Something that people often find difficult to achieve is a perfect soft boiled egg - now I know Delia Smith already did this in her How to Cook books, but I see no harm in including this incase you haven't read her books or just need a quick refresher. Its a perfect sunday evening teatime meal, if you have had a big lunch. Incidentally in reference to saturday's entry, I didn't get back in time to cook a hearty roast last night, but I promise that will come soon.
Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs
Bring water to the boil in a pan so that its enough to cover the eggs. Whilst the water is heating, put the kettle on so you can have a cup of tea with your egg, and put your bread in the toaster. Asparagus also goes really well dipped into a boiled egg.
When the water is boiling, lower the eggs into the water carefully, and put a timer on immediately for 4 minutes (I always use my iPhone timer, since the timer sounds like my phone ringing, so I won't miss it!). Timing is everything here: make your tea in the teapot (anyone who has tea with me knows I have to make it in a teapot - just something my mum has always done and I assure you it takes better. Also, incidentally, I really recommend Yorkshire Tea, if you haven't tried it-they even have tea suitable for more hard water areas) put the toaster on, or put your asparagus in a bowl with a little bit of water and cover with a plate and put in the microwave for 4 mins to steam it. (I got the idea to steam vegetables in the microwave from someone, and it's genius - no mess or hassle, and the vegetables retain their flavour, colour and vitamins more than boiling). Butter your toast when its ready and cut it into soldiers. When the timer goes off, take the eggs out and put them in the egg cup and cup the top off immediately. Here you can save any potential disaster: if the egg isn't quite cooked enough to your liking, put the top back on it and it will retain heat and continue to cook a little bit. If the egg is in danger of going hard boiled, taking the top off will prevent this. And there you go - a seemingly large amount of text just to make boiled eggs you say - but there were some other hints and tips in there too!
Now for a cafe review, as a promised in my last entry. New cafes are always popping up all over London, and I love any excuse to try out the coffee in particular.
I was very fortunate to spend a year living in Bologna in Italy (I'll write a whole separate entry about the city, in case you ever visit), the city which is the gastronomical capital of the country. A popular lunch time food is the 'piadina' - the only thing I could compare it to is a mexican fajita wrap that is filled with a lovely filling and heated. But the bread actually tastes very different and much better. Anyway - it was pretty tricky to find a piadina anywhere except for the Romagna region of Italy (Bologna and surrounding area), so imagine my surprise when I came across a cafe in Farringdon selling them!
Piada is an Italian cafe on St John's Street, just a stone's throw from Farringdon station. Its clientele reflect the ever present City workers, as well as the more arty and creative side of Farringdon and Clerkenwell. The coffee is pretty good - cappuccino, latte, macchiato and espresso. I asked for an iced latte one morning, and although they didn't have ice (unlike the cafe Eat opposite), they just poured cold milk into a shot of espresso and it was delicious. Another thing to try in the morning is one of their croissants, and ask them to fill it with marmellata - italian, for jam. Its delicious! Don't get there too late though, they run out of croissants. They also have lovely petite lemon cakes that complement a morning cappuccino very well indeed. I don't know what these are called, but I'll look in my Italian cakes recipe book and find out.
At lunch time, they prepare two kinds of pasta with a fresh sauce on offer - each day they use a different type of pasta (not just boring farfalle or penne, but really interesting shapes and textures), and the sauces are completely authentic Italian (they do meat and vegetarian sauces). Traditional bolognese from the region, arrabiatta, amatriciana (tomato and ham sauce) are just a quarter of the week's innovative yet traditional sauces on offer. What I love is that the sauces are cooked on a stove behind the till, and when the pasta is finished, its all gone - unlike the chain cafes where they jsut seem to bring more out from behind the scenes. Must be something to do with human nature and supply and demand - if something runs out and you can't have it, it makes you want it even more next time.
And now for the piadina: this is the Italian flatbread sandwich, and they have specialities of the day, but very common and tasty fillings are parma ham and mozzarella, or mozzarella, tomato and basil.
The cafe also does some salads each day. So whether you are on a hunt for carbs for lunch, or just a healthy salad - they have it all! They also have some nice San Pellegrino fizzy drinks - aranciata (orange) or limonata (bitter lemon). They also have iced Illy coffee in a can (I haven't had the guts to try this yet). They quality of ingredients is really high, which makes flavours delicious. Presentation is rustic chic, and all staff are many clientele are Italian - which in my opinion says it all! The staff are very friendly, and often give me a free cake to go with my lunch. Test out your Italian on them! They are really welcoming, and remembered me after a couple visits. I recommend you try this out!
There is also a great pizza al taglio place next door - I'll write more about this another time! But do pop in to get an Italian juice called ACE (its named after the fruit in it - orange, carrot and lemon - sounds strange, but I guarantee you'd like it!)
I hope you've enjoyed reading - look out next time for a salad with a dressing without garlic (I ran out), chicken cooked in lime juice, and a sweet potato and pancetta dish - complete with photos!
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