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Rummo Spaghetti No 3

With a coeliac in the house, we virtually cook with gluten free pasta all the time. Generally I am quite happy with the texture and consistency of gluten free pasta, and I have no problems cooking and eating gluten free pasta.

I have though had a few issues with cooking gluten free spaghetti, and have not been enamoured with the various types I have used. As well as clumping together, I wasn’t that impressed with the flavour and texture.

On a recent visit to Sainsbury’s I saw they were stocking a new Italian brand of gluten free spaghetti, Rummo Spaghetti No 3. I decided I would buy a pack and ut it in the cupboard.

On the Sainsbury’s website the description says:

I always wanted to create a gluten-free pasta that could give you all the pleasure and texture of the classic one. We select brown rice, yellow and white corn, strictly GMO free, then we blend them with a natural and ancient element stream. Thanks to our Laverazione al Vapore Method (Steam processing), we slowly obtain a soft, balanced dough that we extrude through bronze dies so that our pasta is more rough and bonds perfectly with the sauce. The result is Rummo Gluten Free with an incomparable consistency.

So, the other day when cooking a beef bolognaise, I decided I would use the Rummo Spaghetti No 3. I followed the instructions and cooked the spaghetti in boiling water for ten minutes. It did feel quite thin when it as uncooked, but after cooking for the proscribed time, it had expanded, and more importantly hadn’t clumped together.

I was really impressed with the spaghetti; it had a great texture and flavour. Certainly, the best gluten free spaghetti I have cooked with. So, impressed, the next time I was in Sainsbury’s I picked up another pack. It isn’t the cheapest pasta on the shelf, but I think it’s worth the extra cost.

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The Good Luck Club

I was up in Leeds for a work thing and we had a work meal planned at The Good Luck Club. As with a large work thing, we had to choose our meal from the menu in advance. Never a fan of that as what I choose weeks before, may not be what I actually want to eat on the night.

I chose the steak chimichurri, an 8oz picanha steak covered with cajun spice and grill ed over charcoal. Its thinly sliced and served with homemade chimichurri, salted fries and leaf salad.

It was well presented with the leaf salad on one side, the homemade chimichurri in it’s own pot, along with the sliced steak, the fries were in their own little metal pot.

The steak was tender, but I did feel the cajun spices were a little overdone for my taste. Overall it was a nice meal and I did enjoy it.

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Gluten Free Cauliflower Cheese

For our Sunday lunch I made a gluten free cauliflower cheese. It didn’t quite go to plan, but I think I know what didn’t work and so will do it slightly different next time.

For my recipe, I take a spoonful size knob of butter and melt it in a pan. I then take a similar sized spoonful of plain gluten free flour and stir that into the melted butter to make a roux.

I then add milk and whisk. Now at this point the sauce isn’t very thick, don’t be tempted to add more flour, as I found that at some point the sauce thickens very quickly (and thickly).

I did add some more milk, but my sauce was very thick. I seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper, before adding a small handful of grated cheddar cheese. This is stirred into the sauce.

In an ovenproof bowl, add some florets of raw cauliflower. Then pour over the white cheese sauce. Now I had to spoon mine in as it was too thick. Top with more grated cheddar. I also added some grated mozzarella as well.

This is then baked in the oven for about thirty minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned. It was, despite the thick sauce, delicious.

After bemoaning my thick sauce on Bluesky, one recommendation was to make the roux “wetter” by adding more butter. So the next time I make this I am going to try that.

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Time for a Fat Hippo Swiss Tony

I was staying in the Headingley area of Leeds, and as a location close to the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University, there are quite a few places to eat. As you might expect though, they are catering for the relatively large local student population in the area. The last time I was staying in this area, back in January 2020, I went out to eat at Reds and had some barbecue. I probably would have gone there again, but since that visit it has closed down.

When I was out, I happened to walk past Fat Hippo when some customers received their food, and I did think it looked quite good. So I made the decision to try it out, and they had a happy hour deal which looked like good value for money.

Having arrived I looked over the menu. I did think about having their early evening deal, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything I wanted from the starters or even the desserts.

I would have had chicken wings, but they were not part of the deal. They only had three (very similar) dessert choices, so in the end I decided I would just have the burger.

I went for the Swiss-Tony, double beef patties smothered in gooey Swiss cheese, smoked bacon, juicy mushrooms, crispy Cajun onion strings and creamy truffle mayo. You get a free side, so I had fries.

The burger looked very food, and the photograph doesn’t really do it justice. It was a tasty burger.

Service was friendly and efficient. 

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Nidderdale Lamb Rump

I was visiting York and on my way there I needed to charge my EV. I had looked at various options and saw there were some Tesla chargers at Weeton’s Food Hall near Harrogate on the way. Upon arrival I plugged in the charger and it started charging almost straight away. I had some time so popped into Weeton’s with the intention of getting a coffee, even a sandwich. However the menu looked really interesting, so decided I would have a proper lunch there.

I went with the Nidderdale Lamb Rump, which came with Jerusalem artichoke purée, sautéed Jersey royal potatoes, and a borlotti bean salsa. As it was been cooked to order it took a little time to arrive, which as I was charging (and Tesla charge idle fees)  I was a little concerned about, but I knew really I had plenty of time.

The plate of food looked really nice.

The lamb was cooked perfectly, it was still pink, but there was also a lovely external char. I enjoyed the Jerusalem artichoke purée, maybe a little more would ave been nice. I liked the potatoes, though if they were smaller, I might have enjoyed them more, even so I did like them.  The borlotti bean salsa was an interesting addition, and I liked the contrasting textures that added to the dish.

I finished and cleaned the plate. I was really impressed with the whole dish, yes there are minor changes I would have made, but in reality this was an excellent plate of delicious food, that I loved eating.

Would I go again, yes, but a five hundred mile round trip for lunch, is probably a little extreme. However the next time I need to visit North Yorkshire I will go out of my way to visit Weetons for lunch.

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Slow Yaki Soba Yasai

Needing a quick dinner, a visit to Wagamama was the solution. You don’t need to book and usually service is efficient and quick.

I had a look over the menu and decided what I would have and waited…

I then waited some more…

Then a little more time…

I was about to leave when a member of the waiting team arrived to take my order. They did apologise, but not sure what the issue was.

I went with the mushroom bao buns and the yaki soba yasai with mushroom. 

This was soba noodles cooked with mushrooms, egg, peppers, beansprouts and white and spring onion. topped with crispy fried onions, pickled ginger and sesame seeds.

The yaki soba yasai arrived first.

It was really good. I love the combination of flavours and textures.

 My mushroom bao buns arrived a little later. This was mixed mushrooms with crispy panko-coated aubergine and vegan mayo, topped with coriander.

These were nice but felt that they lacked enough mushroom. I have had these before and wrote back then:

I did feel the mushroom bao buns could have had a lot more mushroom in them, what mushroom was there was slightly overpowered by the crispy panko-coated aubergine.

Pretty much felt the same this time as well.

I did think both dishes needed more mushroom. If there is mushroom in the title of the dish then I think it needs mushroom in the dish.

Overall, I did enjoy the food, the service once it started was good, but I did feel the delay in taking my order did impact on my enjoyment of the dining experience.

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Time for paella

I have always enjoyed the paella from Riceminster, though I don’t have it very often.

On a recent visit to the Temple Quay Market I initially didn’t know what I wanted, but the paella on the Riceminster stall did look tempting. So I went with a portion of the Valencia paella.

This paella came with chicken and green beans. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it, I do think though next time I will go for the vegan or the vegetarian paella (which is a little cheaper) as I am not sure if the chicken added anything to the dish. It was nice, but I think I would have enjoyed the paella without it.

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Time for Tapas from Reinata

Dickens Yard reflection

Across Ealing there are various places to go out and eat. As well as chains, there are a range of independent places to eat. One of the nice things is that as a result there are lots of choices when you’re hungry. I often choose the independent places and one such place was in the (relatively) new Dickens Yard complex. I first went to Reinata back in June 2023 where I had a nice meal. However it wasn’t really a place to go out and eat on your own, as the tapas portions are quite substantial. Having said that and feeling quite hungry I headed over to Reinata for dinner. I went with two tapas dishes and some bread. These were large “small” plates of food.

I had the Octopus, Galician style, potatoes, paprika. 

I had this dish before, but this was different to the dish I had back then.  The last time I had this dish at Reinata it looked like this. This was a very different dish to one I had this time.

This time the dish was sliced potatoes cooked in the oven and on top was slices of grilled octopus. The octopus was tender and full of flavour.

The other dish I has was the  Andalusian Fritters, sherry marinated white fish and squid. 

This was breaded fish and squid. It was nice and fresh. I think it needed something more than lime though.

Both were large dishes and would be ideal to share, on my own it felt a little greedy. I do feel that the quality and presentation of the food was not as good as it was on my previous visit.

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Hot Dog and Loaded Fries

I was on the look out for some lunch from the Finzel Reach street food market. The Fontmell BBQ Smokehouse were there, in their converted horse box.

Their usual items are pulled meat buns and loaded fries. They also have jackfruit on the menu as well. This time they had an XL wild boar hot dog special. I went all out and not only ordered the hot dog, but also got a side of loaded fries with it. I went with the pulled beef loaded fries.

I took my ticket, but it wasn’t long before my food arrived. The service was efficient and friendly. This was one big dog and though it was a half portion of loaded fries, it was a large half. I also thought the food was well presented.

The hot dog was excellent, it was meaty and had a smoke flavour. It was a good sausage, but not sure if the wild boar came through as much as I thought it would. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it. I have to say though, I did use a knife and fork to eat it!

I am really on the fence when it comes to loaded fries. I do like eating fries, and usually have mayonnaise. However these were another level, the fries were literally loaded with cheese, pulled barbecue beef, jalapeños, sauces, and crispy onions. As I am on the fence, I am not sure if I enjoyed them or not. They were certainly tasty and I might order them again in the future. Overall a substantial tasty lunch.

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Lamb Chops from Tony’s Pita

Over the years I have been visiting Ealing, I have been meaning to visit Tony’s Pita. I quite like a kebab now and then. On a recent visit I took the time to eat there. I did think about the kebab, but in the end I went with the lamb chops. These were cooked on the chargrill to order. They were served with chipped potatoes, flat bread, and salad.

These were, I think, shoulder chops, so were not the best quality lamb chops you can get. However it was a tasty plate of food and I enjoyed it. I think I would go back and try one of the other dishes on the menu.