Seoul, Finchley Road, NW3

Remains of yuke in the bottom right corner - this plate was picked clean before it was taken away

Korean cuisine in London doesn't come close to the widespread reaches enjoyed by Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Indian, possibly because unlike the rest, you can't properly enjoy it as takeaway, because while Kimchi or bibimbap soup might survive reasonably well in transit, the true uniqueness of Korean lies in its hot, freshly barbequed meat dishes. The sheer unfathomed joy of cooking little strips of meat over a barbecue, built into your table, before making a little lettuce wrap with red bean curd paste, salt sauce, rice and then biting into it is something that can't be replicated at home. It's definitely better for meat-lovers. 

Barbecue - each plate of meat waiting to be cooked, £4.00/£4.50 (normally £8.00/£9.50)

I don't have very many pictures of this meal, and they were off my phone, so I'll keep it short and snappy - Seoul is a small, local Korean restaurant in Finchley & Frognal, a two-minute amble from the overground station and not too far from the Jubilee line tube. It's the sister restaurant of a sushi place, and when we went - six of us, on a Saturday night - it was subdued but fairly busy, a brightly lit room with about 20 covers, with quite a few Korean people dining. The meal was outstanding in every sense of the word, and well worth the trip, if you live in North London or are a bus ride away at least. To be fair, we even had someone with us from Peckham who was still glad they came for the journey. This was my second trip here, admittedly it had been two years, but it has remained just as good.
We were with someone who was quite au fait with the whole Korean food experience (I asked her about 10 times what gets dipped in what) who thankfully took over the ordering process. We all agreed that barbecue needed to feature heavily, of course, but we were wondering what to get. Finally enticed by their 50% off offer, and the waiter going "why not just get everything" - that's what we got. Everything on the barbecue menu. Six animals! Vegetarians, look away. Several varieties of marinaded beef, pork, chicken, ox tongue, king prawn, squid, plus some onions, mushrooms, green peppers and garlic. Chucked onto the grill with gusto, cooked by everyone at the table, shared around, eaten piping hot. 10/10 for deliciousness apart from some very bony chunks of steak which we obviously couldn't eat.

We also got yuke, (or yuk hui as it's sometimes written), not for the faint-hearted when it comes to meat, but it sent our table into paroxysms of joy. Cold, raw beef strips, with raw quail egg, sesame oil, pine nuts, and raw pear. You mash it all together, then you eat it as it is. It doesn't sound appealing, but my god, if you're at all daring, you'd want to have a go. We also ordered a swathe of little plates - kimchi, sesame cucumber, pickled bean-sprouts, vinegary shredded radish (my favourite) - which arrived within moments of ordering, around £1.00 to £1.50 on the menu each. The wonderful waiter then told us that these appetisers were on the house, and that we were entitled to as much as we liked. I have no idea if this is standard for this restaurant, or because we were a large group ordering a tonne of food, but either way, it put a big smile on our faces. He also brought us out pickled mooli - kaktoogi - something we didn't order, but he told us that it was a traditional Korean side dish, and all the rest, which was a lovely touch. 
Then, the bill - get ready; for six people, all that food, rice, yuke, plus beers, and a breakaway member of the group who ordered udon noodles and a soup, the bill was £120. £20 or so each! (Without the 50% off all barbecue , it would have been closer to £155 - still a damn good deal.)
By the end of the meal, we were pretty much all dying with being full of amazing food and happiness. It's perfect for group dining, and a total delight - not quite so much for vegetarians though. This is another restaurant that has no website, but do yourself a favour and try some of Seoul's Korean food as soon as you can. Mmm. 

Seoul, 289 Finchley Road, NW3 6ND, 020 7784 9099

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Strawberry pavlova with chocolate cream

Strawberries could easily be considered to be heavily overdone in terms of summer puddings, and initially, this pavlova might sound no different to your standard Eton mess fare, or even strawberries and cream. But there's a reason for that - they're utterly delicious and beloved by almost all. And for a make-ahead dessert, what goes more perfectly together than crispy, chewy meringue, leaving-teeth-marks-in-it-so-thick cold chocolate cream, and juicy sweet strawberries? This is also heavenly when leftovers are rescued from the fridge then crammed into a tupperware box then carried by bike to Regent's Park to be eaten with greed by friends sharing forks. Lovely for posh picnics.  Plus I hear it's going to be a bumper year for straws, so you might as well!

This is a wonderful summer dessert for whenever you're entertaining, again - I've fed my whole family on this during my graduation in 2009, when I cooked a huge vegetable lasagna, with leftovers. So don't make if it's just the two of you - for health-related reasons!
The original recipe suggests raspberries, my absolute favourite food. But I've always gone into the shop intending to buy but flinch at the last minute at the cost. The recipe also calls for the meringue base to be rolled up into a roulade, which I've never managed - this is basically Nancy's meringue pie with a chocolate cream filling and strawberry topping. And good god it looks seriously impressive. 


Strawberry pavlova with chocolate cream
Serves about 6 to 8 people

• 250g strawberries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 150g plain chocolate
• 400ml double cream
• 5 egg whites
• 275g caster sugar
• Mint, optional garnish

Avoid doing this too much while cooking

Before you begin, 'mascerate' your strawberries. Cut off the green, and any other bits that would inhibit you from eating them whole, slice them all in half or quarters, then scatter over the 2 tbsp caster sugar. This will really bring out the flavour of the strawberries, and ensure that the fruit is gloriously sweet.
Meanwhile, get to making your meringue. Pre-heat your oven to 200C and line one of your biggest baking trays with greaseproof paper (suggest 33cm by 23cm swiss roll tin.) 
Whatever plastic mixing bowl you have knocking about in the back of your cupboard, rewash it with a non-skimpy amount of detergent to get any grease off and dry it with a clean tea towel. Carefully seperate your eggs - I like to have three bowls on  the counter. A mug to catch the white, one to catch the yolk, and then the bowl to tip the white into - meaning if you balls up one seperation, you don't lose contaminate most of your egg whites with yolk. 
Now, the whisking - get your electric whisk (and how I feel for you if you don't have one) and whisk on high until the peaks of the egg white are standing up stiff. Turn the setting on the whisk to low, and gradually add the caster sugar, stirring all the while until the mixture is nice and glossy. 

Fresh out the oven

Carefully spread the meringue mixture in the tin, and try to make as even as possible, then pop in the oven for 8 minutes. Don't forget! After this time lower the oven temperature to 160C for another 15 minutes, or until golden and firm on top. When it's done, take it out the oven, flip it over then peel off the backing paper, then put right-side-up again.
Chocolate cream time (you can do this while the meringue is cooking.) Whisk the cream now (avoid eating TOO many strawberries dipped in them), until it's a nice thick consistency. Meanwhile, melt your chocolate using a double boiler method, or if you're lazy like me, put it into a pan on a low heat and stir frantically until melted. Pour the now-melted chocolate off into a cold bowl and leave to cool down for ten minutes or so, so it doesn't curdle when you mix it. Fold the chocolate into cream (then sigh heavily at how gorgeous this looks), reserving a little chocolate for drizzling. 

Then it's just assembly: when the meringue is cooled off, use a big spoon to smear the lovely cream all over the meringue, then arrange the strawberries on top. Use a little teaspoon to flicky-flick little dribbles of dark chocolate all over the top for a nice effect, add a sprig of mint if you're using, then put it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it big indulgent slices to happy people. 
Credit where credit is due - Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in The Guardian

Spicy pancetta pasta, Penne Amatriciana

Blogger unhelpfully ate this post, with the comments too. Thankfully, I had a cache of it, so here it is again. 

To take a bit of a departure from my usual "oh so good, yet so healthy, plus vegetarian!" shpiel, here is a fatty, gorgeous, meaty pancetta pasta, Penne Amatriciana, which has such deep flavours, that even though I've made it countless times, I always go "oh god" everytime I take my first mouthful. It's the incredibly simple ingredients that make it, red onion with pancetta being a winner, plus some red wine, rosemary and chilli.
This one is a real crowd pleaser as well. If you're ever trying to get people round for a non-fussy Italian-style dinner with some garlic bread and salad and 5 bottles of red, this is a perfect, utterly PERFECT main.
I first saw the recipe, I think, on Saturday Morning Kitchen when I was a student, and I can't remember where I scribbled down my version from, but I've used it ever since four years ago and time and time again it's been perfect. The original invited you to let the sauce thicken for 40 minutes. 40 minutes!! That's way too long! This version is much quicker and still insanely delicious. Seriously, invite your friends round for dinner, make this, be popular. I recommend it.


Penne Amatriciana (serves 2)
Just double the quantities for 4, etc.

• 200g penne pasta
• Half a pack of pancetta from a supermarket (100g), or lardons or even a few rashers of smoked bacon chopped
• 1 large red onion or 1.5 small ones (peeled and chopped)
• One tin of chopped or plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp (ish) of dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary
• A handful of grated Parmesan cheese (or two handfuls if you like it extra cheesy-creamy)
• A good few glugs of red wine

Note - I understand completely if you don't feel like buying a bottle of wine just to make a meal, but honestly, the difference it makes, plus having some wine to drink while eating this makes it outstanding for a simple plate of pasta. However, I've made this several times without and it's still wonderful.
Heat up a pan on a fairly high heat, and chuck in your pancetta dry. The fattiness of the meat, as it melts, will mean that there's more than enough oil in your pan to cook your onions later. Cook it for a while and don't be impatient, this is as crisp as the pancetta will get, so you may as well let it get quite well cooked. What you're looking for is the golden edging appearing around the outside of the chunks.

Once that's done, turn down your heat to medium and add the onions. Keep an eye on them at first, see if they're looking like they might burn, adjust the heat accordingly and then stir every now and then over the next few minutes until wonderfully soft and approaching translucent.

Mix in your chilli flakes next - depending on how spicy you like it, obviously, you can add less or more. I use the amount shown in the picture for two and it's just about right. Not too hot, but not too bland either. Awesome stuff.This is the part I really screwed up the first time I made this - so be ready! Have your tin of tomatoes open, and ready, so you don't have to fuss with opening it up. Then turn the heat up super high, add your glugs of wine, and it should hiss as it goes into the pan. Stir rapidly with a spoon and you can see the alcohol evaporating off, which is what we want, and make the sauce quite liquidy. After a short period, 30 seconds, although you can judge yourself, quickly add the tomatoes, give a good stir, and turn down the heat so the sauce simmers briefly.
Add rosemary - quite a lot, maybe double the amount of chilli that you used. The pungent rosemary is one of the main flavours in this, so don't be afraid to add a lot. Then stir. Now, bring the sauce up to boiling point, then turn down and let thicken. The thickening is really crucial, it's the sticky oily goodness that makes this sauce which you can't appreciate if the tomatoes are still watery and runny.

I put my pasta on at this point, in well salted water, and let boil. You can grate your Parmesan now if you like. When the sauce has thickened enough, add the parmsean, then mix through with the pasta. Serve with some red wine, and if you're feeling like being fancy you can garnish with some parsley or basil.

As you can see it goes down a treat. The wine bottles in the background have candles in them - promise!

Pollen Street Social, Pollen Street, W1S

Sorry for the lull - three- and four-day weeks make for laziness, and then returning to work makes for high stress! Plus I've been helping out a friend by subbing her master's thesis, as you do, so when I have a moment to myself, all I want to do when is sit in front of the telly playing Playstation (damn you PS3 network, when will you be back up?!) But anyway.

The hype that surrounded the Pollen Street Social before it was opening was quite incredible, so I was desperate to go. And with good reason - former shining star and top chef at Gordon Ramsay's Maze, launching a brand new restaurant just off Regent Street in Mayfair, promising a gorgeous bar for tapas-style munching, or a mix-and-match style menu so you can create your ideal meal from, and a dessert bar? Oh my God. But we'll get to that. All in good time. 

Inside - dessert bar on the left and glass-fronted kitchen on the right

We arrived for the lunch menu, on the day of the Royal Wedding (no comment) and made our way inside to a surprisingly empty dining area. Considering how fraught the booking process seemed to be for many trying to secure an evening table, on a bank holiday, this seemed pretty surprising. It was pretty nerve-racking trying to take some covert snaps, as we were so well attended to by the staff. The main room was as promised - huge, light and airy, decorated tastefully.

What I absolutely adored about the décor above all other things was the use of glass-fronts. The front of the main kitchen is entirely glass, so you can watch the chefs skilfully smearing a teaspoon of purée, or mashed potato across a plate, then carefully building the meal around it, intensely wiping stray drops of sauce from the dish. For me, it was an utter joy to be able to watch it (the best view is from the dessert bar). Then, head downstairs to the bathroom and there's the second kitchen. A glass fridge visible from the corridor to the bathroom acted as a window into the kitchen, with big meaty hocks of lamb and pork hanging off gruesome-looking butcher hooks. All in all a totally fun experience. 

Before we sat down we were given a key - for something to take home at the end? We didn't know! It was a novelty I really liked. To start things off we enjoyed some complimentary bread, for which we were shortly after given a dip which I cannot remember the name of - the waiter said something about smoked trout, and potato, I believe? It was definitely a little bit weird, but quite an interesting addition to the usual butter-and-olive-oil fare.  

Salmon with jersey royals, avocado

The three course lunch menu (£23.50) offered a nice variety, although dishes were almost slightly under described. Ordinarily a restaurant will faff about with pan-fried this and locally sourced that on a bed of whatever. I ordered salmon with jersey royals, and was presented with a thick slice of cured salmon with cucumber, slices of potato, some ice shaving (I think?). It looked incredible, but I would have liked to have known what I was actually having. Also, as a fan of strong flavours I desperately found myself wanting more seasoning. This may be a side effect of drizzling every piece of sushi I eat in soy sauce, but I kept looking for a smokiness or a sweetness, and found very little. It was tremendously refreshing, and a lovely light dish though. 

Salad Lyonnaise

My boyfriend's starter on the other hand - Salad Lyonnaise with roasted quail was fabulous. I kept nicking pieces off his plate. A gorgeous tower of creamed egg, game and salad with some thin crispy bread, oh it was truly amazing. Probably my favourite dish of the entire experience. Ooh la la. 

Shortly after we finished up, the mains arrived. I opted for spiced braised pork cheeks with turnip, celeriac and a coffee purée. The pig cheeks were divine, cooked to perfection and melting off the fork, and the whole dish was presently beautifully, with tiny little purple flowers atop a little mountain of meaty goodness. I didn't discover any coffee-flavours, which was disappointing as I was very curious about it, but a lovely well-rounded dish. 

Braised spiced pig cheeks - the gravy was poured over at the table, beautiful presentation.  

Boyfriend was temped by the Cornish brown crab risotto, with seaweed and samphire. It packed an incredibly salty punch and was right up his street, and again was beautifully presented, in a silver pot that was left on our table for top-up as and when needed. It was a nice touch - it's always fun to feel involved in looking after your food. 

We finished up, and ordered a dessert each - me opting for Eton Mess and boyfriend being brave and going for the Fruta Cru (we'd no idea what it was) with basil sorbet. "Would you like to eat your dessert at the dessert bar?" Why hell yes, we would. 
And it was the total highlight, 100% fantastic. Sitting on a row of bar stools, six or seven or so, full kitchen view, in front of us a lovely chef, working away, chatting intermittently. "What I'm doing here is .... ", "and this is a little drizzle of balsamic syrup..." and so on. It was an absolute delight, as were the puddings. 

Over-exposed shot of our dessert chef making my Eton mess

The basil sorbet in particular was outstandingly delicious. Highly recommend it - plus the presentation of the fruta cru, which turned out to be a compressed fruit dessert drizzled with ginger syrup and caramelised herb leafs tarragon oh my god, was placed in front of us with quite a dramatic flow of dry ice over the counter. My Eton mess was fantastic, quite complex creation for a simple dessert.

Fruta cru. Not pictured: dry ice wafting out bowl

Overall, the Pollen Street Social served really excellent food, but the portions were incredibly small, particularly compared to the Riding Street Cafe, which was where I last reviewed.  Still though, quality over quantity, and that's what you get with fine dining though, I find. Plus, big flavours can often more than make up for small sizes. However, I'd be lying if I didn't mention how the prices were pretty damn high. Although we went with the lunch menu, wine and coffee prices were very off-putting - two black Americanos (not even a froo-froo cappuchino or anything) coming in at £4.00 each, and £7.50 for one fairly small glass of wine, meaning that the Pollen Street Social is most definitely a budget-buster, and best saved for a special occasion.
But the addition of the dessert bar, and the other extra touches, means that you're definitely getting more than the food - like at the end of our meal, we presented our key, and got two little brown scones with some tea, "Afternoon tea, on us". Lovely! There's a wonderful atmosphere, so if that doesn't make it up for you, it'd be wary to recommend going. But you could easily drop in off the street on an afternoon, and enjoy a drink and pudding without spending your life savings, and still enjoy the lovely kitchen view as well. 
The Pollen Street Social, 8/10 Pollen Street, London, W1S 1NQ, 020 7290 7600

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The Riding House Cafe, Great Titchfield Street, W1

So thanks to gradually building up a fairly steady list of good food twitter-types that I follow, I was alerted, in a roundabout way, to the opening of the Riding House Cafe - and not only that, but a 50% off soft opening offer! 

For starters, it's in Fitzrovia/Noho/what most people call "North of Oxford Street", which is sorely lacking in good places to stop in for a bite to eat. Plus it's big inside, with one area (a long, rustic wooden table) purely for walk-ins - although the waitress I spoke to said that if demand is high, they might reserve spaces on that too. For now, though, that's the plan.

I liked the interior. Red leather sofas, proper wooden tables and no tablecloths, heavy silver candlesticks, fringed lampshades, reminding me of the bar area in the Hawksmoor Seven Dials. The other area is a high-ceilinged, and quite a bit noisier, with a bar where you can choose to eat if you prefer, plus the long table which is saved just for for walk ins. Although I do like the 'stripped down' rustic type decoration, I felt the authentically-chipped white water jug was a step too far, as were the authentically-damaged mirrors in the bathroom.  But crucially, it did all work, especially when factoring in the music that played over the sound system (the XX was playing while ordering, hah), which gives the place a nicely informal atmosphere.

Onto the food - we both had a cocktail while perusing the menu. I had a Raspberry and Elderflower Collins which was sadly a bit too much for me; a huge glass with no trace of elderflower, a strong whack of gin and fresh raspberry, which was still delicious but not the elegant concoction I'd hoping for. My boyfriend got on much better with a Pirate Daiquiri (lol) containing mostly Angostura bitters, rum, honey. The bread we ordered was gorgeous, lovely asparagus puree dip to go with, although I thought the olives were bland compared to the garlic-rosemary-salt-oil marinaded monsters I'm used to, so I'd skip those. 

I liked the type and layout of the menu - nice choice of wines on the back too. 

For starters, we absolutely hammered the small plates, ordering six dishes which was probably far too much. Each dish is £3, £4 or £5, so it's hard not to over-order when everything sounded amazing, I promise.
The standout for me was the sea bass ceviche with chilli and lime, sharp, tangy and fresh, then finishing on a wonderfully creamy sheep's ricotta with beetroot and the inspired addition of sunflower seeds to a dish, which gave it a wonderful earthiness usually imparted by an overabundance of watercress. 

Pork belly on the left, squid in the middle and poussin on the right

I was horribly disappointed by the pork belly though, I'm sorry to say. I love pork belly, when it's done right, and I'd heard such good things about the Riding House Cafe's one, but alas. Although the crackling was perfect, the meat was almost inedible for me. It was so dry that I ended up leaving most of it.
We also had a squid, chorizo and tomato dish, which was wonderful, and was my boyfriend's favourite, plus an anchovies-on-toast type dish (which needed more salt to feel properly anchovie-y to me, but that could just be my strange tastes.) The last small dish we had was the grilled poussin kebab with lemon and couscous, which was delicately smokey and quite tasty. 
That alone, if you're wondering, would do lunch I feel, although I'm sure that's not the point. For main, I had a glass of Chenin Blanc which was excellent, and Heritage tomato tart (or 'heirloom tomatoes' as they're sometimes called but this isn't the post to get into it). The tart came with some outstandingly fresh, crunchy rocket on the side, a smear of glorious pesto, a few salad leaves and yellow and red little tomatoes scattered about. 

It was utterly delicious - no heavy pastry, but rather a round of cheesy, crispy, buttery, flaky heaven, baked with some thin slices of tomato, topped with two generous quivering mounds of milky mozzarella. It was just perfect for me.
On the other hand, my boyfriend ordered the rack of pork with lentils and spicy sausage. For starters, the rack of pork was absolutely enormous. He doesn't tend to leave food on his plate all that often (even managing to salvage the uneaten pork belly earlier by dipping it in the squid and tomato sauce) but even he couldn't finish this mammoth serving. So be warned.

Tastewise though, the sausage was meaty and smokey, just what it should have been. The horseradish was creamy, and could have been a little hotter, but overall the dish was nice balance of the pork, the crispy skin in particular adding fantastic crunch.

Bad photo, sorry!

For dessert, we (just about managed to) order the Chocolate Praline Semifreddo and mother of god, I'm so happy we did. Every good restaurant should send you home with at least one dish that you talk about on the bus, and that was this dish for us. A glorious rectangle of creamy, cold praline chocolate, edged with a brownie-type cake, with raspberry coulis and an amazing crunchy circle of cold caramel with nuts (almonds?) and pistachios. It was so perfect in the balance of texture, the sharpness of the raspberry, the richness of the chocolate. And a huge portion too - after all that, me and my boyfriend were quite stuffed and glad we were sharing.
The bill was also most reasonable. Around £60 for all the food for two, and we also sank about £25 into drinks. Then the magic of the soft opening happened where it's 50% off, so in total we paid about £63 including service charge.
They're doing the soft opening offer until May the 3rd, so if you can nab a table, I would definitely recommend doing so. And unlike Nopi, (where I also availed of the soft opening offer), I still think it was great value for what it was. Plus there's no reason to order six bloomin starter plates. Or alternatively, skip on the main. I'm keen to go back some afternoon and just have a bunch of teeny plates at the bar. 


The Riding House Cafe,  43-51 Great Titchfield Street London W1W 7PQ 020 7927 0840

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Bulghar wheat and spinach pilaf

This is a perfectly gorgeous dinner - an onion-y, chilli tomato-ey delicious platter of grains you can scoop and scoop and scoop from. It's also brilliant for entertaining - just up the quantities. This would also work extremely well at a picnic or barbecue, is still delicious cold, and is easy to prepare in advance. It's also a very straightforward thing to make, it's almost a salad - almost, but SO much more fantastic. This is a brilliant one for summer, so if you've been enjoying the sunshine, bookmark this one as a nice warm weather lunch or dinner.

The only unusual ingredient in this, with the exception of Harissa used on the tomatoes (any Mediterranean shop - I get mine in Phoenicia in Kentish Town), is bulghar wheat. This is available from my local supermarket, and is a quick-cooking form of wheat which has been parboiled. It looks like Demerara sugar - don't put it in your coffee - and has a slightly nutty but wonderfully versatile flavour. It is an absolute doddle to make - simmer, then leave to soak, 25 minutes start to finish. And it's rich in fibre, low in fat, and a popular staple in Middle Eastern food. A little research also turned up that it's really rich in minerals, - iron, phosphorus and zinc (the most common nutritional deficiency) to name a few. 

I feel like many people my age really neglect the sheer amount of variety  on offer, especially when it comes to grains. Couscous was a massive discovery for me when I was a student, and most people I know have never heard of bulghar wheat.  That said, I'm fortunate enough to live in a place where I'm frequently baffled by the sheer expanse of ingredients on offer in my local supermarket, even, let alone if I was to take the bus into Soho. However,  you can substitute couscous for bulghar wheat, if you like, and still enjoy the deeply refreshing and satisfying pilaf. And healthy to boot, seriously. This is a dream food. My new aim for the summer is to make this and bring it to the park to be eaten with maximum joy.

Bulghar wheat and spinach pilaf (serves 4-ish)

To make things easier, and following the original recipe's lead, I've kept the ingredients separated into sections. 

Tomatoes

10 to 12 plum tomatoes (sliced into segments)

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1.5 tsp Harissa paste (or a sprinkle of chilli flakes if you don't have it.)

2 tsp Muscavado/soft, dark sugar 

Pilaf

170g bulghar wheat

295ml vegetable stock 

1 onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)

300g spinach

Decent handful of mint (chopped)

4 tbsp olive oil

Feta cheese 

Onions (which get scattered on top)

2 onions, (thinly sliced into semi-circles)

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1.5 tsp Muscavado/soft, dark sugar 

1/2 lemon (juiced)

Pre-heat your oven to 200C and start with your tomatoes as they'll take around 30 minutes. I've already used this method in the breakfast recipe with soda farls - sometimes chilli tomatoes are just what the doctor ordered to perk your morning up. But slice the tomatoes, and in a small bowl, mix the olive oil, Harissa and balsamic. Put the tomatoes in a roasting tin and pour over the sauce, using your hands to ensure a nice even coverage, then sprinkle over the sugar to result in some delicious caramelised tomatoes.

Tomatoes roasted in Harissa, balsamic and olive oil 

These can be hot or cold when the pilaf is served - and they are DELICIOUS. Sweet and chewy with a fantastic chilli kick to offset the sugar. Cooks perks deem, in my view,  you definitely get to have a snack on one or two of these lovely tomatoes of them before dinner is served. 

Meanwhile, start on your pilaf. Put the chopped onion in 2tbsp of olive oil in a nice big pot (that you have a lid for) and fry for a few minutes until softened, then add the garlic and let that soften as well. With your 295ml (I'm sure 300ml would be fine...) stock at the ready, tip in the bulghar wheat on top of the onions, stir, and quickly pour over the stock. Bring to boiling, then turn the heat right down to a low simmer for around 15 minutes - I like to give it an occasional stir . After this time, you can turn off the heat completely, put the lid on and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. You can chop your mint now, if you haven't already. 

While this is happening, you can get on with your spinach. Probably do this in two goes, as I get spinach everywhere when I try to do 300g in one go.

Spinach prior to frying - this is about as soggy as I let it go. If you have a few unwilted leaves left, it's nice to have a mix. 

Rapidly rinse the spinach then use your hands to shake the water off it. Put it into a big pan on a high heat and let it wilt slightly then drain into the sink and let it sit for a few minutes until it's cool enough that you can squeeze out some of the excess water. I don't like the spinach to lose too much of its shape, and I think it tastes much nicer when its closer to raw than completely steamed and bitter. Roughly chop chop chop on a chopping board, then throw it into a frying pan, or the pot you used to wilt it if it's dry enough in 2tbsp of olive oil. Fry very briefly, then add to the pilaf. I usually don't wait for the pilaf to be fully done before adding. Put it in, give it a stir, replace the lid.

Now you just have to do your onions, which are rapidly fried until crispy. On a high heat, add the onions and stir frequently, and right when they are getting good and crispy, add the cinnamon (just a pinch!) and the sugar, then take off the heat.

Onions, crisping up

To assemble, on your nicest, biggest plate (if you have one), tip out the bulghar and spinach. Then scatter over the mint. Then add the tomatoes and finally the crispy onions. Take a good handful of feta and crumble over, then tip over your lemon juice.

Serve with whatever you like - I find hummus is a lovely thing to put with it, and if you want to make sure your guests are damn well fed, you can also make up some falafel and an olivey-Greek salad to go with it!

Falafel, Greek salad and the bulghar wheat pilaf on its way to the table.

Credit where credit is due: 101 Cookbooks

Quesadilla and chunky salsa - quick weekend lunch!

I used to work in this café in the town I grew up in on the coast of south west Ireland which would be pretty quiet during the winter and absolutely heaving with tourists during the summer. I remember once a coachload of German tourists all ordered the same thing - a toasted panini and we only had one grill! That was interesting, to say the least.

We had a kind of a tex-mex thing going alongside the brownies, bagels and soups, and I got a taste for this particular chunky salsa I used to make in buckets and now I'm devoted to it. It's more of a salad, than a salsa and I love it - it's the perfect foil to spicy jalapeno and greasy fried quesdailla - five ingredients: tomato, white onion, lime, coriander and salt. It is utterly delicious on plain salted tortilla chips as well and takes two seconds to make. I don't purport to know ANYTHING about Mexican food by the way - my idea of Mexican is basically peppers and onions covered in fajita spice with chicken. I don't even like beans, for god's sake. But this is really yummy, I promise - just no guarantees about it being authentically anything other than being delicious thanks to the combined wonders of cheese, butter and carbohydrate.

Chunky basic salsa

• Handful of coriander (finely chopped)
• 2 tomatoes
• Half a white onion
• Half a lime, juiced
• A decent amount of table salt

 

Chop the tomato cleanly in half, then slice into three or four thick vertical slices without disturbing the semi-circle shape of the tomato if possible, then turn it round and slice again making chunks - a sharp knife here helps or you'll end up with tomato mush and water! Do the same with the onion half, and mix together in a big enough bowl that you'll be able to thoroughly encorporate the salt, lime juice and coriander. Use your hand to make sure all the flavours blend, if you can be bothered - and taste as you go. More salt than you think you need is often the secret.

Quesadilla with cheese and jalapeno

Below are the ingredients per quesadilla - this is a really nice open recipe, so feel free to experiment. Avocado, roasted chicken strips, mince, quorn...or substitute the cheddar with feta and make it with spinach and sundried tomato! And work from there. This is my favourite though.

• 1 tsp of soft-ish butter
• 1 tortilla wrap
• 1 or 2 handfuls of grated cheddar or similar
• 4 or 5 jalapenos, depending on how much heat you like

Get a large frying pan good and hot, and have your cheese pre-grated at the ready. Smear a tsp or equivalent of  spoonful of butter on the underside of your wrap, then using your hand, put the tortilla in the pan and move it around so the butter coats the pan and wrap nicely as it melts. It'll sizzle pretty loudly if you're doing it right. 

Rapidly sprinkle your cheese over roughly one half of the wrap, quickly add your jalapenos, then fold the wrap over and press down with a spatula. The cheese will melt, the tortilla will crisp, flip it over until it gets lovely and dark but don't let it burn and don't panic if some of the cheese oozes out.

Slice it up like a pizza and serve it with some sour cream if you have some. So bad for you. And yet so good. And it really only takes about 2 minutes to make one. Enjoy!