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.