News update

Due to changes which have taken place over the past month or so, Park View Cafe will not be opening on Saturdays for the foreseeable future.
I know that a PVC breakfast has been a special weekend treat for many of our customers, who maybe can't make it to see us during the week, so our apologise to you, and all our regular weekend customers, who have enjoyed a walk in Victoria Park then a cuppa with us.
Other news is that we have taken over the running of the St John's Church tea rooms from Monday to Thursday. If you are visiting Cardiff city centre, then please pop in and see us.

Taking the Bis

Fig & walnut biscotti

I was watching the Great British Bake-Off last night and the contestants’ challenge was to make crackers, which reminded me of this biscotti recipe. A savoury version of Italy’s favourite sweet biscuits. Perfect for accompanying an evening of wine and cheese. And who could fault an evening of wine and cheese. Give it a go and let us know how you get on.

Ingredients
400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
150g butter
50g walnut pieces, roughly chopped
75g dried figs, roughly chopped
100ml milk
2 medium eggs, beaten
Freshly ground black pepper


Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.  Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.  Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.  Add the butter and rub with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix in the walnuts and figs.  Add the milk and beaten egg.  Mix together to form a soft dough.
Turn out on to a well-floured surface and with floured hands shape into 2 even-sized 25-30cm long logs.  Place onto the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.  Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden.  Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150C, gas mark 2.
Leave the biscotti logs to cool for 10 minutes, then using a serrated bread knife cut into about 24 x 1-2cm wide slices.  Place these back onto the lined baking sheet in a single layer and return to the oven.  Bake for 40 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the biscotti to cool in the oven.  Serve to accompany cheese at the end of a meal or as a starter or snack – they are particularly good with gooey cheeses such as Talleggio.
The biscotti will keep for a good couple of weeks in an airtight container.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 70 minutes (plus cooling time)
Serves 24

A spicy yellow split-pea soup

This very yummy soup builds on the techniques used in making the chickpea curry, especially in the cooking of the onions and the addition of lemon juice at the end. The flavours of this soup brings back memories of backpacking through Turkey and eating at roadside restaurants in Central Anatolia.

Ingredients

350g of yellow split-peas
1 large onion, finely chopped
4-6 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, ground coriander, fenugreek seeds, turmeric
Half a teaspoon of black onion seeds
Quarter of teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 Bay leaves
Three tablespoons of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Lemon to taste

What you do next is....
Heat the oil, add the garlic and onions and cook until the onions start to brown around the edges.
Add the cumin seeds, ground coriander and fenugreek seeds. Cook for 30 seconds then add the split peas. Stir a couple of times to get everything nice and mixed up then add a litre of water or chicken or vegetable stock.
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and add the Bay Leaves, turmeric, cayenne pepper and onion seeds. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes before adding the diced tomato and salt and pepper. Cover and cook on a gentle heat until the split peas are cooked. The peas will absorb the stock, so be prepared to add more liquid to maintain a soupy consistency. A minute or two before you are ready to serve, add a generous squeeze of lemon.

Curry Night at Park View

Unfortunately there will not be a Curry Night at the Park View Cafe this month. We host our very popular Curry Nights at the Park View on the first Thursday of each month, but due to a number of unforeseen events, July's CN has had to be cancelled.
Apologies to all those who had planned on attending tonight's feast, but we will be back in August. So make a date in your diaries for Thursday, August 2.
As a rule, three different curries, homemade on the premises, are available, one of which is vegetarian. Your curry comes with a choice of rice, chips (and 'arf'n'arf) nan, poppadoms and pickles. A cracking meal!
But you don't have to wait until August to enjoy good food and hospitality at the Park View Cafe. We are open six days a week and serve a variety of main meals, snacks, cakes, tea and coffee. And our full breakfast is awesome. No, it really is, but come and find out for yourselves. We are on Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff, opposite Victoria Park.

Here's a simple but fantastic tasting Chickpea dish. What makes it a little bit more interesting is the addition of the raw onion mixture before serving.

Serves 6

Two x 400g tins of chickpeas
300g finely chopped onions
400ml water or vegetable or chicken stock
3 teaspoons of salt
1 fresh, hot green chilli (if you are a chilli fiend add more)
1 tablespoon of finely grated fresh ginger
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon each of ground coriander and ground cumin
Half a teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons of gram masala
quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper

First take two tablespoons of the finely chopped onions and place in a bowl along with the green chilli, grated ginger, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt. Put to one side.
Fry the remaining onions in the vegetable oil until the onions start to brown. Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook this mixture for five to six minutes.
Add the coriander, cumin and turmeric. Cook for 30 seconds. Add the drained chickpeas along with 400ml of water or stock.Add the rest of the salt, garam masala and cayenne pepper.
Cover and cook on a low heat for 20min. Mix in the onion mixture just before serving.


Let us know what you think of this recipe.

The grand champion of champions!

Joe Rankmore collecting his winners trophy, flanked by the esteemed panel of judges.

And the winner is....

Joe  Rankmore has been crowned Champion of Champions at the Great Canton Bake Off, which took place at the Park View Cafe on Saturday, April 21.
Joe's Victoria Sponge was judged best in show by a panel of eminent experts.
 On the judging panel were Rob Khoo, who manages the Park View Cafe, Jon, a Park View Cafe service user, Sarah, from The Cakehouse, Becca, from Crafty Cakes and Derek 'The Weatherman' Brockway.
In all, there were six categories, with entries into all but one category.
Nobody felt up to the challenge of baking an item for the Freebake category in the Savoury section, but in the same section there were entries in the Corned Beef Pie/Pasty category and the Quiche Lorraine category. Well done. In the Sweet section there was plenty for the judges to get their teeth into, with entries in all three categories; Victoria Sponge, Bara Brith and the Freebake category.
It was interesting to note while many promised to take part, when push came to shove, all that talking the talk didn't materialise into baking the cake, which is a shame. Come on! Just do. Baking is fun. The worse thing that can happen is that you have a nice afternoon out and you get to eat cake!
 But to those who did step up to the plate, congratulations on your efforts - it was a competition based on quality rather than quantity.
So therefor, a big thank you must go to all the entrants from everyone at Park View for supporting the first Great Canton Bake Off, and to the judges, who gave up their precious free time to share with us their knowledge and enthusiasm for bringing the community together through baking. In that respect, The Great Canton Bake Off was a resounding success.
 Another positive note is that people are already asking when we plan to hold the next one! There has been one suggestion that we should hold a bake off devoted to bread. I like this idea. Also a Christmas Bake Off. What do you think? It would be good to hear the thoughts of the Cardiff baking community. Don't be shy, post a comment. We would love to know what you are thinking. We would also like to thank a number of local businesses which put up posters to help promote The Great Canton Bake Off, they are: Jalo and Stitch, Chapter Arts, Fair Do's, Canton Community Centre, Brutons, Gusto Emporio, La Nouba and Bant A La Cart. Thank you for your support. And last, but by no means least, a massive thank you to Andy Smith at SmithHolland, who designed all the art work for the Great Canton Bake Off.  Fantastic design, Andy. It gave the event a distinctive and eye-catching look.
Below are the results of our first Great Canton Bake Off.

THE WINNERS

CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Victoria Sponge baked by Joe Rankmore

BARA BRITH

baked by Stephen Johnson, Canton.

FREEBAKE (Sweet)

Lemon Crunch Cake baked by Llinos Huws, Victoria Park.

CORNED BEEF PASTY

baked by Stephen Johnson, Canton.

QUICHE LORRAINE

baked by Tracy Goode, Canton.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30278929@N08/sets/72157629868029995/

The Great Canton Bake Off - April 21

The Park View Cafe is delighted to be hosting The Great Canton Bake Off, a baking competition which we hope will bring the local community together  in a fun way... and find out along the way the best Bara Brith baker in Cardiff and who can produce a super sponge.
Let's face it, there's nothing better than getting together with a cup of tea and a slice of cake! Yum!
The competition is open to all, not just residence of Canton so if you are an enthusiastic baker or have never baked a cake in your life, this is your chance to get involved and have a great day out to boot.
We have constructed The Great Canton Bake Off in a way which we hope will give everyone a chance to shine.
There are two sections, Sweet and Savoury, and those two sections are divided into three categories per section. Let's start with the Sweet section. The Sweet section is divided into Victoria Sponge, Bara Brith and a Free-bake. Free-bake is an open category where you can let your imagination run wild.
In the Savoury section the three categories are: Quiche Lorraine, Corned Beef pie or pasty and a Free-bake category.
Each section will be judged with the six winners going through to the grand final.
You can enter as many categories as you want, but only one item per category and the entry fee is £1 per item. There will be prizes. What kind of prizes? We have no idea as yet, but this being an Olympic year, it's the taking part which is important.
The Great Canton Bake Off will take place on Saturday, April 21. Registration will start at 12.30pm and will close at 1.30pm, but you can register beforehand. Registration forms will be available from the Park View Cafe from Tuesday, April 10 and hopefully from other outlets  in the Canton area. We'll let you know where and when as soon as possible.
We have organised a five-strong panel of experts to judge the competition, and they will judge each item on taste, texture and appearance. The judges' decision will be final.
You can follow and engage in The Great Canton Bake Off by following @parkviewcafe  on Twitter and use #cantonbakeoff
If you are thinking of taking part in The Great Cardiff Cake Off, which is being held in May in support of Ty Hafan, then The Great Canton Bake Off is the perfect way to get some competition practice in.

For further information, please leave a comment, or email us at: cantonbakeoff@gmx.co.uk

Canton Bake Off Form v1-2