On crackers

The word ‘crackers’ means different things in the US and the UK. In the US, it’s my favorite snack food, much better than potato chips (crisps) and often either cheese flavored or used as vehicles for cheese or other nice savory foods. Here in the UK this meaning is mostly the word I find confusing, ‘biscuits’ which can can be either like crackers or can be sweet and essentially like cookies. I am well-known on this blog for being obsessed with the American crackers called Cheez-its, which are my favorite snack food ever. They are amazing on their own, or are even better in a double-cheese configuration when dipped in cream cheese. This was the subject of my recent shock contest win from another blogger in the US, where I won a box of boxes of crackers mailed to me. The resulting bounty of snack foods are pictured here:

Yum. I’ll be busy for a few weeks with these, although as they arrived more than a week ago, I am already down one box of Wheat Thins and one of Cheez-its. Crackers don’t last long in my carb-craving household.

But as I was walking home from work today, I saw the seasonal British crackers in a shop window. I actually experienced this for the first time in Australia last Christmas, and there are pictures of me wearing a paper crown hat. Thank goodness for semi-anonymous blogs, as I have the perfect excuse not to post the image. But you can get the idea at the ‘Christmas Cracker Shop’ website. I looked downright silly. I can see how this is one of those holiday traditions that one retains from childhood, and I thank my Aussie friends for sharing their tradition with me last holiday season. Maybe I’ll even buy some this year to acknowledge my increasing adaptation to my adopted country. But on the balance, I think I prefer Cheez-its. And thank goodness I have another box yet to go.

Coffee

Apparently, and I say apparently because I have no personal knowledge, Starbucks is marketing a new instant coffee called “Via” which is, clearly to those of us living in the UK, pure evil. Instant coffee = not an excuse for real coffee. Stop now. England is already full of people who do not know the taste of real coffee or the difference between real coffee and instant, so we do not need to play this game. Coffee? Yes, I’m a coffee nut and I’ll have a real coffee every time.

Second time is the charm…

Twice in the last two weeks I’ve had a recipe disaster convert to a recipe result by trying it a second time. The first was crab cakes; the first time I tried to make them I followed the recipe advice to fry them, but the second time I baked them and they were awesome instead of a disaster. I highly recommend baked crab cakes, the ingredients stood out well and the method was much simpler.

The second time I needed a re-do was more critical, I have long been obsessed with potato gnocchi. I had some in San Francisco when I was at a conference many years ago; they were so good they ruined me from appreciating other attempts. The risk is that one is too “noodle-y” and the gnocchi are tough and thick noodle-like morsels instead of soft, spongey pillows of goodness. I have tried many times over the years since 2002 when I sampled potato gnocchi brilliance in San Francisco. I have always erred on the side of being too noodle-y and have made a “dough” that looked like a home-made noodle dough; I have a pasta attachment on my Kitchenaid and have used it. But it did not result in good gnocchi.

So today I did the most amazing thing, I actually followed a recipe. I’m convinced now that any time that flour is involved, the quantities are crucial. My early attempts at home-made bread definitely involved too much flour and resulted in dense bread that was not like the modern ciabatta or any other modern bread. I’ve learned my lesson there. Similarly, the proportions associated with potato gnocchi are critical. A pound of mashed up potatoes (I used riced) to a single egg and a single cup of flour does it. The dough is like pie crust, it does not seem to be a dough proper but it works. Letting the dough rest is crucial. The results were delicious and totally worth the effort.

The sauce is a combination of a store-bought pesto with some cream and a bit of parmesan cheese.

Shock contest win

I am almost infamous for entering contests and never winning, but much to my surprise today, my fortunes appear to be turning. I have won a contest over at “Smitten by Britain,” a blog written by an American Anglophile with a history (and child!) from her time here in Blighty. (Note, I know that I need to add a category to my popular “Expat blogs” page with anglophiles in the US and vice versa… will do soon, work permitting, I promise!) Visit Smitten’s blog or follow her on twitter at @smittnbybritain–she has the same affliction as I do, as “on twitter notfrmroundhere” instead of NotFromAroundHere”– in that we are not allowed our full names due to character restrictions and thus have to delete vowels. Regardless, I now have to provide a list of crackers (savory snack biscuits, not anything else) that I want to have shipped over from the states as part of the winning entry for this contest. My obvious choices are anything in the Cheez-it family and Wheat Thins and Triscuits. Better Cheddars would do, as would just about anything in the cracker family. But I will think long and hard before I compile the final list since it’s such a blessing to get food from home. Bisquick, anyone?

Good food, fast

Several times in the last few days, fast food has come up in the comments of this blog. Apparently this is one of the evils of America that is worthy of scorn. It’s actually one of the things I miss most about the states. Not fast food of the McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Arby’s variety. Okay, I admit it, my homesick self has been spotted in my local McDonald’s on more than one occasion. I’m more interested in the “good food fast” idea that has dominated recent American quick food options. I miss bagel shops, which worked equally well for lunch and for breakfast/brunch. I miss Chipotle, Panera, Qdoba, Noodles and Co., all of the modern quick food places that have gone into most American strip malls in the last few years. Virginia was particularly good for this, there were several local ma-and-pa places too, a falafel joint, a steamed buns and noodles cheap Chinese place. Places where you could get a decent, healthful and fast meal for take-away. I have blogged before about how I do poorly with pre-prepared sandwiches, which appear to me to be the only UK equivalent in my neighborhood. The up-market take-out places in my local vicinity are all specialist sandwich shops, Pret-a-Manger and of course the M&S Foodhall. I have discovered a few things I can eat at Pret, like veggie sushi and some of the salads. But it’s a long walk from work–these places are all closer to home than work. Work has a “canteen” that primarily sells… wait for it… prepared sandwiches.

I will go on the defensive now and state that there is nothing wrong with sandwiches for most people. I just have a “soggy bread” personal issue that is well known in my family. If I get a burger I have to ask for it to be off the bun. I can’t do wet bread. I have a gag reflex. It’s not a British thing, it’s just a personal problem. So I have taken to packing a lunch for work. And the irony is that it often includes a sandwich. Although one that is either totally dry (bread-cheese-bread) or deconstructed (bread and stuff in separate containers, to be assembled in real time). The canteen at work has been amazing, in taking a “special order” for me with a plain cheese sandwich when we have work meetings. I’m fortunate. But it does not mean that I do not wish that there was an easier local option for lunch food near my work. So I think back on the halcyon days in America, when I had easy access to a bagel shop, or a falafel place, or a Panera. And yes, I never had a sandwich I liked at Panera. I only ever ordered the soups and salads.

Beach cookery

Sadly my beach holiday is over. I did a very un-American thing this year and stayed two weeks instead of one. I am relaxed, tan, and … not exactly thrilled about having to go “home” to England. This trip was five weeks long, half work and half play, but that has been enough time for me to have reacquainted myself with modern conveniences such as showers and mixer taps. Not to mention American grocery stores and Target.

My favorite new snack is Pepper Jack Cheez-its. It seems to me that American cooking and certainly restaurants have all taken on a decidedly Tex-Mex flavor. There are jalapeños in everything! I had an amazing Caesar salad with a chipotle dressing.

But the one place I did not see much zesty fusion was the beach. There it is all about seafood, done in classic styles. The absolute tastiest experiences of the beach trip came at the hands of a local company that I found in the free restaurant guide, Steamers. They make up these tin cans full of yummy goodness that you take home and cook yourself, just by setting the can on the stove and turning the burner on high after adding a cup of liquid. I love the concept because it is such good engineering! There are potatoes in the bottom of the can, that essentially get boiled. On top of this is your choice of shellfish. I had lobster, crab legs and mussels at various points in the trip. On top of that is corn on the cob ears. You call them and say what fish you want and for how many people, and that’s it, instant dinner. The fish and corn get steamed by the liquid coming off the boiling potatoes, and there’s a hole in the top of the can for the steam to escape. I tried to take an action shot but it doesn’t do justice to how cool this was. And you KNOW I’m going to be trying to figure out a way to do this myself…

Life’s a beach

I’m back in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, my absolute favorite place to get a little R&R. Although the internet access is intermittent at best, so my apologies if you are expecting to hear from me by email or any web medium! Life will be back to normal soon enough–I’ll be back in England at work, and commenting on the growing rumbles about American Healthcare Reform and the inevitable comparisons with the NHS. I have a few things to say on this subject But not until I’ve put a few more miles on my legs. Beach for me means regular 6 mile walks, semi-regular 10+ mile bike rides, plenty of swimming and surfing, and lots of cooking. And reading books about cooking. I am obsessed with Tony Bourdain. I have a strange obsession with chefs who swear a lot, apparently, since I’m also secretly quite fond of Gordon Ramsay. But at the moment, it’s all Tony in my dreams. And England seems a distant, hazy place, and one in which I’m not 100% sure what’s going on. I really do have a transient life, where living out of a suitcase starts to feel normal after a while. And I can’t decide if that’s a good or a bad thing sometimes.

All the single ladies…

… and gents. And those who travel for work solo. And anyone else who wants to chime in. Dine alone in restaurants or not? I do it all the time, both at home and on the road. But I’ve been interested and surprised on more than one occasion to end up chatting with friends who say they have never done it. Never, like never ever? It never occurred to me not to do it. Yes I sometimes bring something to read, most often something for work but when travelling sometimes a local guidebook. And sometimes I don’t read, I just sit back and people watch. Always good when you get a table with a view of passing traffic, but even just the people in the restaurant can be interesting to watch. I even recall the first time I did things alone post-divorce, first meal out, first solo movie, solo concert. It just never would occur to me to not do any of those things if I was not with people. But I’m now intrigued and interested to hear what people think, am I an extreme outlier on this one?

Travel tales are strange

I’m coming to the end of my Singapore experience for this year; I can say that with great confidence because I’ll be back in just over a year’s time for another key conference in my research field. This has been my second trip to Singapore and it has been a far superior experience compared with my first trip. I was based, on my first trip, at NUS (a lovely university but far off the beaten track) and this trip has been centered in the city centre. But my location on this trip has proved to be excellent.

I took a cheaper hotel in Little India, on Arab Street, rather than the hotels associated with the large conference centre. It was a short walk into town or a very short trip on the MRT (1 stop) but totally convenient and worth the 1/2 price compared with the conference hotels. I quite enjoyed the MRT and mall experience to get to the Suntec center. Or centre. I don’t recall which is correct.

Given this slightly distant location, I was isolated from the usual sorts of hotel restaurants and bars. I found that there was a place, Mietta’s, across the street from my hotel, where there was good food and good wine (a necessity when travelling). This is a chef-driven, relatively new restaurant, in the bohemian area of Arab Street, and I quite enjoyed the place on the three times that I happened (or chose!) to visit there. It has that air of a gentrifying neighborhood where things are all mixed up, and I happen to like that. I went out to Orchard Road earlier on this trip and I hated it, there was nothing that I saw to distinguish one shopping mall from another.

Tonight I went to Mietta’s after dinner hours, because they were advertising a jazz feel in the upstairs bar. When I arrived, the waitstaff seemed confused, although the website advertises an upstairs bar they seemed to not have had many requests for it. Cut to the chase, and I sat quite happily in the upstairs something (bar is not the obvious word) with live music playing just to me, from a time before they were really ready to open, they let me in for the soundcheck. I read the cookbooks of Jaime Oliver and Nobu and joked with the chef about reading his secret stash. As a foodie, I was ecstatic. As a bar/club patron, I felt bad for the singer/guitarist who was singing solely to me, both in the soundcheck and in the “performance” (indistinguishable from the soundcheck). But I’m not complaining. And I hope that if you are in Singapore you visit Mietta’s. I saw the chef each of the three times I was there, which took me back to a day and place in Minnesota when I used to frequent a chef-driven restaurant in the middle of nowhere, the Bayport Cookery (which apparently does not exist anymore). I want chef-driven restaurants to thrive, which is probably why I “happened” into Mietta’s on three occasions on this trip.

Classic Americana

Nothing says as much about classic Americana (as in the culture found in the south, the midwest, etc. as opposed to New York-New England or California) as the Church Fundraiser Cookbook. Often a gift from a grandmother, who was on the committee that helped raise funds to publish the books to sell, these are full of recipes that we all know by heart without needing a cookbook. But I love them.

I was up to visit Kat of 3 Bedroom Bungalow again yesterday, and discovered that she had a few of these classic cookbooks, including a brand new arrival. I sat down to page through, and was immediately carried back to a totally different time and place. It does not appear to matter much that Kat and I are from different parts of the US, and that the places of our birth were separated by well over a thousand miles. The recipes are almost all the same.

Now what’s amusing about these recipes is the set of ingredients thus contained. Most of them have been designed for pantry staples, and in a few cases freezer staples. But they admittedly do not rely much on fresh produce, which I admit I did not see much of (aside from lettuce leaves) until I was an adult. But to me, that’s okay. And to the visiting Brit who wants to complain about the “convenience” foods that make up a large proportion of the ingredients list: at least these dishes were assembled at home, in the kitchen, by mom or dad or grandma or grandpa. Yes they may have some shortcuts and some ingredients you’re not used to, but I still would rather have this than a pre-packaged sandwich or an M&S microwavable meal.

I’ll not bother with methods or amounts, just ingredients. See if any of these ring a bell.

• Mexican Bean Dip: refried beans, taco seasoning, cream cheese, shredded cheddar. (Add green onions in the more sophisticated version, as well as perhaps jalapenos, ground beef fried with onions and even salsa or taco sauce)

• Fruit dip: vanilla, sour cream, cream cheese, sugar
• “Salad”: pistachio pudding, cool whip, canned crushed pineapple, pecans, marshmallows
• Soup: cream of mushroom soup, frozen broccoli, velveeta
• Casserole: ground beef, onions, cream of celery soup, canned corn, tater tots
• Dessert: jello, fruit cocktail, cool whip, cottage cheese
• Wreath: crescent rolls, cream cheese, diced ham, diced bell peppers, broccoli florets (fresh produce!)
• pigs in blankets: crescent rolls, sausages

I could go on for days. Really, I could: whole cookbooks worth. But I think you get the drift. Simple, semi-homemade foods. Mostly originally from recipe books published by people like Jell-O and Pillsbury. American classics.