Who would think that yellow-colored rice would be so tasty? I certainly didn’t. It’s not like you can SEE anything special in it, although there was. The rice is made with some (not a lot) of coconut milk, some chicken broth, some fresh chunked ginger and a stalk of lemon grass. Oh yes, some turmeric too! With the exception of the fat naturally occurring in the coconut milk, there was no added fat like olive oil or butter to this. I didn’t miss it in the least.

The recipe came from Steven Raichlen’s The Barbecue! Bible. I was serving this with some Indonesian beef sates with coriander (also from the same book, but they weren’t all that memorable, so I won’t be posting that recipe), but the RICE was wonderful. And easy, really. The jasmine rice must be rinsed first, meanwhile you bring to a boil the water (coconut water from a real coconut if you happen to have one lying around – I didn’t), the chicken broth, coconut milk, fresh ginger coins, turmeric (which gives it that unique yellow color, but not enough of it to give any particular flavor), salt and a stalk of lemongrass that has been smashed hard with the flat side of a knife. The rice takes about 15 minutes to cook, so watch the pot carefully (I had to add a bit more water to keep it from burning). Not only is this pretty, but it’s delish too.

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A year ago: Thai Curry Shrimp Soup

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This is one of those OMGosh items. When I read about it online at Monica Bhide’s blog, I was totally intrigued. It was the ingredients – lentils (she wanted red – I had yellow), canned crushed pineapple, lemon juice, a bit of sugar, cumin and red chile. If you go over to Monica’s blog, she showed hers on a piece of pork roast (or maybe it’s roast turkey). Monica is a published author – she’s Indian – but everything I’ve read about her indicates she adapts American tastes with her Indian background. I think I’m going to have to order her most recent cookbook Modern Spice: Inspired Indian Flavors for the Contemporary Kitchen now that I’ve tried this recipe!

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What’s the big deal about meat loaf? There must be thousands of recipes for it. Forgiving is the best word to describe making one – you can put in so many different things from onions (common), eggs, carrots, bell peppers, garlic, bread crumbs, or oatmeal. And herbs. There’s one recipe on my blog for an Chinese Meatloaf with tons of chopped cabbage in it. And an Asian glaze on top.

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We entertained a group of friends for an early (1:00 pm) dinner on a recent Sunday. I had to hustle to get a full-on dinner ready by 1:00, because I didn’t start until about 10:30 when we got home from church. I’d done what I could the night before, and fortunately my DH helped me a lot. This recipe has been in my to-try file for years. It was originally published in the Los Angeles Times food section in a column called “Culinary SOS,” in which readers request a recipe from a restaurant somewhere in the L.A. area, or they ask for a long ago recipe that appeared in the newspaper.

Someone had written in asking for this specific recipe served at a cafe in Pasadena called Happy Trails Catering & Cafe. The marinade is what makes the dish, no question. And there’s nothing in it that’s unusual, but I’d guess the secret to the recipe is the 1/2 cup of defrosted orange juice concentrate. That’s what gives it the zingy taste. I served it with the Grilled Panzanella Salad from a few weeks ago (this was the third time I’ve made it), the  watermelon feta mint salad that I serve all through the summer. And I made a peach crisp with maple cream sauce , which I wrote up a day or so ago.

The recipe didn’t indicate to do so, but I whizzed the marinade in the blender, which made it an homogenized mixture, which didn’t separate, even days later. About a third of it you remove to serve drizzled over the top, and the 2/3 you use for marinating and basting. The original salad at the cafe was served with greens, pea pods and diced red bell peppers. I served it as an entree, on a bed of dressed greens.

The chicken was wonderful. Definitely I’d make it again. Loved the marinade or sauce – loved that I had a little drizzle of it to put on top – just in case the chicken was dry (it wasn’t). My DH grilled it over a slower grill setting than usual (at my suggestion because I thought the chicken might burn with the sugar from the OJ concentrate) if cooked too high. He did it perfectly – it was tender and moist, and oh-so flavorful from the marinade. Once cooked I sliced the chicken in wide pieces and laid them on the dressed greens. And instead of including the sesame seeds in the marinade I sprinkled them on top just before serving.

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A year ago: Orzo Risotto
Two years ago: Danish Ground Round Steaks with Onions
Three years ago: Siciliana Sauce

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After I tasted this, I wasn’t sure I was going to post it. But as I’ve eaten the leftovers, I’m warming to it much better than I did when it was served warm, soon after it was baked. If nothing else, you just have to make the maple cream sauce topping. OMGosh. It is so good. And the crisp/cobbler is quite tasty once it sits awhile.

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Totally forgot to put in the pretty garnishes – a cinnamon stick and a half round slice of fresh orange. Just picture it there. The glasses were adorned with them when I served it (but I forgot to take a picture) so this is the leftovers that I was sipping on a few nights later . . .

About six weeks ago I posted a recipe for a white sangria that is quite similar to this. Actually, I think the original recipe is the same, but I made a few changes to both.

This sangria is VERY easy to make, as long as you have all the ingredients. The most time consuming was squeezing the fresh limes. It’s fresh orange juice, the fresh lime juice, red wine, Tuaca, Limoncello, some red vermouth and 7-up or Sprite.

The drink is very refreshing, as sangrias are. I like the additional flavor depths from the Tuaca and Limoncello. Hope you try this – it’s worth making.

A friend of mine made this sangria some months ago for a Sunday brunch thing and she put it one of those pretty beverage dispensers. It was a nice day, so we enjoyed the refreshing drink all through the meal. See photo at right.

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Whenever we come home from a long trip abroad we always talk about it on the flights, what exactly we have missed the most and what must we buy at the grocery store when we arrive. We always miss our beds. I miss my pillow, big time. And my usual morning cup of coffee latte. Naturally we buy the usual stuff: bread, milk, yogurt, fruit, cream for my coffee, fresh vegetables, coffee beans. On this trip to England, we did have vegetables. It’s just that they were the same ones, day in and day out: carrots, cauliflower and maybe green beans. Steamed only. And often just flavorless.

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It’s not every food blog you read that has pictures of toilet parts or apparatus, is it? After visiting England this last time, we talked about it several times, how practical the Brits are about flushing. Those two buttons you see there are for different quantities of flush. I won’t go into details here, but am sure you can get the picture – you use the smaller press-button for a solely fluid flush – and the larger press-button for well, you know. Why don’t we have this in the U.S.? Especially here in California where we have years of drought and currently have water rationing? Our most recent installed toilet in our house flushes with a miraculously little amount of water, and I actually don’t know how much water the British toilets use with each of the above cycles – maybe lots since they don’t have much issue with water – but the method here just seems so intelligent. Don’t you agree?

It’s also not every day I take a picture of a paper napkin. And this photo doesn’t begin to do justice to the quality and feel of this paper napkin. It was at the breakfast table both mornings we stayed at our hotel in Cheltenham. I was surreptitiously going to take mine home, hoping to find it here. Instead, I asked the hotel owner about them and she promptly brought me a stack of about six in the cellophane package wrapper. (Those I could fit in my suitcase!) They look and feel like linen napkins. But they’re not. They’re heavy and they’re paper. The design you see in the napkin is not just inking, it’s actually an embossed design. I’m smitten with these. The manufacturer (Duni) is in Britain, alas. After talking with their U.S. affiliate, unfortunately these napkins are not available anywhere here. Darn! I did my best to convince the person I spoke with that they NEED to start importing these napkins.  They’d sell like hotcakes. They’re called Elegance Lily, by Duni. Weeping going on here.

In the event you are interested in the details of our trip to England, I’ve written up a PDF 1-page listing of all the places we stayed and most of the restaurants. I didn’t include prices in most places because those change. Some of the B&Bs were 40 pounds per person per night. Others were higher like 80 pounds. Each one was different, so if you’re interested, go online to the different places and check them out.

One of the wonderful things about mid-day food in England is a Ploughman’s Lunch. It has a humble background – back in the day, the plough men needed a hearty but inexpensive lunch. It got onto a menu somewhere, sometime, and has stuck ever since. Normally you only find a Ploughman’s at a pub.

This one, which we shared at the Felin Fach Griffin (an upscale hotel and eatery in Wales – we didn’t stay there, just had one lunch and one dinner there) was one of the best we’ve ever had. The bread was house made. The two pickled things (chutney and fruit pickle) were outstanding. Starting from the left: delicious local Cheddar, some whole wheat bread, a little bowl of chutney-like fruit, some celery sticks, a small bowl of Branston Pickle (or probably their own homemade version), some cornichons and pickled onions, fresh tomatoes, apple slices and some unadorned greens in the middle.  The cheese was wonderful – you eat it with bread and a bit of the chutney stuff, maybe some of the Branston pickle stuff, and nibble on all of the other things at the same time.

I didn’t do a big single-post write-up about our hotel in Cheltenham. Most tourists wouldn’t be staying in Cheltenham, probably. We stayed there because our friend Pamela lives there. Instead of staying right in downtown, I booked us into a hotel up on the top of one of the nearby hills, called Cleeve Hill (with views of the Malvern hills). The hotel: Malvern View Hotel. It’s been recently remodeled (under new ownership) and the rooms are really nice. Lovely decor, and the breakfast food was scrumptious. They also have a small restaurant on premises, and we were sorry we didn’t get to eat there. The menus looked wonderful. If we stay again in Cheltenham, yes I’d stay there again, although the hotel does have a jillion steps (hard for Dave with his two artificial legs). All the rooms are on the upper floor. We did have a nice view out the window, though, don’t you think?

Picture at top taken at the Malvern View Hotel, Cheltenham, in their lovely remodeled bathroom that was spotlessly clean.

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When I look back on trips and places we’ve stayed, I often remember the B&B, or inn, where we’ve stayed, rather than the town itself. Our visit to South Wales was certainly the case. The owners of Lower House sent us a very detailed map of how to find their home as it’s down a 1+ mile dead end, narrow road. We got to know it well each time we wended our way out and about, then returned to the comfort of the place in the afternoons and again at night.

The B&B is a patchwork quilt of rooms, in a typically English cottage style. Low beams, low door beams too, old wooden floors, little push-out windows to provide ventilation. But the bathroom in our room was very modern. Very clean and charming. All the amenities are there, a flat-screen (small) TV, a tea tray, bottled water, a big bed with a duvet. And a delicious cooked breakfast. That’s what they call them here – a cooked breakfast.

The B&B has a lovely, big sitting room where we spent some time. It was still summer there, but July is usually the month of warmer weather – meaning sunshine and heat – not August. So, we had rain. And rain. And rain.

Hay-on-Wye was one of my included destinations on this trip because it’s composed of mostly used and antiquarian book stores. 32 of them, supposedly. We visited about four of them, I think before we got weary of ducking in and out of the rain. Besides, there is no way I could buy even one book to take home. But they were interesting to browse. Some specialized in gardening and horticulture. Others had lots of history books. I did go into one that had a big cookbook collection in their window. But I didn’t buy. It took will power, but I have no room in my suitcase for books. Especially since the airlines weigh bags these days. I suppose if I had to I could fit one book in an outside pocket of my suitcase, but I didn’t really see anything I wanted.

Actually, I went into a cookware store in Hay and DID buy two little herb crocks. One for thyme and one for oregano, the two herbs that always sit out on my kitchen counter. The “Original Suffolk Canister” crocks, pictured here, are made locally, and the they advertise that they’re suitable for home and on safari. They have rubber seals to keep the herbs fresh, you see. They were expensive (5.50 pounds or about $7.75 each). But I’ll enjoy them, reminding me of this trip. Dave bought knickers (underwear) and I bought herb crocks.

I’ll include some photos I took in and around the B&B. I’d come back here and stay anytime. The owners, Peter and Nicky Daw, are lovely hosts and the B&B is inviting, to say the least.

The sitting room in the B&B (pictured below) was just charming. Since it rained nearly the entire two days we were visiting Hay, we spent some quiet time there reading. Here’s a photo of Nicky. She was telling me all about a cookbook written by a friend of hers. She wrote out the lengthy title for me and as soon as I got home, I went online. Luckily, there was one copy here in the U.S. (used, but “new,” it said) which is on its way to me. Once I get it I’ll write up a post about it.

That was our visit to Hay-on-Wye, and it was quite lovely, even with the rain. The B&B is well known in gardening circles (a Philadelphia garden club went to Hay just to see the gardens at the Daw’s home). Nicky works a lot in her garden – I didn’t get many good photos because of the rain. But in any case, if you ever go to South Wales, do stop by to see Nicky and Peter and tell them hello for us, too.

Lower House

Cusop Dingle, Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR3 5R2

(0)777 9480783

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Once we arrived at the Beudy Bach B&B, I had to ask how the name is pronounced. Helen Pour, the owner/wife, explained it’s BYE-dee bahk. It’s Welsh for little cow shed. Their house, in an earlier incarnation, was a cow shed and barn, but was converted to a home. They have three B&B rooms. One double upstairs with an en suite bathroom (en suite is French for a private bathroom  . . you’ll see that word used throughout hotel, B&B and inn descriptions). The other two twin-bed rooms downstairs share a bathroom. Sharing a bathroom is not one of my favored travel experiences, but we only had to share one of our two nights there.

Helen and Steve are delightful hosts. They worked overtime on our behalf, actually. Not only did they make dinner recommendations and reservations for us at the Grey Hound Pub down the road, but they also made phone calls for us to find someone who would engrave us a house number plaque made from Welsh slate. Sure enough, the local undertaker was happy to oblige, even making it for us in a little over 24 hours. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and Dave fit it into his suitcase. When Dave and I visited the Lake District many, many years ago, we had a plaque made of slate with our last name and another with our (then) house number on it When we sold that house, of course the number plaque stayed with it. At our new house, there was no logical place to put the name sign. Now that we have a new number plaque, we’ll have to find the name plaque. I don’t think, though, that the two slates are the same color; that may pose a decor issue for me. Can’t mix the slate colors. The name plate has white letters. This number plaque has silver numbers.

Helen also bought a small bottle of cream (single) for me because I asked if she had any for coffee. She didn’t but she bought one just for me. That’s hospitality! She also showed me her ipad, the new hand-held Apple computer which was very fun. Loved that! We spent several hours (while it was raining outside) sitting in their light and bright kitchen – me plugged into their wi-fi, with numerous cups of tea along the way. The Pours are horse people – they don’t ride anymore, but they have several horses that are like pets.

Anyway, we enjoyed our 2-day stay at Beudy Bach, taking a long drive on the in-between day to visit the seashore near Cardiff. Dave visibly relaxes when he can smell the sea. So, if you ever find yourself in South (West) Wales and need a very gracious B&B, this one should be in your itinerary. The rooms are small, but you don’t spend that much time in them anyway. The house is very nice, modern and light. Tell Helen and Steve we said hello.

Beudy Bach B&B
Bethania Rd, Upper Tumble, Llannelli, Carmarthenshire
West Wales, SA 14 6EB
+44 (0) 1269842702

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