My Week in Recipes

Us Monday to Friday workers take a collective sigh of relief as the weekend arrives!
Last night we were lucky enough to have a good friend cook an incredible feast as an early welcome to the Chinese New Year! We were spoiled with tender poached then roasted Salt & Pepper chicken, glazed ribs (I may have slipped, fell and nearly swallowed an entire rack myself), sticky chickeny rice, hand made spring rolls, crispy seaweed, spiked but sweet chilli dipping sauce and a spectacular finish with a plate that resembled a mini croquembouche of freshly fried banana fritters, dipped in sticky dark syrup and liberally sprinkled with sesame! What amazing friends, and what a round belly I now have! Being looked after in someone else's home was an ideal start to the weekended, I should have taken pictures I know! But we were in beautiful twinkly candle/ Chinese lantern lighting so they wouldn't have done justice to how good the food looked, and I'll be honest, my hands were full...yeah, of food.
 
So, I wanted to write a little this morning pre- weekend greediness (although I think that we have established above that the weekend started last night). This is just a bit of a note really about mid-week dinners that I thought might be useful/ vaguely interesting? I've been working reasonably late at the office all this week, but alas my belly's need to be fuelled and my brains need to unwind by cooking has not suffered, which if your following me on twitter you may have noticed. I wanted to share some of the recipes that I have been using. I know that everyone knows that we can knock up fresh food quickly- we hear it all the time on tv and in magazines. But I thought that I would share some of my favourites that happen to be quick to prepare, rather than being written with time saving rather than flavour in mind. I won't link to the recipes here, but will direct you to the page numbers (old school right?) so that you can look in your own books, or get them out from the library. I'm happy to read novels on the kindle or iPad, but cooking- ah, for me it has to be a book, covered in splashes and notes. 

Monday saw Mr Valentine Warner at my Good Table (do you see what I did there?), with his Pork chop with apple and crispy sage (p30), I used rosemary as that is what I had. The way that the herbs flavour your drop of cooking butter adds a welcome depth to the apples and pork. I used the loin chops purchased in Pattersons, it was on the table in less that 15 mins. I served with sautéed garlic mushrooms, and some left over Sour Dough to wipe up the juices. It's the herbs and apple that really transform the humble chop.

Tuesday I added an extra seats and welcomed Nigella, Yottam and Sami to the table. I had some barley in the cupboard, peppers in the fridge and fancied Mr Ottelenghi and Tamimi's Parsley and Barley salad (p80), however I lacked fresh parsley- a slight draw back as the title indicates. So I prepared the pepper and barley bit of it, and instead used some frozen basil (10p Waitrose reduced fresh herbs!) and whizzed up Nigella's pistachio pesto (p103) which is incredibly moreish. The barley takes 30 mins to become soft, which is the perfect time to knock up the other elements of the dish.

Wednesday we came over all nostalgic for our Oaxacan travels and thoroughly enjoyed preparing and eating, Thomasina Miers (I'm giving up on this table metaphor) Mexican black pud (p170). I can't tell you how authentically Mexican this simple, rich dark and deeply smoky dish tastes. It honestly only takes 10-15 mins to prepare/cook and is a totally different way of using black pudding, turning quite a small amount of meat into a hearty meal. The smoky chipotle makes this dish- you can buy it dried in Wally's or canned in a purée from Waitrose.

And then we get to Thursday with Charmaine Solomon, who you may not of heard of- but who holds Regal status in my family. I will be soon writing a full blog about Sri Lankan cookery and the wonderful Charmaine, but for now it's enough to say that Thursday night involved working pretty late, and arriving home blearily eyed and ravenous, craving spicy comfort and this lady saved me! I made her Sri Lankan scrambled eggs (p174) in under 5 mins, and served it up with plain boiled rice and left over Mexican black pud. Perfect comfort food.

Right, I've got carried away writing about food when I should be painting the spare room. So I shall go and get on with that now.

I'll just add one last thing, check out the breakfast in bed that Mr B bought me whilst writing this. Hot chocolate (mugs and chocolate bought in Oaxaca market)- Mexican hot chocolate is so rich, spicy and thick- I love it! With some rather sizeable chunks of Pandoro.

Have a brilliant weekend, thanks for reading.

I'm kinda new here, hi!

Like most weekends, this one has involved much food sampling and bracing fresh Welsh air (more of the former if I am being truthful). Friday night was spent in the pleasantly heaving Bar 44 in Penarth. Mr B and I perched at the bar over looking the kitchen and feasted on slow cooked Ox cheeks with buttery mash, sublimely crispy artichokes, patatas bravas, iberico chorizo, fried duck egg with smokey peppers & Spanish black pudding, and smooth jamon croquetas…. With the obligatory bread, Rijoca and espresso to finish. All of which tasted so good that in all honesty we could have just kept going. The crispy artichokes with delicate shavings of Manchego make my mouth water at the mere memory. As I love to cook, watching the kitchen was ace. I love the nosey aspect of it, watching the various members of the brigade get subtly scalded or praised by Chef added a certain theatre to the evening. I didn’t take any photos, I was too busy dipping, crunching and enjoying every morsel. But I promise that I will get over my aversion to taking photos in restaurants very soon, I know this could get pretty dull for you without a bit of visual stimulation…

On to Saturday.

 I’m relatively new to Cardiff, been here for about 16 months now, and been in North East Cardiff for only a month or so. I love finding new independent shops to fuel my foodie obsessions. Yesterday we tried out E. Pattersons Butchers in Fairwater, along with the Greengrocers just around the corner.

Some great Welsh meat at Pattersons and superb service- I do love a bargain (rule being that quality can’t be sacrificed for price though). Check this out: 2 x Sirloin steaks, 2 x pork chops, 4 x plump pork sausages, 500g stewing beef, 500g pork belly, pack of spicy chipolatas, chunk of black pud and a breast of lamb for about £21- how good is that! Yes you may have guessed that Mr B and I favour the cheaper cuts of meat- I love to slow cook and turn an unloved piece of fodder into an unctuous delight. In fact that night I took the skin off the pork belly to make some naughty brittle sticks of crackling to accompany pre dinner drinks, and made a stunning (modest, sure) traditional Sri Lankan curry with the meat itself. My love for Sri Lankan food and the whys and where’s of that will have to come another time, or I am in danger of never ending this entry.

We picked up a few more bits and pieces at Roath Farmers Market- bread, eggs, veggies… BEEF BACON! I know that I have already gone on a bit here, but I have to quickly tell you of the beefy wondrousness of Cig Lodor subtly sweet and spicy Beef bacon, fried in a smidgen of oil until meat and fat are crispy, sprinkled with Maldon and served with Cerdin sour dough and fresh soft yolks in front of the rugby. Well, lets just say our simple lunch went down better that the match results (that’s me attempting to engage with sport fyi).

 Today was spent messing with sand and swings with a friend and their kids at Parc Play. After many a chilly hour hoisting the small people onto wooden pirate ships and climbing mini teletubby hills, us grown ups were rewarded with Thalis and mango lassis at  The Vegetarian Food Studio around the corner. The hot, fresh breads dipped in homely spiced lentils and a hot little chickpea number were exactly what was in order. As was the sticky sweet cardamom laced yoghurty pud. The service was warm and friendly as always, and we came away with a box of sweets, again, as always…

 And now? Time for a cup of chai, a saucer of Barfi and an episode of Mr Selfridge. First blog done, and pleased to report that Mr B has noticed that both a steak and a saucer have made an appearance in this inaugural entry. I look forward to starting the week with a full freezer of meaty goodness, a fridge of vibrant fruit and veg and a well stocked larder.

One last thing, I forgot to mention that I am on a diet. Whoops.