Edinburgh Eats

I know that there is more to Edinburgh than the deep-fried Mars Bars, but it's one of the things I'm wanting to most try when we finally make our way from France to Scotland...by train!

After about a seven hour train journey that wasn't as picturesque as we had hoped (Eurostar to London and then "normal" train to Edinburgh) we arrive just in time for dinner - good timing!  We head straight to the restaurant where my niece's boyfriend works (called Earthy, the restaurant that is, not the boyfriend) and are welcomed to Scotland in style. Nice!

We get to try a lot of modern Scottish food on this part of the trip - which is pretty much just like Modern Australian food in style + presentation but uses a host of wonderfully fresh and seasonal Scottish ingredients. Seafood features heavily on a lot of menus as does steak, berries and fresh veggies.

Earthy has a lovely little grocery store attached to the restaurant that's full of lovely artisan Scottish produce.

 

I decide to stock up on a few goodies for snacks back at our flat. I'd been wanting to try Oatcakes after reading about them on someone else's blog...but I'm told by the Scottish BF that they are pretty bland (yes, they are) but are the perfect vehicle for cheese + chutney (yes, they are).

 

On our first morning in our Edinburgh flat we head around the corner to a cafe where The Boy orders "the full Scottish" - a plate filled with Scottish delights such as Haggis, Black Pudding and a Potato Scone. The "tatty scone" is flat and triangular shape and not scone-like at all. It tastes a bit like a potato scallop but much less greasy. It's good. I was dreading trying Haggis as I thought it would be gross (I mean, what could possible be tasty about innards wrapped in a stomach lining - blergh) but I'm pleased to report it tasted pretty good, due mainly to the fragrant mix of spices used.

I like my breakfasts without meat so ordered a vegetarian version of The Boys breakfast that came with Vegetarian Haggis which surprisingly not not as good as "real" Haggis as I think it's the meaty bits that help soften the texture of all those oats in the mix.

Ah, the moment we've ALL been waiting for. Behold the wonders of the deep-fried Mars Bar. People I've shown these photos too have screwed their faces up in horror. Honestly both the deep-fried Mars Bar and the deep-fried Snickers that we tried looked quite...gross, but they are really delish. I think the battering/frying process actually eliminates some of the sweetness of these chocolate bars and serving it with ice-cream just makes everything 1000% better! The shop we bought these from was a regular "chippie" around the corner from our flat and they would literally deep fry any chocolate bar that could handle the heat.

We had toyed with the idea of checking out one of Edinburgh's three Michelin-starred restaurants but just never got around to it. Instead we ended up having a rather simple, but very posh-feeling lunch aboard the Queen's former royal yacht, Britannia that has retired to Edinburgh.

It was great being able to wander all over the yacht and check out the Queens's bedroom/study/etc etc, but the highlight for me was lunch in the restaurant on the top deck. The restaurant is an addition to the boat since it found its new home on the water of Leith and it's GREAT. It all felt SO posh...little sandwiches and a bowl of Cream of Cullen Skink Soup - a traditional Scottish soup of smoked haddock with potato and leeks (no skinks included, thankfully)! The waiters were all decked out like we were in the fanciest spot in town.  LOVED it.

Confession time. The Boy and I became more than a little obsessed with Marks + Spencer when we were in Scotland. I loved shopping for clothes in there as they had LOADS stuff to fit me. As well as the clothes we LOVED the food hall...loads of prepacked sandwiches and salads which were great for cheap lunches as well as so many "heat + eat" dinner ideas. I was obsessed with making a M+S dinner in our flat -- my niece thought I was kinda mad, but we just have nothing like this in Australia, do we?

It was lucky we stayed away from the roasts on offer as we couldn't get the oven working! Whilst an M+S dinner isn't cheap it's very convenient and delicious - it's very good for lazy cooks (like me). Below we have salmon with veggies; and on our second M+S dinner adventure we had a delicious "curry night".

Some other interesting Scottish foodie finds - these Worcester Crisps. They tasted a little like soy sauce (in a good way).

Scottish Shortbread - it wouldn't be right to leave the country without eating at least one box of these. They are so buttery and delicious!

And of course, Scotland's national drink - Iron Bru. I thought this was a cola but it tastes much more like a creaming soda. I'd hazard a guess that this is nearly more popular in Scotland than beer.

Just to prove that we did do more than eat here are a few photos of buildings, green rolling hills and the like...

 

 

 

Next stop London...rainy rainy rainy London.

Chapter Five, Redfern

Chapter Five in Redfern is my dream cafe, if I were ever to switch careers that is and become a cafe owner.  I've often thought I'd like to open a cafe (naive dream I know) but I worry that I cannot cook so it would be a MASSIVE flop. Chapter Five is proof that you don't need a massive kitchen, a big cafe or a fancy-pants menu to make a successful cafe. There's hope for me yet.

This newly owned cafe, that sits adjacent to bustling Redfern Station is pretty much just a  hole-in-the-wall. They serve various types of caffeinated beverages, teas and freshly made juices and in terms of food it's as simple as it gets.  If it cannot be sandwiched between two pieces of bread and popped into a Jaffle machine you probably won't find it here.

I LOVE this sort of cafe. They do a few things and they do it well - coffee, juice, toasts, muesli, sandwiches and jaffles. What more do you need?

The cafe is housed in a small, narrow space and it reminds a little of the layout of Circa or Three Ropes - which probably is why I have such fond feelings towards it. The two guys running the place are very friendly and they seem to know everybody's name as they pop in for their morning coffees on their way to work.

I've stopped a few times on my way to work for a coffee, but last week I had 30 minutes up my sleeve so I decided to take a seat and enjoy a weekday brunch. My coffee of choice here is a skinny cappuccino - I like that it's a petite size (6oz I'm told) as you get a good hit of espresso without too much milk fussing things up. Their takeaway cups are the same size too which is perfect for me.

I am BIG fan of the Jaffle, so much so that The Boy are planning on adding one to our kitchen arsenal. Chapter Five has a few Jaffles to choose from and best of all if you buy a Jaffle and a coffee your coffee is just $1 - talk about a meal deal people! For this brunch I go for the housemade beans with quinoa and cheese. I like that the beans add a bit more oomph to the Jaffle and it keeps me full until lunchtime.

Chapter Five is at Shop 2, little Eveleigh Street, Redfern.

Balcony Garden: Harvest Monday #45

Oh look! More carrots. Oh dear, will the glut ever end? It's not a bad problem to have really as homegrown carrots are wonderful - so sweet and crunchy - but when you're not a very inventive or imaginative cook have millions of one ingredient can send one into a...panic.

Whilst we were away in Europe my beans - that I'd stupidly planted just before we flew out to Europe - produced a small handful of beans. It was a pretty good effort for them considering they'd not had any water for quite a while. Beans are troopers.

I normally eat my beans raw, but for some reason I decided to cook them quickly in some rapidly boiling water and then blanch in ice-cold water. I think this just added more to the washing up -- I'll leave them raw next time. I then roasted the carrots in some caramelized balsamic + oil, added some Spanish onion and feta and VIOLA - another carrot salad, perfect for #meatlessMonday.

Happy gardening, Miss Piggy xoxo

The Rag Land Cafe, Redfern

I was first lured to The Rag Land Cafe in Redfern by a pop-up that BBQ aficionado and pop-up master Smokey O was doing at the cafe a few months ago.

I must REALLY love Smokey O's BBQ and smokey meats as I got up EXTRA early to be at the cafe before work...that's like SUPER early considering I have to be in the office around 9am!

You never know what you're going to get with a Smokey O pop-up and that's why it's wise to go to as many of his events as you can...to try everything on offer. I opted for the apple-smoked maple bacon with fried eggs on "texas toast" (which I think means BIG toast, which makes sense seeing as everything in Texas is BIG). That's my breakfast there on the left.  My friend choose the field mushrooms (also giant so maybe also from Texas) with melted cheddar, char grilled capsicum on Texas toast.

I really like the vibe of this cafe - it feels very homely and comfortable with lots of pre-loved furniture and eclectic nick-nacks on the shelves. It sort of feels like my lounge room actually and I knew I wanted to come back....soon.

 ...and, it's not long before I'm back for a big brunch party to meet the newly-born daughter of one of my fellow food bloggers. We toast the new arrival with coffees expertly brewed by cafe owner, and barista, Dave. An iced coffee for me and a flat white for The Boy. The Rag Land also offers "suspended coffees" which I think are great - customers can donate the cost of a cup of a coffee which then goes to providing a cuppa for someone who's not cashed up enough to afford their own fine brew. Nice, isn't it?

I was pretty hungry on this visit and wanted something substantial and the pea fritters + poached egg with rocket and tomato chutney came highly recommended to me by Dave (the cafe owner slash barista, not Dave my husband).  He also suggested I add a side of pork belly which I did and it was DELICIOUS - sweet and savoury with a hint of Asian flavours! As you can see they know how to poach an egg here and it was a really good breakfast that totally hit the spot.

If you guessed that The Boy would order a Big Breakfast then you'd be right. He liked the "build your own" concept and went for toast, mushrooms, tomato, pork belly and poached eggs.

Because this was a celebration brunch we needed to order some cake. The cafe has the cakes, cupcakes and slices baked for them by budding bakers and the snickers cupcake there on the right is baked by our very own blogger friend, Love Swah. Her baked goods are at The Rag Land each weekend and they are GOOD! The cupcake looked kinda lonely on its own so The Boy grabbed a slice of the very large lamington cake.

The Rag Land Cafe is at 129 Ragland Street, Redfern/Waterloo.

Balcony Garden: Harvest Monday #44

I've found that carrots are really hard to plant as their seeds are so tiny. Unlike peas or beans that have monster-sized seeds that you can easily pick up and plonk in a hole in the ground, carrot seeds are like dust. It's nearly impossible to isolate just one. The last time I planted carrots I literally took a pinch of seeds and blew them into the soil, messed the soil about a bit to spread them out and...voila. Planting done.

This lackadaisical attitude to carrot planting probably explains how I later ended up with about a billion carrots growing on my balcony - my best gardening haul EVER! The carrots are the one thing (besides the kale + rosemary) that thrived during my neglectful four week jaunt to Europe. I came home to a mass of carrot tops poking out of the ground screaming "pick me, pick me".

The thing is, I wasn't actually sure what I'd find once I pulled up all the carrots. I mean these guys had been in the ground for MONTHS.  I was expecting them to be a) kinda rotten and/or b) all growing together into one big twisty carrot seeing as I had not taken the time to plant each individual seed into its own little hole on the garden.

Imagine my surprise when I unearthed a mound of perfect looking carrots - albeit, some were a little small. I was chuffed. And I was overwhelmed. That's A LOT of carrots to figure out what to do with. Ummm...help! I washed them all off in a bucket on the balcony, trimmed their tops and promptly went inside to plea to twitter for a recipe, or 12, for carrots.

The twitter-sphere quickly came back with a plethora of salad recipes, the most interesting of which was a recipe by Jamie Oliver that included ginger, lemon, chilli and toasted almonds.  Best of all I got to use my nifty electric grater/blender thing that I one for "best story" from the Sweet Swap fiasco.

I really liked this salad,  It was super zesty and refreshing and the chilli + ginger provided a good hit of heat.  The Boy thinks I went a bit heavy handed on the ginger. Whoops!

Happy gardening, Miss Piggy xoxo