Aneke Spacie – Twisted Favourites
I was invited along to the launch of Aneke Spacie’s new book, ‘Twisted Favourites’ which was produced in association with blurb. blurb’s approach to publishing differs from the traditional route and allows individuals to produce high-quality books themselves, with the help of their technology. Aneke’s book was created in just three weeks!
After some Prosecco and canapes (cooked by Aneke) we settled down to watch her create some dishes from her book at the La Cucina Caldesi in Marylebone.
Aneke’s style is focused on reinventing classic dishes and she demonstrated a variety of interesting techniques that could easily be recreated outside of a restaurant kitchen.
The first dish was based on the classic tomato and mozarella salad, served with a wonderful balsamic vinegar jelly.  I’ve not had savoury jelly before (except in pork pie!) and really enjoyed the texture it added to the dish.
Next was a tuna carpaccio, served with a miso and wasabi dressing and deep-fried rocket (which I stupidly didn’t photograph). The rocket was another new experience for me and added both flavour and texture to what was already a delicious dish.
Both dishes were simple in terms of ingredients and preperation but it was a great reminder that treating one or more of the ingredients slightly differently can really lift the overall dish. I’m looking forward to experimenting with jelly and rocket, possibly not at the same time though!
Casa Brindisa
We had lunch at Casa Brindisa in South Kensington shortly after it first opened and enjoyed a small selection of tapas style dishes but we had to be careful in our ordering as we knew we had dinner plans that evening. Happily, on our most recent visit, we didn’t have to exercise such restraint because we visited as part of a large group on the Dine with Dos Hermanos event.
We were greeted with a glass of Manzanilla Pasada sherry, some gordal olives and some salted marcona almonds. After a short run-down of the wines we were going to be drinking, we sat down to begin the important business of eating.
First of all we enjoyed some typically Spanish toast with tomato. I’m not a fan of raw tomatoes but I enjoyed this, it was fresh and zingy with a great hit of garlic. Next up was one of the highlights of the evening, the jamon plate: Teruel DOP, Joselito paleta DOP Guijelo and DOP Dehesa de Extremadura. We shared this plate amongst six of us and it didn’t take long before it was empty.
Another one of my favourite dishes was the smoked and salted anchovies. I love anchovies but hadn’t tasted any as fresh as there before, I could have eaten a whole plate of the smoked ones in particular. They were noticeably anchovy like in taste but not quite as concentrated in flavour and much lighter on the palate.
To follow, we were presented with the best tortilla de patatas I’ve ever tasted. We cook this at home quite a lot but I’m never completely happy with the result, this was packed full of very well cooked potato that had an almost bubble and squeak like texture to it, it didn’t have the noticeable layers of potatoes and onion either which suggests a different cooking method.
The Iberico ham croquetas were a big hit around the table but they didn’t do much for me, I found them slightly soggy in texture with not a lot of flavour. I didn’t try the prawns but they looked big and juicy and well seasoned with garlic, if you can call garlic a seasoning.
I wasn’t blown away by the sea bass but the accompanying morcilla de Burgos was very good, we fought over the remaining crumbs before the plate was cleared away.
The grilled Iberico pork fillet seemed a little dried out to me but was flavoursome and plentiful with a dense, nutty note.
Another start was the grilled octopus which was crying out for some bread to soak up all those lovely juices.
There was also cheese, fruit salad served with olive oil and crema Catalana but, as inevitably happens towards the end of the evening, the picture quality was just too bad to display. I blame the lack of light 🙂
As well as a goody bag filled with all sorts of interesting food stuffs, Stephen and I also won platinum membership to the Hi-Life dining club. A pretty good way to round off a great night of good food and company.
Roast Chicken
After a busy weekend of travelling around the country for weddings and cricket matches, we needed something quick and easy. Our standby is always roast chicken so, after a desperate hunt for a chicken late on Sunday afternoon, that’s what we had. Nothing of particular interest to report other than, after several failed attempts, our King Edward potatoes were perfectly crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
Cheese
We had some friends around for a barbecue on Friday night which saw us cook both beef and pork burgers. Somehow, we seem to have forgotten to take pictures of anything but the lovely cheese our friends bought from Neal’s Yard. From left: Tymsboro goat cheese, Colston Bassett Stilton, Tunworth Brie and Keens cheddar.
L’Artisan du Chocolat
I was lucky enough to go along to the opening of the new L’Artisan du Chocolate chocolateria on Westbourne Grove. Having sampled some of their chocolate recently and hearing lots of good things about them, I was excited to see what else they had on offer; I wasn’t disappointed.
The shop itself is a lovely, bright space with a futuristic feel to it coming from the shiny orange surfaces and the cool, rounded, plastic fittings. The huge light fitting in the centre of the room is the main focus adding warmth and brightness to the area as well as being a big talking point.
As well as an impressive range of chocolate related goodies on the shelves, there is also a small seating area where you can enjoy delights such as an iced chocolate granita or a cacoa pulp bellini from the bar.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much chocolate in one place before, bowl after bowl of truffles and chocolate-coated orange peel as well as trays of chocolate fondants and delicously creamy, smooth ice-cream. There were also espresso martinis and hot chocolate to quench your thirst which was very welcome, tasting chocolate is indeed thirsty work.
Of the chocolates on offer, my favourite was the liquid salt caramel, their number one bestseller and originally created for Gordon Ramsey at Claridges. Crunchy chocolate shells dusted with dark cocoa powder that give way to sweet and salty liquid caramel insides. The white truffle made with Chapel Down sparkling wine was lovely too and a great use of local produce.
And the packaging! It was like being in a French perfumier, row upon row of beautiful boxes tied with ribbons that looked far too good to open. All of this leant a very upmarket feel to the shop which at first seemed at odds with the futuristic feel of the shop but in fact it worked well as a contrast: a modern and innovative approach to chocolate-making that’s rooted in luxury.
Crab Salad
I was out on Monday so Stephen was left to his own devices. In an attempt to use up some crab, he combined it with some salad and some cooled orzo pasta. I’m told it was better than it looks but still not brilliant. I had high hopes for the orzo but we haven’t cooked anything particularly noteworthy with it yet, looks like we need to think it through a little better before just throwing it into a dish and hoping for the best.
Barbecued Steak
Another lovely day today, too good not to have a barbecue. After a hard day of lying around in the park, reading, sunbathing and generally not doing very much too energetic, we lit the barbecue and cooked some lovely ribeye steaks. We also cooked some mushrooms on the barbecue, topped with garlic and parsley butter.
The steaks turned out well – slightly overdone but still pink in the middle and juicy, tender and tasty. A few weeks ago, we bought some Halen Môn smoked sea salt and haven’t used it for anything yet, so we used it to season the steaks after cooking them – the salty, smokey taste worked well and complemented the barbecue taste.
We are sticking to our “let’s barbecue as often as possible this summer” plan rather well so far and the weather has been quite cooperative, which helps!
Barbecue Pizza Second Attempt
After last week’s barbecue pizza attempt which was really tastybut not perfect, we decided to try again to see if we could perfect it. We wanted the fire hotter this time, to try to get it to cook more quickly and blister the edges of the base a bit. The fire was hotter, but still not quite hot enough – we’re still sticking to general barbecue principles and letting the coals burn down before cooking on them, but I think we should put the pizza on a lot earlier than would be sensible for a normal barbecue. That said, it was still tasty and we devoured it happily. Pity the white balance on the picture isn’t great.
Roast Lamb with Orzo and Asparagus Salad
We were planning lamb chops this evening but when I got to the shop, the half legs of lamb were much cheaper so I snapped one of those up instead. Roasted in the oven with some garlic and thyme tucked into the flesh, sadly a little over-cooked though.
The orzo was dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, mint, parsley, spring onion, feta cheese, asparagus and pine nuts. It worked well as a stand-alone dish and the flavours complimented the lamb well but would have been better with couscous as the texture of the pasta just didn’t seem right with the lamb.
Crab and Asparagus Salad
A quick and simple dinner this evening of crab and asparagus salad, planned earlier in the week when the sun was shining. We’re coming to the end of asparagus season now so we’re eating lots of it before it disappears again.
The crab was sent to us for review from Abel and Cole and was really tasty, light but full of flavour and perfect with the asparagus. The Jersey Royals were good but not as fully flavoured as they should have been. A simple ‘dressing’ of butter, lemon juice and salt and pepper brought the while thing together.
