Byron
There isn’t much I can say about Blogger’s favourite Byron that hasn’t already been said but I’m adding this as much for the record as anything else. I don’t much like writing about food I’ve not cooked myself and I’ve never eaten a proper American hamburger so am certainly no expert on the subject but I do know what I like and I like Byron.
I had a day off from work on Thursday and Stephen suggested we meet at Westfield for lunch. He conveniently works around the corner and I had my first week’s wages to spend (on incredibly glamorous stuff like hiking socks and technical baselayers to keep me warm in the shop). Stephen hadn’t been to Byron before, the last time we tried to go they had unfortunately sold out of hamburgers and only had chicken left so there was a lot riding on this visit.
The service was quick and efficient and the burger was well cooked, slightly over the advertised medium but still juicy inside with a good flavour (although Stephen thought his was a little dry). I think the bun has changed recently but I can’t be sure, this was a soft roll and I think they previously used ciabatta. The fries were particularly good, thin and crispy which is just how I like them and with a decent potato flavour. Pretty good for under a tenner although the burger isn’t huge and my feeling of fullness probably had a lot to do with the huge milkshake I had.
Chorizo and Cannelini Beans
Not to self: don’t leave it five days before writing up a post otherwise you won’t remember what you did. Which is a shame since this was really good. It was based on Dan’s recipe but I couldn’t find tinned chickpeas so used tinned cannelini beans instead. I usually use dried beans since I thought I preferred the texture but couldn’t really notice much of a difference. This is useful as tinned beans cook much quicker and don’t require any pre-cooking, making this perfect for a quick, mid-week meal.
Celeriac and Potato Soup
This was the ‘soup of the day’ at work yesterday and was perfect at warming me up on my lunch break. I asked the chef how he made it and it sounded so simple that I thought I would try to recreate it at home today. Given my past history with soup, I should have guessed that my version wouldn’t turn out as I expected it to; luckily Stephen was on hand to fix things. A pinch of cumin and some cayenne pepper turned this into something edible, if entirely different to what I was attempting.
I’ll post a recipe when I’ve got it right. Unless I add “admit you’re useless at making soup” to my list of resolutions for this year and stick to buying it instead of making it myself.
Really Good Roast Pork Leftovers
We bought a larger joint of pork than we needed yesterday so that we would have leftovers for this evening. Stephen suggested we turn them into something vaguely Mexican so, when I got home from work, I started on some guacamole.
We had some leftover gravy too which Stephen used as the starting point for the sauce. Into the Magimix went a rehydrated ancho chilli, some garlic, cumin seed, coriander leaf and a little tomato puree. This was added to a saucepan with the leftover gravy and brought up to simmering point. Next we added the leftover shredded pork which was heated through until hot.
We served the pork with yet more leftovers: the garlic Spring greens from yesterday’s lunch. All wrapped up in corn tortillas with the guacamole and some grated cheese.
This turned what could have been some rather dull, dry leftover pork into a really interesting and tasty dinner. The ancho chilli adds a warm, deep flavour which is reminiscent of long, slow-cooked meat and works really well with the bright and zingy guacamole.
Really Good Roast Pork
It was Kerri’s birthday today, which was very exciting. We went out to Chez Bruce last night and had a wonderful dinner there, so decided to stay at home today and cook something ourselves. Roast pork it was, which we bought from a local butcher, Parsons Nose, which we were hoping would be open on Sunday and luckily was! We had to wait a while, because just as we arrived the butcher was boning and tying a pork loin for another customer. That customer ended up buying just over half of it, then we took just over half of what was left and the butcher looked at the remaining piece and said “I think I’ll have that for my dinner this evening”. So a whole loin prepared, portioned up and put to good use in a short space of time. Excellent.
The pork was lovely free range pork from Dorset and was delicious, but that wasn’t the end of it. We also managed to cook really good roast potatoes for the first time in a while (it seems that buying potatoes from Waitrose rather than Sainsbury’s was the key here as they were the same variety – Desiree – and cooked in much the same way) and the crackling was brilliant, so much so that it deserves its own picture:
One of the birthday presents that I had bought Kerri was a spotty jug from Emma Bridgewater, which is what we used to serve our gravy:
So two good roast dinners two weekends in a row now, which will make it all the more difficult to start on the being-sensible-and-not-eating-too-much regime which starts tomorrow.
Breaded Veal with New Potatoes and Mushroom Sauce
As Kerri was working late today, I offered to organise dinner and have it ready for her when she arrived home. As it was, I ended up working a bit late too and then arrived in Waitrose on the way home without a clue as to what I would cook. I wandered around a bit without being particularly inspired, until I saw the veal.
Coated in seasoned crumbs and pan fried, the veal was good. I also made a mushroom sauce to go with it, which went well with it and with the new potatoes. The potatoes were very good, tasting slightly nutty. We also had some spring greens (the most non-seasonal sounding vegetable in the middle of winter!) which we wilted and sauteed quickly with garlic and butter; they were delicious.
Chilli and Baked Potatoes
Kerri had put on a big pot of chilli today, which we ate with baked potatoes. The chilli was good, a mix of minced beef and beans, and the potatoes had very crunchy skins (mostly because we left them in the oven for a long time while we waited for the beans to cook through…).
Peanut Chicken Noodles
Last night when we were wondering what to cook this evening, Kerri chose this recipe as it looked like it would be fairly quick and easy to cook. It doesn’t say anywhere on the page but I imagine it’s Malaysian-inspired given the peanuts and kecap manis. When I got home and we were about to start cooking it, the Good Food web site went down and we couldn’t see the recipe and couldn’t remember much about it. Oops.
So we just started making things up and I mortar-and-pestled some chilli, garlic and ginger into a paste with some salt as that seemed like a good way to kick things off. Then the web site came back and we realised that what we had done so far was fine, and we just needed to add some coriander and peanuts to it. Good news. Frying the paste didn’t go so swimmingly – it kept crumbling and breaking up and burning rather than frying properly and adding more oil didn’t help as it just soaked into the peanutty paste straight away.
Eventually we just added the chicken and then the vegetables (couldn’t find pak choi so just used baby corn and mange tout which we had) and soy sauce (didn’t have kecap manis), lime juice and a dash of water. Then we added in the noodles which we had overcooked, but that was fine because the slightly mushy noodles soaked up the tasty sauce.
Indian Chicken in “Fried Onion Sauce”
When I arrived home this evening, I was greeted by the delicious smell of this cooking. We had found it in Madhur Jaffrey’s “Indian Cookery” and decided on it over the weekend while trying to be good and planning our meals this week ahead of time. Kerri had started on it shortly after she arrived home from work, which was very nice of her!
It was delicious but could have done with more sauce. Maybe it would have been soup then but that doesn’t matter since the sauce was really good and we would have eaten it all anyway. The addition of the fried onions gives it a lovely, slightly sweet flavour.
The recipe says it serves 4 to 6, which we halved for the two of us. Next time we would still use half the chicken, but would make the whole 4 to 6 person amount of sauce. Greedy I know. This is the recipe in its original form:
Indian Chicken in Fried Onion Sauce
Serves Two
1.25kg chicken joints
350g onions, peeled
4cm cube fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
600ml water
225g tomatoes, peeled and very finely chopped, or tinned tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaf (we didn’t have any of this)
Cut the chicken into serving pieces. Whole legs should be separated into drumsticks and thighs. Whole breasts should be cut into 4 to 6 pieces. Skin all the chicken pieces.
Chop half of the onions coarsely. Cut the remaining onions into halves, lengthwise, and then crosswise into very thin slices.
Put the chopped onions, ginger and garlic into the container of an electric blender. Blend to a paste.
Put the oil in a large, wide pan or a large, deep frying pan (preferably non-stick) and set over medium heat. When hot, put in the sliced onions. Stir and fry the onions until they are a deep, reddish-brown colour. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon, squeezing out and leaving behind as much of the oil as possible. Put on a plate and set aside.
Take the pan off the heat. Put in the paste (keep face averted). Put the pan back on the heat. Stir and fry the paste until it is brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Now put in the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and stir once. Put in 1 tablespoon of the yoghurt. Stir for 30 seconds or until it is incorporated into the sauce. Add all the yoghurt this way. Add the chicken pieces and stir them around for a minute.
Pour in the water, add the tomatoes and salt. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Sprinkle in the garam masala and the fried onions. Mix. Cook, uncovered, on medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens.
Skim off the fat and put the chicken in a warm serving dish. Sprinkle the fresh coriander over the top.
Puttanesca
Today was my first day in my new job and, as I wasn’t sure what time I would be home, we planned something quick and easy for dinner. I’m glad I did because this allowed me to get started on the sauce when I got home and shower while it was simmering, essential after eight and a half hours in the freezing cold (I’m working in a deli without any heating and despite wearing four layers I was completely frozen when I got home).
Tomorrow I’ll be home a little earlier so can attempt something more creative, after I’ve let my hands defrost enough to be trusted with a knife.
