Tummyrumble

2010: A few of my favourite memories

It is the time of year (15 minutes before leaving for the NYE celebrations) to write lists of things that were and things to be.

Here are my favourite memories from the year that was.

My favourite restaurant 2010: Hawksmoor Seven Dials. Astounding attention to detail, excellent food, best burgers in town.Fri Dec 31 20:32:59 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Best read 2010: "I'm not scared", Niccolo Ammaniti. Beautiful writing, captivating, letting you see the world from the eyes of a scared kid.Fri Dec 31 20:38:13 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Tastiest burrito 2010: Surprisingly found in a food truck in the tiny Swedish town of Ängelholm... http://ow.ly/3wEnCFri Dec 31 20:39:47 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Strangest dish I cooked during 2010: Herring ice cream. As delicious as it sounds scary. Trust. http://ow.ly/3wEojFri Dec 31 20:40:49 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Best recipe I found on a food blog in 2010: Fish fragrant aubergines, by @hollowlegs: http://ow.ly/3wEqXFri Dec 31 20:42:45 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Best food blogger events I attended in 2010: at Bob Bob Ricard and The Ship in Wandsworth. Just can't pick one. http://ow.ly/3wErvFri Dec 31 20:44:04 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Greatest London find during 2010: Mudchute City Farm. Lovely for quiet day, great food, complete break from busy London. http://ow.ly/3wEtZFri Dec 31 20:47:37 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Best event I attended in 2010: The making of British Citizen Ingrid (@ingthorpe). http://ow.ly/3wEuMFri Dec 31 20:48:46 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

My favourite underground restaurant visit in 2010: LexEat Supper Club. Winner on style points. And troll like dessert. http://ow.ly/3wEvMFri Dec 31 20:50:17 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Nostalgic find of 2010 in mum's stash of embarrassing childhood memories: My letter to Ronald Reagan. http://ow.ly/3wEwRFri Dec 31 20:51:47 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Best (not just because the only) cooking course of 2010: Ashburton Cookery School. Great teachers, amazing facilities. http://ow.ly/3wExTFri Dec 31 20:52:51 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

My favourite restaurant dish of 2010: Char grilled steak with coriander mustard at Ottolenghi. Divine in its simplicity. http://ow.ly/3wEzrFri Dec 31 20:55:06 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

Right, enough of sifting through the past year. Hope you all had great memories from 2010, and will make even more during 2011! Happy NYE!Fri Dec 31 20:58:45 via HootSuiteMagnus Hultberg
manne

St Agur and ginger bread cookies

High traction ginger bread snap cookies, for those really icy days
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Baked ginger bread snap cookies using mom's recipe tonight. While the dough at first seemed more like DOA, we managed to save it.

Don't know if it was too much butter, or too much flour (hey, I don't bake a lot) but first the dough was way too crumbly and then when flattened out it stuck to everything.

Wishing it would just make up its mind already we resorted to rolling small dough balls with our hands and then flattening them with a fork straight on to the baking tray.

Five minutes of baking and five minutes of cooling later, best ginger bread snap cookies ever! They may look like something TfL could use on bus tyres during icy road conditions, but they came out even tastier and more crunchy than the Swedish brand we bought at Scandinavian Kitchen to compare our efforts to! Success.

Best way to eat Swedish ginger bread cookies is with a generous dollop of St Agur blue cheese.

Perfect mix of textures and flavours.

Sambal goreng tofu - low carb style

Sambal goreng tofu - low carb style
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Determined to stick to low carb dishes during the week we are always on the look out for tasty sounding recipes that can be "converted" to suit.

One of the blogs I follow that keeps inspiring me to try new dishes is "Edibility & Yummility" (love that name) by Mochachocolata Rita (@Mochachocolata).

The other day she posted a quick, simple and rustic looking dish called "Sambal Goreng Tahu Tempe - Tofu & Soy Bean Cake in Chilli Paste". A phrase caught my eye:

"This is what I always call ugly delicious."

That's exactly how I often think about my own cooking, preferential as I am to slow cooking. Stews, soups, bakes... Rarely do they come out dainty, but they are (almost) always packed with flavour and that feeling of... ...homely comfortness.

As this would normally be served with rice though, it required some tweaking. It was also difficult for me to find the tempeh, which apparently is an Indonesian soy product which did NOT originate from China or Japan.

I am sure I would find it through some closer study of shops in Chinatown but as I spent the evening tonight being treated to delicious Bombay cafe style mince pies with garam masala custard (savoury and spicy, best custard ever!) in the gorgeous looking Dishoom basement bar I had to make do with what I could find at Japan Centre on Regent Street.

Which meant two types of tofu. One extra firm for cubing and frying, and one silky smooth which I hoped would break apart in the pot and cover the other ingredients with its creaminess. Worked.

Also added a pack of thinly sliced yakiniku beef, for a carnivorous touch.

So, here is our modified version, suitable for low carbers. It came out very nice.

Ingredients (serves two)

350 gr Tofu, extra firm, cut in cubes
150 gr Tofu, silken, cut in cubes
150 gr thinly sliced beef (1 pack yakiniku at Japan Centre)
1 savoy cabbage head, shredded (replaces rice / noodles)
fresh coriander

For the chilli paste:

2 red chillis (deseeded...)
4 shallots
1 tomato
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp sugar
vegetable oil
salt, pepper, ground coriander to taste

Method

Improvised this a bit. I am sure it can be done in a better order to speed things up and save some washing up. But this is how we did it.

Start with cubing all the tofu into chunky bits. Fry in a frying pan on high heat the firm tofu in some oil until it goes slightly golden, season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare the chilli paste: Chop up all the ingredients roughly and run them in a blender until smooth. Season with sugar, salt, pepper and ground coriander to taste. Don't forget to put some oil in it as you will fry this off later to soften the blow of the shallots. I used roughly 1 tablespoon.

Using a large pot (I used a cast iron pot, but a wok would probably be better...) with a lid first fry the chilli paste on medium heat for a while (taste the paste, when it starts going slightly sweet the sting of the shallots is gone) and then add in the shredded cabbage.

Give it a good stir to cover it in the paste, then add 2-3 tablespoons of water and put the lid on to steam the cabbage for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the slices of beef quickly in the frying pan you used earlier for the tofu.

Take the lid off the pot, give the cabbage a stir and if it seems steamed enough make a small well in the middle. Put the silken tofu chunks there and let them heat up.

Add in the slices of beef and the firm tofu and give it all a good, vigorous stir breaking up the silken tofu in the process. Make sure the beef and firm tofu gets thoroughly coated with chilli paste and silken tofu.

Spoon up in bowls, top with a few sprigs of the fresh coriander, serve.

In the words of Mochachocolata Rita: "...don't underestimate this ugliness.This is what I always call ugly delicious. Extremely tasty and addictive."

Completely agree, this will be cooked again.

Rather than the yakiniku beef we will sear a sirloin steak next time, and slice it up just before adding it to the cabbage. Nice seared outside with a medium rare center, yum.

Perhaps also try adding a bit of fresh ginger to the chilli paste. Double yum.

 

An evening at The Secret Larder

The one scene that dragged my attention away from the excellent food @jteramsden's Secret Larder
Originally uploaded by Manne.

During 2010 we visited a few really good "underground" supper clubs in London.

Ms Marmite Lover's "The Underground Restaurant" (do leave her alone TfL, you are being silly), the fantastic hospitality and style of LexEat, the fun and playful cooking by Foodrambler to mention some of the really great nights we had.

What really struck me at these events was the warmth, professionalism and the amazing vibe in the dining room. Even if sometimes there was not much of banter and exchange between the tables, there was always a connection, a feeling of doing something special.

That feeling was very strong at The Secret Larder. I must admit I was a bit blown away by the flat the Larder resides in. At the top of an old school building it is old yet light, high ceilinged with big beautiful sash windows, and full of great pieces of furniture, books, artwork and trinkets catching your eye.

Loved it. All the better that the hosts, James Ramsden (@jteramsden) and his lovely sister Mary, light up the room with big smiles and somehow find time to talk to all the guests. We felt so welcome.

When cooking for 18 people, no small feat! Excellent entertainers, something to aspire to.

We were treated to a three course menu, definitely "lovingly prepared" as the blog says: starting with visually stunning beetroot cured salmon and horseradish, followed by roast shoulder of pork with the creamiest dauphinoise potatoes you can imagine. Delicious. Finishing with a chocolate fondant and clementine ice cream we certainly got our money's worth.

Oh and somewhere along there, either before or after the dessert, we also had some home made cantucci biscuits with Vin Santo brought in by James for the evening. Excellent combination.

While the pork was perfectly cooked with excellent crackling, my favourite was the beetroot cured salmon. Bought by Marky Market at Billingsgate, the deep orange salmon had a crimson red edge from the beetroot. Served with fiery horseradish and shots of chilled vodka it was a delicate yet punchy start of a great meal.

As was the case with Ms Marmite Lover and LexEat we left The Secret Larder thinking that many restaurants in London could learn a lot from the supper club scene in terms of warmth and sheer dining joy. New dining dates are published every so often, follow James on Twitter, subscribe to his blog RSS feed or drop him an email to make sure you don't miss out. This is one you really want to experience.

Fennel and leek gratin, lovely low carb dish

Fennel and leek gratin, finished result
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Based on a recipe for Fennel gratin from BBC Good Food we ad libbed a bit and expanded on the ingredients to include leek and celery. Came out lovely.

Ingredients (serves 2 hungry low carbers with some leftovers for lunch the next day)

6 fennel bulbs, cut in wedges
1 leek, sliced
4 celery sticks, sliced
300 ml double cream
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
pinch of ground nutmeg
75 gr grated parmesan
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

Set oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Set a kettle of water to boil.

Cut the stems and bottoms of the fennel bulbs and cut them in wedges, add to a big pot.

Chop up the celery sticks, add to the pot.

Pour the boiling water into the pot, add a good amount of salt and boil for 5-6 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse and slice the leek and put in the bottom of an oven proof dish.

Crush the garlic cloves and add to the cream, grate the parmesan.

When the boiling is done, drain the fennel and celery well and spread over the leek. Season with some crushed black pepper and sprinkle the nutmeg on top.

(To me it always smell a bit weird, almost acrid, when nutmeg meets warm food but don't worry, it will come out beautifully from the oven.)

The more Parmesan the better...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Pour the cream over the vegetables and top it all evenly with the parmesan.

The finished result, so yummy
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Make sure it starts to go nicely golden before you take it out.

This goes really well with fish, but we also like it with a good steak or a pork chop. Tonight we went for spicy Cajun chicken though, marinated in the fridge for a few hours.

Plated up with spicy Cajun chicken
Originally uploaded by Manne.