Breakfast at Linari’s – the social centre of Testaccio in Rome, where I spent Xmas and new year… And you can have pizza for 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

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

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!

cavolo nero, by jules:stonesoup

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.

Ingredients

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

From star London Zoo attraction, to star ZSL bar decor

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…

Moulin Rouge Rambling Restaurant menu

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.

Miso soup by adactio

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

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.

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

“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:

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

Images by: kyleplastock

(and Bez)