As a rule I hate baking.
This wasn't always the case. As a kid I regularly baked cakes and cookies... they were pretty good too. But one day hit a brick wall; I'd had enough.
I remember the day quite clearly. I was making my legendary oat and syrup cookies. I'd already melted the butter and the sugar and I was just stirring in my oats, when I decided that I'd had enough. I don't really know why, but I do know that I didn't bake again until many years later.
When I did pick baking up again - it was part of a redundancy avoidance plan that didn't work - I found myself making lots of chocolate fudge and lemon drizzle cakes. They were pretty good, but once again I hit that brick wall and got bored.
There are many reasons for this. For a start I'm not even that bothered about cake and I'd much rather be cooking something savoury. And this isn't just because I prefer to eat savoury foods, it's because savoury foods are just so much more forgiving when it comes to cooking.
Ingredients and cooking methods are generally pretty flexible and a savoury dish can easily fit around the contents of your cupboards. And if you haven't quite got enough of one or two of the required ingredients, it generally doesn't matter. It's easy to experiment too as it's quite hard to push a curry or a casserole to the point of no return!
I just can't imagine doing this with a cake. After all if I was to start messing about with the egg, flour and sugar ratios I'd have a disaster on my hands, yes? And I daren't even dream of substituting any of those ingredients for anything else - hell I wouldn't even deviate from using the specific sugar given in a cake recipe!
So, why have I bothered to bake again? Wouldn't my time be better spent on, oh I don't know, cleaning the bathroom? Maybe. But I have plans to move house and that means that I need to declutter to show off my flat as best as I can. And I'm assuming that most people looking for a city centre flat won't be overly impressed with the sight of my packed to bursting cupboards so I'm on a mission to make use of the 15 different types of sugars we have accumulated over the years... along with the 10 different flours.
Also I had found a few packets of chocolate chips and some leftover porridge oats which lead me to the decision to make cookies rather than bake a cake. And, I don't know about you, but I think cookies are a lot easier than cake.
I hit on this recipe through Google and confident that I could play around with the ingredients a little, I used granulated sugar instead of caster (although I did discover that I could turn my granulated into caster by blitzing it in the coffee grinder - but I couldn't be bothered), a few less oats and a few more chocolate chips, skipped the raisins (they were a good 18 months past their best before date, and looked it) and used some (didn't bother weighing) chopped pistachios instead of pecans coz that's what I had.
The recipe was really easy and I produced a shed load of cookies (enough to keep the husband happy anyway). The substituted ingredients seemed to work fine and, although I think the raisins would have added a good chewy texture, I don't think they suffered from the loss.
So... tell me... do you like baking? Do you experiment? Any tips? In the meantime, I might stick to cookies.
It's no secret that The Great Gatsby is my favourite bar in Sheffield. Quite simply, it has everything I look for in a bar and it's on my doorstep (well technically it's a 50 second walk from said doorstep, but that's close enough for me).
Of course there's more to the Gatsby than its location. The knowledgeable bar staff are always happy to mix up my favourite cocktails... or, if I'm lucky, they'll be in the mood to experiment and they'll knock me up something a bit off piste.
The food is another reason why I love the Gatsby so much. From starting out with wraps and salads, the team have had a go at a few menus. There have been thin and crispy pizzas, meat and cheese platters, pies and some rather amazing burgers. It's all been good (especially those burgers), but they surpassed themselves with the launch of Shy Boy Cantina last year. And keen to keep us all on our toes, they've already revised their offering. We went to check out their new menu last night.
It's kinda Tex-Mex along with a few other cuisines thrown in. So dishes include the Mexican tacos with Texan pulled pork topped off with the Korean kimchi (pickled cabbage) and sriracha sauce, a Mexican club sandwich and an apple and manchego salad with distinct Thai flavours.
And although such a menu could easily end up being a mish mash of conflicting cuisines, this one works as there's one simple and consistent running through - fresh and strong flavours. There's horseradish, chorizo, truffle oil and that sriracha sauce on the menu and it seems that the Gatsby has pulled together some of the best flavours from across the world and made them work in harmony.
Resisting the temptation of the chilli cheese fries (which, quite simply, are breathtakingly good!) we tried a range of dishes (for the purpose of the blog, of course) kicking off with avocado fries (£4) which are slices of avocado coated in panko breadcrumbs, deep fried and served with chilli, lime and Parmesan. They sound impossible, look delicious and are strangely moreish.
Apple and manchego salad wasn't quite what I was expecting - it was better. This ample serving of salad made up of sliced apple, chunks of cucumber and red onion was dressed with gratings of cheese, crushed peanuts, sesame seeds and coriander giving a real Thai feel to the dish. It was fresh and tasty and something that we'll definitely be ordering again especially when we feel that we need a bit of a health kick!
Pulled pork tacos (£5 for two) were good - the meat was tender and the sour flavours of the kimchi balanced the dish. I did think that the sriracha sauce could have packed a little more of a punch, but I also wonder if my mild hangover was playing with my taste buds here. Spicy cauliflower tacos (£5 for two) were another fresh and healthy addition to our meal and the avocado and mango worked nicely with the roasted cauliflower.
Finally we shared a serving of jalapeño cheese bombers (£3.50) - balls of cheese and chillies breaded and deep fried - and I think that these were the stars of our meal. You just can't beat the cheese and chilli pairing!
Once again, the Gatsby has impressed and I'm sure that this menu will go down very well. I, for one, want to return for the Shy Boy Mexican Club and Chilli Beef sandwiches... and they'll always be a place in my heart for the chilli cheese fries.
