Monday, February 29, 2016

Sausage, Mash & Fried Onions

I was thinking of getting sausages today, to make sausages stewed in red wine gravy. But my dad had already taken sausages out of the freezer to make grilled sausages with mash, fried onions and veg. Very nice but my stew would have been less ...dry.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Roast Belly Pork, Potato Gratin

Yep my dad again. I was planning to get pork belly to make jerk pork today, but he beat me to the shops and made slow roast pork (with crackling), some kind of sticky wine, onion and mushroom gravy, gratin and veg. Yummy.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Lemon Spatchcock Chicken

A difficult day. Went to clean flat for last time, BF (now ex) was supposed to come and help and take away the last bits of furniture among other things. He didn't bother. So I had the trauma of leaving the flat (and him) and of him letting me down one last time. My brother drove up to help (5 hour round trip for him). When we both got home to parents' my dad made me a very strong G&T which was much appreciated. He also had a late dinner on the go, of lemon spatchcock chicken (prep'd by local farm shop's butcher), roast potatoes and various veg. What a star.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Indian Takeaway

Moved all my crap to my parents' for storage. Dad paid for curry from local Indian; I went to collect it. Had chicken tikka masala for a change but it was too sweet. Also had lamb dansak which was nice. Plus chapati (no rice for me), popadoms, niramish and lime pickle.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Franco Manca Pizza

The day before the man-and-van arrive to collect all my stuff to move out of the flat. Me and BF went to the local Franco Manca in East Dulwich to save on hassle as everything's in boxes. Great prices, really decent pizza and love the natural wine. Service always excellent. Had the veggie special (truffle oil, mushrooms, romanesco) with added ham and one with old spot sausage and wild broccoli (I think this is actually turnip tops...?).

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

M&S Curry

It might seem like I have a lot of Indian curry, but it's usually my parents' influence. I would actually have it loads more, but my BF isn't that keen. So this eve I was on my way back from Amsterdam and went to M&S at Gatwick for dinner. Ready meals! This is the only exception apart from chicken kiev! Even though I keep having curry this year, BF had not had any Indian so I thought he could cope. Got Roganjosh or similar as well as sag aloo and a bottle of house rosé. It was fine.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Vegetarian Set Menu & Raw Herring & Jenever

It was my friend's 40th birthday meal. I was staying in Amsterdam with her and her boyfriend, so I booked a table at a French-inspired Mediterranean restaurant, La Vallade, that had been recommended by a someone I know who lives there (Amsterdam not Med). I was excited as it was a set menu, but we were all a bit disappointed when we found it was vegetarian night. It was very nice but nothing special, and I'm not sure it was worth €35 each for the four courses - spicy lentil soup (tasty), salad (OK but very forgettable and no enough acid), aubergine parmigiana (heavy, bit bland - not enough acid or salt), nice frozen hazelnut thing. Should have gone to the Ethiopian place we saw the day before.

Oh! And in the afternoon we had traditional raw herring with raw onion and gherkin from a stall by the flower market (should be called 'bulb' market), then tried jenever (precursor to gin) at the ancient and fabulous 'tasting tavern', Wynand Fockink.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Burger Bar! Amsterdam

One of my brothers once mentioned having the best burger he'd ever tasted in Amsterdam. He was in the Peruvian mountains, but I managed to get hold of him to ask for the details. It was from a burger bar called Burger Bar. A few hours later (and after much iphone map faffing), and I had an Irish beef pattie (served pink) with their normal toppings plus Old Amsterdam cheese and jalapeños. Sooooo delicious, juicy, tastymerlasty. But my bun disintegrated. The rise of the decent burger in London and the passing of time (Bro went about 10 years ago. European burgers have grown up.) meant that it was not the best burger I've ever had. However, it might have been if the bun had been less crumbly - and if I hadn't had a MEATliquor burger a few days before (for lunch, with beer. Shit yeah!).

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Chips, Mayonaise & Chopped Onion

First day in Amsterdam to celebrate my friend's birthday. We read about Dutch specialities before going out to meet a load of her other friends for a night on the town. There don't seem to be many Dutch specialities. Everything seems to be beige and processed. And fried. But we fancied the chips topped with chopped raw onions and mayo (and a little vinegar), so after wandering around in a big group for ages not finding anywhere we could all fit in to eat, me and birthday girl saw a chip shop and got out chip fix. They definitely hit the spot. That was dinner. Probably not a bad meal for before a whole night of drinking and dancing. We didn't even drink that much by our standards and we managed to dance at Paradiso until morning - at our age! I'm quite proud of that.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Hake in Breadcrumbs

Shop-bought. Clearing out freezer before the move, on my own and going away tomorrow. Served with frozen petit pois and grilled cherry toms. Also had a bacon sarnie as a starter!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Cheese on Toast?

I can't remember this day very well, as I just had some kind of snack dinner. I was on my own. I think I had cheese on toast and maybe a boiled egg.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Duck Breast with Red Wine, Five Spice & Cherry Sauce

I griddled the duck breasts and served them sliced up, pink in the middle with crispy skin. The sauce was really simple to make, but heavily reduced. As well as the red wine, five spice and cherry conserve, it also contained soy sauce, a little chilli, garlic and spring onion. I strained it to make it smooth. It was a triumph! Served with.... hmmm what was it again? Probably roast spuds and broccoli.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Migrane - Donner Kebab & Chips

Woke up in the night feeling extremely sick with an intense headache. Still felt terrible in the morning. My first migrane in years. Managed to eat a tiny amount of wholesome things at lunchtime and felt immediately terrible again. BF ordered a large portion of donner meat and chips for dinner, saying I could have some. I tried out a little bit and let it go down for a while, then felt better so had some more. It was yummy and then felt better again! Cured by kebab. Well, kind of. I still felt quite fragile and had a headache for the next couple of days, but the kebab definitely perked me up.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Moussaka Leftovers

Reheated the moussaka from Saturday and had it with salady bits and the rest of the spinach from yesterday.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Chicken & Ackee with Pumpkin Rice and Rice & Peas

More Caribbean. We don't normally have this much, but BF picked up some more from the dread at the barber shop. We had spicy fried chicken with rice and peas, a seriously tasty chicken and ackee stew with yummy pumpkin rice, dumplings, yam and green banana. I cooked some spinach to go with it.

As I'm leaving London very soon, I'm making the most of the Caribbean food while I can. It was also convenient because we went out raving last night so am feeling a bit delicate. (Brilliant garage event in Peckham, with DJ Flava and Zinc. Flava was flippin fabulous.)

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Moussaka & Salad

I'm pretty good at making very delicious moussaka. I prefer it without potato but put it in for my BF. Had it with watercress, spinach and rocket salad from a bag and sliced vine tomatoes.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Caribbean Oxtail with Rice & Peas and Plantain

From the barber shop rasta. Caribbean style oxtail stew is better than any other. European styles can be unctuous and wonderful, but Caribbean is richer and tastier somehow, and the spice makes it addictive. My mouth is now watering from just thinking about it.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Go-To Spicy Pasta & Poached Egg

I hate the "go-to" phrase, from working in consumer media. So cheesy and clichéd and irritating.

But anyway, this is my go-to pasta that I often have when I'm on my own. Another Perry dish.

Gently sizzle dried chilli, lemon zest, lemon juice and anchovies (in oil not vinegar) in loads of extra virgin olive oil. Add finely chopped garlic and stir before taking off the heat. Needless to say I use shitloads of all the ingredients, so it's really hot and rammed with flavour.

Meawhile, cook your pasta. I like linguine best for this.

Stir the pasta into the sauce. I pimp it with a poached egg but that's optional. Serve with lots of freshly grated parmesan and a green salad.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Chicken Kiev & New Potatoes

Shop-bought chicken kievs, but the ones made of whole breasts. Served with boiled new potatoes and green beans. One of the only ready-made things I really like. Must attempt my own one day...

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Swordfish, Chips & Salad

Went to the local fishmongers and got two gorgeous swordfish steaks. I floured and fried them, and served them with homemade chips, salad, coleslaw and lime wedges. Alcohol-free beer with a lime wedge for me.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Steak & Gravy

This was actually beef from yesterday, thickly sliced and griddled. Had it with reheated leftover veg and gravy. No booze.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding

The beef was rare, the gravy was rich, the spuds crisped, but for some reason my usually fail-safe yorkshire was a bit claggy. It had fluffed up loads and was starting to burn at the edges, but didn't look cooked enough in the middle. I didn't want it to burn more so took it out, but now realise I should have left it in.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas. Again.

Now I know what it looks like, but I didn't have fish & chips for about a year before December. Then had it 3 times in 3 months. 2 of those times within 1 week of each other.

I'm at my parents', and my mum is always asking for f&cs. I'm looking forward to it, and I know the local takeaway (Station Fryer in Pulborough) serves perfect batter so I'm optimistic I won't have the soggy stodge ordeal of last week...

Friday, February 5, 2016

Oxtail Casserole, Jerusalem Artichokes, Cauliflower Cheese

A triumph for my dad again this eve. His ox tail stew was everything it should be. Mmm the texture of that sauce! He served it with shop-bought cauliflower cheese, roasted jerusalem artichokes and courgettes.

Then a cheese course.

Corned beef and tomato sarnies for lunch - retro.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Grazing & Leftovers

Spent the day grazing on cold chow mein. As soon as I'd put it back in the fridge my mouth would start watering as I knew the rest was waiting for me.

I was on my own in the evening so had a North African and Chinese leftover mash up, and finished everything off.

I hardly ever throw any food away, but the fried rice had to go, as I'm going to my parents' for the weekend tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Chinese Takeaway - Aromatic Crispy Duck

What can I say. It's him not me. But it was actually delicious.

Crispy duck pancake kit, chicken chow mein, egg fried rice and crispy seaweed. The rice wasn't really touched sadly.

Delivered by the cheap n cheerful place 'round the corner, Golden Kitchen Express. They have an open kitchen, which is nice.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

North African Style Lamb Hearts & Bulgar Wheat

I learnt this one from Perry about 18 years ago and have it about once or twice a year. I really look forward to it - so satisfying and tasty.

Stuff the heart ventricals (1 heart per person) with lemon zest, dried date pieces, garlic and pinenuts. Coat them with flour and in the pan you're going to use for the stew, fry them until browned on all sides in a little oil. Stir in a chopped onion and a couple of roughly chopped cloves of garlic. Then empty in some tinned tomatoes, a little squeeze of lemon juice, more pinenuts, a few more dates and top up with water. Stir in a desert spoon of good quality harissa. Leave to simmer on low for a few hours.

Taste when you're ready to eat and season accordingly. This time, to make it look less like hearts for BF, I sliced them up - the stuffed heart slices looked like a meat roulade - and put them back in the sauce before serving.

Served on bulgar wheat with mangetout. Alcohol-free wine today.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Leftover Roast Pork & Caribbean Fried Chicken

There wasn't much pork or crackling left from yesterday, but we had some other tastiness to add to the mix.

My BF goes to one of London's zillions of barbers aimed at afro-caribbean men. He goes once a week like the rest of the clientelle, and various vendors stop by regularly to sell stuff including dodgy DVDs. (The women's equivalent is the nail bars run by Vietnamese people - there's a constant stream of traders coming in with DVDs, clothes, shoes and bags.) A couple of guys cook Caribbean food at home and bring it in to sell to the men while they wait (for AGES) to get their trim, and my BF loves the food of one particular dread - "Rasta man cab COOK!", he said to the guy upon tasting some 'stew chicken'. "Me know" he replied.

So anyway, this time he got some spectacularly good pumpkin rice and deep fried crumbed chicken.

I heated the pork, crackling, chicken, roast spuds, squash etc in the oven and microwaved the rice. Also had broccoli from yesterday and fresh cauliflower with it.

Double carbs... after resisting all my life I've finally succumbed.

No booze.