Vietnamese Chicken and Broccoli Curry

This is a good one for the more serious cyclists, packed full of protein and the good sorts of energy, and warming enough to be a big reward as winter slowly turns to spring. Based on a Nigel Slater recipe, it's more soupy in texture, so make sure you get your carbs in the way of some good bread for mopping and dipping. What can you say, 'you can take the man out of England, but you can't take England out the man'.

Ingredients: Duck/chicken legs, red curry paste, salt, pepper, 200g broccoli, 200ml chicken broth, 400ml coconut milk, courgette, curry powder, brown sugar, 1 lime, and chilli flakes.

Method: In a large pan or Dutch oven fry the duck or chicken in a generous splash of olive oil. Once a tender-looking golden brown on all sides, add the red curry paste, broth and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, and cook for a few mins before reducing to a simmer. Cook for 20mins. Finally, add the courgette and broccoli and simmer for a further 5-10mins. Serve piping hot, and season with salt, pepper, and a splash of lime juice.

Tips: Remove as many broccoli stems as you can.

Music: Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

Green Thai Fish Curry

This is one is one of Glenn's specialities. A simplistic yet flavourful dish full of taste, proteins and energy. 

Ingredients: White fish filets, coconut milk, green curry paste, mixed veg of your choice, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and whole grain rice.

Method: Gently fry the fish in a large pan until slightly done. Add the veg mix, and fry together over a lower heat, stirring as necessary. After 5/6mins, add the coconut milk and stir again. Adjust the heat to slightly lower than a simmer, and cook for 20mins. Use whole-grain rice, which requires a little longer to cook. Serve the curry on a bed of rice.

Tips: Brown sugar - a generous sprinkle brings everything together. Always.

Music: Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

Quindão

Is it a tart? Is it a pudding? Is it a baked decadent Brazilian custard? Well, yes, I guess it's all three. This version should be baked in a large tin/mould and served in slices, unlike it's close relative, the quindim. The baking process sets this sweet treat apart, as it demands the mould to be placed in a baking tray half-filled with warm water. Once you've carefully placed it into a cold oven (no pre-heating), the water slowly heats up and separates the two layers. The firmer heavier 'custard' layer sinks to the bottom (eventually to become the top), while the fluffier coconut texture rises to the top, and forms a golden brown outer crisp - which will become the bottom.

Ingredients: 155g coconut, 285ml milk, 18 egg yolks, 450g caster sugar, 50g butter, 1tsp of vanilla essence

Method: If you're using desiccated coconut, pour into a bowl, and allow to stand with the milk for 15mins before you do anything. Line a tin or cupcake mould with some of the melted butter, and pour the remaining in with the coconut and milk mix. Sprinkle a generous dash of caster sugar in the bottom of the tin, on top of the butter. Put the rest into the bowl, and stir well. Add a dash of vanilla essence, and then add each of the 18 egg yolks, stirring each one into the mix. Leave to stand for an hour. Put the tin or mould into an empty baking tray, stir the mix once more, and pour gently into the tin/mould. Then, before putting the tray into a cold oven, fill the tray half full with warm water - this helps separate the two layers whilst baking. Bake at 200c for approx. 60mins, or until the custard has set and the top is golden brown. Serve in slices after cooling.

Tips: Line the tin/mould well, and allow to cool whilst still in the tin and tray.

Music: Sergio Mendes - Mas Que Nada

Feijoada Black Bean Stew

There are many variations of this dish, which originally comes from Portugal. It's a hearty stew, perhaps the heartiest stew there is, and includes black beans, beef, and pork as it's staples. As with most stews and 'one pot' dishes, it's roots are embedded in quantity and necessity. Therefore the cheaper cuts of pork and beef are often used. We chose to leave out the beef, and include white beans. Equality, yeah. As a dish for cyclists, this might be unbeatable. The proteins from the beans and meat are plentiful, it's a true stew - so it has magical warming powers if you find yourself out on a damp or cold ride, and it leaves you with that wonderful feeling of being completely full and satisfied, but not uncomfortably full. Furthermore, and please forgive us for being uncouth, beans means flatchulence, and on a cold day, that warming methane floating, trapped inside your lycra has warming qualities which shouldn't be underestimated.

Ingredients: We followed Jack Monroe's take on this classic, which feeds 4 and requires; 2 garlic cloves, 1 large onion, 2 carrots, 100g streaky bacon, 300g sausages, 400g black beans, 300g cannelloni beans, 100g tomato puree, 400ml chicken broth, bay leaves, handful of parsley, and 1 large orange.

Method: The night before, thoroughly drain and soak the beans in cold water. On the night, chop the carrots, onion, and garlic, and fry in sunflower oil in a large pan or Dutch oven. Gently fry for 10mins, stirring occasionally. Add the meat, add the beans, and the chicken broth, and bring to an aggressive boil for 4mins. Then, add the sliced orange, cover, and leave at a gentle simmer for approx. 35mins. Check every 10mins for water level, add more if necessary.

Tips: Remove the cannelloni beans for a truer black colouring.

Music: Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones

City Cycling: Copenhagen, Denmark

Stopping at junctions or demounting for intriguing looking cafes required quite the trick. A memorising flurry of jumping, hopping, skipping, and juddering all thrown together. To her credit, it looked well-planned and even scientific. Following a ceremonial traffic light changing, or a warming coffee stop, climbing back on the bike was no smaller feat. Like an unorthodox, though not unattractive gymnast, she ran, hopped, jumped, and finally pedalled away. Sooner or later the secret is bound to come out, so we may as well share it now. Yup, Emily is only 5'2". And when the hotel only has city bikes designed for Danish men of 6' plus, that represents a challenge. So, amidst the order and serenity of cycling in Copenhagen, Emily's 'off and on' technique provided some colour and chaos to an otherwise well organised and plain palette. 

Many travel articles describe Copenhagen as something of a slow burner. Somewhere to persevere with, take time to get to know, and a city to slowly fall in love with. And that's a tall order for a quick weekend visit.

We're all about coffee, food, and cycling, so we'll start with food. Denmark, and particularly Copenhagen, is well-known for it's restaurant scene and wider culinary cultures. It's seen by many as the perfect marriage of the traditional, and the new age faffy, exquisite, delicate, modern, almost scientific approaches in the kitchen. Our budget sadly doesn't stretch to the Noma's of this world, but we did read a a lot about it. After a particularly interesting read in the February 2015 edition of Norwegian Air's in-flight magazine, we sincerely hope that Wassim Hallal finally gets his Michelin Stars. Anyway, I digress. Yes, food. After arriving slightly later than planned, and not had time to research any late supper spots, we strolled and found what looked to be a homely Danish restaurant. 'De Lille Apoteke', homely it was. Homely in the sense of a family Sunday lunch. The food might have been a little sloppy, but it was all very well-meaning. 

After a night's rest at the hotel, we set out on foot. The weather was inclement at best, and drenching everyone to the core. Having noted the contrasting forecast for tomorrow, we declared ourselves 'fair weather cyclists' for the day, and explored parts of the city by strolling, rather than pedalling. Our plan was to 'sound out' and map out highlights for a full day of city cycling the next day. Granola was the starting point, and we did fall a little bit in love with this trendy, yet retro bar/cafe. It's not the kind of kitsch retro, very tasteful, and has the feeling of a Milanese Grand Cafe without the snobbish-ness. It's a great spot to start a days physical activity. Lots of healthy and filling breakfasts served till 12.00, all quite reasonably priced (for Denmark), and they serve great coffee. Perfect fuel for the next 8hours ambling and diving into cafes for some respite from the weather.

Breakfast/brunch filled us up till dinner, and after retiring to the hotel room to dry off, build a den, and watch half of a terrible movie, we were back out on the hunt for dinner. Having spent a whole day and a whole evening in the company of those sensible and logical Danes, we fancied something Italian. A magical sprinkle of chaos and disorder is good for us all, and after hearing those sentiments in a recommendation or two, we sounded out the cities best pizzeria, Forno al legno. It was authentically full of chaos and order, and a very healthy mix of the two. Pleasingly popular with locals, and many local Italians, we enjoyed a birra morretti and watched an epic order of take-away pizzas being compiled next to us. While the wait for one pizza was long, we didn't mind one little bit, and a very genuine tasting pizza proscuitto soon landed on our table. Located in the Federiksberg neighbourhood, Forno al legno is a little jaunt outside the true centre, but entirely worth the detour.  It was loud, messy, and a small tv screamed out a Spanish football match in the corner. The pizzeria apparently looks out on to one of the busiest urban cycling streets in all of Europe. We were skeptical of this, but the homely atmosphere and condensation meant we couldn't prove it either way. By the time we departed, happy, and full of food, it was just about bed time.

Greeted by blue skies and dry cycle lanes the next morning, we awoke and hired two great Danish classic city bikes from the hotel, and departed on the hunt for the Nyhavn area, and breakfast. Now, I love breakfast, and i'm pretty sure i'm not alone in that adoration. It's my favourite meal to eat out, and a good breakfast menu is heaven and hell to me. Heaven because of the endless potential deliciousness and possibility, and hell because unless you're really greedy, there's a choice to be made. Thankfully, at Bistro Heering they offer a very good brunch platter for two. Furthermore, Emily has less of an appetite for pre-noon eating, so it was a win-win situation. Our platter included cold cuts of salami, cheese and chives, forest fruit pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs and bacon, grilled tomatoes, natural yoghurt and muesli, and salmon.

So... sitting comfortably with happily full stomachs, we settled the bill, and it was out into what looked almost like an early spring afternoon. Looks can be deceiving, the wind-chill told it was still very much winter, but with a good hat and scarf, nowhere is too cold. From Nyhavn our route took us east to the freetown of Christiania where we got dismounted and walked around. No photos allowed just in case you get a picture of someone buying soft drugs. It made is grateful to live in Amsterdam. From the town within a city, we crossed back onto the mainland of Copenhagen, and followed the water back past Nyhavn, and north towards the mermaid.

Granted, it was a Sunday, but the quietness of the city was noticeable. Not much in the way of bike traffic, and of what traffic there was, it mostly seemed to be made up of tourists like ourselves. Do the Danes abide by a Sunday sleep-in? Anyway, from the mermaid we did a few laps of the Kastellet before continuing our circuit into the Osterbro neighbourhood, and into the Norrebro neighbourhood. Coming back towards the centre, we stopped at another very good breakfast and brunch restaurant, but this time only for coffee. Restaurant O's has an American theme, but don't let that put you off. After a cup of delightfully warming coffee, we were back on the saddles to be thrown majestically back to the UK. Not by means of a rather rapid flight, but by the terraced houses of Copenhagen's 'Kartoffelraekkerne'. Other than a trip to the cities Peak Performance store, it was a non-eventful and orderly cycle back to the hotel in readiness to board the train to board a plane. A wonderful weekend, they always are with Emily, yet something was missing from a city billed as on-par or even standing next to Amsterdam in terms of it's bike culture. Yes, the designated cycle lanes, traffic lights and infrastructure, but it all felt a little too ordered and joyless. Perhaps it's a harsh judgement. Perhaps in summer there are more people on their bikes, more colour, and more life. But Amsterdam is colourful and lively all year around. Maybe we just chose the wrong Sunday. We'll have to return in the summer to compare. Takk, Copenhagen!

Coconut Fish & Achiote Curry

After braving a northern European winter weekend in Copenhagen, we've decided to warm things up a little bit, and have declared this week 'Brazilian Food Week'. Now, we're fully aware that Brazil isn't particularly famous for it's bike culture, and to our (admittedly limited) knowledge there aren't many famous cyclists to hail from Brazil. Therefore, should you find yourself sitting and scratching your head, wondering why on earth have we declared it Brazil week in the middle of February, fear not. The answer is a simple one: why not? If you're not satisfied with that, then consider the colours, the flavours, the gentle spices, the sheer mix of styles, ingredients, and dominant forces behind Brazils culinary culture. We think you'll find it's the perfect remedy for a chilly and grey week in February in Amsterdam.

Tonights special is, 'Coconut Fish & Achiote Curry'. Achiote is a curious little delight. An inedible fruit, Bixa Orellana, is harvested for it's seeds, and used mostly for it's colouring qualities. The murky world of US Food and Drug Administration uses a lot of it for colouring because it's classified as exempt from certification. Brazil is a lead consumer of achiote for eating purposes, and it's what gives this dish it's warm tones...

(to serve 4 family/friends)

Ingredients: White fish of your choice, 400ml coconut milk, garlic, 1 lime, 1 onion, 3 tomatoes, achiote (seeds & powder), curry powder, red pepper, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and rice (optional).

Method: Marinate the fish in the lime juice and a gentle sprinkle of curry powder for 10mins. Chop up the garlic, onion, and tomatoes. Fry the fish in a quarter of the coconut milk, and add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, curry powder, and achiote seeds. Simmer for 5mins. Carefully turn the fish before adding the red pepper, and a generous sprinkle of brown sugar. Leave to simmer for 15-mins. Serve hot with optional sides of rice, crackers, and/or fresh mango.

Tips: For an orangey colour add more curry power and less achiote, for reds, vice-versa.

Music: Milton Nascimento - Travessia

Zesty Butternut Squash Pangrattato

Though the un-finished bottle of white wine lingered in the the fridge, the crisp Italian orvieto was just about the only thing serving to remind us of yesterday. Despite a relatively blue sky, temperatures here in Amsterdam plummeted back towards zero today, and yesterdays tease of Spring has been unravelled as merely a flash in the pan. 

On a lighter, yet more warming and fulfilling note, we're continuing our 'At Home With Nigel Slater' week, and this evenings special both goes well with the leftover white wine, and warms the soul on a chilly winter evening.

Much like a pancake, the pumpkin is suffering the fate of being allocated a box. A time frame. A solitary and confined period of the calendar where it's the focus of the kitchen. Other than it's designated day, it's forgotten and banished to a page at the back of your recipe book. However, here at Cafe Pump, we try to think a little differently. In a similar stance to celebrating love and San Valentino everyday of the year, the pumpkin is something to use when the urge grabs you, not when the desk diary dictates. Well, Nigel used a pumpkin, but local availability swayed us towards the humble butternut squash. They're closely related to the pumpkin, which means that last paragraph still stands as relevant. Either way, as Nigel states, this dish is all about the marriage of texture and flavour, and it was a popular special indeed...

Ingredients: 1kg butternut squash/pumpkin, 3 cloves garlic, a mild red chilli, zest of half an orange, 1tbsp chopped rosemary leaves, 4 handfuls fresh white breadcrumbs, 40g butter, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Method: Pre-heat your oven to 180c. Hack away at the skin of the squash, and cut into chunks. Steam said chunks until tender at knifepoint. Meanwhile, in a shallow pan, heat oil with garlic (chopped finely) before adding chilli slices, orange zest, and fresh rosemary leaves. Let this delightful concoction heat for a minute or two before adding the parsley and bread crumbs. Once the breadcrumbs are a pale biscuit gold, take off the heat to see to the squash. Transfer the squash to your most loyal roasting tray, and throw in a lump of butter before piling on the breadcrumb mix. Bake for a generous half an hour, or until the breadcrumbs are a rich gold, and the squash tender. Serve and eat. Smile.

Tips: Don't let the garlic brown.

Music: Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks