The Condiment Queen

Sticky Chocolate Muffins (or cupcakes)

I was having some friends around for dinner on Friday night and had planned a lazy dessert (amazing new season cherries and vanilla ice-cream) but then I thought, why not - I'd read this recipie months ago on C&Z and I really wanted to try it and it would seem to marry beautifully to my cherries. Given that the rest of my menu was from Ottolenghi who originally conceived these blessed little ones, so it seemed to make sense. I should point out that the lovely ladies who were over for dinner felt that they were in fact cupcakes, which led to an almost heated debate over what constitutes a cupcake - my feeling was that a cupcake without icing is a muffin. I could be wrong. Please feel free to join the debate. Like the lovely Clodite I made a few of my own modifications some sheeps yogurt and agave in place of the maple syrup and going for the muffin version as above as well as a little less sugar in both the muffin and the syrup. I also soaked all of the prunes in the brandy first (although failure to actually read the recipie before commencing, rather than any planning) and then my husband threw the reserved brandy out while very kindly doing the washing up so I had to use un-pruny brandy. But they were very good and with no added fat, not so bad for you. I think you could easily make it vegan by substituting the yogurt for soy yogurt and a little lemon juice. If that was of interest, obviously. I think it would also work with dried cherries. Eager to keep my title as worlds laziest food blogger, Im not going to write up the recipie, you can use the other sources for that. Enjoy!

Pearled Spelt Risotto with Lettuce, Edamame and Mint

Wandering towards home in the deliciously sunny streets today I realised there were quite a lot of onions and carrots that needed using before our summer holiday, not to mention some freshly trimmed bay leaves from our front garden. I'm not typically a stock maker and have been wanting to be more thrifty in this way for ages and having only tried out spelt risotto once before it meant a quick look on google to begin my journey towards dinner. It must be fate because I found this recipe from Hugh F-W which I adapted to suit what I had to hand. The stock was easy and the only changes I would make next time would be to season it with a little more salt and to have made sure I still had pea pods left and included some of them in the stock. It was really lovely and summery, despite the earthiness of the spelt, with all the herbs and lettuce.

Serves two, generously

175 - 200g pearled spelt

For the stock

1 tblsp neutral oil (rapeseed, grapeseed, sunflower)
2 sml onions grated
1 carrot grated
2 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
4 leaves of lettuce (or a few ribs of celery or a small zucchini)
1.2L boiling water

For the risotto

Olive Oil
1 large banana shallot, finely chopped
1 sml onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
wine or rice wine
tamari or salt
Summer veg:
some lettuce, shredded
2 handfuls of peas or edamame (maybe 150g)
a full handful of mint (or a whole weeny supermarket one), finely chopped
another of parsley, also finely chopped

First rinse the spelt under cold water and then soak in a bowl of cold water for 15mins or so while you do the other bits.

Now prepare the stock - sweat the onions, carrot and garlic in the oil over med/low heat for 2 - 3 minutes then add the bay leaves, water then season to taste and boil for 10 minutes. I wound up with 800ml from this which was a little too much so I froze the rest.

Heat a few tblsp of olive oil in your risotto pan and cook the onion gently for a few minutes before throwing in the garlic for a few more.

Drain the risotto, add to the pan and cook for a minute or two to heat the grains.

Add the wine or rice wine and boil for a minute and then start adding stock as you would for risotto. You may want to add tamari or salt now for flavour - I didnt add any salt to the stock so did this right after the wine with some tamari.

While this happens prepare the veggies for the risotto - I didnt realise we finished our fresh peas yesterday so resorted to a few handfuls of frozen edamame. Then thinly slice all the lettuce & mint.

Keep cooking the risotto until the grains are tender maybe 20/25 minutes.

Serve with tofu steaks or smoked white fish and maybe a little salad.

Tina, we salute you

Now, I promised the lovely Steve at this brilliant cafe in my teeny neighbourhood that I would review him on tipped, but I havent been blogging much lately (or to be fair, ever) so thought I might do so here first.

Its very simple really - lovely people, great coffee, your name on the wall and an owner who thinks a chocolate croissant is a slice of delectable 80% chocolate inside a croissant (amazing, melt in your mouth chocolate...). She makes London feel less urban, and more of a community whilst simultaneously being good fun and full of tasty treats (did i mention steve makes all the cakes at home). They dont have an oven yet (the lady downstairs isnt keen and its a bit of a faff to begin with when the concept is so clean and perfect as it is) but if things take off we hope that they'll consider it.

Tina, we salute you
47 King Henry's Walk
London N1 4NH 

Sweet potato, butternut squash, spinach & feta lasagna

I left the house to get spinach to make garbanzos con espinach but I discovered lasagne sheets at the store and we wound up with this instead. I did make it up as I went along but in writing it down have edited it slightly as it could have wound up a bit too dry. It keeps quite well but doesn't often make it that far being so tasty and tangy.

1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced into 5cm discs
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 5cm pieces
1 tsp allspice
1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
200g fresh spinach
200g feta
2 egg yolks
125ml sour cream
50ml milk
parmesan
nutmeg
1 pkt lasagna sheets

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C then prep all the vegetables

Mix the squash & sweet potato with the allspice and half the oil and season to taste then roast in the oven for 20 - 25mins until soft then put to one side and turn the oven down to 180 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook the onion in the rest of the oil in a pan over medium heat until soft, transluscent. Season and put to one side.

Wash the spinach well then wilt over heat (no oil) in batches. Squeeze out any excess moisture.

Mix the feta, yolks, cream and milk in a saucepan over low heat, try and remove most lumps.

Now you have all the bits ready - assemble the lasagne.

Put a thin layer of the sauce at the bottom of the tray. Cover with a layer of pasta sheets.

Layer over the sweet potato and then the squash. Look for two levels of the alternating vegetables. If they arent oily, brush with some more oil. Put another layer of pasta sheet.

Put some more sauce on top of the pasta and then a layer of spinach. Grate nutmeg over the spinach.

Another layer of pasta sheets goes on and then smother the whole thing with the remaining sauce. Grate more nutmeg and plenty of parmesan over the top.

Bake in the oven for 20 - 30 mins until brown on top.

Best meals of 2008

Breakfast - would have to be The Providores
Lunch - my best cheap lunches of the year were definitely at Cha Cha Moon
Moving to Mayfair with work has meant that I have access to all sorts of really amazing luncheon potential with beautiful restaurants on my doorstep who generally do very good lunch deals. Yesterday I went to the very chi chi Lebanese restaurant Fakhreldine and ate some truly lovely mezze. I want to try Murano with an £18 set lunch next.
A lunch at Muelle Tres on the harbour in downtown Ensenada, Mexico was probably the holiday highlight.
Dinner - I really loved the week of raw eating, both Nobu Berkeley and Saf were amazing and I really cannot believe I havent made it back to either. On the cheap lunch theme (or relatively cheap) Nobu Berkeley does a £28 bento box that I intend to indulge in as a new year treat to myself.
Vegetarian - As much as I liked Saf it was my trips to LA which have completely transformed my experience of vegetarianism and Real Food Daily is in my mind the best vegetarian eatery in the world.
Best patisserie - Ottolenghi of course
Best sushi - Brown rice sushi needs to arrive in the UK, soon. Shima in Venice was out of this world good. Raw king prawn = dish of the year.
Best gastro pub - I had a brilliant meal at Village East in Bermondsey but out of London The Three Fishes in Lancashire was really outstanding. Local produce, regional dishes and a great atmosphere
Best takeaway/cheap eat - Puji Puji continues to be at least a weekly favourite
Revelation of the year - raw & vegan cuisine. I have to do a post on this soon, Ive started sprouting my own chickpeas and am hoping to really powerfully try and include more raw food in my diet. Sprouted rice is next on my hit list! And obviously the existence of flexitarianism. I am so very almost a vegan who eats fish, 99 days out of 100, so its nice to finally have a label I can call my own.

Next post will be thoughts for 2009...

Soseki

I'd wanted to try Soseki since I'd heard about its kaiseki concept and sustainable fishing credentials when it first opened a few weeks back. I suppose 'sustainability' resonates even in this location, beside the Gherkin in the beating heart of Capitalism when these days a banker might be considered optimistic if she irons 5 shirts on a Sunday evening. The upside to the downturn became quickly apparent when my weekly sweep of  squaremeal.co.uk turned up the elusive 'meal deal' we turn to in troubled times - I couldn't believe my luck to find 2 for 1 at this beautifully reviewed venue, even if we had to be there for 6.30pm.

So, tonight we headed into the evening gloom to the eerily quiet square (what happened to post work boozing in the city, it really is a ghost town out there). My only gripe was that I requested a 7pm table, and when told only 6.30 was available on the meal deal I took it thinking that bargain hunters couldn’t be choosers - but we were the only people there when we arrived at 6.45pm.We quickly decided that while the £25 sushi menu was tempting the £50 Haiku Sushi Kappa would be even better if it was half the price.

The chef chooses the market best fish, meat and vegetables on the day and constructs menus around that - it isn’t the place for trendy rolls but for considered and beautifully constructed food in our case starting with an appetiser - pickled lotus root and the oft "drunk-with-dandelion-but-never-eaten-before" burdock and some thinly layered tofu. Warm, earthy and very seasonal.

Then there was sashimi - salmon, yellowtail and bass - good texture and incredibly fresh.

Next up was a very special clear soup with a nugget of fried Pollock, a shiitake and the most beautiful piece of tofu I've ever eaten. 

Nigiri Sushi came immediately afterwards and each piece was lovingly dusted with pretty flavour dust - ginger on the horse mackerel is quite usual but the chili on the Pollock, a fish I had never eaten before, made my lips tingle. I particularly liked the citrus zing of shiso cress on the salmon. Really, a very pleasurable plate of sushi. My only comment is that the rice is a tiny bit more vinegary than I would like and in a restaurant with this eco bent surely the time to try brown rice is nigh!

Next up came chicken porridge for my husband and I had the plumpest steamed scallops with shimeji mushrooms and ponzu sauce. I quite liked mine but he thought the porridge was a bit too much like baby food.

The tempura (pictured at the top of the post) was light and lovely and featured another two firsts - celery leaf and carrot - crispy and delicious and the first time I've ever seen my husband eat celery!
Just when I was starting to flail we had the final sushi course - two salmon and avocado maki and a salmon and a mackerel & mint kappa. This was good but accompanied by a slightly heavy brown crab and wakame salad. The homemade pickled daikon instead of ginger was nice, but I would have liked to have had ginger too, not instead of because I love ginger so much, especially in the cold and flu season.

Finally, there is dessert - I couldn’t taste any wasabi in my chocolate covered apricot and wasabi jelly, nor the macha in the very smooth macha one. I also thought the mini macha financier (sp :)) was a bit dry. But it was pretty and a perfectly acceptable end to a lovely meal.

The staff never made me feel mingy about being on the 2 for 1 and were a delight all evening. We didn't drink much (I had tea) and the bill came to £65. Imagine! But even at £105 it would have been worth it - I’ll definitely be back, hopefully before the end of Jan when the 2 for 1 offer ends and maybe to see how they would fare with an entirely vegetarian menu!

Soseki
20 Bury Street, 1F, London EC3A 5AX T: 020 7621 9211 F: 020 7621 9210
Map

Spiced Butternut Soup with roasted tamari pumpkin seeds

I've become completely obsessed with roasting nuts and seeds myself after years of searching in vain for tamari almonds which they have everywhere in the US and Australia. They are a nutritous snack but also a versatile garnish for instance in this seasonal soup. You could easily use pumpkin here instead of the squash.

Spiced Butternut Soup with roasted tamari pumpkin seeds

Serves 2

1 med butternut squash
1/2 tsp juniper berries
1/4 tsp star anise
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)
2 tblsp olive oil
1 med onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
400ml vegetable stock

Put the oven on to 200 degrees C
Chop the squash into even pieces for oven roasting, removing any seeds, place in a roasting tray skin side down
NB you can peel first if you want but it was suggested to leave the skin on and it added fibre and flavour so why bother?
Grind the spices (by hand in a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder) then mix with 1 tblsp oil and pour over the squash and mix (remembering to leave the squash skin side down)
Roast for 30 - 40 mins until soft then leave to cool a little and chop

Heat or prepare the stock
Drain off the spiced oil from the squash if it isnt burnt or use fresh and heat in a large saucepan over medium heat
Fry the onion for 3 - 4 mins until transluscent
Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute more
Then add the stock and leave for a minute or two until its just coming to the boil

Puree all the soup using whatever you have to hand
Reheat and serve garnished with some tamari pumpkin seeds

Tamari pumpkin seeds

These are a cheap, nutritious snack that I absolutely love. This works with almonds as well but I would soak for a little longer first. You can experiment with other flavours as well here, cayenne is a good option.

Mix about 500g pumpkin seeds with 4 tblsp tamari (as a guide) and leave to soak for 30 mins at a minimum (up to about 2 hours or so I think would be ok). Drain.
Put on a non stick oven tray and cook in an oven heated to 200 degrees C for about 10 mins. Keep an eye on them, its very easy to overcook. They should puff up a bit. Leave to cool and store in an airtight container for what I assume would be up to 2 weeks, Ive never had them last longer than that as they are seriously addictive and they've always tasted just fine.

Mackerel, Kale & Shiitake Stir Fry with Japanese flavours

Ive been going through a phase (some say an obsession, I'll let you decide) with using up things in the house before the end of the year. Its partly because I wind up throwing things away (admittedly a lot of these 'things' are actually condiments and arguably my collection can sometimes grow a little unwieldy) but in this age of credit crunching it makes sense to try and work with what you have instead of constantly buying new things. In that vein tonight we had a really simple stir fry with organic English vegetables, with one exception being the dried shiitake. I think that the English bit is quite important as the general conversation on buying local continues to resonate. So - we had some frozen mackeral flavoured with terriaki from Waitrose and dried Shiitake a little past their use by and the veg from the organic food store - my husband was incredulous that I would use leeks but afterwards he didnt even notice them, so harmonious were the flavours. The earthy mushooms balanced the oiliness of the fish all brought to life by the kale, my new favourite vegetable. But the real sparkle came at the end from the yuzu juice which has been sitting in the back of the cupboard for so long and which I thought would have no use until summer (another frugal tick for me!). For the sauce remember that the measurements are a guide, taste and adjust as desired. Oh, and it takes about 15mins from start to table.

Mackerel, Kale & Shiitake Stir Fry with Japanese flavours
Serves 2

50g dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tblsp sunflower oil
1 large leek, white part halved and sliced
knob of ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 dried chillis (or fresh if you have some to use up)
2 tblsp tamari
1 tblsp mirin
1 tblsp sake
1 large courgette, halved and sliced
half a packet of kale (about 150g), stalks discarded and chopped
1 tblsp yuzu (or more if you like the zing)
1 pkt of smoked mackerel (about 180g)
brown rice noodles or brown rice (or even barley) to serve

First soak the mushrooms in 200ml of hot water for about 10mins. Reserving the liquid, take out and chop, discarding the hard stems.
While they are soaking chop up all the veggies
Heat the oil up in a wok over med-high heat
Fry the leeks first for about 2mins , stirring regularly
Add the chilli, ginger & garlic, fry for another minute
Add about half of each of the tamari, mirin & sake
Add the courgette and cook, stirring regularly, for another 2 minutes, until soft
Now add the kate and cover with the rest of the sauces and a little of the saved shiitake juices
Cook until soft (about 3 minutes)
Finally, add the mackerel and yuzu and stir until heated (maybe a minute)
Serve with (or without) your lovely seasonal carbs

The Vegetarian 100...

I will be posting more on my holiday to Mexico & LA soon but in the meantime here is the veggie version of the omnivore 100 from last month, lame I know

   1.  Fresh young coconut - so yes!
   2. Dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) - and again
   3. Truffle oil - yep
   4. Pomelo - these are the most incredible citrus from the middle east
   5. Kalamata olives - best in the world
   6. Saffron - yep
   7. Inari sushi - I think maybe she means inari zushi (pockets of sweet tofu around rice, preferrably studded with seasame seeds and ginger)
   8. Huckleberries - i think this is a US thing, but I had a mulberry tree growing up - does this count as a 1/2?
   9. Cashew nut butter - so good in place of peanut
  10. Vegetarian black pudding - from sainsburys, not my favourite
  11. Vegetarian turducken - oooo, one i havent heard of. Apparently the 'non veg' is a bird within a bird within a bird jobby. Not sure where Id find it!
  12. Indian barfi - not my cup of tea this but we have a lot of bangladeshi sweetie shops round this part of the world
  13. Mangosteen - yum, yep
  14. Poutine (you can find a vegan version in Brooklyn) - urgh, unfortunately. cheesy fries are hardly a must try!
  15. Gnocchi - do you get double if you make them yourself?
  16. Roasted chestnuts - mmm
  17. Baba ganoush - yep
  18. Wheatgrass juice - disgusting, yes.
  19. Soy cheese pizza - no, and i dont want to
  20. Banana roti - no. but i want to
  21. Laotian coffee - not yet
  22. Chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter milkshakes (in Chicago!) - again am unsure if this is a must have
  23. Yucca or taro root - yep
  24. Fresh grilled corn on the cob - many, many times
  25. Sangria - yep
  26. Macaroni and cheese - (what do you think?)
  27. Persimmons - yep
  28. Vegetarian caviar - no...another intruiging one
  29. KFC Vegetarian Chicken Sandwich - NEVER!!!
  30. Steamed edamame with sea salt - and chilli salt
  31. Saltwater taffy - not good for the teeth, but  yes
  32. Vegetarian Hot and Sour soup with lotus and woodears - often
  33. Black sapote - nope, but if its a fruit Im into it
  34. Vegetarian Chinese steamed buns - lots
  35. Navajo tacos - nope
  36. McDonald’s Veggie Burger - nope (never)
  37. Sake - yep
  38. Gulab jamun - no, but probably I would give it a go although the sugar syrup thing is not all that appealling
  39. Fried pickles - two of the top food groups (fried & pickled) together? this I must try.
  40. Chai tea - yep
  41. Thai papaya salad (som tum) - yep
  42. Pecan pralines - yep
  43. Fried green tomatoes - this is a total I MUST TRY
  44. Goat cheese - hard, soft or spreadable?
  45. Vegetarian s'mores (over a campfire of course!) - strictly speaking probably not due to not being aware of the gelatin issue at an age I would have eaten this
  46. Stevia - not on its own
  47. Macadamia nuts - Im australian
  48. Nutella - I used to eat it by the spoonful, too sweet these days
  49. Veggie corn dogs - that sounds gross
  50. Garlic ice cream - why?
  51. Jackfruit - yep
  52. Vegetarian shu mai - this is suspiciously similar to 34
  53. Mango - !!!!
  54. Tandoori masala - not sure if this is a real dish, but no
  55. Fennel - love it
  56. Fried plantains - yep
  57. Horchata - no
  58. Sweet potato fries - yum
  59. Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichokes - both!
  60. Caramel popcorn - yes
  61. French camembert - yes, both baked and 'raw'
  62. Tofurky - yes, and yuck
  63. BK Veggie Burger - I have had a bean one when desperate, it wasnt too bad
  64. Vegetarian gyoza/potstickers - yes
  65. Sun dried tomatoes - and semi
  66. Gartini (garlic martini) - urgh no way
  67. Vegan cheesecake - yep, too rich in my opinion esp if raw & vegan
  68. Avocado maki - yummy, yes
  69. Durian - yep
  70. Nutritional yeast - nope
  71. Real butterscotch - yep
  72. Starfruit - again
  73. Lemongrass - and again
  74. Chartreuse - horrible stuff
  75. Zapp’s or Tim’s brand potato chips (trust me on this one!) - kettle chips? yawn
  76. Fortune cookies - not these days, didnt you know the world is ending
  77. Cotton candy - i think whoever did this list has a real sweet tooth!
  78. Salted lime margaritas - in Mexico they taste better
  79. Vegetarian rice crispy squares - Ive made these
  80. Vegetarian prawns or shrimp - and mock duck, i do prefer vegetarian food that isnt trying to be meat as a rule though, vegetables are so amazing why pretend they are something else? I do make an exception for good mock duck though.
  81. Balsamic fig reduction sauce - yes
  82. Brussels sprouts - yes, yum
  83. Passionfruit - yum, esp. the banana ones at home that are ENORMOUS
  84. Marmite (far superior to Vegemite, in my opinion!) - I disagree, Vege is best
  85. Wasabi - raw and processed (raw is better obviously)
  86. Vegetarian fluff - ? what?
  87. Honey dijon mustard - prefer sans honey
  88. Bubble tea/boba - nope
  89. Blueberry beer - no, but I have had rasberry, not sure if it was veggie though!
  90. Deglet noor dates - Mejoool
  91. Chocolate covered espresso beans - good for late night studying
  92. Chinese or Taiwanese stinky tofu “choh doh-foo” -  no
  93. Vegetarian Tom Kha (Thai Coconut Soup) - yes
  94. Vegetarian reuben - would that be with 'fake' pastrami, um, no
  95. Coconut oil - better on the skin
  96. Peanut brittle - didnt we do pecan?
  97. Creme brulee - so yes
  98. Vegetarian jerky - urgh, yes although I dont know why, I think I was desperate for some protien that wasnt a nut
  99. Crystallized ginger - too sweet, yes.
      And last but not least, someday.....
100. Carl’s Jr, Wendy’s and Jack-in-the-box Veggie Burger (Hey, a girl can hope, can’t she?) - why would anyone want this.

Am left feeling this was a waste of time but will post anyway as its taken so long to do!