Porridge of the Week #11

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Porridge of the Week #11

Fig, Almond and Rose Water

Category: Flavoured

Tear up the figs, making sure they are very ripe-keep on the skins. Wet the oats with soya milk in a pan with the figs and warm through. Drop in a few drops of rosewater. Start with less, taste, and add more if necassary. Tip in flaked almonds and a handful of california raisins- the huge, juicy kind.
Pour into a bowl and top with a final piece of fig and a sprinkling of extra flaked nuts.

This recipe is all about the flavour! I've recently been rosewater and orange blossom water in everything I cook, so this was agreat excuse. I'd had some leftover figs from a dinner party and Emma's recent Fig and Syrup porridge (a future p.o.t.w?) inspired me to try the flavours together.

Its a very elegant, delicate porridge. The figs are beautiful and the seeds give it a nice crunch. A nice summer months one.

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Cheap Eats: Benito's Hat, Covent Garden

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There's been a few new places opening up in the Covent Garden area recently that I've wanted to try out, so when a friend and I decided to go for dinner, I busied myself in research. One of these places was Benito's Hat Mexican Kitchen.

I had seen it a week prior whilst hunched over an espresso after work in the cafe opposite. There was a couple sat in the window with big foil wrapped food packages and little plastic take away cups of what appeared to be milk. I had heard a thing or two about its arrival on New Row at work, but that had sold it to me.

So, we headed down to check it out. Benito's Hat is an unassuming little place with a table arrangement not dissimilar to Wagamama's take on Japanese canteens. The menu is instructions painted boldly on bright green walls and the service counter sits at the back, with the ingredients laid out in front of you in metallic containers.

The staff are bubbling over with children's entertainer levels are perkiness, which makes a socially inept and quintessentially English lady like me die a little inside. But even I was amused by some of their banter with the customers and it added to the lively Friday night atmosphere of the place.

Looking at the wall-menu, there are options of burritos or tacos, beef, chicken or veg, black beans or refried beans and a selection of fillers including guacamole, sour cream and cheese. We both opted for the vegetable burritos, with anything extra going that was free. Guacamole is 50p for meat burritos but if you're going meat free, then you get guacamole free, too. So to speak.

I almost said no to the sour cream due to it being waved in my face in a America Diner ketchup-esque squeeze-y bottle. Sour cream in a squeeze-y bottle? I don't care how low-fi the joint is; this does not seem right to me.

After having our tortillas stuffed with veg and fillings and (free!) guacamole and then wrapped up and mashed within an inch of their life (which looked kind of fun) we were scooted down to the till. The burritos were enormous. As in, actually the size of my stomach, possibly larger. Loaded up with filling and wrapped up like a little tin foil parcel, they came to £5 each, which I think considering the size, was pretty good.

We sat down and unwrapped our food. The canteen was filled with people and had a lively buzzing atmosphere. Sat next to a table of Spaniards drinking Sol with wedges of lime in the neck, there was a real continental vibe.

I have to admit that I was quite convinced that the vegetables would be cooked to oblivion until they were a flavour and nutrition-less mush, but this was not the case. Amongst the sloppy mix of cheese and guacamole there were large chunks of courgette that verged on al dente (a source of consternation for my friend, who harbours an uneasy relationship with them) and crisp slices of a vegetable I identified as green heirloom tomatoes and was subsequently excited by.

Whilst playing with my food and watching the staff serve up tacos, I did notice the Soup of the Day board, featuring 'Chilli Con Carne'. Now is it just me, or is Chilli Con Carne not a soup, but in actual fact... Chilli Con Carne..? Yeah- that did not tempt me much.

The offering on the Cocktail of the Week board also made me laugh. Margherita. Hardly unsurprising really. I can only assume that next week will be Pina Colada- but after that..? Back to the Margherita? Seriously, I want to go back just to see where they go with that.

In conclusion? Benito's Hat was fun. Sure, its not somewhere you go for fine dining, 0r if you're going to take eating too seriously- and I have a real hunch its not even somewhere you would go for authentic Mexican food- but for a casual drop-by dinner with friends, its cheap, fresh and has a lively atmosphere. I love the little tray service, simple three option menu, and the portions are huge. For a quick and fun feed in an expensive part of town, its worth dropping in.

Benito's Hat, 19 New Row, London WC2N 4L, www.benitos-hat.com

Dinner 30.07.2010

More self indulgent macro shots from my weekly cooking night... I consider it supper club practise!

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Food Fact of the Day.

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- The word biscuit comes from the middle french word bescuit; derived from the latin bis (twice) and coquere (to cook). This is because bisuits were originally baked, and then put in an oven to dry out.

- One way to tell the difference between a biscuit and a cake (that old adage) is through the way that it goes stale. A cake is initially soft textured and goes hard, a cake starts off brittle and softens as it goes stale.

- So next time that suicide inducing and ever-so original 'Jaffa Cake; Biscuit Vs. Cake' debate begins to rage: a Jaffa Cake is, by law, a cake. End of. In the name of God, end of.

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The Butcher and Grill, Battersea

The Butcher and Grill

I have to admit that usually, any eatery with '... and grill' in the title would have be running for the hills. Happily, this is not the case for the 'Butcher and Grill' located in Battersea, London. Hailed as a 'modern butcher shop and informal restaurant', it's a unique combination of butcher, deli and dining room- with a bar, terrace for coffee and patisserie all in situ.

To reach the restaurant, you are lead past the meat counters that flag the door and through the deli before ascending steps up to the simple, spacious white and blue decked restaurant and waterside terrace. Smart move. Delis have the tendency to get my heart racing- even more so when I know that its locally sourced stock will be gracing the menu I will soon be examining.

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The menu was a little different to the online version that I had read and memorised with military precision, so ordering turned out not to be as streamlined and flippant as I had envisaged. After painful deliberation, I opted for the half pint of prawns, drawn in by the promise of aioli,which seems to be frequenting every menu ever right now. My partner in crime went for the minted pea soup.

Upon ordering, the table was laid with thick cloth napkins, heavy carved knives and a wooden box of rolls- half white and floury, half small, round and stuffed with olives- and was, before the food had even arrived, looking good enough to eat.

The prawns arrive, looking simple and appealing piled into a pint glass. No 80's style cocktail glass throwbacks to be found here. Relief. The aoli doesn't disappoint, especially alongside the scone-like olive bread. Having a little taster of the soup I have fleeting food envy- the mint to pea balance is just right and tastes fresh and light.

When it comes to menus, there are always certain ingredients that I gravitate towards. If there is scallops as a starter for example, then it is inevitable that I will find myself with scallops. When it comes to mains, I'm always drawn to seafood, so when I saw the fish stew I was very tempted. But, just like I wouldn't order a steak in Loch Fyne, I had to order tactically and it seemed a waste to not order meat in a restaurant with its own butcher on site.
So we ordered the 7oz rump steak (for the lady) a 10oz rib eye steak, green peppercorn sauce and two sides of spinach and puy lentils.

We both ordered the steaks medium rare. I don't approve of a steak that is one colour the whole way through- especially if that colour is brown. I like a bit of pink. Its worth noting that they are cooked medium rare 'English style'- browned, with a thick pink hue and a bit of juice- as opposed to medium rare European style. This is fact rather than complaint, as we were after all, in an English butcher's... But remember this if you like your meat to moo.

The meat was served simply with a grilled tomato and two flat mushrooms and the chips came separately in a little brown garden pot. Being an very synesthetic person, I got a distinct feel of the seaside from the thick cut and crispy chips, but without any of the greasiness, guilt and self loathing that is so often part of the seaside experience. I was delighted with the small, well presented portion but my male companion, though approving of the chunky British cut, was less than impressed by the meagre quantity that could be stuffed into a Bill and Ben sized pot.

And the extras? The sauce came in a jug and if I am going to be pinikity,could have done with a little more green peppercorn But could all too easily be forgiven by the richness of flavour it still imparted.
The spinach was- spinach really.
The lentils however stole the (side) show. As someone who almost always cooks lentils African style with plenty of cumin and sweet spices, I found the fresh spring flavours of lentils cooked instead with carrot and garlic to feel light and healthy and quite delicate for what is generally a fairly inelegant pulse.



By the time our plates were cleared away, I was feeling full without being stuffed or feeling weighed down. I find that as a self confessed glut, it is a rare thing to find that elusive but ever-so satisfying fine balance between feeling slightly unsatisfied and the awful and all too common restaurant experience- stuffed like fois gras and sick with regret.
I found myself feeling full, but comfortable. Usually at this point in the meal I face the pudding menu with all the fierce conviction of a martyr, fully prepared to suffer for my art. On this occasion, I could have left without a dessert (could have, but wouldn't have) but felt comfortable enough to study the menu without it being overshadowed by a sense of impending doom.

Again, with puddings I have my classic choices, for classic menus. I cannot say no to a cheesecake. The menu had all the usual suspects; tarte tatin, cheesecake (my two old friends) and chocolate brownie- although the white chocolate and orange cheesecake did at least make an effort to inject some variety into the well versed formula.
I resist my natural urges and decided to try something new (it is, after all, my first review) and so I resolutely went for the peach and champagne sorbet that had caught my eye online earlier (alongside the almond or honeycomb ice-cream and elderflower and limencello sorbet).

A cheeseboard is the kind of course that can present quite a hurdle for a restaurant- either excelling in an abundance of cheeses in a variety of textures or failing dismally; too many water biscuits in ratio to a few paltry slices of cheddar. So I was intrigued to see theirs, and pleased when it was ordered.

Despite a fleeting pang of cheesecake related regret, I was soothed by the light, peachy sorbet. Though somewhat lacking in presentation (especially in comparison to previous courses. It had so much potential.) it was perfect to slowly lick away at whilst the meal drew to an unhurried close. The texture was sticky and bubbly, the syrup it melted into, sweet and fruity.

The cheeseboard by comparison, was everything I had hoped for my sorbet and more. On a long slab of slate, the portion was generous, with elegantly sliced apple, locally sourced oat biscuits from the deli and a lovely, tangy chutney that beautifully compliment the good variety of cheese, including brie and wax coated cheddar (though there was a distinct lack of blue vein.)


Final thought:

I love the open plan deli/butchers at the front and large spacious restaurant above. From the white/blue theme and views of the river to the huge cattle prints and wooden carved knives, the decor really worked to create an elegant but laid back and ultimately relaxing atmosphere.
The food was beautifully presented and consistently good- made more enjoyable knowing ingredients had been sourced from the meat counter on site. I would particularly recommend the cheeseboard- and try get a table by the large windows. If you eat early, the light is lovely. A good British eatery for dinner out with family or friends.
I left feeling well fed and satisfied- without any heaviness or regret. A rare and happy phenomenon!

The Butcher and grill, 39-41 Parkgate Road, Battersea, London, SW11 4NP
020 7924 3999
http://www.butcherandgrill.com/

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Goodbye Food and Travel Magazine

I'm going to sorely miss having my finger on the pulse of London's food scene.
And having some purpose to my life.
I'm going to miss the bisuit testing too...

Thursday night I had a big baking session and took some of the produce into the lovely people at the Magazine. Keya had shared my love of Ottolenghi, so I made Orange Polenta cake (you may have seen this beautiful pudding on my blog before) and a Nigel Slater Lemon and Thyme cake.

If you can get your hands on 'Ottolenghi' then get it... Its worth it for this cake alone. Wth a caramel layer between the orange and marmalade topping and polenta base, it involves more prep than your average sponge cake, but by no means hard work, it is worth the extra effort. The polenta makes it thick and gooey and textured, and the flavours are both strong and delicate and complex. To put it simply, it's to die for.
Oh, and even if you don't eat cake, its worth making just for the photos. Isn't it a work of art?

This cake made me nearly cry. Super super moist and very lemony. The bits of thyme, when you stumble across them, compliment it perfectly. It will be happening again.

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Porridge of the Week #10

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Porridge of the Week #10

American Pancake Porridge

Category: Flavoured

Soak the oats overnight with a hollowed vanillia pod. Peel a banana and cut one slice off, putting it aside. Squash with the side of a knife into a paste. Tip this into the porridge. Stir in a tablespoon of maple syrup. Warm through. Pour into a bowl and top with a sprinkle of flax seed and goji mix. Drizzle with a teaspoon of golden syrup and top with the reserved banana. Finally, scatter with a handful of fresh blueberries.

Breakfast American style!
Had to do a good one for P.O.T.W's tenth anniversary! This isn't as weird as it sounds- there are no pancakes involved.. It's more an abstract principle. But it's still more than a little but yummy.

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Recipe: courgette, caper and black olive cake

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I made this to take into work for my lunch tomorrow, to make the day a little more interesting. Its hard for me to get recipes down as I pretty much just throw in whatever I want without really looking at quantities... But this is the gist of it-

It's salty and strong from the olive and capers, and with the mixed herbs and rosemary, very fragrant. It tastes french and rustic and basically pretty yummy.

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/180C/160C fan assisted.

Melt 150g butter in a large bowl. Stir in two egg yolks, saving the whites. Then, tip in 150g self raising flour. Beat together, adding a handful* of capers, sliced black or kalamata olives, two crushed garlic cloves and plenty of mixed herbs. I also added fresh chopped rosemary from the garden and fresh torn basil.
Slice a small courgette in half. Grate half using a cheese grater, and then use the zest grater to grate the rest into a green gooey mush (Let me know if they come up with a culinary term for that...)

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and forming peaks, then fold into the mixture. Tip the mixture into a greased loaf tin, scatter the top with cubes of goats cheese and season with black pepper.

Place lovingly into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Leave to cool for ten before turning out. Eat warm... Or wrap it up and take it into work!

* ... A handful, a sprinkle, 1 tbsp... whatever. I don't know! Do whatever feels natural to you.

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Food Fact of the Day.

Wander into any number of coffee shops, delis and cafes anywhere and they will offer you a panini. Technically, this is not possible. Panini is actually the plural for panino.

You can buy a panino, or two panini... But not a panini.

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The same also applies to cappuccino and espresso!

Boho Gelato!

Its ice cream weather! Head down to Brighton and get yourself an icecream to take down to the sea front... I recently found myself open mouthed in Boho Gelato.

They have a great range of unusual and tempting flavours including Birthday Cake, Ginger Snap and Popcorn all made in store.

We went for sour cherry, white chocolate and almond, chilli chocolate, pink lemonade, and mojito and they all passed with flying colours, tasting not only genuinely like the name on the label (Though Birthday Cake not so much...) but also tasting distinctly home made.

Pink lemonade

Sour Cherry

My personal favourites? Chilli chocolate, which has a real kick (the cold tongue and warm throat combo is a winner) and Mojito, which actually tastes like a frozen mojito. Perfect for a sunny afternoon.

New flavours now out... Hazlenut ("our best flavour yet?") and pink grapefruit!
They also do icecream milkshakes...

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Food Fact of the Day.

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'Carnival' comes from the latin 'farewell meat', in reference to the last few days of meat-eating decadence before lent...

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