I have one of those little ice cream machines where you freeze the bowl and then churn ice cream using a paddle attached to a small electric motor.  It’s a fairly simple affair and it produces decent enough results, just not on the scale I really want.

A pint of ice cream doesn’t last very long at all in our house.

This sorbet lasted a little longer, mainly because it’s made out of cider and the kids were therefore banned from eating it.

Recipe this way…

Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter is a rabbit warren of narrow streets and alleys, lined with small shops and houses, washing strung over balconies to dry in the Mediterranean sun.  Every so often, the claustrophobic streets open up into large, open squares, with tables, chairs and a generally continental buzz.

Back in the alleys, there are some excellent little bars tucked away, just small places serving coffee, wine or beer with tapas.

These are the heart of Barcelona’s cuisine.

Yes, the city has an exploding number of top end restaurants, but some of the best cooking and food is to be found in the small tapas bars dotted all over the Gothic Quarter, in the bars and small restaurants in the markets and in the neighborhood restaurants in the northern quarters.

Find out about Bar Celta here…

Arabica is a small cafe-style restaurant tucked into a basement in Bradford’s student-ville, just across from the University.

It’s been open for about eighteen months, and I’ve heard a lot of whispers and rumours about this new, fantastic middle eastern place.  Arabica’s is one of those names that seems to have cropped up in too many different conversations for there not to be any substance to it.

It’s good to see something a little bit different in Bradford.  Most of the Asian restaurants are really Kashmiri or Northern Pakistani restaurants – the food of the north of the sub-continent is well embedded in Bradford’s curry culture, and a restaurant focusing on a different part of the Middle East/Asian area with a splash of North Africa is definitely a good thing.

Arabica is a relaxed and informal place.  Simple tables and chairs are laid out in a plain but nicely decorated room.  The menu is on a blackboard, in both English and Arabic.

We arrived early, planning to have something to eat before going home to watch the second half of the football.  When we arrived, the place was empty, but we caught the attention of one of the waiters who explained the menu and took our order.  The owner popped out of the kitchen to say hello and to fiddle with the TV in the corner.  Cameroon were doing quite well against the Danish, and we chatted about England’s abysmal performance the night before.  He was a lovely guy – warm, welcoming and just the sort of host a restaurant like this needs.

I’d seen Paul from How Not to Do a Food Blog’s review on The Culture Vulture a couple of weeks ago, and his photos meant that I was definitely going to order a tagine of some sort.  Jen ordered an Afghani curry and we shared a mixed mezze starter.

Read more…

‘Mojito’ means ‘something wet’.  It’s a perfect summer drink, long, cool, refreshing and sweet.

Unsurprisingly, the mojito has it’s origins in the Caribbean, in Cuba, specifically.  Legendary drinker Ernest Hemingway was a fan, and wrote “mi mojito en la Bodeguita”, which translates as ‘my mojito at the Bodeguita’, on the wall of his favourite Havana bar.

Not his greatest literary work, but Hemingway’s graffiti is still there.

Recipe below…