The Drayton Arms

The Drayton Arms, Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, built in 1860 and then rebuilt 1891, has to get a tremendous honourable mention here. We stumbled across this pub on our way back from Brompton Cemetery. Very charming and cozy and quite taken with the fact that there is a theatre upstairs. Still trying to figure out why I didn't take a photo of our lunch... guess not everything needs to be photographed or probably and more likely, too busy tucking into our scrumptious plates, my husband had the Devonshire Cheddar and Pancetta Burger and I had the Chicken Milanese. The gentleman that was working behind the bar, was the presumed host, delightful and friendly and the service fantastic. The pub had such a warm and elegant feel to it. The food was spectacularly delicious and hit the spot. Worth a visit and revisit! 

Ode to The Drayton Arms. Thank you and until next time... 

Wheaten Biscuits

 

An easy biscuit to graze your tea time or cheese board at any season. A harmoniously golden crisp biscuit with a buttery crunch texture and taste.  

Wheaten Biscuits

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 1/2 cups (175 g) whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoon poppyseeds

1/2 cup (1 stick/100g) unsalted butter, cubed

3 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons cold water

Preheated oven to 400ºF (200ºC) and line a baking tray or two with parchment paper.

Add the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, sugar and poppyseeds to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse all the ingredients together a few time to combine.

Add the cold cubed butter to the food processor and blitz until you have a coarse meal consistency. Keep the food processor running as you drizzle in the milk. Then drizzle in the cold water. You want the biscuit dough to just come together. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and just give it a few quick squeezes to bring everything together. Pat and then using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 4mm thick, then use a 2 to 3 inch round cutter to cut out as many rounds as you can. Use an offset spatula to help lift the cut rounds off the surface and transfer them to the prepared baking tray. Re-roll any scraps of dough to cut out more biscuits. 

Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges have turned light brown. Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with fresh fruit, cheese, butter or jam.

Tom Cribb revisted, mulled wine and cherry bakewell tarts

 

Well it just wouldn't be proper if we didn't return to Tom Cribb's. I had my usual fish and chips and my husband had the steak and ale pie, see in the background. Both scrumptious as ever, and yes, I needed help with mine, because look at the size of the fish!

Mulled wine in three glasses. Being in London so close to Christmas had some inviting drinks to try. Along with the Hotel Chocolat beverages this was second and at almost every pub and restaurant. When it was festively offered we happily had a glass... or two.  

This time we tried Waitrose cherry bakewell tart. Similar to the M&S we tried on our last visit, from what I can remember. Very buttery and flaky and still sweet. They went down lovely with a nice cup of tea at the end of the day. 

Dishoom Kensington ~ London

 

Another delightful place we throughly enjoyed was Dishoom Kensington, just off the Kensington High Street. The menu was extensive which made it hard to decide because everything sounded absolutely delish. Our lunch was light and sharable, lamb samosas, Chicken Briyani, spiced vegetables with chilli peppers and a smooth cooling cucumber yoghurt salad. 

One or two of these wouldn't go amiss. We happily sipped on one of the most well crafted infused margaritas, The Dishoom Margarita, as we nibbled on complementary poppadoms and sauces waiting for our lunch to arrive. 

Dessert? How could we not resist after reading the dessert menu. No sharing here as my husband tried the most comforting creamy rice pudding, Basmati Kheer, topped with blueberry compôte. Delicately rich and creamy.     

As for myself, I tried the mixed fruit crumble, Coconutty Fruit Crumble. A medley of sweetly tart pineapple, apple and raspberries with a toasted coconut crumble topped with coconut ice cream. Crunchy, sweet and very coconutty. Absolute scrumptious heaven! 

Hotel Chocolat ~ Hot Chocolate

 

We have received gifts and even ordered from Hotel Chocolate before so it was an absolute treat to go to the Hotel Chocolat shop, Monmouth Street, Covent Garden in London. We got a very decadent hot chocolate with the most rich and creamy whip topping. Being in London at the end of October and for most of November really gave us a cross section of seasons and seasonal delights. The hot chocolate was exquisite and the ultimate, so much so that we went back on another day to indulge some more, that time savouring a dark chocolate mocha. The Café, beverage bar has it set so you choose your style of drink, hot, iced or choc shake then you choose your flavour, with approximately 20 flavours for you to choose from. Some of the flavours offered were Salted Caramel & Clementine, Dark Mint, Ginger, and Black Forest Gateau. It may be truly a chocolate lovers dream however they do offer seasonal exclusives, plus cacao ice cream, and coffee and tea amongst their other chocolate products and even have a free members sign up, VIP.ME, for exclusives, which I did, obviously. 

Lost Souls Pizza

A pizza parlour that was on our list to try was Lost Souls Pizza in London. The Lost Boys movie, vampire, 80's theme did not go a miss with us and we revelled in the cozy wrap around decor and the homage to a classic cult movie.  

The interior has a spooky bijou bar to create devilishly splendid cocktails to sip with plenty to glance at and look up to the ceiling to. Our host which was our server also was seraphic and absolutely rocked!

Most pizzas are made with a charcoal crust. My husband opted for the Texas BBQ Massacre pizza, whisky shredded pork, pickles, crispy onions, BBQ sauce pentagram. There are vegetarian and vegan options available for pizzas as well.   

I had the Jack Skelly, butternut sauce, Goat's cheese, sun-dried tomato, red onion, Balsamic pentagram. This pizza was scrumptious! For a pizza parlour that's themed this was some of the best pizza we've tried. I highly recommend trying Lost Souls Pizza if you are in the mood and around London and it's definitely a revisit for us. 

Samhain ~ Halloween ~ All Hallows Eve ~ Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake

 

Samhain - Halloween - All Hallows Eve - October 31 to November 1, in the Northern Hemisphere - is a Celtic festival marking the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter and is considered to be the darker half of the year. The skies are turning grey, the leaves have fallen from the trees and the garden is bare. It is a time where we honour the dead, protect the living and petition the spirits for wisdom and prediction. 

Death is a reoccurring theme during this time as boundaries dissolve and the veils between worlds during equinoxes and solstices are at their thinnest. That is why it is believed that the spirits, faeries, ancestors and darker entities could more easily roam our lands as the portal between our world and theirs is considered to be at its thinnest; therefore we want to honour and hold offerings to our ancestors, the dead, the departed and the otherworldly for this reason. 

Samhain is a magical time. As the dark half of the year begins, death is followed by rebirth, the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year, it's a time of rest and reflection as we go inward to honour the darkness as we descend into winter and the darker half of the year. Remember... light is born from darkness and darkness has potential and growth... through death we find rebirth.

Other festivals celebrated during or around this time are: Day of the Dead (Mexico), Day of those who have Died/Undas/Araw ng mea Yomao (Philippines), Dia de Finados (Brazil), All Saints' Day (Christian), All Souls' Day (Roman Catholic & Christian), Hallowmas (Christian), Martinmas/Armistice Day (Scottish/British/UK), Remembrance Day (Canada/World, November), The Huron Feast of the Dead (Wyandot Nation - Canadian, Ontario, Canada) and another Celtic tradition, Feast of the Dead/Féile Na Marbh, (Irish) and Diwali (Hindu, mid-October/mid-November, movable).

Happy Samhain blessings and Happy Halloween/All Hallows Eve to those who celebrate. 

 

 Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup milk

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts 

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts, if using. Cut in the cold butter and either using a pastry cutter or a fork or your clean hands, mix to create a crumbly oatmeal like texture. 

Drizzle Icing:

1 cup (120 g) icing sugar 

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, whisk all the ingredients together. Drizzle over cake.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch or an 8-inch square baking tin. Set aside.

Make the crumb topping, see recipe above, and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger until combined. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, olive oil, maple syrup and milk. Stir until the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients are just combined, do not over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and spread evenly. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top and gently press it down into the batter.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, a few moist crumbs are fine. If the toothpick has a wet batter increase the baking time to 5 minute intervals until the cake is done. 

Once the cake is done, remove from oven. Make the drizzle icing, see recipe above, and drizzle over warm or cooled cake, which ever you prefer.