Yesterday's food - pub lunch followed by curry - grrrrrreat!!

Mmmm, I'm practically salivating just thinking about yesterday's food. I met some friends at the White Hart for lunch (again) and this time had an open sandwich with roasted veg and goat's cheese. It was on a smallish slice of granary bread, with roasted peppers, onions and courgettes and an enormous slab of charred goat's cheese. The cheese wasn't as delicate as some, and it was a little too much for me, but it was good with the veg and bread. The salad on the side had a tangy mustard dressing which I liked
a lot and there were Salty Dog (if I'm not mistaken) crisps on the side. It was all for £4.95 - a great lunch, as you can see above.

In the evening two friends I hadn't seen for ages came round for supper armed with lots of red wine. At Christmas I had been given a packet of ready-measured spices to make 'prawns in a hot and sweet sauce' (spice packet made by Kitchen Guru) and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to sample it. The spices included were cumin seeds, a mix of ground coriander and cumin, amchoor (dried mango powder), red chilli powder, turmeric and garam masala. I also used some red chillis, lots of garlic, a green pepper, onions, tomato puree and fresh tomatoes, finely chopped. The curry was fairly dry, so I added a couple of tinned tomatoes near the end to give a bit more of a sauce.

I always think a really good curry needs a few accompaniments to ensure lots of flavours, or maybe it's just because I'm greedy, but I decided to cook a variation on brinjal bhaji (with a whole aubergine, onion, a few cherry tomatoes to add some colour, lots of garlic and cumin) to have as a side dish, and served the lot with brown rice (it was overcooked and I do apologise), garlic and coriander mini-naans, yoghurt and an onion salad. We all had seconds (and some of us, thirds) and I shall do my best to make a similar curry again, perhaps without the Kitchen Guru's help this time...

BTW, you can't see any rice in the photo but it was there (it wasn't so overcooked it was inedible or anything), but it was just hidden underneath the rest in the bowl, I promise.

Homemade lasagne

It's strange but I don't think I've ever made lasagne before. I think it's mainly because I'm too greedy when I'm making a meat sauce like bolognese and I want to eat it with spaghetti or something quick. And I do love a good spaghetti bolognese.

But tonight I fancied making lasagne, so I went out and bought some Sainsbury's organic (no need to precook) lasagne sheets. I made a big bolognese with a kilo of beef and the usual veg, the rest of pack of bacon, red wine and a couple of 'secret' ingredients (worcestershire sauce, a dash of balsamic vinegar, tabasco, a few crushed chillis, a bouquet garni) - everyone has their own special bolognese recipe, I suppose, and mine varies slightly with my mood. Anyway, I added some parmesan to the white sauce to give it a cheesy edge and layered it up with the pasta (dipped into some hot water first to give it a head start) and the meat mixture then let it bubble with some parmesan on the top for extra browning.

Happily, it worked brilliantly and wasn't half as much effort after the meat stage as I thought it might have been before I started. There's something about lasagne that's so comforting so I'm sure I'll make it again soon. In the meantime I've got three pots of bolognese to freeze for quick suppers.

Sainsbury's tomato and basil soup

It's really nice. A powerful tomato flavour with big chunks of tomato and and bits of onion, and you can see the basil, which I like. I'm not a big fan of thick, smooth soup that kind of coats your teeth and this isn't and doesn't. I don't understand why people like soup to have no bits - it's just boring. Anyway, I sometimes have half a pot but today I had a whole. And I grated lots of parmesan on the top - living dangerously!

Monday salad and stirfry

It's been a healthy day today but god I could do with an unhealthy snack RIGHT NOW. After I'd been to the gym (yes, for the first time in 2007 - it was horrible) I had a slice of toast with wholenut peanut butter, then for lunch I made a salad with the rest of the spinach, watercress and rocket and some Sainsbury's mixed salad (I like the cabbage crunch), cherry tomatoes and carrots, a raw mushroom (haven't had one of those for ages), some of the obligatory pumpkin seeds (they'll be obligatory until I finish the packet and it's a big one) and a John West tuna with a twist, (the lime and black pepper version). It was nice.

But at about 5.00 I had to have two slices of toast with peanut butter - I was starving and cold, and I fancied comfort food, but a cup of tea hadn't helped.

I had quite a late supper of tuna steak, marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger on stirfried veg with a dash of soy sauce and a dash of sherry vinegar in it to give it some flavour. It was tasty and I tried to make it more rare than I have before but to be honest I didn't really notice much difference apart from what it looked like. I think I prefer the lime and chilli marinade I've used on previous occasions, but it was worth trying. Bloody hell I'm starving. Can somebody find me a big chocolate cake please?

Garlic bread...

A great evening greed-snack.

Saturday supper - a not-so-healthy meal

We spent most of this afternoon going through papers and cupboards and tidying as our flat needed a proper blitz. My dad rang in the evening and told me about two curries he's had recently - I was starving and that didn't help matters much. So we nearly got a takeaway to reward ourselves after all the work we'd done. But we had a Vietnamese on Thursday and we try not to have them too often, and reluctantly I cooked a pasta supper.

To save time I used a Sacla tomato and marscarpone sauce, which we had with extra onions, green pepper, courgette, garlic and a few halved cherry tomatoes. At the last minute, when I drained the wholewheat pasta (which I now prefer to white pasta, unless I'm making a cream-based sauce - I think you need something spicy to stand up to the stronger, more fibrous flavour of the wholewheat variety), I added a big load of cubed mozzarella (hence the not-so-healthy meal). I grated parmesan on the top and added a bit of black pepper. I thought it was a bit flavourless, but I've still got a bit of a cold so I hope that's why. It was big and warm though, which was just what we wanted.

Saturday white anchovy salad - a healthy lunch

This morning we had the hangover after the night before and, having slept it off for ages, we felt we needed some seriously healthy food for lunch. We decided on marinated anchovies (they were packaged in a little pot from Waitrose - expensive but well worth it) on a bed of spinach, watercress and rocket leaves, cherry tomatoes and a few pinenuts and pumpkin seeds as they were so good and crunchy on my salad yesterday. We didn't need any dressing as the anchovies are so powerful and delicious.

I can't eat those horrible little brown and hairy anchovies from tins - they just taste so wrong - but these silver little fillets from Waitrose (or I've seen them at olive stalls in posh markets) are simply amazing. They're pretty, they taste powerfully vinegary, they're smooth and fresh-looking AND they're so good for you, full of all the fish oils and all that. I wish we had them more often... happily I've got another tub of them in the fridge, so I know I won't have to wait long.

Friday food (b) salmon with sweet pototo mash, leeks in white sauce and broccoli

Mmmmm, this was great. And it looks so nice and colourful. It was quite quick too - I simmered the peeled and cubed sweet spuds while I made leeks in white sauce. The salmon took about 4 minutes in the microwave, steamed above some milk, with a slice of lemon on top of each, and I bunged the broccoli in with the sweet potatoes to simmer for a few minutes before I served (to create as little washing up as possible). Lovely, especially with a glass of white wine - who cares about January detox anymore? Not me it seems...

Friday food (a) pork and pumpkin seed salad

For lunch on Friday I had this rather unappetising-looking meal - a cold pork salad. I'd defrosted the pork to have on Thursday night, but when I got round to cooking I really felt knackered and couldn't be bothered, and my boyfriend couldn't either, so we got a delicious takeaway from the local Vietnamese (singapore noodles, crispy beef and squid in tamarind sauce). But I'd defrosted the pork, so before I went to bed I cooked it up with some onions and garlic, a touch of sherry vinegar and soy sauce and, after cooling, left it in the fridge for the next day.

So, I had half the pork/onion mixture for lunch on Friday with a pack of Sainsbury's crispy salad, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and pinenuts, some cherry tomatoes (I have no idea why I arranged them around the plate 70's style) and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and balsamic vinegar. It was big, quite filling, and tastier than it looks.

Tuna steak - mmmmmmmm

I've just realised I never blogged about this. I ate it on Monday night. I marinated the tuna steak in a garlic/ginger/chilli/lemon/ coriander mixture then griddled it over a high heat and served it with stirfry veg (again), pak choi with soy sauce and brown rice. Quick and oh so tender and tasty.

Another prawn stirfry

I seem to have prawn stirfrys a lot, but they're always so nice I don't think it matters. It has to be the quickest hot meal possible. Well, I can't think of any freshly-made meal that might steal that crown at the moment. If you can, let me know.

Anyway, last night I broke a New Year's resolution (the main one in fact). It started off as 'let's not drink in January', an idea we felt was good for our wallets, our sanity and our health. Then a planned evening with friends last Friday meant it morphed into 'let's not drink in the week in January and only once at the weekend'. But last night a friend came over to sort out some stuff on my computer and suggested we meet in the pub first as he was in the mood for celebrating. I put up a big of a struggle, but I confess, not enough. A glass or two of red wine or two later, I realised I'd promised to cook a meal so we could eat by 7.15 and go out. There was nothing for it but to rush home and make a prawn stirfry with whatever was in the fridge.

I used a pack of Sainsbury's crunchy salad, a couple of onions, a red pepper, an aubergine, Sainsbury's king prawns, two blocks of Sharwood's egg noodles and a Blue Dragon Oyster and spring onion sauce. It was ready in ten minutes and easily enough for the three of us - perfect.

Vojan, 422 St. John Street, Islington, London EC1V 4NJ

I'm delighted to have found a good curry house in Islington. I've tried a few in the area but they've all been disappointing. Until Vojan. I met a friend who works in Angel for lunch today and she suggested we try Vojan's lunch menu. I've got a stinking cold and thought a curry would be just the thing.

It was. I had an Empress Delight - chunks of chicken tikka with sauteed onions, peppers, tomato and coriander, served with naan and salad. A fantastic dish, it was clearly freshly made, using good quality ingredients. It was filling enough to make me feel like I'd been out for a proper lunch, all for only £4.95. Amazing. My friend had barbecued fish (I think it was salmon), served with a veg curry, rice and a naan. Hers looked good too (£4.95 also). The service was friendly, and they gave us each one of their own minty chocolates with our bill - I know some might consider it tacky, but I love it when places do that. I'd take chocolate over a nasty shot of amaretto any day. I took a copy of their takeaway menu and it looks like it's very good value in the evenings too - I'm going to remember this place.