Welsh rarebit

It's the weekend again and that's when I can eat one of my favourite all time meals - brunch! Gipsy Spread and I are off to spend the weekend with Mother in law Spread for her birthday. I have bought some lovely gifts including some surprisingly flavoured hand made chocolates from Borough market, but I also made her some of my now perfected macarons filled with her very own apricot jam.


I had used egg whites for the macarons and we are going out for dinner tonight at the Old Drum in Petersfield, so I made us some welsh rarebit inspired brunch with the leftover egg yolks!


What you will need
2 eggs yolks(or 1 egg)
Four slices of bread
80g mature cheddar cheese
2 table spoons creme fraiche
1 tea spoon english mustard
Fresh chives
Marmite (optional)


Firstly, mix together the egg yolks with the grated cheddar, creme fraiche, mustard, chopped chives and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside and toast the bread lightly on both sides. When toasted, spread with a layer of butter, them marmite. If you really are not sure, try one slice with marmite and one without?


Quarter the egg and cheese filling and smother over the marmite.

Spread the topping to the edges of the bread and place back under a medium grill until the egg has cooked and the cheese has melted and browned. Serve immediately with either some real or fake bacon.

Chaat masala

Chaat masala is fantastic to have around the house in case you want to knock up a nice and easy Indian salad or chaat dish. It is also always much better taste-wise, to make your own than to buy a packet mix. You can make a large batch of this and store in a dry space.


What you will need
1 table spoons cumin seeds

1 table spoons coriander seeds

1 and a 1/2 table spoons fennel seeds

4 table spoons amchur (mango) powder

3 table spoons black salt 


1 and a 1/2 table spoons freshly ground black pepper 


1/4 table spoons  asafetida powder

1 and a 1/2 table spoons  ginger powder

1 table spoons dried, powdered mint

1 and a 1/2 table spoons  carom seeds

 

Fry the the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a hot dry frying pan until the seeds begin to turn a little darker and start to give off their aromas. Stir often while roasting, to prevent the seeds from burning.


When the seeds have roasted, take them off from the pan and spread on a plate to cool.

When cool, mix the seeds with all the other ingredients in a pestle and mortar or food processor and grind till you get a fine, smooth powder. The Chaat Masala is now ready to be used, for example in a chana chaat.

Chana chaat/chickpea salad

I had already whipped up some green (coriander) chutney and was really craving a delicious, but healthy chickpea chaat for dinner tonight (it has been a mad week for treats at work). I didn’t have chaat masala, but it’s relatively simple to knock up an easy chaat mix and is really the only effortful part of this delicious meal. A Chaat masala is mostly used as a garnish on salads, Chaats (a generic name for hot, tangy, sweet nibbles), drinks (like Indian lemonade!), curries and daals etc.  This dish can also be made with the addition of boiled potatoes to make an aloo chana chaat.


What you will need
1 tin of chickpeas
1 tomato

1/2 onion

2-3 table spoons yogurt

Fresh coriander 

Coriander chutney
1 tea spoon chaat masala

1 table spoon pomegranite pearls
1/2 a fresh lemon
Sev (shop bought is fine)

The imli chutney
1 tea spoon tamarind concentrate
50ml hot water
1-2 tea spoon sugar
1/2 tea spoon chilli powder

Firstly, set about making this easy to knock out imli (tamarind chutney). I didn’t have time to soak the seeds and then pass through a sieve, so I opted for the tamarind paste option. The chaat masala is also full of the complex spices, so this chutney didn't need to be. Mix all the imli chutney ingredients together in the hot water with a pinch of salt. Allow this to cool. If you want it a little bit thicker, you can reduce it in a pan on the hob.

Next, drain and empty the tin of chickpeas into a bowl. Add the chopped onion, tomato and coriander and season with salt. Next, stir through the chaat powder and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon.

Finally and when ready to serve, top with a spoonful of plain yoghurt and a spoonful of each of the green chutney and the tamarind chutney. Garnish with a small handful of sev (a spicy, fried gram flour snack) and pomegranate pearls.

This such a delicious and fresh meal which is part of India’s culinary street food history. It can be served cold or warm. Gipsy Spread and I had this as a starter at out wedding.

Gujerati spiced noodles

My previous blog post attests to my very big lunch today at the Menier Chocolate Factory. I didn't fancy much for dinner, which also meant I didn't want to spend ages cooking. Gipsy Spread had only had a take away sandwich for lunch, so clearly needed feeding. I decided upon the quick, simple, but fiery and fierce Gujerati vegetable noodles for dinner.


We had yoghurt for a lovely coriander and chilli raita to accompany Gipsy Spread's noodles (alongside his sausages). Yes, this really is a meal!


What you will need
1 onion
150g sweetcorn
150g green peas
4 green chillis
200g vermicelli
1 tea spoon mustard seeds
1/2 tea spoon asoefetida
1 1/2 tea spoons tumeric
1/2 tea spoon chilli powder
1/2 tea spoon garam masala
Fresh coriander
1 fresh lemon
1 table spoon pomegranite pearls (optional)
1 tablespoon cashew nuts (optional)


To start the dish, place a table spoon of oil on to heat. When warmed through, add the mustard seeds and the asoefetida. Cook for a minute or two before adding the onion, finely chopped. Soften for 5 minutes, then add the chopped green chillies for a minute.


Meanwhile, make sure the sweetcorn and green peas are cooked and slightly soften the vermicelli in the boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Drain everything very well.

Add the tumeric and chilli powder to the onion and chilli mix and top with the noodles and vegetables. Stir everything very well and coat in the spices. Add the garam masala and season with plenty of salt. Finally add the lemon juice and cahsew nuts. Stir everything through, taste and add more of what you fancy.

Serve with a garnish of fresh coariander and pearls of pomegranite.

Menier Chocolate Factory

I have become the new social secretary at work for the team. This has included organising a week of events the last week in the office before Christmas, but also an impromptu spot of lunch in the name of team bonding. We’re a fairly new team in the current configuration. So in the spirit of forging ties and networking I arranged a lovely sit down meal at the Menier Chocolate Factory restaurant which is just around the corner from the office. I had walked past the other day and spotted the sandwich board which advertised a lunch menu for £7.

 

It was with anticipation that we all arrived at the eclectic warehouse with high ceilings, metal beams and large windows, which also has a small theatre space at the back. I have been here before, both for dinner and a show and I thoroughly enjoyed both. This was some time ago however, and not a £7 lunch.

 

We sat down and reviewed the short but diverse menu of lunch options. Everyone managed to pick something that tantalised them in theory, if not yet in practice. When the food arrived, it is was better than expected. The portions were huge by anyone’s standards and the chunky chips (which formed the basis of many round the table’s choice) could not have been chunkier if designed to be the building blocks of houses.

 

I went for the pasta option and having not known what ‘ziti’ pasta was pleasantly surprised with my deliciously long, thick and twisty tubes of pasta smothered in a light but spicy sauce, with the tanginess of sundried tomatoes and the nutty texture and flavour of the pine nuts. My colleagues went for the steak and beef and chicken caesar sandwich. One colleague ordered the halloumi burger (apologies no photo) from the main menu (£9) that was stacked high with crisp onion rings.

 
 

Suffice to say we all came away extremely satisfied with both the quality and quantity of their offering, needing both a sleep and reason to visit again. I’m hoping the menu does change regularly and that we can continue to visit and find seasonally varied plates for a bargain lunch.

Huevos rancheros

So, it was Sunday brunch time again and having been out for a late lunch yesterday, we'd skipped dinner. Eggs were definitely on the agenda, however I also francied a robust brunch with strong flavours. The store cupbaord was at hand and Gipsy Spread had come home with again with a bag of fresh green chillies for me from Whitechapel market, so huevos rancheros it was.


What you will need

1/2 onion

2 small green chillies
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tea spoon chilli powder
1/2 tea spoon ground cumin

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of jalapenos

4 eggs (2 eggs per person)

To serve
Toast or tortillas
1 avocado
Fresh coriander

Finely chop the the onion, garlic and chillies. Soften these for about 5 minutes in some olive oil in a frying pan. When softened, add the ground cumin and chilli powder and fry off for 1 minute before adding the chopped tomatoes. Cook the mixture for about 5 minutes on a medium heat to reduce. When ready, empty half of the mix into a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the mix that is left in the frying pan, add a little bit more olive oil to heat through and add crack two eggs into the middle of the well.

 

Keep on the heat until the eggs have cooked through, you might want to place the pan under the grill for a couple of minutes to finish off. Repeat the process with the other half of the mix and two more eggs.

Serve with a side of fresh avocado, on either the traditional tortilla or toast garnished with fresh coriander.

Lorenzo's Crystal Palace

So, Foxtons has arrived at the Crystal Palace triangle and I really hope that this does not spell the beginning of the end the small village feel of the area, with it's independent shops, bars and restaurants. One of my favourite lunch time venues on a Saturday is Lorenzo's in Crystal Palace. I don't think that you can get such a fabulous sit down Italian meal for less than £5 anywhere else. The prices have recently gone up slightly, but the food is worth every penny.

Lorenzo's is a family run Italian restaurant, which also has a fantastic selection of specials on a regular basis. These are advertised on the chalkboard. Today they included a variety of moules and involtini di melanzane (rolled aubergines stuffed with goats cheese and baked in a tomato sauce). You can really imagine the mama mia behind the scenes here giving instructions and tapping away intruding hands from her sauce with the back of a wooden spoon.

 

The decor is also fairly simple, with the walls lined with fabulous pictures of the amalfi coast from the seventies.

We went straight in for the £4.95 lunch options. Mine was the delicious crespoline vegetariana, which is pancakes filled with spinach, ricotta and mushrooms, baked in a tangy tomato sauce, then served with fresh parmesan. Gipsy Spread had the Capriciosa pizza which included ham, onions, peppers and artichoke hearts. Not bad for a fiver!

The lunch set menu is available Monday-Saturday until 5pm. It is a real treat and can be supplemented with a side of garlic bread or salad for an extra £1.

Lorenzo's is a fantastic local gem and I wanted to mention it on my blog as the first of my favourite eateries around the triangle. Long may it continue to do business.

Green coriander chutney

A green coriander chutney is a very simple way to dress up a variety of Indian dishes. It is used as a sauce or dip, to go with fresh Gujerati steamed dhokla and in a variety of chaats (Indian salads).


What you will need
1 large bunch of fresh coriander
3-4 green chillis
1 tea spoon salt
1/2 tea spoon sugar
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1/2 tea spoon ground coriander
1/2 tea spoon ground cumin
50-60ml water


Put all the ingredients into a blender and switch on. Blitz until all the ingredients have bound together. You can generally add more or less water depending on the consistency you want.

It couldn't be any easier.

Creamy parmesan roasted pumpkin

Pumpkins are in season, and not just for carving up for the US holiday of Halloween. It also makes for delicious vegetarian meals, after some prep. Sainsbury's was selling these pretty little pumpkins and I couldn't resist picking one up for roasting in a deliciously creamy and fragrent sauce.

What you will need

1 small pumpkin
1 leek

2-3 table spoons creme fraiche

125ml white wine

3 garlic cloves

Fresh lemon thyme
1 tea spoon mustard
Nutmeg

50g grated parmesan

 

Slice the top off the pumpkin and remove the flesh and the seeds. I reserved the seeds for roasting seperately.

Score the flesh of  the cavity inside gently with a knife to enable the flavours to merge.

Mix together the creme fraiche, white wine, crushed garlic cloves, mustard, parmesan, thyme, sliced leek and a grating of nutmeg.

Pour the mix into the pumpkin, and place the top back on. Roast in the oven at 200 degree for 1.5 hours or until the flesh has cooked through.

 

The flesh is lovely and sweet when scooped out and can be served as a side dish. However, we had this as a sauce for fresh gnocchi.

Therefore, a pumpkin is not just for christmas! 

Spicy roasted pumpkin seeds

I had roasted my pumpkin for a beautiful creamy wine sauce to dress gnocchi and made what was left of the creamy flesh into a delicious soup, so it will come as no surprise that I made all of the squash go a long way. I extracted the beautiful fresh pumpkin seeds and roasted them to dry and toast in a fragrent and warm spice mix. These will be fabulous to snack on at work next. That's if they last that long!

What you will need
Pumpkin seeds from a small pumpkin
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tea spoon salt
1 pinch of sugar
1 tea spoon paprika
1 tea spoon sumac (optional)


Firstly preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

After removing the seeds from the pumpkin, rinse with water, and remove any strings and bits of flesh. Pat dry, and place in a small bowl. Stir the olive oil, sugar and salt into the seeds until evenly coated. Spread out in an even layer on a prepared baking tray. Spinkle over the spices evenly.

 

Bake the seeds for 10-15 minutes, or until seeds start to pop. Remove from oven and cool on the baking tray before serving.

 

This can also be done with butternut squash seeds, so why not give it a go, especially if you are roasting the squash any way?