetta with a winning combination of creamy mozzarella, salty/spiky anchovies and peppery rocket. I wolfed that down in a very unlady-like way – but rocket is very difficult to eat politely, so I just got stuck in. Toothsome orecchiette pasta with peppercorn-studded Italian sausage, broccoli, Provola di Bufula, chillies and garlic. Simple ingredients put together with little fuss. What’s not to like?

Rolling home happily starched-up and sated, I found out that Victor and Carina are going to open another Edinburgh restaurant soon – Zanzero in the New Town – thank you trusty eating and drinking guide from The List. Apparently, it’s going to be up and running in late May 2007. Hmmmm. Hope I get a chance to try it before moving to Ireland… If not, what a great excuse to come back.