Pham Sushi

I'm back on the foodie path this week, starting off on Tuesday night with sensational sushi from Pham Sushi in Old Street. This gem of a place is rather off the beaten track, with about 90% of the customers being regulars. Everything looked so good that my dining partner and I actually felt stressed at the inability to make a decision and we both wanted to order absolutely everything on the menu. In the end I settled on a sashimi bento box and we shared some delicious vegetarian bits to start. The tuna was melt-in-the-mouth, and normally I am not keen on octopus sashimi, but this was just sublime. I could have done with some soft-sell crab as well as perhaps some eel rolls. But that would just have been greedy.

Summery chicken breasts with quinoa salad

I took a stroll down to the farmer's market yesterday, and picked up some lovely organic apple cider. I was in the mood to cook a light summery meal after getting back from Spain. I had some delicious smelling fresh nectarines, fresh mint and organic chicken breasts (from the brilliant butcher - Moens in Clapham). I marinated the chicken breasts in the cider, thyme, lemon and garlic and then put it in the fridge for about 45min. I first seared the chicken breasts in the pan before baking them in the oven. The salad: quinoa (leave to cool before mixing in with the other ingredients), courgette ribbons, fresh mint, a mix of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pine nuts and, of course, the diced nectarines. Served with a yoghurt and mint sauce and washed down with a crisp white wine. Delicious.

Coming soon

Here are a few of the dishes I whipped up recently. I'll post the full recipes once I've written them out. I might even have to cook them again just to take photos...

Baked Cod, cherry tomatoes and pea, courgette and broccoli puree, served on wild rice with pumpkin seeds and chopped almonds.

Roast butternut (so good with so many things... but recently pomegranate seeds and very good quality feta cheese.)

Baked chicken fillets, wrapped in parma ham, filled with wild mushroom and aubergines

Sweet potato and trout fishcakes

Gnocchi with roast butternut, fresh cherry tomatoes and mozarella

Discharging the Electric

I was discussing my blog with a friend last week, and his suggestion was that I needed to find a bit more focus and direction - have a theme, so to speak. Initially I set up the blog so that I could post my recipes online rather than emailing them round after a dinner party. But like all things, it’s evolved and become more of a restaurant critique than of my cooking, but that is indicative of my current lifestyle. The balance will come back, and I should hopefully get more recipes as well as photos on the site soon.

It’s been a week of interesting turns food-wise. Dinner at The Electric in Notting Hill (where you can normally count on a decent meal) was good for the company but the food wasn't quite what I remembered it to be. I’ve eaten at all it’s sister restaurants too - Cafe Boheme in Soho, Balham Kitchen and Bar and of course the Electric many times. My dinner companion ordered steak tartar to start, and unfortunately he was rather disappointed. He’d been expecting steak tartar in the style one would get in Paris where the egg comes raw and the capers are on the side. While I found it tasty, it was only my second helping of steak tartar so I do admit to being an absolute novice. The other occasion, incidentally, was in Paris last year and I cannot recall if there was raw egg severed with it or not. We shared a bottle of Pinot Grigot, which was pleasant enough, but admittedly nothing too special. I ordered the Duck Salad as my main (feeling very confident after ordering duck at Lantry’s) and my companion ordered the pork belly.

The duck salad was not what I expected. It was an interesting combination of wild rocket, mandarin segments and the shredded duck; however, I found it to be a little bland. The pork belly unfortunately got cold due to us being too wrapped up in our conversation, and the chef was unwilling to warm it up again due to contamination issues.

The Electric has that buzz about it, although perhaps it is becoming more of a has-been with the number of other great eateries competing in the neighborhood (take Food@The Muse or any of Tom Conran's offerings - Lucky Seven and Bumpkin included). I would say that to have a truly fabulous evening perhaps one should be ordering the Lobster and chips or the Chateaubriand, but then I’d prefer going to The Cow and ordering their full seafood platter.

Vietnamese on Kingsland Road

Fittingly for the final farewell dinner with one of my besties, we went for Vietnamese on Kingsland Road last night. One of the good things about living in Shoreditch is the amount of Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsland Road.

Dinner last night was:
Prawn summer rolls with Hoi Sun sauce
Chilli Squid
Ribs (Pauline ordered these – was not a fan)
Followed by:
Prawn and Papaya salad
Lemongrass and chilli prawns
Whole steamed sea bass with coriander and lime (As usual, this was sublime)
All washed down with a lovely crisp bottle of white.

I do find it amusing and also indicative of our friendship that the (many) farewell's we've had the past few weeks have been around food. One last champagne lunch! One last Tuesday Night Dinner! One last Vietnamese on Kingsland Road! I'll miss G & S dearly - this is very much the end of an era.

Lunch at Zetter

I had a business lunch at The Zetter today, and while I've been there for cocktails before, I hadn't eaten there so I was rather looking forward to it.

To start I had "Grilled Green Asparagus With Poached Egg, Teruel D O Serrano Ham & Truffle Dressing" followed by the "Pan Fried Sea Bream With Braised Salisify, Rocket Pesto & Clam Ragout".

The starter had a generous amount of the Serrano ham on the plate, although strangely light on the asparagus. And the asparagus tips were peeled, which I thought to be a little strange considering they were quite young and tender. An all round good dish.

My main course was also lovely. The sea bass was pan-fried perfectly, with the skin being lovely and crunchy and the clams delicious. The 'braised salisify' - which I do admit to not having eaten before today - was more of a novelty vegetable than an automatic first choice. I do think there were a few other vegetables that could easily have worked as well - including something like pak choi if there was a need to bring a bit of fusion into the dish. We ordered a few sides - roasted new potatoes (far too salty but crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside), rocket and Parmesan salad (undressed and as you would expect) and then wilted spinach, which I think had some sort of light soy dressing.

Lunch was finished off with a decent double espresso (no sugar).

Smoked Eel Salad

Planning Monday night's dinner party has had me thinking about the more unusual salads I've made recently, and one that stands out is the smoked eel salad with roasted butternut, wild rocket, horseradish and pomegranate seeds. There's a wonderful fishmonger in Clapham South, and while I was very disappointed that he'd sold out of clams for the spaghetti vongole that I was planning on making that evening, he did suggest the smoked eel for my starter. The butternut was an interesting twist, and more included because a) not being widely eaten in the UK, I have an obsession with roast butternut and b) I had my heart set on including it in the meal somehow. Not that it didn't work well, I just think the combination of the peppery rocket with the rich, oily eel with the horseradish and crunchy pomegranate seeds can stand on their own.

More than just salad

I have a bit of a thing about salads. Maybe it was all those years being a vegetarian that did it for me.

I tasted the most gorgeous salad on Market Kitchen yesterday, which was part of a "Beetroot Masterclass". I know prior to tasting the salad, we were cracking jokes about the need for a beetroot masterclass, but in fact, I was completely impressed. I normally roast my beetroot, but steaming it just adds another dimension to the beets.

Jeremy Lee made a steamed beetroot salad with boiled egg, lambs lettuce, watercress and (made-from-scratch) salad cream. The combination was just incredible. The steamed beetroot was truly gorgeous - the colours on the plate were brilliant.

I made a lovely salad the other evening: Courgette ribbons, strawberries, crushed walnuts, goats cheese and fresh coriander. The flavours, textures and colours work really well together, and I love strawberries, goats cheese and coriander as a combination of flavours. I'm doing the courgette ribbons a lot lately as it's so easy and a perfect way to serve what could be an otherwise wintery vegetable in summer. It also brings a bit more depth to the salad.

I still have never managed to perfect the sublime carrot dressings that I had in New York a few years ago. I also had an amazing beetroot dressing (vegetable-based salad dressings must have been very on trend at the time) which I am definitely going to be trying out.

A day at Market Kitchen

I met Matthew Fort today, and I did develop a bit of a (non-sexual, of course) crush on him during Great British Menu. He is absolutely lovely, and incredibly funny. Tom Parker-Bowles is also rather lovely, and Jeremy Lee is very, very camp but a great chef. I was filming for Market Kitchen, and while that deserves a post all in its own, it did re-ignite the foodie fire in me.

I really enjoyed meeting Rose Grimond, who has given up acting and has started a business supplying food from the Orkney Islands (http://www.orkneyrose.com/). She sells her produce at Borough, and we got so deep into conversation about Borough, its alliance with the wonderful Boqueria market in Barcelona, that she almost missed her queue to answer Matthew Ford's question.

Such a lovely day out!

Herring cake - ingredients

There seems to be great interest in the Herring cake, and while Christian and John spent hours making it unfortunately most of it was thrown out at the end of the night. First you cut the crusts off some good quality white bread. Arrange on a tray/dish. Start layering on a good deal of mayonaise. Layer up, adding prawns, bread, maynaise. Leave to settle and for the mayonaise to soak into the bread. Then add smoked salmon, gerkins, sliced raddish and caviar. It wasn't particularly appitising, to be honest.

Herring Cake or 'Sill Tårt'

Apparently this cake is traditionally eaten at Swedish Midsummer.

Chocolate covered strawberries.

Use one slab of Green & Blacks Dark chocolate per punnet. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Coat the strawberries in chocolate, once cooled, put in the fridge to set.

Roasting peppers

There's nothing quite as sweet as your own roasted peppers.

Strawberry fact of the week

A strawberry is a 'false' fruit. The yellow seeds that adorn the outer 'berry' are the fruit of the plant, while the 'berry' as we know it is merely an enlarged receptacle for the fruits, similar to the white cone left behind on the plant after picking a raspberry.

Lunch at Langstry's

This is where we shall be lunching on Saturday 6th July: http://www.langtrysrestaurant.com/saturday_lunch.php
"Langtry’s Restaurant has recently opened its doors in the heart of Knightsbridge and offers British dishes with unique and inventive flavour combinations. "

The menu's a little limited but seeing as the champagne flows freely until dessert... I don't think we're going to complain. A rather fitting way to celebrate and end of an era, I would say.

The Maltese Rabbit

I recently had a conversation around the eating of rabbit as a friend had mentioned that he’d had it for lunch. Now I know rabbit is widely eaten across Europe (one has only to have walked past a Parisian butcher to see the wide array of unusual animals being hung in the window) and seen as a delicacy in some cultures, I, however, cannot get my head around it.

Having lunch in Malta last year whilst out there on holiday, my boyfriend ordered rabbit. At the time I was still a strict vegetarian, and seeing those tiny bones on the plate really didn’t do much for my appetite. I do recall I ordered some type of stuffed squid, which, I was convinced, had ground mince meat in eat.

The wind was blowing, the conversation non-existent, the food less than appetising, and I think I probably got through a bottle of wine on my own to drown out the very awful situation. Needless to say, the boyfriend became the ex-boyfriend within a week of returning home from the holiday.

Malta, interestingly, does produce some decent wines, many of which I sampled on my holiday (the volume of which I would put down to attempting to getting through the holiday as painless as possible). Although I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy any back here in London, and unless you are stuck with that as your choice, there’s really not much need to drink it. The seafood was generally good, and as long you took pains to find a decent restaurant and avoid the general tourist traps, you’ll probably be alright.

I’m quite happy to be served (or cook myself) a medium rare steak, am no longer squeamish at the thought of chicken on the bone and am getting used to eating lamb. (My roasted lamb noisettes at Easter were absolutely delicious, if I do say so myself). However, rabbit, offal, brains, liver, foie gras and tongue are all on my list of animal that I shall not be trying this side of sanity.

A Taste of London

Here is the list of participating restaurants in London: Taste of London.
I'm quite keen to try Canteen. It was voted best restaurant in London in the Observer's last foodie awards and whilst not very expensive (I used to live round the corner), I have not got round to going.
Fifteen for brunch - will have to get one more in before Gabi and Sam go travelling (my very, very dear friends who live round the corner from the restaurant).
Cocoon - for a bit of Z-list Sleb spotting but the Pan-Asian cuisine is rather good.
And then perhaps Le Gavroche, for a bit of old-fashioned, posh French fare. I think it has a Michelin star?
Oooh - and maybe Bumpkin. It's the latest offering from Tom Aiken, and was subjected to much fanfare when it opened, but I'm not sure that will actually live up to the hype.

Exciting developments

A couple of exciting things happened today, one of which was a visit to the very chi-chi "The Hospital". A delicious Rose Prosecco was served, which came from the family vineyards of the CEO of the company who was doing the schmoozing - located in Naples, the cellar has 15th centaury frescos and has been in his family for centuries.

The canapés included some of the usual run-of-the-mill sort, chicken on sticks, which, other than being far too oily is just a weird concept in itself. I know it's supposed to make it easier to eat, but has anyone actually thought about the concept? A few dim sum, feta, cherry tomatoes and feta (again, on sticks) and an odd looking chicken "meatball" served on a Chinese dishing spoon that had a sauce that looked a bit like pureed strawberries. But what was rather interesting and tasty was the broccoli tempura. I'm guessing that the broccoli was cooked a great deal softer than usual, and then dipped in the tempura and very quickly deep-fried, giving it a crunchy shell and a soft and tasty centre. The combination took me rather by surprise, as I was not expecting it to be that good.


I’ve been really keen to make my own Gnocchi from scratch as I have a rather delicious recipe for gnocchi, which is served with roasted butternut, rocket, buffalo mozzarella and fresh baby pomodoro tomatoes. This evening I came home to see that one of my favourite foodie blogs, http://www.101cookbooks.com/ had just posted a an entry on making homemade gnocchi. Am considering giving it a go for my housewarming party in two weeks time.

The third exciting thing today was the announcement that from Thursday many of London’s top restaurants are going half price as part of the annual Taste of London festival in Regents Park. Evidentially this requires more research. Watch this space.

La Boqueria Mercado, Barcelona

Môreson, Franshoek

What I found really interesting about the chef at Môreson is that he is completely self-trained. There's hope for me yet.

Meatloaf

...was on the menu at Downtime (the restaurant in the building at work). Meatloaf?? Perhaps this is one retro moment taken too far.

Berries

William Butler on strawberries: "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.

Preparing for Swedish Midsummer

Friday is Swedish Midsummer, and in Sweden this is generally time for great merriment and another chance to eat herring and traditional Swedish foods. But, since the Swedes are not going to Stockholm this year, we are having a Midsummer's party at our place on Saturday. I also now have a fridge full of Gradvalax, three different types of Herring, fish roe paste and Swedish cheese (which is similar to cheddar). I have offered to make the meatballs, which is simple enough. Then there is sallss (salad), “prince sausages”, braised cabbage (“rödkål” in Swedish) and a Sardine and potato bake, which is similar to Potato Gratin. Apparently it’s just cream, milk, Swedish-style sardines, onions, potatoes and butter. Interesting combination.

Homemade Sushi

Comfort Food

I've finally got (some of) my taste buds back after a nasty spell of the flu, but have yet to find the energy to cook up a big meal.

My comfort food:
Thr0w diced sweet potato into a pan of olive oil. Season with paprika, cayenne pepper, sea salt, black pepper and basil. Fry the sweet potato. Slice a courgette into thin strips, and add to the sweet potato along with a cup of cooked aduki beans. Simmer for a few minutes - the courgettes should be just cooked through. Remove from heat, add some feta cheese and serve with couscous. Season with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

A few weeks ago I was craving mash - another comfort food. However, I wanted something a bit healthier than just mashed potatoes (carbs in the evening is not a good thing unless you have a workout planned the next day!). I combined the mashed potato with mashed butter beans. To that I added steamed petit pois and sautéed leeks. I can’t remember what I served the delicious mash with, it obviously wasn’t anywhere nearly as good as the butter bean and potato mash.

Superpower foods

An interesting take on cooking programme (I wonder if the Food Channel at work will be picking this one up) on BBC2 this evening:
Cooking in the Danger Zone

Scorpian kebabs, barbequed rat, dung cakes, pork & rice custard... Not to mention, many, many types of penis while in Bejing. Apparently Water Buffalo penis is a rather delicious. Not sure I'd try it.

Marinated chicken & puy lentils served on rocket

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
2 chicken fillets
Goat’s yoghurt
Olive oil & balsamic vinegar
1 Lemon
1 large clove of garlic
2 large Portobello mushrooms
Handful fresh basil leaves
Bunch of Rocket
2 spring onions
Half a packet of cherry tomatoes



Marinate the chicken in goat's yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper for 45 min.

Cook puy lentils in water according to instructions on packet.

Crush and chop the garlic. Cut the red pepper into 1 inch squares, and slice the Portobello mushrooms. Combine and sauté in olive oil. Add a dash of balsalmic vinegar.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard excess marinade. Oven-bake the chicken on 180 degrees for 30 min.

Rinse lentils in cold water once cooked, to cool slightly. Mix with red pepper and mushrooms. Add fresh basil leaves.

Finely slice the spring onions. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Mix with lentils, peppers and mushrooms.

Place the rocket on plate, Spoon lentil & vegetable mixture over. Lay chicken on top. Drizzle goat’s yoghurt on top, followed by olive oil & balsamic vinegar. Season with black pepper.

Linguine with salmon, fresh corgette, roasted red peper and fresh basil

This is a really simple summer time dish. perfect for a late lunch. A crisp sauvignon blanc would be a good wine to serve with this.

Ingredients
(Searves 2)
1 red pepper
1 red chilli
2 salmon fillets
1 courgette
fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Black pepper
Sea salt
1 lime


Using a potato peeler or micro pane, slice the courgettes very finely.
Finely chop a half a red chilli, removing the seeds. Add to the courgette.
Roast the pepper in the oven, charring the skin. Take the peppers out the oven, deseed and de-skin. Cut into slices and add to the courgette and chilli.
Fresh Basil leaves - tear and add to the courgette.
Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the courgette.

Cook the linguine al dente. Drain and add to the courgette, mixing all the ingredients together. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle a good quality olive oil.

Pan-fry the salmon fillets in olive oil, first on the skin ensuring that the skin is crispy before turning over.

Serve the salmon on top of the pasta.