Week beginning February 25th - Savoury scones and chicken adobo salad

Last week the Vegemite and cheddar scone were sadly not as popular as we predicted. We considered returning back to savoury muffins. We have been making them since we opened our doors 3 and a half years ago. Whenever we change a staple item at Kaffeine, it usually takes time for them to pick up. It was the same when we changed from wheat-free muesli to pomegranate granola, now we go through several batches of granola weekly. I made a prediction and put it forward to Peter that our savoury scones are going to pick up and be more popular than the muffins. Understandably blackened fermented yeast spread isn't everyone's taste, so I promise to keep the savoury scone looking vibrant and appetising as of this week with colours resembling the Italian flag red, green and golden brown (white). By the end of March you be saying savoury muffins are so 2012.

We also welcome back a Kaffeine favorite: Chicken Adobo Salad. This lovely salad with a Spanish name actually comes from the Philippines. The Philippines was colinzided by the Spainard during the 16th century and ruled for the next 300 years. This inspired several Asian/Spainish fusion dishes, undoubtedly the most popular meal is Adobo which translates to 'marinade' in Spanish. 

The marinade consist of 12 pepper corns, 4 bay leaves, 8 cloves garlic, 8 tablespoons demerara sugar, 125ml dark soy sauce and 100ml malt vinegar per 800g of meat. Served with boiled rice and a hard boiled egg. At Kaffeine we cook the chicken in the same way as Filipinos, however once cooked we mix the Adobo in camargue red rice which is a wild red rice that grows in the south of France amongst the pink flamingos. Camargue red rice in more nutty than other wild rice and takes about an extra 10 minutes of cooking compared to other grains of wild rice. Adobo, rice and coriander all blended together make a delicious lunch which will want you coming back for more the next day.

Winter has come back with a vengeance with sleet and an icy breeze, other than hot beverages on offer we will be making a hearty wild cabbage, chorizo and caraway soup. Wild cabbage grows in coastal areas and loves salty and limestone regions. Quite a robust brassica with thick spiny leaves that taste similar to broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts. Personally I find this vegetable is at its best cooked for a long period in lots of moisture. The end result is nutty and a slight mellow bitterness. I've conglomerated the wild cabbage with oily sharp chorizo and bitter, warming and nutty caraways seeds to make a substantial tasty soup served with our own freshly baked bread.

Making an appearance in the foraged salad is wild carrot leaf. These greens are the tops of carrots which are almost identical to chervil and often mistaken for the poisonous and deadly hemlock. Thankfully we have a very experienced forager who sources the correct green leaves for us. We will be incorporating this nutritious leaf with bitter sweet ruby grapefruit, toasted pine nuts, julienne ginger and coated in a fennel dressing, a completely gluten, dairy and guilt-free vegan salad.

We hope you enjoy this week's menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as we will enjoy serving it to you.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Blueberry and Bran 2.20
Savoury Scone: Tomato, Spinach and Cheddar 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Wild cabbage, chorizo and caraway seed 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Pancetta, grilled nectarine, gruyere, dijon, rocket

Grilled red pepper, courgette, red onion, spinach, chimichurri

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Salmon, aioli, red onion, dill, capers, rocket

Ham, fresh Kaffeine mozzarella, plum tomatoes, oregano pesto, spinach

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Chicken adobo with wild red rice and coriander

Ruby grapefruit, wild carrot leaf, pine nuts, ginger with a fennel dressing 

Roasted baby beetroot with a black mustard dressing
Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

French leek and onion with gruyere

Week beginning February 18th - Vegemite & Cheddar Scones

Last week we had quite a lot of requests for the Marmite and Cheddar Scones, which was only meant to feature on the menu during New Zealand week at Kaffeine. I posted the recipe on Kaffeine's menu blog and some of you were happy about this but there were a few others that preferred the convenience of buying them. The good news is we are making savoury scones a permanent feature on Kaffeine's menu. These will replace the savoury muffins and the flavour will change slightly each week. This week I've switched from Marmite to my preferred choice of savoury paste, Vegemite.

Other highlights in this week's menu include fresh cheese, made in the kitchen using the traditional curds and whey process of gently heating milk with three corner garlic and adding lemon juice and vegetable rennet to curdle the milk. The solids are then strained from the liquid and tied in a cheese cloth and left to hang for 30 minutes, straining out any excess fluid. The fresh cheese is then sliced and put in baguettes with fresh plum tomato, large spinach and pancetta. Simple but very delicious.

Foraged items are making a comeback with a variety of new ingredients which have been incorporated in this week's menu. I've baked lacto-fermented Japanese rose petals in this week's sweet muffins with dark chocolate (think Turkish delight). I've also used them in a salad with swollen spelt grains, toasted almonds and Ox-Eye Daisy which taste similar to parsley, visually pretty and very tasty.

In the tart this week I've made individual baskets from Gruyere cheese which are then filled with fennel that has been gently roasted in oak moss which permeates the fennel with sweet, earthy and oak flavours. The tarts are then garnished with walnuts that have been seasoned with wild fennel seed salt.

Black tomato soup is tomato soup that has been darkened with sea kelp. I've dried the kelp and ground into a powder then added it to the soup, this is a natural form of MSG and in no way bad for you. It only enhances the savoury notes, making a more meaty and rich tomato flavour. Black tomato soup will be served with a fresh parmesan loaf, the dough itself has been left to ferment in a natural yeast overnight to sour and get a better aeration and crust in its final cooking stage.

For those of you interested in what goes into the day in the life of a Kaffeine kitchen worker, Rory, one of our newest staff members has made a fun and slightly cheeky video for everyone's viewing pleasure. Please check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bppaYq8CPEI

We hope you enjoy this week's menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as we will enjoy serving it to you.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Rose petals and dark chocolate 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Vegemite and cheddar 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Black tomato soup with parmesan bread 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Three corner garlic cheese, tomato, pancetta, spinach
Sumac sweet potato, saute red onion, brie, rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, chilli burnt pineapple, blue cheese, rocket
Mushroom, Welsh Rarebit and spinach

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Beef marinated and slow roasted in seville marmalade, roasted red onions and parsnips, black mustard leaf dressing
Boiled spelt, chopped ox-eye daisy, pickled Japanese rose petals, toasted almonds
Edamame beans in a buckthorn and sea purslane dressing

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Gruyere baskets filled with fennel cooked in oak moss, garnished with wild fennel salted walnuts

Week beginning February 11th - Cheese and marmite scone recipe

Last week Kaffeine had a menu that loosely celebrated New Zealand in honor of Wiatangi Day. Instead of savoury muffins, a roulade of Cheddar and Marmite Scones was decided. These are a New Zealand favorite and a traditional part of growing up being Kiwi. In every kitchen, you are almost guaranteed to find of a copy Edmond's Cookbook. This is a cooking bible for every Kiwi household and a life-saver for most mothers. All recipes are tested, simple and fool-proof. Since first published in 1908 several varieties of scone recipes have been featured in Edmond's Cookbooks. 

However, I still prefer the Yankees' technique for scone making and I've married the flavours of a Kiwi savoury scone into the method used to make an American scone. Ultimately your arteries are worse off but the texture and flavour is far, far superior. Usually I would write a bit of information about this week's menu and a little introduction into some of our foraged ingredients that have been incorporated. However because these won't be featured on our menu again for another year, I thought the recipe for my Cheddar and Marmite Scones might be more appreciated. 

 
This weeks menu does feature several dishes that are reminiscent of Chinese new year and inspired with the help of Chef Khan who is half-Chinese and half-Burmese. 

Cheddar and Marmite Scones
500g plain flour
250 salted butter, cold
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
150g mature cheddar, grated
250ml buttermilk
150ml double cream
1 large egg

FILLING:
300g mature cheddar, grated
100g marmite

Method:
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and cheddar to a large mixing bowl. Grate the butter and add to the dry ingredients and rub into flour using your hands. When the butter is well blended, pour buttermilk, cream and egg, and gently knead together until you can form a ball. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and put the scone dough at the center. Sprinkle a little extra flour over scone dough and begin to roll out. It's best to try and keep a rough rectangle shape as you roll. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or bench top, dust with a little extra flour. Once the dough is roughly 1cm think and a rectangle shape, trim the edges. 

Carefully spread the Marmite over the surface of the scone dough and make sure you get Marmite around the edges as this will help the roulade to stick when the time comes to roll the dough into a cylinder. Evenly sprinkle the remainder of the cheddar over the dough, and starting from the bottom edge of the dough tightly roll the scone dough away from you, pressing the dough as you roll will create a tight and firm roulade. Once you have a long cylinder-shape roulade, roll the scone dough back and forth to even out and to help seal the edge. 

Slice the scone cylinder into around 15-16 pieces using a sharp knife. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and lay the scones by 4's along the tray. When baking, the scones will grow and stick together and can be torn apart after baking. Place scones in oven on middle shelf, set at 180˚C for 24 minutes. Once cooked leave the scones to cool for 15 minutes before tearing apart.

We hope you enjoy this weeks menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as we will enjoy serving it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Plumcot 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Spinach and feta 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Sweet corn and chicken chowder 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Chorizo, tomato, red onion, pesto, rocket
Aubergine, sweet chilli, thai basil, goats cheese, spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, gruyere, gherkin, dijon, pickled onion, spinach
Smoked salmon, capers, aioli, dill, red onion, rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Smoked tofu, satay, cucumber, poppy seeds, wild sorrel
Mangosteen, pennywort, toasted coconut, salmon baked in hay, kecap manis and fish sauce
Green beans and buck-horn plantain with peanut and chilli
Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Chinese vegetable buns

Week beginning February 4th - Waitangi Day

Tēnā koutou (a maori greeting for 3 or more people)

Two weeks ago we celebrated Australia day with an Aussie based menu and Lamingtons. This week we celebrate Australia's friendly cousins day of recognition and marriage to the British empire.
Every year on 6 February, New Zealand marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The treaty made New Zealand part of the British empire, guaranteed Māori rights to their land and gave Māori the rights of British subjects in that year. However this day is usually eclipsed in by the Chinese new year and usually doesn't feature much in media.

Peters business partner Hayden and myself (chef Jared) are ex-kiwis and we like to celebrate every year with a New Zealand based menu at Kaffeine.

The national vegetable is Kumara which is a form of sweet potato, purple/red skin with white flesh. Not as sweet as regular orange sweet potato and best roasted until gloden brown. The sugars and starch caramelised and taste amazing when cooked slowly, far superior to the orange variety. Though not as common in england you can still find a similar variety in supermarket which comes from the Caribbean and India. This week I will be slow roasting kumara in dried, matured and ground sea kelp, the earthy, sweet and salty flavours mix wonderfully together.

Manuka honey is only found in New Zealand and is made from bee's that gather nectar from flowers that blossom on native manuka bushes. The honey its self has an active antimicrobial property and has been known to improve skin and heal cuts, burns and blemished. Manuka honey also has a quite a distinct floral, rich and complex flavour and great on toast or used as a marinated or in dressings. This week I've used manuka honey in a dressing which is drizzled over a salad of kiwi, soft sheep's cheese, lesser celandine (a foraged leaf) and walnuts to make a delicious healthy salad.

Also this week instead of a savoury muffin we will be baking cheese and marmite scones which is a traditional kiwi teas time treat. One of my personal favourite things to make and eat. Marmite in New Zealand is different to UK marmite, more firm in texture and has a pleasant slightly ashy flavour. When ordering please ask for one of the staff member to warm it up for 30 seconds on the sandwich press, I highly recommend it.

We hope you enjoy this weeks menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as we will enjoy serving it to you.

Ka kite anō (see you soon)
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Blueberry and bran 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Marmite and cheese scones 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Lambs lettuce and Elephant garlic soup 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Red peppers and courgette cooked in smoked paprika with sumac cheese, red onion and spinach
Ham with tomato, mature cheddar, rocket and pickle

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Spicy prawn salsa with brie and spinach
Grilled Haloumi with onion jam and rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Slow roasted spiced lamb with parsnip, served with cous cous and black mustard yoghurt dressing
Kiwi, soft sheep's cheese, lesser celandine, walnuts with a Manuka honey and cinnamon dressing
Kumara roasted in dried and ground Kelp
Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Sweet corn and cured cod