Chili Peanut Butter Tart

This is a rich, dense peanut butter tart with a sprinkling of chili flakes on top. 

These photos do it no justice.  I wish I had a slate board. This pie would look really good on a black slate board.  This is all just so..neutral and nude when put on my wooden chopping board.  Everything's just.. sepia. Like some hipster instagram. 

Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti

"They don't look very... They look, um...rustic."   Say what you will, they're beautiful and they're f*cking delicious.  I know, I'm completely shameless, but they really are.  I made them late last night and then after the first bite, honestly, the first thing that went through my mind was, "f*cking hell, pat on the back, Maria, pat on the back."

I'm not giving myself the all the credit here, it's yet another recipe by my favorite pastry chef, Christoph Felder. These biscotti are made with almost a meringue base, where instead of just mixing all the ingredients together to form a dough, the eggs and the sugar are beaten for 20 minutes (as specifically stated in the recipe) and then the flour, nuts and cinnamon are gently folded in. These are crisp and crunchy and taste like a cross between brutti ma buoni and biscotti.  Have you ever had brutti ma buoni?  "Ugly but good", as literally translated, they are these Italian hazelnut cookies that are crisp on the outside and almost macaron-like in the middle.  Here's a nice recipe of it if you've never tried them. 

Black Olive Quick Bread

Baking requires a specific state of mind.  It's the only time when mise en place - measuring and organizing all the ingredients you need for the recipe - really matters.  It requires precision and attention.  It's not like cooking. It's not a dash of this and a handful of that.  It's not a Pollock painting.

Baking requires serenity.  It begins with a warm house, and all is quiet but the calming buzzing of the oven.  Spooning flour into a bowl, while watching the numbers on the scale.  Pouring in the liquid, as you bend down to be at eye levels with the measuring jug.  Gradually tipping in the cream, and gently folding everything in.  And you let out a sigh and all is well.  Seeing the ingredients amalgamate, and the colors fuse, to form a uniform batter.  Feeling the soft dough against your fingertips and palms, as you knead, and knead, and knead.  It's just you and the calm buzzing of the oven.  The house smells of comfort -- it smells of spices, yeast and herbs.  You're in control, you're focused on the present, and nothing else matters.  Precision and attention and a sense of achievement when you pull your baby out of the oven.  And in that calming and relaxing process, nothing else matters -- baking requires a specific state of mind, and I suppose it's how some people feel about yoga. 

Salmon Three Ways

Cured, smoked, poached, raw, fried to a rosy pink with crispy crackling skin - everybody loves some form of salmon.  I know of fish haters that can tolerate it and vegetarians that break the rules every now and then with it.

As a child I had only ever had salmon in thee ways: baked with a squeeze of lemon at the end, cooked in a tomato sauce, and salmon nigiri sushi. Smoked salmon was disgusting and I was never exposed to anything else.

Here it's smoked pâté on toasted bread, smoked salmon cucumber rolls and miso salmon en croute.  

Last night I went to a friend's house for dinner and she made these salmon yorkshire pudding-like things.  Absolutely delightful, they were so soft and tender with the taste of salmon flowing through them, just delicious.  I love being invited to dinner because, and it may come as a surprise, I love being cooked for.  I think it's one of the nicest gestures in the world, and I'm always so flattered whenever someone invites me to their home for a meal.  Usually it's me cooking or we dine out or it's a potluck but whenever someone makes the effort to cook a whole meal for me, I feel incredibly happy and honored.

The Adamson (St Andrews)

Remember Scott Davies?  For those that didn't glue their eyes to the television the whole of last winter watching BBC2 in the evening, he was a finalist on Masterchef Professionals, and he's the head chef at The Adamson in St. Andrews. 

As if that alone wasn't exciting enough, amongst the smart and contemporary decor, the restaurant has an open kitchen where you can see the man himself carefully preparing your food, and yes, I sat as close to him as possible. 

"Classic brassiere cooking with a contemporary twist" the menu has a strong Scottish influence with an abundance of beef, seafood and an exciting vegetarian selection, which is always nice to see.  With the daily set menu priced at £14.95 for three courses and £11.95 for two, it is definitely one of the best places for lunch in town. 

With the a-la-carte menu you're looking at about  £25-30 for a three course meal, which is still excellent for the quality of food you're getting

From the starters I chose pea mousse with crab, pea shoots and caper dressing.
A fresh crab salad speckled with bright green peas and peashoots and a lovely little ball of pea mousse nestled in the middle under the hot crisp potato croquette.  Pretty as a picture, a great balance of textures and colors, just a shame it was over-salted, especially as when you reached the mousse, you were reaching for water at the same time.