TACOS GET JAZZED UP

With the wild success of last month's Jazz Nursery behind us, tomorrow holds the next in the series and some new culinary ventures to boot: Korean Tacos!

Not my own idea, I must admit. I have stolen it from the famed Korean taco trucks that roam the streets of LA. It's not been easy to try them out - while some people are obsessing over "50 Shades of Grey", boyfriend Matt appears to prefer my Korean cookery book and refuses to return it to me, resorting to sending photos of select pages to placate me. Thankfully my new techni-capable phone means I can now carry these precious recipes everywhere I go! Hooray!

Indeed last week he hosted a small soiree where he revealed a new favourite - barbecued pork rib in chilli sauce. This treat was excessively spicy and yet through the tears of agony our taste buds were screaming with frazzled joy! Last night I made my own attempt at it and triumph was ours for a second innings. This time it was a little less spicy because my sister and I, she is staying through the trials of the Olympics, are delicate creatures who have been known to cry at the furor of an extra strong mint.

Herein lies the recipe for the sticky saucy pork which will be one of the taco fillings tomorrow night at Arch 61 Ewer Street, SE1 0NR. Also on the menu will be - Korean Chicken/Pork/Mackerel
with pear salsa, kimchi fried rice and special slaw. So come down, doors 7.30 listen to some amazing music from 8 and guzzle some tacos ALL NIGHT LONG.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 4

500g pork shoulder cut into slithers (the original recipe uses 1kg ribs, which you cut the meat off before marinading, this seems unnecessarily labour-intensive and costly to me)
4 tbsp gojochang paste
1 tsp Korean chilli powder (the original recipe suggests 4 tbsps, which I think is insane)
2 tbsps mirin
4 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps light soy sauce
1/2 white onion, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsps grated fresh ginger
3 tbsps maple syrup
2tbsps sesame oil
salt and pepper
sesame seeds to garnish

First make the marinade by mixing everything together, add the meat and coat thoroughly in the mixture. Place it in the refrigerator and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours.

Heat a frying pan over a medium - low heat and cook the pork for about 20 minutes. If you do choose to use the rib meat you should cook it for longer as it is a little fattier.

Just before you serve it sprinkle it with sesame seeds to garnish. Tadaaa, see you tomorrow. Doors at 7.30

IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT GAZPACHO, JAZZ NURSERY PROJECT

Tomorrow, 5th July, I'll be donning my chef hat for the new and fabulous Jazz Nursery - an exciting new Jazz night held once a month under the railway arches in Southwark. Eccentric, underground, and trendy with a penchant for variety: Pintxos seems an ideal food accompaniment. Inspired by the pintxos bars of Barcelona, I'll be serving miniature tapas in an entirely unique atmosphere.

First on the menu are some refreshing gazpacho shots. Delicious! Thinking of doing this at home? Be warned: many gazpacho recipes you find suggest adding cream, eggs, stock, and even mayonnaise. GRIMSBY. Gazpacho should be made from easily available ingredients and served nice and cold, perfect for the heat we all long for this summer.

I've been given two recipes by two of my most esteemed chef friends: one a head chef at a two michelin star restaurant and the other a clever git who has cooked in some incredible michelin starred places and now teaches at Leiths School of Food and Wine.He's not really a git at all but his recipe caused me some serious pain and this is his punishment. 

The first recipe demands the best tomatoes around - you want them to be slightly soft. Whizz them up in a food processor with basil and sherry vinegar, loosening with water if your tomatoes aren't juicy enough. Then pass it through a seive and add salt, pepper and olive oil to finish. 

Love it. Simple, delicious, fresh and so distinctly without peppers. I hate peppers. But is this now simply tomato juice?! As far as I'm concerned that's a joy.

Second recipe calls for twenty tomatoes, two red onions, two cucumbers, two red peppers, one red chilli (deseeded) basil, thyme, salt ketchup and cab sauvignon vinegar. The idea is to chop everything chunky and leave it over night in the salt. In the morning the salt should have released all the juices. Then blend and pass it through a seive.

I got excited about this plan mainly because I love salt; the effect it has on things is magical. But tragedy truly struck during the chopping process. Yes...I put my finger in my eye after deseeding the chilli and then while blowing my nose I somehow got chilli up both nostrils. I then cried a lot, which in turn hurt more. Turns out water and chilli are a no-go: lesson, very painfully, learned. The result? After scanning the internet threw bleary eyes for chilli burn remedies I sat for 40 minutes (that is not an exaggeration) with two olive oil soaked tissues one held to my eye and one to my nose until the burn went away. The recipe creater proved himself to be even more dislikable when he said I'd obviously been tricked by a joke remedy web site. Rubbish. Olive oil totally works.

Pain aside, it's looking pretty cool. To find out how this one turns out come along tomorrow, the rest of the menu will include:

Traditional spanish tortilla

Chorizo skewers

Chicken liver pate

Olive and Goats cheese loaf cake

Gazpacho shots (!)

Prawn and Octopus skewers

See you there!

7:30pm, Arch 61, Ewer Street, SE1 0NR. Nearest tube Southwark Station (Jubilee Line), 5 mins walk down Union Street

MUM'S THE WORD

I think it's fair to say that my mother has never taken much interest, or found much enjoyment, in cooking. Even now, it seems more whimsical phase than raison d'être. That said, it's mad how good she's always been at the Profiterole. Her eternal party piece, these gorgeously creamy creations have given my little sister and I mouth-watering joy since earliest childhood.

Unless you have a Kitchen Aid, which thankfully I do, these require energetic commitment to say the least. This is something my mother has in spades - hers have always been light, fluffy and while they may be a little higgledy piggledy they're purely perfect. Good one Mum.

I know the cream/crème patissière is usually discreetly piped inside, but how pretty it is to see it! Don't you think? I was recently asked if I could make a croque-en-bouche for my best friend's wedding next year so profiterole practise starts now.

Fill me with cream.

 Ingredients

Choux Pastry
85g unsalted butter
270 ml water
140g plain flour, sifted
4 eggs, whisked with a pinch of salt

Chocolate Sauce
200g chocolate
50g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsps cream


Filling
250ml double cream
2 tbsp sugar

How to...
Make the pastry
Preheat the oven to 200^oC, line a baking tray with silicone paper.

Dissolve the butter in the water and bring to the boil. Switch off the heat and quickly throw in the flour, beating fast. When it's all absorbed put the dough on a plate. Spreading it out over a large surface area will help cool it down faster - you don't want the dough to cook and scramble your eggs. When it is cool, add the eggs little by little, whisking like a demon. This will be tough at first (maybe you'll be fine, I am catastrophically weak) but don't give up. When the mixture is a little less stiff and starts to look glossy, stop adding the eggs. Discard any extra egg mix.
Choux goes annoyingly hard if you leave it, so quickly spoon blobs onto your tray. Turn the oven down to 160^oC and bake for 15 - 20 mins. Do NOT open the oven door to check on them, or slam it shut when you put them in. These babies have loads of air in them and those are two sure-fire ways to knock it out. Love your choux!!

When they come out gloriously puffed up and filled with air leave them to cool down before you start assembling them


Make the filling
Easy peasy pudding and profiterole - beat the cream with the sugar until it can hold a nice peak.

Make the chocolate sauce
Melt all the ingredients in a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water - just let it be hit by the hot steam. This can be made earlier and then reheated before you serve.

Assemble
Cut the profiteroles in half and pipe in the cream filling.
Pour over the chocolate sauce. 

Eat. 

LET'S WOK!

Good Lord it's been a long time...

I started writing this a few weeks ago just as I became inundated with working an abominable amount. It's been great but exhausting, anyhow this is what I'd cook when I just can't be arsed.

Indeed, this one was whipped out just the other night when dinner was requested after a long day's slog. Boyfriend Matt, like so many others, becomes an emotional wreck when he's hungry (describing this as 'h-anger') so it's important to placate him as soon as possible. Anything vaguely East Asian has his mouth watering so with that in mind, and following a speedy trip to the supermarket, dinner can be on the table within 20 minutes.

This is a total winner. A one pot wonder and totally delicious, not to mention fresh. I was given the recipe by my best friend's mother some years back. I suspect, however, that I've lost some of the original ingredients and gained others along the way, but the basic concept is there. Easy peasy limey squeasy.

Curry in a hurry

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 seabass, gutted and kept whole
4-5 chilis, kept whole
1 onion
100g cherry tomatoes
2 limes
4 spring onions
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnammon
2 inches ginger finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tbsps dark soy
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 stick lemongrass
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 can of coconut milk
hefty handful of coriander leaves


Recipe
There's a lot of "whacking in" in this recipe. Slice the onions, fry in oil on a low heat and when they're softening down (remember to keep water at the ready in case the pan gets too hot!) add the turmeric, cumin and cinammon. Make sure these are nicely cooked out and absorbed by the onions - takes about 3 mins. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for maybe 30 seconds - definitely no more than a minute. Throw in the tomatoes and stick the heat up, adding a splash of water and the sugar. At this stage you can add the zest and juice of one of the limes and the chilis. Now add the sot, followed by the coconut milk, lime leaves and lemongrass and bring to the boil. Whack in the sea bass and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Garnish with coriander leaves, spring onions and the other lime, cut into quarters. Beginning to end 20 mins - done!

SPUNTINO

My chief lover took me to Polpo and I loved it. Buzzing atmosphere, quirky with easily executed, delicious food made for a very happy time. So, when I found out it was a chain I was a bit amazed. In fact, I'm not sure I'm over it yet.

A foodie friend from America came to visit from across the pond and, curious about meeting Polpo's relatives, we chose Spuntino in Soho for lunch. At about 1pm Spuntino is the kind of place you could easily miss if you didn't know it was there. It's the real life equivalent to the easily overlooked Leaky Cauldron from Harry Potter! Thankfully I was led by a highly observant crew, each armed with iPhones and all was well. Note: It's easily spotted after 6.30pm thanks to the queue of people clamoring for a place.

Let's talk about the decor. Gloriously dingy with New York speakeasy dinge-factor 30. In keeping with this vintage vibe they haven't even got a phone! (And no reservations as a result.) Make sure you can grab a corner for groups larger than two - the at-the-bar dining experience can stifle easy conversation - no-one wants a creaky neck after lunch. At this juncture I must warn you of the bar stools. No problem for youthful limbs but I shan't be bringing granny.

Having a quick glance at the menu I noted to my friends that this seemed like a tapas style sharing joint. The American half of our party refused to believe me (fools), so we Europeans braved on, sharing to our hearts and stomachs content.We were right by the way.

The food here is intelligent, simple and tasty. I could happily eat my way through their menu....

Fennel encrusted aubergine chips! Pungent. Yum.

Mouth watering pulled pork slider.

Buttermilk chicken wings.

My favourite!!! Truffled egg toast. Break into the middle an yolk oozes!!

Beetroot, anchovy and soft boiled egg salad. Sublime.

Roast cauliflower, chermoula and smoked almonds.

This has swiftly become a favoured haunt thanks to their delicious food and reasonable prices. I've been twice now (within a few weeks), eaten indulgently and not spent more than £15 either time! Fan bloody tastic. Get yourself there.



Spuntino
www.spuntino.co.uk

61 Rupert Street W1D 7PW

CRAZY FOR KOREAN

When I was at school, Henry J Beans was The Place To Be, thanks entirely to their chicken wings. I never really understood it - even as a fatty lover wings always seemed a miserable combination of grease and mess. They're bleeding fiddly buggers resulting in ruined clothes every time! I just couldn't get on board with the wing-fanaticism, that is until I discovered Korean food in Japan - where else?! The chicken was so delicious, so sweet, so crispy and with a wonderful whallop from the chili. The flavours ran all the way through, from the crisp exterior to the melting juiciness of the meat itself. Suddenly chicken wings made a LOT of sense, and I'm not ashamed to say with all of Tokyo's culinary delights (I still salivate at the memory) I became a frequent visitor to that Korean restaurant. Since then I've been on a quest to find a London Korean that's as delicious. My father has taken me on endless trips round the delights of New Malden's 'Korea Town', but while the supermarkets are incredible (well worth a trip) and many of the restaurants delicious, I still couldn't find the chicken winged heaven I was searching for.

Then by accident I came across Holborn's 'Asadal'. Tucked away next to the station, I was convinced I'd discovered a secret taste haven - so unbelievably delicious, but sadly with a price tag to match. Also, it's the largest Korean restaurant in London and full all the time, so a rubbish secret. Finally, my craving taste buds were placated and the restaurant became a small obsession of mine. The thing is I simply can't afford to eat there as often as I'd like, and I need my fix of that chicken! So after a lot of desperate research I can share this recipe with you. Joy to the world! Chicken wings are cheap!

Korean Fried Chicken!

Korean Fried Chicken Recipe

How to...
Marinade
Traditionally there is no marinade - they season the chicken with salt and pepper and that's it. My way makes for a tasty interior AND exterior, hurrah.

Ingredients
6 chicken wings
4 tbsps soy sauce
1 onion chopped
1 inch ginger chopped
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
2 tbsps honey
a handful of chopped coriander
pinch of salt and a grind or two of pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and cover the chicken in it. You can marinade it for an hour or leave it over night.

Batter it!
The Korean's secret to perfect delicious chicken is that it's twice fried. MMmmmm delicious, BUT also less than healthful so I'm gonna suggest that you fry it once and finish it off under the grill. This also means that the sauce reduces more and becomes extra sitcky on the wings.

Ingredients
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp rice flour
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the batter ingredients. Drain any excess marinade and then cover the chicken in the dry mixture. The marinade will help the flour mix to stick to the chicken.

Fry it!
Ingredients
2 tbsps vegetable oil

In a frying pan heat the oil over a high heat until it is smoking, and then turn it down to a medium heat.

Place the battered chicken in in batches of three, cooking for about 3 minutes on each side or until the flour is becoming crispy and golden

Sauce it!
Put the oven on the fan/grill setting at 220°C.
 
Confession time. In the picture I've not used what I should and would normally use, gojujang (Korean chili paste.) Please forgive me. I didn't have any, and the chili flakes worked fine. I still recommend the gojujang, it has a much deeper and more intense flavour than chili flakes, which just give off a bit of heat.


Ingredients
2 tbsps soy sauce
3 tbsps honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
2 cloves of finely minced garlic
5 tbsps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp gojujang

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl before gently reducing them over a medium heat in a frying pan for 2 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the fried chicken and roughly cover all the pieces. Place all the chicken onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 10 minutes.

HEAVEN!

DEHESA - referring to a grassy haven in Spain's Extremadura

Ever since a friend who worked in the kitchens of Dehesa introduced me to it I've been a major fan, though in the last year my visits have dwindled somewhat. So when I walked by it on my way to Nopi it was like bumping into an old friend but walking straight on without properly inquiring after each others health - devastating for all parties involved. This tragedy, however, was the catalyst that strengthened my resolve to return and at first opportunity I was dining once more at this familiar favourite.

Dehesa, sister restaurant to The Salt Yard and Opera Tavern (neither of which I've yet been to), is a Spanish/Italian charcuterie and tapas restaurant with a difference. The difference is that it doesn't stick to the traditional world of Spanish cuisine - though a loving nod is certainly made - they branch off, whisking the lucky taster into new, uncharted terrain of tapas dishes. Although the menu doesn't seem to have evolved too much since I've frequented it, this does make for a lovely cozy familiarity with the place. To be honest, I'd be furious if I returned and the deep fried courgette flowers (stuffed with goats cheese and slathered in honey) had been replaced by anything else, ever.

I've never booked, and been happy for them to take my name and number and call me when a table is ready - but the popularity of the place means it can be a long wait. Still, I've always found that a drink at one of the nearby bars and pubs does the trick!

Our journey started with these unbelievably delicious courgette flowers.

Pork belly, beautifully cooked sitting on rosemary scented cannellini beans.

This was a new one from the last time I'd been, lamb chops with lambs tongue, girolles and a mint alioli.

Malfatti with sage butter, trompette and parmesan

Hake with chorizo mash, clams and cider sauce

Salt cod crequetas with romesco sauce, crisp and creamy delicious!

We didn't have dessert. We were both quite full and had just enough room to have another plate of those to-die-for courgette flowers. Stuffed to the brim and with a bottle of wine this came to just about £30 per head. I'm sure I'm biased - I love this food, but I think that's pretty reasonable for such delights!



www.dehesa.co.uk/

25 Ganton St  London W1F 9BP

020 7494 4170

BRIOCHE CUSTARD EXPLOSION

I hereby bequeath this recipe to Gillian who requested it's feature on this blog and to Bart, living downstairs, whose main excitement of my friends coming over for dinner is that THIS might be in the oven. To his joy it often is.

This pud bounded into my life when I threw a 'food heritage party' - pretty geeky I know, but look what I learned! Huge thanks go to William who brought it along and more to Lily who confided her family recipe in him all those years ago.

This is my kind of food. Negligible faff and positively bursting with flavour. Boxes are ticked with incredible gusto: so simple, so sweet, so luxuriously indulgent and so bloody quick! This is perfect dinner party fodder. It takes 5 minutes to whip into the oven and then you can forget about it while you eat your meal. Yet another of this pudding's many accolades is that it really can't go wrong. How could it when it's core ingredients are brioche, cream, chocolate and raspberries?! The key is to keep the oven on a nice low heat so that the eggy custard thickens without splitting and the chocolate doesn't burn. Of course, this is calorific hell but Fat Is Flavour - just enjoy it!

Fresh from the oven, and dusted in icing sugar

2 minutes later and there were just 3 of us! Check that Ooozing Chocolate.

This has served 6 people and it has served 3, it depends how greedy you are!

Ingredients
300g brioche
150g creme fraiche
One punnet of raspberries
100ml double cream
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Lindt extra creamy chocolate bar - all in!
2 large eggs

Recipe
Preheat the oven to 140°C.
First make a custard by mixing the eggs, sugar, cream and creme fraiche together with the vanilla extract.
Tear up the brioche into large-ish chunks (enough for a small handful) and leave them to soak in the glorious custard mix. Meanwhile, break the chocolate into half squares.

Assemble
In an oven-proof dish, layer it up. Half of the wet brioche is followed by the chocolate which is followed by the raspberries (keeping a handful behind) and then the other half of the brioche on top. Pour the rest of the custard mix over and sprinkle with raspberries.
Cook for about 45 minutes before giving it a quick dusting of icing sugar et voila. Serve it hot, so all the chocolate is still oozing M&S food porn stylee.

CIGALA

Lambs Conduit Street harbours many gems. One of the lesser shining is the LA Fitness which I have avoided staunchly since a traumatic spin class two days after joining, now quite some time ago. As I crawled into my cab home I remembered how fondly and enthusiastically a friend had recommended a restaurant but steps away from the scene. I was determined that if my limbs were ever strong again, I would return to taste.

Tonight was the very night! As Jenny and I sheepishly passed our neglected gym/torture chamber, eyes averted, we anticipated a meal that would melt our guilt clean away.

No Such Luck. Cigala is a trendy tapas restaurant with a great wine list. Let me say, we loved our carafe - nothing house wine-y about that! The meal was a slightly different tale. It was perfectly acceptable and it is true to say we left merry and full but there was something amiss. It just wasn't particularly special, I suppose. There was nothing overwhelming, unusual or distinct about it - mainly we dreaded our bill. Our fellow diners seemed to be holding business meetings and I have no doubt that this would be a perfect venue for one. However, our search for sensory pleasure was left wanting (the hot waiter helped - a bit.) Having said that, the place was buzzing even as we left at 10.30pm so they must be doing something right. Perhaps we just made the wrong choices...

A rather salty Tortilla - and I love salt, so imagine!

Tomato on Toast(!)

Beetroot, orange, carrot and bean salad

 Tuna and anchovy salad

The highlight of the evening: Hake sandwiched between aubergines and deep fried

If you do go, say hi to the waiter from us! More me... Jenny wasn't that into him.

PANCAKES POSTPONED

I was cruelly cheated out of pancake day. Struck down in my prime by food poisoning (new London restaurant 'Burger and Lobster' to blame - a delicious meal going down the gullet, grim coming back up) and I have been unabashedly miserable about it.

I love pancake day! It's one of my favourites not least because of its blatant endorsement of gluttony and sloth. I remember the thrill of retrieving the sugar shaker from its shelf (when else does this happen?!) when I was little and my grandmother would fry us endless batches. So you can imagine my emotional state when they were simply not an option on Tuesday. I was sloth for all the wrong reasons. To make up for this devastation I have rescheduled my pancake day for next Wedensday - the traditional savoury pancake bake will be made and lemon and sugar shaker will finally be reunited none-the-wiser.

In the mean time I wanted to go a bit wild, still along the pancake batter route but something to stretch my food vocabulary - The Funnel Cake. These are north American deep-fried fairground treats dowsed in icing sugar and my God they are disgustingly good.

Funnel Cakes..next time I'd add some creme fraiche, fatten it up a bit!

Funnel Cake Recipe

Ingredients
200 ml milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
140 g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted melted and cooled butter
Icing sugar, for topping
300ml oil for deep frying

How to do it...
In a deep saucepan heat about 300 ml of oil over a medium heat until a cube of bread will fry to be cooked and crisp in about 10 seconds. If it rises to the top cooked and crisp before then, then the oil is too hot, if it takes longer the oil is not hot enough.

While it is heating combine all the wet ingredients - milk, egg, vanilla and butter in one bowl, and all the dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking soda and sugar in another. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, whisking to incorporate as you go.

When everything is combined put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe in a circular motion over the hot oil. Cook for about a minute on each side and then remove it and place the funnel cake straight onto kitchen paper to absorb the excess grease. Dust indulgently with icing sugar and you can add fruits, melted chocolate, sauces or creams. Just go mad for it!

MAKE MINE A MOUSSAKA

I was stuck with a lot of minced beef last week - it sat in the fridge for a few days, staring at me with contempt. How to use it. "Not another lasagna!" we seemed to say to each other, "try something new!" the mince added, rather unkindly. So I fondled my cupboards and they graciously responded with a bag of raisins and some pistachio nuts. Pistachios, you may be interested to learn, are a nut my Persian father regularly fed my sister and I when we were wee - the connotations of this particular nut are endlessly nostalgic for me. A Middle Eastern jingle started to play in my head and with it I scurried to the supermarket, khombaks plinking, to make this dream a reality. I returned with some limes, coriander, yoghurt and aubergines and we were off - hurtling past Greece into the depths of the Middle East (whilst staying firmly put in Clerkenwell.)

I've never had Moussaka before (sorry!) but from what I've read it's pretty much a Greek lasagna - instead of beef, lamb and instead of pasta, aubergines with a bit of oregano and cinnamon. This was just not enough for me. No. The mince and I had other ideas. Last week's fish without chips had left me with a swelling spice drawer and I wanted to play! Looking back, the Greeks seem to have got it right - lamb instead of beef would have completed my heritage themed moussaka nicely, but the beef I used in the end worked charmingly.

Now to thank mother, fondly known as 'Bong'. Had she not told me about Evelyn Rose's moussaka earlier this week I doubt the idea would have even dared enter my small brain. So, thanks to both parents, a Jewish/Persian Moussaka has arrived on the scene and it's a good'un.

So Colourful: Middle Eastern Moussaka

Ingredients (this serves 6)

For the meat filling
600g minced beef/lamb
2 onions
4 large tomatoes, cut into quarters
A handful of pistachios
A handful of raisins
1 inch of ginger, grated
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsps caster sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
Zest of half a lime
Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp smoked paprika
 salt and pepper

For the aubergines
3 aubergines, sliced lengthways
1 big glug of olive oil

For the topping
6 tbsps of yoghurt
2 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lime
Zest of half a lime


How to...

...cook the beef/lamb
First Preheat the oven at 140°C. Rub the beef or lamb with smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
Brown in a hot pan in small batches to get a good, even colour. When the meat is browned, sprinkle with sumac. Set aside in it's own bowl.

Onions, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Tomatoes, Raisins, Pistachios, Coriander

...deal with the onions
Thinly slice the onions and fry them slowly in oil. If the pan dries, add a little bit of water. When they're looking nicely jellyfishy (transparent and squidgy), add the ginger, turmeric and cinnamon. Make sure the spices are nicely cooked out - undercooked spices is one of my worsts - it makes for a grim, gritty texture and who wants to eat raw spices?! Set aside the onions in a bowl.

...cook the tomatoes
Rinse out the pan and fry the tomatoes in the olive oil on a low heat. When the tomatoes start to lose their shape a little, add the garlic and shortly after a tsp of caster sugar. Add the lime zest. Again, if the pan gets dry, don't be afraid to add a little more water. Set aside with the onions.

..cook the raisins and pistachios
Rinse out the pan and fry the raisins and the pistachios with a tsp of sugar. When the pistachios start to brown, put the mixture in the bowl with the tomatoes and onions.

...deal with the aubergines and combine
At this stage, combine all the ingredients in a bowl (browned meat and vegetables) with the coriander.
Next, fry the aubergines until they are well browned. Place them on kitchen towel and sprinkle them with sea salt.
In an ovenproof serving dish, layer the meat and aubergine starting and finishing with the meat mixture and place it in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Once cooked, allow to cool.

Layers of spiced meat and aubergine...just one more meat layer to go!

For the topping:
Mix together all the ingredients and when the moussaka is cool, add the topping. Now cook for another 25 minutes. So nice and yellow from the yolks!

Middle Eastern Moussaka

Salaam my new favourite 'bake'.

FISH DIVORCES CHIPS.

Fish and chips with mushy peas. Winston Churchill knew the score - "the good companions" he called them. But how did such a combination, the Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers of our national palette come to be? When did fish meet chips? Allow me to reveal my discoveries. The first official chippy in London was opened by Jewish immigrant Joseph Malin in 1860. One version of the story suggests that Scotland's chip shops began spreading south whilst England's fried-fish shops spread north only to meet in the middle in a rapturous embrace. Sluts.

One reason I won't be making fish and chips is not because I don't think they're fantastic but because nothing can compare to the True Chippy Experience. There's just no competition.

Another reason is that unfortunately for F+C (as my mother signs our Christmas presents, yes, she is a lunatic) people are on the look-out for healthier food at every corner these days. Even McDonald's has adopted a nutrition calculator, started serving five varieties of the same salad and has started writing on their website about 'understanding nutrition'. Please don't misunderstand, I am a major fan of McDonald's but I don't go there for the salad. This 'health kick' is a food trend that's here to stay, and sometimes I have to find a way to join in. Hallelujah, thus was born this recipe for fish without chips.

There are loads of different taste sensations going on here. The tomato chutney's Indian vibe kick starts it all whilst minty couscous provides refreshing zing factor. Thankfully our fishy familiarity with mushy peas remains firmly in tact but this is an amazingly tasty, healthy and colourful take on the trad F+C. Sorry chips!

Fish without Chips

Ingredients Lists

For the fish:
2 Sea bass fillets
Cornflour
Zest of 1/2 a lime
Turmeric
Garam masala
3 big glugs of vegetable oil, or enough to cover the pan


For the cucumber salad:
Half a cucumber, chopped into cubes
Half a red onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, chopped


For the dressing, combine:
Juice of half a lime
2 cm of fresh ginger, grated
Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For the couscous:
Couscous
2 big handfuls of mint leaves
Head of broccoli
1 garlic clove
A punch (more than a pinch) of salt


For the tomato chutney:
4 tomatoes
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green chili, chopped
A handful of coriander, roughly chopped
Tsp caster sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


For the mushy peas:
5 tbsp garden peas
2 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp butter
1Tsp cumin


How to...

...make the chutney:
Grill the tomatoes. When they are black on the top, take them out and wait for them to cool. Cooked tomatoes are akin to the fires of Mordor when they first come out of the oven so when they are cool enough to touch, roughly chop them combine them with all the other chutney ingredients in a large bowl. Taste and season accordingly.


...make the cucumber salad:
Combine all of the chopped vegetables and cover in the dressing.

...make the couscous:
Trim any woody ends or tough leaves off the broccoli with a knife. Divide into small, individual florets and boil for 1 minute or until al dente. Place the mint, garlic and broccoli in a magi-mix/food processor and whizz in short spurts so that you can control how small it becomes - you don't want it to become a puree.
In a bowl cover the couscous with boiled water and wait for it to absorb all of the water before breaking up the grains with a fork. Run the mint and broccoli bits through the couscous.


...make the mushy peas:
Boil the peas for one minute. In another pan gently melt the butter, cumin and blanched peas. Cook on a low heat for two minutes. Add the cream and bring to the boil. Mash peas (but only a little bit!)


...make the fish:
Heat the pan of oil until very hot. Meanwhile, combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and cover the fillets with the batter. Fry them in hot pan, 2 minutes on each side. When cooked, place first on kitchen paper to absorb any excess grease and then sprinkle with salt.


...assemble:
Arrange salad and couscous on a plate with the tomato chutney. Place the fish on top and garnish with the mushy peas. YUM.

CHOCOLATE COATED SALTED BUTTER CARAMELS. SWEETS FOR MY SWEET.

First, a note from the editor. 
A love for sweetened chewiness has long possessed my heart -

From early childhood years ago my passions thus did start.

From rubber teat to playtime sweet or sugar candied strips,

'twas rare that dribble wouldn't glisten hanging from my lips.

Dentists since have told me that my teeth have turned quite rotten

And doctors speak of 'gaining girth' but this I have forgotten.

For when sweet salted caramel is placed in reaching grasp,

In my sweet salted sweaty hands those brown gems I must clasp

And relish in their morishness and feel my heartbeat quicken 

As I indulge euphorically and feel my buttocks thicken.

Jenny Lewisohn

Yes, it's true. We're all in love in this house. Madly, desperately and passionately in love. In fact it's possibly more of an unhealthy obsession than love. It happened about a week ago when I brought home some of Bea's of Bloomsbury's chocolate salted butter caramels. It was a horrendous moment when I went to pay for them - £1 a chocolate, and a minimum of twelve chocolates. CHRIST! But, my feelings mellowed the instant I'd put one in my mouth. I was simply powerless to resist, destined for an ever-expanding waistline and rotted teeth, confidently culminating in bankruptcy. Unfortunately for me, they are everything I could want all in one place, the three ingredients I cannot live without: my holy trinity, my triple threat, my snap, crackle and pop: Butter, Salt and Sugar. They're all here and in such abundance with some cream thrown in! HOORAY! The total sum of these ingredients is a chewy but creamy, salty but sweet, chocolatey but caramelly..... Wow. My mouth is filling with saliva at the thought.

This house is not the first to fall for these luxurious treats and I doubt we'll be the last. It seems that the salted caramel first appeared on the scene in '70s Brittany, a region famed for it's salted butter. By the '90s Pierre Hermé had transformed these sweets into salted caramel macaroons and you can see it is in all sorts of forms these days, from salted caramel ice cream to M&S's best selling salted caramel profiteroles.

Here is the recipe for the chocolate coated salted buttered caramels. What a mouthful. And what a mouth full! You must measure carefully and should really have a sugar thermometer. I don't have a thermometer, so I had a guess at when to turn the heat on and off, which happily worked out fine.

Ingredients
180ml double cream

3/4 tbsp of flaky sea salt (Maldon)

160g golden syrup/corn syrup

200g caster sugar

4 tbsp salted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

A large bar of dark chocolate

Do It!

Prepare a cake tin with lightly greased foil. 

Boil together the cream, vanilla and 2 tbsp of butter and 1/2 tbsp of salt. Once the pan has boiled, switch it off but keep it warm by keeping it on the hob.

Then, bring the sugar and golden syrup to the boil until it reaches 310°C. Add the other 2 tbsp of butter and turn the sugar off. 

Now, pour in the cream mixture. Turn the heat on again and boil to 270°C. 

Pour the mixture into the prepped cake tin and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before sprinkling the rest of the salt over the top. 

Wait another 15 minutes before you cut the sweets using a sharp knife. 

Melt the dark chocolate over a pan of boiled water and cover the caramels. 

Leave the chocolates to cool in the fridge. 

Try not to eat them all.

NOPI (Named so as it is North of Picadilly) 

Having attended a demonstration by Ottolenghi himself during my training, I must admit his food was delicious and he appeared a confident and modest man. He spoke easily about his failures as well as his success and is clearly devoted to what he does. His food is carefully and simply crafted and is all the better for it. Still, shortly after his demonstration I wandered into the Islington branch of 'Ottolenghi' and while the food is presented beautifully, it is unbelievably busy: heaving with yummy mummies and their offspring. The noise combined with the confined space and the queue prompted a swift exit before trying or buying any of the food. I confess I am not the most patient of souls.

So you can imagine my mixed emotions when I was told we would be dining at 'Nopi', Ottolenghi's newer restaurant last Friday night. Images of a claustrophobic, noisy restaurant where it might be impossible to get anyone's attention unless you had the booming voice of an army sergeant vexed me, and my fears were only reinforced in the knowledge that we were to be sitting at the bar.

I was very relieved then when we were taken through the buzzing but not overcrowded restaurant and were attended to the instant we took our seats.  The sparkling white room sparsely punctuated with gold, notably makes a perfect canvas for the bold and colourful food that Ottolenghi is famous for.

The menu is simply set out under the headings VEG, FISH, MEAT and SWEETS. There is something very familiar about it all, and I realised after reading the menu this is the same as Ottolenghi's cafes - it's the same food, just served without the buffet. The food was uncompromisingly delicious, beautifully presented and thanks to this, painful to share (it's recommended that you share, choosing three savoury dishes each). As a less wealthy party of three we chose a total of six savoury dishes, a cocktail each, and waited to see if we wanted dessert.

The cocktails came and we made a game of describing them to each other. Mine, 'Hendricks Punch', was definitely reminiscent of Pimm's whilst Yuko's 'Pineapple and Sage Martini' was my favourite - tropical with a grounding sage leaf. Edward's was too strong for me to taste, but he claimed it was the perfect thing to drink after a bottle of brandy, which happily he'd consumed just before.

First the Valdeon cheesecake. Certainly a rich place to start, and an inspiring slant on the dessert. This was a winner and very pretty in it's copper pan. I do love a shiny copper pan!

Seared prawns, tomato butter, fennel , olives and Pernod. Yum. Sauce was for me the triumph of the evening.

Baby octopus was tasty but soon forgotten when presented with these juicy scallops. Delicately cooked and presented.

The lamb cannon with green chilli sauce was impressively cooked to perfection, and the flavours cleverly matched.

The Ox tongue was voted favourite of the evening, tender with a nice kick from the horseradish, and tart sweetness from the pickled cherries.

At this stage of the meal came the big question: SWEETS? I was definitely inclined toward the 'Caramel and Roasted Peanut Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce' but felt unhappy about spending £7.50 on ice cream. My concerns were sadly only magnified when I confided to the waiter what I fancied to eat, and he chirpily responded 'if you like Snickers, you'll love it'. Good point. The fact that they were selling me a deconstructed snickers ice cream at more than three times the price was more than a little unnerving and convinced us that another cocktail was the best way to end the meal.

I had a really lovely time at Nopi, the food was delicious, the service friendly and the company I was in made for a memorable evening. However, be prepared for it to set you back a few bob, it's very expensive for what it is. Of course, their cleverly attracted target audience remain as devoted as ever and their relationship will surely continue to thrive. If you know and love the Ottolenghi brand, I'm sure Nopi will only convince you further.


Thank you to Yuko Sugimoto for her photography and her choice of restaurant!

 http://www.nopi-restaurant.com/
21-22 Warwick Street  Lon, Greater London W1B 5NE

020 7494 9584

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

I'm obsessed by my local butchers shop, McKanna Meats. It's the real thing - all kinds of animals hanging from the ceiling, lines outside every morning and it's a genuine thrill just going in there. In fact I've walked most of my friends up the road to visit. It's not just the atmosphere and the fact that everyone working there is so friendly: the meat is reliably amazing, good value and they really know what they're talking about. 

One of my favourite things amongst the goodies are their chorizo sausages. I've not found any like these anywhere, apart from Brindisa who sell a pack of five 'dulce chorizo' online for £18.95!!! McKanna's are equally sweet, not stuffed with peppers like the supermarket variety and not particularly spicy. Personally, I don't love the food I buy to come spiced, I'd rather create the 'heat' level myself, so aside from anything else, these are a flexible choice.

I'm always looking for an excuse to buy these delicious sausages and when one of the butchers told me about a dish he'd recently made with the chorizo, black pudding and pancetta (which I also find unbelievably exciting - it comes in a block!!) I was determined to give it a go myself. It has evolved a bit since the first time I made it, simply because it's easier to serve it this way.

This is a rich and meaty dish. I'd serve it with a rocket salad with olives and sundried tomatoes, or some new potatoes with a simple nob of butter. Or both!

Ravaged Chicken

Ingredients
1 chicken, de-boned. If you're scared about boning it yourself, ask your butcher to.
4 chorizo sausages, cut into 1 inch chunks
100g Spanish black pudding, crumbled into large-ish chunks
100g Pancetta, chopped into 1 inch chunks
2 shallots, sliced
A nob of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A handful of mixed wild mushrooms
A handful of sage
A sprig of rosemary
Zest of half a lemon
A glug of olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season
2 skewers

Oven On
Preheat your oven to 170°C on the fan setting.


Prepare the Stuffing
For the stuffing, fry the pancetta in a very lightly oiled pan on a high heat. It's very fatty, so the oil is just there to help render down the fat. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. With the fat left in the pan, fry the sage until it's crispy but not discoloured and add this to the bowl. Continuing in the same way, fry the chorizo and then the black pudding.
Clean the pan and sweat the shallots with some of the butter on a low heat. Add this to the bowl.
Add the rest of the butter to the pan with the mushrooms, sprig of rosemary and the garlic. Once the mushrooms have changed colour and absorbed the butter, add it all to the bowl.


Assemble
Now, lay the de-boned chicken skin-side down on a clean chopping board and cover with stuffing, spooning it on until about two thirds is covered. Start rolling it, starting from the stuffed end, as tightly as you can and secure with two skewers.
Place the stuffed bird on a roasting tin and pour over the olive oil, lemon zest and season with salt and plenty of pepper. Cook at 170°C fan for an hour and slice it at the table.
 

DEVILLED LIVERS

People can be very squeamish about liver. Hopefully if you try this recipe you will be convinced to liver little.

'What the hell is devilling?'  First seen in eighteeth-century cookery books, it means to cook in a fiery hot sauce...something to do with the devil and the heat in hell.

These are anything but hellish, nor are they particularly spicy, simply because I prefer the sweet to the spicy on this one. However you can change that by adding cayenne pepper if you'd like. For me this is a fatty and naughty favourite.

I first had it as a starter in a restaurant in Cardiff. It was rich and creamy and to be honest a little bit orgasmic. A memorable taste! Having said that, I'd rather serve it among some other little dishes; a meal for sharing, more a tapas-like affair than a starter. Watch out though, while they're rich they're also very moreish.

Ingredients
150g chicken livers, sinew removed
Half an onion thinly sliced
2 nobs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Tbsp whole grain mustard
Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsps double cream
1 Tbsps madiera
A pinch of smoked paprika
A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, add at the same time as the paprika)
Brioche, thickly sliced
A handful of chopped parsley
Salt and Black pepper to season 

To the hob
Soften the onions in the butter on a low heat. Once they have become transparent and squidgy turn the heat up and add the madiera and the sugar and smoked paprika, until the onions have become nice and sticky. Set the onions aside and brown the livers for about a minute on each side. Return the onions to the pan and add the garlic, the mustard and the double cream. Boil for 1 minute and set aside. Add a pinch of salt and some black pepper to season.

Fry the brioche in the butter til lightly browned and crisp on both sides. Top the brioche with the onion and liver mix and grill it until a caramelised colour appears on the livers.

Serve
Serve immediately with some chopped parsley to garnish

FISH GIVES YOU BRAINS


I ate this about a year ago at St John's Bread and Wine in Spitalfields, which I have to say is not as fancy as it's big sister in Clerkenwell, but the food, I'm convinced, is better. I first came here with my two cheffy friends Ben and Rupert just after we'd finished our training. It will always hold fond memories for me recalling the husband vs. wife style spat that arose after one of the boys booked a table there while the other desperately insisted that all he'd ever wanted was a greasy burger. Cries of "but I did this for us!" promptly ensued by the table-booker. None-the-less, upon arrival we were all very pleased with our food and this has been a firm favourite ever since.


I love everything about the simple but well considered combination of flavours in this recipe. Making pesto is one of my favourites. I have to admit I am not a fan of measuring - I haven't the patience, and making pesto is a personal affair - you can make it how you want. Some recipes leave out the garlic altogether some use Romano cheese instead of Parmesan or Pecorino, and the taste can completely change depending on exactly which oil or cheese, or how toasted your pine nuts are or indeed whether you even use pine nuts at all. However you like it you can make it just the way you want - just have a play. I always feel very satisfied and even a little smug when it's made.

Mackerel can be cooked lots of ways - BBQ, grill or roast - it generally enjoys a more abrasive approach than milder fish. It has a melting, tender texture as well as a bold taste and this power-off between pesto, fish and zesty tomatoes is a simple treat.

Simple and Effective Mackerel

Ingredients

Mackerel, gutted
Maldon Salt
Olive oil


Vine tomatoes
Crushed garlic
Lemon zest
Olive oil
Maldon salt




For the Pesto
2 handfuls of basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
A handful of lightly toasted pine nuts
Extra Virgin Olive oil
A handful of grated Parmesan cheese
A squeeze of lemon juice
A pinch of salt
Black pepper, to taste


Lemon slices to serve


Oven on

Turn the oven to 200 C

Make the Pesto

While the oven heats up make your pesto. You can make pesto with either a pestle and mortar (more time consuming, but gives a different flavour) or in a magimix, which I admit I'm lazy enough to prefer and it still tastes good. For either version, start with a pinch of salt and some garlic, crush/whizz them together. Crushing/whizzing as you go, add torn basil leaves, followed by pine nuts, and the Parmesan (you could use pecorino - creamier or Romano - saltier), and then add the olive oil - just enough to bring the sauce together and lemon juice, tasting throughout to see what you think it needs. Season with salt and pepper to taste


Prepare the Tomatoes
For the tomatoes you should keep them on the vine and add the crushed garlic, salt and lemon zest then pour on a little olive oil and gently rub the tomatoes, making sure they're all nicely covered.

Sort out the Fish

Now prepare the fish. Place the Mackerel on some foil and pour a good glug of olive oil and a large pinch of salt over it. Cook in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, turning once.


Serve 
To serve simply pour your pesto over the cooked fish and plate up the tomatoes and lemon slices.