Barrafina Chicken with Romesco Sauce / Almost Panzanella Salad

BoF has been pretty quiet since Christmas. As far as we’re concerned, you didn’t need us adding to the already (goose fat) saturated Christmas food market. As a family, we had 18 for Christmas dinner without a single argument – a Christmas miracle. We’ve given you a little time to work off that paunch. Or at least some time to think about it. How many days did you make it through sober January? I managed a whole seven (if you don’t count the hours 00:00 – 04:00 on January 1^st). The fast-breaking incident occurred at the 80^th birthday party of my Great Aunt – rock and roll. I’m back off the wagon and much the better for it in my humble opinion.

A further wagon tipping event occurred yesterday when having a couple of friends over for dinner turned into a mini house party and a trip to the pub for a birthday party. What can you do…?
I was all out of ideas for said dinner (an unusual occurrence) and so I turned to the Christmas cook book haul for inspiration. I know I shouldn’t really publish recipes without permission, but suffice it to say that the Barrafina cook book is very good – if you enjoy this recipe as much as I please pop out to your local book store and purchase it. I didn’t quite have all of the ingredients for the Romesco sauce so I improvised and herein lies the beauty of cooking.

Romesco sauce:
1 pinch hot chilli flakes
4 plum tomatoes
100ml of olive oil (plus 3 tablespoons)
Salt & pepper
1 whole head of garlic
50g blanched almonds
1 thick slice of white bread
50 ml sherry vinegar (I actually used white wine vinegar)

Heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Put the tomatoes into a roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil and season. Halve the head of garlic horizontally, wrap in foil and place in the roasting dish. Roast for 20 minutes. When the garlic has cooled push out the cloves and set aside. Toast the almonds in a dry pan until golden brown and set aside. Fry the bread on both sides until golden brown. Blitz all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Season to taste and warm in a pan on the hob.
Roast your chicken in olive oil with seasoning for 40 minutes. I used drumsticks. Thighs or a combination of both would also work well.

Whilst the chicken is roasting set to on the Panzanella salad. The bread in this dish goes to work very well in soaking up the dressing whilst retaining a slight crunch in texture. I used baby spinach leaves as the leaf basis and added a chopped red pepper, thinly sliced circles of red onion and half a tin of butter beans from the fridge. Really the dish should use tomatoes, and leaf basil. I didn’t have either but I used dried basil as a substitute. Shock horror it actually worked very well.
For the dressing add a generous glug of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a finely chopped clove of garlic and season to taste. This really is a deliciously crisp accompaniment to a main course and I’m very much looking forward to furthering my experience of Italian cuisine in February.

Serve the roast chicken with the Romesco sauce and Panzanella salad on the side. My version of the Romesco sauce wasn’t as red as in the picture (…mine doesn’t look like that syndrome). I added some plain old tomato paste and it soon came up to scratch.

BoF.

Lamentable Italian

For some time I’ve known that I held this position. Its basis is rooted in a combination of several factors – a belief in authenticity, a belief in substance over style and a belief in eating GOOD food. My patience was this week brought to the tipping point and I can hold my tongue no longer.

How are there so many awful High Street Italian restaurants?
In the past seven days, I have had the misfortune of enforced visits to both Prezzo and Strada. Whilst both evenings were very enjoyable overall, the food was quite frankly awful. An ‘Oak Roasted’ Salmon salad at Prezzo consisted of a dry Salmon fillet, skin removed and cooked several weeks before it made it to my plate. The other salad elements were fine, but I doubt they dry their own tomatoes and it isn’t that difficult to extract the middle from an Avocado. Even worse is the appearance of flagrantly inauthentic dishes – Burger and chips or ‘Italian Nachos’ anyone? Which part of a nacho is Italian? And Aldo Zilli, tut tut. You may well have a mortgage to pay but why have you sold your soul and put your name to a series of Prezzo’s pizzas? A good pizza is a thing of wonder; magically the simple ingredients when combined become far more than the sum of their parts. I can’t see that these offerings are any more than basil tinged gluttony – rocket wrapped in prosciutto, really?!

The Pizza Rustica I was served at Strada later in the week was no better; so drenched was it in Mozzarella I was surprised the waitress had the strength to carry it to my table. After cooling for thirty seconds, the whole thing became no more than an indistinguishable mass of sodden gloop. I think I still may be digesting the few mouthfuls which I managed. Apparently there was an Artichoke Heart in there somewhere but I’d be the wrong person to ask…..

I think I understand wheat happened here; some business savvy types hit on our love of carbs early on and saw an exploitable gap in the market. With this I have no problem but if you’re going to do something, why not do it well? My one visit to Jamie’s Italian confirmed that the simple and fresh elements can be brought together and provide us the wonderful flavours the Italians are famous for, at similar prices. Carluccio’s – slightly pretentious as it may be – offers wonderful tastes of Italy. What I experienced on Tuesday and Thursday nights….that isn’t Italian. Never trust a menu which wants to offer you ‘lighter alternatives’ or boasts the low-calorie counts of a flatbread pizza.

True Italian food lies at the forefront of the ingredient lead cookery revolution. I urge you not to settle for these mediocre charlatans. We can do better! Leave behind the Pizza Expresses of this world. Hell, stay at home! Austerity measures….make your own bloody pizza! -> http://bit.ly/r3pAD2

And relax. Ahh……I certainly feel better for that.

Normal service will now resume.

BoF.

Glastonbury / Lamb with Star Anise

It’s been a long old week since the last post. A week that has been made up of 14 days and a Glasto sandwich. Phew.

So what do they eat at Glastonbury?
The following culinary observations aren’t going to increase my standing in your estimation, award me any Michelin stars or be particularly well put together. They are however going to provide you some insight into how much fun was had by all in attendance at this phenomenal festival.
To drink, there were three main offerings depending upon the time of day. Breakfast saw us take a trip to ‘The Cornish Arms’ for a pint of St Austell’s Tribute Ale. This is not show-boating by a bunch of beered up tossers. I can honestly say that the perfectly malted flavour of the ‘South West’s favourite pint’ provided us the perfect start to the day. Relatively low in alcohol, extremely high in flavour, deliciously tangy. The hours between breakfast and darkness were mostly populated with cider. Two varieties were on offer, Westons Organic Vintage Draught (brought from home) or Brothers. The Westons Organic is the perfect festival companion. Compact due to it’s ‘box-o-wine’ style robust bag, it’s the go everywhere friend that delivers on flavour. This is a traditional medium cider – sophisticated enough to feel a mile away from Kopparberg yet sufficiently medium to share with the new friends you just met, it has rich body closing with oaked flavour. Brothers Cider is super sweet but isn’t as terrible as some commercial ciders. It does the job. A sip of their new toffee apple flavour from a friend’s pint was enough for me. The wee darkness hours were theterritory ofRum and Ginger. Specifically Mount Gay Rum and Fiery Jamaican Ginger Beer. This drink never ceases to amaze with its capacity for flavour. The ginger will sometimes remove the lining from the roof of your mouth but you won’t find me complaining.MountGay can only be beaten in its golden flavour by (possibly)Appletons.

And now the food. These are more a selection of the favourites of my friends and I than real food offerings. The range of food to be had at Glastonburyis truly overwhelming. From organically reared tofu (cough) to Peking Duck I promise you will find it all here. Working to a strict budget we stuck in the most part to Mackerel, Pesto Pasta. Yes, you heard.
This is the ultimate festival food. Protein, carbs, comfort, WIN. I recommend you try it. The recipe is exceedingly simple. Cook sufficient pasta to be enjoyed by you and your ravenous mates in your only pan. Drain and then add pesto, and one tin of Mackerel returning to the heat to warm through. Serve. We did buy food at several points and it was during the third Bacon Bap out of four on the particularly hectic Saturday night into Sunday morning session that we flew into the name discussion. Cue north / south divide. Luckily we were all relatively northern so could settle on ‘Cobb’ as the appropriate proper noun. And so that was it. Oh apart from the music, all of which we devoured; featured highlights including Pulp, Primal Scream, Little Dragon and the Chemical Brothers.

Finally I made it through the working week following the s%*t#^orm, and by Sunday I was ready to eat something. I defrosted some cubed lamb and wandered into town to pick up some Star Anise (how different these weekends were…) I’ve been particularly taken by the star anise aspect of Chinese five spice in recent weeks. It has all the freshness of Fennel yet none of the downside of Sambucca. This is my recipe for Star Anise lamb with cous-cous and wilted Pak Choi. It’s not quite authentic to any style of cuisine but it hit the spot.

Lightly brown the seasoned lamb in hot oil then add a good glug of balsamic vinegar, a splash of red wine and 5 star anise. Cook for a further 2 minutes and then remove the lamb. Add pine nuts, some chopped mushrooms and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Turn the heat up high and reduce the sauce to a thick consistency before turning off and returning the lamb to the sauce warm though. I set this along side simple lemon & coriander cous-cous and wilted pak choi with lemon and butter. On eating, I finally started to feel human again from the weekend before.

BoF

Leon / Androuet

Two Spitalfields Market based offerings this weekend. Wildly differing experiences at each.

Saturday involved shopping. Specifically, bike shopping. Analysing the relative merits of Apex over Shimano, Carbon forks vs Alloy is certainly hunger provoking work. Especially whilst simultaneously trying to stave off an Appleton Rum induced hangover.
I used to frequent theLeon onCannon Street for breakfast and had enjoyed their porridge on several occasions. Lunch however wasn’t up to much; a Smoked Mackerel & Beetroot Salad and a Chicken & Chorizo wrap left much to be desired. When a dish specifically mentions an item of food (Beetroot) I expect it to be present in its constituent form. Beetroot foam, though adding a visually pleasing splash of colour to the dish, provided little in terms of texture and flavour.
We suspect the Chicken & Chorizo wrap may have been around for a while before our visit – it was severely stuck to its foil wrapping and lost structural integrity as it was opened. On eating, it proceeded to deposit a fair volume of water into my friend’s lap – something in the sauce had obviously split. Amusing for me, frustrating for him!
Leon is a no-nonsense affair offering well priced, ethically sourced and (supposedly) tasty food as an alternative to the shitty sandwich shop of ten years ago. It has glowing reviews from the current flock of food apostles – Rayner, Slater and Co. With ever increasing competition from the likes of Eat, Pret, and Pod it’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain their position at the top of the flock. As a starting point, might I suggest less Beetroot foam, more Beetroot……

 

Androuet Spitalfields
107bCommercial Street
Old Spitalfields Market
E1 6BG
020 737 53168
http://androuet.com

 Another day, another hangover, another visit to Spitalfields.
Scoping around for something to eat and finding ourselves powerless in terms of decision making (we were in the throws of an IHAVETOEATSOMETHINGNOW moment) I remembered having seen the Raclette Grills here whilst having a glass of wine with Mum & Dad last week. On arrival all of the staff were French (how do restaurants recruit staff specifically from the country of origin of their cuisine? Do they only employ ex-pats abroad? Isn’t that illegal?) and my mood and my experience of the day immediately improved ten-fold as we were fussed over by delightful waitresses.
A good Raclette is a pleasure I have not experienced for a few years and this one did not disappoint. Grilled cheese melted pleasing over well buttered Rosemary Potatoes and provided our stomachs with much needed lining replacement. Fennel, grilled Fennel! A delight that will be making an appearance on my shopping list this week. The portion of cheese was extremely generous, the meat and vegetable selection not quite so (or so we thought, more in a moment……) but certainly sufficient and the salami had the perfect peppery piquancy. The interactive nature of a Raclette – melting cheese, grilling vegetables and meat as you wish – always provides its own entertainment. It also appeals to the control freak in me. Let’s face it I’m a much better chef than whatever chump they’ve got out the back!
“L’addition s’il vous plait”
They’d only provided us with a single portion of everything and we hadn’t even realised! Fantastic. They’d have had to roll me home had we had two!

Saturday night’s tipple of choice was Williams Chase Gin & Tonic. I’ve tried a fair few gins; Bombay Sapphire, Gordons (eugh) , Tanqueray, Tanqueray 10, Hendricks, Beefeater etc but this was something else. Deliciously dry with great hints of botanicals. I’ve decided to give some of the other margin brands a go.
Next up: Sipsmith (after payday!)

BoF.

Wagyu Beef at Hoggit and Hoof

Hoggit and Hoof
17 Market Place
Newbury
Berkshire
RG14 5AA
01635 550770
http://www.hoggitandhoof.co.uk

I’ve eaten only 2 steaks in the past 6 months. The one I’m going tell you about and one before that. Both were at Hoggit and Hoof. One is worthy of a post, the other is not. You’ll find it hard to read about that one. This one was only 1/4 of a steak. We shared it…
So, eating here the first time around was an enjoyable affair but I had a fair amount on at the time and didn’t feel like a post. In summary, first time around it went something like filletblue/peppersauce/onionrings/notbad.
BUT on the way out someone noticed they do WAGYU BEEF.
Seeing as a whole genetic spin off of cattle seem to have their minds solely intent on producing a beautifully marbled cut of beef for our enjoyment, not getting on this might count as a waste.
It’s a tough life.

This time around was more like orderwhatyoulike…we’llgetonewagyutoshare…(between four…)
Again I took a blue Fillet (is there another cut to be had?) To be honest it was gritty.
I don’t mean a Marion Robert Morrison challenge. I mean there was grit in it. Let’s not talk about that.
The Wagyu was superb. Tender, flavoursome, moist and everything you hope for when you’re not sure how much better something else could be.

All in all HAH is a decent restaurant. I’d go as far as to recommend it.
Hats off to Owner James Allen, Head Chef Graeme Forrest and Owner / Meat Supplier Nick Vine – the staff are attentive, the Chefs obviously care and all around me were certainly enjoying proceedings.
I’m just saying that this one customer got grit in his Fillet but that the Wagyu was f@#*ing great.

BoF

Back in town

BoF has moved. SW6 is no more, N1 is the place to be.
I’ve been holed up in something of a work….hole these past few months but I’m feeling this is something I’d like to put some time back into. Perhaps in smaller chunks; delicious edible chunks.

Here’s a swift reminder of what we’re about:

Mission Statement:-

• The latest in my food experiences projected through to you via the wonders of modern social media.
• To immediately do away with all terms such as ‘Mission Statement’.

I create in the same way that Arthur Dent succeeds in flying; by forgetting to hit the ground.

Read back to see what you’ve missed.

Quality Control

Quality Control
At this point I see the need to comment on my own posts – having had a click back through, all of my reviews seem to be pretty positive.
Hmm……you could be forgiven for thinking I were the Zane Lowe of the food blog world. Let me reassure you that this certainly isn’t the case. When I next eat a shoddy piece of Sashimi, spy a sub-standard Sausage or sip an insipid Singapore Sling you will be the first to know, and mercy be upon the subject of my smiting rage. LOL
BoF.

Nordic Bar

Nordic Bar
25 Newman Street,
London
W1T 1PN
02076313174
http://www.nordicbar.com/index.html

Another day, another visit to Charlotte Street. Well, not quite but near enough. ‘NoHo’ (North of Soho, can we call it that?) A friend of mine had selected ‘Nordic Bar’ as the venue of choice to celebrate his birfday and we all trooped in about 7pm. Entering into the ice blue environment, surroundings are most welcoming. (The underground location completing the cave / igloo feel.) Our table is also reserved with a plaque bearing our host’s name – a nice touch. We’re drinking bottles of LAPIN KULTA (Lapp Gold) and decide to share SMORGASBORDS (Scando Tapas). There are 19 individual dishes to choose between on this section of the menu and plenty of other favourites from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland in terms of main courses and light bite’s. (Yes, they do serve Ikea style meatballs.) The drinks menu features all of the themed cocktail shenanigans you could wish for, the usual suspect KOPPERBERG (and others not so widespread in their circulations,) and a plethora of vodkas and spirits. Don’t put yourself through the AQUAVIT, it’s not worth it. (I have a Norwegian friend who brought us a bottle of this from Duty-Free and then wouldn’t touch a drop when we opened it…..)

We soon struck up a friendship with the bar staff and they really made us feel welcome. Not the greatest waiters on record, they were non-the-less spot on with all of our complicated orders and appeared at exactly the right moment each time we required some fresh Gold. They also concocted some interesting shooters and chucked in the odd free round at opportune moments. Great hospitality and hosting in general; something a few other bars could certainly do with improving on – COQ D’ARGENT.

So what did we eat? Excellent GRAVADLAX and Smoked Salmon – the smoked salmon was actually the thickest I’ve ever seen it, and satiated my umami cravings. DILL PICKLES were tangy, PYTT I PANNA (fried potato and sausage topped with egg) perfectly oily and satisfying, the accompanying RYE BREAD as dark as the night and as dense as you could wish. A favourite of mine were the GOUJONS OF LEMON SOLE WITH ROSEMARY (I know, posh fish-fingers…) My palette found the aforementioned MEATBALLS a little too bland, but a minor problem of eating vaguely unfamiliar cuisine can be that you are not sure of with authenticity ‘is’!

Coming in at £30 per head inc. tip for 7 people (6 dining,) I don’t think we can quibble on value. There didn’t seem to be any free childcare available but the taxes certainly weren’t as high as I had heard. I look forward to my next visit to our Scandinavian friends and might even take the parents when they come down to Prom in August.
Skål!
BoF.

Curry Leaf

Curry Leaf Indian Restaurant
18 Charlotte Street,
London
W1T2LZ
02074367402‎

BoF has been has been ensconced in London for around a year now. Following a reasonable amount of hard work on other projects, I’ve got around to taking some well earned vacation. Times being hard and what not, (something to do with Bankers I hear…) I’ve opted for a staycation. Hanging around in town led me to be enjoying the company of some friends I haven’t seen in a while, whilst soaking up some late afternoon Sunday sun. As tends to happen when there are few commitments planned for the following day, we soon found that afternoon had become evening and our collective hunger had grown to levels which no amount of (insert fried potato snack here) could satiate.
At this point in the piece I could enter some kind of diatribe, railing harshly on the poor state of London’s 24 hour credentials. But of course an Indian restaurant came to our rescue. (The Mexican restaurant we were intending to patronise across the road had shut up for the evening, as had most other Charlotte Street eateries grumble grumble.…)

Indian meals usually induce in me the kind of tongue beating macho masochistic behaviour we all expect of a bunch of pissheads. I was however accompanied by 3 souls of a more tender appetite, and so let all decisions be handled by them. POPADOMS were excellent and accompanied by the usual array of PICKLES, the best of which being the CUCUMBER AND MINT RAITA which was fragrant and deliciously creamy. We chose to share CHICKEN ROGAN JOSH, VEGETABLE JALFREZI & a CHICKEN WHITE KORMA, accompanying these with SPECIAL FRIED RICE, COCONUT RICE (my only input to the order) and PLAIN NAAN.

What to say about the main courses? They weren’t my choices, but there’s something fun to be said for that. All 3 adhered to their ‘Brit-curry’ requirements; they were slightly more bland than my usual tastes but were perfectly good in themselves. The chicken was also a good cut and not dry.
What I’ll take from the meal? Memory of the fantastic NAAN – perfectly textured and straight from the oven, and that the waiter didn’t look incredulous when we asked for a jug of tap water. A Sunday night spent with friends…Oh, and they were open (the restaurant I mean.)

BoF.

Yalla Yalla

It’s been a while but lets’ give it a go……..

Yalla Yalla Beirut Street Food.
1 Green’s Court,
London
W1F 0HA
020 7287 7663
info@yalla-yalla.co.uk

This is a little gem of a place currently getting plenty of hits on the blogsphere in general, fitting into the category of Soho’s current shi-shi trend ‘Street Food’. If you’re concerned to be scene this season you really must take a spin around Koya, Mooli’s, Rosa’s, El Camino et al…..daahling. Having heard many a good thing myself, it was with real anticipation that I levered myself into some spray on jeans and a cheque shirt, (sleeves rolled up to optimal elbow level) and headed over as part of a birfday celebration.

Arriving some time before 7pm, our party somehow managed to avoid the (almost) block long queues which formed less than a micro second after we took our stools. (Hard topped. Cushion less.) Obviously ‘street food’ = eat & leave I premised. I plumped for a starter of SAWDA DJEJ (sautéed chicken livers with garlic and pomegranate molasses) followed by the MOUSSAKAA for mains, the Sawda Djej prompting a smattering of raised eyebrows from my fellow diners. ‘Ta Haa’, I thought. Just wait until you taste my pomegranate molasses (must pick up a bottle from the local Turkish superstore,) infused chicken livers. Food arrived shortly but certainly not in the nick of street food time; punctuality in this respect being certainly more favourable than many a larger establishment – our conversation had begun to slow but we weren’t so far along as to be considering  whether they were collecting from the Lebanon. Accompanying were large baskets of piping hot breads, fluffy to the touch and ready to soak up anything our forks left behind. Livers were perfectly cooked with their creamy richness acting as the perfect balance to the sweetness of the molasses. Needless to say the bread fulfilled its part. Other dishes ordered included the HOMMOS SHAWARMA (Chickpea purée topped with marinated thin slices of lamb fillet) and a dish of mixed seafood deep fried in batter whose name escapes me. Hommos was thick and perfectly garlic-ed. Seafood expertly fried in a light crisp batter, though there could have been a dip of some sort. We ended up sharing everything, our green-eyed natures getting the best of us (the livers were indeed a hit).

Plates cleared, (bread left – well done) mains arrived soon after, the small size of the room prompting an inter-diner game of ‘whose food is it anyway’ as dishes appear from below decks via the dumb-waiter. The Moussakaa was thick and tangy, the cumin cutting through the rich tomato sauce. Vermicelli rice and lashings more bread made an excellent accompaniment. Other featured dishes included KAFTA MESHOUÉ (Charcoal grilled spiced minced lamb and parsley skewers, grilled tomato, sumac onion salad and vermicelli rice) and CHICKEN SHAWARMA (Charcoal grilled slices of marinated chicken, grilled tomato, pickles, sumac onion salad and vermicelli rice). All were mouth wateringly delicious and left the party gratifyingly satiated.

We’d all experienced a pretty heavy night previously, to quench our thirst the FRESH MINT TEA was just that and the APPLE, GINGER & MINT LEMONADE tasted like pure anti-oxidants though I’m sure my dentist would advise against it. All of this for £15 per head including a hefty tip for the pair of rather attractive and perfectly attentive waitresses.

It certainly wasn’t street food in pace, but that was certainly fine by us. As culinary revolutions go, the latest is fine by me.
BoF