London Trails & Tales

Tune of the Moment: "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga-she of the recent incubating-egg-Grammy-stunt. No matter how much this song sounds like Madonna it is still a-may-za-hing and having my one year old cousin, Eugene, bop to it is even more thrilling.


I have returned to the motherland. My birthplace. The land of high tea, scones and cucumber sandwiches. I am currently visiting my cousins, Kindle and Mama Bear, in London. Supposedly this is spring break but the only signs of spring are a lack of snow (and thank gosh for that-beggars can't be choosers). I'm definitely not complaining. My version of London is synonymous with a never ending grey haze and the constant threat of impending rain. So, as I stepped of the plane, inhaling fresh, damp-smelling air I smiled, content, as the feelings of familiarity and comfort washed over me. London is my home in so many ways. I always tell people who interrogate me about my muddled accent that I was born in London, raised in South Africa and that South Africa is home. I stand by this statement. However, London holds so many memories and I have such treasured family and friemily still based here that it is a second home of sorts. And I've made sure that it feels this way by visiting as often as possible and letting my loyalty to tea, The Spice Girls and "Maltesers" malt balls be known.


The first thing I did after the short, painless flight (5 hours made quicker by watching "Made in Daggenham" and eating a log of Fine&Raw Almond Chunk chocolate) and arriving at Mama Bear's home, was drink a cup of tea. Not just any tea, I'll have you know, but Orange Pekoe's Japanese Green Cherry Tea. I was introduced to this deliciously fragrant tea by my cousins and it is only available from the Orange Pekoe store in their neighbourhood. So it has become a ritual to drink this tea in their company and whenever I dip into my own stash housed in my crowded NYC-apartment tea cupboard, I think of them.

After several cups of the above mentioned tea, and toast smothered in butter and Holland & Barrett's Apple Pear Spread (another London childhood memory of mine thanks to my mum who exists with thriving addiction to the stuff), I mustered up the energy to go for a run. Yes, a run. This is worth writing about because, although I have run recreationally for years now, I am terrified of running in new places. If I run outside, I like to have a route and to know where I'm going. A retired runner and London friemily member said that what he missed most about running was no longer being able to go for a jog in a new place and to discover it on foot. I am filled with trepidation, not excitement, at the thought of running on foreign terrain. And this anxiety usually prevents me from running and exercising when on holiday in a different city or country. Thus, I challenged myself to run regularly throughout this vacation. And so far so good. 

With verbal directions from Kindle I set out into the on-again-off-again drizzle on a route that led me alongside the Thames River. Kindle warned that it was a 20-30 minute run from the house to Hammersmith Bridge so I might want to run half way and then turn back home again to avoid a very looooong run. I set out confidently, feeling surprisingly sprightly despite a lack of sleep and being in a different time zone. After about 10 minutes the path changed from cement to dirt. I didn't have the foresight to realise the rain would have given way to muchos mud. So, determined to follow through, I slipped, slid and lurched through mud puddles as my trainers/takkies/running shoes lost their white hue to deep brown sludge. What made me even more frustrated was being outrun by hardcore London runners who didn't think twice about striding through the mud as it coated their shoes, socks and tracksuit hemlines. I have never felt like more of a sissy. When I reached the bridge I couldn't bear the thought of a repeat battle with soggy dirt, so I decided to run home on the pavement, alongside the road. It was a looooong run after all, but still enjoyable and I felt a sense of accomplishment at having overcome my "tourist running" phobia.

Muddy running shoes-the proof is in the mud.

That's enough self-praise for one day. Onto the food...We visited the local farmer's market this afternoon. What I love about this specific market is that it's small but quite beautifully stocked. There's an incredible market in Cape Town that I like to visit when I'm home. However, it's become a bit of a scene, very trendy and quite difficult to navigate without having raspberry mules sloshed onto you or standing in the remnants of someone's steak sandwich. So I think there's a lot to be said for smaller markets that showcase a handful of high quality fares and are fortunate enought to be successful without boasting the corwrds. We returned home to a lunchtime feast of hummus, caponata, lentils, beets, cooked carrot salad, lemon/garlic olives, pimento-stuffed olives, Somerset brie cheese, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel pate, baby vine tomatoes, and some other bits and bobs. Deeeeelish.

Some of the lunch spread.

I promised a recipe for homemade burgers at the end of the last post so here it is:

Mum's Lamb Burgers

500g ground lamb (or ground turkey)

1 onion 

1 egg

1 piece of bread (fresh or stale)

2 Tbspns soy sauce

2 Tbspns chutney

Handful of coriander

Salt and pepper for seasoning

For serving: ciabatta wedges drizzled with olive oil and put under the grill, avocado slices or homemade guacamole, camembert cheese (or other cheese that slices well), onion marmalade, mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, the list is endless.

1. Fry the onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. 

2. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk gently. Coat the piece of bread in the egg and allow to disintegrate slightly before crumbling it up into the egg. 

3. Add the ground lamb/turkey, the fried onion (with any remaining oil), the soy, the chutney and the coriander to the egg mixture and mix well using your hands (so much messy fun).

4. Form the mixture into small patties and lay on a baking tray or griddle pan 

(if possible, preheat the baking tray/pan in the oven before adorning with the rustically formed patties).

5. Place the patties beneath a hot grill 

(Turkey burgers are 3 minutes a side, lamb burgers are about 6 minutes a side)

6. When cooked through (don't be tempted to overcook-they really do cook that quickly!), place on your bun/roll of choice and decorate with condiments.

The pictures of the burgers didn't do them justice so I'll close off this post with a picture of the accompanying homemade sweet potato fries.

Fine, Raw & Sentimental

Tune of the moment: "Children's Montage" from the soundtrack for "Kindergarten Cop". Music composed by Randy Edelman. Yes, it's official. I am weird.


I know this specific musical choice is bizarre and you're all thinking, "Why in heaven would THAT be the tune of the moment?!" Let me explain. Firstly, I've been so ridiculously up-to-date with movie watching that there's nothing left for me to see at the cinema so I have to resort to renting videos from Itunes. Secondly, the Itunes new releases are things I've already watched on the big screen, so I have to wade through "old" films-"Sophie's Choice", "Zoolander", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Annie Hall"....and Arnold Schwarzenegger's finest work, "Kindergarten Cop".

For some reason, I had an urge to revisit the 90's and reminisce about the days of junior school, being twelve years old, and lusting after Arnold (because I didn't know any better, ok?! And I hadn't yet watched that "I Am Coming" YouTube video-if you're over thirteen you should totally YouTube it. I can't post it on this blog because I'm pretty sure I'll get chucked off blogspot.com). The following films defined the 90's for me: "Beethoven", "One Fine Day", "Mrs Doubtfire", "Made in America" and "Kindergarten Cop". So, when I feel tired of being a pseudo grownup, I escape into these films where there are children, amazingly emotionally captivating scores, dated clothing and hair styles, and happy endings.


In fact, spending my friday night with Arnold and memory lane proved to be such an injection of happiness that I gushed to my mum about it over the phone the following day. I shouldn't have been surprised when she responded to my jubilation with, "You really watched "Kindergarten Cop" last night? What an odd choice, Nicky....why? Aren't you a bit old for it?" The desire to escape, from time to time, into pre-adolescence is universal. However not everyone talks about it. For some people the antidote is behaving like a juvenile delinquent with slightly inebriated friends (note: I'm not saying I'm above this...). For others, they never leave that place of immaturity and naivety (ignorance is bliss). For me, however, my "time machine" comes in the form of childhood movies. And, more important than the films themselves, are the scores that accompany them and how they tap into my memory bank. And so we come full circle and to the point-the power of music.


Upon watching Arnold act as an undercover cop masquerading as a school teacher (helloooo, genius), I was struck by how happy hearing the score to this film made me. It brought back a flood of emotions that are connected to memories not of anything in particular, but of feeling a certain way. Tricky to describe as you can tell from my nonsensical thought process. Basically what I'm trying to say is that good film music (whether instrumental or with lyrics) triggers certain emotions and the feelings we experience upon hearing this music say with us forever and can be unearthed whenever we hear that specific music/trigger. There's some scientific research to back this up but I never managed to get through "This Is Your Brain On Music" or other such literature.


Anyway, Randy Edelman is a genius and I urge you to listen to the rather obscure soundtrack on Itunes. Turns out he also wrote the music for films such as "The Skulls" (love it), "Head Over Heels" and "Beethoven" (as a non-animal lover, that explains a lot about my emotional ties to this movie about a dog). Imagine my elation at finding this YouTube clip:

Onto the edible stuff. I've recently become an addict. And my addiction is expensive but under control-I promise. It started when a friend from SA who was studying at Berklee in Boston visited NYC and stayed with me for a night. As a thank you gift for letting him stay over, he left a small, matchbox-sized log of chocolate on my keyboard for me to find upon returning to my apartment. Initially I thought it was a lovely gift and I swiftly plonked it in my "chocolate draw." My mum will no doubt be disappointed that such a draw exists in my shoebox-of-a-home. However, if I may remind her,  she raised three children with not one, but TWO "sweet" cupboards in her home. By cupboard I mean a two-shelved piece of furniture crammed with Cadbury's Top Deck bars, Meiji Hello Panda boxes, Woolworth's Chuckles (the "extra value" packets), Nestle Kit Kats, Maynards Wine Gums, and so much more. And that was only one cupboard. The other cupboard houses (yes, present tense, both cupboards are still stocked and armed) "higher-end" fare like Lindt Chocolate (the dark sea salt bar is amayzahing), Ferrero Rocher containers that were mostly gifts (we're not big fans), Massam's Nougat (proudly South African and the best), my dad's supply of Cote d'Or elephant chocolates and brands like Green & Black and Vosges (my contribution). So, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree but the upside is I also own a Kiwi-brand "meat" knife and nice a Kalkbay pottery spoon rest....so I've inherited a love for the good and the questionable.

But I digress. The gift from my visitor. The chocolate sat in its draw, untouched, for a good month while I went home to frolick in the sun and eat kingklip fish. I returned to a grey, snowy New York and found myself at home, late at night, recovering from Paul Newman's microwave popcorn and craving something sweet. I remembered the chocolate stashed in the draw and fished it out hoping it would hit the spot. And did it ever. The molten, dense log of fudgy brown bliss was earthy with a hint of sweetness and I ate it ever so slowly, using my front teeth to chip away at it's surface, savouring each nibble. I've never been one to savour things I adore. I'm often able to save them till last-the sweet potato fries accompanying my burger, or the soft polenta sitting next to my fish-but they disappear rapidly once I've started devouring them. And I've always been scornful of people who manage to eat half a chocolate bar and leave the other half lying around, untouched, for days or weeks. It shows weakness of character in my opinion. Eat it and eat it aaaaaall. And deal with the regret later when you have a sugar hangover. Take it like a man.

Well, this chocolate has changed my gluttonous ways. Maybe because it's all natural (vegan, no refined sugar, dairy free) and that tweaks my psychological connection to anything sweet, but I've managed to consume a piece, and only a piece, of this kind of chocolate every time I've eaten it for the past week. The only problem is that is costs an arm and a leg. But there are other raw brands that are really good and are cheaper so I'm not lingering on the price of my new addiction-it's chocolate that is actually good for me, doesn't comprise too much of the bad stuff that exists in other candy, and I'm able to eat it in moderation. So, a picture of my new love:

Teaser for the next blog: homemade turkey burgers...mmm..uh huh uh huh.

Symphony in Green & Gold

Tune of the Moment: "Get Busy Living" by Goldfish, featuring Emily Bruce.


One of the things I love about being a South African living in New York is that there is sooooo much amazing music, across the board, that exists in my home country and I get to share it with people from other countries who may not have been exposed to it. I'm so proud of the myriad of talented South African artists that exist, and it's such a thrill to witness people hearing and enjoying something new.


Goldfish is a duo comprising David Poole and Dominic Peters-both graduates of the SA College of Music (my alma mater) and Cape Town boys making SA proud. Here's their EPK:

Not only are they skilled jazz musicians, but they epitomise what SA, and particularly Cape Town, is all about. They're laid back, genuinely nice guys who rock matching tans year-round. They also have a knack for featuring some of the best vocalists in the country (Sakhile Moleshe, Monique Hellenberg, Emily Bruce). I consider myself so lucky to know several of Goldfish's featured singers and cannot urge you all enough to check out their work with the band. Get hooked on Goldfish! Here's their latest music video for the title track off their new album "Get Busy Living" and it features the phenomenal voice of Emily Bruce.

Now onto food....can one ever consume too much green food? I don't think so. How can something with such an incredible hue be bad for you in any way, shape or form?! I used to make a breakfast smoothie using Patrick Holford's smoothie powder. I'd throw in soy milk, the powder, a banana and frozen blueberries and marvel, every single time, at the intense violet colour of the concoction. And I would wonder, aloud, how something so screamingly purple and proud could NOT be amazing for one's health? After my audible rhetoric, my father would, being the only person in the kitchen, ask if I was consuming "anti oxidants that would eliminate the free radicals?" He can smirk all he wants, but research has shown that consuming a diet filled with varied colours is good for you.


So, recently I've been craving green foods. This is good news since I frequent phases where my chosen "food" is brown, saccharine and addictive. My usual reaction to combat these "green" cravings is to throw in a handful of spinach to everything I eat-pasta dishes, rice bowls, steamed as a side dish. It tends to maintain it's green shimmer better than avocados, or steamed broccoli or french beans. However, as you saw with my sudden grain obsession, I've been feeling adventurous and I bravely bought a clump of kale and broccoli slaw. Kale is touted as being super nutritious and good for you. Broccoli Slaw is a Trader Joe's invention and it is BRILLIANT. It's basically julienned stems of broccoli (the nicest and sweetest part of the veg) and a couple julienned pieces of carrot (I don't care much for carrot-after all, it isn't green). I also harnessed my new found courage and soaked and cooked my own chickpeas/garbanzo beans (much more delish than the canned variety but I would still happily eat the canned ones). 

I've also recently rediscovered my love for leeks. Yes, leeks. Their subtle, sweet flavour and delicate, pale lime circular appearance bring me happiness that is second to none. I'm no expert at cooking kale but I do know that I don't care for it raw. And because I'm scared by it's raw appearance, which is bristly and uninviting, I like to chop it up and steam it in the microwave until it's softer and less intimidating before adding it to the dish or cooking it further.

So, without further ado...

Symphony In Green

Bunch of chopped kale 

Handful of baby spinach leaves 

 Broccoli slaw 

(for Trader Joe-less readers, take broccolini or tenderstem broccoli and finely julienne the stems)

Half a leek, finely sliced

A clove of garlic chopped up as finely as you can get it

A handful of roughly chopped coriander/cilantro

A lemon 

Optional: chickpeas, lentils or any other legume

(you could also add a grain-brown rice, quinoa- for a complete meal)

Steam the kale, spinach leaves and broccoli slaw until partially cooked. Heat up some olive oil and gently cook the garlic and leeks until soft. Add the steamed green veg, season with salt and pepper, and add a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Throw in your optional add-ins and toss in the chopped coriander. 

Consume while watching episodes of  CBS's "The Good Wife" and you will be a green, mean, fighting machine.

Cosmic Love & Thomas Keller

Tune of the Moment: "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine.


She is just so cool. I don't know what else to say. Am a wee bit depressed that she's not only my age, but six days younger than I. Not that a masters degree in jazz performance is part of my plot to become a massive UK pop star....but I'm sure you know what I mean. Perhaps I'll dye my hair red-orange.... Here's a particularly nice vid of an accoustic version of "Cosmic Love"-I also love her outift even though my mum would describe it as "oudedoos". And I love what she does with her hand at the end-echoing the harpist's patterns.

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I was on such a good blogging roll. Drat. And I get very tetchy when my favourite blogs aren't updated daily-it's like expecting a new newspaper everyday and not receiving it on a particular morning because all the journalists collectively decided to sit in their pyjamas eating oat bran pancakes and watching episodes of "The Good Wife." Of course, that's not what I've been doing...


However, I have not completely forgotten my lovely readers (who comprise a handful of family members and some musician friends I Jewish-guilt-trip into reading my scrawlings). I have researched long and hard for this particular post and, with a mad flourish, I present....an interview with my friend, fellow jazzer and foodie, Lohr (of course that's not his real name, just a mispronunciation of his surname, and he didn't want to go incognito, but I think it's more mysterious this way...).


Lohr is a 20-something version of Lee Konitz. Lohr is also the son of an Italian chef. Lohr is also from Tarpon Springs, Florida (I always thought he was from Miami but that's just because I love "The Birdcage" and my geography skills are god awful). Lohr is obsessed with Thomas Keller of "French Laundry" fame. Lohr claims to make an incredible chocolate torte but the only version of said torte that I've been fortunate enough to sample was burnt. I still ate it....every crumb....gone. Depsite the folding torte, Lohr is a very, very, very good cook and has the innate talent of just "throwing" things together and knowing how much seasoning is in a fist-full. He is obviously really of Italian descent...he's not just lying. A kindred spirit of sorts, it's been psychologically reinforcing to find someone who understands that good pistachio gelato must be discussed at every possible moment, and that Levain cookies should be eaten. Daily. Like a vitamin or supplement.

Thomas Keller

1. Apples or Oranges?

It's really hard to choose between the two, because that would be just like comparing...eh, sorry.

When apples are at their peak in the fall it's hard to resist them. Not only are they incredibly delicious andversatile (from pies to fries) but they also keep doctors away! For all other times of the year though I'm going to have to go with oranges. My hands are covered with rinds right now.

2. Is breakfast indeed the most important meal of the day? If so, describe your perfect breakfast.

Breakfast is my absolute favorite meal of the day. In fact, breakfast is such a great meal that (as many people might agree) you can eat it any time of the day. For example: have you ever woken up at seven o'clock in the morning craving a thick slab of steak with mashed potatoes and a side of mushroom gravy? Didn't think so. Pancakes, eggs, coffee and the like will win every time. With this said, I'm a huge fan of a big, southern country breakfast. Give me a homemade biscuit with country ham, soft scrambled eggs, aged cheddar and raspberry preserves along with some roasted potatoes, tomatoes  and a freshly brewed cup of coffee and I'll be smiling like a five year old riding a pony for the first time.

3. What do you look for in a good cup of coffee?

I personally like my coffee as strong as motor oil. The coffee should have such a great, intense flavor that you wouldn't dare upset the natural balance of it's universe with sweeteners or creamers. My coffee should wake me up and prepare me to take on the day; if I wanted a liquid candy bar for a drink I'd grab a Snickers and head to the microwave.

4. If Mario Batali and Thomas Keller got in a fight who would win?

Ah, my two favorite chefs. If we are speaking in terms of a culinary fight, this would be an incredibly close battle. Mario, with his rustic yet elegant Italian cooking would have a run for his money against his home-schooled yet sophisticated Americana chef rival. Though Keller's dishes might edge out Batali in creativity and/or complexity, I might have to go with Batali on this one. Homestyle "like your grandma made it" Italian cuisine gives you such a comforting, warm feeling inside that when done at such a high level nothing else can really compare. If we're talking about an actual fight though, Batali hands down. I don't think that match-up would be fair.

5. Your favourite flavour of ice cream is....

Eek. That's like asking me to pick my favorite Fanta girl. It depends on what I'm in the mood for!

Just kidding! But seriously, each season has me channeling different flavors/emotions (yes, I believe different ice creams evoke different emotions in all of us!) In the fall, pumpkin ice cream reigns supreme. Nothing screams fall quite like the flavors of pumpkin and spices on a brisk October day. Winter time calls for salted dark chocolate hazelnut (you just want to hibernate after eating some). In the spring I'll take good ol' fashioned mint chocolate chip, and in the summertime a pear or blood orange sorbet will shut me up any time of the day. With all of this in mind, I'll pretty much eat any kind of ice cream, any time of the year. A weird favorite of mine is avocado ice cream with fresh strawberries (best in the summertime).

6. The soundtrack to you preparing dinner would be...

When I'm cooking I like to zone into whatever I'm doing; therefore any other background noise/music usually gets blocked out of my mind. On the other hand, I sometimes enjoy listening to some of my favorite artists ranging from jazz to rock- John Coltrane, Patrick Watson, Bill Evans and Sufjan Stevens to name a few.

7. Linguine or Penne?

Depends! Before I choose a specific type of pasta to use I almost always take into consideration what kind of dish I want to make. I might choose penne for a heartier dish, say with a spicy hazelnut pesto, goat cheese and italian sausage. But if I'm in the mood for a simple pasta with garlic and olive oil-linguini all the way. 

Small tip: One thing I love doing with day old cooked pasta is crisping it up in a pan over high heat with olive oil, salt and pepper.  The texture/flavor the pasta achieves after this process adds so much to the already prepared meal!

8. The most useful spice for seasoning food is...

In my opinion, the most useful and versatile spice for seasoning all food is none other than salt. It should enhance and bring out the flavors that are already present in whatever food you are preparing. I was taught that if you can taste the salt in any dish, it's probably too salty. Aside from this, my favorite spice to use has to be nutmeg. The earthiness and warm sweetness it can bring to meats, vegetables and desserts can evoke a longing for autumn any time of the year.

9. What would you add to a basic tomato sauce to make it sparkle and special?

Tomato sauce is a serious subject for me. My father taught me his recipe when I was thirteen years old, and I have been ever since trying to break free of his shadow and turn that recipe into one of my own. There are so many different things to do with tomato sauce! This past summer when I was in Sicily visiting family my aunt made hers with eggplant, peas and a bit of crushed red pepper. Sometimes I'll render down applewood smoked slab bacon before cooking the onions and garlic to give it a nice smoky flavor. Also, adding and reducing different wines within the cooking process can add depth and deepen the flavors for the end resulting sauce. A favorite of mine includes Italian sausage, thyme, parmigianno reggiano and white wine.

10. Your favourite winter ingredient is...

Winter's harvest includes some of my favorite foods- it's hard for me to choose just one! I enjoy butternut squash,  beets, chestnuts, and blood oranges to name a few. Thanks to my Italian/Jewish heritage I think I have the worst sweet tooth known to mankind, and therefore love to take one/all of these ingredients and turn them into some sort  of dessert. Blood orange sorbet is a favorite of mine, along with a chestnut and honey cake my father used to make all the time when I was growing up. On that note, I think it's time for me to make some of that cake, er, get some work done. Happy eating!

Lohr's Tome/Bible/Most Prized Possesion

Rice Bowl Wisdom

Tune of the Moment: Iron & Wine's "Sunset Soon Forgotten" off their album "Our Endless Numbered Days."


It's terribly difficult cooking for one. I've spoken to many people about this challenge, hoping to acquire some tricks that'll make it easier. I adore food. I adore cooking. But I also adore the rituals and traditions that accompany consuming a meal or even a tea time treat.


When I'm home in Cape Town during the summer months, meals are consumed at our kitchen table. The wooden table itself seems to grow lengthways to accommodate bread boards laden with ciabatta, challah, and croissants, cheese boards boasting camembert, Simonsberg cream cheese and rounds of Saint Andre, tubs of hummus (butternut hummus, beetroot hummus, sundried tomato hummus), cold rotisserie chicken, "no leaf" salads parading broccolini, french beans, raw zucchini ribbons, bejeweled with dried cranberries and toasted pecan nuts, and countless desserts (Nigella's chocolate/raspberry torte, Mum's melktert, sister K's vanilla malt ice cream). As impressive as the spread is, my family's excitement for tastes, colours, textures, conversation and these congregations is even more extraordinary. And I am incredibly lucky to have grown up witnessing such love and passion, summer after summer.


Cape Town in the winter months is far quieter. We generally don't have visiting cousins, aunts and uncles, so mealtimes are enjoyed by my immediate family. There is usually a big pot of soup (Moroccan Chickpea, or Green Pea, or Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato), grated gruyere cheese or slices of veal sausages (depending on the choice of soup), homemade lamb burgers (with the necessary condiments-ketchup mayonnaise, onion marmalade, slices of avocado, etc.) and something green. These winter table rituals are slightly quieter but no less satisfying.


So you can understand that it is an adjustment every time I return to New York from a stint in South Africa. I suddenly find myself alone, in my flat, sans a proper table never mind the guests to adorn it. I'm not feeling sorry for myself-I simply adore my own space. But, it's tricky going from so much choice and sensory assault to being restrained and responsible. The trend I've established so far is to make a big batch of rice or quinoa or farro (basically, a grain of some sort) at the beginning of the week, and to add different vegetables and legumes to it throughout the week. It may sound basic and uninventive, but it's satisfying and because grains are so neutral, it's like having a blank canvas and an endless choice of colours. Here is a picture of today's lunch.

I used a mix (home-mixed) of red rice, wild rice and brown basmati rice. For the "something green", I added steamed broccolini and french beans (slightly smaller and thinner than normal beans), and wilted spinach (it's the easiest way to incorporate green veg into your meals-have a big bag of baby spinach in the fridge and throw in a handful any time you need a pop of green). I fried some celery and mushrooms (mixed pack of oyster, shiitake and brown) in zahtar and paprika (you could add turmeric, cumin, coriander, a mix of all three-basically any spices to up the flavour game) and added some brown lentils. Mix it all together and voila-rice bowl. Now you all know what I generally eat, day to day, and you have a visual too....I feel very vulnerable.

Since I'm "putting it all out there," I shall also reveal that I ate a blood orange earlier this morning. Blood oranges must have the most intoxicatingly gorgeous colour, which makes devouring them so much more thrilling. I leave you with a snap of the "giver of joy."

R.I.P.  Giver of Joy

1st Feb 2011 to 2nd Feb 2011

Afternoons with Maria Schneider

Tune of the Moment: "Hey Baby" performed by Duke Ellington and his orchestra. This album features Rosemary Clooney (George Clooney's aunt) and is one of her best. Looooove it: "Blue Rose." Buy it today!

I just got home after a looooong Tuesday. Tuesdays are always long-3 classes back-to-back running from 3pm till 9:30pm. So please forgive the brief nature of this post (rather post something than not post at all!).

On a very different note to that of Rosemary Clooney crooning with Ellington & Co., I attended my second master class/lecture with the ever-inspiring Maria Schneider. Maria is a Minnesota-born, Grammy-winning composer and arranger. She has studied with Bob Brookmeyer and was Gil Evans' assistant for some time. More impressive than her training and accolades is her incredible personality. She is simply an inspiration-not only to female musicians-but to arrangers, composers, bandleaders and jazzers everywhere. Her lecture today comprised her reading excerpts of "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. It was such an enlightening, philosophically comforting and inspiring two hours. Should you get the opportunity to hear her orchestra play, I cannot urge you enough to go go go.

So, here's a clip of of the Maria Schneider Orchestra playing their annual Thanksgiving residency at the Jazz Standard in NYC. The song is one of my favourites, "Journey Home" and I love how she talks to the band before they start playing-gives you insight into her down-to-earth nature. No affectation, just straight forward and real.

As for the food component of this post...Woolworths Onion Marmalade. I mentioned it in a previous post and thought I should reiterate it's yumminess once again. I would make my own onion marmalade but I suspect I'm too terrified to find out exactly how much sugar is necessary to attain that almost black, deep-flavoured, saccharine substance. Besides, the Woolworths brand is so delicious that it would be wrong to try and create a superior version. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Some things you can do with Woolworths Onion Marmalade:
-Brilliant with fish cakes
-Brilliant with roast chicken (especially Nando's Lemon & Herb chicken)
-Brilliant with ripe camembert cheese on toast or crackers
-Brilliant dolloped on top of mushroom barley or mushroom risotto
-Brilliant as the base for an artichoke and onion marmalade tart
-Brilliant eaten with a teaspoon, late at night, after a long day of classes, alone, while it snows outside...