When life gives you lemons...

A review of a free meal is always tainted by the disbelief of actually receiving a free meal. It is both better and worse than you'd hoped for various reasons, and you cannot help but believe that you can't complain because it was, in fact, a free meal.

That being said, a meal beginning with a disappointingly luke-warm, impossible to cut, and slightly burnt (yet still tasty) Pollo ad Astra at Pizza Express near Chiswell Street this Friday was saved only by the presence dessert. A bright spot (literally, bring quite yellow) among some rather disappointing desserts chosen by others, I present - the Lemon Torta.

Sweet, citrus-y, nice consistency - not too mushy, not too firm, with a lovely flaky and buttery biscuit base. I love a lemon tart, and this hit the spot. Though I'm still confused by the mascarpone on the side. I love mascarpone, but as a dessert? Needs a little sugar, and thinning down a tad. Was a bit too thick to work. Note to Pizza Express- the whisk is your friend.

Note to self, must try the chocolate glory next time. Might start up that old habit of going into restaurants just for dessert. I admit now that Zizzi is great for this whenever I have a yen for their amazing lemon sorbet. I just love lemon based desserts, and no one does lemons like the Italians.

Char Siu & High Standards

I'm home from the summer, living in a home that no longer feels truly mine. I've had a taste of independence, and I liked it too much to really enjoy being back in my mother's house. Especially in the kitchen. I've blossomed in terms of culinary skills, while away at University. I've eaten foods that I can't pronounce the name of, cooked dishes that are beyond even my mum's impressive repertoire of recipes, but most of all, I've enjoyed doing it.

Trying to cook in my mother's kitchen is like trying to do ballet in ill-fitting shoes. I'm ungainly, trying to pull ingredients from cupboards that aren't there, or trying to readjust to a gas hob. All in all, it doesn't really work. But my mum insists that I just have to cook something. Because she's been hearing about all the things I've made. So I try, and something always goes wrong, or "it's a bit bland, dear" or "a bit too much salt" and "don't quite like that". I sometimes hate cooking for my mother.

So it was a pleasant surprise when, being gifted with some pork belly after her hearing me complain about craving it, I managed to pull off an impressive Sunday dinner of my (cheat's) version of char siu pork with stir fried vegetables and white rice. The greatest compliment to get from my critical mother...Silence. A blessed silence interrupted only by the clinking of cutlery. And then, "That was lovely." 

Char Siu Pork, slayer of critical mothers

Char Siu Pork

Ingredients

1lb pork belly

1/4 cup dark soy sauce

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1tbsp honey

1tbsp hoisin sauce

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp rice wine (I'll admit to using Japanese mirin as it's all I had - don't hurt me!)

1 tsp minced ginger

Method

Marinate the pork belly overnight in a whisked mixture of the above ingredients. (I gave it a two day soak).

Remove pork from the marinade, then, in smoking hot oil, fry pork belly on both sides for a couple of minutes, until meat is slightly charred.

Add the marinade mixture and lower the temperature to low/medium heat, then cover for 20-25 minutes. Allow sauce to froth and essentially thicken and "stick" to the meat.

Serve with rice.

Mind boggling easy, this cheat char siu pork is sweet, juicy, moreish, and very quick. However, with a good piece of meat, you can't go wrong. Eventually, I'll try to do a proper roasting, but it'll keep for when I have my own kitchen. Something to look forward to.

Back to School

Tomorrow marks my first day back to University after my exams. What this means is a new term of gourmet delicacies, beginning with a Cooking Society event I helped organise at the Loch Fyne seafood restaurant, continuing through a series of packed lunches that I hope become true bento, and culminating in a three week study holiday to Hangzhou & Shanghai, where I hope to sample many dishes like xialongbao which I hear is a speciality of Shanghai.

All in all, I am very optimistic for this new term, food-wise. I hope it lives up to my expectations, and I hope to keep more up to date with blogging to let the world know how satisfied my stomach is.

Happy eating,

student_gourmand

Homemade Apple Pie

Apple pie is perfect in winter. And in summer, spring & autumn too, but especially in winter. Lots of warm, winter-time spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. Add some custard or vanilla ice cream, and you have perfect comfort food.

I got home from work on Tuesday with an almost frantic need to bake something. So I stopped by the market for two humongous Bramley apples, made some shortcrust pastry (sugar, flour, butter, water), cooked & ate my dinner while I let the pastry chill in the fridge, added my apples soaking in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice to my pastry lined pie dish, then put this bad boy in the oven.

The pastry was soft and thick and flaky, though the bottom layer was a bit soggy, and I was a little overenthusiastic with my cinnamon, to the joy of one flatmate who loves the stuff, but it was delicious.

My flatmates were very happy. And I loved my cold apple pie the next day in my lunch-box. Between the four of my flatmates, the pie didn't even last a whole day before disappearing. The best kind of compliment for a cook.

Happy winter baking,

student_gourmand

What does gourmand heaven look like?

Hong Kong. Having arrived this Friday on the island where Gourmands go to die and reach heaven, I cannot claim at all to be disappointed when it comes to my expectations of culinary delights. I am visiting my friend, fellow blogger and President of the Cooking Society at the University of Sheffield, for a holiday which I was promised would leave me fat and satisfied. I've only been here for a day and already experience the latter, and at the rate I'm going I'll soon be fat too. The first thing I did when I arrived at my destination was indulge in trying something I've always wanted to experience: bubble tea. And after being hit by a solid wall of humid heat once I left the air conditioned airport, a cool taro bubble tea was just the thing to cool me down. Plus it was bright purple! My favourite colour. I don't think the taro was for me but there was a wall of varieties just calling my name, and I loved chewing on those tapioca pearls. Dinner the night I arrived was livelier and larger than I was really prepared for having just ended a twenty hour journey. Still, I attempted to pick up and use my chopsticks and dug into a lovely Chinese meal out with my friend's extended family that seemed to go on for ages. As soon as we thought the meal was over, a new large dish was placed down. I had to take a time out at one point but I loved the grab and share atmosphere as we sat around the classic round table to eat. And we ate duck, char sui pork, pork with a lovely crispy skin chicken or goose feet in a plum sauce, snap peas and red peppers with something else I ignored I favour of the peas which I love, fried rice, noodles, vegetarian sea food, jellyfish, and something my friend tried to. Convince me was Swallow's nest, but which I think were actually battered shrimp balls with stringy bits of batter that looked like a bird's nest. I lost track of the dishes at some point, finally snapping out of a food induced pseudo-coma at the arrival of something gelatinous with a red bean paste filling, which were deliciously sweet and chewy, along with some watermelon to clear my tongue of the almost overwhelming sweet taste. Today was a bit more moderate, in both length, content and cost. Lunch was Korean, at a restaurant my firnd stumbled across in the classic way that the best restaurants are found - while lost. We arrived at the restaurant to be greeted with a pitcher of tea, and a selection of mini starters which I must stress came free. Potato salad with apple, spicy kimchi (fermented Chinese cabbage), sweet potato in a sweet sticky sauce and two other dishes I did tnot try. What a lovely way to be greeted. The main I actually paid for was Bulgogi (marinated barbecue beef) on a bed (veritably king sized) of rice. I usually avoid beef when I eat out, but this was the juiciest, most tender & flavoursome beef I've had in a loooong time. This also came with a side of seaweed flavoured with pork bits in a mini bowl of broth. The main was eaten before I could take photos but once I figure out how to upload my photos I'll delight you with images of my starter. The real kicker was the bill though -at HK$55 which roughly translates to £5, I think that meal was not only delicious but in credible value for money. I doubt I could eat as much as I did today in England for the same money. I'm still full from dinner and a day of sightseeing so I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a description of the lovely meal my friend's lovely mum made, but be sure to expect something yummy, filling and served with fluffy rice. Happy summer-holidaying, student_gourmand

La Viennoiserie, the International Market & that Envied European Lifestyle

I've mentioned "la viennoiserie" before. The Viennese delicacy umbrella, covering a range of French baked goods, including brioche, pain au chocolat, danish pastries and, of course, the ever loved croissant.

I mention it again because it is one of those wonderful things I never get enough of. Especially in England. Especially in the north of England, where the closest to fresh viennoiseries are the slightly stale industrial croissants in the Tesco Express bakery section. Luckily however, there has been the International Market in Sheffield for the past couple of days, and I found myself drawn to the French stall in particular, where I indulged in half a loaf of brioche, some palmiers and some madeleine fingers, as well as some pear and ginger jam from another stall, and some Italian/Sicilian pastry treats which I'll talk about in another post. This Sunday I decided I was in the mood for a continental breakfast, so as well as the usual bowl of cereal, I fed myself with a cup of Lady Grey tea, and a small selection of my market goodies.

In the top picture above we have what's left of a loaf of sweet, slightly chewy brioche. Below that we have 2 slices of brioche with a tart and strongly scented raspberry & lavender jam my flatmate bought in Scotland, and the mild but punchy pear & ginger jam I bought at the market. Pear jam is one of those little things I first encountered as a little girl, during my travels in Europe, which I haven't been able to find in English supermarkets. At the top of the plate is a palmier, delightfully sweet puff pastry layered with butter and sugar and rolled together. To the right of the plate are two madeleine batons, one of which is marbled, both of which I love to soak in my tea.

This plate sums up what I love about la viennoiserie even if I don't think madeleines technically fall into that bracket. Buttery, light, crispy, fluffy, moist, delicious. All it needed was a croissant, a danish pastry and really thick, European grade chocolat. I remember being in Barcelona with my mum once, and she'd gone out for an early morning breakfast run, bringing back what she thought was to be bog-standard hot chocolate. What she actually brought back was heaven. Thick and creamy, I could only drink so much before it all became too much, and I switched to using it as a dip for my croissants.

The International Market brought up so many wonderful feelings that it's a shame that it only lasts a few days. I've often longed to have a boulangerie right on my doorstep, so I could buy my daily baguette fresh, and get my morning croissant before I go to school. Get that tarte aux pommes my flatmates wanted for dessert on the way back from work, &c. This is the lifestyle that makes me want to move to Europe once I've graduated from University. 'Cause right now, Tesco Express just isn't cutting it.

Here's to the European Dream.

student_gourmand

Top Class Train Food, and Travelling in Style

I love travelling, and travelling by train is my ultimate favourite mode of transportation. Don't get me started on how much I love Eurostar. So, I am grateful that I go to university in a city where I live roughly 10 minutes' walk from the train station, which can take me home to a train station that is right behind the bus stop that takes me straight to my home village. Good transport links are so convenient.

This blog post is about food, of course. Specifically train food. Now, people complain all the time about plane food. But no-one ever talks about train food. I guess there are two reasons for this. 1) Most train journeys aren't long enough to justify spending money on snacks; 2) They hide the good stuff in first class. And it's hard for Economy travellers to complain about decent tea and pastries when they don't realise they're serving steak for the big spenders.

So this Easter, I used my inner-thrifty and found some cheap first class return tickets home for the holiday. Nothing to report on the journey home, but when I came back to my Uni town, it was a midday train and as soon as I arrived and left the train station, I would have to go to work and not eat again til 5. So I was starving, and worrying about passing out at work. I decided to splurge.

There was the complimentary tea and chocolate biscuit. But I wanted more - this time, in the form of Coronation chicken in a wholemeal baguette. Sounds simple. Simply delicious, is what it was. Creamy and sweet, with that little tang of curry. The bread was filling and soft, but not too doughy. Along with a side of crisps (They'd run out of salad, not that I minded) and a complimentary bottle of water, I was set. At £3.95 I didn't feel completely ripped off, especially since people always try to push off those flimsy, floppy, wet catastrophes as sandwhiches in shops for about the same. I really felt like a juice cheeseburger, which they had, but as I was on my way to work, in a new outfit I might add, I wasn't sure how well that would work.

All in all, I'd eat there again. Next time I hope I can catch an early enough train to get complimentary breakfast. Below I show you a picture of my new outfit, since I forgot to photography my lunch before I demolished it. Sometimes I think my job is just an excuse to dress up. But I do enjoy business wear, however much I push the business/casual boundary.

The dress is from Mango and the bag is from Urban Outfitters. I love the dress so much because of the dfferent fabric textures. We've got this smooth silky cotton bodice with an almost burlap feel skirt. Not scratchy but very textured. And I was pleasantly surprised by how well the bag matched considering I'd bought it a couple of weeks before the dress. It was nice to leave my arms bare with the weather getting so nice, so I definitely took advantage. But I still wore tights - Thank You Fenwick for having such lovely tights.

Happy travels and Happy Easter,

student_gourmand