Day 38 - Pot Luck

Having been spectacularly bad this week at creating much from scratch I decided to make sure I did just that today. Gerry was at work until around 8pm so I had plenty of time to get the brain cells up and running after I hit the gym for a couple of hours. A mini boast here as I completed a 5k run in just over 30mins, 6 mins off my PB!

Anyway, on entering my flat after the gym I was hit by the smell of roasting chicken from another flat and since it was Sunday I decided to follow suit. I fired up the slow cooker and started to lightly brown a 1.5kg chicken in a tablespoon of olive oil for around 10 mins. This then went breast-side down in the slow cooker.  Next I added a large onion cut into 6 wedges to the pan with the remaining oil and cooked these until they just started to brown. I then added 500ml of dry cider, 3 tsp Dijon mustard and 2 tsp caster sugar. I brought the whole lot up to the boil, stirring continuously.

I then poured the liquid mixture into the slow cooker over the chicken, along with 700ml of chicken stock and 3 celery sticks, 3 carrots all roughly chopped. I also added 6 wedges of lemon and 2 tsp dried thyme. I made sure the vegetables and chicken were submerged below the level of the liquid to ensure they would all cook through evenly and thoroughly.

The lid then went on for around 5 hours on High. I was a little concerned about the volume of liquid since it was perilously near the top of the crock pot but luckily it didn't bubble over. Once it was cooked I lifted out the chicken and set aside on a plate. I then drained the liquid into a large dish, removing the vegetables with a slotted spoon to serve on the side. I made a gravy out of some of the stock, adding potato starch to thicken it up slightly and 1 heaped tsp chicken gravy granules. I also accompanied it with roast potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Pot-Roasted Chicken with Lemon

The end result was bloody fantastic. The chicken simply fell off the bone and the flavour of lemon, cider and thyme has really infused in the meat. It was the best roast I've done in quite some time and with minimal fuss. It was also so easy to pick the chicken from the bones for lunches in the week and I froze the chicken liquid as stock cubes for future use.  I highly recommend this method!

Day 37 - Tree Time

Once again I failed to cook anything this evening and I'm worried it's becoming a little bit of a habit due to this working marlarky. I shall need to get back on things next week!

Instead, Gerry and I opted to eat out and after a tour around our local restaurants we hit an old faithful in Banana Tree. It always has a great buzzy atmosphere because it's so busy but this did mean we ended up sharing a table with another couple. I was slightly annoyed by this fact but once I'd had my first sip of white wine such thoughts ebbed away and we looked at the menu that I should probably know by heart by now. 

We ordered a starter to share of chicken satay with peanut sauce which is always a good shout. They give you a good plentiful portion, with chunks of cucumber and whole peanuts and the chicken is crispy and succulent. We polished this off quickly!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

For our main courses, I went for something a little different to normal and chose a Thai salad with tilapia fish. They mistakenly served me a starter version of the salad,  which I obviously questioned and I ended up with the main course version for the price of  the starter - result! After the starter, I was starting to regret ordering something so healthy, fearing it would not be filling enough, especially since everyone around me had delicious looking stir fries and curries but I needn't have worried. The salad was actually really nice, plenty of fresh herbs, vegetables and chilli's with a light lemony dressing. The tilapia was lightly dusted in flour and spices and then fried and complemented the salad perfectly. I think I shall order it again! Gerry chose a noodle soup with chicken, which she said had a pretty tidy kick to it!

Thai Salad with Tilapia 

We had a good meal, I can't fault the food and my only gripe about tonight was again a slightly poor service. I understand it was busy but the lady serving us didn't even check that our food was ok and we had to flag down another waiter to change my salad for the correct size. Also, we weren't offered drink refills and honestly they could have got at least 2 more glasses of wine out of me, so their loss I suppose but my wallet's gain. It was a shame because now twice in a week I've had a meal out that was slightly marred by sloppy service. Can anyone recommend somewhere with the best service they ever received in London? I'm open to all suggestions!

Day 36 - That Friday Feeling

We went to see Hesta Prynn perform tonight and therefore decided to grab some dinner on the way. My first thought, since the gig was at Koko near Mornington Crescent tube, was to try out the highly recommended Japanese, Asakusa. However, it being a Friday night at peak time the chances of a table were slim to none so we settled on a back-up plan of El Parador, a well regarded tapas restaurant nearby just in case.

We got to Mornington Crescent around 8pm and our suspicions were confirmed at Asakusa so we headed along the small parade of shops to El Parador. We were just in time and managed to nab the last unreserved table. Although the inside of the restaurant is fairly sparse with a few Spanish paintings on the wall, the atmosphere was lovely and lively. We were promptly given a fairly vast and varied menu and ordered ourselves a beer and cider while we perused the many offerings. The menu was split into three main sections - Meat, Fish, and Vegetarian. To be honest, there was so much on the menu that I would have loved to have tried but we settled on the following after our waitress suggested we share 5 dishes between us:

Panceta con Cidre - Rolled Pork Belly marinated with garlic, black pepper and dill and braised in Asturian Cider. This was delicious and moist, if a little heavy on the old black pepper.

Calamares a la Romana - Squid marinated with lemon and coriander, lightly dusted with flour and then deep fried. This was crispy, light and a good size helping.

Pollo a la Plancha al Morroquin - Grilled chicken thighs marinated with harissa, lime, garlic and ginger. The portion was pretty damn big and heavily spiced.  I felt it was slightly dry to be honest but Gerry tucked in merrily.

Patatas Harra - Ratte potatoes pan-fried with rosemary, Harrisa, caramelized leeks and roasted red cherry tomatoes. These were nice if a little oily and I think I would have preferred simpler potato dish such as Patatas Bravas, as there was almost too much going on in this one.

Finally, Brecol del Parador - Brocolli florets pan-fried with roasted green peppers, roasted silver skin onions and smoked Idiazabal cheese shavings. This was perhaps the most disappointing of the dishes because we felt there was far too much oil for something that should have been clean and fresh.

The dishes were brought out with a speed that would make Superman jealous and it felt a little too much all in one go, I like a meal to be more of an occasion. I think they were keen to retrieve the table quickly and we did feel a little rushed. The service was good but there were no offers of drink refills which I always find frustrating. Restaurants would do so much better our of me if they only offered!

Overall, we did enjoy the meal, despite the hectic speed at which it was delivered but felt that a couple of the dishes were a little too heavy on the oil and after a while it marred the taste of the others we had ordered. I also felt, given the size of them all, that 4 dishes would have sufficed.

I will probably try this one again because I feel it has promise, if only we are given the time to appreciate it a little more!

Day 35 - It's a Miso Good

Today I felt I really need to cook something. I'd relied on eating out and takeout for all the meals so far this week and that really was quite poor. I'd got inspiration from Boo in London, who very nicely commented on one of my previous posts, Day 30, about my foray into Japanese cooking with the help of my Everyday Harumi cookbook. She had also just purchased the book and her first recipe was that of Miso Minced Beef with Udon noodles. I had all the ingredients and it seemed pretty straightforward so I was good to go.

Recipe to follow.

It turned out really well and I served it with shredded leeks and cucumber strips and of course udon noodles which I have now learnt to cook correctly. They need to be tender yet have a slight bite to them still. The trick is to remove them from the saucepan with a slotted spoon, reserving the hot cooking liquid and rinse them under cold water immediately after cooking to rid them of the starch which makes them stick together. Then prior to serving revive them with the hot reserved liquid.

Miso Minced Beef

I do so love a good miso sauce because of it's sweet but salty flavouring and the fact it is so versatile. It will probably feature a lot in the months to come.

Day 34 - Sun and Sushi

It was lovely and sunny today and things looked a little brighter. I skipped the gym because Gerry had the evening free, it would be our first together in what seemed quite a while. I had grand ambitions to cook something up but to be honest, this working malarky really takes it out of you. By the time I arrived home I was quite intent in ordering a fresh batch of sushi from our new favourite Eat Sushi. It was duly late as always, so I could perhaps start to go off the boil of this place. I ordered my usual of mixed sashimi and paired it with a salmon and tuna set.  Gerry went for a chicken katsu with miso soup.

Now normally I rave about this place but I think I might need to explore new venues for a while after today's offering. The sashimi was still the bees knees, fresh and plentiful with a good helping of shredded daikon. It is great value for money.

The rolls were ok, with nigiri rice soft but not falling apart but I felt the roll fillings could have been slightly more generous.  Perhaps I just miss having a helping of fresh ginger and wasabi too, I think packets are a very lazy offering.

Gerry's said her miso soup was nice if a little salty but her chicken katsu was very disappointing. The chicken itself looked and tasted like a cheap frozen and very thin breadcrumbed fillet and the curry sauce tasted full of additives and colouring. Being hungry she ate it part of it but it did not taste good. A disappointing offering from this restaurant as the noodles we have had before have been fairly high quality.

Overall, I felt a little disappointed about tonight and almost wished I'd got off my butt and cooked after all... or...perhaps it is just time for a change.

Day 33 - Not Feeling It

Maybe it was second day blues but I didn't feel on form today. Work seemed to go on forever and I didn't quite feel myself. I think perhaps it's because everyone else has been working together for quite some time and I'm the new girl. Working on fitting in is actually tiring work. I know in this industry when you enter a new job you have to go in all personality guns blazing but I'm getting older now and my drive for this sort of thing has waned slightly. Don't get me wrong I love meeting new people but as always it takes me a little while to get into my groove, knowing who to trust. There are people in TV who gush from the outset and treat you are though you are simply the best thing since sliced bread, their new best friend. It's nice to be welcomed but this type of friendship is short-lived as they soon move on to someone newer and seemingly more interesting. My friends have always said that mostly, at the beginning, I am a little more reserved, I scope people out before committing. I know this can sometimes comes across as a little serious and unfriendly and it's something I've worked on hard over the years to overcome. I think I've achieved it mostly but it still takes me a little time before I let people in. Take this new job, I've a feeling I'm going to really like the people I work with, two or three in particular, but I've not given much away up until now. At some point I will mention Gerry, but not right now. It doesn't feel like the right time. It's not because I fear their reaction or judgement but because I'm not sure I want to trust people with that level of knowledge into my life just yet. We'll see, I'm there with them for a while so it might happen at some point.

Anyway, that's the introspective moment over. To this end by the time I came home I didn't feel like cooking at all. Gerry had her friend T over and they were merrily playing Mario Kart on Xbox. She had suggested we go out and I was in no mood to resist so we all went up to Strada brandishing a 2 for 1 voucher. As it happened we didn't end up using the voucher and I plumped for 2 courses for £12.50.

Once seated we were attended too almost immediately and given no real time for decisions. With the pressure of the waitress hovering above me I made some hurried choices. First off I went for the Insalata di Spinaci which comprised of baby spinach leaves, sliced avocado and pancetta with parmesan shavings in a mustard dressing.  This which was actually pretty good. The avocado was lovely and ripe, not too many leaves and the mustard dressing not too overpowering.

I had problems deciding what to choose for main course and opted for a Spaghetti al Ragu. This is not normally one of my preferred dishes, so much so that I don't even really cook it at home but today it seemed like the best option. The braised minced beef ragu was rich but fairly sparse compared to the mountain of spaghetti that it adorned. I also could have done with a slightly chunkier consistency, however, there were pleasant herby flavours in the tomato sauce.

We opted to forgo dessert because the service was patchy at best and we had quite a wait between courses. I thought this a little poor considering the restaurant was only half full. We left sated but slightly dissatisfied because poor service will always leave a slightly bad taste in my mouth. Strada I probably won't be back for a little while.

Day 32 - Eating in the Med

Today I started my new job, I was nervous I'll admit it. It's always a little strange going into a new office, especially when everyone there has been working together for some time. Still I got on with things and it seemed to go ok. I have lovely views from my window of the Oxo Tower and if I crane my neck, then St Pauls.  Hopefully I'll be happy here.

Anyway, what made the day less daunting was the fact I was due to meet up with some former fellow colleagues; H, T and J, later that evening at The Med Kitchen near Leicester Square. I'd managed to book a Toptable deal where we got 3 courses and a glass of vino for £15. I arrived promptly after striding quickly across from the other side of the river, while the others were slightly more tardy. However, we were on time for our table and as we were led to your seats, the ambience did seem lovely. Muted lights and candles were lovely and very welcoming after a busy first day. We perused the menu while animatedly catching up, sometimes I think if I were a waitress I would go spare at the time some people take to decide but on this occasion we were quite good, only asking for a couple more minutes. There was a good choice for all three courses, although they did ask us to decide dessert from the ouset, something which I find highly irritating. How do I know what I will feel like after the first two courses, it could be totally different from the start. However, the restaurant was actually quite busy, especially for a Monday night, so I chose to not let it spoil things.

I love meeting up with these particular friends because we always have great fun and lots of laugher. I've always enjoyed working with them too and I find it refreshing that even after all this time we still find time to get together over good food and wine for a gossip. We always had brilliant lunches when we worked together and in all my time working freelance last year, it was certainly one of the things I missed the most.

Anyway, back to the food. For started I ordered a goats cheese and caramelized onion bruschetta. It was served very promptly and despite a fairly unappetising appearance was actually rather lovely. So lovely in fact that I was more than half-way through before I remembered to take a photo.  Apologies for low light on all these pictures, my phone could really do with a flash! The T and J went for the duck parfait, which was good but didn't deliver glowing results. Finally H opted for a poached egg's Benedict style dish, I can't quite remember exactly but I think she said it was nice.

Caramelized Onion & Feta Bruschetta

For main I opted for steak hache with fries and salad, so essentially burger and chips. I asked for my meat to be done medium rare and they delivered a good result. The shoestring fries weren't on a par with the meat but moreish as fries always tend to be. I felt they were the end of a batch and could have been crisper and hotter. Three of us had gone for the steak hache but T being slightly adventurous went with the option I'd toyed with, a salmon fishcake and fries. It did look delicious and T said it cut the mustard.

Steak Hache & Fries

Finally, for dessert I had chosen a berry coulis with crème fraiche, while the others went for a crème caramel. The third option was a chocolate cheesecake and had I been able to chose after the main was served I would have quite possibly opted for this instead because the coulis was not especially great. It was over-sweet and with a blob of creme fraiche just dabbed on the top, it felt a little like I was just a load of jam.

Red Berry Coulis & Creme Fraiche

The whole meal was paired with our included glass of wine and another bottle of house rose. Nice but not memorable. We rounded off the dinner with teas and coffees and realised the hours had passed quickly. It was a lovely meal but if I had one criticism, it was that the courses came out very close together and there was no real time to catch our breath. We were served all three courses within an hour I think and this resulted in all of us feeling rather overful. It was also a little fruitless since we sat and talked for much longer anyway and courses could have been spread out more. I know they are under pressure to turn tables but on a Monday night when, although busy, not filled to capacity they could have slowed the pace a little.

We bid each other adeiu until next time, we are already planning one for March, and I'm looking forward to it already.