Mexican penne aka mac n cheese

I spotted a Mexican mac n cheese on the menu of the Breakfast Club when visiting recently with work (review to follow). I did not order this, mainly because I thought I could make it myself, so that's exactly what I undertook to do this weekend. It was cold and wet outside and steaming hot, spicy pasta bake was exactly what we needed to warm the cockles.


What you will need
1 large red pepper
1 large onion
1-2 cloves garlic
2 jalapeño peppers
2 red chillis (optional)
1 large handful of sun dried tomatoes (c9-10)
300g penne/macaroni pasta
100g cheddar 
20g parmesan cheese
30g butter
30g plain flour
500ml milk


Start by slicing the peppers in halt lengthways, then again widthways. Slice each quarter into 1/2cm slices and set aside. Next slice the onion into similar 1/2cm slices. Add both to an oven tray with a table spoon of olive oil, salt and the garlic and roast in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20-30 minutes until softened.

Next chop the chillies and sundries tomatoes and add to the peppers and onions and set aside.

Cook the pasta as advised on the packet and meanwhile turn to the cheese sauce.


Grate the cheddar and parmesan and also set aside.


Next, melt the butter in a large sauce pan, before slowly adding the flour, whisking all the time. After 30 seconds, slowly add the milk, making sure to whisk out any lumps as you go. They will cook out and thicken the sauce. After 3-4 minutes,  season with salt and pepper and add in most of the cheese, reserving a large handful for the top. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

Finally add all the vegetables to the drained pasta and stir through  the cheese sauce. Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top and then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees.

Serve steaming hot, garnished with fresh coriander and with a delicious fresh green salad.

Wetherspoons, Petersfield

Wetherspoons. Really? You might ask. Well yes, I had dinner for the first time EVER here the other day.  Mother in law Spread likes to head here once a week for their bargain deal of £10 for a main course plus large glass of wine. So this is where she chose to go for her birthday dinner. Situated in Petersfield, this is not your usual Wetherspoons, my mind conjures up images of patterned carpets and older gentlemen in cardigans drinking cheap pints during the day or the young lads on a night out sinking shots at the weekend.

It was in fact full of a variety of sorts. This being Petersfield, the historic market town, the building itself is also made of the historic brick and the clientele represented the local make up.

It was Thursday, which was a curry night. However, being slightly suspicious of curries not produced by chefs I would consider specialists, I opted for the pub classic of (veggie) bangers and mash. My choice was much derided by my fellow diners who perhaps have this dish as a staple, however, much of what else was on the menu was more like my staple dinners.

As you can see, the portions were really hearty. My veggie sausages were delicious, my mash creamy and my peas crunchy and fresh. Just what you would expect from a good pub bangers and mash and delivered at a fantastic price. The carnivores went for various other options, including the large mixed grill, which could not be finished.

The hotdog, which was not advertised as foot long, because perhaps it was even larger than that, with chips.

The gammon, egg and chips were also another hit as the birthday girl's choice.

So, all in all, not a bad visit. Surprisingly hearty food, at great value. Everyone raved about the wine on tap, however as my dish did not come with a glass of this, I opted for the Faustino VII, which is a tried and tested wine, but never at the Wetherspoons price - what a bargain! I'll happily return for cheap and cheerful meal with swift service. Most likely to the cavernous Petersfield branch.

This is a formula that works, so who am I to comment on others motivations for visiting. It clearly meets the needs of a diverse range of people and good for it for doing so.

Thai green roasted pepper and halloumi salad

I had made a large batch up my thai curry paste and frozen some of it. I had also bought what can only be described as gigantium peppers from Borough market last week and with my new discovery of halloumi at Lidl for only £1.69 a packet, I want a roasted pepper and halloumi salad. This is where the thai curry paste became handy! I know you can buy this stuff from the supermarket in jars, but there really is nothing like the freshness of blending it yourself. You can also buy (the slight cheat) lemongrass in jars.

 

What you will need

3 table spoons of groundnut oil

2 tea spoons thai green curry paste

1 large red pepper

1 large yellow pepper

2 onions

1 packet of halloumi cheese

2 handfuls of cherry toamtoes

2 table spoons sesame seeds

2 table spoon lemon juice

Fresh coriander

 

Firstly chop the peppers into chunks and slice the onions into chunky slices.

 

Next toss through with two tablespoons of the oil and the two tea spoons of thai green curry paste. Season with salt and roast in a pre heated oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cube the halloumi. After twenty minutes, add these to the roasting pan with the tomatoes, toss through the oil and paste and roast for a further 10-15 minutes.

 

Next dry toast the sesame seeds.

 

Finally, when the halloumi has browned, mix with the sesame seeds, the final table spoon of oil, the lemon juice and chopped coriander.

Dish up on a bed of leaves and enjoy, or savour with noodles simply dressed in soy.

Feta and olive stuffed tomatoes

I was handed some wonderfully home grown and organic large beefsteak tomatoes towards the end of the summer, as well as receiving a wonderful gift of fresh red chillies in the post from a friend. This all led me to this very simple, but fresh dish of tomatoes stuffed with feta cheese and olives. This is a perfect starter or side dish. I however had it as a main dish with plenty of crispy bread to soak up the succulent juices of the tomatoes. It could perhaps be served on a slice of toast to absorb all the wonderful flavours

What you will need

4 large beefsteak tomatoes

120g feta cheese

2 table spoons sliced black olives

Fresh lemon thyme

1 table spoon mixed seeds

1-2 fresh chillies

Firstly, slice the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds and some of the flesh in the middle.

Next, mix together the crumbled feta cheese, the black olives, the seeds and the chopped chillies. Mix through the lemon thyme and season well with salt and pepper.

Insert the mix back into the tomatoes and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 8-10 minutes. You want the tomatoes to maintain their structure. Serve immediately, straight from the oven.

Vegetarian jeera 'chicken'

Jeera chicken as a dish originates from the Indian Kenyan community which included my gran in the 1950s. Jeera means cumin. I was reminded of it this weekend when Gipsy Spread was looking for a chicken curry to cook. He decided against jeera chicken for something a bit more saucy, but I was reminded of this dish when I spotted a reduced pack of quorn 'chicken pieces' in Waitrose. I don't normally buy these, as I generally don't buy vegetarian ingredients trying to replicate meat, but the promise of jeera 'chicken' the first time in 20 years was too much for me to ignore. Also, having now done this, I could also have been doing this the whole time with paneer aswell. D'oh!


What you will need
2 table spoons cumin seeds
5-6 black corns
4-5 cardommon
4 green chillies
3 cloves garlic
A thumb sized piece of ginger
1 tea spoon ground coriander
2 tea spoons ground cumin
450g 'chicken pieces' (I used quorn)
4 table spoons plain yoghurt (optional)
1 tea spoon garam masala
2 table spoons chopped coriander


Begin by toasting 1 table spoon of the cumin seeds in a dry pan for 1 minute. When toasted, set aside and break up slightly.

 

Next place the other table spoon of cumin seeds in a pan with 2 good table spoon of oil, the black peppercorns and the cumin seeds. Heat through for 1-2 minutes.


Next stir in the crushed garlic, grated ginger and chopped chillies, cooking for a further minute before adding in the ground cumin and coriander. 


After a minute when the spices become fragrent, stir in the 'chicken pieces' and cook for 3-4 minutes, until starting to take on some colour.

Finally stir in the yoghurt (if using), half a gls of water and the garam masala. Cook for 810 minutes to reduce the sauce/evaporate the liquid.

Before serving, stir through the toasted cumin and plenty of fresh coriander.

Serve with some hand made chapatis.

Est.india, Southwark, London

The team was going around the corner from our office last week, to the Globe to see Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra. This of course necessitated a pre-theatre dinner, after which we were going to be sat on hard wooden benches in the open top site. It was whilst researching somewhere new to go (having exhausted many of the local eateries), that I stumbled upon this tiny little local gem tucked away on Union street. I’m a huge fan of dosas and you can’t find them at every Indian restaurant, but Est.India was clearly like no other Indian restaurant.

We made an early evening booking and arrived with our local workers buzz card in hand, which gave us 25% off the already reasonable prices. We were seated promptly at the modern wooden interior. There were five of us eating, but we were waiting for a colleague. Having looked at the menu all afternoon in the office deciding what we were going to have, we were chomping at the bit to exit the starting gate – so poppadums’ it was. These were wonderfully crisp (and not greasy) and came with a tomato, fresh mango and yoghurt chutney. We crunched, nibbled and chewed on these whilst awaiting the arrival of our colleague.

The street food feast began at this point; with three of my colleagues all keen to try the Desi burger and masala fries. I opted for the vegetarian dosa, whilst another colleague chose chicken. I had worried that these might get mixed up on the way out, but no fear, we received the right ones.

The dosas were exceptionally light, with really crisp, thin pancakes which were almost translucent. These came with the traditional coconut chutney and sambal and mine was filled wonderful Indian spiced potatoes and chickpeas. It was deceptively filling for both of us dosa eaters.

The Desi burger went down equally as well, with all those having ordered it being enamoured. We felt very well nourished for the show ahead and left (having paid our discounted bill) content with visions of coming again to sample of their wonderful street food offerings. In fact there was talk of lunches as they do lunchtime tiffin boxes and naan rolls, as well as takeaways being delivered to the office. I bet they’re heaving at lunchtime and we already have a date in the diary to visit Est.India again. What a fabulous addition to the local culinary landscape.

La Strada, Agios Nikolaos, Crete

You may well have thought that you had now read the last of all of Gipsy Spread's birthday shenanigans. Well, you were wrong. I also can't guarantee that this will be the last post about it. But, further to the US Road trip, the Cotswolds and the Eco-camping, we also took an all inclusive trip to Agios Nikolaos. Now, I'm not going to write about the all inclusive buffet, but rather the bijou little family run restaurant we visitied the two times we at out in the Town.


All restaurants in Crete have extensive menus, incorporating both all the Greek specialities with a full range of Italian dishes. This might seem a bit odd, but does in fact harp back to the colonisation of the Island by the Italians.


So, we were ambling around the harbour and the picturesque little town when we stumbled across La Strada. The owner who spoke to us told us that, whilst the restaurant did not have the best views (it was not in the tourist centre around the lake) that it did have the best food in the town at the best price.


We took away the menu and said we'd take a look and come back. We, of course did, the menu had various options for both of us (Gipsy Spread wanted fish) and so we booked the best table in the restaurant and returned of an evening, having all ready chosen our courses. Our table was reserved for us and we sat in the centre of the rustic taverna, with the table facing outwards onto the street.

I had chosen the cheese saganaki as my starter (partly because I loved saying the name). It was on the promise of some fried cheese, which I knew would not be feta and which I thought be reminiscent of halloumi. I  was not wrong. What I had not anticipated was the size of the starter. It was huge. Gipsy Spread had the mussels al pesto as he was after a fresh fish dinner. We both thoroughly enjoyed our starters.

 

I had already ordered the vegetarian lasagne, not having anticipated the size of the dishes. It arrived and was massive. I was daunted. I, however, dug in and it was most possibly the best vegetarian lasagne I have had. The sauce was so rich (was it a reduced wine sauce?) and the pasta so fresh, it was a wonderous delight and quite a surprise to find here in Crete. Sadly I only managed, even at a push to eat half of it. If I'd been at home, it would have most definitely constituted a doggy bag.

 

 

Gipsy Spread continued his fishy feast with the white fish in a rich creamy sauce, which he also revelled in however, by that point, it was a fairly rich dish as we had both eaten too much.

 

 

The food was truly delicious and the owner had been right, the restaurants around the lake with the views had similar menus, but at a much higher price. Also, we didn't know if the food was going to be any better. So, as we had enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and the excellent service at La Strada, we returned for our final supper in Agios Nikolaos on our last night. We had learnt our lesson though and so ordered a selection of mezze dishes to share with the delicious freshly made rosemary bread and another bottle of the local rose wine. We also noted the many conversations around us, with returning and regular diners, each praising the quality of the food.

 

So, if you're ever in this sleepy little harbour town, a visit to La Strada is highly recommended. It can be found just off the main square of the town, and you will smell the delicious aromas of he cooking before you see it.



The Ebrington Arms, The Cotswolds

It was a few weeks ago now that we were in the Cotswolds celebrating one of the many Gipsy Spread birthday shenanigans. We had a hired a bijou little cottage in the picturesque village of Bourton on the Hill and the owner had made a few recommendations for dinner. I had already exhausted one, when I did my best Withnail impression of having ‘come on holiday by mistake’, so it was the Ebrington arms we headed to for the birthday boy and his sister’s joint celebration.

We bimbled along to the rustic looking former coaching inn, I’m guessing. The dining room was delightfully laid out with wooden panels, flooring and tables and chairs. It was minimal, but warm and cosy, inviting the food to speak for itself. There were also large inglenook fireplaces, which sadly as we were there in September, were not lit.

We all perused the eclectic menu with excitement and indeed all found far too many dishes we wished to try than we had the capacity for at that time. Regardless, we all made our choices and eagerly awaited the plates which promised to be joyful. We were not disappointed. Every dish came out wonderfully dressed. In fact Brother in law Spread threatened to ‘do a Greg and John’ and destroy his pretty plate in the offing.

Regardless, I gently teased through my gorgeously earthy, slightly sweet and salty beetroot and goats cheese macaroon, with delightful beetroot additions. Others had the potato and grapefruit salad and the carpacio of tuna.

The main I picked because it promised some unusual combinations, flavours and textures and I again was not disappointed. It was the special with chickpea cakes, an olive fritter and olive puree for me. Others opted for the classic cod dish, the chicken and the steak.

I think all of us were pleasantly surprised by the high calibre of the food, its presentation and what great value for money it was. I did feel like I had been transposed outside of London, but received a London quality meal, at a fraction of the cost. I also took pleasure in the fact that I knew the ingredients would have been farmed locally and were seasonal. The vegetarian dishes in particular were extremelly creative and I appreciated the thought and techniques put into these. For those that ate meat, that the animals would have had a ‘good life’ assuaged their conscience.


Now, we were all full, but again, the creative combination of banana mousse, parsnip toffee and peanut butter ice-cream lured us in and we all had to try one between us. It was a fabulous combination of tastes.

I’d highly recommend this bijou little spot if visiting the Cotswolds’, a better meal, you won’t find. I shall remember this little pub and re-visit next time I’m in this beautiful part of the Country.

Walnut pesto spaghetti with broad beans and caramelised onions

So it appears we are still reaping the rewards from broad bean season. I spotted some more in the supermarket this week and couldn't help but buy them. I find the peeling process quite theapeautic and a little bit old school as well. We are also running up the first of Gipsy Spread's 40th birthday shenanigans this weekend, so I was looking now to buy and more fresh ingredients until next week.  With the store cupboard, my broad beans and some leftover fresh basil, this delicious dinner was born.

What you will need

Spaghetti for 2

450g Broad Beans in pods

1-2 onions

3-4 sundried tomatoes (optional)

1 large red chilli (optional)

For the Pesto

A handful of walnuts

A handful of fresh basil

2 cloves garlic

A handful of grated parmesan

2-3 table spoons of olive oil

Begin by making the pesto. Blend together all the ingredients to form a rough paste and then top with the olive oil. Set aside until ready to dress the spaghetti.

 

Next, quarter or sixth the onions into large chunks. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and baked in the oven at 200 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

After 30 minutes, place the spaghetti on to cook. After 7 minutes add the shelled broad beans for the final 3 minutes of cooking and then drain.

Next stir in two table spoons of the pesto, the caramelised onion and the chopped sundried tomatoes.

 

Place on a dish and garnish with slices of fresh red chilli and more grated parmesan cheese.

 

Pomegranate relish/salad with grilled halloumi

This is a fabulously fresh and fragrant relish or salad. The wonderful shop up at the Crystal Palace triangle who sells bowls of exotic fruit and vegetables for a £1, had 3 of these on offer for that price. Bargain! So, I get to be frivolous with these beautifully pink and translucent gems. It was a tapas/mezze for dinner tonight and I thought a pomegranate relish would work perfectly with the grilled halloumi I was planning. 

 

 

What you will need

1 pomegranate

½ red onion

A handful of radishes

½ tea spoon chilli flakes

1 clove garlic

½ lemon juice

2 table spoons olive oil

Fresh parsley

Fresh mint
1 packet halloumi

Start by gently extracting the jewels from the flesh. Next, thinly slice the onion and radishes and crush the garlic.

To make the dressing, mix together the oil, lemon juice, chilli and garlic and season with salt.
 

Mix together the pomegranate with the onion, radishes and chopped fresh herbs then pour over the dressing.

 

Serve on salad leaves with grilled halloumi, on meat or folded through couscous.