The Beat That My Heart Skipped - A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

Weekly Roundup

Rohini — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:30 +0000

Have a lovely weekend everyone – I will see you all back here on the 6th of April [schedule your reminders!] Our highlights of this week were…

- My Inside Life with Sofia from innovative French decal company Les Invasions Ephemeres.
- Modern Glass inspired our week ahead.
- A designer lampshade DIY.
- Dreamy tribal illustrations from Argentinean artist Ana Laura Perez
- An amazing animated music video featuring one of our favourite artists Dan Hillier.
- We review inspirational new book from Gestalten ‘Eat Out! Restaurant Design and Food Experiences.
- Lauren reviews the riveting Long Song by Andrea Levy about life in a 19th Century Plantation.
- An alternative to our usual Day With, we take a look at Nestled In, the blog of a Finnish couple in their first home.
- Two delicious recipes from Louise’s Kitchen, a warming Roasted Pepper Garlic and Onion Soup and a moorish Brown Bread Ice-Cream.
- Lovely buildings; Scottish whisky distillery turned fairytale home lodge, beautiful Au Nom de la Rose florists in France, Simple hotels in Barcelona furnished by Muji, an Italian restaurant in Stuttgart featuring a ceiling studded with 90 gilt mirrors, and a self catering castle retreat in Scotland from homewares brand Pedlars

3 Things…

Rohini — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:00:02 +0000

Fruity Beauty Lip Balm £2.50, M&S, Jersey Travel slippers £6.95, Muji, Travel journal £8.32, Sukie

Pretty Birds

Rohini — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:26 +0000

Some really sweet art inside hand crocheted frames from Late Night Drawing…

Louise’s Brown Bread Ice-Cream

Rohini — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:18 +0000

This recipe is fantastic. If you balk at the idea of ‘brown bread’ ice cream, I urge you to give it a try … I promise you’ll be converted. The bread in question is made into breadcrumbs and toasted with brown sugar giving the ice-cream a deep fudgy caramel taste which is so moorish. The other great thing about this recipe is you need no special kit to make it, just a hand whisk and a lidded tupperware type box. Enjoy!

Louise x

Louise’s Brown Bread Ice-Cream

Ingredients
Serves 6.
85g/3oz brown breadcrumbs
85g/3oz soft dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
Half a tablespoon of dark rum [optional]
300ml / Half a pint of double cream
85g/3oz sifted icing sugar

1. Mix the breadcrumbs with the brown sugar and pop under a moderate grill for 8 – 10 mins. You need to keep a watchful eye on this and stir it frequently. You want the breadcrumbs and sugar to caramelise, not burn. Once cool break up with a fork.

2. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Mix the egg yolks with rum, if using, and fold into the egg white mixture.

3. Whisk the cream and icing sugar together in another bowl until floppy. Then fold this into your egg mixture along with the breadcrumbs.

4. Pour into a shallow freezer container and freeze for 4 hrs. When ready to serve, allow it to soften slightly before scooping out.

Roasted Pepper, Garlic and Onion Soup from Louise’s Kitchen

Rohini — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:47 +0000

This week I have a couple of recipes for you from My Kitchen. Both were a result of needing to knock up a quick lunch that satisfied on every level. The weather was cold, but full of promise with bright sunshine. Hence a combo of a bowl of rich soup and a [smaller bowl] of ice cream was on the menu. Both of these recipes were made from what I had in the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer. Often the best dishes are those that are cobbled together on a whim. Below is my recipe for the soup, tune in right after for my brown bread [yep you heard right] ice cream recipe!

Happy Cooking,

Louise x

Roasted Pepper, Garlic and Onion Soup

Ingredients
5 – 6 Pepper [red, yellow or orange]
Onion
3 – 4 Cloves of Garlic [adjust to your own taste]
Fresh Thyme [you can other herbs such as parsley, basil and sage or dried herbs if you don't have fresh to hand]
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
A splash of balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
Olive Oil
Vegetable Stock

This really is a make-it-up-as-you-go-along recipe, so quantities and ingredients are but a rough guide – follow your instincts!

1. Preheat your oven to 200C. Remove the plinth and seeds from the peppers and chop into large pieces and place in a large roasting tray. Add to this a roughly chopped onion and 3 – 4 unpeeled garlic cloves. Add your herbs and then drizzle with enough olive oil to coat the vegetables.

2. Place this in the oven for 25 – 35 minutes. Check on your vegetables a few times whilst they are roasting, they will benefit from a gentle stir every now and then. You want to cook them until they are soft and just starting to char in places. Squeeze your roasted garlic cloves into your vegetables and discard the papery casing.

3. Next add the contents of your roasting tray, including and juices, to a large saucepan, add your tinned tomatoes and cover with vegetable stock.

4. Blitz with a blending stick or in batches in a blender. Add more or less stock depending on how thick you’d like you finished soup to be. Heat through and then serve, garnishing with a teaspoon of cream and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.