Grilled Pork Chop with Vegetable Mash

Spurred on by my crisp frying, I decided to go for the full whack and make dinner as well. Pork chops marinated in soy sauce, oyster sauce, shao hsing rice wine, sesame oil and a dash of white pepper. Grilled to glistening perfection (if I may say so myself). The slight chewiness of the meat had nothing to do with either my marinating or cooking abilities. It was the pig! Or the farmer.

The mash was courtesy of the inspirational 4 episode Jaime Oliver special I watched whilst huddled in bed (see my last post). Inspirational as in I blatantly ripped it off and messed around with the original. But hey, isn’t that what cooking is all about? I will, however, cite the wonderful Jaime and fully acknowledge that my version may or may not be tastier than the original =)

Vegetable Mash

2 large baking potatoes, skin on cut into small chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes, skin off cut into small chunks
1 medium head of broccoli, florets separated from the main stem. Cut the main stem into roughly the same size as the chunks of potatoes
2 small handfuls of frozen peas
generous knob of butter

Basically you’re making a normal mash with a few extra bits thrown in.

Boil up some water (however you may normally do this – straight in a pot over the stove or like me in a kettle and then into a pot sitting on the stove). Salt the water and add the potatoes, sweet potatoes and the broccoli stem. Leave to boil for about 10 minutes before poking the end of a sharp knife into the middle of one of the potato chunks. If the knife comes away easily but the potato is not breaking up just yet, add the rest of the broccoli and peas. Bring to a boil and take the pot off the heat once the broccoli florets are tender (yup, that means sticking your knife into the pot again but this should be about 2-3 minutes from the time the water comes up to the boil again).

Drain. Leave contents to draining in the colander sitting over your pot for a few minutes. You want to let some of the steam escape. You don’t want watery mash.
After a few minutes, tip the potatoes and veg back into the pot. Add the butter, season well and mash the hell out of it with a sturdy wooden spoon or if you have a poncy potato masher sitting around the kitchen like I do (technically it’s SM’s – mash is usually SM’s territory, along with the washing up).

Serve with a stonkingly large piece of grilled meat – SM style. Or eat with a spoon out of a soup bowl with nothing on the side – Luscious Temptations style.

Root Vegetable Crisps with Rosemary and Sea Salt

I've had absolutely no inclination or desire to cook lately. Other than my mechanical forays into the kitchen for my beloved instant noodle soups and bits of burnt toast smothered in butter and dripping with homemade peach and vanilla jam (oh and cups and cups of steaming tea) I've steered clear of the one room in my flat I usually quite like spending time in (other than my bedroom where I'm usually found under my heap of a duvet).

Then one Saturday afternoon, whilst peeking out from under said duvet, I caught a few episodes of Jaime Oliver's 30-Minute Meals (4 back to back episodes to be precise). Good ol Jaime ... Justine finally got her inspiration back! OK so I spent another week or so under that duvet (I quite like it under there - it's cosy) but I've navigated my way out and dragged SM to a supermarket. Poor sweetie .. We haven't done a proper shop since mid Dec (uh huh yeah that long) but to be honest I think we were both secretly rubbing our hands in glee over the amount of money we were saving - ?

The next day I even made it to the my corner fruit and veg stall. Stocking up on beetroot (as I have never cooked with them before, it is rather curious why I even gave them a second glance), sweet potatoes and the usual run of the mill white spuds, I was left with no other option but to slice them up and chuck them into a pot with lots of hot fat. Lo and behold - crisps! Deep fry a few spring of rosemary and scatter over the crisps and sprinkle over some sea salt. Good crunchy all natural goodness.

Late Night Munchies - ICCo, Fitzrovia

It was a late night munchies at ICCo (Italian Coffee Company) on the corner of Goodge Street and Charlotte Street.

Pepperoni and the Special (black olives, artichokes and an egg). You can never go wrong with pepperoni ... always sublimely good. I love articokes, I like black olives but I will never get the whole egg thing on pizzas.

A Pepperoni and a Special. Thin, chewy crust = tick, pipping hot = tick, level of deliciousness = pretty darn high. And at around £4.50 for an 11" ..... I would say these pizzas were pretty darn amazing!

ICCo
46 Goodge Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4LU

Dubai with a Bang!

The impressive Burj Khalifa, previously known as the Burj Dubai

The equally impressive dancing fountains at the base of the Burj Khalifah

My twenty hours in Dubai was a whirlwind of big brand madness. Glimpses of the Atlantis, Mirage, Armani and lord knows how many other gazillion star hotels, browsing through the stores of big fashion labels crammed into the Dubai Mall and chowing my way through some delights offered by some well known high street names of the foodie world.

Fro-yo at Red Mango - a small original with 3 weenie scoops sliced strawberries and a scoop of dark chocolate chips

It started with Pinkberry on my way out to Colombo. On the way back it was Red Mango (triple servings of strawberries and one of dark chocolate chips), a red velvet cupcake from Magnolia Bakery at Bloomingdale's and salad on the terrace at Joe's Cafe overlooking the dancing fountains (Joe's as in fashion brand Joseph).

Breakfast! A red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting from Magnolia bakery

I have to say Dubai was a real eye opener. Luxury dripped off the silk lined walls and money (or the seemingly oodles of it) screamed from the rooftop of every skyscraper. It's almost expected of me to say that I hated it but I didn't. Quite the opposite in fact. I think I could quite happily live there. Sure, everything is man made and more than just a little superficial but life can be comfortable. And I think I'll happily go for comfortable.

Salade Niçoise at Joe's Café

Man made - every inch of it and yet surprisingly tranquil when it wants to be

In Dubai with Pinkberry

I had a little time to kill when I was laying over in Dubai (again!) and I chose to spend it in the company of Pinkberry. My twirled natural and pomegranate with crushed Oreos, dark chocolate niblets, crushed hazelnuts and sliced strawberry Pinkberry to be precise.

I've been having frozen yogurt withdrawal symptoms lately (damn Yog! Sorry the post hasn't gone up yet but it will be going up shortly) and I couldn't imagine my luck when I saw the Pinkberry man handing out samples. I think I'm in danger of becoming one of those obsessed frozen yogurt fans I only ever read and laugh about :)

The Pinkberry verdict
Taste wise I was hoping (expecting) something a little more tart. The portion size wise it was grossly tiny. The yogurt was piped to the centre of the container leaving a pretty gap on the sides. The amount of the 4 extras that came with small size were grossly stingy. Considering I paid just over £6 for the yogurt and a small bottle of Evian I expected a little more. I certainly get a larger portion for a third less of the price at Yog. However, I think I may have got my own back when I took 2 bottles of Evian by mistake :) Shhh I won't tell if you don't.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shoes, Holidays and Cake - Aubaine, Selfridges

I've done it! I survived my yoga session on Saturday and I finally got round to booking my flight to distant lands where the sun shines everyday and the temperature is never below 25 °C. At the moment my body hurts like crazy and my bank is on the verge of calling on the IMF AND the European Union to bail me out. But hey ho .... I'm going away on holiday (imagine me dancing a wee online jig)!

I'm off in a couple of weeks but until then a girl has to keep her spirits up and what better way than a long overdue visit to the new Shoe Galleries at Selfridges? 35,000 sq ft, 150 brands, 4,000 pairs on display and 55,000 pairs in stock at any one point - that's a lot of shoe stats. It was intense shoe pleasure - I wriggled my toes in Louboutins, shimmied around in Choos, glided around in Ginas and I even dared to ignore the eagle eyes of the old bats down at Chanel and copped a feel or two of their goods before rushing out (just in case they saw through me and called security!). High on heels (flats and everything in between) we headed for the one section of the shoe area we could possibly afford - Aubaine.

Stuffed to the brim with ladies who shop and men who wait for ladies who shop, Aubaine's limited space was packed. To maximise every inch, tables were jammed together. Customers tried hard to ignore conversations around them and very likely failed. Well, I did ... I became quite fascinated with the stories the 2 girls from New York (very much Londoners for the moment, apparently) next to us were regaling each other with. They too in turn looked suitably horrified the moment after I suddenly exclaimed to my friend, "Oh, have I told you about the guy who's stalking me?". The stalker story is very much true but that's for another time.

My shoe fanatic-in-arms suggested we share a portion of salt and chili squid, unsurprising since she has a bit of a thing for deep fried squid. The dish was actually rather lovely. The squid was pipping hot, the batter was light and crisp and the whole dish was seasoned well. This in the middle of the shoe department in one of the city's most exclusive departmental stores. I'm really quite impressed. They did, however, let themselves down on the lime aioli. Under seasoned and just a tad bit lame.

This was what we came for - cake. Well, I did anyway and ended up ordering their over sized strawberry macaron. Topped with a light handed sprinkle of poppy seeds, the macaron was fine. Not particularly exciting but good. Crisp, light shell with a jammy centre.

My companion chose the raspberry tartlet - yes, raspberries in the middle of January...imagine! Little sweet/tart nuggets sitting on crème patisserie and a crisp, buttery pastry. Served with a squiggle of raspberry coulis. She seemed incredibly happy with it and my little bite tasted just fine.

So what do I now know about Aubain that I didn't know before the weekend?
I now know that Aubaine does a heavy cup of skinny latte, the staff don't know their white wine glasses from their red and the food served is actually rather scrummy, albeit on the steep side. I also know that the service is pretty decent but with slight dips here and there ... like the guy who kept insisting on arranging piles of forks in strict military precision on the service counter right next to our table ... imagine .... *clink, clink, clink, clink, clink ....*

Aubaine
Selfridges, 2nd Floor - 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 1AB

A Half Cheat's Fish and Chips

So the tale of Miss Grumpy Pants continues ....

I've been eating more than what's good for me and had room for more. Plus dessert. Hopefully I'll be up and running soon. I have a yoga session today - with some luck I'll survive to tell the tale. Until then I leave you with a super large dinner that I made recently - my odd version of fish and chips.

I lightly dusted some sprats (bought right off the fishermen when I was down on the Kentish coast right after the new year) in equal parts plain and cornflour. Deep fried until lightly golden - 2-3 minutes. The "chips" were your run of the mill supermarket hash browns. I did make sure I bought the smallest bag possible, simply because there was no space in the freezer for any leftovers. *Tah dahhh ..... * Fish and chips :) Hope your weekend isn't as painful as my yoga session!

A Meal for a New Year

I have been such a scrooge this Christmas. I didn't mean to, promise! I actually made vow to myself in November that I would be nice .... and try to actually enjoy the festive season for once.

Then .....

The the weather took a turn for the worse, the snow came and I tumbled - or sank into a miserable heap into the ice. In the last three weeks I have battled a cold, a tummy bug, immense tiredness followed in equal measures by insomnia and because of all of the above, total and utter boredom at being stuck at home. So whilst the parties went on ... I shuffled around the flat cursing the evils of the holiday season.

Shredded pork with Szechuan perserved vegetable - probably not what I was expecting. I gave it a blank stare when it arrived. I was anticipating a stewed dish with lots of lovely gravy.

But hey ho, it's a new year. Fresh starts and all that. As for the colds, tummy bugs and all that ... nothing a good Chinese meal can't put to rights :)

Dau mui with garlic - my favourite vegetable.

Fried chicken with preserved red beancurd sauce - with a surprise of black fungus and golden needles (dried lily flowers) cooked in fermented beancurd hidden under the chicken.

Joy King Lau
3 Leicester St, London WC2H 7BL

Big Dirty Breakfast

Brekkie at the local greasy spoon. Big, hearty and a more than a little greasy - the best way to start a weekend and fight the big chill.

Big brekkie 1 - Bacon, sausage, fried egg, fried mushrooms, black pudding, beans, tinned tomatoes and chips.

Big brekkie 2 - same as the above except it the chips were replaced with hash browns.

Rosa's - Soho, London

The first time I went to Rosa's I left my camera charging at home and couldn't stop kicking myself for being such an idiot. So I promised myself I would return - not just to take photos, mind ... but also because the food was rather tasty and deserved another visit. Persistently on Timeout's list of Top 10 Cheap Eats in east London (mind you this was in the day before the branch in Soho opened) and I've been wanting to try it out but was way to lazy to head all that way east. So all the better for me when they opened up in central London. I know there's been quite a bit of criticism about how the quality had dropped dramatically over the last few years but hey, I'm none the wiser. On this visit it also tickled me to drag my friend Rosa along (childish, I know!).

Perusing the menu, I realised I had forgotten that Rosa doesn’t take too well to anything spicy and is no fan of coconuts either. The 2 things so entrenched in Thai cuisine. No worries, there had to be something that she could have – sticky rice – safe and definitely had no spice and no coconut. Interestingly it was not until recently that I realised quite a few people don’t like coconut milk/cream. I guess growing up in Malaysia I just took it for granted that people just ate it – nothing to dislike. Ooo … I do remember thinking it was the oddest thing when I found out an old boss of mine not liking bean sprouts! She would laboriously pick out every bit from her plate before she started eating. Imagine! And she lived in Malaysia too where nearly every noodle dish comes with a handful of bean sprouts. Anyway, I diverge from Rosa’s meal. For her main she chose Gai Pad Cashew Nuts (£8.25) – innocently described as stir-fried chicken and cashew nuts with mixed peppers in oyster sauce. So Rosa digs in – first bite “emm … nice”, second bite, third bite …. Then she starts sniffing. A little at first and then a bit more.

“Are you OK, Rosa?”

“Noooo … this is spicy!!!!”

So I peer at the dish. It still looks incredibly innocent. I shove my fork in and taste a bit.

“Don’t be silly, Rosa. It’s fine.”

I shove my fork into the dish again (I’m notoriously greedy and would never say no to an extra titbit). Then it hit me. Uh ohh … there’s some heat coming through. Peering at the dish again I realise that the little dark specks throughout the dish were not innocent bits of blackened veg but bits of lethal dried chilli. Poor Rosa! I dare say she was not a happy bunny (no worries, we went for cake after, which cheered her up immensely).

I would say this to Rosa’s though …. If you’re going to add chilli to a dish, just say it on the menu! Put a little chilli sign next to the dish. You do for all your other spicy dishes.

I went down the boring route and ordered what my dining companion had on my first visit a few months previously - Gaeh Yang Char (£10.50) - grilled rack of lamb served with spicy dry chilli sauce and cooled steamed vegetables. I really enjoyed this dish on my previous visit and then it hit me … I probably only enjoyed it so much because I only had a few bites. Faced with a whole dish – 3 large pieces of grilled lamb covered in creamy coconut gravy – I realised what a wimp I had become. Oh I finished it alright … along with the steamed veg sitting at the bottom of the meaty heap – steamed cauliflower and carrots (I’m still not sure what they mean by “cooled steamed vegetables” – cool against the spice of the gravy or the veg was hot once upon a time when it came out of the steamer and now it isn’t?). But I was almost whimpering by the time I swallowed my last bite. It was a mountain of food and this wasn’t even counting the steamed rice I had ordered on the side. I offered to share my meat with Rosa – she likes lamb, she told me so – but my offer was kindly declined.

“It’s covered in coconut sauce, Justine.”

Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten. She did accept a piece – a conciliatory gesture. She did point out it wasn’t cooked through. Yeah, I know …. It was an extremely bright shade of uncooked red in the middle.

“I think the English like to eat their lamb a bit rarer than you or I, Rosa”.

She simply nods. From one foreigner to another.

Rosa’s Soho
48 Dean Street, London W1D 5BF