Foody blast!

Huevos fantasticos

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:11:00 +0000

I love eggs. In all forms, at all times. I'm happiest when things are a bit eggy. But in particular I love what Spaniards and Mexicans do with eggs.

I've got a new recipe book - Real Mexican Food - which is full of delicious, easy stuff. I was particularly attracted to huevos con chorizo - simple to make, uses ingredients I've got in the fridge and perfect for brunch. So, here goes:

Chop some chorizo into fairly thin slices, then again into semicircles. Fry it in a dry pan (no need for oil, I promise) for a couple of minutes. Once that lovely red oil starts oozing out, add a sliced shallot (or a quarter of a red onion, sliced finely).

Mix it around for a few minutes, then throw in four beaten eggs and scramble them constantly with a fork. I like scrambled eggs to be on the wet side, so about 3 minutes is long enough for me, but cook them for longer if you feel the need.

And that's it. Serve it on its own or with a warmed flour or corn tortilla and a dash of smoked chipotle sauce (the Wahaca one is nice). Or you can serve it with tomato salsa, refried beans, a bit of grated cheese over the top, guacamole, etc.

And remember: if it's got eggs in it, you can eat it before midday and call it brunch!

Pie week!

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 13:56:00 +0000

So, this week was National Pie Week. It came at a bit of a bad time - weather just turned milder (not conducive to pies), I've had a fancy for sushi all week *and* it was Pancake Day on Tuesday!

Nevertheless, here's a few pie ideas to celebrate:

Slim-ish recipe inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 20:12:00 +0000

There's something so wonderful about getting a new cookbook. I love the first lazy look, the second thorough pore and the third detailed scour with pen and shopping list at the ready.

My latest is Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts by the lovely Gizzi Erskine. The concept is based around slightly lighter, fresher, lower calorie food during the week with blowout menus for the weekend (a sort of epicurean version of 5:2). I stumbled across it first in delicious magazine, in which a few of the recipes were previewed. One in particular, satay chicken Thai curry, was so easy and delicious I made it twice within a week!

Gizzi's pork and chorizo meatballs

My next obsession was pork and chorizo meatballs with spelt spaghetti. Admittedly chorizo is quite hard to squish into a meatball and yes, I had a slightly bigger than stated portion but it was surprisingly delicious and didn't feel at all stodgy.

The best bit of this was actually the tomato sauce - easy, cheap and flavoursome. Soften some chopped onions; add crushed fennel seeds, garlic and chilli; throw in chopped tomatoes, sugar and red wine vinegar; leave it all to become lovely and mushy for 15 minutes or so.

So, what to do if you have all the ingredients except for the pork mince - key bulk of a meatball? Simple - make the sauce anyway, add in a few slices of chorizo towards the end and enjoy an even skinnier version. I discovered it by accident this evening when I was just about to cop out and stir tinned pesto lazily into some flabby fusilli. What a save, eh?

Blue House and The Cherry Tree

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 16:02:00 +0000

We moved into a new house a couple of months ago. You've guessed it: a blue house! When we collected the keys and started to explore I was thrilled to find a healthy-looking cherry tree at the end of the garden. I love fruit-bearing plants - or, basically, anything that provides a constant seasonal supply of free food.

I've been on a nervous, teetering knife-edge ever since we moved in - waiting for the perfect moment for the cherries to be at their ripest, without leaving it so long they get spoilt and wasted. Last weekend I decided to take the first plunge and pick the ripest-looking fruit.

And, blow me down with a feather if delicious magazine didn't email me with a batch of cherry recipes right in time, last Friday afternoon! After about ten seconds' hesitation I got straight onto the Ocados to order the ingredients for this delicious-sounding cherry bakewell tart with amaretto. Oh boy, was it the right choice! It's easy to make, gratifyingly attractive and completely delicious.

I may not be able to provide the cherries for all of you ...

PS: thanks KT Tunstall for the title inspiration!

Dublin's fine fare city

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 10:54:00 +0000

What a wonderful thing Twitter is. All those failed attempts to build online communities, yet Twitter succeeds where they fail, and it does so without even trying. It truly bring people together.

A few days before I set sail (metaphorically) for Dublin, I tweeted a cheeky plea for restaurant advice: 'Hey everyone (particularly @MarinaOLoughlin and @jayrayner1 ) - where's good to eat in Dublin?' Within a few minutes I had a reply from the lovely Marina: 'afraid I'm not up to speed with Dublin. Maybe try @tomdoorley or @TrishDeseine?'

And within hours, I had around 10 restaurant suggestions and had started a bit of a debate among those in the know about food in Dublin. Thanks to the Twitter community, particularly the very helpful and charming Tom Doorley, I was suddenly spoilt for choice.

Unfortunately my visit fell on a bank holiday weekend and many of the big name places were closed. But I found time to swing by Chapter One, Restaurant 41 and The Greenhouse just to salivate over the menu and see what I was missing. Next time, perhaps. Fortunately our wandering took us past Dunne and Crescenzi, an Italian enoteca and restaurant. We enjoyed well-presented, fresh food and an amazing selection of wine (by the glass, too). The Pig's Ear was also well worth a stop.

Lobster hot dog at Fade Street Social

On Sunday I needed somewhere to take a group of six, some of whom aren't really fans of eating out or spending money! Step up 777, a funky and fresh Mexican restaurant famous for its special offer on Sundays (and on the seventh day, 7 dinner dishes cost only 7.77 euros). I loved the food here - I ate breakfast tacos with chorizo, egg and a smoky sauce. Guacamole was chunky, flavoursome and topped with pumpkin seeds. Cocktails were imaginative and delicious. Service was attentive and fast. Try it!

We definitely saved the best til last. Monday lunch was another family group - mixed tastes, budgets and expectations. Plus it was my husband's birthday, so I wanted something a bit special and different. The gastro bar at Fade Street Social sounded just the ticket, and completely lived up to my expectations. I very rarely take photos of food in public, but just look at how cute this lobster hot dog is! Presentation is second to none in this cool, buzzy restaurant. And it's no slouch in the taste department - I didn't leave a scrap of my leek salad with hazelnut and parmesan, huge though it was. We even enjoyed puddings - it's rare for the 'afterthought' course to live up to the 'real food' for me, certainly.

I didn't know what to expect from Dublin's restaurants, but having some great recommendations improved my experience for sure. I'll be asking Twitter for advice next time I'm off somewhere new.

A pizza the action

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 13:44:00 +0000

So, it turns out it's really easy to make delicious pizzas, right? Ever since receiving my Polpo cookbook I've been making pizzas fairly regularly. Well, one specific pizza. Well, pizzette. But the principle remains: it's really easy.

Measure out the right amount of flour, yeast, oil and water and mix it together. A little kneading and waiting later and you can roll out your pizza base, to whatever size you like. Toppings are fairly easy - you can't go too far wrong with some grated mozzarella. The only limitations to top quality are going to be your oven and a suitable baking tray.

Enter the pizza stone! A good quality pizza stone will make the most of your oven's heat, spread it evenly and make sure you achieve a perfectly cooked base. You can buy one pretty cheaply - mine is from Steamer Trading. It's probably my favourite piece of kitchen equipment at the moment - well worth the small investment.

It all beats Domino's into a cocked hat, whatever that is.

Trying out my new recipe book

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 12:14:00 +0000

Do you remember that 'Chris Tarrant's funny or culturally-different TV adverts' (probably not real title ...) show from the 80s? In almost every episode the had the man who was meant to say 'mamma mia, that's a spicy meatball' in a cod Italian accent but, for some reason, got it wrong about 17 times.

Anyway, before Venice and Polpo, that was my main cultural reference for meatballs. That and some Italian New Yorker called Tony (Soprano, Manero, etc) saying 'nobody makes meatballs as good as you, ma' as they twirled spaghetti round their fork in a gangsterish way.

In the now-famous Venice bacari Alla Vedova they serve delicious dry meatballs, lightly covered in breadcrumbs, that you pick up with a napkin and nibble (or snarf down) standing at the bar. Do Mori serves smaller meatballs in sauce on toothpicks. In London's Polpo there's a selection of meatballs in sauce - with pasta, on their own with bread or 'smashed' in a bread wrap.

Armed with my new Polpo recipe book I set out to make the pork and fennel meatballs, expecting partial success paired with a new urge to visit the restaurant for the real thing. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find them easy to make and hearteningly similar to the restaurant version.

It's just an assembly job - pork mince, toasted fennel seeds (not too many), breadcrumbs, seasoning and egg, mixed together and divided into balls. Start cooking them in the oven for 10 minutes, then poach in tomato sauce for 10 minutes. The book does include a recipe for making tomato sauce, but I used good-quality shop-bought passata. And that's it - really, that's all. Serve 3 per person with some kind of bread and either a green salad or Polpo's lovely runner bean salad recipe.

Yum, eh?

My favourite food and drink in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

I'm not a huge fan of retrospectives or of summing up an event/time period past, but I do love a list. And I didn't blog a lot last year so I owed you (the Blasters) an update.

So here's my favourite food and drink related experiences from 2012 - restaurants, recipes and new finds.

1. Polpo

Ok, so I truly discovered the Polpo way in 2011. My trip to Venice wouldn't have been anywhere near as good without Russell Norman's guide to the bars and eateries that inspired him to open Polpo. But in 2012 a new branch appeared in Smithfield, a stone's throw from where I work. A colleague and I went for opening day and enjoyed far more half-price food than we should have done! Polpo has been my go-to restaurant on so many occasions this last year - pre-theatre, lunch with friends, no-fuss dinners. I'm a huge fan - I've even got the recipe book and the badge (no, really, I've got a badge!).

2. Ginger shandy in Tobago

The food is, on the whole, good in Tobago. It's plentiful, flavoursome and fuss-free. But my outstanding flavour memory from my time there is ginger shandy - ice cold bottles of the local lager (Carib) flavoured with ginger. It goes perfectly with fish, spicy chicken, sun and Caribbean views. PS: if anyone knows where I can buy it in England, please let me know.

3. Creamy lentils

I've never really eaten lentils much before, certainly never cooked with them. But in 2012 I spotted a recpie for creamy lentils that looked worth a try, and it has become a bit of an obsession since. It's incredibly easy: fry an onion or shallot in a little oil, add some puy lentils and stir them around a bit, add stock, put a lid on it and let it simmer until the lentils are cooked (or for as long as the packet says). At the last minute, stir in a spoonful of creme fraiche and some herbs. It makes a great dinner paired with sausages, salmon fillets, chicken breasts ... There may be many others but they haven't been discovered (a prize for anyone who identifies the last quotation there).

4. Meze in Istanbul

It's common to find pretty bad food in big, touristy cities. But if you know where to look, there's amazing food too. Istanbul is particularly good at 'knowing what's expected of it' - hence lots of trad-modern mezze places, particularly hidden away in the Beyoglu district. We particularly enjoyed Antiochia for divine meze with a good selection of wine. I seem to remember the puddings weren't great, but who cares when you could have more delicious bread and houmus instead?

5. Cocktail tasting in Edinburgh

Ah, Edinburgh. How you seduce me. The perfect blend of traditional old-world and modern, bustling city with eating and drinking places to match. On both visits we've stopped off in the bar of The Balmoral hotel, one of the most iconic and well-known buildings in the city (right by Waverley station). Their cocktail tasting menu is a ridiculously wonderful idea - a whole five-course menu of cocktails, for around £30. So you can begin with an amuse bouche of rhubarb liqueur with elderflower, then move onto an elegant and clever martini for the main course. It's a great way to spend the evening.

And the best of the rest ...

6. Aperol spritz

Another Venice legacy - buy a bottle of Aperol and follow the instructions on the back to make the perfect spritz. Enjoy it in your garden with some almonds and a book.

7. Skylon

The huge restaurant in the Southbank Centre is a great place to eat before a show at the Royal Festival Hall. The food is good, service impeccable, window seats pretty peaceful and the prices lower than you'd expect.

8. Bishopsgate Kitchen

A cute little place just over the road from Liverpool Street station, Bishopsgate Kitchen is great when your train has been delayed and you just want some homely, simple food. Have the sea bass with lentils!

9. Polish wedding

If you ever get invited to a wedding in Poland, remember to pack your appetite. We'd read the funny anecdotes before we went, but we still weren't prepared for the mountain of food we were expected to eat. My highlight: at about midnight a waiter offered me a huge bowl of stroganoff. As if the mountains of canapes, two-course meal, buffet and generous slice of wedding cake wouldn't see me through.

10. Heston from Waitrose

I'm no longer a Heston sceptic. This range is amazing, particularly the Ras-el-Hanout nut mix and the salted caramel popcorn. And remember the spiced pastry mince pies for next Christmas!

Goodbye to a good restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:25:00 +0000

It's happened again. The curse of Jenny's favourite restaurants has, sadly but inevitably, struck.

I discovered Bar Battu a couple of months ago - a cutesy little French bar and bistro near the Guildhall in London. I was charmed by its simple menu, reasonably-priced delicious food, great wine list and comforting interior. An old-fashioned place, this - proper tables and chairs, old-world wine, things on matching plates, courteous serving staff. Y'know - a restaurant.

But we already know this story has a sad ending. Bar Battu has ceased trading, and again I feel unaccountably guilty. It's going to be replaced by a bland, ten-a-penny chain wine bar (yawn) which I won't be visiting.

Perhaps it was too old-fashioned or even too cheap. Perhaps the city crowd just didn't notice its shy, classy front window. Perhaps it didn't move with the times. Because 'the times' demand a gimmick, it seems. For every decent, old-style, 'normal' restaurant that closes down, it feels as if two 'on trend' places open up.

You know the ones - they only sell hot dogs, or everything is liquidised, or you have to eat in the dark, or there's one big vat and you all share. I'm not really into all that stuff. I'm a little tired of magazines telling me that 'stuffy' dining is out, and I won't enjoy myself until I'm sitting in a replica Mini with mis-matched crockery eating a Venezuelan-street-food-inspired sharing platter with my fingers. They've got a brilliant 'vibe' apparently, and the food is unpretentious (really?). No more starched tablecloths or silver service for us - food is better spilled all over the place as we reach in front of each other's faces to dip into the sharing dish.

Meanwhile, those of us who like to sit upright with our well-cooked food on our well-polished plates sigh wistfully as our favourites close down. It's a hard life being off trend.

A Carluccio's convert

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:30:00 +0000

I've been sitting on the fence about Carluccio's for quite some time.

Sure, it's a good idea - decent Italian food for a reasonable price with not so many frills. Antonio Carluccio is a fantastic ambassador and I like the idea of being able to shop for ingredients in the restaruant too. On the other hand, national chains always make me feel as if I'm eating in an airport or shopping centre. And I'd prefer them to change the menu more with the seasons.

But recently the branch near my office has started a takeaway lunch bar. Right inside the door there's a bubbling vat of soup, tempting salads, fresh bread and heaps of pretty cakes. Just behind there's hearty hot dishes - freshly-made pizza, risotto and smells-to-heaven lasagne. And, in the grand scheme of Smithfield eateries, it's not at all badly priced.

The cauliflower soup with parmesan and black pepper is wonderfully comforting on a cold day. Mozzarella and tomato salad is bursting with spring-like freshness. Focaccia crunches with chunky salt.

I'm a convert - can you tell?

Yummy sausage-based discovery

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:35:00 +0000

I'm always after new food ideas and I scour delicious magazine avidly each month. I fold over the corners for anything I fancy trying; I judge the success of each issue by how many foldy corners wadge together at the top.

Of course, many corners represent foolish pipe dreams - sashimi plates I'll never dare to make and ice cream for which I don't have the requisite equipment. But, each issue, there will be a gem. Usually noodly, sometimes salmony, but increasingly sausagey.

A couple of months back I found this: sausages with creamy lentils. It takes around 40 minutes to make, so it's just about achieveable as a quick mid-week meal. And, boy, is it easy! Minimal chopping, hardly any stirring, plenty of leave-it-and-see time. I pimped it slightly, of course - I didn't bother twisting the sausages into smaller versions (because that's just weird), I left out the garlic and fresh coriander and used creme fraiche rather than yoghurt. But whatever - do what you will. That's the joy of food, as far as I'm concerned - we all know how to make things for our own taste.

Anyway - go and try it. Get the recipe here: http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/sausages-with-creamy-lentils

PS: makes good leftovers too.

Sake it to them

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:15:00 +0000

I'm back: stop talking about me.

So, you'll be glad to hear that I found out what Honami is doing (remember, she was the wonderful sommelier at Cocoon).

She's now the wonderful sommelier at NOPI, Ottolenghi's latest place. I haven't been yet, but the menus and wine list look perritty good, so it's surely just a matter of time, eh?

New favourite restaurants

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:27:00 +0000

My favourite restaurant - Cocoon - has closed down. But what can replace it?

I haven't yet had a chance to try out Senkai, the Japanese restaurant opened in Cocoon's place by the same team. I'm sure I'll love it, but I don't think it'll hit the top spot.

So step up to the plate good old Gordy! Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's bobbles on the horizon as the epitome of a swanky, luxury restaurant in London. Celebrity chef influence, plush hotel, good location, classic food ... and a hell of a reputation to live up to. But it does, with an almost irritating amount of ease!

Then there's kooky old Joel Robuchon. We ate at the first floor, La Cuisine, rather than at the well-known ground floor L'Atelier. But it's the same fantastic, brave food with eye-popping presentation and great wine. A slight lack of atmosphere and some rowdy fellow diners mean it isn't my favourite, but it's close.

Incidentally, this is the time of year when our friends, family and loved ones all seem to celebrate birthdays. And either of these excellent restaurants would be a prime celebration location, even though they come at a hefty old price. You'll need to sell a major organ for an a la carte dinner with wine and a well-deserved tip. But I'm here to tell you it's worth the money - so start dusting off that Wurlitzer and book now!

And have happy birthdays.

Alive and well and eating

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:59:00 +0000

I'm sorry - I haven't been in touch. I've been an erratic blogger. I said I'd be here with news, dear reader, and I wasn't. I didn't even tell you more about Madrid!

But I'm alive and awfully well. And I'm discovering the eating delights of Smithfield. If I were the kind to use the phrase foodie heaven (which I'm not), I'd use it to describe the Smithfield area. It's a gastronomic delight, and no mistaking.

Never mind the fact that every famous, modern lunch chain has a branch right on my doorstep. And never mind the fact that there's a plethora of beautiful traditional old pubs to hand. I'm not even counting those things.

A short walk away I've discovered The Modern Pantry - a cutesy, wholesome restaurant with a fantastic choice of takeaway options for lunch. If you haven't tasted their aubergine quiche and soba noodle salad you don't know real happiness.

Then there's Farm, home of the fish finger bap. There's lesser known chain Benugo, with their excellent Parisian panini. There's Abokado for wonderful sushi.

When evening rolls on, you can choose from Hix Oyster and Chop House (also a good lunch venue, for small snacks at the bar), posh old Club Gascon, and any number of swanky bistros and brasseries.

I might be some time.

Another one bites the dust

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:54:00 +0000

Remember when I listed my favourite restaurants earlier this year? Remember how there were three I added at the bottom - ones that would have been at the top of the list but had closed down?

Well, it would appear to be a curse.

Cocoon, my number one choice, has now closed. A modern Japanese restaurant is opening in its place this month, but that's not the same. Really, it's not the same.

Cocoon - I salute you. We had many a happy evening with you and you opened our eyes to Wagyu beef, black cod and (most importantly) good sake. Boo hoo.

PS: If anyone knows what's happened to Honami (used to be Cocoon's sommelier) please do let me know.

A slice of Madrid at home

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:16:00 +0000

So you knew it was just a matter of time, right? Before I got ideas above my station? And felt the need to recreate the Estado Puro tapas at home? Don't you hate always being right?

I didn't feel adventurous enough to try the tortilla in a glass. But I did try out the cute little patatas bravas with a swirl (or in my case, dollop) of sauce.

I consulted the Book of Tapas - otherwise known in my house as the 'big yellow book of chomps' - for a standard salsa brava recipe and followed it to begin. It's a bit of white wine vinegar, a dash of worcestershire sauce, some crushed garlic, chilli flakes and a whole load of paprika mixed together. But it wasn't thick or rich enough, so I took drastic steps.

First I added one teaspoon-full of salmorejo mixture, which I was making at the same time. Salsa brava doesn't traditionally contain tomato, but it feels as if it should! To thicken the sauce I heated it intensively, stirring constantly until it made a deep red paste. A quick taste - similar enough to the restaurant's original. I selected same-size, neatly shaped small potatoes (I can't remember which kind, but ones suitable for baking, not boiling). Once the potatoes had baked in their skins for about 40 minutes I took a scoop out of the top of each and plopped in some sauce. Another five minutes in the oven unites potato and sauce nicely, and they're ready to serve.

Also on my twee plate (pictured above): a small ramekin of salmorejo, asparagus spears, slices of tortilla, jamon iberico and onion-stuffed mushrooms. Yum, eh?

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The best tapas in town

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:47:00 +0000

I could say so much about Madrid. And I will, I promise! But just while I have a moment, there's one place that deserves a mention before everything else.

Of course one expects tapas. And of course one expects some places with a touristy pictures-on-a-board menu and others full of locals. A mixture of basic, sophisticated, over-priced, cheap as chips, over-Spanish, traditional, understated and hidden gems. But I still wasn't expecting Estado Puro (by the way, watch out - the website plays music!).

Plonked on the edge of a roundabout just opposite the Prado, it's slap-bang in tourist territory. Despite the busy road running by, it has a tourist-trap outdoor terrace. It's just down the road from McDonalds. Yet it's the classiest place I saw in the whole of Madrid.

Sit at a high table just inside, facing the window. It's quiet but affords a great view of the bustle outside. The menu is printed on a little pouch housing cutlery and a napkin. At first glance it lists traditional tapas - patatas bravas, jamon, ensaladilla rusa, tortilla. But look again: it's tortilla siglo XXI (21st century). And ensaladilla rusa with pear mayonnaise. Little twists on a standard tapas menu.

And when the food arrives you'll be bowled over at how different it is. The tortilla is an egg foam in a glass, punctuated by the sweet taste of caramelised onion. The Russian salad is smooth, creamy and rich in taste. Patatas bravas arrive on a long slab - six tiny baked potatoes with a deep, flavoursome swirl of spicy sauce. The ham's unpolluted, excellent ham, but it's brutally cut and arranged in sharp-edged squares.

Add sophisticated decor, good wine, smart service and reasonable prices and you'll have a brilliant, relaxing but speedy lunch. This is a classy surprise and well worth a visit if you've been to one of the galleries, or have a bit of time waiting near Atocha station. It's like Spain, but on a great day.

Lunchtime creativity

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:20:00 +0000

One of the best things about having some time at home is access to my kitchen at lunchtimes. And, of course, a little bit more time to be creative about the food I prepare. I'm not a sandwich fan so I've challenged myself to make a lunch I love every day, from whatever I've got in the cupboards. And I've come up with some delicious results.

Roasted tomato soup

Easy as pie (or even soup), this one. Put a handful of either cherry or baby plum tomatoes into an ovenproof dish with a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Roast them in a hot-ish oven for about 20 minutes. Once they've cooled enough not to give you Freddie Krueger burns, decant them into a bowl with fairly high sides. Add half a slice of bread torn into chunks, a small spoonful of creme fraiche, a squeeze of tomato puree and a splash of water. Blend it all with a hand blender and you're done. If you prefer soup to be piping hot you can heat it a little at the end (add a splash more water if it starts to thicken).

Leek and parmesan risotto

Chop one leek very finely and soften it with a bit of butter or spread in a large frying pan. Add a large handful of either risotto or paella rice and stir it around to coat the rice with the butter. When it's starting to look and sound squeakily dry, add half a pint of either chicken or vegetable stock. Put a lid on and let the whole thing simmer until the rice grains are puffy - check now and again, because you might need to add more water. Once it's done, add a spoonful of creme fraiche (detecting a theme?) and as much grated parmesan as you fancy. Smother it with black pepper before tucking in!

Salmon noodles

Heat some chicken stock with soy sauce until it reaches boiling point. Add a salmon fillet, broken into large flakes, and some sliced shiitake mushrooms. Once the salmon is cooked, turn off the heat and add slices of spring onion and a forkful of ginger (the kind you can get in a jar is easiest). Either cook noodles in the microwave or add them straight into the salmon broth, depending on what kind of noodles you have. Serve the whole thing with a last drizzle of soy sauce.

So that's my top three, for ease of preparation and satisfaction at the end product. Can you inspire me further? What's your favourite lunchtime feast? Ah go on - tell me!

Fastest cake in the world

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:35:00 +0000

I felt a bit domestic goddess-like this morning - up and about very early and in the mood to fuss aeound in the kitchen. I was also starving by about 10am so I decided to rustle up some scones, one of the easiest cakes to make.

To start I rubbed 60g of slightly salted butter into 220g of self-raising flour. This is the messy bit where you need to take all the rings off your fingers and end up with something resembling breadcrumbs. Next mix in 50g of golden caster sugar and a handful (your hands or mine? Who cares?!) of sultanas. Then use a wooden spoon to mix in 150ml of semi-skimmed milk until it makes a soft but held-together dough. If it's too gooey to lift out of the bowl in one piece, add a sprinkling of flour.

Knead it very lightly for hardly any time at all on a floury surface, then roll it out to a thickness of about 2cm. I prefer square, rustic-looking scones so I used a bread knife to cut it into 8 pieces. I baked them on a non-stick tray for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

Of course, the real reason for making them is the joy of butter or spread sinking slowly into hot, crusty scones. And to use up the last of the Fortnum and Mason luxury cherry jam from Christmas!

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Not just snacks

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:51:00 +0000

It's tapas time again. Well, it was for me on Saturday. A friend and I cooked up a storm using recipes from The Book of Tapas.

This meaty tome, by family act Simone and Ines Ortega, is a bit of a tapas bible. It cuts straight into business-like and easy to follow recipes for everything under the lovely Spanish sun.

We made patatas bravas, potato salad with tuna, crab and tomato bites, asparagus and ham toasts, spicy chicken brochettes and some delicious stuffed potato skins. All within an hour and a half while avoiding an 18-month-old baby playing with cars underfoot!

It's a pretty expensive book and perhaps not as visually appealing as some cookbooks, but well worth it. If you like tapas. Which I do.

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My favourite restaurants

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:02:00 +0000

We don't have much spare time where I work. But everyone needs a bit of down-tools, water-cooler time on a Friday afternoon. In ours just lately we've been talking trivia and making lists - top ten films, books, etc. A colleague suggested we listed our top ten restaurants, and some eyes glazed over slightly. Not mine, of course - that's a list right up my strada (as Gregg Wallace would say).

So here it is - my favourite ten restaurants. Not the greatest, highest-ranking restaurants or any kind of a recommendation - just places where I've had a great experience. And ones where I remember specifically what I ate.

1. Cocoon (near Piccadilly, London) - pretty tables, the best beef in town, great dim sum and an amazing sake list. The sommelier, Honami, is wonderful.

2. La Sacristia (Tarifa, Spain) - attractive, good service and interesting food with a Japanese influence.

3. Texture (Portman St, London) - too cool for school Scandinavian style place with the most exciting ice cream I've ever been served, and bacon-flavoured popcorn.

4. 21212 (Royal Terrace, Edinburgh) - a cutesy, cosy, Michelin-starred place that serves imaginative and complicated five-course meals.

5. Lemon Tree (Bishops Stortford, Herts) - comfy and reliable restaurant with great puddings and locally-sourced ingredients.

6. Cinnamon Club (Westminster, London) - refined Indian dining in a beautiful old building with delicious cocktails and a constant buzz.

7. Busaba Eathai (several branches in London) - essentially a chain, but I love their decor, welcoming incense smell, fresh food and tempting soft drinks.

8. Rhodes 24 (Tower 42, London) - fantastic location and comfortingly simple food from good old Gary.

9. Delicatessen (Tarifa, Spain) - a lovely outdoor restaurant with great salmorejo, ham, cakes and cava.

10. Marine Ices (Camden, London) - strangely genteel amid the piercing parlours, this Italian place has an impressive history, huge range of pasta dishes and fantastic ice cream.

Special mentions to the Albannach and The Chancery in London, the Village Inn and The Dogs in Scotland and Ma Salle a Manger and Les Fous de l'Ile in Paris.

Sadly, three restaurants that'd be right at the top of my list have closed down. RIP St Alban (Piccadilly, London), Brian Turner's place in the Millenium Hotel, London and 1893 (in Stansted). You're missed.

New year, new pie

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:46:00 +0000

So, it's a new year and we've all survived the Christmas come-down again. We're a few pounds heavier, a few pounds poorer. And what have we learnt?

Well, I've learnt that chestnuts are delicious and that a jar of them at Christmas will leave me with a few left over in January. Cue frantic hunting through my recipe books and files for interesting ways to use them up. And just look what I found (erm, and adapted)! Yes siree - it's pie-shaped.

The pie-ness of it is actually beside the point. What I made to begin was a rich and creamy mushroom and chestnut sauce/filling. Chop a few shallots and fry them in a large pan until they're going a bit transparent. Add a good slosh of brandy and let it reduce a little before adding plenty of chopped mushrooms. Any kind will do - I used half chestnut mushrooms and half shiitake. Add the chestnuts themselves to the pan, broken into pieces. Finally add a little double cream to bind the whole thing into a creamy whole. You'll probably need a decent old grind of black pepper in there too.

With this base the world's your lobster. I piled it into an ovenproof dish and topped with readymade puff pastry*. Bake it for 20 minutes and eat it with steamed broccoli, sugar snap peas or asparagus (or all three). I think filo pastry may work instead, if you prefer it.

If pies aren't your bag, baby, stir it through some penne pasta. Or serve it with grilled polenta. Or heap it on topp of jacket potatoes. Like I say - world, lobster. It's fereezable for a couple of months, too. And if I screw up my eyes and go 'la la la' I can probably ignore the calories in the cream, too!

*Twee pastry decorations, as depicted, are optional.

Spanish food for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:20:00 +0000

Christmas time, ho ho ho. I'm quite traditional about the whole yuletide thing, particularly when it comes to food. Each year I fend off suggestions of a goose, chicken, pheasant or duck for Christmas dinner because turkey's just what you must have. Similarly, satsumas, sprouts, chocolates and cheese are the order of the day (not necessarily together, but certainly in rapid succession).

This year, however, we decided to create our own hamper for Christmas full of indulgent things we love. And for me that means breaking slightly from tradition. The things I love includes Spanish ham, olives, marcona almonds and cava.

So, this afternoon I went to Brindisa in Borough Market to stock up on luxury Spanish food for Christmas. I've never been there before - clearly a serious oversight! It's the best shop in the world, bar none. I mean, I love Fortnum and Mason, particularly at Christmas, but they don't feed you samples of ham, cake and olives the second you walk through the door!

Brindisa smells like a delicatessen in Spain and every surface is heaving with bottles of olive oil, pulses or nuts. There's an obliging young man expertly carving a leg of delicious ham on one side, a young girl handing out cake on the other and a stack of chillies in the middle. My eyes were on stalks the second I arrived. I bought some of the delicious ham, carved for me and lovingly wrapped. I also bought melt-in-the-mouth olives, almond cake and some plan marcona almonds. Simple food, not messed-with or fussed-over.

So, this year we'll have a little slice of Spain in with our ever-so-English Christmas fayre. Feliz navidad.

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Floret. The best a man can get.

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:26:00 +0000

I've been awfully busy lately and busy often means little time to cook or eat out. I haven't had many particularly noteworthy food experiences for a while.

This evening, though, I stumbled upon an unexpectedly delicious find. A recipe in Waitrose Food magazine caught my eye and I did my usual adaptation jobbie.

I love cauliflower, so I'm always tempted by cauliflower cheese. But this had the added bonuses of broccoli and bacon lardons too.

So, steam some broccoli and cauliflower florets (fairly small ones) for 3 or 4 minuted - or longer if you prefer vegetables a little bit mushy, like I do. In the meantime fry bacon lardons for a few minutes until they start to brown. Drain the vegetables and put them in a big ovenproof dish with the lardons and plenty of black pepper. Pour over some cheese sauce (you could make the sauce, but it isn't really a particularly rewarding thing to make and shop-bought ones are pretty good). Top it all with some breadcrumbs mixed with loads of parmesan shavings. I sprinkled even more parmesan on top as well, because I was in a cheesy mood. And that's it - stick it in the oven for 15 minutes.

I ate it with a roasted chicken breast, but I bet it goes well with loads of things. Ok, I know it isn't haute cuisine but it was completely delicious - try it!

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Snap happy

noreply@blogger.com (JL) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:39:00 +0000

By the way, you've probably noticed that I've started adding photos. My new fancy phone makes life a lot easier: when I take a photo it asks if I want to blog it! Simples.

If you hadn't noticed, do keep up, please!

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