Jamie's Italian (Norwich) - Mummy and Oliver Lunch Out

Horrible grainy photos - take from a mobile I'm afraid.

Oliver had been very poorly with a nasty chest infection. The doctor gave him penicillin and he had to have Calpol and Ibuprofen too for the high fevers plus antihistamine for the rash reactions. Poor kid - medicine three times a day, and normally 4 spoonfuls at a time.

We had loads of tears... "But it's really yucky Mummy"..... In the end, he'd be very brave and take it all. I promised him when he was better, we'd go to the toy shop in the city for a couple of little cars.

As it happens, when we were coming out of the toy shop, staff were starting to put menus out on the tables at the new Jamie Oliver's Italian in Norwich. It's in the arcade - only a few steps from the toy shop. I stopped to ask when they were opening and if there were any available tables. Honestly - I really didn't think we'd ever get a table !

Our luck was in - and we were told we could come back in 20minutes....

We were seated in the upstairs area (opposite the kitchens) very quickly. This table in front of us was filled up just a few minutes after.

Oliver sat and played nicely with his new little cars. That red thing that you see on the seat behind him is the children's menu. It's a 3d viewer thing. You pull the lever and it shows them photos of what they can choose to eat. 

Oliver chose fish fingers with cheesy polenta bites. It was served with a jar of salad chopped into tiny pieces (for him to shake) and some organic cordial. I ordered us some bread to share and a small prawn, fennel and something or other linguine. I also made them aware that we didn't want to hang around - as we were due at the theatre in a snitch over 1 hour. For £5.95 for a kids meal and about £10.00 for mine - that was pretty good value. The final bill including bread and a soda with lime was about £23.00.

The bread selection was lovely - all baked daily on site. There was a selection of white and possibly spelt sourdoughs, some flat garlicky crisp-bread stuff, breadsticks amongst others. More than we could manage between us !

Oliver's meal came on a lovely wooden board (I'm afraid I'd chopped it up for him before taking photos crossed my mind !). My linguine was the best pasta I've ever eaten and full of quite complex flavours. Yum. Oliver is keen to go back for spaghetti !

I must admit, seating and service was very prompt and efficient. We WERE in and out in an hour (just) which was pretty astonishing as the restaurant got very busy. They are very child friendly - and despite the fact there were a good number of children, all were well behaved.

Anyway, I had to nudge Oliver along and get him to pack up his cars in a hurry so we could get to the Playhouse on time to see Hairy McClary (of Donaldson's Dairy !)

It was only afterwards when we got home that I cringed when I realised Oliver had packed up the kids menu with his cars ! He had thought it was a free toy like he gets in Mc Donalds... Oh - the embarrassment.. I bet they lose a few more in the same way. Anyway, I did the honourable thing and posted it back to the restaurant the following day. Least I won't feel guilty next time we visit..

Oliver's Golden Mars Bar Crispy Cakes

One of the staff (Megan) that takes Oliver's nursery class was leaving last week for pastures new. A really lovely young girl moving home and job - so some big life changes. 

I suggested to Oliver that he made a card to give her on her leaving day which was Friday just gone. Oliver wanted to make cake too - but given it was the night before and not much before his bed time.... it had to be something quick and easy !

We made these golden mars bar crispie cakes in just a few minutes. The good thing is that they not only taste good, but are no bake too !

Recipe

5 standard sizes Mars Bars

4.1/2 cups rice crispies

100g butter

1 heaped tablespoon golden syrup (corn syrup would do)

150g bar milk chocolate

tablespoon butter

metallic gold edible dusting powder / sands

Break up  the mars bars and put them in a bowl with the golden syrup and 100g butter. Even a toddler can do this !

Pop it in a microwave in a non metallic bowl. Zap for about 1 minute. Take out, give a stir and then repeat for another minute. Give a really good stir again and zap for a few seconds more if required.

Use a spatula to scrape this into a bigger bowl with 4.1/2 cups of rice krispies / puffed rice. Stir to combine.

Spoon into a buttered 12 finger bar silicone bakeware mould and press down with a finger spatula. You want to fill to within about 3 > 4mm of the top of each cell.

Break up the bar of milk chocolate and melt in the microwave with the tablespoon of butter. Spoon this on top of the mixture in the cells until level with the top and aggitate the mould from side to side a little which will level the chocolate.

Leave to cool and then refrigerate. Once hardened, brush the tops with edible metallic gold powder for a golden shimmery effect.

Ideal for lunchboxes.... and favourite teachers !

Sarah-Jane Nash, http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ - March 2011

Warm Rummy Sponge Cakes with Clotted Cream & Honey

 

At Christmas time, I soaked a load of sultanas in rum and also homemade apple brandy for making into Christmas gifts. The original idea was to coat them in chocolate and include them in fudge.

Three full months later, I still had a small size Kilner jar sitting on my kitchen worktop. It was full of very plump sultanas which had been steeping in rum all this time

Finally - they are no more as I used them in these warm rummy sponge cakes. If you want to make this, I'd soak the sultanas in warmed rum for a few hours - or overnight if possible. Thankfully it is not necesary to plan 3 months in advance !

Recipe

120g caster sugar

120g softened butter

120g self raising flour

100g (approx) of sultanas

100ml of rum / brandy / whisky

2 large eggs

As far ahead as you can, soak your sultanas in the alcohol. For a non alcoholic version, try using earl grey tea or apple juice instead.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Mix in the flour (sifted), followed by the sultanas with the remaining alcohol that has not been absorbed.

Grease a 6 cell extra deep mini victoria sponge mould (we don't current;y have any left - stock due early May) and dust with flour, tapping out any excess. Fill the cells with the batter. Sprinkle over an extra teaspoon of sugar (for a crispy, sugary topping) and bake in the oven at approx 160deg for around 20mins until cake tester comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5 mins or so before turning out. If really rather hot still, you may need to carefully run a table knife around the inside edge of the cell to help the hot cake release.

I've served it above with clotted cream, drizzled with local runny honey.

Oliver and I had a super time today. After work, I took him to the fire station !

I'd noticed this morning that there was a big sign out advertising a charity car wash at the fire station and figured not only was my car in desperate need of a clean, but Oliver might like to go along.

It was a beautiful bright and sunny day. There were no other cars there at the time - and at least 10 firemen jumped up to start work on my car ! A couple of them took care of Oliver and made sure he had the time of his life whilst the other decided to talk to me and supervise the rest..

A very excited Oliver got to hold of one of the smaller fire engine hose and had a bit of help in turning it on (just a little bit !).

Meantime, some of the rest of the firemen got on with washing my car. I think there were 5 of them doing mine at this point - some had started another vehicle. Whilst they drowned my car in vast amounts of water and soap suds, Oliver was driving the fire engine and beeping the horn.

After that, he got a sit on a brand new Emergency Search and Rescue speed boat - so new it's never touched the water yet.... and my car got a polish by yet some mroe firemen.

He sang "The horn on the fire engine goes BEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEEP" the whole way home in the car afterwards !

In case you are wondering, Oliver got his first hair cut yesterday:-( It's quite sad really - I took him in looking very much a toddler, and he came out looking so grown up and just like a pre-schooler ! There's nothing baby left now...

Sarah-Jane Nash - http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ - silicone bakeware mould specialist cook shop

Tunnocks Tea Cakes - GIVEAWAY of a WHOLE BIG BOX !!!

When I was in Scotland at Christmas, I picked up a WHOLE box of these beauties... Yes, they're Tunnocks Tea Cakes and it's a MASSIVE box of 36 of them.

I bought them specifically to give away to one lucky blog reader as part of my 1st Year of Blogging celebrations. Unfortunately, this one is only open to UK residents as these are very very fragile and don't travel very well.

For those of you who have never eaten one - they're classed as a biscuit with a big fluffy mallow type top and coated in a thin layer of milk chocolate. Think of it like tha marshmallow fluff you can get in jars that's only just stiff enough to hold it's shape. The biscuit is soft. Almost digestive like and more like a cross between a biscuit and a cake.

The factory is in Uddingston, Scotland and only about a mile or so from where my parent's live.

See how big a box this is ?

To be in with a chance to win :

you need to be a blog follower

reside in the UK

Comment, giving the most outrageous way you think you could eat your tunnocks chocolate tea cake !

TO CLOSE SUNDAY 16th.

Here is how Oliver does it....

Unwrap it - with a little help from Mummy.

Sniff it - because all sorts of strange things come from Scotland !

Smack it one with your hand and then pull a face when you realise your fingers are all goo.

Stick your finger in and give it a taste. Decide it may look funny, but tastes rather good !

Ram a police truck in it some more....

Suck all the stuck mallow out the grill of the police truck... and then get in a really sticky mess before mum shoves you in the bath.

Hope you've enjoyed my silly blog post !

copyrite Sarah-Jane - http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ - Jan 2011.

This offer has absolutely no association with Tunnocks and all comments made are entirely my own !



Another First... Rabbit Casserole

Fist of all, I must apologise for my absence of late. I've been working extraordinarily long hours - often on the go for 18 > 20 hours in the day. There are just so many pre-Christmas orders to get processed and on their way to customers that there has been little time for anything.

I've not even seen that much of Oliver ! He's at nursery every afternoon and has spent the odd morning with a little friend. Our time together has been limited - though on Sundays we have been having a family day and all spending some time together. However, I've mainly spent today at home (apart from being out feeding the animals) since Oliver is a bit poorly with a bad cold.

I've often meant to try eating rabbit. It's easy to obtain here as we are quite rural and most butchers have it fresh during the winter season. For one reason or another, I've just never got round to it. Eventually, earlier in the month, I bought a jointed rabbit and turned it into this....

The casserole smelt wonderful - and the sauce was tasty. However, I really was not keen on the flavour of the meat and doubt I'll ever buy rabbit again. It just really didn't appeal to me.

Saying that - I bet the same recipe would be wonderful swapping chicken for the rabbit.... So, I'd use the recipe again (minus the rabbit !)

The rabbit I had was 1kg in weight - so I halved the quantities below

Rabbit Stew

Recipe comes Jamie Oliver Forum - by a memeber called Kirsten

ALL credit to Kirsten. Her recipe is copied and pasted below

2kg (4lb) Rabbit, jointed

285ml (½ pint) Chicken Stock

140ml (¼ pint) White Wine
2 tbsp Seasoned Flour
55g (2oz) Butter
1 Garlic Clove
1 Bouquet Garni
2 tbsp Double Cream (I actually used 4....)

1 tbsp Parsley

2 tsp Cornflour

2 tsp Tomato Puree

Parsley

Salt and Pepper

Coat the rabbit joints in seasoned flour and fry in butter in a flameproof casserole, browning on all sides.

Add the stock, wine and tomato puree, bring to the boil.

Add the bouquet garni, crushed garlic and season to taste.

Reduce the heat and cook gently for 1½ - 2 hours or until the rabbit is tender.

Transfer the rabbit to a serving dish, keep warm.

Transfer the sauce to a saucepan, removing the bouquet garni

Mix the cream and cornflour together, and stir into the sauce until thickened.

Pour sauce over rabbit and garnish with parsley.

Sarah-Jane Nash - http://www.siliconemoulds.com/, November 2010

Scottish Clootie Dumpling

Clootie Dumpling is a traditional Scottish fruit pudding. It's super served freshly made and hot on it's own or with custard. Also popular fried along with sausages on a Sunday morning. No wonder Scots have a history of heart disease...

Anyway - Clootie Dumpling gets it's name from the cloth it is cooked in. The prepared mix is put into a cotton cloth (pillowcase would do if that's all you have) and loosely tied with string to leave room for expansion. It is then put into a pot of boiling water and boiled for 4 hours. The pot will regularly need topping up with water to cover the dumpling.

Oliver and I went a trip up to Scotland last weekend to see my parents (his grand parents). Having recently had his birthday - there was a promise of clootie dumpling. I've not had clootie dumpling in years. My Gran (who is no longer with us unfortunately) used to make us a dumpling every birthday instead of cake as per our heritage tradition. Underneath our slice would be hidden our lucky coin (wrapped in either greaseproof paper or foil).

The recipe as follows belonged to my Gran and was passed to her by her mother (my great grandmother) - so dates back to around 1850.

Oliver helped his Nanny make the dumpling ! For once, I had no part in this other than in the eating. I'll apologise now - I couldn't get any photos in decent lighting in the kitchen...

Recipe for Clootie Dumpling - Jean Inglis Knights

4 cups plain flour

2 rounded teasp baking powder

pinch salt

100g suet

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons black treacle

2 teaspoons mixed spice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

400g currants

100g sultanas

mix with milk or water as required to combine

You want a really thick porridge like consistency - almost verging on dough. It's not like a bread dough - just mix well with a wooden spoon.

See the video and Oliver will show you how !

Wet the dumpling cloth and then flour it. Tip the dumpling mix onto the cloth. Gather, and tie loosely to leave room for expansion. Not really loose. The dumpling is going to get about 50% bigger and needs to fill the cloth. Too saggy, and you'll end up with a bag of gunge after cooking !

Here is a tied clootie....

Now - this needs to go into a large pot of boiling water and be regularly topped up. Cook for 4 hours.

After cooking, remove from pot and take off the cloth. The cloth can be washed and reused. My mum still uses my grandmother's cloth.

The outside will be pale and sticky. You now need to pop it into an oven at around 180deg C for a short time for the skin on the outside to dry off. As soon as the outside starts to dry and look a little leathery, it's ready to serve.

"Run Run As Fast As You Can.....

You can't catch me - I'm a gingerbread man !"

I've had a really stupidly busy week and been working extra long days - even more than my normal long ones. Going to bed at 3am and getting up around 7.30am doesn't leave much room for play or fun ..... That's why there has not been much blogging of late - though I do have a couple of belated things still to post from right at the start of the month.

My mum was down visiting last weekend and brought Oliver a book The Gingerbread Man. I remember having it myself as a child. Mine was a hardback and gingerbread man was on a ribbon. There was a slot in my book so you could pass him through the pages.

 

Anyway - we've been reading that this week and reciting the main lines pretty much every where we go ! I decided it was time to make some gingerbread men (and bears). A few were delinquints - like the one with the spikey hair and big tummy and the one poking it's toungue out and having a bandaged arm... I used Martha Stewarts recipe - which you can find here.

I decided to make a load of teeny weeny gingerbread bears too band sandwiched them together with some butter icing made with th usual butter and incing sugar as well as ginger syrup.

Oliver and I made the dough yesterday morning and I baked it tonight after we got back from BEWILDERWOOD on silicone baking mats / tray liners. They only took 10mins for the large ones and 5 mins for the teeny weeny ones.

Oliver ran for hours and hours. Bewilderwood is THE most fantastic place for children and adults. We both had a fantastic time on all the tree top walks and there are some excellent slides.

Yup - no time other than the odd snap - you can just about spot Oliver high-tailing it up those stairs !

Some really cool tree houses and dens. Boat rides etc too. It's fairly expensive - but includes everything.... and worth EVERY penny.

You can't see how big or steep this scramble net is - but I'm looking down on Oliver climbing up. This is his second time round !

It's a pretty big complex at 50 acres. It's VERY easy to stay all day - even with a toddler. By the time we left to come home, Oliver was so tired he could barely stand, yet still didn't want to leave !

There is stuff for all ages - including slides and zip wire rides. This grandfather and two young boys were having a wonderful time on a swing for three ! The face painter they had was truly awesome. I think Oliver is a little too small - next year maybe... but there were full grown adult men and women going about with painted faces as well as the kids.

This place even makes adults feel 10yo again. I cannot tell you how good it is. If you ever visit East Anglia - TAKE YOUR KIDS TO BEWILDERWOOD !

BLOG CD GIVEAWAY - Jonny Walker (totally offtopic !)

This is totally off track from my normal blog entries, but I saw this guy - Jonny Walker - busking in Norwich last Saturday. His voice is awesome. There was quite a crowd sat listening on the steps. I was itching to join them... but I had a tired toddler with me who really needed to crash.

Anyway - I was so spellbound that I bought not one but two copies of his cd from him. He seems to sing here there and everywhere in town centres. If you search YouTube for " Jonny Walker Busking" you'll find various videos - including one of him with Jamie Oliver who is banging his pot with spoons. That's the only culinary link.... and I didn't realise it existed until an hour ago.

Anyway - I've got a copy to give away to one of you guys. All you need to do is be a listed blog follower to enter and comment on this post. If you would like to - you can also tweet us (siliconemoulds) or join us on Facebook.

I'll select the winner using a random generator on 30th July. You never know - you might be lucky !

Antipasto Tear and Share Bread - A Meal in a Loaf !

I saw Jamie Oliver on television briefly last night making something rather similar to this. It's one of those really versatile recipes where you can throw almost anything at it that you have in the fridge.

Basically, you make up a batch of bread dough. I used just a standard bread recipe - 500g flour, sachet of fast yeast, 2 tsp sugar, 1.1/2 tsp salt, good glug of olive oil and 300ml of warm water.

Make the bread dough as you would normally, and leave covered to rise for 30mins or until doubled in size.

Knock the dough back and roll it out into a rectangle about 1cm thick

Then, it's time to fill your bread. I chose to spread mine with red pesto and fill with some chopped antipasto. I'd griddled off 4 bell peppers, 1 courgette and a rather enormous onion.

There was a ball of mozarella lurking in the fridge, so I tore that up and put it along one long edge of my rectange. Then, I rolled the rectangle over the cheese and spread out the chopped antipasto over the rest of the bread dough - keeping it away from the last 2"in length of the rectangle.

Roll the bread dough until you end up with something resembling a swiss roll.

Chop off 2 > 3" chunks and stand them end up in a 10" round silicone baking pan mould. Don't worry about excess space. The bread is best left to sit for 20mins or so now and will expand into leftover space.

Pop it in the oven - 180 > 190deg C fan oven for 25 > 30 mins

When you bring it out, drizzle with olive oil and leave to cool a little before serving.

There is gooey mozarella in the centre of each section.

Too yummy for words. I'm planning on making a banana and chocolate version of this for the girls and toddlers for a picnic lunch on Friday.

Sorry for the rubbish photos - the half light outside made lighting really poor for photos indoors and we were too hungry to wait until it got really dark just for the sake of pictures !