The Kiosks In Kings Cross Square
When I wrote this post in February 2013, I said this about the architect’s job.
Note the short fat tower to the left of the centre of the picture. This must be the top of some sort of shaft and if you look it is also in the design of the new piazza. I bet the architects are cursing it, very loudly!
Today, I took these pictures, which show two kiosks for drinks and snacks.
The architects seem to have defeated the short fat towers.
Accurately Measuring Rice
I had half a chilli con carne last night for supper last night and I needed to cook some rice. My rice method needs 65 ml. of long grain rice for each person, together with 130 ml. of water
I have a standard Pyrex measure, but I generally measure things by weight using a letter balance. It is easy to convert water from ml. to grams, by just changing the units as the specific gravity of of water is unity. So I searched the Internet to find out what is the value of the specific gravity of long grain rice. I couldn’t find anything, so in the end I measured it using my letter balance. Surprisingly the specific gravity is nearly unity.
So I then weighed 65 grams of rice on the scale, after zeroing it to account for the tumbler and then carefully added 130 grams of water.
Accurately Measuring Rice
The rice certainly tasted as good as packet rice in the microwave.
Gluten-Free Quiche At Romeo’s
This gluten-free quiche was delicious.
Gluten-Free Quiche At Romeo’s
I now seem to go most Friday’s for lunch.
An Unusual Advert In The Times
There is an advert for the Cult Cafe in Ipswich in The Times today.
What is unusual about the advert is that it appears to have been paid for by Barclays.
So has your bank paid for you to have an advert in a national newspaper.
I have written to the cafe to see if they are making any difference to the gluten-free desert that is Ipswich.
Cod, Potatoes And Onions
This was a simple recipe of Lindsey Bareham’s that I did last night.
Cod, Potatoes And Onions
It was cooked in one saucepan and although it looks a bit anaemic, it was tasty. Lindsey cooked her’s with peas and I think that would be better.
I’ll be doing it again. But with peas!
Do You Tip In Coffee Shops?
This article on the BBC web site talks about tipping in coffee shops and especially digital tipping in Starbucks in the US. Here’s the first paragraph.
Starbucks has modified its mobile phone app so that US customers can add tips for baristas to their bill. Is it normal to tip in coffee shops in the US – and could it catch on in the UK, asks Tom Geoghegan?
I usually tip if staff are pleasant and quick, often if it’s just a coffee, by throwing a twenty pence coin in the pot deliberately. I’ve only done this since I had the stroke and moved to London, so I wonder if it is my brain, saying here’s a little hand-eye co-ordination test that’s good for you! Although, I only do the action with my right hand and not my gammy left one!
In cafes, where I sit down and have a meal, I always pay by cash and leave the appropriate tip in change. I’ve found that in places I use regularly, this means that at busy times, the staff jump me up the queue and I get better tables.
Cauliflower Cheese Like My Mother Didn’t Use To Make!
I like cauliflower and as a child, my mother used to make cauliflower cheese quite often. So when I saw Lindsey Bareham’s recipe for a good cauliflower cheese, I just had to make it.
I started by cutting up a medium sized cauliflower into florets and grated about a 100 grams of cheddar cheese.
Cauliflower And Grated Cheese
I also took two sliced of Genius gluten-free bread, which after decrusting, I mixed with some grated parmesan in my Little Chopper.
Making Breadcrumbs
The cauliflower was cooked in boiling salted water and then drained and placed in one of my Le Creuset dishes.
Cooked Cauliflower
I then made a sauce by melting 25 grams of butter in a saucepan and adding 75 grams of gluten-free flour, a teaspoon of English mustard, about 100 grams of the water from the cauliflower and 200 ml. of milk. When it boiled, I simmered it for 5 mins and then stirred in the cheddar until it melted. It was then poured over the cauliflower.
Cauliflower In Cheese Sauce
Then the breadcrumb mix was added over the top, with a couple of knobs of butter.
Ready For The Oven
I then cooked it for 20 minutes in the oven at 220°C.
Cauliflower Cheese
I did make a mistake and cooked it at 240°C, so it was slightly over-cooked, but it was certainly very tasty. I’d also added slightly more mustard than recommended, but that was probably better to my taste.
It was very definitely, a good cauliflower cheese. I shall be cooking it again!
Heston Blumenthal Does Kettles
I needed to buy a new kettle, as my previous one had developed a non-opening lid. I eventually bought this one that had been branded by Heston Blumenthal.
I doubt he designed it, but it suits my purposes, as I have a low spout on my cold water tap, which means that this petite kettle is ideal for my atrociously designed kitchen.
It’s also lighter than my previous one. The only problem is that it could be a bit small, for some purposes like making pasta, where I tend to boil a large kettle of water rather than boil it in the saucepan.
The East Beach Cafe At Littlehampton
On my way to Yeovil, I had lunch at the Thomas Heatherwick-designed East Beach Cafe at Littlehampton.
It was a good gluten-free lunch of fish and chips and a glass of wine.
The cafe was very busy too and I suspect on a lovely summer’s, it might be difficult to get a table.
It was also a fair walk to and from the station and as ever the signs could have been better.
I don’t know whether Thomas Heatherwick has ever been to Felixstowe, but the ceiling detail was very like the walls of Charlie Manning’s Amusements in the town.
The Anonymous Widower 