Revision Hibernation Week

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After 10 GCSEs, 1 AS level, 3 A levels, two degrees and five years as a doctor, you would think that my time sitting exams would be over...you would be wrong!

Yesterday I sat one of my MRCPsych exams (MRCPsych stands for Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists). Membership exams are a necessity for every junior doctor climbing the career ladder- you can't be a specialist without them. They are also expensive (£400 each attempt) and notoriously difficult, and many doctors believe that they aren't representative of a doctor's abilities as a clinician, merely how good they are at exams.

Regardless of that- no membership exam= no ladder climbing. Having struggled to focus on revision for previous exams because of my tendency to get easily distracted, I decided that I needed to pull out all the stops- get out of the city, turn off the phone and hole up somewhere quiet (I love Leeds, but I would rarely describe it as 'quiet') for a week, and get down to some serious studying and exam question practice.

To that end I found a little cottage in the middle of Nowhere, South Somerset, with internet access but no phone signal, and best of all, a hot tub for the end-of-the-day-relaxation! On went the work email Out of Office Assistant and off went the bane-of-my-life-pager (after it went off halfway down the M5 somewhere near Cribbs Causeway). A week's worth of groceries were ordered from the nearest supermarket- a Waitrose in the little town of Wellington- to complement my 'self-catering pack' (a small box of tricks I keep especially for self-catering trips, which includes good coffee, a small cafetiere, Yorkshire and chamomile tea, herbs, spices, sugar, flour, pasta, rice, a decent chef's knife, cleaning wipes, loo roll and washing-up liquid) and a very small (well, small for me) holdall of mainly pyjamas and hoodies was packed.

After arriving on Saturday 3rd and being greeted by the cottage owner, I didn't see another person for 6 days until my return to Leeds, and apart from a little Tweeting, a blog update and a couple of personal emails, didn't communicate with anyone either. I worked for 12 hours each day, chilled out for 5 (including cooking, naturally!) and slept for seven- virtually unheard of for insomniac me.

Was it a good idea? Well, I certainly felt more prepared for the exam, and less anxious during it. As to whether I've passed the wretched thing- only time and the Royal College of Psychiatrists will tell.


Revision Hibernation- culinary highlights


I always need a motivator when revising, especially now that I've lost the discipline of studying full-time, and what better way to motivate oneself than by yummy food?! Studying for 12 hours per day is no excuse to revert to ready meals (actually, while we're on the subject, there's almost no excuse for reverting to ready meals!). Of course, it's also not really the time to be trying out experimental, multi-staged, complicated recipes either. So it was old favourites all the way for Revision Hibernation Week! Here's a little rundown!

• Chilli con carne- one day with rice, the next day as nachos with tortilla chips and melted cheese
• Lamb steaks with redcurrant and rosemary sauce, mash, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding
• Pancakes (made from leftover Yorkshire pudding batter), banana, caramel ice-cream and cinnamon syrup
• Moroccan-spiced stir-fried lamb, pitta breads, green salad, yoghurt and mint dressing
• Fresh pasta with tomato, basil and marscapone sauce, roasted tomatoes, peppers and garlic croutons (Meat Free Mondays still apply to Revision Hibernation Week)
• Chicken and bacon club sandwich with oven-baked sweet potato chips and salad
• Cheese and chive souffle omelette made with eggs from the cottage owner's hens, with sourdough toast, bacon and roasted mushrooms
• Maltesers, salted pretzels, Ritz crackers, blue corn tortilla chips, clementines and Somerset apples

If you'd like any recipes, email me :-)

Dinner at the Manor- A Leeds Supper Club

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Over the past year or so I've become a rather big fan of the underground restaurant/supper club movement. The premise is simple- a host cooks a delicious meal and opens up their home to hungry guests in exchange for a monetary donation. Some hosts are up and coming professional chefs who wish to showcase their skills but who don't have the funds or backing to set up their own restaurant yet. Others are talented amateur and home cooks, who wish to share their ideas about what constitutes good food. The venue is kept secret until you have a place confirmed, so the poor cook doesn't get people turning up randomly! I've met some amazingly talented chefs, socialised with food lovers from all walks of life and eaten some simply fabulous food.

Last night I was privileged enough to attend Dinner at the Manor. This is a joint venture between Dan and Susie, both well known for their skills. I've known Susie for quite a while through Clandestine Cake Club, and who is well known for her delightful blog StickyPinny and her beautiful cupcakes, which have won Iron Cupcake Leeds on several occasions! It was my first time meeting Dan, who was a delightful host and warmly welcomed us into his beautifully decorated Victorian home.

We were welcomed with mulled wine and canapes in the library- sausage rolls made with homemade flaky pastry, palmiers with anchovy or pancetta and mozzarella balls with tomatoes and pesto. These were so delicious that I forgot to take some photos! I was delighted to bump into a few people I knew from other supper club events and Cake Club. We were joined by a broadcast journalism student who was doing a piece on the rise of supper clubs- I hope she didn't mind me talking with my mouth full of buttery pastry and succulent sausage! So good!

After being invited downstairs to the luxurious dining room we were welcomed with an amuse bouche of Delia Smith's cream of broccoli soup with blue cheese. It was light and flavourful, with just a hint of the blue cheese at the end. Once again I forgot the photos, but remembered after this!

Dan then came out to introduce the wines they'd selected to match our starters. Both wines were local whites from Leventhorpe Winery based in Woodlesford, to the south of the city. For the peppers stuffed with fennel, they chose the Sevyal Blanc, and for the pheasant terrine with cheese, onion and sage bread, they chose the Madeleine Angelvine.

I went for the pheasant terrine, and had the Madeleine Angelvine to accompany it.

The pheasant terrine was chock full of gamey meat, that was tender and melting at the same time. The accompanying spicy pear chutney cut through the richness perfectly. The Madeleine Angelvine wine was very light on the palate, with a hint of citrus and passion fruit. I could quite easily have drunk the whole glass in one go, but as I was driving, I had a few sips before one of my dining companions gladly finished the glass for me.

We had quite a long gap between the starter and main course, which was a good thing given how much more food was to come! There was no hesitation in the conversation around the dining table as we swapped supper club stories before talking about our travel experiences.

Dan soon announced the main course, and the accompanying wine- a young French Mauregard Bordeaux that came highly recommended by the Observer Food Monthly, from Marks and Spencer. It, too, turned out to be highly drinkable, and our hosts kindly provided a decanter so we could top up, although once again, I could only have a few sips!

The main course was venison cooked in port, stout and pickled walnuts, served with celeriac and potato puree, Brussels sprouts cooked in Riesling with bacon and parmesan baked parsnips.

 The venison was meltingly tender and the sauce was so dark, sweet and rich I had to stop myself from licking the plate. The celeriac and potato puree was so creamy, and the sprouts (which I don't normally like that much) were perfectly cooked. The parmesan on the parsnips wasn't especially strong but made them crispy.

We had another small break , complete with lychee and ginger sorbet as a palate cleanser, before dessert was brought out.

Dessert was a huge communal bowl of caramelised orange trifle served with lovely crisp-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside meringues, which Dan had made to use up the egg whites after making a homemade custard for the trifle. The oranges cut through the sumptuous cream, custard and sponge, and the nuts and chocolate on the top provided a contrast of textures.This dessert was served with a bonus glass of Asda Finest fizz.

A couple of my dining companions were lactose intolerant, so were treated to a beautiful champagne jelly instead of the trifle. I was kindly allowed to try it too- it sparkled and fizzed on my palate, was light but still substantial.

 Our final course was tea or coffee served with some of Susie's stunning cupcakes- maple and pecan, in honour of Delia who made the combination popular back in the day.

 At the end of the meal, Dan and Susie came out to join us, and we all moved around the larger of the two communal tables to chat to some of the other guests. Dan and Susie are clearly passionate about their venture and they are so talented. As we rolled out of the stunning house, we all agreed that we would definitely return again soon!

I am writing this from a little cottage in deepest, darkest Somerset- on a getaway to prepare for my impending  doom/exam next week, without the distractions that my vibrant life in Leeds throws at me. Naturally revision will be interspersed with some culinary delights, and no doubt I'll be sharing some of these with you soon.

xxx

Dinner at the Manor

Elvis Cupcakes

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I'm one of those people who hates to go to a friend's house without a little thank you gift. Other people who feel similarly often give wine, chocolates or flowers- I give baked goods.

A quick look at my cupboards and fruit bowl and I realised that I had an abundance of overripe bananas and a rare treat- peanut butter. A little spark of useless knowledge flickered at the back of my mind and I remembered reading somewhere that Elvis Presley loved fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I'm a big fan of peanut butter and banana bagels for breakfast so could definitely vouch for the yumminess of the flavour combination!

So in honour of Elvis Presley, I decided to try a banana cupcake topped with a peanut butter and brown sugar icing, to give to some of my dear friends, who I was visiting this weekend in Gateshead and York.

I have to say that I was quite pleased with the result, as were my friends. The cake was full of banana goodness. The icing was thick, creamy and enhanced by the slight crunch of the peanut bits from the peanut butter. It piped beautifully and held its shape well despite sitting in a car on the A1 for a few hours!

Ingredients (Makes 9 large iced cupcakes, 12-15 small)
3 overripe bananas, mashed
250g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
100g dark muscavado sugar
4 eggs, large
100g softened butter
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:
150g softened butter
100g dark brown muscavado sugar
250g icing sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1tbs maple syrup
2 heaped tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp milk

To finish:
1tbsp cocoa powder

Method:
For the cake: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (175 if you have a hot/fan oven) Beat the butter and sugars together and combine the eggs in one by one. Add the vanilla extract. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in the bananas. If the mixture is too thick add a couple of drops of milk. Spoon into cupcake cases held in tins, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a cooling rack until room temperature.

For the icing: Beat the butter and incorporate the sugars, vanilla extract, maple syrup, peanut butter and mixed spice until  If too thick, add the milk. You can use smooth peanut butter if you prefer not to have the crunchy texture of the nuts.

Place the icing in a piping bag fitted with a large round tipped nozzle. Pipe the icing in a spiral onto each cold cupcake and dust with cocoa.

Delicious with Yorkshire Tea, although I think Elvis might have washed it down with something a little stronger!

A light night out at The Light

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Oh, it's been one very busy week. Very unwell patients, case reports, meeting after meeting with VIMPs (Very Important Management People), exam revision, hundreds of 'urgent' emails, on call shifts...I was so ready for Friday even by Tuesday.

One of my oldest friends suggested a night out, having had a frazzled week as well, and we decided on dinner and a movie at The Light in central Leeds. Normally when we go out, some effort is involved- we get a little dressed up, we pick a nice restaurant (usually not a chain one) etc. However I didn't have enough time to get home to change between my last appointment of the day and come back to meet my friend, so I ended up at The Light an hour early, with no make-up on and still wearing day clothes.

The obligatory potter round the handful of shops took less than a quarter of an hour so I decided to just sit in La Bottega Milanese to wait with a drink, and read the news on my beloved iPhone.

La Bottega Milanese is run by Italian, Alex and is a late night espresso bar. They do the best coffees and a selection of delicious Italian food, sandwiches, cakes and pastries. However when I got there yesterday my eye was immediately drawn to the small list of cocktails that Alex has started to serve.

Amongst them was a Spritz- a mixture of Aperol (an Italian bitter and sweet orange aperitif), Prosecco, soda and a piece of fresh orange. Spritz cocktails are hugely popular in Italy, and I remember having them for the first time in the student bars of Venice's Dorsoduro district when I was at medical school. I searched high and low for Aperol on my return but no such luck, until now.

Spritz has a strong bitter orange taste, with a hit of sweet, with a dry component added by the Prosecco. For anyone with a heavy sweet tooth, it may not be to their taste, but I absolutely adored it- just as I remembered from Venice. When my friend arrived I persuaded her to try it too, and she completely agreed!

We weren't the only ones delighted by the bright orange cocktail. La Bottega Milanese was almost full with the early evening crowds, and at least half the tables were drinking Spritz. One of Alex's helpful barista/mixologists told me that they had had to run out to the supermarket for extra supplies because it had been so popular! Alex has also started to do a selection of complimentary savoury nibbles for those purchasing alcohol, from olives to pesto croutons and tomato bruschetta, which were greatly appreciated as they plugged the pre-dinner, pre-cinema peckishness!

After watching 'My Week With Marilyn,' which also comes highly recommended (Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe was amazing) we agreed that we didn't really want to have to wait for a table, or even to have a really big meal in courses.

We ended up at Barburrito- a Mexican restaurant, that is, essentially very good fast food. Barburrito is a small chain with a few restaurants in and around Manchester as well as the branch just outside The Light on The Headrow.

It's quite a simple set up- choose your dish (Burrito, burrito bowl, tacos or nachos), choose your filling (a selection of meats or flash-fried vegetables) which also includes lime rice and refried beans, choose your salsa, choose extras (guacamole, sour cream etc) and then pay. It took five minutes and was perfect for our casual night out, and cheap to boot- it cost less than £6 each for our burritos.

I went for the slow-cooked pork with spicy beans, pico de gallo salsa, sour cream and extra roasted mushrooms, and we also had some tortilla chips with guacamole. Compared to the usual fast food options available in the city centre, it was a refreshing change, and the staff were really lovely.

We both agreed that the relaxed, casual night out was the perfect gentle start to the weekend that we both needed. Let's hope the rest of the weekend follows in the same vein!

The Light, Leeds
La Bottega Milanese
Barburrito

November Clandestine Cake Club- Hungry Caterpillar Cake

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I've been a bit of a regular at Clandestine Cake Club in Leeds over the past several months, and watched in awe as CCC's founder, Lynn, has taken it from a little group of cake-lovers in Leeds to a national phenomenon, a network of bakers across the country. Each event books up really quickly and I only managed to get a place by the skin of my teeth this time! Tonight's event in my neighbourhood of Chapel Allerton was organised by Kathryn in aid of Cancer Research UK, and it was a beautiful event in a fantastic venue, the Hummingbird Bar and Kitchen.

I treat each event as a new challenge- a way of pushing my skills a little bit further. It's not a competition and it doesn't matter if the cake's a little (or big) bit of a mess. The theme tonight was 'Nostalgia' and I knew immediately what cake I wanted to make: A Hungry Caterpillar Cake.

I loved the book, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' when I was a little girl, and I remembered my mother making a cake based on it at some point in my childhood. So when the theme was announced, I rang my mother excitedly to ask for the recipe. Instead I got a nervous laugh, a confession that she had paid a lady to make it for me and an admission that the closest she'd ever come to baking was making chocolate rice crispy cakes.

With no hand-me-down recipe to go on, I decided to make my own, based on what I did remember- a chocolate buttercream swiss roll covered with super-sweet coloured stripey icing. However, when both my food processor and my electric hand mixer decided to die (which is why I need to invest in a KitchenAid asap!), I had to tweak things so that I could make it all by hand.

The first step was to make a basic, simple, chocolate sponge that I could cut into a caterpillar shape, so I used an oblong dish and greased it very well (apologies in advance for my somewhat below-par photographic skills):

I left it to cool for 24 hours- I find it so much easier to ice cakes when they've been left for a day.

I cut the cake into two oblong halves and used one to form the body of the caterpillar, and the other to cut shapes from. I also made a chocolate buttercream and used this to fill and coat the cake.

I then rolled out some coloured sugarpaste icing (I normally mix up my own colours but was rapidly running out of time today so used shop-bought ready-to-roll coloured icing) in green and blue, and cut them into strips. I then cut away the excess.

To make the face, I cut a circle of sponge from the spare oblong, and placed a disc of yellow icing on the front to make the face. I then covered the sides and back of the circle in red.

I used two bamboo skewers to secure the head to the body. I mixed the remaining icing together with a marble effect and rolled it into six long ribbons to form a tail. I cut out white and blue circles to make eyes, and made a mouth from some of the cut-away red icing. I then placed the cake on a baking tray covered with white sugarpaste, painted with a green paint made of food colouring, icing sugar and a couple of drops of water. I then washed off the excess icing sugar with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Finally I used white chocolate chips as little caterpillar feet (you can't really see them in the photo). I totally forgot to take any photos whilst doing this so the next picture is the finished cake.

Here's my cake with some of the others at the event tonight.

My absolute favourite cake of the night was the Sour Cream Coffee Cake (in centre of photo above), made by Lisa (@TheYummyYank). This is a cake to go with coffee, and doesn't actually contain it. What it did contain was plenty of cinnamon and pecan deliciousness!

Next month will be a year since Clandestine Cake Club was founded, and what a year it's been! I hope it will be around for many more years to come because it's such a great way to meet cake people, who are of course the best people!

http://www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk

Quiche Alsacienne

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Whenever I'm on call from home, I find myself in a strange sort of limbo. I have to be able to get to any of the four community hospitals I cover within 30 minutes, and sometimes this means I spend the entire thirteen hour shift driving all over the city. On other days however, I can be sat waiting hours for a call. Today seemed to one of those days, so rather than wasting the day watching TV, checking the phone or pager every five minutes, I decided to see whether I could manage to make a decent shortcrust pastry tart/quiche and use a few leftover ingredients knocking around the fridge at the same time. I managed to make the pastry and the filling before getting called for some advice, and managed to finish baking it before going out to see a patient in the afternoon.

A Quiche Alsacienne is similar to a Quiche Lorraine, but includes onion whilst the former does not.

Ingredients:


250g plain flour
60g white vegetable shortening, cut into cubes, straight from the fridge
60g unsalted butter, cut into cubes, straight from the fridge
60-70ml ice cold water
pinch salt
a few turns of the pepper mill

5 large eggs
200ml milk (I used semi skimmed)
125g grated gruyere cheese
1 onion, finely chopped
5 rashers (around 150g) smoked bacon, finely chopped
2 tbsp cream cheese
1/4 tsp dried sage
black pepper to taste

Method:


1. First make the pastry: Place the flour, salt, pepper and fats in a bowl. Rub the fat into flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add most of the ice cold water and combine into a soft dough. If it is too dry add a little more water. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
2. Fry the bacon in a pan (i didn't use any oil because of the high fat content of the bacon), and after a minute add the onion. Fry together for a couple of minutes until the onions and bacon are cooked through. Leave to cool.
3. Remove the pastry from fridge. Flour the work surface, rolling pin and both sides of the pastry disc.
4. Roll the pastry out to around 2mm thickness until it is a bit wider than the tart tin (I used a rectangular loose-bottomed tin size 12" x 8"). Drape the pastry over the rolling pin and use it to pick up the pastry to place over the tin. Push the pastry into the sides and corners of the tin, then roll the pin over the top of the tin to trim off the excess.
5. Place a large piece of greaseproof paper/baking parchment over the pastry, and on top of this, place ceramic baking beads, spread into an even layer. Place the tin in the fridge and rest for 20-30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Place a baking tray inside the oven.
7. Place the tin on the baking tray in the oven and blind bake for 15 minutes.
8. Make the egg mixture. Mix the eggs, milk, cream cheese, gruyere, a few turns of the pepper mill and the sage in a mixing jug. I didn't add any extra salt because the bacon is salty.
9. After 15 minutes, remove the ceramic beads and the greaseproof paper. Bake uncovered for 5-7 minutes.
10. After this time, place the bacon and onion mix in the tart case and pour over the egg mixture. I did this at the oven because I can't be trusted to carry a full tart case without spilling it!
11. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and set.
12. Leave to cool on a cooling rack for a couple of minutes, then remove the tart tin. Both the sides and the base of the tin need to be removed otherwise the bottom of the tart will soak up the steam from the custard and become soggy. Leave to cool on the rack until ready to serve.

The photo was taken just after I had taken the tin off, but it was still too hot to remove the base! I did later, and leaving it on the cooling rack left the base lovely and crisp.

Not a bad way to spend an on call shift, all in all!

The first post

Just a little note to say...Welcome to my new blog, Munchymedic!

I will be posting now and then about my vocation (medicine) and my passion (fabulous food), and sometimes the two together.

Thanks for reading!

xxx