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Every great chef scours the earth for the best roast chicken recipe they can find. This is mine:
Ingredients:
1 small whole chicken, skin on
125ml plain yoghurt
1 heaped tsp of fresh garlic (chopped fine)
1 heaped tsp of fresh ginger (chopped fine)
1 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
3/4-1 tsp red chilly powder
3/4 tsp salt
Olive oil/butter
A good roasting tin with lid.
Method in madness:
Put all the spices into the yoghurt and mix thoroughly. Spoon this marinade under the skin of the chicken and in the cavity. Also add tiny chunks of butter under the skin. Massage it all in and then pour the remaining liquid over the top of the chicken.
Leave to marinate for a couple of hours or more.
Heat the oven at 200 degrees and when it is hot turn it down to 150. Put the chicken in and cook for about an hour. Turn the chicken over half way through and baste.
Enjoy!
Now in my haste I made this on Christmas day for my hungry family, but was so busy that I forgot to “picturise” it for you. So stand by for the photo as I shall make it again soon enough…
Nusa Kitchen, Cannon Street
Posted on: November 24, 2013
NUSA KITCHEN
88 Cannon Street
London EC4N 6HT
WEB: http://www.nusakitchen.co.uk/
PRICING: Keralan Fish Soup – £4.95
RATING: 9
It was one of those weeks when I was walking around with ice cubes in my head, praying for it to just combust so I could feel some warmth. Naturally I was looking for something to scare away my cold and trigger off my inner central heating; so I thought I would finally give Nusa a go, a little place that opened up a while ago close to Cannon Street station.
Nusa Kitchen only has a few options on the menu and doesn’t seem to have taken off just yet, but I think this winter could be their window of opportunity. The influence is Singaporean, so you know right off the bat that you are going to get something interesting.
I tried the Keralan fish soup which was packed full of flavour and turned out to be both filling and satisfying. I would opt for more chillies next time to really make it a winter warmer. I did enjoy it as it was just the thing to get me through the day, without the need to snack before dinner.
Soup’s up
All their soups sound quite gorgeous (roasted lambshank and barley for one? well hello!) and if you’re the kind of person who likes something a bit different at lunchtime, you should definitely give it a go.
Try this incredibly tasty and healthy dish, created by moi. It takes barely half an hour to make.
Minty Baked Sea Bass
1 filet of sea bass (you can use a whole one too if you want, just add more ingredients to coat it)
3/4 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Fresh mint chopped fine (or ground)
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1/2 spoon Dijon mustard
Sea salt
Black pepper
Pressed garlic clove
Put the butter and garlic in a bowl (you may want to put less then a clove of garlic according to your own taste) and melt for a minute in the microwave.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it all together.
Place the sea bass in a large piece of foil and coat with the mixture on both sides (and in the cavity if using whole fish). Fold the foil over and seal by folding the corners.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes (25 minutes for a whole fish).
Cumin Spiced Marrow
1 tsp Whole cumin
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Red chilly
1 tsp chopped Garlic
1 tsp chopped Ginger
1 Onion chopped
Olive Oil
1 Marrow sliced with the centre core taken out.
Add enough oil to coat the pan and add the cumin. Then add the onions and fry until melted.
Add the ginger, garlic, red chilly and salt. Fry this for a minute or two and then add the marrow. Stir around lightly to coat the marrow with the spices. Cover the pan and keep on low heat.
Occasionally stir lightly as the marrow reduces down.
When the marrow has softened it is ready to place under the fish.
Warm Butternut Squash Salad
Posted on: November 18, 2013
Is Andy Bates the perfect man?
Who is Andy Bates? I have mentioned him before, you really haven’t been reading my posts have you?
This very lucky man on the Food Network, travels in search of the world’s greatest street food. He also creates recipes inspired by his findings and has a stall in three London street food markets (Whitecross market being one of them).
Well I am always in search of fast, tasty recipes and his warm butternut squash salad ticked all the right boxes. Now you could say that I watch a little too much food telly, but after a hard day’s work I am basically looking for a recipe that fulfills three basic requirements:
1) Does it use ingredients that I already have in the kitchen?
2) Is it fast and easy to make?
3) Will it taste awesome?
http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/warm-butternut-squash-salad.html
This gorgeous vegetarian dish took only half an hour to make and I loved the sabayon on top, something I have never tried before. I switched the feta for goats cheese, which is my favourite, and I baked it in the oven on top of the veggies for ten minutes so it was just melted. A very tasty and filling recipe; definitely worth a go!
Here are the ingredients I used:
Butternut squash
Sweet potato
Aubergine
Onion
Garlic
Goats cheese
Sabayon as per Andy’s recipe.
So yes, I have to say that Andy Bates is the perfect man. Not only does he bring the world’s greatest street food to my living room, but he is the creator of some pretty amazing concoctions.
Wahaca, St Paul’s
Posted on: November 12, 2013
WAHACA
One New Change
London, EC2V 6AG
RATING: 10
WEB: http://www.wahaca.co.uk/
Thomasina Miers first became known to me when I watched her travel around Mexico, for the love of her cookery program Mexican Food Made Simple. She infiltrated tiny villages in search of authentic Mexican food and to my delight, showed the journey from cocoa bean to cup which convinced me that I must have smellivision on my Sony.
The fact that she won Masterchef in 2005 is no surprise, as her talents are evident in Wahaca and new fast food addition Burrito Mama.
Nothing pleases me more than when fabulous restaurants come to me! So the relatively new Wahaca in One New Change, was most definitely the one to take a bunch of the most discerned palettes to. My partners in crime were more than eager to try literally everything on the menu, and with the wonderful array of street food on offer we were able to do just that.
Tacos, fajitas, tostadas, taquitos. Steak, chicken, vegetarian. Spoilt for choice? Then try it all!
The street food options were like tasters, so you get three small tacos, two tostadas or two fajitas. We all loved the steak tacos and fajitas, but I think that the one that stood out for me the most was the chicken mole taco. Mole sauce originated from Puebla, Tlaxcala and Oaxaca (pronounced Wahaca..see the connection!!) and it contains chocolate. Chocolate and chicken you say? Well that’s just crazy! But it is really quite a subtle flavour and truly delicious.
I was also in love with the sweet potato and feta taquito. I really hope that it isn’t because it was deep fried, but it just went so well with the crema, salsa fresca and chipotle mayo.
But now let me tell you why I am going back to Wahaca. I’m sure I am not in the minority when I say, that there has been many a time when I have wanted to start from the dessert menu and work my way backwards. To be honest if I wasn’t so scared of catching hereditary diabetes, I would dispense with the rest of the menu altogether. Wahaca’s dessert menu makes me want to order the lot and stick a flag in it, saying “Conquered by EAL”. It was literally a Sophie’s Choice, but there was one that tugged at my greed strings. Let me introduce you to my half eaten salted caramel ice cream..
Salted Caramel Ice Cream & Mexican Hot Chocolate
Que bueno! What perfection in a bowl. Is there caramel? Are there bits of chocolate? I don’t know but I attacked it so fast, that you’re really lucky there is anything in that photo.
Remember my story about the journey from cocoa bean to cup. Well it travelled a little bit further and ended up at our table. With a dash of chilli and made with water, this is the shot of Mexican chocolate that I hoped for. Choccie nirvana.
The service at Wahaca was extremely attentive and the décor had an edgy, modern, unfussy feel to it. The pricing is very reasonable, and it’s the perfect place to take a group of culinary curious punters. I’ll certainly be back for more dessert!
Chocolate Orange Fire Engine
Posted on: November 10, 2013
It’s amateur hour at the Great Excited About Lunch Bake Off.
Ingredients:
1 Fireman Sam Obsessed 4 year old
5-8 Hankerings for chocolate orange cake
1 Complete novice to novelty baking
I used the recipe below for the cake and swapped the vanilla for valencia orange extract instead. I thought the amount of sugar in the recipe was way too much so I reduced it to 280g.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chocolate_cake_31070
The aroma was amazing and the cake was perfectly moist and not too sweet. I then covered it with the coloured icing, which being my first attempt, was not terribly neat but I didn’t have a lot of time to perfect it. Anyway, it made for some happy campers!
It’s no secret that cooking shows give me that raison d’etre, but even I was surprised when I started watching The Great British Bake Off with the same bated breath anticipation as a season of Homeland.
The tension, the tears, the innovative ideas. I am still in awe of the skill of these alleged amateurs, who inspired me to try my hand at something I never would have tried before.
Just a tart..
Now this was my first attempt and I have to admit to over cooking it a tad. Also the whole process of swirling the chocolate into the mixture was pretty difficult, considering it was already on the pastry; but it tasted pretty amazing for a first timer. My substitutes for Mary and Paul were rather impressed.
This is a recipe from The Hairy Bikers that I found online:
PORTRAIT RESTAURANT
National Portrait Gallery Restaurant
St Martin’s Pl,
London WC2H 0HE
PRICING: 2 courses: £25, 3 courses: £30
RATING: 10
WEB: http://www.npg.org.uk/visit/shop-eat-drink/restaurant.php
The National Gallery is definitely one of London’s pride and joys, and it is so large and impressive that I have to admit to never really making the time to browse the National Portrait Gallery, which is located on the side entrance. It is little wonder that I ended up there for the first time, with the primary intention of trying their restaurant.
A section of this beautiful building is cordoned off for a diverse selection of portraits, displaying everyone from Edward VI to Emmeline Pankhurst to Nelson Mandela and ending with an impressive collection of current celebrities by Jonathon Yeo. The walls are adorned with familiar faces, all painted with oil on canvas and some displaying such an amazing combination of textures to achieve the skin tone, that they looked like they had been painted in water colour.
http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/2013/jonathan-yeo-portraits.php
Most diners visit The Portrait Restaurant for its panoramic view of London, but this is very quickly forgotten when an elegantly crafted meal is placed before you. The service could not be faulted, it could only be described as seamless and well timed. In fact it seems that food imitates art at this restaurant, as the only thing missing from each plate was a frame to celebrate it’s achievement.
My starter was Smoked Gressingham Duck; now I have no clue where Gressingham is, but I did get the impression that it’s the equivalent of living in Bath and being rather pampered as the duck was smooth and lean. The combination of sweet, nutty and the unique noodle like texture of the celeriac went together so well that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was especially eager to try the Cornish Bream with gem and mussel vinaigrette. This is an absolutely beautiful dish entirely reminiscent of a summer or spring day, when all you desire is something light and so fresh that it tastes like the fish was caught in front of your eyes. They certainly are not kidding when they claim that they use seasonal ingredients sourced from the most esteemed suppliers.
My compadres were all impressed with their choices. They appeared to be the most impressed with the coconut and mango pavlova with passion fruit and fennel herb. The mango draped across the meringue did not show a hint of being out of season, which of course it is and we could identify it as being one from Pakistan (the most strong in flavour).
The Portrait was most definitely a hit with my party of diners, and I will be going back for their afternoon tea which was designed by world-renowned pastry chef Claire Clark. It sounds like the perfect end to a day wandering around the main part of the National Gallery, and most certainly well deserved.
Hare And Tortoise, Blackfriars
Posted on: September 8, 2013
HARE AND TORTOISE
90 New Bridge Street
London EC4V 6JJ
WEB: http://www.hareandtortoise.co.uk
RATING: 9
WRITER: THE EDITOR
This restaurant came very heavily recommended by my Japanese colleague, who raved about so much on the menu that I propelled myself there with the excitement of a cave woman who caught her first fish.
First of all, when he told me about Hare and Tortoise, I had visions of it being underneath a pub. Let me assure you that it was never a pub and has no links to a pub. It just has a pub name. So now we’ve cleared that up, lets get to the fantastic food on the menu!
In many restaurants that I am dragged to, I only ever see one or two things on a menu that really say “eat me”. The problem with this restaurant is, that you don’t know when to stop ordering. There are so many must tries, that my cohorts and I needed a bigger table.
chilly wing sticks, chinese greens, seaweed, spider maki, veggie spring rolls
Now, I am a woman with simple tastes (haha), all I really need in life is a good chicken wing or a piece of salmon to make me happy (I kid you not). So naturally I had to try their spicy wing sticks; and the fact that they were smothered in chillies, causing my lips to feel like someone had just placed hot coals on them, did not prevent me from going back for more.
The chinese greens and seaweed were a wonderful compliment to the sushi and chicken, but what I had especially gone there to try was the spider maki. This is a seaweed roll filled with deep fried soft shell crab, cucumber, tobiko and lettuce. I could not taste any crab at all, probably because of the deep fried element. So I have to say that I did not enjoy this as much as if it was filled with salmon. Consequently, the soft shell crab hand roll was not as fresh tasting as my usual favourite; the one filled with salmon and avocado.
unagi and avocado maki
And so to the Pièce de résistance; unagi (eel) and avocado maki. So beautifully presented that it deserves a place in the Tate and also quite delicious. I must admit I was surprised that it was so palatable, as the flavour was a kin to that of mackerel. The inside out seaweed roll was filled with avocado and omelette, with the eel on the top. There was a sauce that brought it all together, but I’m not sure what that was. I loved it until the last piece which, I noticed my colleagues avoided, and basically had the tail on top. I don’t know why, after eating a whole eel, the tail put me off. So I had to have a moment before I ate, to cut it into pieces to help me forget what it was.
I must give kudos to my colleagues who managed to polish off a main meal after that as they were served a very large bowl of delicious lakhsa, a gorgeous looking salmon teriyaki and gyudon which is beef with onions in a sweet sauce served with rice. The last one appeared to require more sauce as beef can be quite dry.
The service was excellent as the waiters were very attentive, helpful and extremely speedy. The decor was just as you would expect of a primarily Japanese restaurant, clean and modern with the kitchen in plain sight. We sat a little too close to the kitchen as the seating looked very comfortable, but later thought it might have been better to leave without smelling of teriyaki! But it did have the bonus of getting good service from the waiters. All in all, we loved our Hare and Tortoise experience and would definitely recommend it to others.
Meatopia UK, Wapping
Posted on: September 3, 2013
Excited About Lunch 