Haggerston Espresso Room
This cafe is close to my new doctors.
The coffee was good, but the gluten-free polenta cake was brilliant.
Is This The Best Microwaveable Gluten-Free Sunday Lunch?
I wasn’t feeling too well this morning, as I probably got too hot in the sun at the Paralympics yesterday. It seemed to make my hand and arm go rather cold. So I picked up one of Marks & Spencer, roast pork loin with apple & cider sauce dinners from their Fuller Longer range, as I didn’t want the hassle of cooking properly.
Roast Pork Loin With Apple & Cider Sauce
It really is rather a nice meal for something that you just put in a microwave. I wonder whether when John Randall and Harry Boot, invented the cavity magnetron in 1940 at the University of Birmingham, ever visualised, nearly everybody having one in their homes.
The Clock At Waterloo Has Got More Comfortable
The balcony at Waterloo station is now more of less complete and there are now some wonderful places to meet people high up in the station. That’s if you have anybody to meet!
I was in Carluccios, which as you can see from the photo, has quite a few seats looking down on the concourse.
in 1962, the BBC showed an episode of Comedy Playhouse, called Sealed With A Loving Kiss. Wikipedia describes the comedy thus.
Arnold, played by Ronald Fraser, and Freda, played by Avril Elgar, have been having a relationship by correspondence and when they meet for the first time they discover neither has been totally truthful.
They meet for the first time under the clock at Waterloo. Or it could have been Victoria! Now they would meet in one of the cafes upstairs. Although today, there seemed to be large numbers of people underneath the clock. Including one proper gentleman with flowers.
The First English Beans Of The Summer
Today I bought the first English beans of the summer. From Suffolk of course! I used them to cook fish with beans and peas.
I used Carluccio’s lemon olive oil again and it gives a subtle lemon flavour to the fish.
Look Mum No Hands
This must be the only cycling cafe in London.
The gluten-free cake was nice too. Even if the weather outside was appalling.
The cafe was very busy. It had a buzz about it too. Everybody was watching the cycling in Spain on a big screen.
Cooking Gluten-Free Pasta For One
I haven’t cooked any pasta since I moved here nearly two years ago. But after Saturday’s Times published a list of pasta dishes saying they were the only ones you’d ever need, I thought I had better. Getting the amount of pasta correct has always been a problem and today, I decided that I had better do it by volume. So i carefully weighed out the 100 grams I need for myself of Dove’s Farm gluten-free penne.
100 Grams of Dove’s Farm Gluten-Free Penne
I reckoned it would just fit into a standard John Lewis tumbler and the picture shows I was right. So the dial shows 98, but I won’t argue about 2 grams. As you can see, I find a letter balance much better for small quantities than a proper set of scales, especially if you can adjust them for the weight of the container.
I then put the pasta into boiling water with a bit of salt for 6-8 minutes.
If I have time, I do taste it, but generally a measured cooking time works.
The sauce I used tonight was pea, mushroom and ham. It required.
- 150 g of shelled peas (fresh or frozen) – I used one of those little packets.
- 30 g of butter
- 150 g white mushrooms, sliced
- 200 g ham, chopped
- 250 ml double cream
- 100 g grated parmesan
Firstly, whilst the peas were cooking, I sliced the mushrooms
150 g of Sliced Mushrooms
And chopped the ham.
200 g of Chopped Ham
after draining the peas, I melted the butter in a pan and then added the peas and the mushrooms, giving it a good stir.
After five minutes, I added the chopped ham and stirred it for a few minutes before I poured in the cream. I then added some salt and kept it warm.
Meanwhile, I started the pasta off and when it was cooked, I turned it into a serving dish. I added the grated parmesan and stirred it rapidly.
Finally I added the sauce and mixed it all well.
Gluten Free Pea, Mushroom and Ham Pasta
It was rather nice, even if I say it myself. I have a feeling too that the peas compliment the texture of the pasta.
I shall be trying some of the other recipes from last Saturday’s Times.
A New Take On An Old Favourite
I cook fish with beans and peas quite regularly, using Lindsey Bareham’s recipe. Tonight I gave it a new twist to make it easier. I first assembled and prepared all the ingredients.
Ingredients
Note that instead of using a lemon, which I often forget, I’m using Carluccio’s olive oil with lemon. A small pack of beans are trimmed and halved, the fish is laid flat in a dish and enough peas to fill a mug are taken from the freezer.
The fish is then sprayed with a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil and then put in an oven at 200 °C for 10-12 minutes. The beans are put in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then the peas are added. It’s probably better to taste them to get them right, but I’ve done this so many times, I just use my eyes. In fact, when I need green vegetables I cook a few this way.
You then serve the fish on a bed of the vegetables.
Fish With Beans and Peas
It tasted very good with Carluccio’s oil.
The great thing about this recipe, is that all you need to buy is the fish and the beans, if like me you keep the peas in the freezer.
I should say that I’ve served it for a lady a couple of times and they’ve been impressed. One even did the washing up!
But even the washing up is minimal with this dish.
The Price Of Wheat
The BBC is reporting that the price of wheat is going up, due to the bad weather.
Do I care?
Not really! As wheat and its dreaded gluten are a poison to me.
Have I Got Raynaud’s Phenomenon?
For the last few months my left hand and foot have been permanently cold and searching for this on reputable health sites leads me to Raynaud’s Phenomenon.
It is something that is linked to various auto-immune diseases like coeliac disease. Many sites say it is rather common and it is not the first time in my life, that I’ve suffered from cold in my left hand. About twenty years ago, whilst under severe financial stress, I suffered from it and went to see the doctor. It got better when the stress was removed by the sale of a company for a large amount of money.
Now, over the last few years, I have been under extreme stress and lately there has been a financial worry, as to whether my house will sell. It now has and I am now reasonably financially secure.
So let’s hope that is the end of it.
An Excursion South Of The Sewer
I ventured well past the big sewer this morning, travelling underneath it on the Overground, through the Thames Tunnel to New Cross Gate station. The other side though, was far from dry.
Rain and Few Bus Shelters South of the Sewer
You can tell too, it’s South London, as the bus stops don’t generally have shelters. It also always rains, when I go there.
My destination was the cafe called With Jam and Bread.
With Jam and Bread in Lee Green
It was good and the gluten-free orange, chocolate and almond cake, I had with my coffee was excellent.
From my point of view, the cafe has another advatange. It has its own bus stop both ways, so is easy to get to.
The Anonymous Widower 