Thursday 24 March 2022

BAKED SALMON WITH THE BEST CREAMY LEMON SAUCE


This super tasty dinner essentially is a fishy version of meat and two veg but oh my is it far from average!!!! The baked salmon, roast broccoli and slow roast potatoes are indeed elevated into something rather special when topped with the out of this world herby lemon cream sauce that comes with this dish! A wholesome supper for wish you really only need one big roasting tray and one saucepan but which delivers on all flavour fronts! Absolutely a new regular in the recipe repertoire.

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BAKING TRAY

  • For the Sheet Pan:
  • 750g baby new potatoes
  • Olive oil + garlic powder, salt, and pepper
  • 250g tenderstem broccoli 
  • 2 salmon fillets
FOR THE LEMON & HERB SAUCE
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1–2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2–3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • chopped fresh parsley or basil
  • salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
  • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. . 
  • Add the potatoes to a large baking tray and toss with a little bit of olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. 
  • Roast for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned and delicious.
  • While the potatoes are roasting, make your sauce. 
  • Melt the butter over medium low heat. 
  • Add the garlic, shallot, and thyme sprigs; sauté for 3-5 minutes until soft and fragrant. 
  • Add broth and cream; bring to a low simmer. 
  • Let the sauce hang out over low heat until it starts to thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the thyme sprigs. 
  • Whisk in the lemon juice, stir in the herbs, and season with salt and pepper. 
  • Add the broccoli and the salmon to the potato pan (keeping the potatoes on there). 
  • Toss or brush with a little more oil, salt, and pepper. 
  • Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the salmon is just cooked, I like have it a little on the raw side
  • Serve salmon, potatoes, and broccoli with big spoonfuls of sauce, more herbs, and more lemon wedges AND ENJOY!

Tuesday 22 March 2022

WHIPPED GOATS CHEESE & YOGURT TOPPED WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH, ZHOUG & ROASTED HAZELNUTS


OK, not to overstate things but this dip is pretty much life changing. In fact I would even say it is the best dip I have ever made with my own hands, if not the best dip to ever pass my lips!! 

Why? Well the combo of roasted butternut squash chunks, zhoug (a bold, herbal spice sauce with coriander, cloves, parsley and a kick of green chilli), whipped yogurt and goats cheese with a hint of lemon and roasted hazelnuts, all combined and layered together is simply STUNNING!

Make it as a starter, for a picnic or just about any time of the day -  trust me on this one, make this ASAP and never look back!

I served the dip with a fluffy white Turkish flatbread but it will work equally well with pitta bread, crudités or even slices of baguettes.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 Large Butternut Squash
  • 300g Greek Yoghurt
  • 100g Goat's Cheese
  • 2 Lemons
  • 1 Green Chilli
  • 1 Clove of Garlic
  • 2 Bunches of Coriander (60g)
  • 2 Tsp Ground Cardamom
  • 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
  • ½ Tsp Chili Flakes
  • 50g Hazelnuts
  • Bread to serve
METHOD
  • Slice the butternut squash into bite sized chunks. 
  • Toss in a roasting tray with a good drizzle of olive oil and a big pinch of salt and roast for about 40 mins until golden.
  • In a bowl, mix together the greek yogurt and goat's cheese with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. 
  • Set aside. 
  • Grate the garlic into a blender before chopping up your chilli and adding to the blender along with the coriander, cardamom, cumin and chilli flakes.
  • Squeeze in the juice of a lemon and add about 100ml of olive oil. 
  • Whizz until not quite smooth.
  • Once the squash is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. 
  • Spread the yoghurt and goat's cheese mixture across a large plate and then pile up the squash, drizzling each layer with some of the zhoug.
  • Roughly chop and toast the hazelnuts, sprinkle over the top and finish with the rest of the zhoug 

Thursday 17 March 2022

THE EASIEST PRAWN & CHILLI SPAGHETTI WITH FRESH BASIL


It finally feels like spring is in the air and this prawn pasta is just about the perfect supper for warmer days! 

Easy to make, super tasty and full of fresh flavours, you really cannot go wrong with this pasta!! Plus it's ready to be eaten in less than half an hour!

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 200g/7oz raw king prawns, deveined
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, or a pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree 
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 400g spaghetti or linguine
  • Large bunch of basil, leaves roughly torn
METHOD
  • Heat half the oil in a deep frying pan over a high heat. 
  • Add the prawns and half the garlic. Fry for 2–3 minutes or until the prawns turn pink. 
  • Tip onto a plate and set aside.
  • Reduce the heat to medium. 
  • Add the remaining oil, the rest of the garlic and the chilli. Fry for 2 minutes. 
  • Add the tomato purée and chopped tomatoes, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes. 
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pan of salted water according to the packet instructions. 
  • Drain the pasta, reserving the cooking water. 
  • Add the pasta to the sauce with a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and toss together to coat the pasta. Return the prawns to the pan, add the basil and toss everything together.

Tuesday 15 March 2022

LINA STORES KINGS CROSS







O M G! Finally a restaurant review on this blog again!!! I promise these will make a much more regular appearance (alongside travel guides) this year now that I have settled into my new job.

I know there are a lot of awful things going on in the world right now and writing about good food and restaurants feels strange and a little bizarre but I hope this blog will offer you a little light relief once in a while in a world that is dominated by a lot of doom scrolling.

Anyways I will keep this review brief as I am still in the midst of wrapping ups fashion week things but saying that we know I love an essay!

Lina Stores started trading many years ago as a much loved deli in the middle of Soho, famous for its minty interior colour scheme, Wes Anderson-esque aesthetics and fabulous food selection.

They then, thank god for all of us, decided to branch out into not only selling food but also serving and cooking it and opened their first restaurant, also in Soho. 

This restaurant was much hyped and on my list to eat at for ages. I never managed to get a reservation and then the whole Corona thing happened and I thought I was never going to make it there.

Good thing then that their first restaurant proved so popular that they went ahead and opened a second branch in the ever changing and increasingly hip Coal Drops Yard's area of Kings Cross.

I never really venture into this area (apart from when I have a sudden craving for one of Sons & Daughters truffle crisp and miso egg sandwich for which I will literally walk an hour, it is that good), but it's actually turned into such a great little area by the train station. 

It's not too busy for London standards but has a great selection of amazing restaurants and shops and is still under the radar enough that my favourite dining out partner in crime, Henry, and I managed to score a prime time Friday night reservation and we went on to have quite the brilliant dinner!

In fact, I would go as far as saying that they serve the best value and quality pasta in London, in a chic yet fun and very photogenic environment.

The King's Cross location carries on the retro minty tones and aesthetic of the original deli and the spacious dining room has a wonderful buzz about that makes you almost feel like you are in the middle of an Italian city like Milan or Rome.

We perched on one of their bar seats, able to watch the chefs work their magic in an open plan kitchen, which I always adore, though there were also plenty of seats and tables for bigger groups, making it a perfect venue for a group celebration as well.

The star of the show at Lina Stores are most definitely the pasta dishes which take over most of the menu, though we also had bunch of wonderful starters - the tonno tonnato, raw tuna, capers and anchovy mayonnaise standing out especially in its freshness, flavours and generosity of serving size.

This generosity also applies to their pasta servings, no measly 4 spaghetti strands one can get at some hyped but overrated pasta spots (not naming names), at a not so measly price tag, but proper portion at fantastic prices.

We went all in and shared 4 pasta dishes between us as mains which was greedy but definitely worth it, with the plates ranging from £11 for an out of this world amazing truffle pasta, 30-Egg Yolk Tagliolini with black Truffle, butter, Parmigiano Reggiano to be precise, to a mere £8 for a big plate of the most amazingly fluffy pumpkin & ricotta Agnolotti with hazelnuts, butter, sage and Grana Padano.

Our hands down favourite dish however was the Casarecce alla Calabrese, short cut pasta, juicy prawns, Calabrian chilli and tomato, essentially simple in it's ingredients but in its execution simply stunning and of the sort of quality I've only really had in Italy and a dish I won't forget in a hurry. 

We were off out for a few cheeky cocktails at the Standard hotel after so skipped the dessert but I would love to try their take on one of my favourite sweet baked goods, the humble Sicilian cannoli, WHEN I return, NOT IF I return because I truly fell head over heels for Lina stores.

Wine was also great and affordable and my limoncello spritz to start could definitely become a new cocktail favourite for summer.

All in all my trip to Lina Stores was a much needed fantastic meal out that made me realise how magical a great restaurant can be! Get yourself down there, forget the terrible world we live in for an hour or two (because that is allowed) and eat all the pasta. You won't regret it.

Tuesday 8 March 2022

SEARED TUNA STEAK WITH CREAMY WASABI POTATO SALAD


I was super impressed with this is little Asian fusion number that was incredibly quick to rustle up and very delicious to eat!

The wasabi works a treat when combined with the mayo, lime juice and olive dressing and gives a standard potato salad a very zingy and punchy twist!

Make sure you season your tuna with plenty of salt and pepper and give it a super fast sear on both sides to keep the tuna nice and raw in the middle, only way to eat tuna imo. 

This is quite literally the perfect early spring supper we can all do with at the moment (and even better when plated up on my brand new HAY scandi cool plate).

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
  • 750g baby potatoes, quartered if on the bigger side but skin on 
  • 150g green beans, trimmed
  • Bunch of rocket
  • 2 fresh tuna steaks
  • Salt & Pepper

FOR THE DRESSING
  • 4-5 tbsp light mayo
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tbsp olive oil 
  • 1 tbsp wasabi paste

METHOD
  • Make your dressing by whisking together all ingredients until emulsified and set aside.
  • Add your potatoes to a pan of boiling water and cook for 8-10mins, then add the green beans and cook for another 3-4 mins.
  • Drain both under running cold water so that the beans retain their colour.
  • Add potatoes and green beans to a large mixing bowl, then add the dressing and rocket and mix well.
  • Make sure to season your tuna steaks generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
  • Heat some olive oil in a non stick frying until hot, add the tuna steaks and fry about a minute (or less keep your eye on the steak) until just seared on both side and still raw in the middle.
  • Remove steaks from the pan and onto a chopping board.
  • Use a sharp knife to cut the steak into medium slices, ready to be plated up with the potato salad on the side!
  • Enjoy!!

Thursday 3 March 2022

GRILLED SEA BASS WITH CRAB BUTTER, CRISP POTATO SKINS & CHARRED TOMATO SALAD


This little sea bass number is the sort of dish that is totally restaurant worthy in appearance, relatively healthy (the crab butter doesn't count because a bit of butter never does harm) and packed full of wonderful, fresh flavours that convey a sense of spring on the horizon! I adored the combo of the sea bass and crab and the potato skins were a total revelation, a much faster way to get crispy potatoes by just focusing on the skins in the roasting process, while the charred tomato and spring onion salad added a wonderful zing to the dish when all plated up.

One of the best fish suppers I have made in a while and definitely added to the recipe rotation!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRISP POTATO SKINS
  • 750g Maris Piper potatoes
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Handful thyme sprigs , plus a few leaves to serve
  • Good sprinkle of flaky sea salt

FOR THE SEA BASS
  • 1 salad onion , white part finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 sea bass fillets (or another fish from the counter that can be eaten with its skin on), descaled
  • 50g butter , softened
  • 100g pot prepared white and brown crabmeat (I used this Fifty Fifty mix from Waitrose)
  • olive oil

FOR THE CHARRED TOMATO & ONION SALAD
  • 2 bunches salad onions , trimmed
  • 270g pack mixed small tomatoes , halved
  • Freshly torn basil
  • 2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp wholegrain or Dijon mustard
  • good pinch of golden caster sugar
METHOD
  • Heat your oven to 180C. 
  • Cut the ends from the potatoes and keep. 
  • Cut the peel and 1cm flesh from the potatoes, leaving blocky barrels of potato behind. 
  • On a shallow baking tray, massage the skins and potato ends with the oil, salt and thyme sprigs. 
  • Roast for 30 mins, turning halfway through, until tender and starting to crisp. 
  • Set aside until later.
  • Next up the charred tomato salad.
  • Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot. 
  • Cut the salad onions in half lengthways and cook for about 2½ mins each side, cut-side first, until charred and tender. 
  • Transfer to a plate while you prepare the rest of the salad.
  • Cook the tomatoes, cut-side down, for 30 secs-1 min until just softened and caramelised, then set aside with the onions.
  • To make the dressing, put all the ingredients into a jar with some seasoning and shake well. 
  • When ready to serve toss the basil, dressing, onions and tomatoes until well combined.
  • Next up simmer the salad onion with the vinegar until reduced to 1 tsp or so. 
  • Strain the vinegar into the butter (keep the onion), add the crab and some seasoning, and mash well. 
  • Chill until needed.
  • Heat grill to high – make sure it’s really hot before you cook the fish. Slash the skin of each fillet three times and season. 
  • Put the potatoes under the grill for 2 mins or until hot and starting to crisp again, then lay the fish fillets on top. (If your grill doesn’t go very high, fry your fillets, skin-side down, in a non-stick frying pan to crisp it up before putting them on top of your potatoes.) 
  • Pour olive oil over the fish, and grill for 4 mins or until opaque with the skin crisping.
  • Dollop ¼ of the crab butter onto each fillet, then grill for 1 min until the butter begins to melt. 
  • Plate up the fish with the potato skins, a few thyme leaves and the charred onion & tomato salad.

Tuesday 1 March 2022

TERIYAKI SALMON BURGERS WITH GINGER BEETROOT SLAW

 

WOOO! I am back, well sort of, fashion month is not over yet but I do have time to real quick post the recipe for these super yummy salmon burgers with an Asian twist!

After next week I promise there will finally be a Peloton review and 30th birthday recap but in the meantime I urge you to make these AHHHMAZING pescatarian friendly burgers which I served up with some sweet potato fries and which are super fun and fast to make!

SERVES 2

  • 6 Tbsp Mayonnaise
  • 5 Tbsp Teriyaki Marinade
  • 2 Knobs Grated Ginger
  • 2 Fillets Sockeye Wild Alaskan Salmon (I got this vibrant variety of salmon from Waitrose)
  • 70g Panko Breadcrumbs
  • 1 Tsp Chilli Flakes
  • 2 Brioche Buns (I love these Heston ones from Waitrose)
  • 4 Beetroots
  • 1 Lime
  • 2 Tsp Red Wine Vinegar
  • Bunch of Coriander
TO SERVE
  • Fries of your choice
METHOD
  • Spoon 4 tbsp of mayonnaise into a bowl, add 2 tbsp of Teriyaki marinade, grate half a knob of ginger in and mix well until smooth. 
  • Leave to chill in the fridge. 
  • To prepare your slaw, grate your beetroots and squeeze all of the moisture out using your hands. 
  • Grate a whole knob of ginger and finely chop the coriander. 
  • In a new bowl, mix the beetroot with 2 tbsp of mayonnaise, half the ginger, coriander, the juice of 1 lime and the red wine vinegar.
  • Now it's time to make the burger patty!
  • Remove the skin from your sockeye salmon fillets. 
  • Chop up fillets into small pieces.
  • Put the salmon in a large mixing bowl.
  • Add the Panko breadcrumbs, 2 tbsp of Teriyaki marinade, the remaining ginger (grated) and the chilli flakes. 
  • Using your hands, mix the contents and keep mixing until you have created a firm ball. 
  • On a chopping board, separate the patty mixture into 2 patties. 
  • Heat a griddle pan to super hot and fry the patties until nicely charred on both sides.
  • Now, assemble your burger!
  •  Spread some of your prepared mayonnaise onto the bottom bun, pop the patty on top followed by some beetroot slaw.
  • Serve with fries and ENJOY!