Tortellini

Well despite my undying love of pasta, I've never made it from scratch.  Shocking I know, but I am without pasta machine.  So a Monday evening was the night it was going to happen.  I decided to make tortellini and to fill it with the closest things to hand, spinach, ricotta and chorizo.  

BBQ on the fields

You can BBQ again on Highbury Fields.  Hurrah! The ban has been lifted.  I wish we could BBQ in my neighbouring Clissold Park.  I've had several idea's about how this could work.  Give out bricks, hire out BBQ's.. its criminal that in London most people don't have a garden and we're not allowed to BBQ in our public parks.  

Pizza

I started making pizza the other day, started with the dough obviously.  I was mixing the ingredients together and realised that I had made a serious error with the quantities.  Too much yeast.  For the record, the scales that I have are in ounces so this happens a lot.  Its why I don't bake.  I started adding flour and water until it felt right and by that I mean, quite a fluid dough and then I let it prove slowly for a good couple of hours.

Ooh I got me a new camera

This is a kale and mushroom risotto.

Summer Rolls

Here in east London you'd be a mug not have had Vietnamese food in one of the many restaurants on Kingsland Rd.  Me, I like ye old favorite Pho.  Plus any kind of large fish, deep fried and served with a salty and sweet sauce over it with sticky rice.  I also want to give a shout to 'Pork on a Stick'.  If you ever find yourself at Tay Do, a Vietnamese place that looks like a school canteen, where the staff are rude and the art awful.  For goodness sake, order pork on a stick!

Smokey Chicken and Bean Cassoulet - Sort of.

I'm a massive fan of Cassoulet, the southern French dish consisting of toulouse sausage, confit du canard, pork belly; baked in the oven with breadcrumbs on top, cooked slowly with beans and goose fat.  Apparently its a peasant dish, well I'm a peasant and I can rarely afford to buy these ingredients. Its delicious belly busting savory goodness is so full of fat, it sets when cold.  But its heavy, very heavy, you can't eat a dish like this often and I had one last week so I won't be doing it again until the winter sets in.

Dal via Ravi

Dinner of a weekday evening need not be stressful or expensive.  Those nights when you are planning to have a jacket potato or beans on toast, why not do as I did this week and make some dal. *takes off Martha Stewart hat.

Usually one component in a meal of many, dal with bread and cooked with some veg is more than enough to satisfy.  The spicyness, of which you are in complete control of, entirely makes up for any missing meat.  Even raving carnivore Barn approves.

Inspired and instructed by good friend Ravi, who's family hail from Punjab.  I made this with the family Garam Masala she bequeathed to me the last time I had dinner at hers and Bugerac blogger Gavs flat.  The preparation of which is two fold.  

Seared Tuna Thai Salad - Pics to follow

So recently I've been trying to live a healthier lifestyle, which has always been something I've been dead against.  I'm the girl that likes the taste of healthy food sure, but I would never choose it over say a burger, a massive bowl of Spaghetti Vongole or even a bottle of wine.

Back in the kitchen

Well never away really.  After a long break due to work and other half fake excuses I am back food blogging.  I've cooked some awesome meals in the gap between this post and the last, which is annoying because they were neither logged nor photographed.


Anyway, I'm gonna get on with it.  As always, I am not professing to be an amazing cook or expert, this blog is just a sort of record for me and anyone else who likes looking at food and getting idea's for dinner.  After some suggestions from friends though, I will be less vague about recipes.

New Foodie In Da House

Its become quite clear in the last two weeks that my niece, who incidentally is the cutest of cutes, is digging food.  She’s just started eating mashed up fruit and veg as supposed to only milk.  It is pure brilliance, from the hilarious way she holds her mouth wide open in anticipation of the next mouthful to the contemplative expression she has when she’s trying to make sense of each taste and texture.  This contemplative expression is generally followed by this face.  

Which is awesome.

Tortilla II, with Serrano Ham

In an ideal world there will be a Tortilla in the fridge at any one time.  In my opinion its better served cold.

Sliced new pots and boil them for a little while.  Then in a non stick cake tin I layered up the potatoes, fried onions and Serrano ham.  I seasoned each layer, poured in 6 beaten eggs and baked in the oven for about 1/2hr - 45 mins.

It is the definitive spanish omelette and should look like a cake.

Potato Cakes

My mum is irish so I grew up with potato cakes after ever meal that involved mash potato (which is most).  This was a really tasty lunch of colcannon potato cakes, parmesan, panchetta and rocket salad with a nice dressing.  You make potato cakes by adding plain flour until the mash potato is the consistancy of a pastry dough.  Then roll out and cut out the cakes, freeze any excess.  You almost dry fry them, maybe with a touch of butter.  They are so good for breakfast too.  Great with a poached egg, bacon and maple syrup.

Barny does Sausages and Colcannon

And they were deelish.  Incase you don’t know, Colcannon is an irish potato dish which is basically mash potato, cream and kale.  Amazing served with boiled ham.  We made loads of it, far too much to eat, which made me deliriously happy as I knew we’d be making potato cakes the next day.

Poached eggs with chilli wilted spinach and panchetta on toast

Ricotta Stuffed Mushrooms and a Basil and Broad Bean Salad

Broad beans are in season, so I am going to do my best to eat all of them.  I got two portobello mushrooms from the green grocers.  Then Gilbey came for dinner because I wouldn’t let him cycle home on a bike who’s breaks refuse to work in the rain.  So we shared the big ones and also used a few big little mushrooms we found in the shop on the way home.

I filled them with garlic butter, thyme, halved cherry tomatoes and started to bake them in the oven.  Then I mixed the stuffing which was ricotta cheese, pancetta, red pepper, salt and pepper.  I filled them with this after about half an hour and drizzled more olive oil and butter and added a little bit of white wine to the tray, then popped back in the oven.  This wine not only reduces cooking time but emulsifies with the butter and the mushroom juice for a scrumptious jus.

Served on a bed of wilted spinach with a rocket and broad bead salad which was dressed with a very garlicy and very basily dressing.