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My recipe for Bolognese

spaghetti bolognese
Image by -Rita-👩‍🍳 und 📷 mit ❤ from Pixabay

This is my recipe for making Bolognese sauce for serving with spaghetti or other pasta.

500g minced beef, I try and get 5% or 10% fat mince, otherwise the end result can be a bit greasy

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

Handful of mushrooms, chopped

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Knorr beef stockpot

Dried Italian herbs

Tin of tomatoes

Tomato purée

I usually use a big pan for cooking this dish. I heat the pan add the 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.

Add the onion, carrot and pepper. You can add extra vegetables at this point, or extra pepper. 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 20 minutes on a low heat, though longer would ensure that the beef is tender.

Serve with spaghetti or a pasta of your choice. Add freshly grated Parmesan to taste.

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At the airport, time for a quick lunch

I had been on a visit to Scotland and was making my way home. I really didn’t fancy eating on the plane, it was a short flight, but it was over lunchtime. So having time at Edinburgh airport I went to All-Bar-One for a quick small lunch. I did in fact fancy tacos from Bar Burrirto, but the airport branch didn’t sell them. The branch of Yo! Sushi, which I had visited before, had closed down in 2020. Liking the idea of small plates I went to All-Bar-One. I ordered two small plates which arrived promptly. This is kind of important in an airport situation as you are often time constrained.

The calamari was excellent and it was a good sized portion for a small plate dish. 

The squid was tender and the batter was crispy. It was served with a sweet chilli sauce. I really enjoyed the squid and would have it again, if I ever fly from Edinburgh.

The prawns in panko breadcrumbs was though slightly disappointing. When it arrived I actually thought they had bought me the wrong dish. What I got was in fact a skewer of prawns, which was then covered in panko breadcrumbs. 

I felt that this was a difficult small plate to eat (and would be difficult to share). The dish lacked flavour and I couldn’t really taste the prawns. 

My gate number was called, so it was time to pay the bill and head to the plane.

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That pizza I had that time

I was staying at the Doubletree Hilton in Ealing and was eating in the hotel restaurant.

I was a little hesitant in ordering a pizza, as it was a hotel not a pizza place. I went for the Garden Club pizza which came with mozzarella, courgette, red onion, mixed peppers on a tomato base.

garden club pizza

Well my hesitation was well founded, it was just okay, but I think they had used a pre-cooked base, rather than making it fresh. I wasn’t too surprised by that. I was a little surprised that the tomato base was tomato puree and not passata or other kind of tomato sauce. This I wasn’t too impressed with. The toppings were nice and fresh though.

I certainly wouldn’t order it again. Compared to some of the other food I had at the hotel, this was a disappointing dish. I had had some really nice food on other nights.

 

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Baked Camembert

Baked Camembert

I was staying at the Doubletree Hilton in Ealing and was eating in the hotel restaurant.

I’ve alway liked the idea of baked camembert, but have never had it, not in a restaurant, or bought to cook at home.

Seeing it on the menu, I did think why not. The baked camembert was done with honey, rosemary and garlic, served with sourdough bread.

I was a little surprised when it arrived, I don’t know why, but I thought I would have been served a mini camembert, but this was a normal sized one. It came with two warm freshly baked large sourdough bread sticks.

I do like camembert, but this was my first experience of a baked camembert. I really enjoyed it, I liked the addition of honey, garlic, and rosemary. The bread was excellent, and was perfect for dipping into the hot melted cheese.

I could have done with more bread, but then I think I would have been full as a result, and I had it as a starter. Though I ate all the bread, I couldn’t finish all the cheese. Probably better shared than eaten by one.

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Coffee time at the Clyde Built Bar & Kitchen

SEC Glasgow

I was attending a conference at the SEC and wanted a coffee. I went to the Clyde Built Bar & Kitchen and ordered a double espresso. I asked for a china cup rather than a cardboard one. So they gave it to me in a cup, which I would have expected to have tea in!

The actual coffee was okay, but they needed to have warmed the cup first. I get the feeling that they didn’t make coffee properly very often.

I was a little surprised by the lack of coffee places and eateries around the SEC in Glasgow. There are plenty of hotels close by, and up the road on Argyle Street there are some really nice food and coffee places. However around the actual SEC there are only a couple. I think I was comparing it to the ICC in Birmingham where there is a much wider choice.

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Gluten Free Pancakes

pancake

I often make pancakes for breakfast on a  regular basis.

Cup of gluten free plain flour

Cup of semi-skimmed milk

One egg.

Spoonful of sugar.

Vanilla essence.

Whisk the ingredients together. I do find that with gluten free flour there isn’t any benefit to which order you add the ingredients, but I generally do the flour first, then add the milk, then the sugar vanilla essence and the egg.

The key is to have a batter that will coat the back of the spoon.

Gluten free batter doesn’t need to be left to stand (as some recipes for normal pancakes call for). When I started cooked gluten free pancakes, I use to make normal pancakes as well using wheat flour. However after tasting both, I realised that there was very little if any difference. So now, and it avoids the risk of cross-contamination, I only cook gluten free pancakes.

I have often heard that the first pancake cooked will not work and therefore should be thrown away. My experience is that the reason the first pancake doesn’t work, is mainly down to the fact that the pan isn’t hot enough. I put my pancake pan on the heat and then make the batter, that way it is hot enough when I am ready to start cooking the pancakes.

I brush the pan with some sunflower oil. Add a spoonful of batter and then swirl the pan so that the batter coats the entire base of the pan. I say spoonful of batter as I usually use a bowl with a lip so I can put the batter direct onto the pancake pan. You can see the batter cooking and once it is cooked, flip the pancake over. Yes you can toss it, but I usually use a fish slice to flip the pancake over.

I use the same recipe for smaller pancakes as well.

Serve with your favourite whatever, be that sugar, maple syrup or whatever.

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Time for coffee and toast

Bristol Airport

Generally I find airports busy places and not really somewhere I can sit calmly and relax. However I do I find the Cabin Bar at Bristol Airport a little haven of calmness in an otherwise hectic and busy environment.

I had some sourdough toast and a macchiato. The toast was toast, but it was nice that the butter was soft.

toast

The coffee was great and I really enjoyed it.

macchiato

I liked the table service, the proper china and the excellent service.

Yes it is a little more than Soho or Starbucks, but not my much to be honest and the fact that there is table service makes this a better choice for me.

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Heritage Beetroot Salad

I was staying at the Doubletree Hilton in Ealing and was eating in the hotel restaurant.

I decided to go for a salad for dinner. I chose the heritage beetroot salad with caramelised walnuts, lime juice honey dressing, rocket and grilled halloumi.

I have to say that this was an excellent salad. I liked the thin slices of beetroot and the lime juice honey dressing added sweetness and sharpness. The caramelised walnuts were probably a little over caramelised for my liking, but added crunch and sweetness. The grilled halloumi wasn’t great and I have had better halloumi in other salads. Having said that the overall combination of the salty halloumi, sweet walnuts and dressing and beetroot was really tasty. The different slices of heritage beetroot were great, the candy tripe beetroot having a different flavour to the traditional purple beetroot. The only thing I would say was that for a main course salad it was smaller that I expected. I would probably have added more mixed leaves to bulk it out.

Alongside I had some freshly oven baked bread.

I expected to get a couple of rolls, but was impressed with the quantity and variety of breads in the basket. It was supposed to come with some olive oil and balsamic glaze, but all I got was the butter. I didn’t managed to ask about this, but I was happy with the butter. Most of the bread was tasty.

I did enjoy this meal, salad and bread are two things I really like.  

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Day of the Dead at Wahaca

On a recent stay in London I did quite fancy going to Wahaca on the South Bank. I have enjoyed previous meals there and at other branches of Wahaca.

They have installed some splendid Day of the Dead decorations across the restaurant. 

However upon arriving, there was a huge queue to get in, so much so, that I decided in the end to go somewhere else for lunch. Maybe next time.

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Sweets

Sweets

We got some sweets in for Halloween, however due to the heavy rain we didn’t get many trick and treaters. So as a result we’ve had them hanging around the house for too long…

They are little bit too moreish…