'Nanas on toast

There are few things in life which surpass 'nana's on toast. Hot buttery salt toast combined with the sweet smooth 'nana - reminds me of my grannie as it was one of her favourites. She preferred to mush them 'nanas - whilst I like to slice and equally festoon my toast with precision. We'd sit and have this brekie, lunch or supper nattering or playing cards after (she was a serious card shark!). Its nice to think of those times. So when I delve into a 'nana - I do think of my own Grannie.

And, yes of course I own a piggy plate. You were're really in doubt were you? Quite a wholesome comforting meal in which butter is really best - but then again what's butter not better in? Frugal too a banana might even stretch to two folks......

 

Here's to comfort eating, reminding you of days on the sofa with your Grannie? What's your favourite nostalgic nosh?

 

Unitil next time - Happy Scoffing.

Meal planning

I have to say when I hear the words meal planning, my heart sinks and my appetite kinda wants to run off screaming 'where's the fun, improvisation and excitement in that' (my appetite has quite a lot to say generally). But, I say to myself (and my appetite) it WORKS. Its certainly helped cut down the food spends and whilst I think I'm quite good at stopping food actually hitting the bin, it does stop food waste too. So I think about it each week, although I loathe and despise it, I generally participate whilst dragging my heels like a sullen child enroute to the dentist.

I've discovered of late that I can make a compromise by having a 'rough' meal plan, i.e. having a list of 'tea' type options on no fixed days and allowing myself a bit of flexibility. As we've a generous stocked store cupboard it allows the evolvement of most type of variations of a main ingredient without too much bother. It also allows for the flexibility that 'reduced' shopping bargains often require, as finding goodies often means there's a bit of shoogling of a weekly plan required to compensate for a bargain. And, finally it seems to allow my appetite to sulk less when I tell it there's the prospect of 'several types of tea' each week rather than 'stew on Tuesday, baked tatties on Wednesday' which quite frankly would see it marching off in protest at such structure.

So it's all about compromise and flexibility if you ask me. And, with that in mind I took myself off to the stores/freezer/fridge to peruse this weeks 'options' and to gauge how much grub we'd need to buy to make some tasty treats this week. In the mean time it's coffee and a homemade flatbread stuffed with scrambled eggs to soothe me. Local of course. And if I'd not been planning ahead, I wouldn't have made extra breads for brekkie would I?

Until next time, do have a think about meal planning, on the one hand dull as dishwater but on the other more time to obsess about food and make the most of those pennies! Or maybe you do it already, if so lob some tips my way! And, as always a nicely stocked larder makes for a so much more simple life and plenty of choices!

Happy Scoffing!

The Captains Galley - Scrabster, Thurso

So whilst we currently live in Orkney surrounded with great grub and fantastic seafood, we've often sat at the ferry terminal looking longingly at the sign by the terminal which shouts 'fresh seafood', 'The Captain's Galley', which opens for dinner just shortly after we normally set sail home to Orkney. A seafood restaurant set in a restored ice house, with a fantastic reputation, we've long wanted to go. So as this winters wee 'break' we decided to pop over for an evening, to sample their fabulous menu and it did not disappoint.

A warm and friendly welcome greeted us as we were shown to a comfy cosy room with squashy sofa's and plenty of ambient music. Drinks and nibbles provided swiftly and a warm friendly smile with the menus. 'Take your time, there's no rush' we were told and indeed there wasn't. What a perfect way to wind down on a Friday night but take in the ambience of a bonnie wee restaurant on the edge of a cheerful busy port. These guys have a reputation for being warm and friendly and they certainly were, we even managed to get a bit of chat about the garden, which as all of you know, is my other great passion. Mary and her staff are attentive, whilst giving you peace to enjoy your evening, that's a real skill, hats off to you all, it was the perfect balance.

And so to the grub, the menus (on a Friday night there are two, the full menu or a 'fish and chip' menu') - both looked stunning but opting for the full menu didn't disappoint. Have a peek at the sample menu here always full of incredibly fresh local produce.

To start, I chose the Langoustine bisque with a skewered prawn kimchi, himself Oysters cooked with pork belly and seaweed. For mains, I devoured pan seared Hake with mussels in vermouth, himself, blackened Saithe with corn succotash, colcannan and guacamole.

I do love it when you see fish you've never tried, like Saithe, or fish you love like Hake on a menu, its always good to try something new in a place where you know it will be cooked to perfection. And perfect it all was, which given my own pickiness when it comes to eating out, was never in doubt - but when you try a new place you certainly want it to live up to is reputation, and they certainly did!

A wee 'Amuse bouche' of Jerusalem artichoke soup sprinkled with artichoke wafer thin crisps, was perfection and a grand start to what was to be a fantastic meal. Take a tour through some of their special dishes here, although to be honest, its all pretty special. The portions are so generous we didn't indulge in a sweet or the local cheese board all of which looked stunning as they were given to other diners. Whilst we didn't expect it, our bill was reduced to reflect our choice to skip dessert, a nice thoughtful touch as we'd certainly signed up for the whole experience.

So if you find yourself in the far north east of Scotland, possibly enroute to Orkney, take some time either end to sample the hospitality and great grub cooked at this wee gem. You certainly won't regret it. And so lovely to see folks practise what they preach - they're a strong green ethos and certainly stick firmly to their own principles.......didnae see much of Jim, I guess he was too busy cooking, great chap! We certainly appreciated his efforts. And don't just believe me - gets a great write up on Fish2Fork too!

And, once you get to Orkney, whilst there's a plethera of fabulous places if somewhere like 'The Captains Galley' inspires, you'll surely love 'The Creel' in St Margarets Hope, Orkney. These restaurants may just be long lost siblings, sharing many great traits, fabulous service and stunning local produce cooked to perfection.

As we sat at the ferry port the next night to return to Orkney, we also saw that Jim has a wee 'takeaway' on the far right of their restaurant. We peeked up to see that as well as a lot of great looking fish and chips he had a board crammed with specials. Maybe next time we can try that out too! Opening hours listed below.

So, that place you've always wanted to visit - why not give it a go? That's what we did and we were certainly well impressed. As we were finishing our meal a couple of fisherman sat at the table next to us and ordered their tea - cannae be bad if the boat chaps use it too eh? Sorry no photos of the grub - himself and I were oot for a wee romantik evening, so phones were banned. Much nicer to just enjoy things too rather than keep snapping at them!

Back to the frugal eating for us for a while, another adventure around the corner soon, no doubt!

Until next time - happy scoffing!

The Captain's Galley, located here

Phone - 01847 894 999

Email contact page here

Jim and Mary Cowie

The Captain's Galley

The Harbour

Scrabster

Thurso

KW14 7UJ

01847 894999

Winter timetable serving Thursday Friday Saturday 7pm till late. Monday Tuesday Wednesday available for private parties minimum of 6 people. New Quality Takeaway Open Tuesday thru Saturday 4pm till 6.30pm