Jo Lives To Eat

I got offered a new job a couple of weeks ago (yipppeeeee) and so decided to treat myself to a little last minute trip away and settled on Lisbon. I went by myself for 3 nights and did nothing but stroll, read and eat. It was heaven. I also did something I almost never do....order lots of fish. Now I have mentioned in my blog before that I'm very aware that its quite weird to be such a foodie and be very fussy about fish, but my palate has been ever expanding over the years and I'm pretty much ok to eat most types. I'll say it again for those who care but cooked salmon, trout and little oily fish are the big no-no's.

The menu is fairly extensive and actually I wish that we'd have ordered other things because they really do look wonderful. I did have a sneaky little antipasti of smoked mozzarella in breadcrumbs with sautéed aubergines, which everyone helped me eat I might add and that was gorgeous. I'm such a sucker for smoked cheese. But, the menu is truly Italian with some excellent meat and fish choices as well as all the pizza and pasta and of course the Neapolitan specialities. I am definitely going back to Santoré with even more people, so that we can order everything on the menu - Bellissimo! 

Normally on Sunday evenings I like to sit on my couch and watch TV while eating, in my opinion, the ultimate in Sunday night dining - dippy eggs and marmite soldiers.  There is nothing better.

However, this was not to be last Sunday as it was the third instalment of our Come Dine with Me dinners.  I was particularly excited for this one as it was at my friend Steph's house.  She is my oldest friend in the world and we have always shared an absolute obsession for food in all its forays.  She also happens to be the best domestic Goddess I know so I knew the calibre would be high tonight.

We were greeted with a beautifully pink and feminine looking cocktail as we milled around the kitchen.  A vodka and lychee concoction that actually reminded me of my favourite cocktail at Cocoon - a "passion flower" which also has lychees in it.  It was hard not to gulp it down as it was extremely drinkable but then we were greeted with a little treat as there was a whole lychee at the bottom to nibble on.

The very fresh and fruity cocktail complimented the hors d'oeuvres of tuna ceviche and avocado toasts excellently.  These were just absolutely stunning little morsels; very fresh, very simple and looked stunning.  I am such a fan of ceviche ever since I first tried it in its hometown of Peru and think it makes such a great appetiser.  Just look how pretty! - and with the matching pink drink! (I am such a girl).


After milling with all the pinkness we sat down for our starters of cheese souffle.  Cheese souffle is an excellent CDWM dish to do because it looks impressive, if done right and hard to do.  Actually it can be very easy to make but the trick is making it light and airy.  Although the souffles could have risen more in my opinion, they tasted great and also didn't fill me up too much.


After a nice little pause for a chat and some wine we moved onto the main course.  Stuffed seabass with mushrooms, piped potatoes and layered steamed vegetables.  Now even though I used to hate fish, I have over the last few years learnt to like it so am very very happy to eat it (apart from a few exceptions) and am actually always very pleased when people cook fish for me as I would never really order it in a restaurant.  The white fish was filled with mushrooms and dill and worked very well together.  I have to confess I didn't eat it all as it was just a tad fishy for me but it was cooked beautifully and I loved the layered vegetable cake.  There was a small issue with the piped potatoes not looking as elegant as Steph had hoped but it didn't detract from the taste.



The piece de resistance was definitely the dessert - apple tarte tatin with raspberry coulis.  It really was that perfect mixture of soft apple sweetness with crispy, flakey pastry and the addition of the coulis and some whipped cream was just gorgeous.  I had a second helping and could have had more.


Considering the norm this was an exceptional treat and a culinary triumph for Sunday night dining.  Our Come Dine with Me continues to flourish.  Nicole's to come soon.

Well firstly let me say Happy New Year to you all.  Last night was New Year's Eve and I had a rather hectic night out.  However, the hecticness was preceded by a rather lovely dinner at mine with some friends.  I decided I didn't want to do a fancy schmancy affair, just something simple, hearty - pure foodie goodness (perhaps in an effort to soak up the alcohol?!) There was only one thing I could do - something that my Mummy taught me and my Grandma taught her - meatballs and mushrooms.  My Grandma was from Poland and this is classic Polish fodder.
I made a huge bowl of it with rice, a green salad and some roasted red peppers and the whole thing got polished off.

Eating this only confirms to me 100% that as much as I like going to haute cuisine restaurants and eating piddly little dishes for £50, they don't even come close to a big plate of grub that you can really get your teeth into and mop the juice up with some crusty bread or rice - it seems to make us feel comfortable somehow and perhaps brings back good family memories - or at least it does for me.

I have some great memories from when I was a child.  I used to sit on my Mum's kitchen table, peering over her, constantly asking questions about what things were and why things needed to be folded, mixed or whisked while she cooked and I attempted to help.  I kind of imagine that thats what my Mum did with my Grandma when she was little and that thought makes me happy that that bond has passed on and I have a similarly close relationship with my Mum.

I did toy for about 5 seconds about revealing the recipe to the world but I realised I could never do such a thing - this is a secret family recipe that I hope to one day pass on to my daughters.  No one else.  But, as always, here's a couple of pictures to wet your appetite.

As I sit here I wonder how to review the second installment of Come Dine with Me that took place last night at a very exclusive venue - Chez Sharff.  Yes, thats right, it was at my gaff.  I can't review myself - thats just weird and rather narcissistic.  However, for the sake of my blog and my yummy looking photos I will relive the evening.
So as are the rules with CDWM, you have to send your guests the menu the week before, but I wanted to make a little surprise for everyone in the form of a sweet and sour little treat.  I realised this week that strangely, all 5 of us have been to South America so I thought I'd make my favourite cocktail in the world - a passion fruit caipiroska - which hails from the most wonderful country of Brasil.  Now, the night was all on track to go swimmingly well but as I went to mix up the ingredients I realised my liquidiser was kaput - completely broken from it having a rather large crack down the middle.  So I had to improvise and use a handheld musher thing - not so perfect but the cocktail was still rather yummy.

Soon after finishing our aperitifs we sat down for the first course.  I made a rare beef and horseradish salad with roasted beets and parmesan on a bed of rocket.  I was really quite pleased at how that went as it was something fairly new for me.  I'd never bought raw beetroot before, for some reason thinking it was a bit of a pain to cook but why on earth I thought that I will never know, as its just a root vegetable which, with a bit of roasting is quite delicious.  I made a horseradish sauce with creme fraiche and a bit of lemon and the meat I used was a sirloin that I flashed after it had been rubbed with rosemary and salt.  It was a lovely starter and would make a really good lunch in warmer months.


My main was rack of lamb on a bed of sprout puree with individual boulangere potatoes and honey roasted carrots.  I realise that sounds really rather posh and stuck-up but it really isn't - something I realised, that I had forgotten while making all of this is that actually cooking is pretty easy - its just the timing that you have to get right.  People shouldn't be scared of cooking - it does often look daunting but you've just got to play around with things, follow a few recipes and get to know what goes with what.

The sprout puree I do have to thank my eternally clever Mother for as its something she has made for years and it really is one of my favourite things ever. (Although, in my family it is known as "mush").  Its such a treat though, as it has a lot of cream and butter in it so its rare to get made but on this occasion I thought it was the perfect bed for the lamb and something a little different too.  I made a herb crust for the lamb made of breadcrumbs, mustard, parsley and thyme.  The boulangere potatoes would have been a nightmare before a few weeks ago when my delightful parents bought me a magimix.  Man alive, I don't what I did before I had one - they are unbelievable.  Cutting vegetables into thin slices will never be a problem again.


After a good break and lots more wine the final dish was served.  I made lemongrass panna cotta with a lime-creamed biscuit.  Panna cotta is another dish that sounds super scary to make but I was actually amazed that it literally is just boiling milk, cream and sugar together, adding some gelatine, putting it in the fridge and bobs your boob like wobbly dessert.  The lime-creamed biscuit was me attempting to use a piping bag and filling those cigar like biscuit curls with my cream mixture.  It was a bit of a faf if I'm honest, but I felt quite chef-like doing it, so I guess that was quite fun.


So, that's pretty much it.  Lots of wine, full bellies, a needless but wanted tray of chocolates at the end and hopefully some good food.  My friends will be the judges and I'll find out when my marks arrive at the end.  The third date is in the diary - January 2011 at Steph's house.  Another one to look forward to.

Just thought I'd share this with the world - my 2 favourite London food guilty pleasures -

Number 1 - Standing in my kitchen and eating baked beans from the tin:

Number 2 - Chocolate shakes with a shot of peanut butter from The Diner.  You must try them:


By the way I am very aware of the fact that I am a total weirdo!

It was my very fabulous Mum's 70th birthday a few weeks ago and my brothers and I decided for her present we would treat her to a full day of fun in London.  The majority of it was obviously going to be centred around food.  Helping us to get through the British Museum, Natural History Museum and a visit to the Southbank, we created an eclectic but very classically British menu in the form of breakfast at the Wolseley, a visit to the food department at Harrods, tea and cake at Claridges and a posh curry at Benares innit.

I've been to the Wolseley a few times and have never been disappointed.  Its pretty hard to not love it to be honest, the setting and ambiance are quite glamorous. At 8.30 in the morning the ratio of suits to mere mortals is fairly one-sided but nevertheless you feel warmly welcome and not out of place.  The breakfast menu is extensive with all manner of classic egg combos, thick and creamy yoghurt with all sorts, pancakes, french toast, pastries and the more bold and brave dishes such as haggis, kippurs and a caviar omelette (£60!)  I had blueberry pancakes that tasted delicious.  They were light, fluffy and perfectly sweet.
The service in there from the right staff is excellent but it does sometimes range from utterly charming to indifferent and snooty.

After seeing the incredible Book of the Dead Egyptian exhibition at the British Museum we decided to add in a late addition to the day to visit the food department at Harrods as my 35 year old brother has never even been there.  Harrods is certainly not the place it once was and it will be interesting to see if there are yet more tacky add ons now that the owner has changed hands.  However, the food halls are still absolutely beautiful and really fun to be in and gaze in awe at. The displays are truly mouth-watering and the range and varieties are comprehensive.  No visit to Harrods is complete for me without visiting the jelly belly counter as as a young teenager I used to always have to go and pick out an abundant amount of flavours to take home with me.



After Harrods we drove conveniently up the road to museum district and stopped off at the Natural History Museum to see the phenomenal Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.  God I want to be able to take photographs like that.  Some of them made my heart ache.

Anyway, I digress.  After that and a wander round the hordes of stuffed mammals we left to enjoy what I was most looking forward to the most - tea and cake at Claridges.  Now this really is glamorous stuff darling - pristine table cloths, grand piano, suave piano player, champagne for £10 a glass and Frank Lampard and Christine Bleakley at the next table.  Oh and Morrissey looking thoroughly miserable.  

This is a tea connoisseur's dream with at least 30 different varieties from all over the world and you'd better like tea as you'll probably drink about 4 cups.  Accompanying the tea is an array of finger sized treats starting with perfectly formed crustless sandwiches.  All lovely and simple such as egg and tomato, smoked salmon, the terribly British cucumber and cream cheese, roasted chicken and ham and lettuce.
The cakes and scones then followed.  A tray of apple and raisin scones  first with clotted cream and jam.  The apple ones were gorgeous and my favourite sweet treat of the afternoon.  The plate of cakes weren't really cakes - more like mini deserts and were certainly beautifully presented and well made but I was a little bit disappointed at some of the choices - there was a vanilla custard mille-feuille that was rich and yummy.  Then a fruit tart that I thought was a little bit of a cop out.  The passion fruit, chocolate and banana mousse with pistachio crumble was very nice but perhaps a little too small to appreciate all the flavours.  Finally a chocolate bomb with a lemon curd centre.  The chocolate was yummy and the lemon was yummy but lemon curd in a chocolate desert?  I thought it was a bit odd.

All that said, I'm just being a bit picky for the sake of it.  I loved it here and everything about it - plus I got to stare at Frank and he really is quite a cutie.



Finally after a long stroll along the Southbank and back up towards Mayfair we finished off the day with the ultimate curry-fare; a 2 michelin starred Indian restaurant.  Atul Kochar's Benares.  This is no ordinary Indian restaurant and actually you wouldn't recognise much on the menu if expecting Masala, Rogan Josh and Balti.  This is subtle flavouring with spices and a menu of quality rather than quantity.    With only 6 starters and 8 mains, between the 5 Sharff members we were able to sample most of what was on offer.
Starters were very clean and simple.  My spice crusted scallops in a grape and ginger dressing were certainly tasty and looked appetising but I struggled to find all of the combinations of flavours that were trying to get out.   My main course of lamb shank with gold leaf and chickpeas was cooked beautifully - no question but the subtle spicing just felt rather absent for me.  I could have been eating the same lamb shank in a gastropub with some mash.  To be honest, this was how I felt about several of the courses - they just felt a little bland. My Dad's choice of roasted roe deer fillet with venison biriyani and stuffed courgette sounded and looked incredible, but again, I just felt somewhat disconnected from what the flavours were trying to achieve.  Some were better, especially the side dishes that can often be overlooked.  Punjabi paneer with peas was delectable as was the goan spiced courgettes but the more I think about it I struggle to understand how this restaurant is worthy of 2 michelin stars.  The prices certainly reflect this (grossly) but I'm not sure the food does.

I feel overly harsh about my first experience with cordon bleu Indian food and perhaps I should open my eyes a little further.  People do say fantastic things about Benares.  The setting, style and service was certainly exquisite and effortless.  Maybe years of eating spicy English curries has deadened me inside......and my taste buds!