Chicken Tikka Masala
Saturday night was the Last Night of the Proms and even though we never watch it, we decided to cook something typically British in honour of this long standing celebration. Chicken Tikka Masala (served with pilaf rice, in this instance) is widely reported as being Britain’s favourite dish and, since I’ve never had it before, it seemed like a good choice.
We did some planning in advance so that we could marinate the chicken overnight, we’d obviously exhausted our organisational skills though because we forgot the last step in the recipe: adding some additional garam masala just before the end of the cooking time for the rice. While we both enjoyed this, neither of us felt it had properly amalgamated in the pan which was probably due to our forgetfulness.
Recipes courtesy of Mamta’s Kitchen.
Squid, Salsa Verde Mackerel and Boulangere Potatoes
After a few days of decent but relatively dull food, we decided that we should celebrate the start of the weekend with something more interesting. Autumn looks like it’s on the way so we thought we would use the barbecue while we still could.
Stephen picked up some squid on the way home that we had been planning to slice and marinate before cooking. Somewhere along the way we decided just to grill them as steaks and serve with some garlic butter. They were really good, perfectly cooked and not at all rubbery with just the right amount of extra flavour from the garlic butter.
Having watched Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall on television earlier in the week, we were both keen to try his stuffed mackerel. We hadn’t been watching the boning of the fish very closely but Stephen did an excellent job of removing the bones and stuffing with the salsa verde I’d made earlier in the day. They look pretty rustic (I must learn how to string properly) but they tasted brilliant and went particularly well with the boulangere potatoes. I was pleased with how these turned out as my previous attempts haven’t been very successful. The key was obviously to cook them at a much lower temperature for longer.
Boulangere Potatoes
3 large potatoes
2 medium onions
Butter
500ml stock
Salt and pepper
Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can, we used a mandolin but a sharp knife will work too.
Slice the onions into half-moon shapes.
Layer the potatoes and onions into a buttered dish, seasoning each layer. Pour on the stock so that everything is well covered.
Cover with buttered foil and bake at 150 degrees for 3.5 hours. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes so that the top browns.
Happy Friday!
To celebrate Fridays with Gordon, we’ve just received a bottle of Gordon’s gin and a set of glasses. It would be rude not to partake so Stephen mixed us a gin and tonic to celebrate the start of the weekend.
If you would like to receive the same*, then just leave us a comment telling us about your favourite way to spend the weekend. We’ll select a winner at random on Tuesday night, giving enough time to get the prize to you by next Friday.
*You need to be over 18 to enter.
Fancy a Little Break to Lille?
The lovely people at Eurostar have kindly offered us a pair of tickets to give away so that you can go on your own Little Break to Lille, just like Stephen and I did earlier in the month.
All you need to do is leave us a comment (before the end of September) telling us about the best or worst food experience that you have had while travelling.
Five entrants will then be selected by Eurostar and we’ll select a winner at random from those five. The winner can travel on any day until the end of November, just so long as you can make your own way to St Pancras.
This competition is now closed.
Dolcellata and Walnut Sauce
Food blogging isn’t all about the glamour. When you spend most evenings in the kitchen, you inevitably create quite a lot of mess and, even if you are as anal as I am about tidying up as you go along and cleaning everything up once dinner is finished, you still need to do the occasional deep-clean. Well, you don’t have to of course but I come from a household where the radiator covers are removed from the walls each week and cleaned behind so it’s kind of ingrained.
Today was the day so, armed with my Marigolds and all manner of cleaning products, I scrubbed our kitchen from top to bottom. It took ages and there was a fair amount of moaning as I went along but I was glad to have done it; when I finally sat down and looked at the results of my hard work I realised I didn’t have anything planned for dinner though. Not only was I exhausted but I really didn’t want to make everything dirty again.
Luckily, I remembered the cartons of Charlie Bigham’s Dolcellata and Walnut Sauce that were included in our goodie bags on Monday. Boiling some pasta and heating some sauce seemed easy relatively mess-free so that’s what we had. Except I wish we hadn’t. The sauce was bland and lacking any real flavour at all, it would have made a reasonable bechamel sauce but was useless as a sauce it’s own right. I quickly retrieved the leftover chilli from the freezer and had those instead which is what I should have done in the first place. That would have only been one pot to wash too.
Three Bean Chilli
Last time we cooked this, I based it on our original chilli recipe but reduced the seasoning to account for the lack of meat. We both felt it could take more heat though so this time, I upped the seasoning. I also used madeira instead of red wine because that’s what I had. The recipe isn’t that different to last time but I’ve reproduced it here to reflect the increase in seasoning.
4 tbsp olive oil
3 red chillies, roasted, deseeded and pulped
4 garlic cloves, roasted and then pulped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chipotle chilli powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika
Glass Madeira (or red wine)
1 large red onion, finely chopped
600ml beef stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
Salt and pepper
Bay leaf
500g mixed beans
1 tsp cocoa powder
Roast the chillies and garlic in the oven for about 30 minutes, on 190 degrees, before removing from the oven leaving to cool down. Remove the seeds from the chilli and squash together with the garlic.
Boil the (soaked overnight) beans for 20 minutes and then rinse well.
Grind the coriander and cumin together in a mortar and pestle and transfer to a bowl, mix with the chilli powder, cinnamon and paprika.
Soften the onions with some salt, add the garlic and chilli pulp to the softened onions with the tomato puree and let it cook together for a couple of minutes. Into this mixture, add the powdered spices and cook for a further couple of minutes. Deglaze with some madeira and allow the alcohol to cook out.
Next, add the stock, tomatoes and the bay leaf and season. Allow to cook for about half an hour before adding the beans, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for an hour and a half.
Remove from the heat and refrigerate overnight. When reheating, add the cocoa powder just before serving.
I didn’t get round to cooking this last night so left it to cool for four hours before reheating. I also added some lime juice and some chopped coriander as the madeira led to a sweeter dish than we were intending. This balanced the sweetness well but also added a light, fragrant note which we both enjoyed and will do again.
Lentil and Feta Salad
After more than a week of wonderful and indulgent food, the time has finally come to cut back our meat intake and start eating a little healthier. Worried about how our bodies would react if we went cold turkey and ate only salad and water, we decided a lentil salad with just a little extra protein would be a good compromise. The added bonus was that all the ingredients were available in the cupboard which hopefully means we’ll have little wastage come the end of the week.
As well as being healthy and relatively frugal, this was also easy to make and quick too. We both enjoyed it and it felt good to be eating a lighter meal too. Hopefully we won’t be raiding the fridge for sausages come midnight.
Lentil and Feta Salad – Serves Two
200g puy lentils, cooked
Handful of peas, cooked
2 spring onions, finely chopped
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
Small bunch mint, chopped
100g Feta cheese, cubed
10cm cucumber, chopped
5 Peppadew peppers, finely sliced
Cook the lentils and peas, drain and rinse under cold water. When all the water has evaporated, add to a bowl with the spring onion and pour on the oilive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and add the mint leaves. Leave for 15 minutes so that the lentils have absorbed the flavours from the oil and lemon, add the Feta, cucumber and peppers. Mix and serve.
We ate this with some Middle-Eastern style flatbreads but usually we would eat grilled bread, rubbed with garlic and olive oil. That works better I think as the crunchy bread adds a good texture contrast.
The Bull and Last
After a week of intensive meat-eating in the Lake District, the very last thing we should have been doing was eating another big, meat-heavy meal. We had already booked this some time ago, as part of Dine with Dos Hermanos so, we made our way to Highgate feeling slightly apprehensive and very guilty about the prospect of yet another rich meal.
We started with a martini, mixed with Plymouth gin which has been our favourite since visiting the Beefeater distillery. Shortly after these were finished, the food started to arrive and we quickly forgot that we should really have been eating salad and fruit.
I’ve heard from a few people recently that skate cheeks are very good but I haven’t been able to find anywhere that sells then. I’m not sure we could produce something as brilliant as they did at the Bull and Last though: silky, chewy flesh encased in crisp, orange crumbs and served with a punchy tartare sauce. I would have been happy to eat these all evening.
I’m glad I didn’t though because that would have meant missing out on the razor clams. I love these and particularly enjoyed this version, Stephen commented that they tasted of the sea with some garlic added which is pretty accurate I think.
The mackerel pate that was served next was really good although I got into a bit of a mess trying to eat it. Slightly too large for one bite but not big enough or the right texture to bite in two. The soda bread it was served on worked really well, adding a sweetness that balanced the strong hit of dill.
Next came the calves brains which I was keen to try but slightly nervous about. I think I enjoyed them but the texture is unlike anything I’ve had before. Gelatinous might be the right word for it, squidgy would be another. I couldn’t pick out any particularly meaty flavour but it wasn’t unpleasant and the crumb helped.
Finally, there was steak tartare which was beautifully arranged. Having oohed and ahhed about how pretty they were, I couldn’t really turn one down which was challenging because I don’t like eggs. I survived and actually managed to enjoy the perfectly-seasoned meat, despite the orange orb sitting on top.
Already feeling rather full, we then sat down for dinner which began with a rare hare loin salad. I’ve been keen to try hare for a while now and this didn’t disappoint; a rich, meaty flavour with a texture similar to liver, it worked very well with the sweet pumpkin and incredibly fresh walnuts. I hope we can find some of this to cook at home soon.
Next was a slow-roasted dish of mutton served with lentils. Our last attempt at cooking mutton wasn’t very successful and it put me off eating it again, this has pushed it back to the top of the list though. The strong flavour normally associated with mutton was much more delicate in this dish, although definitely still noticeable.
As if this wasn’t enough, we were then presented with a huge hand of pork that was expertly sliced at the table and distributed amongst the eager diners. I was really very full at this time and was starting to experience a little meat-blindness, consequently I can’t remember much about the flavour or texture of the pork but I was disappointed that there wasn’t a lot of crackling.
I’m not much of a dessert fan and so wasn’t that excited when I heard that we were to be eating trifle and Eton mess, if I do eat dessert then I usually favour those of the chocolate variety rather than the fruity, creamy type. The custard in the trifle was very good though with a strong vanilla note and the dark, bramble sauce on the Eton mess was lovely and made a nice change to the usual, summer fruits.
And then there was cheese. I remember it being good but I was completely over-full by this point and can’t remember enough about it to do it justice. Which is just as well because the picture is terrible.
At this point, we realised it was almost 11pm and, knowing it was going to take over an hour to get home, we had to leave. What we really wanted to do was curl up in the corner and go to sleep but instead, we picked up our enormous and incredibly heavy goodie bags and walked very slowly to the station. 14 hours later and I’m still too full to eat. I can’t wait for the next event!
Full set of pictures can be viewed here.
Bull and Last
168 Highgate Road
London
NW5 1QS
020 726 73641
More Cumbrian Lamb
After a week of pretty intensive meat-eating, we really should be on a diet of water and vegetables today but it would have been such a shame to freeze the lamb shoulder we brought home so we decided to delay the diet.
A week away when there is bad weather involved inevitably results in a huge amount of unpacking, washing and boot cleaning so, knowing we wouldn’t have much time to spend in the kitchen today, we opted to slow roast the shoulder. Using our usual recipe, we put the meat on at 1.30 and left it to do its thing while we got on with our chores. By 7.30, the meat was done so Stephen made the sauce while I served the roast potatoes and sauteed cabbage.
We had this cabbage while we were away but didn’t have a picture of it, it was really good then and just as good as an accompaniment to today’s lamb. We also had some of the best roast potatoes we’ve had for a long time, the lamb fat we used in conjunction with the vegetable oil made all the difference.
Sauteed Cabbage
Start by sweating off a chopped onion for as long as you can, you want it to caramelise slightly and be soft and sweet. I find the easiest way to do this is to start with a high temperature and then reduce the heat when the edges are starting to brown. Cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes. When this is done, add a clove of chopped garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Add some shredded cabbage with a little water and cook through. Turn up the heat, pour in a little wine, cook off, season and serve.
Cumbrian Ice-Cream
In the weeks leading up to our week in the Lake District, various important meetings and conversations took place where we discussed the finer points of the trip. Who was driving who? Who was taking their barbecue along? Who would be in charge of finances? Most importantly though was the Ice-Cream Council, a prestigious group and one which I was lucky enough to be a part of.
I have to admit that, despite my early enthusiasm, I was somewhat lacking in my research and it wasn’t until another member of the group mentioned that they had spotted a potential contender for ‘Cumbrian Ice Cream of the Year, 2009’ at the local pub that I realised how badly I had let my team down. Luckily for me, and my housemates, the very next evening we paid a visit to the White Lion where they kindly arranged a carry-out for us. As soon as we got home, we sampled a small selection and knew our work was done. We had to wait until the next evening for the group verdict though but we need not have worried, they were all good but the Cinder Toffee was the favourite.
