This was a last minute dish, inspired by what was in the fridge and a vague recollection of something I had read somewhere. We are trying to eat up the contents of the fridge and freezer at the moment as we are off on holiday on Saturday. The yogurt in the marinade kept the chicken nice and juicy though, and there was a good kick from the harissa, without it being too hot. Definitely one to repeat, and it would be particularly good cooked on the barbeque. The recipe is pretty fluid, depending on what you have to hand, and particularly the heat of your harissa.
Harissa Chicken
Serves 2
6 mini chicken fillets (boned thighs would be good too, or breasts cut into strips)
2 tbsp natural yogurt
2 tsp harissa paste
Small drizzle of olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
Mix all of the ingredients in a shallow dish, add the chicken and leave to marinate for as long as you can. I made this up in the morning and left it in the fridge all day.
Heat a griddle pan until smoking, and then cook the chicken, shaking off the excess marinade. Eat immediately with salad, or in our case courgettes.
Thursday 26 November 2009
Tuesday 24 November 2009
Envy, Amsterdam
This review comes thanks to Kristain, via Twitter, who answered my plea for recommendations in Amsterdam. The restaurant is in the nine streets area of Amsterdam, and is quite hidden away. We nearly walked straight past, despite knowing that we were in the right place.
As you enter the restaurant you walk past the open kitchen, and all the chefs called out ‘good evening’, which I liked. The restaurant itself is quite long and thin, with regular tables on one side and raised tables with stools on the other.
The concept here is one that is becoming more familiar, namely the portions are small and not divided into traditional starters and main courses. The idea is that you have two to four plates per person, and share them. If you don’t want to make your own choices then you can go for a tasting menu of either four or five courses.
The menu divides into cold meats, cheese and other plates. I was there with a colleague, who wasn’t too keen on the sharing idea, so we went for two dishes each, and a shared plate of bresola.
The bresola was nice, and well cut, but there isn’t much more to add really. Personally I would have tried some of their salami or cured ham, but my colleague doesn’t eat pork.
First off I had wild duck breast, confit leg and salted caramel sauce. Unfortunately the confit leg was in a spring-roll type wrapper, which I couldn’t eat, so my colleague had that. This was a disappointment, as it took away half of the dish, and left me with just the breast. This was well cooked, and the sauce was good in a generic sort of way. I would never have been able to identify the sauce as salted caramel though, and it felt a bit like they were just jumping on the bandwagon.
My second dish was much more successful. This was a risotto with taleggio, chanterelles and pecorino crisp. The risotto was deliciously creamy, while retaining a little bite, and the tiny portion was plenty given the richness of the cheese. The pecorino crisp on top gave it some texture, and added a slightly salty note. This was a well balanced and well executed dish.
My colleague had a salad of king crab with avocado, and then courgette cannelloni with herb ricotta. She seemed to enjoy both of these, but I didn’t try them. The cannelloni in particular looked inventive, as there was no pasta involved.
I would return to this restaurant, as in general I thought the food was great and I liked the ambience and would like to try some more of the dishes. I would definitely go back with a friend or R though, so that we could share lots of plates.
There were some negative points though. The service was painfully slow, and the restaurant wasn’t even half full, so there were no excuses really. I also told the waiter that I couldn’t eat gluten, and he said he would check with the chef if there were any problems with what I had chosen, but the duck still arrived with the spring roll. Also I think that someone should have pointed out that both of the dishes my colleague had chosen were cold. She felt a bit hard done by that she had no hot part to her meal.
The bill came to about €50, which wasn’t too bad, but I could see the bill shooting up pretty quickly if you added in a few more dishes and some wine.
As you enter the restaurant you walk past the open kitchen, and all the chefs called out ‘good evening’, which I liked. The restaurant itself is quite long and thin, with regular tables on one side and raised tables with stools on the other.
The concept here is one that is becoming more familiar, namely the portions are small and not divided into traditional starters and main courses. The idea is that you have two to four plates per person, and share them. If you don’t want to make your own choices then you can go for a tasting menu of either four or five courses.
The menu divides into cold meats, cheese and other plates. I was there with a colleague, who wasn’t too keen on the sharing idea, so we went for two dishes each, and a shared plate of bresola.
The bresola was nice, and well cut, but there isn’t much more to add really. Personally I would have tried some of their salami or cured ham, but my colleague doesn’t eat pork.
First off I had wild duck breast, confit leg and salted caramel sauce. Unfortunately the confit leg was in a spring-roll type wrapper, which I couldn’t eat, so my colleague had that. This was a disappointment, as it took away half of the dish, and left me with just the breast. This was well cooked, and the sauce was good in a generic sort of way. I would never have been able to identify the sauce as salted caramel though, and it felt a bit like they were just jumping on the bandwagon.
My second dish was much more successful. This was a risotto with taleggio, chanterelles and pecorino crisp. The risotto was deliciously creamy, while retaining a little bite, and the tiny portion was plenty given the richness of the cheese. The pecorino crisp on top gave it some texture, and added a slightly salty note. This was a well balanced and well executed dish.
My colleague had a salad of king crab with avocado, and then courgette cannelloni with herb ricotta. She seemed to enjoy both of these, but I didn’t try them. The cannelloni in particular looked inventive, as there was no pasta involved.
I would return to this restaurant, as in general I thought the food was great and I liked the ambience and would like to try some more of the dishes. I would definitely go back with a friend or R though, so that we could share lots of plates.
There were some negative points though. The service was painfully slow, and the restaurant wasn’t even half full, so there were no excuses really. I also told the waiter that I couldn’t eat gluten, and he said he would check with the chef if there were any problems with what I had chosen, but the duck still arrived with the spring roll. Also I think that someone should have pointed out that both of the dishes my colleague had chosen were cold. She felt a bit hard done by that she had no hot part to her meal.
The bill came to about €50, which wasn’t too bad, but I could see the bill shooting up pretty quickly if you added in a few more dishes and some wine.
Thursday 19 November 2009
Christmas Cake
This Sunday is Stir-up Sunday. This is the last Sunday before Advent, and is the day to make your Christmas pudding and cake. Traditionally everyone in the household should stir the mixture for luck.
We actually made our Christmas cake a couple of weeks ago, as we had more time then, and the pudding will come from the WI. It is definitely a good idea to make these items in advance. They keep for ages, improve with age, and it means less stress in the build-up to the big day. It does still feel a bit early to be thinking about Christmas though.
Christmas Cake
(based on Delia's recipe)
900g dried fruit (mix of raisins, sultanas, currants)
3 tbsp brandy
225g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
1 tsp salt
A good grating of nutmeg
1 tsp mixed spice
225g butter
225g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
50g chopped almonds
1 dsp treacle
Zest of an orange
Zest of a lemon
Juice of an orange (only if making gluten-free, as it needs the extra moisture)
Mix the fruit with the brandy and leave covered in the bowl overnight.
Preheat the oven to 140C.
Whisk the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs a bit at a time while whisking well. The fold in the flour and spices, followed by the fruit, almonds, treacle, juice (if using) and zest.
Spoon into a lined 20cm round cake tin, and bake for about 4 1/2 hours. When it is cool remove from the tin. It then needs feeding! Poke some little holes in the top and drizzle over some brandy. This can be repeated a couple of times over the next few weeks if you like it boozy (and who doesn't?). Wrap tightly and store in a cool place (like the back of the larder so your father can't find it).
It can then be iced closer to the time - post on that to come.
Friday 13 November 2009
Japan Inn, Amsterdam
I really fancied sushi while we were in Amsterdam, and the client that we were working for recommended the Japan Inn. It is in the TimeOut guide as well, and even though it is in one of the busiest tourist areas in Amsterdam it seemed worth giving it a go.
We arrived to a small but bustling restaurant, and were sent away for half an hour before a table was ready. After enduring a drink at a terrible bar we returned and were given a table crammed in between two others. We started with Japanese tea and endamame while we looked at the menu. There was a huge variety of sashimi, sushi and yakitori (skewers), and in the end we decided to go for two set menus to share between us.
First to arrive was the sushi, which looked well made and tasted deliciously fresh. It definitely satisfied my craving, but my colleague had never had sushi before and was less than keen! Fair play to her for giving it a go though. My favourite was probably the scallop, but the salmon was good too. Then the yakitori arrived. I haven’t really had skewers served like this before, but I am definitely going to have to find some in London.
They were piping hot, and delicious. The meat was tender, and the vegetables retained a bit of bite. The selection included chicken, beef, lamb, pork, chicken balls and quails eggs. I had to let my colleague have the majority as she wasn’t eating the sushi, but otherwise I would have walked out of there feeling really fat!
There was masses of food, and it cost €25 a head, which was pretty good value for the amount and the quality. I would definitely return if I find myself in Amsterdam again.
We arrived to a small but bustling restaurant, and were sent away for half an hour before a table was ready. After enduring a drink at a terrible bar we returned and were given a table crammed in between two others. We started with Japanese tea and endamame while we looked at the menu. There was a huge variety of sashimi, sushi and yakitori (skewers), and in the end we decided to go for two set menus to share between us.
First to arrive was the sushi, which looked well made and tasted deliciously fresh. It definitely satisfied my craving, but my colleague had never had sushi before and was less than keen! Fair play to her for giving it a go though. My favourite was probably the scallop, but the salmon was good too. Then the yakitori arrived. I haven’t really had skewers served like this before, but I am definitely going to have to find some in London.
They were piping hot, and delicious. The meat was tender, and the vegetables retained a bit of bite. The selection included chicken, beef, lamb, pork, chicken balls and quails eggs. I had to let my colleague have the majority as she wasn’t eating the sushi, but otherwise I would have walked out of there feeling really fat!
There was masses of food, and it cost €25 a head, which was pretty good value for the amount and the quality. I would definitely return if I find myself in Amsterdam again.
Wednesday 11 November 2009
Parkin
I hadn’t really heard of parkin before, and then once it was sitting in the tin it suddenly seemed to be all over the internet. I obviously hit the zeitgeist! It sounded like the perfect thing to serve at our Bonfire Night supper, post Battersea Park fireworks. With steak and ale pie beforehand it certainly added up to a hearty meal!
It needs to be made a few days or up to a week in advance, which allows the flavours to develop and it become sticky and yummy.
I tweaked a recipe from Delia, but there are loads about this year, including this one from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I particularly like the idea of putting stem ginger in it. Hix have it on their dessert menu too. I highly recommend making this, and I am pretty sure it won’t be a year before I make it again.
Parkin
200g golden syrup
25g black treacle
75 butter
100g soft brown sugar
225g oats (I used Pinhill, which are quite small)
100g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 egg
1 tbsp or so milk
Preheat the oven to 140C.
Weigh the treacle and syrup into a saucepan (the measurements are approximate as I found it impossible to weigh them accurately – too sticky!). Add the butter and sugar and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved.
Then stir the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients, before lastly adding the egg and milk. If you are using gluten-free flour then you may need a bit more milk.
Pour into a greased tin. I used a rectangular one, maybe 8 x 13 inch. Bake for 2 hours, until the whole kitchen smells of the spices.
Now you need to be patient. Once it has cooled remove whole from the tin and wrap tightly in foil and place in a tin. Don’t touch it for at least four days (and we waited a week). The stickiness it develops will be worth it!
This was a good recipe to adapt to gluten-free (as long as you are OK with oats) as it has a relatively low flour content, and becomes really moist and sticky as it matures. No one even noticed that it was gluten-free, which I always think is the best compliment.
It needs to be made a few days or up to a week in advance, which allows the flavours to develop and it become sticky and yummy.
I tweaked a recipe from Delia, but there are loads about this year, including this one from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I particularly like the idea of putting stem ginger in it. Hix have it on their dessert menu too. I highly recommend making this, and I am pretty sure it won’t be a year before I make it again.
Parkin
200g golden syrup
25g black treacle
75 butter
100g soft brown sugar
225g oats (I used Pinhill, which are quite small)
100g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 egg
1 tbsp or so milk
Preheat the oven to 140C.
Weigh the treacle and syrup into a saucepan (the measurements are approximate as I found it impossible to weigh them accurately – too sticky!). Add the butter and sugar and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved.
Then stir the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients, before lastly adding the egg and milk. If you are using gluten-free flour then you may need a bit more milk.
Pour into a greased tin. I used a rectangular one, maybe 8 x 13 inch. Bake for 2 hours, until the whole kitchen smells of the spices.
Now you need to be patient. Once it has cooled remove whole from the tin and wrap tightly in foil and place in a tin. Don’t touch it for at least four days (and we waited a week). The stickiness it develops will be worth it!
This was a good recipe to adapt to gluten-free (as long as you are OK with oats) as it has a relatively low flour content, and becomes really moist and sticky as it matures. No one even noticed that it was gluten-free, which I always think is the best compliment.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Lavender and Lemon Drizzle Cake
I wasn’t quite sure how to name this cake. The lavender is in the cake rather than the drizzle, but it becomes a bit long-winded if you call it a lemon and lavender cake with lemon drizzle. I’m sure people get the idea anyway. The photo isn't the greatest either - the sun was too low - but it was good practice.
The inspiration for this cake came after I found some lavender in the supermarket. I have wanted to cook with it for ages, but we can’t grow our own as we don’t get enough sun, and it has proved difficult to source.
The first thing I made with it was some lavender shortbread, which made a lovely accompaniment to the chocolate sorbet. I was then toying with what to do next. I assume now that it is open it will lose its potency pretty quickly. R has been talking about lemon drizzle cake for ages, and I can’t even remember the last time I made one. The more I thought about it the more I thought the addition of lavender to this cake might be a good one.
The inspiration for this cake came after I found some lavender in the supermarket. I have wanted to cook with it for ages, but we can’t grow our own as we don’t get enough sun, and it has proved difficult to source.
The first thing I made with it was some lavender shortbread, which made a lovely accompaniment to the chocolate sorbet. I was then toying with what to do next. I assume now that it is open it will lose its potency pretty quickly. R has been talking about lemon drizzle cake for ages, and I can’t even remember the last time I made one. The more I thought about it the more I thought the addition of lavender to this cake might be a good one.
The floral note contrasts well with the sharpness of the lemon. I upped the lemon quota a bit from my normal recipe, and the balance seemed pretty good. Next time I might try using partly ground almonds and partly flour (gluten-free) to try and get the damper texture I was after. This would make a great cake for tea party, with its delicate floral-ness.
Lavender Lemon Drizzle Cake
150g butter
225g caster sugar
225g plain flour (I used Doves gluten-free)
4 eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1/2 lemon (you might not need this with regular flour)
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
75g caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and sugar until pale, then add the eggs one at a time, followed by the flour and lemon zest a bit at a time, then stir in the lemon juice. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 50 mins, until a skewer comes out clean. Prick the cake all over with a fork (or the testing skewer).
Stir the remaining lemon juice and sugar together and then pour over the cake while it is still hot. Leave in the tin to cool completely.
Monday 2 November 2009
Pubs on Northcote Road
There seems to be a revolution taking place on Northcote Road, in terms of the pubs in any case. Up until now there have been a few trendy bars, and an All Bar One and a Pitcher and Piano. When R lived around the corner we used to go to the Goat on Battersea Rise, but it got really busy and is terribly dark.
We were therefore really pleased when we saw that Geronimo had taken over the Northcote. This pub has always had a great location, on the corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise, but it was definitely a football pub, and tended to be heaving. I have written about some of the Geronimo pubs before. They definitely have a formula, but it is one that we like and so I’m sure we will continue to frequent them. Particularly since they keep taking over our local pubs! There isn’t much to add on the Northcote at the moment, but I’m sure we will be eating there some time soon.
Then when I was running in the area I noticed the Bolingbroke. This has also been refurbished, and it turns out has been taken over by Renaissance Pubs, who also run four other pubs in South West London. We went for a drink, and it seems like a really good pub. It was fairly quiet, which we weren’t complaining about as it meant we could get a seat. They also have some more unusual offerings, such as Fentimans tonic water, which we had never come across before. I love their ginger beer (which is what I was drinking) so I am very interested to try the tonic at some point. We may have to go back to the Bolingbroke to test it, as we haven’t managed to find it anywhere else! The menu looked interesting too, so I think it deserves a return visit.
Finally there is the Draft House, which is run by the same people as the Westbridge on Battersea Bridge Road. This is opening some time this week, but I was lucky enough to get a bit of a preview as Eatlikeagirl had organized a meet-up to talk about the Blaggers Banquet (more on that to follow). The pub was still surrounded by hoardings, but it is a nice space. They have an impressive beer selection, both pumps and bottles. Anyone going in there looking for a pint of Fosters will get a bit of a shock, since they probably won’t recognize any of the beers. The staff have obviously been well trained on the stock as well, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about it. Shame I can’t drink beer!
We also we given a preview of the bar snacks. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat quite a few of them, but I think that Padron peppers are a great idea for a bar snack. I also enjoyed the chorizo and baby squid. The breaded Ox tongue with beetroot relish was getting the most reaction, some good and some bad! I definitely want to return here once they are open properly.
So now we seem to have a dilemma if we want to go to the pub on the Northcote Road – which one to go to? It’s a nice dilemma to have.
We were therefore really pleased when we saw that Geronimo had taken over the Northcote. This pub has always had a great location, on the corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise, but it was definitely a football pub, and tended to be heaving. I have written about some of the Geronimo pubs before. They definitely have a formula, but it is one that we like and so I’m sure we will continue to frequent them. Particularly since they keep taking over our local pubs! There isn’t much to add on the Northcote at the moment, but I’m sure we will be eating there some time soon.
Then when I was running in the area I noticed the Bolingbroke. This has also been refurbished, and it turns out has been taken over by Renaissance Pubs, who also run four other pubs in South West London. We went for a drink, and it seems like a really good pub. It was fairly quiet, which we weren’t complaining about as it meant we could get a seat. They also have some more unusual offerings, such as Fentimans tonic water, which we had never come across before. I love their ginger beer (which is what I was drinking) so I am very interested to try the tonic at some point. We may have to go back to the Bolingbroke to test it, as we haven’t managed to find it anywhere else! The menu looked interesting too, so I think it deserves a return visit.
Finally there is the Draft House, which is run by the same people as the Westbridge on Battersea Bridge Road. This is opening some time this week, but I was lucky enough to get a bit of a preview as Eatlikeagirl had organized a meet-up to talk about the Blaggers Banquet (more on that to follow). The pub was still surrounded by hoardings, but it is a nice space. They have an impressive beer selection, both pumps and bottles. Anyone going in there looking for a pint of Fosters will get a bit of a shock, since they probably won’t recognize any of the beers. The staff have obviously been well trained on the stock as well, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about it. Shame I can’t drink beer!
We also we given a preview of the bar snacks. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat quite a few of them, but I think that Padron peppers are a great idea for a bar snack. I also enjoyed the chorizo and baby squid. The breaded Ox tongue with beetroot relish was getting the most reaction, some good and some bad! I definitely want to return here once they are open properly.
So now we seem to have a dilemma if we want to go to the pub on the Northcote Road – which one to go to? It’s a nice dilemma to have.
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