Stepping away from the kitchen for a day, we took the kids into London for lunch and a walk around the West End. This is where Hubby and I met, where we used to work and where, in its various cafés and alleyways (that’s a story for when you’re older), our relationship bloomed.

The weather wasn’t overly pleasant (that top image of a blue sky in Piccadilly Circus was taken by Hubby on another, sunnier, day) but when can we ever count on British weather to cooperate? We pulled up our hoods, stuck out our stiff upper lips and got on with the business of enjoying our touristy selves. (All the other photos, by the way, were taken with my iPhone because of course I forgot to take my real camera with me.)

The first thing we stumbled upon, in Covent Garden, was a fabulous egg-xhibit. (Sorry – had to be done.) These were the culmination of the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt that had taken place all over London during the preceding weeks. How very thoughtful of them to bring the eggs all together in one place for us – save us all that running around!

Just as we were rounding the corner, we heard the most incredible voice. I wish I had better filming skills. I wish I had captured more of her songs. I wish I had asked her name…

For lunch we eschewed the chain restaurants that seem to have swallowed up central London, and found an old favourite haunt tucked away in New Row. The food isn’t worth mentioning but the cosy, eclectic atmosphere, and memories of our early days, more than made up for it.

Bellies and hearts full, we took the kids around the corner to the candy shop. Not just any candy shop, mind you. Cyber Candy specializes in imported, and wildly-priced, American sweets. I grabbed a Skor bar, a York Peppermint Patty and a pack of Sweetarts, for nostalgia’s sake. The kids wanted Betty Crocker lip balm. I’m not sure they realized they couldn’t eat it. In fact, based on the number of applications they go through in a day, I think they are eating it.

We continued on through Leicester Square, then back along Charing Cross Road, where we first met. Along the way we passed my favourite alley in London, home to specialist antiquarian book sellers. If I had a fortune, I would spend it here.

Down past the St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the church which presides over Trafalgar Square, and then into that vast space itself, now almost completely pedestrianized and (rather sadly for me) de-pigeonized. The kids were hoisted up for the requisite ‘lion shot’, despite complaining about the resulting wet bottoms!

And then, just as quickly as we had zipped into London, we were gone again. When we moved away I knew I’d miss it, but being only an hour’s drive out I figured we’d still come into town often enough. And yet we don’t. Not anywhere near as frequently as I’d like to anyway. I need to change that. We have so many other walks to take. Places I used to hang my hat, like the South Bank and Camden Town, and new neighbourhoods to discover. Is it too late in the year to make a New Year’s resolution?

Fast forward almost 10 years and I have still never spent one single day as described above. The closest I ever got was when I took the train into London one day to see an old friend. We went used-book shopping (hardly ‘mindless’) and had lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall dim sum joint (much more Bohemian than ‘fancy’). It was bliss, but it was one day in 10 years, and the friend in question is one of the most intelligent women I know. Our conversation was anything but vapid. In fact, I needed a mindless day afterwards simply to recover from the mental gymnastics she put me through.

So, me as a Lady Who Lunches? Not so much. But instead of fancy restaurants, I do sometimes treat myself (and a friend or two, or even Hubby if he’s around) to a light midweek lunch at home. Lately, as we’ve been trying to eat lower-carb, I’ve had fun coming up with ideas that are healthy and appetizing. Here’s a compilation of three of those lunches. Each of them is great as a light lunch or as a starter for a more substantial meal.

Salmon-Stuffed Avocado

What You Need (per person)

1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup cooked salmon
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste

What You Do

1. Cut avocado in half along its length and remove the stone.
2. Gently scoop out the insides, taking care not to break the skin’s shell.
3. In a bowl, mash the avocado flesh with a fork, then add the cucumber, flaked salmon and lemon juice.
4. Mix well and season to taste.
5. Fill the avocado shells with the mixture and garnish with the lemon zest.

Egg and Cucumber Salad on Crispbread

What You Need (per person)

1 egg
About 2 inches of cucumber (to yield 1/2 cup grated)
1 Tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt/pepper
Few leaves of fresh spinach (rocket/arugula or watercress would also work nicely)
2 pieces of Swedish-style crispbread (Ryvita, Ikea or similar)
Pinch of paprika to garnish

What You Do

1. Boil the egg for at least 5 minutes then cool and peel.
2. Using a cheese grater, grate the egg into a bowl.
3. Grate the cucumber onto a kitchen towel, wrap and squeeze out the extra juice, then add the grated cucumber to the egg.
4. Mix in mayonnaise and mustard and season to taste.
5. Place the spinach leaves on the crispbread, then top with the egg mixture.
6. Garnish with paprika and serve.

Smoked Salmon Lettuce Wraps

What You Need (per person)

1/2 cup smoked salmon, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup light cream cheese, softened
Salt and pepper to taste
2 leaves of Romaine lettuce (choose inner leaves which are firmer)

What You Do

1. Mix salmon, cucumber and cream cheese and season to taste.
2. Fill lettuce leaves with the mixture and serve.

Anyone who grew up in 1970s America has heard of Shake ‘n Bake. For the rest of you, this is a packet of breading and spices that you use to coat chicken before baking it. The idea is to approximate the fried chicken experience but without the grease. The novelty of it was obviously the ‘shake’ part – you put everything in a bag and go nuts. Fun for children and grown-ups alike!

I often do a Middle Eastern spin on this, but sometimes hanker for a good old-fashioned, American-style chicken dinner. Baked chicken with mashed potatoes and greens. Ears of sweet corn on the side. Simple but good home cooking.

You might think this retrospective is born of nostalgia, but if it is then I’m nostalgic for an American childhood I never had. Meals in our house were usually my dad’s Middle Eastern cooking, and sometimes my mom’s English favourites. So these quintessentially American meals held a sort of fascination for me. I suppose the grass is always greener – my friends used to come over sniffing around for a taste of my dad’s cooking. Actually, they still do.

So back to the Shake ‘n Bake. I haven’t seen it in the shops here and anyway, it’s cheaper, healthier and very easy to make your own so why bother with store-bought? I found this recipe online a couple of years ago and adapted it slightly. It’s wonderful. I make loads of the coating mix, throw it in an airtight container and it keeps for ages.

]]> http://www.tomaytotomaaahto.com/2012/03/homemade-shake-n-bake-chicken.html/feed 13 http://www.tomaytotomaaahto.com/2012/02/lemon-layered-pancakes-guest-post-at-bite-my-cake.html http://www.tomaytotomaaahto.com/2012/02/lemon-layered-pancakes-guest-post-at-bite-my-cake.html#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:27:11 +0000 Ruby http://www.tomaytotomaaahto.com/?p=1303 One really cool thing about writing for Honest Cooking is the new group of cyber-colleagues I’ve found over there. The team is made up of food writers from all over the world, and of the highest standard. It’s endlessly fascinating and inspiring discovering new dishes and seeing innovative takes on old ones.

One of those inspirational bloggers is Tamara Novakovic. Her column, Cooking Croatia, is full of Dalmatian delights as is her beautiful blog, Bite My Cake. Her photography is amazing, so elegant and full of light. I was therefore thrilled when she asked me to participate in her new guest blogger series, Eat Global.

Seeing as Pancake Day was just around the corner (tomorrow in fact), I flipped up a stack of English pancakes and then stacked them with a layer of lemon curd in between each one. You might call it taking Pancake Day to new heights. (Literally.) Please click over to Tamara’s blog and check it out!

The light of a gas lamp flickers through the fog as you step out onto the pavement. Behind you, strains of stale jazz are muffled as the bar door closes. You shrug on the humid night air like a coat, and start to make your way home through increasingly silent streets. Voodoo ghosts seem to duck out of sight at your approach. Your pace quickens, as your footsteps echo hollow in the night. Arriving at a crumbling mansion façade, you let yourself in through the swirling iron gate and inhale the intoxicating perfume of night-blooming jasmine. It makes you swoon.  An overgrown jungle garden at first seems to block your way, but then changes its mind and ushers you in, deeper, deeper into its shadowy courtyard. You climb the spiral stairs to your quarters, fall onto the bed and are quickly lulled to sleep by the soft whirring of the ceiling fan. And even in your dreams, New Orleans haunts you still.

Image adapted from Google Earth

Anyone who’s ever lived there will tell you that there are two New Orleans. One that the tourists see, a Disneyland for drunks, filled with bright lights, plastic cups and cheap beads. An excuse to act like the person you never knew you were and never really wanted to be. That’s the cheap side of New Orleans. Then there’s the other one. The ‘native’ New Orleans. If you spend any serious time in the city you’ll uncover it – the incredible history and blending layers of cultures that have influenced its unique food, music, art and literature. That’s the New Orleans I was lucky enough to know. The one I miss more than any other place I’ve lived. Perhaps even more than Seattle, Paris and London combined.

Now that’s not to say that I didn’t dabble in the debauchery from time to time. I used to live in the French Quarter, right at the end of the infamous Bourbon Street, and was part of the Krewe du Vieux that parades on foot through the Vieux Carre, throwing beads to revelers (bare-breasted and otherwise). When I moved to the UK, I naturally wondered what mid-winter festivities England might offer up that could ever compare with the sheer madness of Mardi Gras. British friends told me, ‘We celebrate Mardi Gras here too – we call it Shrove Tuesday’.

Umm… sorry but no you don’t. I love Pancake Day, but flipping pancakes is just not in the same category as a week-long masquerade ball that only ends when, at the stroke of midnight on Mardi Gras night, the police ride their horses four-abreast down the streets of the Vieux Carre, literally forcing everyone to go home.

My brother and a friend visited me for Mardi Gras one year. I made them play dress-up. They were good sports:

Of course no one actually does go home – they just go indoors. One of the most popular shelters is Pat O’Brien’s, with its flaming fountain in the courtyard, end-to-end grand pianos in the piano bar and, of course, legendary Hurricane cocktail.

Indeed, for many, Mardi Gras would not be complete without a Hurricane (or three). There are many variations of the recipe – I’ve adapted the one from Pat O’Brien’s website. The amounts I’ve listed make one drink. You’ll obviously want to multiply them to suit your crowd. Whether to fill a pitcher or a bathtub – go wild! It’s Mardi Gras – no one’s going to judge you. At least not until tomorrow… (but that’s what the masks are for, right?)

Happy Mardi Gras y’all, and ‘Laissez les bons temps rouler’!

Have you ever stood up on a soapbox and announced something and then jumped down and done the exact opposite? My hand’s high in the air, as I’m guilty, guilty, guilty! I had the best of intentions with my healthy Valentine’s dessert, but I ended up making chocolate cake anyway.

I blame my friend Michelle. It was her birthday you see. Yes, her birthday is on Valentine’s Day. And I wanted to make her something special. So I pulled out my trusty ‘Crazy Negress’ chocolate cake recipe and put on my apron. It’s not as bad as it sounds – since Michelle is also trying to eat low-GI, I lessened the impact of the cake by changing out some of the ingredients. I used spelt and wholemeal flour, olive oil and dark chocolate. If anything it tasted better than the original. More complex, earthier and definitely more filling. I’m never going back!

Designated Bowl-Licker

The recipe makes a huge cake. I usually divide it up and make two 8-inch rounds and a dozen cupcakes with it. I could (and perhaps should) have halved the recipe, since the last thing we need is a tempting cake on the counter, but I wanted to update the photos. And I couldn’t very well cut Michelle’s cake, then deliver it to her, could I? So I decorated and delivered Michelle’s, then came home to photograph the other one. I decided, after covering it with the usual icing, to brighten it a bit. I had some blue candy melts left over from my cake pops, so I melted them down and poured them over the cake, first in a smooth layer, then in a crazy pattern.

The result was a duck-egg blue ‘crazy cake’ (as my son has named it) fully worthy of its name. The candy topping dried hard and was difficult to cut (use a warmed knife) but the kids loved it. And it’s a good thing, too, because they’re going to have to (mostly) eat it. Personally I like it better without the hard candy coating, and it’s certainly healthier that way. I broke mine off and gave it to my kids, who never seem to tire of it!

My Forever Valentine

So I was good. And I have to tell you that I don’t feel deprived at all. Because this dessert well and truly lives up to its name: parfait, meaning ‘perfect’ in French. Amazingly sweet and flavourful, despite having no added sugar at all, with a tantalizing mix of textures and an after-effect that’s the complete opposite of chocolate guilt. This will leave you feeling fresh and energized and ready to enjoy the rest of your lives together. What better way to say ‘I love you’ than that?

Chunks of mango and whole pistachios are layered with an orange blossom water-scented Greek-style yogurt (or a soft lebneh) and topped with fresh pomegranate. You can, of course, mix it up and throw in whatever you have on hand. If you need it sweeter, mix a little honey in with the yogurt, or just drizzle a bit on top. And don’t think this is just for dessert – it makes a gorgeous breakfast too!

This post is atonement for my last recipe. In fact, looking back on most of my recent posts, I realized they were not the healthiest. Perhaps unsurprising, given that it was the holidays, but still. Time to join the throngs who are fulfilling New Year’s resolutions and dieting!

I’ve been on the lookout for some time for a diet that is not a diet. Haven’t we all? What I mean, though, is a diet that is actually a lifestyle, not a fad. Something I could stick to and that wouldn’t deprive me of my favourite foods forever. Because forever is a long time and I do love my food.

The most important factor in any diet is that it suits you and your lifestyle. Otherwise, despite your best intentions, it just won’t stick. I knew that I had to take control of my carb intake and stabilize my blood sugars, because my early-afternoon slump had become a serious handicap. I’ve tried Atkins in the past and didn’t like it because it denied me a lot of the fruit and veg I think is good for me and said ‘ok’ to fat in all its forms, which just didn’t seem right.

So when I found the South Beach diet I was intrigued. After the initial two-week ‘boot camp’ called Phase One, you can eat fruit, veg and even limited starches, so long as they’re ‘good’ carbs. Whole-grain, unrefined, low GI. That’s reasonable. And it says ‘no’ to ‘bad’ fats, which just seems a lot healthier to me. Olive or rapeseed/canola oil instead of butter? I’m OK with that (most of the time anyway). If you’re interested, be sure to check out Kalyn’s Kitchen, a site full of fantastic South Beach recipes (and more)!

Phase One was a bit of a bear, I won’t lie. I have one day left and I admit I’m looking forward to having a Ryvita! Never thought I’d say that. But it did what it ‘says on the box’. It reduced my cravings for carbs and sugar and almost completely eliminated the desire to snack. I feel fuller more of the time. And I’ve lost all the weight I put on over the holidays. Brilliant.

But the other thing this diet has done is prove to me that we don’t need anywhere near the amount of carbs we used to consume with each meal. Rice was probably the biggest culprit, given that much of our home cooking is Middle Eastern. The following recipe was a way to demonstrate to myself, and Hubby, that I could take one of our favourite Arab dishes and remove the carbs without ruining it. Chicken M’Sakhan (chicken with sumac and grilled onions) is normally served on a bed of flat bread. Hubby likes it on rice, so that’s how I usually do it. But not anymore…

One way to successfully lower carbs is to boost flavour. That’s true of any diet. You’ll be happier eating less if each bite is packed with taste sensations. There’s a reason I call this ‘S’mack’, and not just the play on words. It’s addictive. The lemony sumac on the chicken, and fresh mint in the salad, just lift this grilled chicken salad to a new level. There’s also a nice combination of textures, from tender chicken to soft chickpeas to crunchy cucumber and peppers. And it looks pretty too with all those colours, doesn’t it? I especially love the way the chicken breast is roughly heart-shaped. So appropriate for a heart-healthy meal!

OK, so now am I forgiven for the Dulce de Leche?  ;-)