Londoncooking.co.uk

Breakfast at Linari’s – the social centre of Testaccio in Rome, where I spent Xmas and new year…

It’s said that kedgeree was brought to the UK in Victorian times by returning British colonials who had enjoyed it in India and introduced it here as a breakfast.

Like bubble and squeak, in pre-fridge days, it was a useful way of turning evening leftovers into big breakfasts – we still prefer it as a hearty lunchtime/dinner feast though…

Ingredients

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one smoked haddock (undyed if possible)
one cup of peas (cooked from frozen)
one cup of basmati rice
one onion
2 teaspoons of mild curry powder
3 hard boiled eggs

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1. Cook the rice in two cups of water until ready & boil the peas.
2. Fry the sliced onion in a little olive oil and add the curry and the sliced smoked fish.
3. Add the peas and rice and stir. Boil the eggs until hard boiled and cut them in half and put on top of the kedgeree.
4. Serve!

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Even just the thought of lettuce and tomatoes salad in winter makes you feel cold…

So a blanched salad of carrots and greens with all kinds of toppings will (hopefully) make you warm…

Ingredients

• 2 carrots (cut into long thin pieces)
• Any greens (cavolo nero, green cabbage, kale, winter greens) cut small
• Olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt
• Topping: nuts (walnuts, almonds) seeds (pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds)

Cut the veg and blanch in batches (blanching is quick boiling just to cook the veg a in very little water with a some salt for 3-4 minutes. Add the oil, lemon and salt to taste and the topping.

(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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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.

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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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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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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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.

Ah, Bolognese – the king of pasta sauuuce. Known as ‘ragu’ in Italy, here’s the London version…

Ingredients

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Beef or lamb mince
Passata or chopped tomatoes
Miso or soya sauce

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1. Fry the meat in a little oil, breaking it up with a wooden spoon
2. Once brown, add the passata/chopped tomatoes and mix
3. Leave to stew on a medium/low heat, until the tomatoes are absorbed (leave on a low heat for 2-3 hours if you can, for added flavour)
4. Finally, add soya sauce to taste, or, if you have it, miso, which adds a really satisfying salty kick (NB – miso denatures if exposed to boiling sauce, so best to remove a little sauce into a bowl, leave to cool a sec, then mix with the miso. Also, miso is incredibly strong, so you might need only a tablespoon or two…)

As they say, “that’s ah-it-ah” (or at least they do if they’re part of an ad campaign for pasta sauces which encourages Italian stereotypes with the use of puppets.) Oops… Did I say that?

Amazing as it might seem to some Londoners, Italians actually know which pasta goes best with which sauces. Get the wrong one and you could be a laughing stock. For Bolognese/ragu, LondonCooking suggests you plumb for tagliatelle.

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Sainsburys has gone all social with a Facebook page (Simple Food Ideas) you can ‘become a fan of’, and get some helpful recipe tips.

Launching at the start of April, it’s already amassed about 300 followers (not bad going, Jamie, John and co.) which would suggest the recipes aren’t bad at all… Here’s one of them -

Hearty barley chicken pot

Sainsbury’s 500g pack skinless chicken thigh fillets, 1 loose red onion, 4 loose carrots, 150ml pot single cream, 500g pack pearl barley, 410g tin cannellini beans in water. (Ingredients from your store cupboard: olive oil, chicken stock cube, dried herbs)

Recipe: Serves 4

Cook Time: 10 minutes
Prep Time: 35 minutes

1. Cut 1 x 500g pack of skinless chicken thighs into small chunks. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large flameproof pot and fry the chicken until it begins to colour.

2. Add 1 red onion and 4 carrots, all peeled and cut into chunks, to the pot. Stir in 200g pearl barley and 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs, and fry for a few minutes.

3. Add 750ml chicken stock, made with 1 stock cube, and simmer for 30 minutes until the pearl barley is tender.

4. Stir in a 410g tin of cannellini beans, drained, and 75ml single cream and heat through. Serve immediately.

Pukka.

What about a shakshuka for dinner tonight? This Tunisian/Moroccan tomato ‘n’ egg combo is a incredibly easy to make, satisfying and just a little different.

Ingredients

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for 2
1  big/medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 tomatoes or can of chopped tomatoes
4 eggs
some yellow cheese (not necessary but great)
some salt and pepper
Bread/pitta (for ‘mopping’)

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1. Cut the onion and fry in olive oil with halved garlic cloves.
2. Add the tomatoes the salt and pepper and simmer (about 5-7 min).
3. Once it’s all bubbling away, break 4 eggs into the mixture – if it’s hot enough, they should poach in the sauce.
4. When the eggs are cooked, you can add the crumbled cheese on top, waiting until it melts
5. Locate and throw out the garlic.

There’s something really satisfying about eating shakshuka by dipping bread into the mixture. I’ll call it ‘mopping’ for now (until I think of a slightly less gross term…)

You can add mushrooms, olives or peppers, hey – let your imagination run wild!

(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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If you thought “I’ve never heard of shakshuka, sounds a little odd to me”, just check out what they’re serving down at the Phantom’s MuchenTuchen:

‘America is Satan’ is a great strapline for a fast food joint, beats ‘I’m lovin’ it‘ hands down, eh?

This is a clip from ‘You don’t mess with the Zohan‘, almost definitely not as racist as it looks. Honest…