Fresh As…

Did you realise you could enjoy The Freshest Coffee in the World, anytime you like? Here’s how…

Really fresh coffee is like fresh bread – so unbelieeevably good you’ll wonder how you ever put up with the plastic stuff. And it’s not difficult to make: ‘slow-roasted coffee’ is just a marketing slogan – all it takes is 10 minutes in a good hot oven.

Forget £200 home-roasters, all you really need is a £40 electric coffee mill – available from JohnLewis, of course 😉 I’ve been buying raw beans from JamesGourmetCoffee.co.uk for over a year now and roasting at home in our electric fan-oven, and now I can’t buy ground coffee any more – it just doesn’t cut it…!

The raw ‘green’ beans are frankly unpromising: small, silver-grey-green, rock hard and seemingly inert. I can’t imagine how anyone ever thought you could use these things to produce the world’s most popular hot drink. But after ten minutes at 230 degrees C the transformation is complete: out come little shiny brown, crunchy nuggets of the most intense and recognisable flavour.

Place a handful or two on a baking tray and after 4 minutes or so you’ll start to notice that acrid, bitter smell of real coffee roasting – if you’re my age or older you’ll recognise the smell from walking past Cawardines on Whiteladies Road or wherever… Another minute and you’ll hear the first few beans pop and crack as they expand and shed their outer skin (the ‘silverskin’).

DON’T be tempted to open the oven door as the temperature drop will ruin the process. Be patient… it doesn’t take long. Nine minutes should give you a medium roast, ten medium-dark and so on. All ovens are different so it will take a bit of trial and error, but go for less time and more heat rather than longer in the oven.

Once the time’s up the beans need to be chilled immediately to stop the roasting process – I put them straight in the freezer in a metal colander for a minute or two. Discard the now papery-brown ‘silverskin’ – which contributes nothing to the flavour – and then grind before brewing your coffee however you normally do… Enjoy!!

Next time: more about the roasting process…

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Below: Krups GVX231 Burr Mill Grinder, see here… Don’t be tempted to buy a £20 blade ‘grinder’ – they really don’t work. A consistent grind is absolutely crucial for all brewing methods.

You can’t go wrong with a Moka pot… 😛

DIY Banksy

I’d been wanting to add some visual interest to our redecorated bedroom and finally got around to doing something about it. I took the Banksy book to work on Friday having picked out a few pieces which I thought might work on the wall, deciding on the one with the Leopard slinking away having broken through the ‘bar-code’ cage. I took a photo with my iPhone and then scaled it up to a size which would fit on 8 A4 pages: 80cm x 60cm. Then split this one image into the 8 individual A4 pieces and printed them out at work.

I spent Saturday morning carefully cutting around the parts of the image on each A4 page to make the stencil, which took a good four hours with a steady hand and a sharp blade. Having spent the afternoon at Tara’s in Chelmsford meeting some friends from Australia, we got back in the evening and I stuck the 8 panels on the wall with some spray-mount, protecting the surrounding area with plenty of newspaper; and then set to work with the spray can… Just as Banksy would have done 😉

I really wasn’t sure how it would come out, so it was quite exciting to peel off the mask and reveal the final result… was pretty happy with it in the end. Looks good opposite the Tom Lewis print above the fireplace.

Veg Patch

We’ve bought some big fat beams from a local timber merchant to shore up the raised vegetable patch, and will divide it into two at the same time.

The timber was deposited on the drive on Monday and when I got home I sealed the cut ends and set about laying them out around the existing boarding. By the time it got dark I had laid out the smaller bed, and on Wednesday I started on the longer bed. I had to be careful not to disturb the 2nd season Asparagus, which has just poked up out of the soil.

The wonderful Magnolia is also blooming at the moment – it’s such a shame it will only last a few days…!

New Blue

My epic battle with the kitchen cupboards is now over: the dark brown regime of old has been overthrown by an overwhelming tide of blue. This new era was celebrated today with the installation of some shiny brushed steel knobs and handles, making complete a transformation which began way back on the 12th February.

The foundations for this uprising were initially laid by two cans of eager but rather grey automotive primer, which paved the way for the much more vibrant pot of Dulux ‘Teal Tension’, applied over a period of several evenings and the Saturday just gone. The handles arrived today from the Internet in time for the opening ceremony and duly took their rightful places at the front. Of each cupboard.

We’ve now painted the walls a nice warm, neutral colour which works better with the blue and red…

Merry Christmas

It’s Christmas Eve so naturally we’ve been baking. Of course. Shortbread and mince pies. Best eaten fresh from the oven with a glass of rose Prosecco (any excuse really). Was great to see Lucy and Bo just before Christmas, just a shame they couldn’t stay with us as planned because of the appalling snowy weather!!
We also put up Smeeta’s new Tom Lewis print which was framed just in time for Christmas. It’s stunning.

Big Snow

The Bathroom

On Thursday last week work finally started on our bathroom refurb: turfing out the Whirlpool bath which we rarely use and putting in a tiled shower at one end of the room, plus new basin and toilet (a bargain from B&Q.)

Dave spent a day removing the existing bath, toilet, sink and tiles and replacing the old window with a new wood framed one, moved about 6 inches to make room for the shower.

Martin plumbed in the pipes and controls for the shower and today Dave has plastered the ceiling and walls and boarded the shower area and floor ready for the lovely Porcelanosa tiles.

Can’t wait for it to be completed…!

And now the big slate grey tiles have gone up…

Spring is here…

We now have a bucket-load of frog-spawn in the pond, and all manner of flowers popping up in the garden: daffodils, bluebells, hyacinths, tulips; and the Magnolia is has burst into bloom (only a shame it flowers so briefly!). It is also just about warm enough to sit out and enjoy the spectacle…

We have also planted some Rhubarb and Asparagus (estimated harvest: 2011…!!) and Smeeta has germinated from seed some Methi, with carrots, and other veg on the way hopefully.

More pics here…

House Warming

This Saturday we hosted a barbeque for the Brunch Bunch – the whole gang was able to make it so we had a grand total of 12 adults, 4 kids and 2 more on the way! Smeeta and I spent the morning preparing food and were just about ready when people started arriving at lunchtime. The weather was mostly bright but with occasional dark clouds but thankfully no rain.
The food was well-received: spicey chicken, veg kebabs with cod wrapped in Parma ham, asparagus, tuna nicoise salad.
We all had a good time and big thanks to all the gang for coming along.

The Fence Post

This week has seen some changes at Campbell Cottage. Two sections of fencing have been replaced: the furthest part of the rear garden now sports some new panels and the front driveway has been smartened up with a new tailor-made fence. The outward-opening gate has gone, which makes it much easier to park on the drive. All very tidily done.