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Duck with lentils and sausages

Duck and lentils

When I was in France back in March I stocked up with some cans of what I would call cassoulet but actually were a variety of tins with duck or sausages, some with lentils, some with beans. One of these was a tin of Saucisses de Montbéliard et lentilles cuisinées.

Saucisses de Montbéliard  is a traditional French smoked sausage, which I suspect tastes even better if it was cooked from fresh, and didn’t come from a tin! However, I just had the tin, so didn’t really have a choice.

The duck legs I had cooked earlier that week, so was just heating them up in the oven. I think the “proper” way to cook these would be to confit them, but I didn’t have the time, and more importantly I am not actually sure how to confit. Must look that up at some point. I heated up the contents of the can in a pan for around five minutes.

I put the lentils in a large bowl and added the duck legs.

The duck was not as tender as I would have liked, but they were still tasty. I really enjoyed the lentils, and the sausages were actually quite good. I think, when I go back to France, I will get some more of these.

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Bao Buns at Paddington

Paddington Station

Having arrived at Paddington, I headed to Market Halls for lunch. This is a new place in the Paddington Square development. There are various places now to find somewhere to eat. Market Halls at Paddington is one of four halls across London, but this was my first visit to any of them. They consist of a range of street food stalls with common tables. A great place to go and eat if no one know what they want, or people want different things. Lots of choice including bao buns, tacos, curry, and burgers. On a previous visit when I was there, I went to From The Ashes Parrilla, which is an Argentinian grill place. I had the grilled picanha steak with fries.

This time I went to Bao and had two bao buns. I placed my order, took at seat and waited for the buzzer to go off. It wasn’t long

I had the Beef BAO, beef short rib, gherkin, and Sichuan mayo.

The beef was rich and deeply flavoured, and the gherkin and mayo added a nice contrast. The bao bun was soft and fluffy.

My second was the Fried Chicken BAO, soy milk marinated chicken, golden kimchi, coriander, hot sauce, and Sichuan mayo.

The bao bun was different, halved and toasted. The fried chicken was moist and tender with a nice crispy coating. I liked the golden kimchi.

These weren’t the best bao buns I have had, but they were tasty and I thought reasonable for £9 for the pair of them.

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Belgian Fish and Chips

I have visited Belgium quite a few times over the years, we went to Ostend a lot when I was a child.  When I did some college trips to Amsterdam in the 1990s we obviously travelled by coach through Belgium, we also stopped at Bruges, which I am planning to visit again in the future.  Last year on the way back from Germany we stopped for a flying visit to Ghent. We had thought about visiting Brussels, but time was against us.

This week I was in Brussels for a couple of in-person meetings. I had caught the Eurostar from St Pancras, having travelled up to London from Weston to Paddington. I find it quite amazing that the train from London to Brussels takes just two hours. Having made my way across Brussels using the metro I checked into my hotel, the Marriott Courtyard EU.

My plan was to walk into the centre of Brussels, find a bistro and have a nice meal. The reality was that it was pouring with rain and I didn’t really want to get soaked for the sake of a meal. So, that was why I ended up in the hotel restaurant. There isn’t a huge choice on the menu, but I think that’s a good thing, for me it meant that the food was freshly prepared and cooked to order.

I did consider the steak, but at €39 was a little on the expensive side. I did consider the octopus dish, but wasn’t really in the mood for it. So, I went with the fish and chips. I know I can hear you saying, but you were in Brussels and you went with that English staple of fish and chips. Well, the menu did say Belgian fries, so maybe something different.

I was a little surprised, but pleased to be presented with a complimentary starter of a potato rosti topped with salmon.

I also was provided with a bread roll and butter. The plate arrived and I thought it was very cleverly presented.

An open paper parcel was filled with chips, three pieces of battered fish, peas, and a scattering of deep fried herbs. On the side was a portion of tartare sauce.

The chips was nice, crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy inside. The batter on the fish was crisp, and the fish was cooked just right. I really enjoyed the dish and it was all very tasty. It would have been probably more interesting to go with the octopus or one of the other dishes, but in the end I was pleased with my choice and it was all rather tasty.

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Crispy Chicken Stir Fry

Crispy Chicken Stir Fry

This is one of my regular dishes, quick and easy to cook and tasty.

I took some skinless and boneless chicken thighs and cut it into strips. I then coated the chicken in seasoned flour. I use gluten free (rice) flour, which I find provides a better coating, and stays crispy.

The chicken was then shallow fried in the wok, until the chicken was cooked and the coating crispy. I removed it from the wok, and placed it to one side. I removed the excess oil and gave the wok a wipe with some kitchen towel (the wok will be hot so this has to be done with care).

I then cooked the stir fry vegetables. When they were ready I added the sauce, I used a Wagamama Korean BBQ sauce this time. I added back the chicken and tossed the vegetables and the chicken through the sauce. 

I served this with some sticky rice.

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Vietnamese Curry

Vietnamese Curry

I am quite a fan of the Spice Tailor range of kits and sauces. The Keralan Coconut Curry pack is one I use regularly. I noticed at Morrisons that the range had been extended with some new flavours. One that caught my eye was the Vietnamese Curry Sauce.

Vietnamese Curry Sauce pack details.

Inspired by Vietnamese restaurant versions of the dish, our Vietnamese curry kit layers the warmth of a curry spice blend, the sweetness of coconut and sugar, alongside the tang of tamarind, lemongrass and ginger with truly mouth-watering results. This wonderfully vibrant Vietnamese curry is delicious with chicken, seafood or vegetables . If you’re looking for an extra flourish, top with Thai basil, fresh sliced chilli or a squeeze of zingy lime.

I took some chicken and chopped vegetables and cooked them with the sauce according to the instructions. I served it with some rice.

The flavour was really nice. I think I prefer the Keralan Coconut Curry pack, but even so this was good for a change. It’s quite mild as curries go, so not too spicy. I think if I had the Thai basil and a squeeze of lime, as suggested, it would really have enhanced the dish.

So good pack, easy to use, tasty results.

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Picanha Steak + Fries

Paddington Station

Having arrived at Paddington Station, I headed to Market Halls for lunch. This is a new place in the Paddington Square development. There are various places now to find somewhere to eat. Back in December I had a lovely meal from Wahaca. Market Halls at Paddington is one of four halls across London, but this was my first visit to any of them. They consist of a range of street food stalls with common tables. A great place to go and eat if no one know what they want, or people want different things. 

Meet Market Halls no.4. seconds from Paddington Station is our newest location, where you’ll find the best of London’s food scene, an outdoor terrace, live music and your favourite drinks. good times flow here.

Lots of choice including bao buns, tacos, curry, and burgers. I went to From The Ashes Parrilla, which is an Argentinian grill place.

I went with the grilled picanha steak, chilli-pickles, chimichurri and skin on fries. You can opt for a seasonal green salad instead of the fries.

You are given a table buzzer and I took a seat. The food was prepared to order, but it wasn’t long before the buzzer went and I headed back to Ashes Parrilla to pick up my tray of steak and chips.

Picanha Steak + Fries on a metal tray

The steak had been chargrilled and then slices. Alongside were the seasoned skin on fries with chilli-pickles and a pot of chimichurri.

The steak was cooked well, and was very tasty. The accompanying  chilli-pickles and chimichurri did enhance the steak. I thought the chilli-pickles might be too spicy for me, but the pickling had quite significantly reduced the heat of the chillies. The fries were nice and crispy, but they were a little over-seasoned for me. I think I would have preferred plainer fries in this instance.

Overall I really enjoyed the food and it was nice to have something which wasn’t a packaged sandwich from a coffee shop or a supermarket for lunch.

I think the hardest thing about Market Halls, is choosing what to have, I did spend probably too long thinking about what to have, as I was tempted by the bao buns, and I did like the idea of tacos. So, I will be visiting again in the future.

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Schupfnudeln with Smoked Sausage

Schupfnudeln with Smoked Sausage

I mentioned previously that I quite like the themed weeks that Lidl does, recently they had an Alps style week with their Alpenfest style range of products. I got some classic smoked sausages and some German style potato dumplings, schupfnudeln. I cooked them first just in the pan, the next time I cooked them in a different way.

This time I sliced the smoked sausage and cooked it in the frying pan with some onions. When the onions were soft I added some mushrooms.

I pan fried the dumplings in a separate pan. I did add some butter to the schupfnudeln towards the end of cooking to add some colour.

I then combined the two pans with some crème fraîche and parmesan cheese.

Tasty and different to what I had done before.

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Unearthed Ibérico Pork with Gnocchi

Unearthed Ibérico Pork with Gnocchi

Once when I was staying in an apartment in London I had tried the Unearthed Iberico Pork, and had enjoyed it. Didn’t write about it though. The next time I had it  at home I did write it up.

The meat was very tender and full of flavour. I really enjoyed it.

The Unearthed Iberico Pork that I got was sold at Waitrose. This is not a huge pack and as you might expect is a little more expensive than other pork cuts on sale.

The ultimate pork meat which delivers an intense flavour! This award winning free range Iberico pork is from South West Spain. This ancient breed roams freely and forages for food. Iberico is widely revered as one of the best meats in the world due to its rich delicious flavour. Ibérico Presa Roaming freely in the dehesas, sparsely wooded pasturelands of quercus trees that can only be found in the south-west of Spain, this ancient grazing breed is perfectly adapted to this environment. Ibérico pigs are able to store large amounts of fat which makes the meat especially succulent and tender. The constant exercise and natural source of feed also mean that the meat is delicious! 

Having enjoyed it a few times now, I got another pack from Waitrose.

I followed the instructions on the pack, cooking the steaks for three minutes each side, basting in butter. I let the meat rest and then sliced and served on a bed gnocchi in a mushroom, spinach and cream sauce. I cooked the gnocchi according to the instructions on the pack. Whilst the sauce was made by cooking some onions until they were soft, and then adding mushrooms to the pan, before adding some spinach and some crème fraîche with parmesan cheese

As before the pork was lovely and tender and really tasty.

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Schupfnudeln with Smoked Sausage

Schupfnudeln with Smoked Sausage

I quite like the themed weeks that Lidl does, recently they had an Alps style week with their Alpenfest style range of products. 

I got some classic smoked sausages and some German style potato dumplings, schupfnudeln.

They were easy to prepare, and I pan fried the sausage and dumplings in separate pans. I did add some butter to the schupfnudeln towards the end of cooking to add some colour. The schupfnudeln reminded me of fried gnocchi.

This was a really tasty meal, and I served mine with some salad on the side.