Compost cookie

The Momofuku chain in New York is one of those hip sexy places where it's hard to get a table and the food is almost secondary. A friend of mine actually went there once and found the ramen to be sub par, but don't underestimate the power of hyperbole. One of their branches is called the Milk Bar and has created a cookie with a mild cult following - the Compost Cookie.
That doesn't sound very appetising, but when you learn what actually goes in, you'll be like, 'yum yum, just not all together'.
I got the basic recipe and method from this site, and beyond the basic mix there is a great deal of flexibility on the ingredients.
First make some coffee (don't look at how filthy my stove is, I have a full time job!).
Pull out all of your favorite snacks and mix them all together indiscriminately, I also added in two tablespoons of used coffee grounds.
Compose the dough, roll it up in cling film and put in the freezer.
Chop into litte disks and put in the oven. These cookies make your house smell amazing, but don't bask in the aroma too long because they start to burn almost as soon as they're ready.
Perfect cookie, sweet and a little savoury.
The Marmite cashews are really good in this, and I don't even like Marmite. Salt and vinegar Kettle chips are awesome, not convinced the pretzels had to be there and Toblerone isn't my favorite. But the coffee grounds are insanely good, long after you're finished eating the cookie you find a ground or two stuck in your teeth, which doesn't seem as though it would be a selling point, but for an addict like me it's a good idea. Probably how I would smuggle coffee into prison.

Mushrooms, I guess

Do not get excited about foraging. There is nothing romantic about living off the land, getting in touch with nature or driving for two hours to get to your nearest forest.
Maybe it's because I'm suffering from a particular brand of ennui, or maybe it's because I didn't actually pick these mushrooms myself but at the moment sifting through this mystery bag isn't getting my heart to beat any faster.
My dad, who has been picking mushrooms all his life, loves this time of year. When it gets a little too cold for the weekenders to keep populating his patch with their dogs, kids and bikes and he can grab the last of the season's 'bounty'.
Almost two weeks ago he trampled mud through my living room to proudly present me with a bag bulging with mushrooms, I guess. I looked at him darkly, packed the bag into the fridge and ordered a pizza.
We ended up doing something with the mushrooms last night, but I don't remember what it is.
Bof.

Celebrity corner

I went to a book signing of Supper Club at the Big Green Bookshop near my house last night and finally got to meet one of the people who inspired me to start this blog.
Ms. Marmite Lover talked about her background, family and motivations and I totally felt like a creepy stalker because I'd already read about most of the stuff on one of her blogs. I asked her the very bloggy question about what kind of camera she uses and she doesn't have a fancy one, just some cheap Canon! Take a look at the pictures on her site and tell me what you think.
The book is very luxurious, chintzy and dotted with pretty little drawings, I like that more than a third of it is tips, autobiography and research - ultimately I could probably find all of the recipes on the internet for free if I wanted to, but this extra effort is really worth the price. It's so personal and juicy! And obviously I'm planning to cook from it.
I should probably have asked politely if I could take a picture, focused and framed it properly, but then I remembered that I'm really shy, pulled out out my Blackberry and then ran away. Loser!

Grapevine

What do you do when you walk into the garden for the first time in months, to do the autumn pruning, and realize that the grapevine you've been saying bad things about all summer is heaving with bounty? You thought it was shriveling but it just won't die.
I ended up picking two huge bowls of grapes, more than everyone in my family could eat before they went off.
I used about half of it to make syrup for the trifle for the Aviation dinner. You put the grapes, vines and all, in a large pot and cover with cover with water, heat very gently for a couple of hours (if it's boiled it will taste vegetably), leave to cool overnight and then pass through a fine sieve. Yummy. If you reduce the juice for a few hours you get a rich almost syrup, no sugar needed, which makes a nice jelly (cold food tastes less flavorful so you have to make sure it's a little sweeter than you would usually have).
Grapes are nice too frozen, as a snack.
I also made some raisins.
Grapes go in,
Raisins come out
There are a lot of options of how to make raisins on the internet, good old sunshine is the best but not practical for me, I don't have a dehydrator (yet), so ended up using the oven. A nice, cozy 7 hours on 95C fan assisted.
'But Sasha' you say 'I can't run my oven for 7 hours, what do you think I am, a millionaire?'
Well it doesn't actually cost that much, maybe a pound, srsly. But if you're really worried use the oven to cook other things at the same time. Meringues need slow, low cooking for example. Or you could slow roast some of the last summer tomatoes for a sauce.
'But Sasha! I don't want my raisins to taste like vegetables!!'
Dude, use a roasting bag, they're awesome.

As a bonus I finally decided to give myself some time to try and make dolmades from scratch. I vaguely followed the instructions in Vefa's Kitchen for the most basic simple vegan version.
What you do is blanch the fresh leaves in water for a few minutes, then fill with a rice, herb and oil mixture, roll up and cook gently in stock for an hour. The leftover blanched leaves can be stored in the freezer.
Wah-lah!