food, reviews and of course coffee
Recently tried the Iberian Chorizo & Pork burgers from The Young Bulls. I think the name of these is slightly misleading as only the chorizo is made from Iberian pork. Also they didn’t look like the burgers on the packet either.
I thought they were okay, but I wasn’t really taken with them. Not something I would buy again.
I have really enjoyed cooking and eating the M&S Heritage Gold Tomapork with Cafe de Paris Butter that is currently available in the M&S Food Hall.
The cooking process on the pack is relatively simple, Add tomapork to the pan and cook on fat edge for 2 mins, before frying for 2 mins on each side. Transfer to foil lined baking tray then place on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 10 mins, turn, add butter to tomapork and cook for a further 10 mins. Leave to rest for 2 mins.
This results in a very tender large pork chop, which was delicious.
I served mine with some pasta in a cream and mushroom sauce.
It was one of those times when I thought to myself, what do I want to eat, I will go with something I know and like, it’s getting late and all that. I was staying in Nottingham for a conference and having arrived the day before, I headed out to get something to eat. I chose Wagamama as I do like the food and the restaurant was relatively close to my hotel as well. I had looked on Google Maps before heading to Nottingham to see what was around, but the few places I looked at were not open on a Monday night.
Wagamama was heaving and I had to wait for a table, normally I prefer not to wait, but I did think all I probably would do would be walk around a bit and then end up back at Wagamama. I was a little surprised on how busy it was, this was the end of June on a Monday. All the students would have “gone home” and I would be surprised there would be that many visitors around compared to July or August.
After waiting for a short while I was shown to my table. I had missed out on lunch so was quite hungry, so I ordered the chilli squid, pork + panko apple bao buns, and yasai yaki soba. Despite the busyness or the place, it wasn’t too long before my food arrived.
The chilli squid, is Wagamama’s iconic crispy fried squid tossed in shichimi spice, and served with a chilli + coriander dipping sauce.
This was lovely generous portion of crispy squid. They’ve stopped doing the crispy chilli mushrooms which I may have ordered as an alternative. I did think about having the hot honey fried chicken, but went with the squid; I do like the squid and it was nice and tasty.
The next dish to arrive was the pork + panko apple bao buns, which was two buns, that contained slow-cooked pork belly with crispy panko-coated apple, sriracha and vegan mayo, topped with coriander.
I would usually have the mixed mushroom bao buns, I also thought about trying out the korean barbecue beef, but I liked the sound of the pork and apple buns. The pork was tender and soft, which contrasted well with the crispy apple.
My main dish was a regular choice of mine, the yasai yaki soba. This is mushrooms, soba noodles cooked with egg, peppers, beansprouts, onion, pickled ginger, crispy fried onions and sesame seeds.
I think it needed more mushrooms. The amount of mushroom in this dish is rather inconsistent when I have this dish, which surprises me. Despite the lack of mushrooms, it was a very tasty dish and I enjoyed it.
Overall the food I had was very tasty and rather filling. I don’t think I really should have two side dishes with my main course, but it is hard then to choose just one. Maybe next time I will just have side dishes instead.
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.
I always like the idea behind many of the slow cooked dishes that seem to proliferate the supermarket shelves these days, but sometimes the execution doesn’t always meet the expectation.
I was intrigued by these pork burnt ends from Asda, which cost £4.95.
Pork belly bites marinated in aromatic Chinese 5 spice, slow cooked for 3 and a half hours for mouthwatering tenderness, finished with sticky honey and soy sauce.
They were easy to cook. I used half with some stir fried vegetables and the rest I put in bao buns.
I quite liked them, and they were quite tasty.
One of the reasons I sometimes buy this kind of thing, is to then try and replicate the dish from scratch. I’ve yet to do that.
One of the nice things about cooking at Christmas is the range of different products that are on offer. Sometimes it’s a pity that they are only available for that week before Christmas. I have been meaning to write this post for a while, and now it’s February.
I picked up this Slow Cooked Rolled Pork Belly Porchetta at Aldi as part of their Christmas range. Originally priced at £19.99 it was quickly reduced down to £9.99, which I thought was good value for money.
I never cooked it for Christmas dinner, but later in January I did get around to eating it.
I am never quite site whether I like these kinds of slow cooked meats, there are lots of different kinds out there now, and I have noticed over the years that there have been a lot more around Christmas time. One year I accidentally bought a slow cooked turkey, but though apprehensive, it was in fact pretty good. So, for the pork I wasn’t expecting it to be amazing, but I didn’t think it would be awful.
One of the advantages of these slow cooked roasts is they are quite quick to cook. I followed the instructions to ensure some crispy crackling.
The pork was quite tasty, it was very tender, and the crackling was nice and crispy. I served it with roast potatoes and vegetables.
One of the regular stalls at the Bristol Street Food scene is Big Nath’s BBQ. I haven’t had food from them before, in the main as their menu consists of rolls filled with BBQ meat, brisket or pulled pork. I think if they did a BBQ box then I probably would have tried them out. I usually avoid what I would call sandwich meals, as I generally don’t do sandwiches, and burgers are a kind of sandwich, well I think they are.
However this time, while I was at the Finale Reach street food market, I thought I would give it a go, and I went for the dirty fries.
These are fries with mac and cheese, pulled pork, BBQ sauce, pickles and mustard.
They do a regular size and a large, having seen them produce a large portion, I went with the regular size (which is still huge).
It looked great. It was very tasty, never sure about pasta and fries in a single dish, but this is an American thing, and this was a very American plate of food. There were some tasty seasoned fries, the aforementioned mac and cheese, tender and delicious pulled pork, with a really nice BBQ sauce. I liked the addition of the mustard and pickles as well. Overall a really fun and delicious box of food, also very filling.
Now the only thing that I would say is that I thought there would be some brisket on there as well, as the chalk board said “yes, it has everything on it”. Well there was no brisket, but not to worry, the fries were still delicious.
Staying over in London, I had planned to eat in the hotel I was staying at, however there was an issue with the included meal allowance. So I was then left with the decision to either eat at the hotel or choose an alternative. There wasn’t many choices close by, but I did like the idea of Greek, and nearby was an independent Greek place. I enjoyed my meal so much, on the next night I went again. There was smiles as I arrived, and I sat at my “usual” table. Certainly a sense of déjà vu, which we all smiled at. This time I was going to have something different.
This time I went with the halloumi followed by the pork gyros. The halloumi tasted really fresh, and was dressed with some olive oil. I really liked the dish.
I don’t think I have had gyros before so it was an interesting experience. They came with pita bread, tzatziki, and chips.
The pork was done really well, it was tasty and tender. I liked the addition of the red pepper.
The service was great, and I certainly would go again.
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 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!
I recently bought a 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 of butternut squash and sage tortellini.
The meat was very tender and full of flavour. I really enjoyed it.
When I am at Westfield and having lunch, I usually make the decision to go to Master Bao for a couple of bao buns. They are cooked to order and are always delicious.
This time I went with the Shiitake Mushroom Bao, which was teriyaki Shiitake mushrooms, pickled onions, and miso.
A little big and messy to eat with your hands, but the bun was soft and fluffy, and the filling was intense and delicious.
I also had the Mr Bao, this was slow braised pork, house pickles, and roasted peanut.
Same fluffy bun, and some tasty pork with the added crunch of peanuts.
Really nice food which I enjoyed.