Archive for May, 2009
Slow Cook Sunday – Russian baked cheesecake
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food on May 31st, 2009
Something a little different this weekend, sweet rather then savoury. This is an old recipe which I found in a great book “The Man Who Ate Everything” by Jeffrey Steingarten. The book has some of the best witting on food bar none by a non-professional. I’ve been using the recipe for ten years and have yet to taste better or improve on it. Baking is not an area to divert from the recipe or to try and cut corners, so I’ll detail the full recipe for a change and urge you to stick to it to get the best results.
Ingredients
200g digestive biscuits
1.5tbs melted butter
320g caster sugar
1kg cream cheese (Phily or good alternative)
2tbs plain flour
4 large eggs
250ml sour cream
pinch salt
4cm Vanilla pod very finely chopped.
Pre-heat your oven at 165degC.
Line a 25cm spring form tin.
Crush the biscuits and add 40grams of the sugar before mixing in the melted butter, cover the base of the tin running a little up the sides.
Cream the sugar and cream cheese well.
Add flour and a pinch of salt, mix in.
Split the eggs a beat the yolks before adding to the cream cheese mix, mix.
Add sour cream then beat mix till smoothly combined.
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites careful to retain air.
Gently pour into tin.
Bake in preheated oven for an hour, turn if it browns to much on one side.
After an hour turn oven off and leave in for an other hour. It will still be wobbly at this point, the hour in the oven switched off will set it, don’t keep opening oven to check though as you will loose the heat. The extra hour should prevent it from cracking too much as well.
Allow to chill fully once out the oven as it will be soft. Use a nice hot knife (dipped in hot water) to slice. Nice on it’s own or with some fresh Raspberries.
Domestique?
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Bicycles on May 29th, 2009
It’s time to tell you a little more about were the name for this blog came from. On my about page I have given a perfunctory explanation. But I feel you may want further explanation, starting with the cycling.
For those not inured or indoctrinated into pro cycling the role of the Domestique seems strange and in some ways unsporting.
Slow Sunny Cook Sunday – Spanish Sausage Caserole
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food on May 24th, 2009
With the sun shining on England its not the time to be slow cooking in a hot kitchen you might think. Well yes, so inspired by the Mediterranean weather I knocked up a quick one pot dish before hitting the road for a hard bike stewing in the heat while my food did the same.
I came home toasted to a nice unctuous pot of lovely stew and the final hour of today’s Giro stage on the telly, each exciting in there own way.
So what went in the pot? First some paprika packed pork sausages were browned off in there own fat. Then in some olive oil a whole roughly chopped onion sweated with some diced chorizo and bacon. When this was soft in went eight cloves of chopped garlic, diced red peppers, a couple of chili’s and a table spoon of hot smokey Spanish paprika. Cooked down for five minutes I then added a tin of crushed tomatoes, a good glass of red wine, a tin of butter beans, sliced carrots, diced potatoes and some stock to finish.
It’s actually far to hot to the dish for tonight’s warm evening, but it will make a perfect lunch this week when normalcy kicks in too the English summer and it goes back to grey drizzle. Now I’m of to sit in the garden, drink Sicilian lemonade and pretend I’m by the Mediterranean.
Boil your Bidons Friday – Ride more, not harder
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Bicycles on May 22nd, 2009
Ride more and more importantly often but not too hard all the time.
I’ve been guilty of not riding much this month. But a month of hard long miles in April just saw me crash into May with fatigue and stress. So ride more often but avoid over training. The power and hard man physique only come from lots of base miles.
Slow Cook Sunday – Chili
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food on May 17th, 2009
I’m writing this while a nice batch of Chiliesque luvlyness bubbles away on the back of the stove. It is destined to be my lunch or emergency dinner for the beginning of the week. The little rest before consuming giving the flavours that bit longer to develop. It is now a Sunday ritual in my house now, which I’m going to share with you each week for inspiration and ideas. I will be giving you recipes too, but they are simply for guidance or to trigger your imagination.
The chili on the stove is made up of:
- half a kio of lean beef mince browned and set aside
- Onion, garlic, chili’s, and Romano peppers swea ed together
- Smoky paprika, dried oregano, chopped parsley and a beef stock cube added for flavour
- tinned crushed tomato, red wine and water
- salt and peper natch
A couple of hours slow cooking and it will all be ready.
What are you cooking this afternoon?
Boil your Bidons Friday – Clean your tyres
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Bicycles on May 15th, 2009
This weeks tip is something we all neglect keeping your tyres clean. Cleaning your tyres is, after keeping enough air in them the key to healthy puncture free tyres. If like me you spend too much money on obscure handmade European tyres you want to look after them and even if you just buy the bin end specials it still worth doing to reduce your chance of punctures. So how does cleaning help apart from making them look nice? Well it’s the only way you can locate the little flints, thorns and bit’s of broken glass that embed them selves in your soft rubber while riding the streets. These can all lead to punctures and leave nice cuts to attract more trouble. So when you have finished cleaning your bike and its nice dry and shiny it’s time to give the tyres a bit of love. Close inspection of the tyres coupled with a small flat head screw driver and/or tweezers will have them flint/glass free and some time spent with super glue will close up those puncture attracting cuts. Less punctures, better tyre life and check the air pressure for good measure.
Five reason to love my (Ridley Crossbow) cross bike
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Bicycles on May 13th, 2009
Some of the reasons in no particular order:
- Comfy cockpit – shorter top tube and less bar drop than my usual racers means less strain on my back.
- Multi purpose – fast on the road with a rack for commuting and knoblies to have fun on the single track on the way home.
- Fun – stiff frame and sharp steering make it fast, snappy and fun.
- FSA crankset – sexy and stiff. 46-36 is close ratio and usable in the real world.
- Belgian hardman chic – form follows function PRO.
Boil your Bidons Friday – Arm warmers
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Bicycles on May 8th, 2009
Arm warmers, yep simple things and if you use them already then this article is not for you. I bought some reasonably priced black Lusso arm warmers nigh on five years ago and have not looked back. They are an integral part of my cycling wardrobe and get worn for eight months of the year when its just warm enough not to need a full sleeve jersey and its a rare summers day when I can be sure of not needing them.
So what makes them so great? They keep your arms warm natch, but then half an hour into your ride and the sun comes out you can role them done and cool of and catch some rays, then on the shady descent, back up they role with out hopping of your bike. If you get real lucky with the weather they are thin enough to stuff in a jersey back pocket too. There comfy and aero, no baggy sleeves to flap and funnel wind up to your armpits. And they just look PRO.
Stijn Devolder photo by Ed W
Sunny rides and scrummy sandwiches
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Bicycles on May 6th, 2009
On holidays at the moment so after a bit of a sleep in, coffee and breakfast I jumped on the bike and went for a bit of a ride. Nothing too strenuous, a loop around the lake, a few miles down the bridleway, cut across the moors to grand union canal then a final loop round lake then home. A nice flattish one hour loop with a bit of single track thrown in for fun.
Grand Union Canal
Being a week day it was quiet which was pleasant, means I could lit rip a bit more on shared paths which were near empty. Funny moment at the lake at the end of the ride. A couple of ladies started feeding the ducks bread, the Canada Geese saw this and stormed in like the Met Police charging a climate change protest. I had to avoid about twenty hungry looking geese on the warpath, the ladies dumped the bread and legged it. No damage done, all though I did have to clean a load of duck manure of the bike when I got home.
Fresh air and exercise made me ravenous so had a holiday treat of a fresh fish finger bap mmm.
Fresh fish finger bap
This is why you’re fat
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food, Links on May 4th, 2009
Great website of junk food designed to cause as much calorific damage as possible. Mmm fried pork fat.
Pieces of pork fat, meat, and skin twice deep fried.