I really like the Cirio Cannellini Beans that come in the Tetra Recart™ pack. As well as using them in cooking I also use them for salads.
This is a simple fresh tasting salad.
I add to the beans, some finely diced red onion, diced cucumber and then I dress the bean salad with salt, pepper, white wine vinegar, and olive oil.
If I have some, then I will add some finely chopped coriander as well.
Some variations I have made, include replacing the white wine vinegar with fresh lemon juice.
Another variation is to add some cheese, I have used crumbled feta cheese. A different cheese I have used is fried halloumi. In both these cases I reduce or eliminate the salt from the salads as both of these cheeses are quite salty.
I was back in London and staying at one of my regular haunts, the Drayton Court Hotel in Ealing. I have been staying here for a fair few years now. It is significantly cheaper than central London, and with the Elizabeth Line, hitting central London is really fast. West Ealing Station is a few minutes walk from the hotel, from there you can catch a train to central London in less than twenty minutes.
The hotel has an Ealing comedies theme, there are rooms named after films, such as Kind Hearts & Coronets and Passport to Pimlico. There are lots of photographs from the films on the walls.
Going down for dinner, I went with the fish tacos. I’ve had the fish tacos many times before, and these were just as good as the ones I’ve had previously.
The dish arrived, it comprised three tacos, each was served with a piece of fish in a crunchy coating, shredded lettuce, mayo and the aforementioned mango salsa.
These were nice and tasty fish tacos. I liked the crunchy fish strips, the mango and lettuce added some nice freshness to the tacos.
They are slightly different to the first time I had them, which was back in 2022, when they also had some grated cheese on top.
I have always enjoyed the Kurdish wraps from Matina in the St Nicholas market in Bristol. The star of the show is the freshly baked flat bread, but the salads and pickles that you get in that bread are also really tasty.
I tried my own version of the wrap. Not an identical copy, one that was inspired by the Matin wrap. They were delicious, so I decided to do something similar again. Instead of lamb, this time I did chargrilled chicken.
I made some red cabbage slaw, this was thinly sliced red cabbage dressed with white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. This I made about thirty minutes in advance.
I also did some pickled red onion. In a pan I heated some vinegar, added salt, sugar and pepper and then added some sliced red onion. I kept it on the heat for a minute or so, then took it off the heat.
I took some Middle Eastern laffa bread from Waitrose, these are handstretched flatbreads from The Levantine Table range.
I spread some chilli jam, hummus, tzatziki, on the flatbread. I then added the chargrilled chicken, which I had seasoned and cooked on my griddle. I then added some shredded romaine lettuce heart, sliced cucumber, and coriander.
We went out at lunchtime, myself and a colleague had planned on going to the vegan pasta place by Queens Square, however I had forgotten that the Redcliffe Bridge was closed as they repaired it. So it would have been a a somewhat long detour to get there. Instead, we headed to St Nicholas Market and after looking at what was available, he and I went with the Korean Fried Cauliflower from Daily Noodles by Larkin Cen.
I had mine with rice and Green Thai sauce, he had his with noodles and katsu sauce.
We took our food back to the office to eat it.
The cauliflower was nice and the batter was crispy. The sauced had soaked through into the rice. It would have been nice to have the sauce on the side, so the cauliflower could be dipped into it. Even so, it was a nice dish of food.
Daily Noodles use to be called Woky Ko and I have had chicken from them before. I did say back then:
The chicken was nice and crispy, the sauce was quite tasty. I did enjoy the dish, but I don’t think it would be something I would have again.
With over 125 utterly delicious, easy-to-follow recipes, it’s all about making everyday cooking super-exciting, with minimal fuss – all while transporting you to sunnier climes.
It has a range of lovely recipes and ideas. I liked his previous 5 ingredients book. This has a similar concept. Simple and fast recipes inspired by the Mediterranean.
I headed out for a walk at lunchtime and went to see the new Mowgli restaurant on Corn Street.
I had first noticed the Mowgli chain when I was looking around the refurbishedBirmingham New Street railway station. What intrigued me, more than the menu, was the swing seats they had.
Mowgli sells Indian street food, and has a nice sounding menu. It looked interesting inside. One day I might give it a visit.
If you are a regular visitor to the blog then you will know I am a fan of the bento box from She Sells Sushi, one of the regular stalls at Finzel Reach (and Temple Quay) street food markets.
On a recent visit to Finzel Reach, it was raining, so the queues were shorter, so I didn’t have to wait too long for a bento box for my lunch. This time in my bento box I went with the beef donburi and some duck Takoyaki.
The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles.
I have had this dish many times, and it was delicious. The beef is cooked until it is tender. It is served on a bed of rice, and the pickles and crispy onions enhance the dish.
Usually in my bento box, I have the hirata bao bun. Having had that last time, this time I decided I would go for the Takoyaki dumplings. She Sells Sushi offer a choice between octopus and duck, I went with duck. It had been a while since I last had them in my bento box. I had enjoyed them then, so was looking forward to having them again. I was tempted by the XL Bento Box, in which you can add a third dish. I did think about getting a hirata bun alongside the beef and the Takoyaki. However I wasn’t overtly hungry, so I went with the standard bento box.
The Takoyaki were very nice. Nicely presented with sauces drizzled over them and garnished with seaweed and bento flakes.
I really enjoyed my bento box, and it was nice to have a change from my usual bento box.
This is my go to quick dinner recipe. Well, I say quick, it does take some time.
When writing this I did wonder if I had written up the recipe before. Well, I hadn’t written my recent bolognaise cooking, but had published a recipe back in March 2008. Looking at this post I realised I had posted a bolognese (note the different spelling) recipe in November 2022.
Those two recipes are very similar, but I have changed how I cook bolognaise, so here is my recent version of the bolognaise.
This serves four people.
500g minced beef, I try and get 5% fat mince, otherwise the end result can be a bit greasy. If you do buy the mince with the higher fat content, I would suggest after browning the mince to drain some of the excess fat or oil from the pan before adding the vegetables.
Splash of olive oil
One onion, diced
One carrot finely diced. The carrot is there to add some veg to the dish as well as flavour.
One red pepper, diced, sometimes I only use half a red pepper.
Handful of mushrooms, chopped.
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Knorr chicken stock pot, sometimes I use the beef stock pot.
Beef stock cube.
Dried Italian herbs
Tin of tomatoes, puréed, sometimes I use a jar of passata.
Tomato purée.
Garlic purée
I usually use a large pan with a lid, for cooking this dish. I heat the pan add the splash of olive oil and then brown off the mince until it is all done. If you have excess fat in the pan then drain the cooked mince and discard the excess oil and fat, then add the mince back to the pan.
Add the onion, carrot, and pepper. You can add extra vegetables at this point, or extra pepper. I have sometimes added courgettes or sweet potato. If you really like it, you could add celery I guess, I wouldn’t.
After a few minutes add the mushrooms.
Once the onion is soft and cooked, add the tin of tomatoes, the herbs, the tomato purée and the balsamic vinegar.
Cook for at least 30 minutes on a low heat. The plan is for all the flavours to infuse and for the beef mince to be cooked and tender.
Serve with spaghetti or a pasta of your choice. Add freshly grated Parmesan to taste, garnish with freshly topped parsley.
I did a variation adding a topping of pan fried pancetta and mushrooms to my dish. Just to be different!
I was up in Birmingham for a roundtable event and staying at the Edgbaston ParkHotel which is on the University of Birmingham campus. This is a modern conference hotel with a restaurant and a bar, as well as meeting rooms.
I had the scotch duck egg royale for my starter. For my main course I had the pan roasted lamb rump, aubergine purée, glazed shallots, potato purée, mint jus.
On the plate was the jus, then some potato purée onto which was placed two thick slices of rare pan roasted lamb rump. Also on the plate was two spoons of aubergine purée, a glazed shallot, and a broccoli floret. Finally the dish was dressed with some mixed leaves as a garnish.
The lamb was very tender, but was under seasoned. I rarely if ever add salt to my food, this lamb needed some salt. I did though enjoy all the other aspects of the dish. The potato purée was lovely and smooth, the aubergine purée was quite tasty. Not sure the mixed leaves garnish added anything.
I liked this dish, but it needed more seasoning. I had asked for my lamb to be cooked rare. I am not sure in the future I will ask for this kind of dish to be rare, I enjoyed the lamb, but think it needed a little more cooking time for me. Next time I will ask for it to be cooked medium.
I didn’t have dessert, though was tempted by the cheese and biscuits.
For Sunday lunch I cooked some red cabbage. I didn’t have all the ingredients in the house for my festive red cabbage recipe, so I did a variation of it.
Ingredients
knob of butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced or chopped
1 x 500g (or half a) red cabbage, shredded finely using a food processor (white core discarded) or with a knife.
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
splash of red wine
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
2 tsp cranberry sauce
Method
Heat the butter and oil in a lidded saucepan. When hot, add the onion and fry gently until softened. Stir in the cinnamon and season. Add the cabbage and fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until glossy. Stir in the sugar, apples and Balsamic vinegar, cranberry sauce, add a splash of red wine. Cover with a lid and let it cook gently for 30 minutes.
If you aren’t using the cranberry sauce, taste the cabbage and add a little more sugar if it’s too tart for your taste.
