Olympic Food Challenge: Ginger Beer - Sierra Leone

If you've been following the Olympic Food Challenge, you may know that sadly we didn't quite meet the original goal of our illustrious team coach.  Despite sterling gold medal shows from Tonight's Menu, Soup Tuesday, Feast and Glory and Come Dine With Rach, we fell about forty countries short of the final total thanks to our silver and bronze medallists.

Undettered, Ewan has rallied some of the troops to complete his original mission during the Paralympics.  Because some of us were so keen to maintain that post-Olympic haze of glory in our lives, there weren't enough countries for us all to do one meal a day for the whole of the Paralympics but we will hit 204 by 9th of September come hell or high water.

Jamie O's idea of sexy is wildly different to mine

To do my bit, I will be cooking recipes from Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Khazakstan, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and Bermuda.  I'm not quite sure how I managed to be so unlucky as to bag all the rubbish ones, but hey-ho.

So we start tonight in Sierra Leone, a country that is sadly most famous for its child soldiers and blood diamonds.  Located in Western Africa, Sierra Leone has only sent one competitor to the Paralympics in the past, that event being in Atlanta in 1996.  According to that tome of truth otherwise known as Wikipedia, however, they are sending a competitor to London 2012 to attempt the mens 100 and 200m race.

As for its cuisine, there's really not much on the web.  Okay so I had far less time to navel gaze when I should've been prepping my recipes this time round.  But most of the dishes, I already discounted when I did the OFC earlier this year.  And those I would've done, I've already done such is the similarity in recipes in Western Africa.

Apparently though, ginger beer is the big thing so I decided to give that a go.  After a little research, I decided to avoid the more traditional recipes when Hugh F-W mentioned that you should use a 2 litre lemonade bottle rather than the fancy glass bottle I'd planned to use because there's a risk of the yeasted beer causing the bottle to explode.

Having performed a risk assessment - dogs that sleep in the kitchen, a toddler, a husband with a short temper - I settled on a Jamie O recipe that basically bungs a lot of stuff in a jug to make a 'sexy' drink.

Jamie, if you think that this drink is sexy then I pity poor Jules.  It's okay.  I'm sure if it was hot and sunny and there was a barbecue going on in my garden then I might have been more appreciative of the drink but as it was peeing down outside, it was also a Wednesday night and I had a random assortment of fridge leftovers for tea, the drink didn't quite have the wow factor for me.  Plus it's a massive waste of decent fresh ginger.  But if you're as rich as Jamie O, you can afford to be extravagant.

You can find the recipe here.  PS: Just like I've said before, the result looks nothing like the lovely professionally-styled picture on the Jamie website.

Banana, Maple Syrup and Pistachio Bread

With my mind on the idea of having a picnic, I totally disregarded the local weather forecast's doomsaying that it was going to be at best cloudy in Wiltshire today.  I have mentioned my love of picnics before.  It's another one of those family-oriented activities that the husband can't stand.  He gets twitchy the moment I mention the idea and I'm sure he prays for the weather to turn before we make it out the door.

Completely unfazed by all the potential pitfalls, I chose to have a go at Jamie's Banana Bread.  I should've stopped when I read the name 'Jamie Oliver'.  I have had zero success with his recipes this year (aside from Mulled Cider, which doesn't really count).  I should also have re-read my Mulled Cider post about how pictures of his recipes on the web look nothing like they do in reality - even factoring in the fact that I don't cook for a living.

Tin-bound

I came across the recipe when researching breakfast recipes for this week.  I'm on a pretty intensive course and have been warned by my boss that it's going to be a tough week and if I don't do well and have spent the week responding to work email, tweeting and blogging then I won't be very popular on my return to work.  So I have decided to go with breakfast recipes to get things over and done early in the day, short posts like I did on holiday and blind panic that I'm going to fail and it will all go horribly wrong.

Anyhow, this recipe looked like the perfect picnic food.  Soft banana bread, studded with nuts and glazed with honey.  Not being a honey fan, I replaced it with maple syrup and used pistachios instead of almonds for the lovely green colour.

If you look at the picture on the website, the bread actually looks like one of those soft mini bread rolls that you might buy from M&S or Waitrose.  The husband likes really soft bread and I was slightly ignorant of the fact that basic bread doesn't bake into a finished product like that.  To do soft rolls properly, you need to use something like Dan Lepard's Soft White Baps

My finished bread was slightly grey inside (understandable with the banana content, but not at all visible in Jamie's picture) and soft, but not all spongy like the picture seems to indicate.  I also have issue with the size of the bread in the picture.  Jamie says to use his basic white bread recipe and divide it into ten balls.  I used half of the bread recipe and managed eight gigantic rolls.  With his cheeky chappie 'bish, bash, bosh' approach to writing, he also neglects to mention what size and shape tin to put them into.  I put my eight into my 9" springform tin and they filled it nicely.

The taste was okay even if the texture was a little disappointing based on the picture on the website.  But it was chewy, they are nice warm, Miss A loved them and I think they'd work well in the winter with a big mug of hot chocolate.

I like the concept and will try adapting the recipe further in the future - but from now on, I'll stick to Dan's baking recipes.  As pretty much everyone I know who has tried a recipe from Short and Sweet or his Guardian recipes will tell you - quite simply they do what they say on the (baking) tin.  Stick to real food Jamie and leave the baking recipes to the experts.

Incredible (!) Mulled Cider

Firstly, I'd like to point out that I didn't deem this cider 'Incredible'.  That is what a certain Mr Oliver calls it.  It was nice in my book.  Probably the nicest mulled cider I've ever had.  But then I've never had mulled cider before so I don't have anything to compare it to.  I'd love to put my trust in him, however, I do have a small bone to pick with this recipe.

Pretty in pink -  my version

Take a look at the recipe on his website (I came across it in a free Christmas pull out in my mum's newspaper some weeks ago).  Look at the picture.  The cider looks a lovely golden colour.  Now look at my picture.  Okay, so although I do have my own pro photographer to hand (he was busy eyeing up the remains of the coconut ice and Nutella fudge, my photography skills aren't brilliant, but mine is a lovely pinky colour.

This is down to the pomegranate in the drink.  Pomegranates have gorgeous jewel-red seeds.  I swear that Mr Oliver's mulled wine has never been near a pomegranate.  I'm sure you can't get yellow ones.  So if the picture on his website (which was also in the pull out) is really of the cider then why is his not pink.  Something fishy going on here....  Maybe I should call the fraud squad or something...?

Anyway, it's a really good, winter warming recipe.  I'm not a drinker so this is quite high praise.  I really can't hold my alcohol.  The family joke that I only need to sniff a barmaid's apron and I'm drunk.  This is strange as my mother can pack away a bottle of wine like it's Evian.  The husband loves this as it means he's always got a designated driver on the rare occasions that we go out.

(c) Jamie Oliver - Golden Brown - Jamies version

I usually have a mulled wine if I'm out somewhere festive (again rare) but red wine always gives me a stonking headache so the idea of cider was much more appealing.  I do, every now and again, have a cheeky cider (although not real West Coun-ree Scrumpy as befits the roots on one side of my family).  I'm not a fan of cinnamon, liquorice (from the star anise) or cloves.  But together they are really harmonious and turn some pretty average supermarket Scrumpy into something quite special.

If you have time this winter, really do give it a try (especially you @HelsWatts :))

Jamie Oliver's 'Incredible' Mulled Cider - serves 15


• 2 litres good cider, such as Scrumpy
• 6 cloves
• 3 or 4 star anise
• ¼ nutmeg, finely grated into the pan
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla pod, halved
• juice of 1 orange
• juice of 2 clementines
• juice and seeds from 1 pomegranate
• 4 or 5 tablespoons of caster sugar, to taste


Pour all of the cider into a large pan on a low heat and warm it through for a few minutes. Add all of the spices and fruit juices and turn the heat up. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and leave to tick away for 5 to 8 minutes. As everything infuses you'll get the most delicious layers of flavour. Just because this is a glorified Christmas punch doesn't mean you don't taste it like you would a sauce. Pay attention and add a few tablespoons of sugar to taste. You don't want it to be sweet; you just want the sugar to join up all the different spices so you get a harmonious taste.

When you are happy with the flavours, ladle the mulled cider into glasses or mugs and serve while warm and delicious. Personally I think it's nice to leave bits of spices floating around in the cider when you serve it but if you want yours clear and perfect just pour it into the glasses through a sieve.

Clementine Curd

Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.  Your cheeky-chappie persona grates more than my easy-peel clementines did.  But you seduced me with your free Christmas recipe booklet from my mother's Daily Fail at the weekend.  Your Get Ahead Gravy came highly recommended by one of the few friends whose taste and culinary skills I implicitly trusted.  So despite my initial reticence, I was swayed by the glorious orangeyness of the clementine curd.

The ingredients

It started so well.  Aside from the battle to zest easy-peel clementines.  Now I understand why there are difficult-to-peel ones.  You use them for making curd.  Clementines juiced.  One lemon, two limes juiced and zested.  Lots of sugar added.  Butter cubed.  Eggs, cracked and lightly whisked.

Heated gently until it coated the back of my spoon.   It looked a little dodgy at the start.  I won't say what I think it looked, like - take a look and decide for yourself from the pic. In the end, no scrambled citrus-flavoured eggs for me.  But It's-Not-Setting.  I keep nipping downstairs to take a look.  But it seems to be getting runnier rather than thicker.

Early cooking...it's not scrambled, honest!

I made Nigel Slater's lemon curd a few weeks ago and this worked perfectly.  The difference here being that he cooked it in a bain marie rather than straight into the pan.  Taste-wise, Jamie's is very sweet.  Too sweet for me in fact.  But it would work well on toast or with cream in pancakes.

But Sir Nigel's set.  Beautifully.  And despite him saying it only keeps for a couple of weeks (I missed that bit until last night when I re-read the whole article I posted a link to previously) mine has been in the fridge for six weeks and when I cracked it open, instead of finding a slimy mess, it was still the same gorgeous, canary-yellow, unctuous, wobbly curd that I remembered from when I made it.

Have just now filled one large jar with my clementine curd and have left the rest to cool in the pan.  Not looking hopeful, however just stirred a spoonful into a pot of greek yogurt and it tastes pretty darn good.

No longer lumpy, but it won't thicken...

Looking at the two recipes, they are pretty equivalent (Jamie's is roughly double that of Nigel's).  The only difference being that they use the same amount of butter.  Would double have made Jamie's thicken more?  This is where I find myself again desperate for someone (please Heston!) to publish a book on the science of normal cookery that isn't in French.  Why isn't there one on the market?  Or if there is, someone please tell me where I can get a copy.  Surely we all could do with some help along the lines of 'if you use more eggs in recipe X then Y will happen'.

Jamie's Clementine Curd recipe is here.  But I would still recommend Nigel's recipe for Lemon Curd every time.

Picture of the finished jar as me and the camera are two flights of stairs away from the jar.  #toolazy #thisiswhyI'mfat

Garlic Pizza Bread

I am not a fan of pizza, hence why the first time I'd ever made it at home was recently with Miss Abigail.  I'm not sure why - I love bread, I love cheese and I love all the toppings.  I think it's something to do with that faint tomato-sog you get on some pizzas - especially home made ones.

For someone who claims to love food, I can be 'a right fussy cow' as I was recently told.  A friend had bought cakes to work for his birthday.  Someone stole the eclair before I got there, meaning a box full of cream doughnuts left me cold.  There were more custard tarts than I've ever seen in my life.  Not for me.  Although I've never had one so they might be lovely.  I inherited my phobia from my mother's fear of cold custard.  So that left me with a jam doughnut.  Which suited me down to the ground. But I'm now labelled as a cake snob as Morrison's finest was not good enough for me.  And only homemade will do.  Not my words, but I know lots of people who'd agree with that.

Which brings me back to last night.  Whilst I don't like pizza, I do love garlic pizza bread.  There's a restaurant on the Isle of Wight which we frequented BC (before child) which makes the most amazing garlic pizza bread.  The pizza bread there is served as a starter and is so huge that even sharing with someone else means you're so stuffed afterwards that you only manage a few mouthfuls of your mains.

I got the recipe for today's pizza base from Jamie at Home (think this is the same recipe online) and I only made a quarter of the recipe.

It made a lovely deep pan bread.  I'd love to learn how to make thin and crispy style bread - you know the kind that has gorgeous bubbly bits in it.  But I don't have a proper pizza oven so I'm guessing that's out for this current experiment.

The garlic butter was my own invention - 50g unsalted butter, four garlic cloves minced, a squirt of Garden Gourmet parsley - about two tsp and a pinch of ground sea salt.  It might have been too much for this size of pizza as there is now a slick of cold garlic butter that needs cleaning from the bottom of my oven.

All in all a very yummy experiment - but too big for two people when served with sausage pasta.  Will stick to Waitrose's garlic baguette for its simplicity unless I happen to be making bread or having guests.