Sunday is for brunch...

My friends and I would probably all agree that to catch up requires either tea or a very good meal. So meeting a friend I haven't seen in ages obviously meant brunch in London.

After dithering for a while, we decided to go to American restaurant, Jackson + Rye, that Sunday. And pushing the boat out a little, indulged in mid-morning cocktails. My friend went for a classic Bloody Mary [call me an ingénue but I've never had one, and after tasting hers, never will again] and I went for a similarly classic Bellini which was deliciously sweet and light. Perfect first thing.

We both ordered the Avocado 'Royale' - poached eggs on toasted bread with smoked salmon and a hollandaise sauce. I finished with an indulgent Blueberry & Apple Cobbler, not just a generous portion, but a whole individual pie plate was set in front of me. And of course, I requested vanilla ice cream instead of custard.

We had no reservations and we could see they were busy but we still got a table downstairs, with the proviso that there was a two hour limit. Just enough time for a gab and a grab to eat, yet there were no hovering waiters eager for us to leave. We had a relaxed and enjoyable brunch, with friendly and laid-back service.

The food was good and comforting, though nothing really wow. My one gripe would be under-seasoned eggs/hollandaise, but as that is such a personal preference I can't be too picky. But the familiar comfort, and chilled out surroundings made up for that. My cobbler was delicious though. Reasonable (for London) prices, we paid roughly £20 each.

My two cents? I'd eat there again - 7 / 10

Food Ideas from Rachel Khoo

Sunday morning watching Rachel Khoo, and I love her idea for Goats cheese Cigars. I love goats cheese, unfortunately I need to either find new friends to serve this to, or discover a substitution, because my friends hate it.

1 quartered sheet of filo pastry, brushed with melted butter. Place thyme along one end and fold over. At the other end of the pastry put goats cheese, and further into the sheet dizzle a line of honey. Fold over towards the thyme end. Brush the top of the cigar with butter. I may tweak to add some pepper or more thyme. I bet lemon thyme would work great with this.

Interesting twist is to serve over a radish, cucumber and green melon salad. The melon apparently inspired by the use of green papaya in Vietnamese salads I think. I love papaya so may try it with that instead as I'm not a big melon fan. Red wine vinegar and olive oil to finish.

Seems like a perfect summer starter. Writing it here so I won't forget it, since my cookbook is in another city at the moment, last used by my mum for my steamed butter chicken recipe which I've yet to post about. 

Happy cooking.

Student_gourmande

Dessert Before Dinner

I was in London this weekend for a course, and met up with my lovely friend for dinner and drinks.

Following a successful pattern when another friend was visiting her, we first stopped for hot drinks and pastry at Paul's near Covent Garden.

While I've bought the odd pastry to go from Paul's, and have even bought macarons from Paul's in the south of France (Aix-en-Provence) during a memorable summer holiday, I've never sat down in Pauls. Was the wait worth it, even just for the luxuriously thick hot chocolate that reminded me why the UK is not my favourite food country in the world, but comes behind France and Belgium. This was pure heaven. The pear and cinnamon tart was also a triumph. It wasn't on the menu, but I was certain that I'd spied a pear tart from the corner of my eye when we came in. Flaky, light yet firm pastry under a pear filling, subtly spiced with the cinnamon. The pear was practically caramelised, and it was delicious, as well as generously portioned out. I could have died happily then, but after a couple of hours of conversation and catch-ups, it was time to actually eat dinner.

Wahaca. (Gezuntheit)

No, this south american street food restaurant on Southbank, situated in four shipping crates, sprayed with murals you'd expect in Sao Paolo, is an ode to the importance of ambiance. It is utterly cool. I am informed that this specific Wahaca was an experiment intended to be a pop up, but was far too popular to be denied and remained in business. We waited an hour to get in, but sat talking outside under the murals. 

My friend and I bought five tapas sized dishes between us, and both got the Hibiscus water to drink, my friend as she'd had it before, and myself because of the sudden smack of nostalgia for a West  Indian drink called Sorrel. It was a delicious and refreshing beginning to the meal.

The food was great, light enough to follow the large desserts we had, filling enough to satisfy. Though disappointed by the garlic prawns being a tad overcooked and lukewarm, the cool atmosphere and cool layout more than compensated for one mediocre dish.

Reasonably priced for London, though not cheap, I would definitely go again.

Happy Eating,

student_gourmand

Korokke - if it's good enough for Japanese students...

So, true to form, the plan got sidetracked by the realities of life. However I've still made the time (somehow) to do some experimenting and the theme for the last week has been: Japanese.

While in London the Saturday before last, I managed to find my way to the Japan Centre neat Picadilly Circus. As well as indulging in some takoyaki (battered octopus balls) which was yummy but more batter than octopus, I decided to try something new.

A bit of background for you: Recently I've been re-watching an old favourite animé of mine: Honey & Clover, a slice-of-life series about a group of art students at University. Something I noticed was the constant consumption of korokke or croquettes. It seemed to be the Japanese equivalent of an English students 'beans on toast'. Deep fried potato mixed with cheese or minced meat or white sauce.

Well, I thought that was interesting. Here I am, a student, who happens to have a bag of potatoes that need to be eaten, as well as some turkey mince. The only thing I was missing was 'panko' or Japanese breadcrumbs, an ingredient which every recipe I read assured me were much superior to the Western breadcrumbs I might find in my local.

What I did

Well I boiled and mashed my potatoes, cooked my mince with onions, tender-shoot broccoli stems, baby-corn and chilli, then mixed together using a little egg for binding. I thin coated in flour, then egg and then the panko. The frying process was less harrowing than i thought it would be (and the recipes were more or less correct that, despite the deep frying, the croquettes didn't turn out very greasy at all.

One thing to note, put a lot of seasoning into the potatoes, since that is the bulk ingredient.

All in all a successful experiment that made a lovely dinner, and went lovely with my landlady's chilli jam. Not to mention, the leftovers fit nicely into my bento box for lunch the next day. To summarise, korokke are yummy, filling, easy to make if fiddly, and very cheap (making ~10: the 3 potatoes cost about 20p, the turkey mince about £1, and the little bit of veg I used was about 50p. The panko was the most expensive purchase at £2, but then I only used about a third of the packet.)

Potato & Mince mix

The Finished Article

Cooking again! Spicy Parmesan Prawns

Hi again. It's been a while, right? Still, after the upheaval of moving, getting a new job, starting at a new university and all the other day-to-day stuff on top, I'm happy to say that I am cooking again.

Admittedly, it took a combination of New Year's Resolutions, a day off from work and buying so much food that I couldn't afford to let it go to waste (seriously, food is expensive nowadays). But I have a plan, and as of day 1, I have stuck to it. Long may it last. 

 Day 1 - Spicy Parmesan Shrimp

In true student_gourmand style, the first thing I did was change the main ingredient. I used prawns. I did it the first time I made this, and I will always do it. First things, shrimp is for salad. Or soup, gumbo dirty rice. When it is the star ingredient of a main meal, it lacks the bite and presence of a good prawn. 

 The second thing I did was not use chilli flakes, but chopped up some chilli peppers and added mild chilli powder. The last thing anyone wants is grit between their teeth, and that is exactly what happens with chilli flakes. I went a bit mad and added sweet chilli sauce as well- the kind you dip spring rolls in. I mixed the above ingredients with about half a block of parmesan (let's call it 60g), 2 cloves of garlic, a spring onion, about 6 tablespoons of olive oil, a couple tablespoons of soy sauce, salt and pepper, and then mixed together. At home I used a cute mini-whisk. In my new place where I have only the bare essentials, I used a spoon. Well, needs must. 

 While I would ideally have liked to leave that overnight to marinate, if I was to stick to the plan that I was already behind on (preparation-wise) then that couldn't happen. So I boiled some fusilli, which I discovered worked better than the recommended penne since the twists allow the cheese to cling to the pasta. I then poured the prawn mix into a very hot non-stick frying pan and heated it through for a couple of minutes (I used cooked prawns so you might want to double that for uncooked) and then I added the pasta to the (deep-sided) frying pan and mixed the whole thing together. I also added some tender stem broccoli I'd boiled for about 8 minutes, you know for some veg.  All in all, it was tasty. So much so that I forgot to even think about taking a photo 'til afterwards. 

If you're wondering about my irreverent layout (re: lack of ingredient list and recipe), the answer is that I've been awake since 5:30am, I also didn't follow the recipe I had due to having to quarter the amount of prawns and at most, halfing the other ingredients, but also not having any measuring instrumets beside a tablespoon. I felt like Jamie Oliver, or like I knew what I was doing. At the end of the day it was a terribly unhealthy, lightweight and yet still very satisfying meal. Amd despite butchering the quantities, I have enough for at least two more meals. 

If you need a bit more detail than this, I got the recipe via pinterest. I'll add a link when I'm less full and more coherent.

Happy cooking, 

student_gourmand

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.