I spent the afternoon at a joyous cooking class with some fellow foodie bloggers. The event was organised by Niamh of eatlikeagirl.com and Trusted Places, our generous patrons, making, of all things, macarons!

Now, I’m not known for making fussy food - and there is surely nothing fussier than a mini gourmandise that takes upwards of 2.5 hours to make - but I have to say that we had a splendid time. The kitchen was impeccable, large and bright, the tutor charming and exuberant and the company enthusiastic and welcoming. Everyone delighted in the wonderful bright colours of the meringues, the siliness of the piping and the simple pleasure of throwing down the trays (to get rid of air bubbles, a noisy business). Laughter was the constant soundtrack to the day and I can honestly say it was the most collective fun I’ve had without alcohol in ages.

Plus the macarons were delicious (except for the foie gras ones that I really couldn’t stomach) and I hope I made the first steps towards expanding my foodie friend group.

Thanks to all for a great day: Lizzie, Su-Lin, Krista, Josh, Alice, Helen, Jonathan, Abi, Kang, Tom, Alex, Bron, Mark, and Shuna.

Not forgetting our hostess Niamh and director of photography Laura.

Read more on the trusted places blog

In the foodie news this week - the EU has finally scrapped 26 of the 36 controversial food rules governing the shape and size of fruit and veg.

Hopefully this means that we will see real fruit and veg back in the shops - although how much depends on how deeply conditioned we are to the ‘perfect’ carrot - and stop the 20-30% wastage of harvests that occurs today.

Interestingly, while the UK has been lobbying for this for some time now the rest of Europe is still mostly opposed to relaxing these regulations - putting a poke in the eye to the Daily Mail lot who claim that the EU is full of loony bureaucrats hell bent on wrenching power from this sovereign nation, rant, rant…

Stopping the veg waste and modern obsession with ‘perfection’ PLUS undermining the swivel eyed bigots - in my book that is a real win, win situation. Well done EU.

You can read more about it on BBC News 

Helen not only helped with the research but also offered a delicious and filling soup that combines the sprightly folliage (which has a really bright, fresh taste) with smoky, spicy chorizo. Pork and cabbage is an eternal combination, as much a delight to the eye as to the palate. Thanks Helen!

Ingredients
(From helengraves.co.uk, I have adapted it slightly to suit)

1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
100g chorizo (I used a pre-cooked one sliced very thinly, but any will do)
1/2 head spring greens
2 medium potatoes
A slug of dry sherry
500 ml chicken stock
Olive oil, S&P

Serves 2/3

1 Chop onion finely and add to a heated 10cm pool of oil, fry gently for 5 minutes
2 Chop/crush the garlic, wash and cube potatoes (no need to peel) add pan with sherry, cook for 2 minutes
3 Add stock, a bit of S and lots of P, cook for a further 15 minutes
4 Chop greens finely
5 3 mins before end fry chorizo in hot frying pan (no need for oil)
6 Mash pots in soup a bit then add chorizo and oils from pan (I use a bit of water to deglaze) and greens, cook for further 4 mins
7 Serve with a hunk of bread (we had sourdough) warming, filling quick and simple

What a book.

Far from disappointing my (really rather high) expectations, they have far exceeded them. This isn’t just a cookbook it is a book of love, filled with tons of stories and useful information as well as a wealth of healthy, delicious foodie recipes - recipes you really will want to eat again and again.

The physical book itself is a delight with a pull out cheese map, fold-outs here and cut-outs there. Each page is crafted with great love, every photograph obviously chosen in company over a glass of wine and a reminisce of old times. The book is so much more than the sum of its parts, you can dip in to find a recipe or read a few pages and see the Leon family story emerge from the accumulated moments they capture.

Practical, useful and utterly charming.

5/5 - Buy it at Amazon (£12.95+p&p) or from a Leon near you (£16, some signed)

Long, long ago a friend brought the recipe back from a bar in the US that specialised in ‘desert’ cocktails, it became an immediate hit with my lot. We spread the secret around all our favourite haunts (the old Full Moon in Brighton, The Embassy Islington in the early days) and it has garnished birthdays and Christmases ever since.

And as it was two of my favourite people’s birthdays recently I felt the time had come for it to rise again…

The idea is that you down the shot and suck on the sugary lemon and it tastes like chocolate cake - a novelty drink to amaze first yourself and then endless rounds of friends. A great party starter. There is something so joyous about the oral trickery you can’t help but laugh.

Ingredients

1/2 shot Frangelico (a hazelnut liqueur)
1/2 shot vodka
1 slice lemon
sprinkling of brown sugar

1 Mix alcohols together in a shot glass, sprinkle the sugar on the lemon
2 Repeat until everyone has one
3 Think of a glorious cheer, clink, drink and suck. Voila - chocolate cake.

If you don’t fancy beans though just use all mushrooms, a mix of types would be extra nice.

Ingredients

200g mushrooms (any kind)
1 tin aduki beans (about 200g or replace with 200g more mushrooms)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 heaped teaspoons paprika 
1 teaspoon tomato paste
100ml red wine
1 tub creme fraiche
Olive oil, S&P
Fresh coriander (3 tablespoons chopped - optional)

Serves 3 (or 2 in my house!)

1 Chop onion and fry gently for 10 minutes in a generous pool of oil (15cm diameter) at the bottom of a big pan
2 Whilst onions are cooking drain and rinse beans, chop onions and prepare garlic for crushing
3 Add paprika, tomato paste and crush garlic into pan, stir well
4 Add mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes to brown, add aduki beans (if using) and cook for a further 3-4 mins
5 Add red wine and same amount of water, S&P and bubble quietly for 10 minutes (I put on the rice at this point)
6 Take off heat and stir in creme fraiche to your taste (I like 3 heaped tablespoons) serve over rice (brown is extra nutty and white a suitable foil) with chopped coriander sprinkled on top, a nice glass of red on the side.

Recipe serves 4 (at least!)

Ingredients
From Allegra McEvedy’s fabulous restaurants and cookbook

1 medium onion
1 carrot
2 tbsp sunflower or peanut oil
1 to 1.5 red chili(s) (go for a bird’s-eye if you like it hot)
2 thumb-sized pieces of root ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 large tsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black onion seeds
1 medium sweet potato
4 heaped tbsp ground almonds
A good handful of sultanas
½ a small cauliflower
400ml tin of coconut milk
150g frozen peas
Juice of ½ a lemon
A really big handful of coriander
Salt
2 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut, to serve

1 chop the onion in half and into thick slices, cut the carrot into thick chunks and add to oil, salt and cook over a low heat, covered, for 15-20 mins (stir occasionally)
2 blitz the chili, ginger and garlic to a paste in a food processor and add to pan, cook for further 5 mins
3 wash and chop sweet pot into 2.5 cm chunks, add to pan with ground almonds, mix well
4 turn up heat and add 250ml water and sultanas, bring to a simmer and bubble for 10-15 mins (lid off) stirring occasionally
5 break cauliflower into florets and it and coconut milk to pan, simmer for further 10-15 mins, covered.
6 check veg is cooked and then turn off heat and add peas, more salt, lemon juice, the coriander chopped and the coconut sprinkled on top. I serve it with white rice, rotis and some lime pickle. Some sharp apple cider would be a great partner too.

Note, the veg in this recipe is quite flexible, for instance I am replacing the peas with some spinach that I had left in the fridge, and I have used a whole small romanesco head - the beauty of a dish that will actually get made is often it’s flexibility. To make it child friendly just leave out the chili and about half of the spices, see what I mean, felixible.

Ingredients
(ever so slightly adapted) from Nigel Slater in the Observer

1 medium onion
2 large cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
5 sausages
500g passata
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can butter beans (plus a half/small can if you can find it, no biggie if not)

Serves 2-3

1 Peel onion, cut in half, then into 6 or so thick segments
2 Warm a 10cm pool of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes
3 Add fennel seeds, bay leaf and garlic (crush or chop) and sausages, brown lightly all over
4 Add passata and 1 tablespoon mustard, bring to boil and then put in drained and rinsed butter beans and S&P
5 Simmer for 20-25 minutes (I like to chop sausages up into 3 pieces after about 10 minutes - just to be sure they cook through)
6 Stir in last tablespoon of mustard and serve with a bit of green salad, a hunk of bread and a spicy wine.

So when I had an urge for a curry the other day, the crisp weather and quick night made me hanker after a colourful and spicy dinner, I turned my recent reading into the perfect composite dinner. The curry is from Skye Gyngell in The Independent (I have slightly simplified it) and the accompanying roti’s are from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend

Serves 3/4

Curry - Ingredients
from Skye Gyngell in The Independent

1 medium squash (onion, butternut etc)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 red onion
3 medium garlic cloves
1 green chili
10 curry leaves/ tablespoon curry powder
1 bunch of coriander
1tsp mustard seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
2 limes
15-20 little ripe San Marzano tomatoes (optional)
1 tin good-quality peeled plum tomatoes
250ml coconut milk (fresh or tinned)

1 Chop onion and add to heated oil in heavy bottomed pan - fry gently for 10 minutes
2 Chop chili & coriander stalks (reserve leaves for later), crush/chop garlic - add to pan with curry leaves/powder, whilst you…
3 Toast mustard and fennel seeds - crush and then add to pan, cook for a further few minutes whilst you…
4 Chop squash into thinnish 5 cm chunks (no need to peel, just remove middle fibres) - add to pan, cook for 5 minutes
5 Juice limes, mix with sugar and fish sauce - add to pan and check sour/heat/salt/sweet ratio (should be a good balance of each - amend as needed)
6 Add toms (tinned and fresh, if using) and cook for 30-35 minutes half covered
7 Add coconut milk and coriander leaves, cook for a further 5 minutes
8 To serve allow to cool and reheat gently with fluffy rice, a warm roti and some blanched chard/spinach/kale tossed in lime juice and olive oil. Oh and lime pickle - No curry is complete without it!

Roti - Ingredients
from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend

100g strong flour
1 small pinch salt
60ml flour
knob of butter for brushing

1 Mix all ingredients - except for butter  - together on a bowl, knead on floured surface for a few minutes.
2 Separate into 6 balls, roll out into thin pancakes (15-20 cm across)
3 Heat non-stick frying pan and put in first roti, after about a minute, as bubbles appear, flip over and cook other side - spread with butter, move to a plate and cover with tea towel to keep warm whilst you do the next ones.

I took the pastry from Annie Bell’s excellent, if a little complex for everyday, Evergreen (I still haven’t got a copy of her legendary but elusive Vegetables currently £50 on Amazon Marketplace!) and then just made up the rest. Although this recipe isn’t the quickest it really is simple requiring only small amounts of input.

Ingredients

Pastry:
170g plain flour
55g caster sugar
85g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk (medium)

Filling
4-6 small pears
1 tablespoon apricot jam
2 tablespoons hot water

6 portions

1 Butter and flour 22cm tart tin (or if it really non-stick don’t bother)
2 Place flour sugar and butter and crumb in a bowl, add egg yolk and a few tablespoons water (as needed) to make a dough
3 Roll out pastry, put in tin and chill for an hour
4 Heat oven to 180 C, line pastry with baking beans and bake for 15-20 mins
5 Core and slice the pears, line nicely in tin, mix water and apricot jam and use to glaze, pop back in the oven for 20-25 minutes until peras are caramel brown on the edges.
6 Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, and cover with a cloth for tomorrow (no need to refrigerate).

There is a slow food market, talks and discussions, a photographic exhibition of British bread-making, cooking demonstrations, a bee tent (!), burlesque afternoon tea and much, much more.

Thursday 18 - Sunday 21 September, 12 noon - 9pm every day.

Full details on their website:
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/festivals-series/festival-of-food 

Ooof, what a place! Dark and sensuous decor set off perfectly by the Charlotte Street lights sparkling through the floor to ceiling windows. The place felt sultry despite the dampish London weather. Lovely as the setting is, it all fades to background with the arrival of the food.

Hanoi-style short ribs were dark and unctuous, sweet but never cloying - bones were licked dry and fingers sucked clean. The other starter, salt & pepper squid, was hot, fresh and cooked in the lightest of batters.

Main courses kept standards high - Spiced barramundi with lime dressed tom and coriander salad was a feisty treat and pan fired sea bass with fennel & wild ginger slaw was subtle and delicious. Both fillets were fresh as the sea and zinged with the energy of the citrus and roots. They were also set off perfectly by a side of polished white rice and bok choi with tamari and soy washed down with a red Sancerre (I know we were surprised too, that’s why we had to try it).

We barely had room for pudding but managed to share roasted mango with lime sorbet and melted with the fruity ice…

4.5/5 (the coffee was a bit average and the service slightly erratic - but I can’t wait to go again)

Starters £3-7
Main £9-14
House Wine £17

1 Percy Street London W1T IDB
 020 7323 9130
www.bam-bou.co.uk

You need an afternoon to make this soup, preferably a frosty/rainy one in which you pop out and get good and cold before eating.

Ingredients
Recipe (slightly adapted) from www.cookuk.co.uk/ethnic/russian/borsch.htm

600g betroot (fresh or vacuum packed)
1 med onion
2 small potatoes
2 med tomatoes
250g beef cubes (stewing steak is ideal)
1 big clove garlic
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 lemon
1/4 white cabbage
1 med carrot
small pot soured cream
dill (fresh or dried)
parsley, S&P, butter

Serves 3 generously

1 If using fresh beetroot, heat oven to 170 degrees, wash beetroots and cut off all but an inch of the tops (leave the tails intact), wrap loosely in two layers of foil and pop in the oven for 3 hours. After 1 1/4 hours (or, if using pre-cooked beetroots start at step 2)…
2 Chop onion into slices (thin half rings) and chop dill finely. Put Beef, 2 litres of cold water, the chopped onion and dill into a pan, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
3 After 1 1/4 hours peel carrots, chop into half moons and saute gently for 15 mins in butter with the garlic crushed into it.
4 Whilst the carrots are cooking take out the beetroots, cool under the tap and peel off skin with your fingers (it should just slip off - I have been known to use surgical gloves to avoid the staining). Chop these, or your pre-cooked ones into strips. Chop tomatoes into small cubes. Chop cabbage into thin strips
5 Check beef broth for scum (remove with spoon)
6 Add beetroot, carrots, cabbage and tomatoes to beef broth (this is where it goes purple and begins too look like it should). S&P generously. Cook for 10 minutes
7 Chop parsley, wedge lemons and put on table with soured cream for diners to finish the soup to their liking. Add vinegar to pot, mix and serve in deep bowls with hunks of bread on the table.

Note: this soup is practically a stew you won’t need more for a very filling and excellently healthy dinner (tons of veg, protein from the beef and a little bit of fat from the creme fraiche).

It is a friend’s birthday, she’s been away for a while, where else to go for a celebration with close friends but the place that always puts a smile on your face and the tastiest pizza and pasta in your belly?

As there were 12 of us we needed to book a table so didn’t go to our usual Il Bacio Express (no booking, no cards) but to the slightly more formal Il Bacio up the road and I can safely say that we weren’t disappointed.

Il Bacio Express has pizza and aubergine parmigiano served on plain wooden tables with clay carafes of table wine. It is a bustling little place bursting with Sardinian welcome and warmth, even the MTV above the serving hatch just adds to its holiday appeal.

Il Bacio (normal) has the same pizzas but more extensive and sophisticated pasta and wine menus, served on crisp white table cloths and the wine in proper glasses. It is a little more expensive (we paid £22 a head, Express is nearer to £15) and the service is a bit more reserved but it is still a gorgeous intimate restaurant.

The pizzas are out of this world, thin, bubbly bases covered in the best of ingredients - zesty tomato sauce, freshest buffalo mozarella and wonderful Sardinian charcuteries, mmmm. And, as I have mentioned before, Melanzane Parmigiano is another dish I’d walk 500 miles for. But this time it was the pastas that really stood out - you know a restaurant means business when there are 6 different seafood pasta/risotto dishes on the menu, we had almost all of them, and all were d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.

So if you’re ever in Stokey check them out.

5/5

Starters £5-6 (but I’ve never had one for fear of running out of room)
Main £7.50-9
House wine £7.50 (1/2L carafe)

IL BACIO EXPRESS
90 Church Street
Stoke Newington N16
London
020 7249 2344
www.ilbacioexpress.com/

4.5/5

Starters £7
Main £9-14
House wine £19

Il Bacio
61 Stoke Newington N16
www.ilbaciohighbury.co.uk/firststoke.htm

In the mean time here is my variation on their dish, basically a rich tomato sauce covering griddled aubergine layered with mozarella and parmesan cheese. Ooof!

Not a quick dish but worth every minute.

Ingredients

2 medium aubergines
200g mozarella
50g parmesan
1 med-large onion
1 tin tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 capful balsamic vinegar
1 big/2 medium clove(s) garlic
fresh basil, dried oregano, S&P, olive oil

Serves 2

1 Chop onions finely, fry gently for 10 minutes
2 Add tom paste and balsamic and dried oregano, fry gently for a further 2 minutes, add chopped toms, S&P
3 Simmer gently with lid off. Put oven on to heat 170 degrees
4 Slice aubergines lengthwise, brush with oil and start griddling in batches, they are ready when nicely scorched and slightly transclucent - about 3 minutes each side (you may want to open the windows, it gets a little smoky, that’s normal - black and billowing is a step to far…)
5 In a deep oven dish put in a layer of aubergine, dot with ripped bits of mozarella, chopped/torn basil, a wooden spoon dollop of the tomato sauce and a little parmesan - repeat until you run out of aubergine
6 Smother with remaining sauce (there should be quite a lot) and parmesan and pop in the hot oven for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbling
7 Give it 5 minutes out of the oven (molten cheese is no friend to the tongue). Serve with bread (French or Italian), a green salad and a nice Chianti

Get the spiciest ginger beer you can find, Fentiman’s for preference but Jamaica Ginger is also good.

Ingredients

Ice
1/2 fresh lime
Good slug of Vodka (50ml is good)
Ginger beer
Sprig of mint (if you’re feeling festive!)

makes 1 cocktail

1 Put ice in glass and squeeze lime into it
2 Add vodka and top up with ginger beer to taste

Enjoy (responsibly) very good on a hot summers day/sultry night.

Swap the vodka for golden rum for an equally tasty Jamaican Mule.

Whether it is a crusty pastry pie, a soothing fish, a sweet custard covered fruit or, as here, my favourite combination of mince and mash, a pie is ideal when summer deserts us. This cottage pie is simple to make and like a warm hug to eat.

So, as the drizzle falls outside, spend an hour and a half in the warm kitchen. Its worth it for the soul.

Ingredients

4 medium-large potatoes (approx 800g)
500g beef mince
2 medium onions
1 medium carrot
3 tablespoons tomato paste
225ml beef stock
Dried herbs (2 bay leaves, thyme, oregano but you can mix and match your favourites)
splash milk and generous knob of butter (for mash, say 40g)
Cheddar Cheese for top (50g)
S&P, olive oil

Serves 3-4

1 Peel potatoes and put kettle on to boil, chop into 6/8 and put in pan with boiling water.
2 Chop onions and fry gently in big, deep saucepan for 8 minutes
3 Make up stock, turn on oven to 170 to warm, grate cheese
4 Add beef and break up well whilst browning, once brown add tom paste and cook for a further 2 mins
5 Add herbs, stir, add stock (so that it barely covers meat and onions), bring to a lively simmer, uncovered
6 Once pots have been boiling for 15-20 mins (about now) drain and mash with S&P, butter and a splash of milk, mash until you think you have mashed enough, and then mash a bit more (who says cooking isn’t good exercise!)
7 Put beef mixture into a caserole dish, cover with mash, sprinkle over cheese and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes (until cheese is bubbling and browning on top) serve with steamed greens, runner beans or some-such and enjoy the simple, comforting flavours warming right through to your toes.

The series is about the ethics of meat eating and meat production and is a topic I expect every real foodie is already very engaged with, I know I certainly am. And this series explores the hunting of meat pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable to eat

They are looking for a few different people, I said I’d help them out - So, whether you’re a vegetarian, a meat connoisseur or something in between; if you have strong opinions about hunting and game, then please get in touch. Importantly you should never have actually hunted.

If you are interested please contact:

Giorgio Murru
Assistant Producer
Firefly Film and Television Productions Ltd

GiorgioMurru@fireflyproductions.tv
020 70332286

The place is a clean black and white, with old school attentive service and really, really excellent food.

Crispy Popadoms opened proceedings and were accompanied by an unusual take on the usual dips - one of which tasted like the best brown sauce in the world (I mean that in a good way), tamarind I think.

Then the starters which were juicy minced lamb kebab, spicy lentil patties stuffed with dried fig and a striking potato basket that came with a side that looked like chantilly cream (but tasted delightful).

Main courses were also charming, richly spiced, with a delicate heat and wonderful flavours:

- Keralan prawns with yellow lentils, beans and carrots tossed with onion and tomato gravy
- Kashmiri chicken with fresh chillies, ginger and black cardamom
- Slow grilled long aubergines cooked in sun dried tomato and fresh chilli sauce
- Smooth delicate-yellow lentils tempered with asafoetida, garlic, chilli and coriander

This restaurant is far from the huge portions and blunt flavours of your local curry house (although there is definitely a place for these in my life and heart). Plates are presented with all the style of unpretentious nouvelle cuisine and delight the palette with their thoughtful flavouring and the meal was finished with room left for coffee. All in all a refreshing and unusual joy, especially at such a reasonable price - I shall definitely be going again.

4.5/5

Starters £4-6
Main £9-14
House wine £15(ish)

Emni Restaurant
353 Upper Street
Angel Islington
London N1 0PD
020 7226 1166
www.emnirestaurant.com

Really simple and really quite delicious, make extra and you can have it for lunch the next day (or even the one after that) just add a few drops of balsamic before you eat to make it more lunchy salady.

Ingredients

1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
Really big handful of parsley
250g farfalle pasta
3 smoked mackerel fillets
1 yellow pepper
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 tub (100g) creme fraiche
Pinch each dried thyme & dried basil
Olive oil, Pepper (no need for salt - mackerel is plenty salty)

Serves 2 with a portion left over for lunch

1 Chop onion then put pasta on to boil 
2 Put onion and crush garlic into pan, fry gently in olive oil
3 Chop yellow pepper and add after 4 minutes
4 Chop parsley, flake mackerel
5 When pasta is done drain (but not too well) and mix all ingredients - pop a lid on and let it sit for a minute or two whilst you prepare the plates/set the table
6 Serve with a green salad and lots of ground black pepper on top - goes well with beer (apparently, although I hate the stuff myself…)