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Showing posts from September, 2015

Breakfast with my dad - Milk cafe

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My food bible! I have a long list of restaurants, bars, cafes and pop-ups that I want to visit in London. In fact I have a food bible where I take clippings from various magazines and newspapers and use it as a kind of foodie to-do list. Problem is, these places are on a lot of people's to-do lists, and with the increasing popularity to go with the no reservations policy, you can often struggle to get a foot in the door unless you queue for 45 minutes plus. But that's the weekends. So I have a couple of days off and my dad up to visit me - suddenly my options are limitless. So knowing my dad is a lover of coffee, I refer to my food bible and know just the place:  Milk  in Balham. This trendy white brick cafe sits along Hildreth Street Market and I'm told is a popular place for the mummy and baby groups of Balham. Obviously they took this particular day off as it was filled with a mixture of young professionals gazing at laptop screens, tourists and the odd

Chorizo and paprika rice

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This is a genuine "use what I had left in the fridge" recipe. The egg and crispiness from the grilled finish really makes this dish. I cooked for one (plus a bit spare), but the recipe below is for two. I also cooked this in a ovenproof frying pan, but for two or more I would probably transfer into individual ovenproof serving dishes as serving the egg in one piece is quite tricky / messy! Ingredients (serves 2): 100g chorizo, cut into 1cm slices 1 red onion, diced  1 green pepper, cut into 1cm strips 200g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 tsp paprika  1/2 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 4 cups of boiling water 2 cups of rice Olive oil 2 eggs Salt and pepper 1. Soften the onion in a little olive oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes. 2. Next add the chorizo and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the edges of the chorizo starts to crisp. 3. Add the peppers, paprika and garlic, coating all of the ingredients with the paprika a

Chicken, leek and pancetta pie in a pan

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I posted a picture of this on my Twitter  a while ago but never got round to writing up the recipe. It is a great all in one dish - just make sure you can use your frying pan in the oven and avoid touching the handle when you bring it out!! Ingredients (serves 2): 250g chicken, cut into small chunks 50g smoked pancetta, cubed 1 large leek, cut into 1cm slices Large knob of butter 1 flat tbsp plain flour 200ml milk 1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry (or make your own!) Olive oil 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. 2. Cook the chicken in a little olive oil for 4-6 mins over a medium heat. 3. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the chicken starts to colour and the pancetta starts to turn crisp. Set the chicken and pancetta aside, draining the fat from the pan. 4. In the same pan, melt the butter and soften the leeks over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes. 5. Remove from the heat and add the flour, allowing the butter to be abso