Eating My Way Through... April

Keeping a blog is really like keeping an extravagant diary and I thought it would fun to summarise my foodie highlights by creating a monthly feature, starting, of course, with April.

Kicking things off with Mamas the Word gammon ham roll with chili jam and rocket which I found at what must have been my discovery of the month - foodie paradise, Maltby Street Market.

Rolling Hills and Homity Pies

Last weekend M and I escaped the Big Smoke for the Wiltshire/Dorset border.

St Catherine's Chapel - Abbotsbury

Maltby Street Market

Move over Borough Market, there's a new market in town...

Maltby Street Market

Restaurant Review: Mes Amis

We were due in Hammersmith last night for a friend's dinner so I spent time researching on Trip Advisor for somewhere to eat beforehand. After the excesses of Christmas and the New Year we were both after something healthy that wouldn't dent the purse too much.

After reading lots of reviews, we plumped for Mes Amis.

Situated on a quiet residential street in Hammermsith Mes Amis is unique.

Saturday shopping

Yesterday ended up being really successful. My stupid body clock meant that I (again) woke up early, but it did at least mean that I managed to get into a spinning class at 9:15am.

Once that was done and dusted, I ate one of my breakfast muffins (recipe to follow soon - these really are the best) and M and I went to Oxford Street (something which I've been meaning to do for what feels like weeks, but haven't managed to squeeze in).

I quickly found a sturdy pair of winter boots that I've been hunting for for ages in Russell and Bromley and picked up some discount sportswear in Sports Direct. Our Nespresso capsules had been getting alarmingly low so we stocked up in the Regent Street store before sampling the new chocolate coffee blend.

After that we had a well earned lemon tart sitting outside at Brasserie Zedel. This felt super continental and luxurious - whoever heard of sitting outside in October?! Long may this Indian summer last!

We then ambled down to Green Park. I'm so glad we did. We ended up wandering into Carpo (a new Spanish dried fruit, coffee and chocolate bar - seriously cool and worth a visit). We purchased some almond chocolate.

After this, we called into Minamoto Kitchoan (a Japanese sweet cakes shop). It was so beautiful and tranquil - I felt like I'd been transported to Japan. I bought a delicious glutinous rice, red bean paste and sweet chestnut cake. The texture takes a bit of getting used to, but it was absolutely delicious.

I couldn't resist visiting Burlington Arcade (I can't wait for the Christmas lights to go up in there, it's so very christmassy) and ogling the Lauderee macarons which are supposed to be the best macarons in London. I can't comment on that because after Brasserie Zedel and my Japanese cake, I was well and truly stuffed, but I'm sure I'll get round to sampling them one day.

It was such an unexpectedly good day, which we rounded off with dinner at Claude's Kitchen in Parsons Green, somewhere I'd definitely recommend. I couldn't take any pictures unfortunately because it was lit pretty much exclusively by candlelight and it would have been ultra disturbing to the other diners if I'd used my flash.


What are the best Maracrons you've ever tried? What did you do this weekend?  

Restaurant review: The Northall at the Corinthian

It was my best friend Caz's birthday a couple of weeks ago. I was keen to take her out for dinner to celebrate. I ended up choosing the Northall restaurant at the Corinthian Hotel near Trafalgar square as I'd eaten there before and really enjoyed the experience. 

The Northall - source

The Northall is pretty expensive so I was really pleased to find a pre-theatre Toptable offer of three courses for £30 plus a glass of champagne - pretty good value I thought. The menu itself is good too. Some set menus can be really restrictive in terms of options and some are clearly just offering the cheapest food too. The Northall's menu included steak without an additional charge which I was impressed with. 

The surroundings are very plush - it feels like you're in a very exclusive place; perfect for treating the birthday girl. The service itself was amazing in terms o f our waiter, Omar, who was the sweetest waiter imaginable. The only problem was that we had over an hour wait between our starters and main course. This was fine as we had loads to talk about, and weren't actually going to the theatre, but it would have been hugely annoying if we had been off to watch something.

I started with butternut squash soup and goats cheese which they poured out of a jug for me at the table. I particularly liked the addition of the goat's cheese as it added a welcome tang. Caz chose a duck terrine which she enjoyed. Sorry about the state of the photos - phone plus low lighting makes for terrible pictures.

A special note on the bread which was delicious. We would have accepted more when they offered us a second helping had we known how long we'd have to wait for our mains! Caz had a rich red wine risotto. Unfortunately, Caz is an expert risotto maker and found the Northall's sadly lacking - it was bit too stodgy for her liking. My rump steak was delicious and perfectly cooked to my liking, although bizarrely they didn't bother to ask how I liked it cooking.

I chose badly for dessert; the promising sounding raspberry mille feuille wasn't great. It was served with a citrus sorbet which together with the raspberry was far too sharp for my taste. Plus there really weren't anywhere near to a thousand leaves of pastry more like three. Caz chose a saffron and white chocolate cream dessert with pear caviar which was deliciously decadent. I couldn't taste or see any hint of the saffron though. We finished our meal with complimentary chocolates (made with water, not milk - apparently this gives a purer flavour. I didn't like them) and coffee owing to our long delay in food.

I would definitely recommend the Northall for a special occasion, but only if you're using a special offer. It's probably not worth the money if you were to pay full price for everything. 

Where do you like to celebrate special occasions?

food: decadent chocolate cake

I hardly ever make chocolate cake.

I'm much more of fresh, light type of cake girl. Lemon drizzle cake is a particular favourite, as is carrot cake with a lime mascarpone topping.

I knew then, that when I promised M a chocolate cake, it had to be a good one.

After scanning the Internet (and most of my cookbooks) for recipes, I chose to follow this one. Although I never usually pick American recipes (as I can't be bothered with converting the units from cups to grams), the feedback for this cake was so good that I couldn't resist.

I'd bought some chocolate especially for making the topic and as the recipe above didn't use real chocolate (only cocoa powder), I borrowed a Nigella recipe for icing. The icing itself is like a lovely ganache - beautifully soft.

Finally I decided to add a layer of apricot jam between the icing and chocolate cake. My friend Lucy did this on a birthday cake she made me and I liked it so much that I couldn't resist adding it myself.

So yes, the recipe below really is a mismash - but the result? Amazing! Such a decadent chocolate cake without being too rich. I may have eaten several huge slices.

Feeds at least 12

300g plain flour
450g caster sugar
140g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sodium bicarbonate
1 tsp salt
1 tsp instant coffee granules
240 ml milk
120ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
240 ml boiling water
2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Prepare two 25cm sandwich tins with greased baking paper.
2. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, sodium bicarbonate and salt to a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon to combine.
3. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla to the flour mixture and mix together with either a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until well combined.
4. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and carefully add to the cake batter. Beat on a high speed for around a minute. Don't worry if the batter seems very wet to you - it's meant to be!

those are air bubbles, not lumps!

5. Distribute the batter evenly between the two cake tins.
6. Bake for 31-35 minutes, by which time a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean and the cakes will have begun to shrink away from the sides.
7. Remove from the tins and allow to cool on a wire rack.

For the icing:

5 tbsp apricot jam (warmed in a saucepan for a few minutes)
125 ml water
30g light muscovado sugar
175g butter
300g dark chocolate

1. Brush your cakes with the melted apricot jam.

2. Place the water, sugar and butter into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar and butter have melted.

3. Remove from the heat and add your chocolate. Stir until it has all melted.

4. Leave for approximately an hour (stirring occasionally).

5. Spread the chocolate icing generously over the top of one of the cakes and place the other cake on top. Finally cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the icing.

Restaurant review: Brasserie Zedel

Brasserie Zedel is a fabulous place to visit if you're after a meal which is a real occasion. Situated near Piccadilly, it's also the perfect place to go for a pre or post theatre dinner.

source

After walking down a large flight of stairs, a huge dining room awaits you. The surroundings are incredibly opulent with perfect waiters and waitresses attired in classic uniforms bobbing around. To finish it off, there was a live pianist. It really feels like you've been transported back to Paris in the 1920s.

source

And the best thing about Brasserie Zedel? The price tag. All the dishes are reasonably priced - main dishes only really hit £15 at most, but it's the prix fixe menu which offers the best value at 3 courses for £11.75

Being cheap skates and very unoriginal, we all plonked for the prix fixe menu.

plentiful free french baguette

Unfortunately, my photos don't do it justice - I really ought to have used the flash.

We started with celeriac remoulade - this was really like a fancy coleslaw.

For main, it was chopped steak in a rich peppercorn creamy sauce accompanied by fries.

Then on to dessert - my favourite part of the Brasserie Zedel menu.

The prix fixe menu dessert was cafe gourmand - a cafetiere of coffee complete with mini desserts. Really great, but I simply had to order a floating island as well - a chilled custard with a poached meringue and praline slithers. This is quite possibly my most favourite dessert of all time. Light, yet luxurious and perfect to finish dinner with.

Cafe gourmand

floating island

My friend Sharenja picked the Brasserie's signature lemon tart. Probably the best lemon tart I've ever tried - a lovely thin pastry filled with a super zingy lemon filling.

If you have a special occasion coming up or just want a reasonably priced meal in opulent surroundings, then I can't recommend Brasserie Zedel enough.

Where's your favourite place to visit when you're celebrating a special occasion?

Food: apricot flapjack

I was determined to make some energy rich snacks to take along to the Lake District as I knew I'd be doing lots of really difficult walks.

M ate a delicious apricot flapjack in Cornwall the previous week, so that immediately sprung to mind. Rich in slow release oats, natural sugar and apricots, apricot flapjack really is the perfect walking snack. Coupled with this, flapjacks retain their freshness for quite a while when compared with other baked goods and are relatively easy to package up.

I spent a while scanning through recipes, before choosing this one. I was so pleased with the result. It's possibly the best flapjack I've ever made. I particularly like the apricot running through the middle of the flapjack which keeps it beautifully most. Obviously feel free to use any combination of dried fruits; dates and figs also work very well.

Makes 12 squares

225g dried apricots
175g butter
3 tbsp golden syrup
75g light muscovado sugar
300g rolled porridge oats

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius.
2. Chop the apricots finely.

3. Heat the apricots in a saucepan with 2 tbsp of water for 5 minutes.
4. In a separate large pan, melt the butter, sugar and syrup.
5. Stir in the oats and mix together thoroughly.

6. Spoon half the mixture into a greased baking tin (I use an 8 inch square tin) and press down the mix.

7. Spread your apricot onto the oats and level.

8. Add the remaining oats to the top and press down.

9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

 What's your favourite high energy snack? Do you prefer your flapjack with fruit or without?