My Last (Very Green) Supper at Harlinger Street

After four and half years living in South London with my friends Zoe and Claire, it is time to move north of the river and live with the boyfriend. In an effort to clear my freezer and cupboards before the move at the weekend I thought I would get creative with whatever is left and make a dinner for the three of us, it just so happened that everything ended up green!

We started with a cocktail, it is based a Brazilian Caipirinha and put into practice what I learnt at the Shake It Cocktail lesson last weekend. I named it the Rumpirinha and tastes like cola cubes, and is what Emily has taken to calling this drink.

The Rumpirinha

Ingredients:

• 30ml Morgan Spiced Rum

• Half a lime, cubed

• 3 tsps caster sugar

• Ice, lots of it!

Method:

• In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lime and sugar together

• Add the ice and rum

• Pop on the shakers lid and shake well

• When the shaker becomes frosted it should be done.

• Pour into a old fashioned glass (we didn't have any so used martini glasses)

It started with homemade pea and mint soup as I had loads of frozen peas! Really simple to do and very tasty.

Pea and Mint Soup - Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 400g frozen peas

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 1 celery stalk, chopped

• 50g butter

• 1.5 litres vegetable stock

• few sprigs of mint

• salt and pepper

Method:

• Fry the celery and onion until soft

• Add the stock and seasoning, simmer for 20 minutes

• Add the peas and mint, bring back to the boil and simmer for 6-7 minutes

• Blend well, add more seasoning if you think necessary

This was followed by a pesto bake with chicken, cashews and green vegetables, served with a green side salad and garlic bread.

Pesto chicken bake with cashew - Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 450g pasta (I used penne)

• 100ml double cream

• 1 jar of pesto

• 2-3 courgettes, chopped into disks

• 10 balls of frozen spinach, cooked (you could use a bag of fresh)

• 50g cashews

• Packet of ready salted crisps, crushed

• 250g cheese, grated

Method:

• Preheat your oven Gas Mark 5.

• Boil your pasta until al dente.

• While you wait for the pasta, pan fry the chicken until sealed, then add the courgettes and cook through until the chicken is cooked.

• Add the cooked pasta, chicken and courgettes to a large baking dish, add the cream, pesto, cashews and spinach, mix together throughly.

• Top with the crisps (they had a crunchy layer) and then the cheese.

• Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

• Serve with a side salad and garlic bread.

We were then throughly stuffed so skipped the ice cream sandwiches and just ate the cookies and a mint thins with a nice cup of tea on the sofa - A perfect last night in together!

The Modern Pantry pops up at Meza

As Claire's 30th birthday celebrations continue, a small group of 35 went to Meza in Soho, London. The Modern Pantry which is based in Clerkenwell (2 minutes from where I work) was hosting a pop up restaurant within the restaurant - confusing?

The bar and restaurant is really cool. Cocktails are average prices for central London, I went for the 'Elder Bubble' - Hendrick's Gin, Elderflower Cordial and Lemon Juice topped with Prosecco and a cucumber twist. I designed and made the table places too to add a professional touch to the evening.

As there was so many of us we all had the same set menu which is a sample from the modern pantry, a culinary fusion of british and asian flavours. To start we had salmon sashimi with yuzu tobiko (fish eggs) and celery cress, the table seemed to have a mixed reaction but I loved it! the salmon was very tender and the fish eggs were a true taste of the sea.

This was followed by a coconut and pandan duck leg curry, with tender bok choi and noodles. This was a massive dish and full of flavour but could have done with being a bit saucier.

The dessert was a mandarine and chocolate based dessert, I ate parts of it which were lovely but I don't like chocolate and orange as a combo, which most people find me weird for!

I have eaten in the modern pantry and the food is delicious and more subtle than when it was served in Meza but i think considering there was so many of us the quality of the food was really high and the starter was especially delicious! Plus the service was brilliant and the sparklers cake made Claire very happy!

The Dorchester

As a birthday treat for our housemate Claire's 30th Birthday we did an ultimate girlie day out. Starting with Champagne brunch with eggs benedict, then manicures at Cowshed, personnel shopping at Topshop, cocktails and ending in The Dorchester, Mayfair.

We went for the three course set menu with a glass of champagne and a bottle of white wine. The restaurant is traditional old school glamour to match the hotel. Quilted red chairs with tartan cushions, huge displays of flowers and a brilliant waiter service, everyone was lovely and we were made to feel very special even though we went for the value options.

One of my favourite things were the mini courses in between the main menu. We started with a thimble full of celeriac and fennel soup, this was followed by our main starter of chicken livers and mango puree.

We then went for the pork belly, it was almost too beautiful to eat. The portions were a good size and so rich you wouldn't need anymore.

To cleanse our palette we were treated to a lemon mousse with a posh lemon curd at the bottom.

This was followed with our desserts, I went for poached rhubarb and vanilla custard, Claire went for the chocolate mille-feuille. All were really yummy!

To finish we were given petit fours - a chocolate truffle, jellied sweet, a vanilla sponge, apple tart and my favourite, a macaroon. I would really recommend this place for total luxury and a real treat.

A Tasty Bargain

This ham hock was a new cut of meat to me as I've never cooked one before but couldn't really resist when I spotted them on offer at my local butchers for only 99p. Yes, you read it right, this big honk of meat was only 99p, and yes, there is a big bone in the middle of it but there's also a lot of tasty meat, enough for two hungry people (one who likes seconds) and a delicious soup with the leftovers.

It simmered away in the stockpot for 2 hours with water, star anise and bay leaves, plus a carrot and onion and once ready it was served traditionally with mash, cabbage and parsley sauce.

The star anise flavours lent it's self perfectly to yummy, Oriental inspired soup today made with noddles and shredded cabbage.

Thrales Restaurant, Lichfield

To celebrate my Dad's Birthday we went out for a family dinner to Thrales. I love the contrast between it's traditional setting and modern European cuisine, plus I was always feel at home when I can see a bottle of Hendrick's behind the bar :-)

My photography doesn't do the food justice and I had to give up completely when my battery died. I've added one picture, it's of Neil's starter, tempura of king prawns with a chilli and orange jam, as I loved the little jar they used to serve the jam, very cute.

Anyway, seen as my photo's were so poor it's best I just tell you what I had. I started with the Scotch smoked salmon with a prawn and pea puree cocktail (the pea puree is served in a little shot glass with layers of tomato and a delicious, creamy sauce). I then had Cornish Lamb with a mint hollandaise (yummy) and a Chroizo, pea and red wine sauce. To finish I picked the trio of chocolate desserts including a apricot and chocolate cheesecake, rich chocolate mousse and a chocolate ganache rolled in crushed amaretti biscuits. Whoever invented the 'trio of desserts' concept is a god in my eyes. Best idea EVER.

Hot & Sticky Prawns

The past couple of times I have visited my Auntie Sue's she has cooked up this delicious recipe. Hot and sticky prawns with rice and coriander is slightly sweet and spicy, one of my favourite flavour combinations!

Caravan Bar and Roastery

Caravan is a lovely little restaurant near where I work in Clerkenwell. Situated on Exmouth market that has food stalls weekday lunch times with loads of delicious food, this place sets itself apart with their freshly roasted and ground coffee, all the machines can be seen on the basement floor, plus the simple rustic decor and the amazing tapas style dishes.

We had a sharing plate to start which included hummus, falafel, sausage, egg plant relish, pickled carrots and cheese, and we ordered extra queen olives that were delicious! As their were six of us we decided to go for 'big plates' each instead of sharing lots of small ones as we are all quite greedy. I went for a lamb stew with spinach and butter beans, the meat just melted in the mouth and was full of flavour.

Even though we were all stuffed we could not resist sharing some desserts, a ginger cake with rhubarb and a pear tarte tatin with mascarpone ice cream, only a bite each but really good. Next time I go back I need to save room for whole dessert!

Going loco for Acapulco (and beyond)

Bodega is funky little place situated just off New Street in Birmingham specializes in South American cuisine, so instead of just focusing on Mexican food they offer delicious eats from Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Cuba and Argentina. I love the interior, it's cool but relaxed and the food was delicious as too were the cocktails.

Aplogises for the dodgy photography, it was a bit too dark so had to seriously 'up' the exposure. Here's what I ate..

Spicy Slaw and Lomo de cerdo (pork medallions with garlic and red chillies)

Patatas Bravas (Roast pots with tomato sauce and garlic mayo)

Churros :-)

And this is Lisa's amazing huge 'honk' of pork, too good not to include...

Carnitas Pork Belly (Slow roast belly pork)

The Wet Fish Cafe

Ever since I first visited West Hampstead I have loved The Wet Fish Cafe, it was once a classic 'wet fish shop' in the heart of the busy high street. Now it has been transformed into a popular place for brunch, cake and coffee and dinner, inside is beautiful with the original 1930s Art Deco wall tiles and old signage.

As an anniversary/valentines treat we went on Saturday night and indulged in a tapas platter to share with chorizo in port, olives, baked goats cheese with orange blossom honey and a cucumber salad. This was followed with confit duck with swede & celeriac gratin, roast quince & jus for me and lamb rump with chestnut crust, dauphinoise potatoes & braised red cabbage for Mat. All were beautifully cooked, and the portions are always a great size (something you often find not to be the case in many London restaurants!).

We couldn't resist the desserts either, a simple but yummy cheesecake and warm chocolate cake with orange ice cream, the latter being Mat's choice and I think he may have choose that as I cant stand the orange and chocolate combo (weird i know!).

One of the best finds of the night was the red wine, a fruity and well priced South African called Goats do Roam (a brilliant name too!).

Queen's Park Farmers Market

We were told about a little weekend farmers market not far from Mat's house in Queens Park, so we had a stroll up on a very cold Sunday afternoon and immediately wanted to buy everything! From amazing looking fish cakes, to fresh game, beef stews, cheeses and chutney's, pies and the all important cakes and tarts. In the end we settled for a very tasty free range hot dog for lunch and brought two mini quiches for tea - a butternut squash one and the other a red pepper and goats cheese with the most amazing selection of salad leaves, we then treated ourselves to two huge slices of cake, banana and pecan with a cream cheese frosting and a chocolate and guinness cake with vanilla frosting.

A taste of Italy when in Hungary

After eating lots of traditional Hungarian food, we wanted a change on our last evening in Budapest, so we decided on a rustic Tuscan restaurant on the river, Trattoria Toscana.

A yummy beef carpaccio for me with lots of parmesan and rocket, followed by king prawn pasta with spinach and lots of garlic. A running theme in Hungary is lots of everything! Even though we had eaten loads of hearty meat dishes, Mat still went for a duck lasagne, it was really rich, meaty and full of flavour. The desserts were ok but didn't blow us away.

This was our most expensive meal out in Budapest but we did go for the full three courses and wine (which we have done a lot so I now need to exercise on my return!). Again the Hungarian wine, a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc by Bolyki was great even though we went for white this time and the label very pretty.

Budapest's best restaurant?

On the saturday night in Budapest we decided we still wanted to stick to Hungarian dishes but thought we would try the highly recommended restaurant from our lonely planet guide - Klassz.

Compared to the previous nights restaurant it was tiny, modern, bright and beautifully decorated with unusual clashing wallpaper, well known for its wine selection and on the designer avenue, Andrássy út (a bit like London's Bond Street). I was in love with the place immediately.

Then the food! I had to build up to taking pictures as it was such a small restaurant I didn't want to look like a complete tourist and I was embarrassing Mat with all the picture taking so I missed the starters. I had grilled foie gras and Mat went for a paprika soup that was served at the table from a copper pot that was poured over a lump of cheese in the bowl - yum.

For mains I went for the duck with a poached pear and golden dumplings. Everything was well seasoned and the duck cooked to perfection, slightly pink inside - amazing. Mat went for pork (again) that was tender and served with potatoes and seasonal green vegetables. This was all washed down with another amazing Hungarian red wine, a 2008 pinot noir by St. Andrea.

Desserts were kept simple with a creme caramel and apple pie and custard, sometimes less is definitely more.

I would highly recommend anyone who visits Budapest to visit Klassz but get there early-ish as you cant book.

The land of massive portions

I have just returned from a long weekend in Budapest, a very pretty city (even if a bit on the nippy side) with great architecture, a brilliant zoo, some very relaxing thermal baths and £2 pints of beer! The two things which blew me away the most was the food and Hungarian wine.

Our first evening we wanted to try a traditional Hungarian restaurant, it was cold outside and some warming, comfort food was needed. We went to a restaurant called Fatal, which even if the name was off-putting the food wasn't! The menu was really cool, using lots of different fonts and a lopsided design made it feel more rustic. The restaurant was really dark, wood panelled with stained glass windows.

We went traditional - I had a beef goulash with noodles (they were more like gnocchi) and Mat went for pork and cabbage, which had a ridiculous amount of raw onions. Both were stodgy but full of flavour, the portions were HUGE and neither of us could finish which is unlike us! We washed it down with a Hungarian red wine called Gere Villany Portugieser.

They also did platters to share and the size of them were amazing, lots of people took home the leftovers. Even though we were stuffed we still went for an ice cream to share.

The best curry in London.... so far

Being from Birmingham and the balti being one of the cities favourite dishes I have always been disappointed with Indian restaurants I have visited since moving to the big city... until last night!

I was recommended Lahore Kebab House in Shoreditch (and after visiting the Brick Lane area before and being disappointed and feeling harassed to choose a restaurant I wasn't too hopeful!). It was somewhere I would never have visited as you can't book, the waiting area alone could accommodate a decent sized restaurant, it looks like a cheap hotel restaurant or canteen, it is huge and full of suits from the city, plus there is a rather unattractive sign outside. Despite all of this the food was amazing, especially the grilled lamb chops for starters and the traditional pistachio kulfi to cool down with after but I have never seen it on stick before! One I will visit again and recommend to others and I love BYO restaurants, handily there is an off-license next door too.

Lasagne Queen - the second!

Strangely I cooked a lasagne from scratch this weekend too and it was the first time I have made béchamel sauce. I used Nigel Slater's recipe for the bolognese meat sauce which worked really well even though I was surprised by using milk in it - I have never heard of this before but it made it feel really rich and almost creamy. Then I used Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for béchamel sauce. Served with crunchy green beans and washed down with a medium bodied red wine - Palastri Sangiovese Di Romagna. The wine had hints of cherry and a chocolately finish, it went perfectly with this meaty pasta dish, especially as it was half price!

Lasagna Queen

Or so Sean says, apparently I've "surpassed myself" :-) He is trying to butter me up so I'll agree to get a cat so not sure whether he was exaggerating a little?

It did taste pretty good thought and I can now say with confidence I make a great white sauce and a mean Lasagna as up until now I've never made one from scratch.

The best bit has to be the crispy edges, delicious.

The Boundry - The Return

Last night we returned to The Boundry to treat another work client to a New Year dinner. We had the private room again so the waiter could draw the curtains and separate us from the rest of the restaurant when we got too noisy and drunken. The food again was amazing, as was the service.

We had smoked salmon for starters, steak in a red wine jus with amazing potato dauphinoise, parsnips and spinach, then ended with a chocolate mousse and honeycomb ice cream wrapped in honeycomb.

One of the things they do really well is cocktails! I went for Cuban Winter again but thought I would try something else after (I had already had champagne, white AND red wine so I didn't think mixing cocktails would make the hangover any worse!) - A Petite Julie. It contains a scrummy but lethal combination of vodka, peach liqueur, apple and lemon juice, sweet basil and egg white, I would never have chosen but our lovely waiter chose it for me, it was almost a meal in itself.

Family Christmas Dinner

Oh, it was good! I better start exercising it off now it is January!

The Boundry

One of the perks of my job is smooshing the clients during the festive period and getting to go to restaurants that can be a bit extravagant for me for free! Last night we went to The Boundry - Terence Conran's latest venture in Shoreditch.

I took some picture on my phone which do not do the food justice! I had foie gras which was rich and creamy, followed by herb crusted lamb which by the far one of the tastiest meats I have ever eaten! Then I finished off with cheese.

The decor was lovely and the service attentive. The cocktails were great too, I was loving the golden rum and orange based Cuban Winter. I would love to go back but it might have to be to the cafe attached called the Albion that is far more reasonably priced when I am paying!