Grilled Pork Chop and Sugarsnap Peas

Further porky themes for today's dinner with a Grilled Pork Chop and Sugarsnap Peas. I briefly marinade the chop in mustard and maple syrup (disappointing classicists everywhere for I have no honey); a few minutes later and it's on the grill until the fat pops and blackens under the heat. Application of light pressure to half a lemon yields a few drops of juice splashing onto the meat. I perch the chop on some wilted spinach with a dash of soy sauce and slide some blanched sugarsnap peas onto the side of the plate.
I find that pork always takes well to sweet flavours, but it's the salty zing of soy sauce with a hint of lemon that really makes the dish here.

Grilled pork chop and sugarsnap peas

 

Chorizo Hash

I wonder today if it is possible to have a dinner on a stick. Not just one item, but a whole 3 course meal, perhaps a starter at the top with the main making up the bulk with a beautifully sweet dessert centre. How about prawn cocktail, then beef stroganoff with a baked Alaska. On a stick. Something a food chemist thinks about in their weaker moments?
Unfortunately, I have no such time or resource, so I have Chorizo Hash with some rather pointless shards of chives before heading out...

Chorizo hash

Steamed Vegetable Noodles with Oyster Sauce

I'm trying to have one non-meat meal per week (does oyster sauce count as vegetarian?) so I try steamed vegetable noodles with oyster sauce.
I cut thick straws of carrot and wide slices of pak choi to steam above a nest of noodles in simmering water, while I finely chop garlic and chilli into a mug before adding a splodge of oyster sauce. Once the noodles and veg has finished cooking I add tablespoon of the simmering water to the oyster sauce and stir while warming. Placing the veg over the noodles, I pour over the oyster sauce finishing with a dash of soy sauce. 10 minutes duration: the hot, salty sauce alternates with the freshness of the vegetables on the palate for a quick, easy dinner.

Steamed vegetable noodles with oyster sauce

Smoked Salmon & Pea Frittata

A beautifully bright day today, only a couple of degrees of Springtime was a nice quip I heard earlier, which sums up nicely the nature of it so with that in mind, a dish for Spring is Smoked Salmon and Pea Frittata.

Cooking the frittata, the eggs are starting to set

Some sliced new potatoes, are added to beaten eggs with peas, celery, chives before adding strips of smoked salmon. It's all going very well, the eggs are starting to set and very soon it is time to flip. The 'proper' way to do this is put a dinner plate over the pan, before quickly inverting the plate and pan, then sliding the almost set frittata back into the pan so the bottom cooks. I feel quite pleased with myself having done this and it's only some time later that I find some uncooked egg mix on the other side of my kitchen which must have flown out in the flipping process.
As for the dish itself, I find more punchy flavours like chorizo suit it better, though this is still edible. Also such things are better cold, so maybe it will improve with an evening in the fridge...

Smoked salmon & pea frittata

Wagamama, Cambridge

After watching England narrowly lose a thrilling game of 6 Nations rugby, it's just about dinner time, so my friend and I decamped up the stairs to Wagamama's for some Asian fusion delights.
We have a beer, a main and a side each from the menu, switching around the food so we can try a bit of everything. R has Teriyaki Chicken Donburi and Pork Ribs, and I choose Yaki Udon and Chilli Squid.

Front: Yaki Udon, Back: Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

The pork is beautifully tender on the bone, allowing for easy stripping, the seasoning too is good, not over sweet, complementing the meat well. I generally tend to prefer noodles over rice (there was rarely a childhood meal that was without the little white grains) and I particularly like the pickled ginger for the different aesthetic it gives to some good non-greasy fried noodles. We spend about £20 each in a restaurant that hums with relaxed Saturday diners, the queue as we leave is a good sign of a restaurant and so it proved to be.

A Cowboy Burger

A dinner in the Boathouse pub today and just for a laugh I go for something called a Cowboy Burger. A laugh I tell you. It's supposed to be a burger with bacon, a fried egg and a grilled mushroom. They don't have any large mushrooms left so they swap it for breaded mushrooms, the kind you get with garlic mayo. All three of them. It's hilariously bad. Also I'm sure if this went anywhere near Texas it would have been laughed out of the state for not being 100% meat. A mushroom? Sounds like a 5 minute head start to get out of town if you ask me...

The cowboy burger

 

Goats Cheese and Chives Omelette

Omelettes, like pancakes, are versatile food that can be filled with almost anything. I've had one earlier in the month filled with mushrooms, but today I have a Goats Cheese and Chives Omelette. I don't often buy goats cheese, which is creamy and has a taste that is more tangy than cows cheese; it makes a nice change alongside the mild oniony flavour of the chives.
I think my first encounter with chives was synthetic in a pack of Pringles with 'sour cream', I remember the taste lingering for a protracted period, rather like the last guest to leave from a house party, but it seems they've changed the name of the flavour now to sour cream & onion!

Goats cheese & chives omelette

Wahaca, Soho, London

Work today takes me to a conference in Londinium so I take the opportunity to have dinner in the evening with my Sis (she writes the AMinorObsession blog for female fashion fans) and, after a positive coin flip, her boyfriend. I meet them in The Endurance pub before heading over to the Soho branch of Wahaca for some Mexican food.
This is very much social food in that it's messy, you eat it with fingers and there's a comforting crowd buzz about the place; I much prefer this to pin-drop quiet.
My Sis and I share a bottle of Malbec with several little dishes including frijoles, green rice, guacamole, black beans & cheese quesadillas, chicken guajillo tostadas, herring tostadas, steak tacos and pork pibil tacos. The pork tacos being the best of the lot, but the quesadillas run them a close second. The steak tacos were nicely seasoned, but a little chewy, my least favourite of the selection.

Front: Steak tacos. Centre: Pork tacos. Back: Chicken tostadas.

For dessert we have Churros y chocolate, which is a fine way to finish, it would be rude not to really! One other things to note from this fun restaurant: it takes no reservations, just turn up and eat, and there is a Tequila bar downstairs! I'm sure I'll find time to try it at some point...

Churros y chocolate

Pancake Day

Welcome one and all for Shrove Tuesday!

Several different pancake fillings on the menu today, some savoury, some sweet, some conventional and some leftfield. I want a real mix today.
First up, Spinach with Ricotta cheese, is this a healthy start?
Spinach - yes, cheese - no, tasty - definitely. (7 out of 10).

Pancake with spinach & ricotta cheese

I follow this with:

• Goat's Cheese and Chives (6 out of 10);
• Sugar and Lemon (Classic) (7 out of 10);
• Raisins and Maple Syrup (7 out of 10); and
• Chopped melted Kit Kat (8 out of 10).

While there are good savoury fillings, the melted Kit Kat was my favourite in a bad sort of way, similar to a deep fried Mars bar. Rotten, rotten fun!

Salmon & Steamed Pak Choi

After a weekend of stodgy eating (pizza, pasta) I revert to something clean, Salmon and Steamed Pak Choi. This is especially true of the Pak Choi; is there a better food for that clean taste? I suppose it is a little bit po-faced in it's knowing healthiness, "look at me, I'm green and good for you", but it's a good counterpoint to the lingering taste of garlic and Parmesan cheese for example.
Here, I oven cook the salmon fillet, before flaking it over the steamed pak choi and dribbling over a chilli, lime and ginger sauce.

Salmon & steamed pak choi

 

Sausage & Mushroom Pasta

Sometimes on a weekend I like to go to a butchers on a Saturday morning and pick up some sausages for a fry up at lunchtime. This time I visited Northrop's of Burleigh Street, during the morning lull for half a dozen Cumberland sausages and a friendly chat for Saturday's fry up. I have a few sausages left from that, so I'm tempted to have "brinner"...

...but reconsider in favour of making cheats meatballs, by squeezing the sausage meat out of their skins and frying them with onion and mushrooms for Sausage and Mushroom Pasta.

Sausage & mushroom pasta

Pepperoni Pizza

For my money, pizzas are perfect food before going out to line the stomach to soak up any alcohol that may be consumed in the evening. The phrase "eating is cheating" may have been acceptable as a student, but in real life nobody wants that skull crushing hangover the next day. My choice as I run out of the house is Pizza Express' Pepperoni Pizza, most of which I eat before remembering about the blog.

Pepperoni pizza

Roast Butternut Squash Part 2

Part Two of my battle with Butternut Squash, Part One is here. Part One wasn't greatly satisfactory so this time, I add bacon (cheers sis) in lardon form and a sprinkle of curry powder prior to the roast to counteract the sweetness of the squash, then tossed it with spaghetti. It looks better and in certain bites it tastes better too, but I just cannot get over those mouthfuls when the sweetness overpowers everything. I've come to the conclusion that not even Lardons with Butternut Squash can make it as a main. At best a side dish. At best. 

Lardons with butternut squash

 

Duck Confit with Gratin Potatoes

I've been a bit rude today; out for a meal with work colleagues this evening at Cote in Cambridge and thinking about this blog I took a photo of my main, Duck Confit with Gratin Potatoes. It is very good, the meat comes away from the bone easily with the creamy potatoes contrasting the slight saltiness of the duck. I preceded the duck with Crab Mayonnaise with toast and had a simple chocolate mousse for dessert.
None of my work colleagues know about this blog and my colleague sitting opposite momentarily freezes, fork in mouth, in the flash of my camera followed by an accusatory look. Not sure if my hasty apology cut it; I guess I wouldn't like to be blinded whilst eating Steak Frites either...

Duck confit with gratin potatoes

Seared Salmon with Salad

Another quick dinner today with a variation on the hot and sour I blogged about a couple of days ago. This time I go with Nigella's Seared Salmon but with a salad instead of the Singapore Noodles of which I don't have half of the ingredients for at the moment.

Seared salmon with salad

I wondered what the sugar in the seasoning would do to the taste, not sure that the sweetness would work here, but after dredging (in the seasoning) and searing the salmon before adding lemon juice, it comes out with a curry hotness with a certain depth lent to it by the sugar. It's not as clean as a chilli and lemon combination, but it's "another variation on a theme..." (01:38).

 

Beef and Mushroom Casserole

I'm afraid I am a Valentine's Day cynic. Nothing but a cheesy cash-in, an event where florists, card shops and restaurants can have a winter boost before Spring. How is the best, let alone good, food served on Valentine's Day? Nothing more romantic than a set menu and nothing like the intimacy of seeing the whites of her eyes in an interrogation nobody signed up to. I'll stay at home and enjoy my Beef and Mushroom Casserole with a couple of glasses of fine 2001 Rioja...

Beef & mushroom casserole

Grilled Salmon with Salad

A quick Monday dinner of Grilled Salmon with Salad. I like contrasts and I top the Salmon with dried chilli flakes and then as soon as its off the grill I squeeze half a lemon over the top for a clean tasting, hot and sour finish against the fattiness of the Salmon. In terms of flavour combinations, chilli and lemon is one of my favourites, but when bereft of inspiration, I often turn to Niki Segnit's Flavour Thesaurus for a pointer. Chilli and lemon is in there!

Grilled Salmon with salad

Braised Oxtails

Is there anything more perfect than slow cooked, braised meat on winter Sunday evening? In this case Braised Oxtail? There cannot be too many other contenders to beat the tender meat slipping from the bone at the touch of a fork into the sticky red wine juices. On this occasion, I flavour the juices with orange peel for the zest and juniper berries for a hint of bitterness and have a roll on hand to soak it up and be smeared around the inside of the bowl until the last flavours have been cleaned up. One less item to wash...

Braised Oxtails

 

Stickybeaks Cafe, Cambridge

Shamefully, I didn't have anything as formal as an evening meal today (unless you count a few pints of Brewer's Gold and crisps), but I did have some hot chocolate and cake in the cold, late afternoon at Stickybeaks Cafe in Cambridge. I've walked past this fairly often since it opened last year and it's always been jam packed with people, but preferring to take my business to an independent rather than a chain outlet, I try my luck with it today.
The staff are friendly and welcoming, which can sometimes be lacking in this city and I have a large Mexican hot chocolate, mildly spiced with vanilla and probably some cinnamon and nutmeg(?) in addition to the cocoa powder, which I get to smell before buying. In addition I take a slice of Guinness chocolate cake from their selection of a dozen different mostly sweet treats behind the counter. The cake is good; the Guinness gives it an unusual depth of flavour which the spiced hot chocolate compliments well. It's a bit pricey (large hot chocolate £2.60 & slice of cake £3.00) but worth coming back for.

Guinness chocolate cake & Mexican hot chocolate

The Boathouse, Cambridge

I'm not sure which was the dinner today, the Beef & Ruddles Ale Pie I had in The Boathouse, Cambridge after work or the three pints of filling Guinness. The food is typical of a corporate Greene King pub in that it is mass produced but serviceable, the peas and the potato mash barely veil the former, but the pie itself I find quite pleasing as it has pastry all around it containing the beef and gravy. Establishments which advertise a pie, only for it to come out as a pastry lid covering the contents in an individual ceramic bowl with no pastry lining it, I find particularly annoying. That is clearing not a pie!

Fish Pie

The snow flurries have started again! Looks lovely but I need something warming. Fish Pie? I believe I will... Though I haven't previously made this before. Ever. Let's see how we go:

Poaching the fish in milk with bay leaves & onion

Switch fish to a dish, top with boiled eggs & parsley

With the retained milk, a white sauce is made and poured over

Then top with potato & parsnip mash

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan & pepper; pop in the oven...

...until nicely browned!

A 2nd portion may have been consumed (not pictured)

 Creamy and warming, though I think that some white wine somewhere in the mix (while poaching the fish?), would give the dish an additional something... Otherwise, very good.

Mushroom Omelette

A use up dinner today; there's half an onion on the side and some mushrooms that are a day off going the bad kind of sticky, so Mushroom Omelette it is. I usually go for a more solid, semi-circular omelette, but today I go for something more French in style using this recipe for the perfect omelette. It results in a likeable more creamy texture than my usual.

Mushroom Omelette

Cajun Chicken

Turns out that wind proof gloves are just that and are next to no good on the bike ride home from work in today's freezing conditions. This must be what it's like to have no fingers, a sensation I only have for 10 minutes after I get in, cured by a cup of tea. Though I have this stuck in my head...

...I have thoughts of further south than Pittsburgh, the more warming fare for dinner is Cajun Chicken. This is using one of those amazing oven bags I've previously blogged about but this time Colman's offering, substituting chicken breast for legs and thighs. This is tasty in a comforting fashion with the seasoned almost sticky rice being the best part of the dish.

Cajun chicken

Roast Butternut Squash

After a weekend of bad eating I try to redress the balance with Roast Butternut Squash Pasta. No meat, no sweets, just cubed, roasted squash seasoned with salt, pepper and some chilli flakes before being tossed with linguine, grated Parmesan and olive oil.
While this was nice to start with, the sweetness of the squash gradually became overpowering and could really do with a savoury counterpoint, like bacon, though that would be not quite as healthy. Too much squash in fact so that I do the rare thing and do not finish dinner. What to do with the other half of the squash? Hmmm...

Roast Butternut Squash Pasta

Superbowl snacks

In celebration of 'the Greatest Show on Earth' tonight I'm having snack food of poor nutritional value, as like many North Americans and other NFL followers around the world, I need something for idle hands while watching the New York Giants come from behind to narrowly win a thrilling game against the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLVI. My efforts don't quite stretch to stadium recreation, in fact I only have a measly bowl of Chilli, some tortillas and other crisps and piss poor American beer to show for it. Perhaps I'll make a Wagon Wheel Wembley for the Patriots@Rams game next season...

Chilli with tortillas in front of the Superbowl

 

Spice Oven, Reading

Who'd have thought there'd so much fuss over a bit of snow! The way some of my fellow passengers were jabbering on you might have thought it was the coming of the Apocalypse rather than something that is par for the course in the coldest part of the year. I'm meeting up in Reading with friends from University and we go to a local all-you-can-eat restaurant called Spice Oven, which appears to capture most of the popular cuisines you'd expect to find in the larger towns of the country: Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Italian, Indian, Spanish and French!
By the time we reach the restaurant, the tiny flecks of snow which began falling at sunset, have started to settle and get progressively larger, though only sufficiently to set a winter's scene and continuing in the Christmas theme I gorge myself, almost until it hurts. As these places go, this is a good one; the turnover is decent which means that the food is relatively fresh. I apply some symmetry to my meal by having two starters and two desserts and as I sit back, I marvel at the bridge over the fish pond in the centre of the restaurant, which is the access to the main buffet, satisfied that I'd got my money's worth at £14.95.

Resisting a pub dinner

A not unconventional Friday night in the pub, today in the Burleigh Arms, which confusingly for the first time visitor is not actually on nearby Burleigh Street, but is on parallel Newmarket Road. In a city notoriusly poor for value, the Burleigh is one of those rare places which is actually very good value for pub food, but knowing I have a relatively full fridge, I resist temptation as my friends eat to wait until I get home for Chorizo and Mushroom Pasta. It must be the beers, but I'm halfway through this before I realise that this dish is a bit bland and I realise I have not applied any seasoning. Salt. Pepper. That's better.

Chorizo and mushroom pasta

Chorizo, Potato & Haddock One Pot

Having said yesterday that I don't eat fish often enough, it turns out they're like buses: you don't have one for ages, then you have a two in row to take advantage of a supermarket deal. Searching for inspiration, I come across Chorizo, Potato & Haddock One-Pot. I make a couple of substitutions, old potatoes (that need using up) in for new potatoes and white wine for sherry. Also, no bread to soak up the juices, so couscous steps in; I add a squeeze of lemon to this for a classic flavour combination.
I thought the starchy potatoes may break up on cooking, but they actually stay intact mirroring the smaller rounds of spicy chorizo in shape, but contrast in taste. This is good though it would probably be better with the sherry recommended. I'll have to expand my liqueur cabinet.

Chorizo, potato & haddock one-pot

Prawn and Pea Risotto

Seems like a while since I've had any fish so I take inspiration from Italy and make a Prawn and Pea Risotto. There aren't too many dishes involving fish that can be described as a winter warmers; for me our water-dwelling friends are usually best in summer dishes (grilled with salsa, fried with a salad, etc), but this is a rare example of a warming fish dish. Perhaps fish curry and seafood pie are the others? Though having said that, this risotto is more reminiscent of Spring with the sweetness of the peas hinting of warmer days to come.

Prawn and pea risotto