An Edible Voyage

July 2021 With all this hot weather, I find myself craving the fresh, bright, juiciness of the season's best produce, and light, refreshing meals to keep me cool of the hottest of days.  I relish opportunities to browse the farm shop, selecting whatever takes my fancy, and then combining ingredients in to colourful patterns on my plate.  Here are some of my favourites. Chicory, Dolcelatte, Clementine, Pine Nuts This is my #1.  Bitter chicory is perfectly offset with creamy Dolcelatte and sweet clementine, whilst toasted pine nuts add a satisfying crunch.  With a simple dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar and honey, this is quick to make and the flavours dance on my taste buds. Watermelon, Feta, Mint There's nothing quite like slicing through a watermelon and revealing that glorious red flesh, and biting in to cool wedges as the juice drips down your chin.  This salad takes seconds to prepare.  Toss a handful of cubed feta and a sprinkling of torn mint...

July 2021 The simple sandwich. Bread, filling, bread.  But with all the combinations of fillings and types of bread, ranging in size from a quick snack to a monstrous meal, the sandwich is anything but simple. I've recently discovered a couple of new fillings which I've fallen in love with and that have become my go to. Bloody Mary Prawns Combine a classic prawn cocktail sandwich with a Bloody Mary, and you're on to a sure winner.  Simply mix cooked prawns with some tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, a few drops of tabasco, a drizzle of Worcestershire sauce, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt (celery salt would be perfect if you have it to hand) and a kick of vodka. Pile between slices of chunky granary bread or chewy sourdough topped with crisp lettuce for a summery, fun, lunchtime treat. Japanese Inspired Egg Sandwich Mash hard boiled eggs with a tablespoon of sesame seeds, Kewpie mayonnaise and a teaspoon of the miso of your choice - my current favourite is brown rice miso for...

July 2021 Looking for a casual restaurant for a laid back lunch with guaranteed flavour, with my mother during a London day trip, I came across Brawn and it seemed to tick all the boxes.  With the smallest of signs, it's unassumingly perched on Bethnal Green's quirky Columbia Road amongst the rows of Victorian shops, and has the high vibe, low pretentiousness of a local hang out. The focus is on seasonal produce sourced through suppliers within the local community, and every dish is vibrant and bursting with flavour.  The dessert really stood out for me - honey parfait with Grappa roasted apricot and pistachios, it was everything I want from a dessert - a little sweet creaminess, lively fruit, a bit of crunch, and a little grappa kick. This is the place for a leisurely catch-up with some good mates. Find Brawn on Columbia Road, opposite Ravenscroft Park. 

June 2021 One of the pubs at the top of my list for visiting post lockdown was The White Horse in King's Sutton.  I first went the day I went to look around the house I ended up buying in a nearby village, and the horsebox cafe they had going over lockdown reminded me what a great place it is.   Set on the green of a quintessential village, just over the Oxfordshire border in West Northamptonshire, it draws you in with its inviting village pub looks.  And once inside, it gets better and better.  A traditional bar, cosy wood panelling and squishy arm chairs in front of log fires mean you'll never want to leave.  The food is exceptional.  Kicking off with home baked loaves, warm from the oven and served with home made butter, the small but perfectly formed menu showcases the best of the seasons.  With an emphasis on reducing food miles and supporting local producers, dishes are as inventive as they are flavoursome.  Pies seem to be a particular...

June 2021 Tap Social is my current favourite brewery, with the Time Better Spent IPA my tipple of choice, and Cell Count pale ale a close second.  Their ethos is to provide employment opportunities for those who have been through the criminal justice system, so you can sip on your beer in the knowledge that you're doing some good for society.  Having been to their brewery in Botley a couple of times - a great space to meet friends and sample a variety of different beers, with rotating food trucks providing the eats, I was excited to hear that they had taken over the The White House pub on Abingdon Road.  Serving innovative sharing plates in a convivial atmosphere, think moorish soda bread made with their own stout, and playful grilled peach with frozen feta and black olive, there's an enormous garden for when the sun is out, and no shortage of bike racks. Their own beer is on draft, as well as rotating guest beers.  I would more than happily spend a lazy afternoon si...

May 2021 Walking through the residential streets of Cardiff's Roath, spotting the haunts of my student days, the last thing I expected to come across was an old garage, mid-terrace, housing a sourdough bakery.  Despite the small shop front, the bakery has a cavernous interior, plenty of space for all manner of sourdough loaves, including ones made with quinoa, and yesterday's bread going cheap.   In the sweet treats line up, 6 flavours of doughnut sit alongside choc chip pretzel cookies, and their signature Queens - no less than 27 layers of melt in the mouth, flaky pastry, similar to a round, sugar-dusted croissant, filled with the flavour of the month which changes with the seasons.  Being the last day of the month, I just managed to get my hands on May's offering - the PBJ Queen.  The zingiest raspberry jam marbled with peanut butter diplomat cream - a genius invention I have to say, oozing with every bite from the soft, sugary Queen.  This really was th...

June 2021 Rarely do I go anywhere without my bike.  People say I'm mad but I relish the flexibility to get off the beaten track (literally!), the extra time to savour the views as I plod my way up a hill or fly along country lanes, the opportunity to be at one with my surroundings.  If I didn't, I never would have come across Broughgammon Farm - a teeny tiny hedgerow sign spotted as I battled a blustery wind, committed to memory for further investigation. Having established the opening days (limited to Friday - Sunday at the time of writing), I decided to pop in on my way back to Belfast, to soften the blow of having to leave my beautiful campsite (which I'd had all to myself for the week). Some old-fashioned sign-following (Google Maps was a bit off) took me down a long and windy track, on and on it went, increasing the anticipation, but also having me wondering if I'd taken a wrong turn.  But a wrong turn I had not taken and soon I popped out in the farm.  The farm...