It has been one of those weeks where we have both been really busy at work, and so food has been low on the list of priorities. It's times like this when you need really quick and simple dishes that can be thrown together at 8:30/9:00pm when your brain is fried.
This is definitely one of those dishes. It lends itself particularly well to the yummy mushrooms we get in our Riverford vegetable box, but we have made it successfully with regular (whisper it) supermarket mushrooms.
Cook the pasta according to the cooking instructions. Meanwhile softly fry a small chopped onion in a little olive on a low heat, so that it melts without colouring. Then add a bit more oil and the mushrooms. If you cook them slowly then the water starts to come out and you don't need too much oil. Add some fresh thyme leaves.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, but put it quickly back in the pan without draining too much, as the pasta water helps with the sauce. Then add the mushroom mixture, and stir well with a couple of spoons of creme fraiche and seasoning to taste. Serve in warm bowls, with parmesan if desired (R does, I don't).
A comforting and quick supper, and so much better than a ready meal.
Thursday 26 March 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009
Looks, Amsterdam
After the rather old fashioned ambience of Brasserie Flo the night before, this time we decided to go for something rather more modern-looking.
Looks seemed to fit the bill, and so I duly booked a table. When we arrived we waited by the desk for some time before someone came to show us to a table, and this set the tone for what was some pretty shabby service. The restaurant wasn’t even that busy, but they must have been short-staffed or something. Everything that could go wrong with the service did, including not having menus for the first fifteen minutes or so, and half the first drinks order not appearing.
Luckily the food made up for what was lacking in the service. I started with tartar of Scottish salmon with a farm egg filled with vermouth infused sabayon, with toasted brioche. It was slightly difficult to work out how to eat this – was I supposed to pour out the contents of the egg or use my brioche like soldiers? In the end I went for the latter, and very good it was too. The tartar was also very good. The temperature was perfect, and it was cut the right size so the texture was perfect. However, it was let down by some quite strong chopped onion that was mixed with it, which on occasion overwhelmed the delicate flavour.
I then had a steak, cooked rare. This was really interesting, as the steak had been smoked before it was cooked. This left a strong smokey taste, but it worked well with the flavour of the meat. I wouldn’t want my steak to always have this treatment, but as something different it was great. It also came with a good béarnaise and chunky, yet crispy, chips, which must have been double or triple cooked. A few roasted cherry tomatoes were the perfect accompaniment.
No room for dessert after all of that. If it hadn’t been for the service I would have been raving about this restaurant, even with a few minor quibbles. It’s such a shame, and I hope they were just having an off night. I like the concept of the restaurant too. There is a weekly seasonal menu, with three changing choices for the starter and main course. Oysters for starter and steak for main are additional permanent fixtures. Dessert is a selection provided by the kitchen, or cheese.
I would definitely give this restaurant another chance, if I am ever back in Amsterdam.
Looks seemed to fit the bill, and so I duly booked a table. When we arrived we waited by the desk for some time before someone came to show us to a table, and this set the tone for what was some pretty shabby service. The restaurant wasn’t even that busy, but they must have been short-staffed or something. Everything that could go wrong with the service did, including not having menus for the first fifteen minutes or so, and half the first drinks order not appearing.
Luckily the food made up for what was lacking in the service. I started with tartar of Scottish salmon with a farm egg filled with vermouth infused sabayon, with toasted brioche. It was slightly difficult to work out how to eat this – was I supposed to pour out the contents of the egg or use my brioche like soldiers? In the end I went for the latter, and very good it was too. The tartar was also very good. The temperature was perfect, and it was cut the right size so the texture was perfect. However, it was let down by some quite strong chopped onion that was mixed with it, which on occasion overwhelmed the delicate flavour.
I then had a steak, cooked rare. This was really interesting, as the steak had been smoked before it was cooked. This left a strong smokey taste, but it worked well with the flavour of the meat. I wouldn’t want my steak to always have this treatment, but as something different it was great. It also came with a good béarnaise and chunky, yet crispy, chips, which must have been double or triple cooked. A few roasted cherry tomatoes were the perfect accompaniment.
No room for dessert after all of that. If it hadn’t been for the service I would have been raving about this restaurant, even with a few minor quibbles. It’s such a shame, and I hope they were just having an off night. I like the concept of the restaurant too. There is a weekly seasonal menu, with three changing choices for the starter and main course. Oysters for starter and steak for main are additional permanent fixtures. Dessert is a selection provided by the kitchen, or cheese.
I would definitely give this restaurant another chance, if I am ever back in Amsterdam.
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Brasserie Flo, Amsterdam
I am working in Amsterdam at the moment, which is fun. It’s great to be able to eat out every night on expenses, although unfortunately our budget doesn’t go very far with the current exchange rate. Luckily we were late in the first night, so only had sandwiches, and then had a cheap and cheerful Wagamama near the hotel the second night, so we now have a bit more to play with.
I don’t know how people coped with being away before the internet. Twenty minutes in my lunch break had left me with a list of places that looked worth trying, and we decided to try Brasserie Flo.
After getting a bit lost (I find Amsterdam really confusing, and I have been here a couple of times before) we eventually stumbled across it. I hadn’t realised it was a hotel restaurant, and first impressions weren’t great as it was very brightly lit, and we were led to a table that was incredibly close to the ones on either side. However, things improved from there.
Both of us went for the set menu in the end, as it seemed a bit of a bargain. There were two choices of starter and three each for main course and dessert. Being two girls we decided to go for a main course and a dessert, and in the end we both went for the same main.
I nearly diverted when I heard my colleague wanted the same thing, but eating out with people from work doesn’t allow for quite the same sharing, so I stuck with it, and I am really glad I did!
Grilled fillet of corn fed chicken, stuffed with truffle, with truffle mash, mange tout and a ‘boletus’ jus arrived. It was absolutely superb. The chicken was soft and succulent, and perfectly cooked. I think it must have been poached first to achieve the texture. The truffle shone through without being overpowering, and both the sauce and the mash set it off beautifully. I had to google ‘boletus’, although I assumed it was some type of mushroom. It turns out it is a porcini.
Dessert was a perfectly adequate crème brulee, which was such a huge portion I could only eat half of it. I was rather jealous of my colleague’s chocolate fondant with rum raisin ice cream, but I have given up chocolate for Lent. The total bill, including a bottle of wine, water, and service, was £86, which seemed like very good value, particularly given the weak £.
This was unexpectedly good, and now I just have to hope I can find some places that live up to it in the next couple of days!
I don’t know how people coped with being away before the internet. Twenty minutes in my lunch break had left me with a list of places that looked worth trying, and we decided to try Brasserie Flo.
After getting a bit lost (I find Amsterdam really confusing, and I have been here a couple of times before) we eventually stumbled across it. I hadn’t realised it was a hotel restaurant, and first impressions weren’t great as it was very brightly lit, and we were led to a table that was incredibly close to the ones on either side. However, things improved from there.
Both of us went for the set menu in the end, as it seemed a bit of a bargain. There were two choices of starter and three each for main course and dessert. Being two girls we decided to go for a main course and a dessert, and in the end we both went for the same main.
I nearly diverted when I heard my colleague wanted the same thing, but eating out with people from work doesn’t allow for quite the same sharing, so I stuck with it, and I am really glad I did!
Grilled fillet of corn fed chicken, stuffed with truffle, with truffle mash, mange tout and a ‘boletus’ jus arrived. It was absolutely superb. The chicken was soft and succulent, and perfectly cooked. I think it must have been poached first to achieve the texture. The truffle shone through without being overpowering, and both the sauce and the mash set it off beautifully. I had to google ‘boletus’, although I assumed it was some type of mushroom. It turns out it is a porcini.
Dessert was a perfectly adequate crème brulee, which was such a huge portion I could only eat half of it. I was rather jealous of my colleague’s chocolate fondant with rum raisin ice cream, but I have given up chocolate for Lent. The total bill, including a bottle of wine, water, and service, was £86, which seemed like very good value, particularly given the weak £.
This was unexpectedly good, and now I just have to hope I can find some places that live up to it in the next couple of days!
Monday 16 March 2009
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a really big deal in our office, as they are one of our clients. Therefore a variety of events, big and small, have been organised over the years.
This year there was a dress-down day, a cake sale, and an auction of celebrity items, the big ticket item being a T-shirt signed by Danny Boyle (Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire). Two guys also got lots of their clients to sponsor them to wear kilts and red noses all day.
I made rice krispie marshmallow squares for the cake sale. I’ve eaten these, but never made them before, and it was easier than I thought, although pretty sticky! I didn’t really use a recipe, but the basic gist is below.
2 packets marshmallows
50g butter
As many rice krispies as could be mixed in, probably 250-300g
Melt the butter in a non-stick pan, and then add in the marshmallows, stirring until they are completely melted. Pour over the rice krispies, and mix well so all of them are coated. Put into a roasting tin lined with greaseproof paper and put into the fridge to set. Cut into squares and sell for charity!
We raised £5k as a firm!
This year there was a dress-down day, a cake sale, and an auction of celebrity items, the big ticket item being a T-shirt signed by Danny Boyle (Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire). Two guys also got lots of their clients to sponsor them to wear kilts and red noses all day.
I made rice krispie marshmallow squares for the cake sale. I’ve eaten these, but never made them before, and it was easier than I thought, although pretty sticky! I didn’t really use a recipe, but the basic gist is below.
2 packets marshmallows
50g butter
As many rice krispies as could be mixed in, probably 250-300g
Melt the butter in a non-stick pan, and then add in the marshmallows, stirring until they are completely melted. Pour over the rice krispies, and mix well so all of them are coated. Put into a roasting tin lined with greaseproof paper and put into the fridge to set. Cut into squares and sell for charity!
We raised £5k as a firm!
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Hampshire weekend
I like going down to my parents for the weekend. Partly it is getting out of London and getting some country air, but it is also spending time in the kitchen without feeling guilty about not doing chores in the flat.
There was absolutely nothing planned for this weekend, which is such a luxury. My mother had already done most of the cooking for Saturday, so I didn’t get too involved with that. On Sunday however, I decided that I wanted to start the day with ricotta pancakes, which seem to have caught my attention a few times recently.
After a bit of googling we ended up with Gordon Ramsey’s recipe for ricotta and banana pancakes with pecan and maple syrup. Apart from a bit of faff with whisking the egg whites and stirring them in, this was a simple recipe which tasted delicious.
I then wanted to make a rhubarb based pudding for Sunday lunch. Again, I hit the internet, with the thought that something with almonds and possibly orange would be good. This recipe from Waitrose looked good, and it was really simple to make. It was really light and moist (hate that word), with the different flavours coming through well, and complementing each other. You really got the taste of the rhubarb, which of course was the whole point.
Both of these recipes are going in my ever expanding file.
Chelsea won at the weekend too, so Wembley here we come (although I don't really like going there for a semi).
There was absolutely nothing planned for this weekend, which is such a luxury. My mother had already done most of the cooking for Saturday, so I didn’t get too involved with that. On Sunday however, I decided that I wanted to start the day with ricotta pancakes, which seem to have caught my attention a few times recently.
After a bit of googling we ended up with Gordon Ramsey’s recipe for ricotta and banana pancakes with pecan and maple syrup. Apart from a bit of faff with whisking the egg whites and stirring them in, this was a simple recipe which tasted delicious.
I then wanted to make a rhubarb based pudding for Sunday lunch. Again, I hit the internet, with the thought that something with almonds and possibly orange would be good. This recipe from Waitrose looked good, and it was really simple to make. It was really light and moist (hate that word), with the different flavours coming through well, and complementing each other. You really got the taste of the rhubarb, which of course was the whole point.
Both of these recipes are going in my ever expanding file.
Chelsea won at the weekend too, so Wembley here we come (although I don't really like going there for a semi).
Thursday 5 March 2009
New Tayyabs
It seems like you can’t call yourself a food blogger unless you have been to New Tayyabs, so I thought I had better rectify that. I organised R, my brother, and his girlfriend, to travel to the wilds of Whitechapel, having managed to book a table online.
As I was looking at the map to work out how to get there I began to realise that I have actually been there before! A client took us when we were working round there, but I never saw the name of the restaurant and wasn’t given a menu since the client is a regular and ordered for us. Then as we turned off Commercial Road my brother realised that he had been there too, with Andy Oliver (of Masterchef fame) who he was at university with.
I was dubious about whether the reservation would work, but we were miraculously whisked past the queue and straight to a table. R had been dispatched to Tesco to get a bottle, and then poppadoms were immediately produced as we perused the menu. We decided that we would just share everything, which made the choices a bit easier. We also thought we ought to try the daily special.
First to arrive were the famous lamb chops, and some seekh kebabs. The kebabs were lovely and moist, and just spicy enough to get the taste buds going. The lamb chops were awesome, beautifully spiced and tender, we were soon all gnawing the bones!
Then arrived dry meat, karahi ghost (lamb), dhall karela, sag aloo and the aforementioned daily special, which I can’t remember the name of but involved chicken and chickpeas, accompanied by a pile of various naans and paratha. My client last time had said not to bother with rice, and so we followed his advice again this time. The dry meat, despite not sounding all that inspiring, was absolutely delicious. The meat was meltingly tender, and the taste was so rich. I also particularly enjoyed the saag aloo, where the spinach was almost pureed, and it tasted particularly great when eaten with the garlic naan!
An hour after we walked in we were back out in the howling wind and rain, totally stuffed and having only spent £12.50 a head. The queue had doubled in length in the time we had been there, but with that quality of food at that price, I can understand why. Now I just have to persuade R to go back again, soon!
As I was looking at the map to work out how to get there I began to realise that I have actually been there before! A client took us when we were working round there, but I never saw the name of the restaurant and wasn’t given a menu since the client is a regular and ordered for us. Then as we turned off Commercial Road my brother realised that he had been there too, with Andy Oliver (of Masterchef fame) who he was at university with.
I was dubious about whether the reservation would work, but we were miraculously whisked past the queue and straight to a table. R had been dispatched to Tesco to get a bottle, and then poppadoms were immediately produced as we perused the menu. We decided that we would just share everything, which made the choices a bit easier. We also thought we ought to try the daily special.
First to arrive were the famous lamb chops, and some seekh kebabs. The kebabs were lovely and moist, and just spicy enough to get the taste buds going. The lamb chops were awesome, beautifully spiced and tender, we were soon all gnawing the bones!
Then arrived dry meat, karahi ghost (lamb), dhall karela, sag aloo and the aforementioned daily special, which I can’t remember the name of but involved chicken and chickpeas, accompanied by a pile of various naans and paratha. My client last time had said not to bother with rice, and so we followed his advice again this time. The dry meat, despite not sounding all that inspiring, was absolutely delicious. The meat was meltingly tender, and the taste was so rich. I also particularly enjoyed the saag aloo, where the spinach was almost pureed, and it tasted particularly great when eaten with the garlic naan!
An hour after we walked in we were back out in the howling wind and rain, totally stuffed and having only spent £12.50 a head. The queue had doubled in length in the time we had been there, but with that quality of food at that price, I can understand why. Now I just have to persuade R to go back again, soon!
Monday 2 March 2009
Pork Belly Again
I haven’t felt much like eating, let alone cooking, for nearly a week, due to a nasty bug, so it has been a bit quiet on the food front.
By yesterday I was feeling much better though, and since the veg box had got away from us a bit and a new one arrives on Tuesday, we had a few people over for an early supper.
Cooking the pork belly started in the morning, when I boiled the kettle and poured the water over the belly, which opens up the score marks made in the skin by the butcher. I then followed a Jamie Oliver tip and put a little red wine vinegar over the belly, before putting it uncovered in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then I heated the oven to 200C (fan oven) and cooked the pork on a rack over a roasting tin for 30 minutes. I poured the fat from the tin into a jug, and then put two roughly chopped carrots and two onions in the roasting tin and placed the pork on top. A big glug of water was added, and then the whole thing was put back in the oven at 140C for about three hours. It then rested for nearly an hour under foil (it didn’t necessarily need that long, but everything else needed a higher temperature for a bit and we only have one oven). The final step is to carefully remove the crackling and put it under a pre-heated grill. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn, but this should make the perfect crackling.
We served this with roast vegetables, dauphinoise potatoes, apple and onion sauce and yummy gravy.
To follow we had a rhubarb and almond tart. I am going to have another attempt at this at the weekend, as I think we can improve it, and so I will post about it after that.
By yesterday I was feeling much better though, and since the veg box had got away from us a bit and a new one arrives on Tuesday, we had a few people over for an early supper.
Cooking the pork belly started in the morning, when I boiled the kettle and poured the water over the belly, which opens up the score marks made in the skin by the butcher. I then followed a Jamie Oliver tip and put a little red wine vinegar over the belly, before putting it uncovered in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then I heated the oven to 200C (fan oven) and cooked the pork on a rack over a roasting tin for 30 minutes. I poured the fat from the tin into a jug, and then put two roughly chopped carrots and two onions in the roasting tin and placed the pork on top. A big glug of water was added, and then the whole thing was put back in the oven at 140C for about three hours. It then rested for nearly an hour under foil (it didn’t necessarily need that long, but everything else needed a higher temperature for a bit and we only have one oven). The final step is to carefully remove the crackling and put it under a pre-heated grill. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn, but this should make the perfect crackling.
We served this with roast vegetables, dauphinoise potatoes, apple and onion sauce and yummy gravy.
To follow we had a rhubarb and almond tart. I am going to have another attempt at this at the weekend, as I think we can improve it, and so I will post about it after that.
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