Out, about & eating

Having a week and half off from work with no holiday away planned is a bit of a rare occurance and felt like a luxury. The main aim was to relax and get away from the (of late) stressed work mentality, this revolved around food of course with some touristy trips planned in. We tried to eat out once a day and cook some new thing too, some of which deemed whole posts such as Meat Liquor, The Luxe and the curry we made from The Spicery.

Here is a snap shot of the some of the other places we ate along the way...

I went to my auntie's house who lives just outside Manchester in a pretty village called Lymm, where they cooked up an amazing leg of lamb roast with all the trimmings. I rarely choose lamb but love it and the moral of the story is to buy good quality meat and cook slowly.

When we came back to London, I finally convinced the boyfriend to try YO! Sushi as they have an offer on a Monday. All the plates are one price so it doesn't suddenly get expensive, usually you keep taking the small plates off the convey belt and they mount up pretty quick. We had quite a few meat dishes but we will be returning again. This is great for me as I love sushi.

Image from http://www.yosushi.com

We got up early on a couple of days and headed out for breakfast/brunch. We went for a walk around the London Bridge area and stumbled on a pub that has long been recommended by a friend called The Garrison where we tucked into a full fry up.

This set us up for a wander around Borough Market and to brave the queue for Monmouth Coffee. A great and tiny coffee shop at the edge of the market which always has a huge queue snaking around the corner, the coffee is well worth the wait. You can also stock up on your coffee fix for at home too, you choose the beans and they freshly ground them there and then.

We even managed to squeeze in a few pancakes for shrove Tuesday.

We popped to one of our favourite local restaurants in West Hampstead to check out their weekday lunch deal which we normally miss out on due to being at work. The Wet Fish Cafe offers a lunch special and drink for a bargain £6. On the day we went it was two fried eggs with chorizo and spinach with a small dressed salad, really simple but just what I needed after a morning swim.

Towards the end of the week the sun came out which meant lots of stopping off in sunny beer gardens and we discovered some lovely pubs along the way such as the Freemasons Arms in Hampstead.

We also went to The Stag for Sunday lunch in Hampstead, which I have reviewed before but this is the first time we have sat inside (usually we head for the beer garden in summer) but we still had our usual whole chicken to share.

Phew, I think that is everything from the week. Next week is back to work and maybe a diet!

Meat Liquor

Another addition to the no reservation restaurant scene that is becoming popular in London at the moment is Meat Liquor. It started in a van travelling around events whilst gaining a reputation for epic meat patties, the van was stolen so a temporary pop up restaurant appeared in a South London pub before they found a permanent home behind Debenhams on Oxford Street.

Yianni Papoutsis is the brains behind all this meat, serving up big greasy burgers inspired by those found in New York, this cool space below a car park has walls adorned with illustrations by equally cool design collective I love dust. It is a bit dark and grubby looking with exposed light bulbs, no plates or napkins and drinks served in jam jars.

We went for a late lunch so there was no wait for a table and the place was half full, this did not diminish the atmosphere due to the loud rockabilly sound track in the background and the lovely staff. We stuck to the Meantime lager when I visited which cut through the grease of the double pattie (100% beef) cheese burger adorned with red onion, ketchup and mustard served on a tray with grease proof paper on. I haven't had a burger like this in ages and makes the likes of GBK seem bland and dry, this was in another league - melt in your mouth, with a flavour you can only get with real unadultured meat.

We also went for some skinny fries and fried pickles with a blue cheese dip, the burger was more than enough but I am glad I tried both of these too and would have again. This is a real treat for any meat lover but I couldn't go very often as it felt so unhealthy... but everything in moderation, right?

The Luxe, Spitalfields

As we have a week off and chosen to chill out in London we are trying to do some cultural visits and touristy things in areas where coincide with places we would like to eat. The eating so far has been the main attraction.

We decided to go have a little wander around the east end and Brick Lane way so we started off with breakfast at The Luxe to get our strength up. John Torode's latest venture has been open for a while now and has a similar set up to his most famous restaurant Smiths of Smithfield with different food offerings on each floor.

We just went to the ground floor where they serve breakfast and brunch and had great coffee in proper mugs. There menu is what you expect with fry up's, english muffins and some things I did not such as waffles.

We kept it simple I went for the scrambled eggs, slamon and bagel and the boyfriend went for the full fry which included the usuals plus black pudding, bubble and squeak and the most perfectly poached egg I have seen in a while. It all tasted great but I was pleasantly surprised by the large portions which set us up for the day ahead.

The Spicery

The Spicery are an online company that create freshly blended spice kits which come with all the spices and extras you need to make which meal you choose. It also comes with a shopping list for the fresh ingredients needed and a recipe so you can create your own spicy dish at home.

I got the boyfriend four different curry kits so he could create tasty and authentic curries at home without too much effort. We started with trying the thai massaman beef curry kit, it included a huge amount of dried spices as well as lemongrass, dried chilli, cardamon pods, galangal and lime leaves.

It still required a little effort, we created of paste with shallots, garlic and ginger and added it to the beef, coconut milk, water and fish sauce and let it simmer for an hour before adding fried potatoes and peanuts. We served it with rice, naan and some of homemade mango chutney.

It was delicious, using the fresh spices and blending a paste really make a different compared to store brought sauces and even some of the run of the mill curry house take aways. It did have a kick but it was the kind of heat which still lets you taste the flavour and builds gently. I can't wait to try the other three kits over the next few weeks.

The Spicery also creates kits from around the world including Peri Peri Chicken, Mexican Chilli and Moroccan Tagine to name a few. To make cooking with fresh spices really easy they do a monthly spice box which contains different spices for different recipes and it is delivered to your door - a very clever way to encourage the boyfriend to get cooking.

Sweets for my sweets...

...sugar for my honey - the title of the first single I ever purchased on cassette by C J Lewis (and I hope does not reflect my current music taste). It is the song which springs to mind whenever I make a pudding for the boyfriend.

To complete the Indian feast on Sunday I decided to make something sweet but which still had a subtle kick to compliment the spicy mains. I choose to make a triple chocolate chilli brownie with raspberry swirl ice cream. I first tried it a few months ago at my Aunties, she saw the recipe on an ITV programme and then on their website.

It is the perfect brownie recipe as they are soft in the middle but crumbly on the outside, full of bitter sweet chocolate but balanced with the chunks of sweeter white and milk chocolate and all under cut with the soft warmth of the chilli. These are great with the ice cream making it feel like a proper pudding and also as a tasty afternoon treat with a cup of tea on their own.

Triple chocolate chilli brownie

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 125g butter

• 200g light soft brown sugar

• 125g 70% dark chocolate

• 3 eggs

• 50g plain flour

• 35g cocoa powder

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 75g milk chocolate, chopped

• 75g white chocolate, chopped

For the raspberry swirl ice cream:

• 20g unsalted butter

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 star anise

• 3 tbsp sugar

• 250g fresh raspberries

• 1 tub of good quality ice cream - softened slightly

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

2. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper. Place the butter, sugar and dark chocolate in a saucepan and melt over a low heat.

3. Once melted, beat in the eggs then stir in the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Mix well then stir in the chili and chocolate chunks.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting into squares.

For the ice-cream:

5. Melt the butter in a saucepan.. Add the cinnamon and star anise and cook for a minute before adding in the sugar.

6. Once the sugar has melted add the raspberries and stir well.

7. Allow the raspberries to break down and cook for five minutes. When the sauce has become thick and syrupy set to one side to cool.

8. When the raspberries are cooled remove the star anise and place the ice cream in a bowl. Fold through the raspberry sauce. Place back in the freezer to set again.

9. Serve the brownies with the spiced raspberry swirl ice cream and enjoy...

Mat's Indian Feast

After making quite a lot of mango chutney I needed to complete the full on Indian feast for the boyfriend's pre-valentines dinner and started with preparing the dough for the poppy seed naan bread. To be honest everything was pretty simple but just required lots of different spices and ingredients so took a while to prepare. I also whipped up some onion bhaji's to start and a chicken and spinach curry (sometimes known as a Sagwala) for the main.

I needed to leave the dough to rise for a while, so got on with the onion bhaji mix. I would chop the onions a little finer and in half again next time as I think this would help them stay in little balls when it comes to frying them.

I got to use my new food processor attachment on my hand blender too to create a spinach puree and a separate tomato, garlic and ginger paste to go in the curry. I think there is room for improvement but the extra effort of frying your own spices and using very fresh ingredients made for it being a hundred times better than anything in a jar and was just as good as meals from our favourite curry house too! All the recipes came from BBC Good Food Website and have just tweaked them below where necessary.

Naan bread

Makes 4

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 250g/9oz plain flour

• 2 tsp sugar

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 110-130ml/3½-4½fl oz milk

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

For the topping:

• nigella seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds, or chopped garlic and fresh coriander

• 1 tbsp butter, melted, to serve

Method:

For the dough, sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the milk and oil.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid mixture. Slowly mix together the dough by working from the centre and incorporating the flour from the edges of the 'well', to make a smooth, soft dough. Knead well for 8-10 minutes, adding a little flour if the dough is too sticky.





Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel and leave in a warm place for 10-15 minutes. Form the dough into five balls.

Preheat the grill to medium and place a heavy baking sheet on the upper shelf of the grill to heat.

Roll the dough balls out quite thinly, ideally in a teardrop shape, but really this is just aesthetic. Sprinkle over your chosen topping and press into the surface of the dough. Place the naans onto the hot baking sheet and grill for just 1-2 minutes, or until lightly browned. Brush with butter and serve hot.

Onion Bhaji

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 free-range eggs

• 3 onions, sliced (approx 2mm wide slices and chopped in to 2-3cm in length)

• 140g plain flour

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra if required

Method:

Beat the eggs in a bowl.

Add the onion rings and mix well.

Add the flour, ground coriander and cumin seeds and stir well to combine.

Heat the oil in a deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat. When hot add a table spoonful of the bhaji mixture - I shaped them in to balls (as best as I could due to the dough being sticky) and slightly flattened them and fry for 1 - 2 mins, until golden-brown.

Turn the bhaji over and fry for a further 1 minute, until crisp and golden-brown all over. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Repeat with the remaining bhaji mixture, replenishing the oil in the pan if it runs low and allowing it to heat up again after a new addition.

Chicken with spinach

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 450g/1lb 2oz spinach leaves, washed

• 6 tbsp vegetable oil

• 3 black cardamom pods

• 2 bay leaves

• 5cm/2in piece cinnamon

• 3-4 green chillies, pricked with a knife

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2cm/¾in piece ginger, peeled and chopped

• 11 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole

• 3 large tomatoes, cut into quarters

• 500g breast chicken, cubed (the recipe recommends whole chicken jointed, skin removed)

• 2 tsp ground coriander

• 1½ tsp garam masala

• salt, to taste

• 4 tbsp plain yoghurt, stirred

• freshly ground black pepper

• basmati rice, cooked according to packet instructions, to serve

Method:

In a food processor, blend the spinach to a purée using one or two tablespoons of water to loosen the mixture. Set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the cardamom pods, bay leaves and cinnamon and fry for 20-30 seconds.

Add the green chillies and onion and continue to fry for 4-5 minutes, or until caramelised.

Meanwhile, blend the ginger, garlic and tomatoes to a smooth paste in the food processor.

When the onions have caramelised, add the paste, chicken pieces and remaining spices to the pan and stir well to combine. Season, to taste, with salt and simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add the yoghurt, stir well and continue to simmer the mixture until the sauce has thickened and almost dried out.

Stir in the spinach purée and continue to simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then serve with rice.

It all started with Mango Chutney...

My boyfriend is a massive fan of curry and all the condiments with which it comes... but if he had to choose, mango chutney would be 'the one'.

As a pre-valentines day treat I thought I would go all out and cook a full on Indian feast and make as many things from scratch as possible. This had to start with the chutney so the night before I chopped and sliced four huge mango's and covered in salt and left overnight.

I was really surprised by how easy it all was and as this was my first attempt at any kind of chutney I was really impressed with the results. I packaged it up in Kilner jars and added a homemade label and presented it at the beginning of the feast.

The recipe below is from the BBC food website, it says it makes 500ml but mine made twice that amount (to the delight of the boyfriend).

Mango chutney

Makes 2 x 250ml/9oz jars (but I ended up with double)

Ingredients:

• 4 large mangoes, peeled, stoned and sliced

• salt

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

• 450g/1lb caster sugar

• 2 baking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

• 1 tbsp English Mustard powder

• 1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger

• 600ml/1 pint white wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Method:

Put the mango slices in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Leave overnight. In the morning, drain off the juice and rinse the fruit.

Put the garlic, sugar, apples, mustard, ginger, vinegar and cayenne pepper in a pan and, over a low heat, dissolve the sugar.

Bring to the boil and add the mangoes. Simmer for 30 minutes until the chutney is thick and syrupy (I left mine for nearly an hour as it was still a bit watery after only 30 minutes). Spoon into sterilised jars and seal.

Creamy Courgette Lasagne

Having the girls round for dinner is always a great excuse to try something new (but under the conditions its easy so I'm not stuck in the kitchen and missing wine drinking and a good gossip) plus one is a vegetarian and I love veggie dishes.

So I went for a recipe found on BBC Good Food, a quick and easy Creamy Courgette Lasagne - the only thing which was a bit of a faff was grating/making ribbons/chopping six courgettes but from then on really simple.

Creamy Courgette Lasagne

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 9 dried lasagne sheets

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

• 1 onion , finely chopped

• 700g courgettes (about 6), coarsely grated

• 2 garlic cloves , crushed

• 250g tub ricotta

• 50g cheddar

• 350g jar tomato sauce for pasta

• Garlic bread and salad to serve

Method:

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Put a pan of water on to boil, then cook the lasagne sheets for about 5 mins until softened, but not cooked through. Rinse in cold water, then drizzle with a little oil to stop them sticking together.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the onion. After 3 mins, add the courgettes and garlic and continue to fry until the courgette has softened and turned bright green. Stir in 2/3 of both the ricotta and the cheddar, then season to taste. Heat the tomato sauce in the microwave for 2 mins on High until hot.

3. In a large baking dish, layer up the lasagne, starting with half the courgette mix, then pasta, then tomato sauce. Repeat, top with blobs of the remaining ricotta, then scatter with the rest of the cheddar. Bake on the top shelf for about 10 mins until the pasta is tender and the cheese is golden.

Cheesy Scones

I have always loved the cheese scones that my nan made but had not had them in years... until my auntie purchased Mary Berry's 100 cakes and bakes recipe book. In it she found a recipe for a cheese scone round which I then adapted to make individual scones and replaced some ingredients by what I had in the cupboards, plus added finely grated parmesan for the top under the chedder to add more depth of flavour.

What amazed me about the recipe was it uses hardly any butter but I guess that is because the fat comes from the cheese as they bake.

Cheese Scones

Makes 6-8

Ingredients:

• 225g self-raising flour

• 1/2 level tsp salt

• 1/2 level tsp mustard powder (I used 1 level tsp of wholegrain mustard)

• 1/4 level tsp cayenne pepper ((I used 1/4 level tsp of smoked paprika)

• 1 level tsp baking powder

• 25g of butter

• 150g grated mature Cheddar

• 30g finely grated parmasen

• 1 large egg

• a little milk

Ingredients:

1. Preheat the oven 220°C / Fan 200°C / Gas 7. Lightly grease a baking tray.

2. Measure the flour, salt, mustard powder (if using), cayenne pepper (or paprika) and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in 100g of the grated Cheddar.

3. Break the egg in a measuring jug then make up to 150ml with milk. Beat together and stir the egg and milk mixture (if using wholegrain mustard add here) in to the dry ingredients to make a soft but not sticky dough.

4. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out until 1.5cm deep, use round cutters to cut out as many scones as you can and place on the baking tray.

5. Take the remaining dough, gather together and roll out, repeat the above until all the dough is gone.

6. Brush the tops with milk and scatter over the grated parmesan, then sprinkle with the remaining Cheddar.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Slide on to a wire rack to cool slightly but best eaten warm and as soon as possible, cut in half and spread with cheesy butter (see below).

Cheesy Butter:

Take 50g of softened butter and mix together with 50g grated mature Cheddar.

Meatballs at the Quality Chop House

The Quality Chop House is a restaurant just around the corner from work but I have never ventured in before. They recently introduced the 'Meatballs' concept to the place - basically it keeps all the look and feel of the old place (which is grade 2 listed) but now they serve... yeap you guessed it, meatballs!

Meatballs have the addition of a new logo retro looking logo on the canopy but other than that the place looks the same. Inside it does look great with black and white tiling, wooden oak booths (with seat slightly too narrow to sit comfortably), old fashioned light fittings, frosted windows and wood panelling. It was designed by Sir Roland Plumbe in the 1870's, offering the working classes hearty grub.

They have a great selection of meatballs which can be served with different 'underneath's' such as mashed potato, risotto and spaghetti. I went for two beef and ricotta in tomato sauce and two pork and rosemary with parmesan cream sauce on mash potato with a side of creamed spinach. Both types of meatballs were delicious and huge so I would stick to just three next time and maybe not mix them but I wanted to try them all! Unusual they do veggie meatballs and the growing in popularity sliders.

The drinks are pretty great too, I went for the homemade still limeade which really cut through the meatiness of the main meal. I also tried a banana milkshake which was so moorish my friend demolished it in about a minute.

It was well alright

Firstly apologises for the really bad pun in the title of this post but I do not indulge in that kind of thing very often (well at least not on the blog, but in life thats another matter) and couldn't resist.

I popped out to lunch with a couple of girls at work who I often go out with for w(h)ine and dine to a restaurant called The Well in Clerkenwell.

I have been a few times before and the food is always great, the service lovely and drinks fast flowing and with the offer we got through toptable a bargain too. The food and service was spot on as usual.

I went for a kilo of mussels for my main and they were huge, everyone had longed finished their food and I was still going! They were beautifully cooked in a classic white wine, shallot and garlic sauce which I soaked up with hand cut chips.

My veggie friend went for the tart of artichoke, kale and sheep's cheese and the other decided on the salmon and haddock fishcake with spinach and a poached egg.

We were all stuffed so decided to share a pudding between us and if we had been hungry we would have fought over it as it was so good. Sammy's banoffee pie was a little piece of heaven in an otherwise pretty average day - yum. As always I look forward to our next w(h)ine and dine.