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Lighten up your Summer cooking with oodles of noodles and greens…

Ingredients

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100g roasted almonds
Sesame oil
150g or one packet of soba (buckwheat and wheat) noodles
200g firm tofu (or meat if you prefer)
2 tbsp.  flour
300g mushrooms (any type)
2 tbsp. soy sauce (or tamari – ie without wheat)
bok choy or any green leaves (cos lettuce)
spring onions

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1. Dry roast the almonds in a frying pan (ie – without oil), taking care that they don’t burn, then set aside to cool
2. Boil some water and cook the noodles, and when ready pour on them cold water to stop them cooking
3. Slice the tofu and lay on kitchen paper to absorbe excess water
4. Coat with flour and fry in sesame oil (option, esp. if you’re using meat instead!)
5. Add sliced mushrooms and when cooked add soy sauce. Add greens.

To serve, mix the noodles and vegetables. Add extra almonds and fresh sliced green spring onions to each serving if you like.

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Hidden somewhere on the verges of London Zoo, the ZSL Sports and Social Club is a bit of a one-off, to say the least…

Open only to naturalists (think Charles Darwin, not the Women’s Institute Calendar) and Zoo folk, my ‘in’ was my deer-studying, academic brother, Doctor Dan.

As if the crazy decor and highbrow chat weren’t enough, there’s always the rumoured ‘secret door’ directly into the zoo.

But I’ve already said too much…

The corsets were out in force on Saturday night, as the Rambling Restaurant moved to a secret location in Soho, for Moulin Rouge acts, cornichons, cake and absinthe.

The highlights for me were without a doubt Abi Palmer‘s spikey poetry, and the red velvet cake (which for some reason, I’d never heard of before).

Check out some pictures from the event.

…Looking forward to the next one – Rambling Restaurant is going onwards and upwards… Wonder if they take suggestions for future night themes?

More pics from the event, and a summary of the night from the Food Rambler herself.

+ an excellent blow-by-blow (oo0-err….) account of the evening from the other half of Rambling Restaurant: cake expert Mei.

Next time you come home from work starving, instead of eating lots of bread, why not make a quick miso soup? The following serves two:

Ingredients

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oil (olive, sesame..)
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 spring onion
1 teaspoon of barley or rice miso paste (you can use instant/dried miso, but it’s not the same!) and a cup of water per person

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1. Cut the onion and put in a pot with little oil.
2. Fry for a few minutes and add water (one cup per person)
3. Add the sliced carrot and, if you like, an greens you have (broccoli, kale, parsley).
4. Bring to a boil and cook for few minutes more.
5. Put the pot on a low heat and add one teaspoon of miso per person (the miso should not boil just simmer).
6. Cook for three minutes and add the green part of the spring onion (cut into tiny slices)

If you like, you can also add a sheet of Nori (which is the seaweed which used to cover sushi). Simply take half a sheet, tear into pieces and add to the top of the soup.

This is a great starter for when you come home, and a great alternative to having snacks/bread.

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How many tubs of humous get sold in the UK per day?

C’mon – must be at least a million.

To be sure, we’re a nation obsessed with a chickpea dip.

I wonder why – a lot of the supermarket stuff is a bit of a travesty – too lemony, garlicky, to cover up the lack of taste from the key humous ingredients: chick peas and tahini (sesame paste).

Instead of going for this pallid, ersatz humous, try the legendary hummus bros (branches near Holborn, and on Wardour St in Soho).

The bros serve up a more genuine Middle-Eastern rendition of the h-dip. Satisfyingly thick and tasty, they serve it with a choice of meat and vegetarian toppings in the middle -

My tip – the ful (beans) or roast vegetables. The occasional falafel salad one is fantastic too. Oh, and Mexican Beef.

You can take away the humous too, so no need to rely on the bastard pesto or wasabi-flavoured supermarket version in future.

Image by Rain Rabbit

What happened to the real pubs in town?

How many have:

• blindingly red upholstry
• hot nuts (- it is my sad duty to inform you the hot nuts machine is no more. Prob no bad thing)
• and (a London pub first here?) friendly staff who’ll often save you even the trouble of moving 2m to the bar to order

Ye Old White Horse ticks all of these boxes.

Situated between Holborn and the Strand, its past claim to fame was refusing to serve students

(despite being practically inside the LSE campus.)

Needless to say, now all are welcome, and it’s all the better for it…

Image by Kake Pugh

Bez writes:

“Early Summer is gooseberry season and this is a lovely, easy way of turning those sour little berries into something sweet.”

“Great on toast, as a cake topping, on pancakes or muffins, in a pastry case as an easy pudding or straight from the jar with a spoon. Makes a nice present too.”

Ingredients:

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680g of gooseberries
340g sugar
300ml water
110g butter, cut into small pieces
3 large eggs, lightly beaten.

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1. Put the gooseberries (no need to top and tail them) in a pan with the water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until pulpy. If you like you can use a blender or liquidiser to make them into a puree.
2. Push the pulpy mixture through a sieve to give you a gooseberry puree without the seeds and stalks.
3. Put the butter, sugar and gooseberry puree into a heavy bottomed pan and heat gently, strirring all the time.
4. Add in whisked eggs and keep stirring until the mixture begins to thicken to a custard consistency which coats the back of a spoon.
5. Pour into clean jars and seal before leaving to cool. Keep in fridge.

Disclaimer: I lied: this recipe is actually by (another) poet extraordinaire Bez – Ta pal.

Images by: kyleplastock

(and Bez)

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Cherie Blair has it, Micah Richards has it… Hell, even Ron Weasley has it.

LondonCooking has some advice, in the midst of the Great Swine ‘flu plague of 2009:

Not our own slogan (we wish), but that of a very timely T-Shirt range.

Well… It’s good enough for Katie Price. And she hasn’t got swine flu. Yet.

Read about the history of the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ slogan.

“If you feel a bit under the weather,
If you feel a little bit peeved,
Take granny’s stand-by potion
For any old cough or wheeze.
It’s a cure for hepatitis
it’s a cure for chronic insomnia,
It’s a cure for tonsilitis
and for water on the knee.”

- ‘Have a cuppa tea’ by the Kinks

I feel the same way about umeboshi plums – actually mini-apricots, pickled until they reach eye-watering levels of saltiness.

In Japan, these “seeringly tart” treats are eaten regularly as an accompaniment to rice (even for breakfast.)

For the rest of us, they’re a great pick-me-up when you’re suffering from a hangover or mild stomach upsets.

Warning: they are intensely salty. And pricey (£7ish for 40 or so). But still worth it, I reckon – After all, you’ll only need one once in a blue moon. (Here’s hoping, at least.)

You can also get umeboshi paste, which is great on corn on the cob, and is the secret ingredient in my tahina recipe.

Since umbeboshi are said to have an ‘alkalising’ effect, I’m wondering if they might be a good indigestion remedy too (caused by acidity?) … Anyone know?

And more to the point, have they been used to treat water on the knee…?

Image by kattebelletje

Are you classy? Then check out the Vogue-of-Cooking website, Epicurious’ collection of quick & easy recipes – my pick of the bunch is the Louisiana Devilled Crab Cakes, y’all.

Are you, well… not classy? You could do worse than checking out the Sun’s slideshow of the World’s Rudest Food, bringing Pee Cola, Shito Hot, Mini Dickmanns (pictured) and Cock Flavoured Soup mix to the masses.

Meanwhile, the Guardian challenged its readers to come up with two course menus costing less than £5 – downturn-tastic.

Finally, don’t miss the London Paper’s London’s top secret restaurants – top of the list is the mercurial Food Rambler’s Rambling Restaurant – for all the latest Rambling Restaurant news and dates, check out the Facebook Page.

This will def be worth checking out in future – you can book/find out more info by emailing ramblingrestaurant@googlemail.com.