Tummyrumble

Mackerel on a carrot, prawn and pea salad

Mackerel on a carrot, prawn and pea salad
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Last night I set out to test a recipe for an acquaintance. Waitrose did for once not deliver on required ingredients, so I ended up with a not unpleasant experimental dish and left over hot smoked mackerel fillets in our fridge.

Can't waste mackerel fillets, so I came up with this concoction to make good use of them.

Wendy being home ill I tried to combine all the flavours she likes.

The result came out very well, I will definitely cook this again. And despite me forgetting that Wendy really doesn't appreciate spring onions, she ate more than she has in two days so I would deem this dish a great success.

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 hot smoked mackerel fillets
300gr cooked king prawns
6-8 carrots
5 sprigs of mint
1 can garden peas
1 bag of peashoots

I happen to really like canned peas. If you don't, and prefer fresh peas, that's fine too.

Dressing

300ml sour cream
4 spring onions, chopped
8-10 small cornichons, finely chopped
1 bunch of dill, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
2tbsp wholegrain mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

Put a liter of water to boil in the kettle.

Scrub and cut the carrots in slanted medallions, about 1 cm thick. If the carrots are real chunky, cut the medallions in half, you want them fairly bitesized.

Put carrot medallions in a pot along with the mint sprigs, cover with the boiling water, salt well and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the can of garden peas, liquid and all, and simmer for another 5 minutes.(I like my peas slightly mushy. If you don't, wait with the peas until just the last minute.)

Pour carrots and peas into a colander and put under running cold water while you prepare the dressing. You want the carrots to cool down but not go icy cold.

In a medium sized bowl (it needs to be able to hold the dressing ingredients and the prawns), mix all the dressing ingredients.

I prefer wholegrain mustard, but if you like Dijon, why not. For an added kick, add a teaspoon or so of Coleman's, this amazing English contribution to the varieties of the burning juice.

Season the dressing with salt and pepper, taste. Add the prawns to the bowl and stir gently until completely covered with dressing.


Healthy and tasty...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Put a handful of peashoots on a plate, top with a generous helping of carrots and peas.

Flake the mackerel using two forks to pull the meat apart and arrange next to the carrots, then dress it all with the prawns and sauce.

Serve immediately.

Siam Central: three strokes from three folks

Drunken noodles with seafood, amazing scallops
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Last week we went to Siam Central for our Saturday after gym late lunch. Considering how great that little restaurant is, I find it amazing not more bloggers have written it up.

Googling Siam Central mainly returns reviews on the big restaurant guide websites like London Eating, Square Meal, Yelp and Urbanspoon. Surprisingly, there is no website for the restaurant, but less surprisingly a local search for "siam central london" brings up the Google Place page for Siam Central. Making a local search (simply adding a geographical name to your search words) is starting to become a very reliable way to find reviews on restaurants.

I did find these blog reviews though:

• Catty, seriously loving it. In fact, so much that she has written up Siam Central twice: "Thai, anytime anywhere, baby" and "Siam Central, another of London's hidden gems"
• The Thorngrove Table, so happy with the food they forgot to take photos: "Review of Siam Central"
• Food Savvy Tourist, despite the name of the blog post a favourite restaurant in London: "Bad food in London?"

All three sides to the story quite happy with Siam Central then. That said, a few of the aggregated reviews on the Google Place page are quite scathing.

We loved our visit, and will probably go there again when the craving for thai food sets in next time.

Siam Central, Fitzrovia: most excellent thai lunch option

Loaded table with thai food. Photos taken with my new HTC Desire. Not entirely happy, not as vibrant colours as my iPhone, more prone to motion blur.
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Excellent after gym lunch this Saturday, based on a quick check with the all knowing Twitterverse which thai place in central London would consistently deliver excellent food.

Siam Central was quickly suggested by two people (thanks @LondonEating and @RenSip) and this small thai restaurant on Charlotte Street did not disappoint.

Also considered Patara, recommended by @HollowLegs, but they close between lunch and dinner unfortunately ruling them out for our late Saturday lunch habits.

As I checked in on Foursquare (proper social media fuelled lunch, this!) I got a tip from @Catty that the tamarind duck is awesome. Two others said the drunken rice and noodles shouldn't be missed, so that became the first dishes we set our sights for.

I really like the Siam Central menu concept: one menu for larger a la carte dishes, and a separate menu for smaller plates of tasty morsels.

True to our usual form, wanting to taste as many dishes as possible whenever we can, with the exception of the drunken noodles we ordered exclusively from the small plate menu. Very good strategy, as it turned out.

Drunken noodles with seafood, amazing scallops
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Drunken noodles were very tasty. Spicy, full of flavour and with seafood perfectly cooked.

Crispy chicken wings went down a treat, dipped in a chilli sauce with a sweet and sour base that I really liked but Wendy felt was a bit on the sweet side. Wings were prepared in such a way that the meat bunched up at one end of the bone, making them real easy to dip in the sauce and devour in two swift bites. Meat on a stick, like a savoury popsicle, brilliant.

Weeping Tiger (which is called Tiger Cry at my favourite Waterloo thai lunch place, The King's Arms on Roupell Street), this classic thai dish, came with the best version of the traditional dipping sauce I have had (which doesn't mean much as I have never been to Thailand...). Fresh, zingy and with a heat building to a really good level without hiding the flavour of the meat.

Nice surprise was the flash fried tofu served with green peppers and chopped chilli, along with the same chilli sauce as the wings. I expected it to be bland and dull compared to the other more spicy dishes, but the texture contrast made it a nice addition on the table.

Tamarind duck, so tasty I hardly had time to snap a photo before it was all gone
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Best dish was the duck in a tamarind sauce though. Full of flavour, beautiful crispy skin, sprinkled with roast onion. We did ponder ordering another one of these but did the sensible thing and went for dessert instead.

Chilled mango mousse with fresh strawberries and mint was a perfect end to the meal. While all it was was probably condensed milk with mango flavour and a mango syrupy sauce, it hit the spot so much better than the runny creme brulee we were served the night before at a Very Large Restaurant recently opened in Camden.

Service was quick and friendly, and if it hadn't been for the extraordinarily crap music being played (I have no time for boy band pop ballads) this had been a perfect Saturday lunch. Hmm. Should email them the link to Hellsongs - Hymns in the Key of 666. Much better.

Noise: most people sat outside, so hard to say. Music selection awful, but let's hope it was a temporary glitch (our server knew every song by heart though...).

Menu: clever concept, separating a la carte and smaller plates. Lots of exciting dishes to try.

Loos: very clean, smelling fresh.

Price: forgot to take the receipt, but it was good value for money...

Will we be back: Yes, if we are in the area and want a safe bet for a good meal.

 

Sophie's Steakhouse: three sides to the story

Rack of pork ribs at Sophie's Steakhouse, served with a pot of lemon water to clean your fingers, much nicer than wetwipes!
Originally uploaded by Manne.

With the plethora of really good food bloggers active in London today, getting the latest on the greatest (and worst) restaurants is so easy these days.

Recently I went to Sophie's Steakhouse on Wellington Street, Covent Garden, and quite enjoyed my visit too. There are always more things to be said though, so why not present three alternative sides to the story:

• Catty, loving it: "Sophie's Steakhouse: maybe the best steak to have touched these lips (ok, it's the second best)"
• Cherie City, shocked and appalled (not by the food though): "Drama at Sophie’s Steakhouse"
• London Eater, going for variety: "Sophie’s: The tale of a lobster sandwich and a cheap steak lunch"

There you have it. Lots of perspectives. Now go there and try it out for yourself, you won't regret it.