Roganic

It was my birthday last week and as always we 'buy' each other meals or food instead of presents! I feel so lucky that my husband loves food just as much as I do! He booked Roganic for lunch for the two of us. I hadn't really had time to look at their menu in much detail before we went, so I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew about it, was that they often use quite 'strange' ingredients that I wouldn't really have heard of or eaten before.

Once again, it was a bit of an ordeal leaving Missy - more because I was late getting ready, than anything else... We got there 40 minutes later and I felt calmer the moment I walked into the small, yet light, dining space. The tables are well-spaced and the ambiance relaxed. The staff are very friendly and made us feel comfortable instantly.

And once again, we looked at the menu for no reason at all; we knew we were going to go for the 10 courses! It was my birthday after all! My husband went for the matching wines too - all from the Leth winery in Austria.

The first hint of brilliance arrived in the form of a canape: Squid ink crisp with aioli smear, cucumber foam and linseeds (or at least we think they were linseeds, but I was washing my hands when the canape arrived, so I missed the description!). It was amazing. Light and refreshing, yet full of flavour.

Then the bread arrived. Or should I say breads! There was chestnut flatbread, Irish soda, potato and buttermilk, and Pumpernickel. All delicious, rich in flavour and fluffy in texture. The Irish soda was almost like a cake! All served with whipped salted butter.

1st course: Heirloom tomato, poached lambs tongue and dill custard. It was amazing! One of the nicest things I have ever eaten, and I don't even like lamb that much! The dill custard was pure genius, rich in texture, but so light in flavour! The whole dish was very velvety, with a crisp texture coming from the dehydrated tomatoes.

 

2nd course: Braddock White, puff ball mushroom, barley flakes and marjoram. The Braddock White is a type of duck egg. A deliciously creamy, slow-cooked duck egg, with mushrooms and crispiness and a marjoram oil drizzled on top. Very good indeed!

3rd course: Cured and smoked River Tweed trout, Watts farm peppers and crab apple. This course was genius! It arrived at the table in a glass cloche filled with smoke (no picture I'm afraid!) I think this was a contender for my favourite course and was one of those things that I will never forget eating. It sounds simple, but the texture and flavour of the trout was fantastic and it worked so well with the roasted red and yellow peppers and the apple puree. Dreamy stuff!

4th course: Pig and smoked eel, black mustard, sea purslane and pickled corn. This course had us split in terms of its success. My husband loved it, I thought it was fine, but not great. I found something on the plate left a slight bitterness on the palette - possibly the black mustard? The pig and eel croquettes were delicious, though and the sea purslane was a lovely salty and crunchy addition.

5th course: Grilled langoustine, purple sprouting, elder and loganberry oil. This was another great course. The langoustine was cooked perfectly and it had a great barbecued flavour. The loganberry was a pleasant surprise and it complimented the langoustine so well. Perfect middle course to get us back on track for the rest of the meal!

6th course: Royal kidneys cooked in chicken fat, snow peas, goat's curd and clam juice. Royal kidneys are potatoes, for those who didn't know - I was one of those! The whole dish was also finished off with crispy chicken skin. It was all very delicious and extremely rich. My husband enjoyed it more than me - I found it a little too rich and strong in flavour.

7th course: Skate belly, young beet root, caramelised cauliflower, King scallop. This was definitely the second contender for best course. The fish was perfectly cooked, almost nutty from the butter it was cooked in. The beet root worked really well with it and the caramelised cauliflower puree was out of this world. It was sweet and creamy and delicious and I could have eaten tonnes of it! This was a perfectly balanced dish and I wish there was a device that could allow me to 'save' those flavours.

8th course: Cumbrian rose veal cooked in buttermilk, cobnuts, mead and wild cabbage puree. The final contender for the best course! The veal was cooked to perfection, tender as anything and so moist! Yet again this dish achieved the perfect balance of richness with freshness - all the ingredients working together in unison to create something great. I 'll let the picture speak for itself!

Cheese course: We decided to share a little cheese too, as we obviously hadn't had enough food already! The cheese, all British (goats cheese with ash, Wigmore, a Gouda-esque cheese, a blue cheese and a whisky rind washed cheese) was served with oatcakes and raisin and nut bread, a apple and celery chutney and pears stuffed with pickled walnut.

9th course: Bilberries, dried caramel, natural yoghurt and iced lemon thyme. This dessert does not read great on paper. It sounds a little strange and, well, not quite dessert-like. But it was lovely. It had good sweetness, acidity from the yoghurt and freshness from the iced lemon thyme. Very refreshing - a great first dessert!

10th course: White chocolate sorbet with rapeseed, plums and meadowsweet. This WAS a dessert. The chocolate sorbet was fantastic - so smooth and creamy. The plums were soft and sweet and it was all served with a rapeseed cake crumb.Yum yum!

The meal was finished off with a bayleaf milkshake, a jammy dodger and a raspberry and vanilla cream sponge. What a treat! I must say I wasn't a great fan of the milkshake - but I always find bayleaf a little strong in flavour. And, boy, did this milkshake taste of bayleaf! The jammy dodger and the sponge were both great though. What a lovely way to end the perfect meal!

On the way home we were discussing the meal - the ambiance, the service, the food etc - and decided that this actually was the best tasting menu and one of the best meals we have ever had! And I don't mean to brag, but we have eaten in some good places! I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Roganic
19, Blandford St, London, W1U 3DH

Warm Chickpea and Tuna Salad (BLW)

Sometimes it is difficult to constantly create fun and interesting things to eat every day, both for yourself and for the little ones. I often have an inspirational idea and by the time I have loaded the buggy and headed out to get the ingredients, I have forgotten what that was, so its all back to square one again... I am sure babies and children don't mind a little repetition with their food, as long as it tastes good and its not the same Every day!

Anyway, this time I managed to give her something new again, and it is also a great option for two reasons; 1) It is extremely easy and cheap to make and 2) babies can practice their pincer grasp! So all in all, cheap, fun and entertaining! What else do you want from a lunch?

Serves 1 plus baby

1 tin of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 tin of tuna
1/2 lemon
1 tbs of chopped parsley
pepper
1 tbs olive oil

Add the chickpeas to a pan with a splash of water and warm gently for 10 minutes (to help soften them a little more). Add the tuna and stir through. Take off the heat and add the juice of 1/2 lemon (or to your taste), a grind of pepper, the chopped parsley and the olive oil. Stir well and serve once cool enough for baby.

Warm Butternut Squash Salad with Yoghurt Dressing (BLW)

I love places, where not only the food is good, but they also give me inspiration to cook things at home. Don't get me wrong, one of my favourite things on earth is going to a fancy restaurant, where I get pampered and served dishes that I could never even dream of attempting in my own kitchen. But sometimes, a simple cafe is perfect to order some food and get some ideas about your weekend meal. This recipe was created after visiting one of these places: Ottolenghi. I went to Ottolenghi in Islington many, many years ago and started cooking variations of this recipe just as many years ago. I seem to remember it was a grilled aubergine salad with yoghurt dressing that inspired me in the first place.

Yoghurt in savoury dishes is commonly used in Greece (tzatziki is one obvious example). It works really well with warm, spicy dishes, and gives a beautiful, rich and slightly cooling aspect to the dish. I 'm not sure if it is because I am Greek or not, but Greek yoghurt is so yummy! Much prefer it to other yoghurts! Anyway, I am done promoting Greek food yet again! Here is the recipe - which is not Greek! :)

Serves 2 and baby

2 butternut squashes
2 red peppers
150 g mange tout
2 hand fulls fresh baby spinach
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp paprika


for the dressing


200g Greek yoghurt
2 cloves of garlic in their skins
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs finely chopped parsley


Turn the fan oven on at 180 degrees. Skin the butternut squashes and cut them in approximately 1.5 inch chunks. Cut the peppers into long slices. Place is a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil and the paprika. Add the garlic cloves in their skins to the tray and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the squash has softened. In the meantime, boil the mange tout until they are al dente (leave a few to boil for longer for baby). After 20 minutes in the oven, remove the garlic cloves from the tray (return the tray to the oven, if the squash needs more cooking). Peel the garlic cloves and chop them finely, then add them to the yoghurt, along with the extra virgin olive oil and the chopped parsley. Mix well.


To assemble the salad, lay a hand full of spinach in each bowl, then top with the mange tout and the roasted squash and peppers. Top with some (or plenty) of the dressing and serve. For baby you can offer whatever vegetables you feel comfortable with (I offered squash, peppers and mange tout with no dressing, as she still finds yoghurt a little sour!). Enjoy. x

Pasta with Pesto (BLW)

When I was growing up in the 90's I fell 'victim' to a variety of fads; platform shoes, bright coloured trousers and the Macarena... I do not appreciate the 90's very much because of all this! Had I been older and wiser, I would have known better, but I was young and gullible. In fact the 90's, as a decade, didn't produce much to boast about really, other than the fact that, for some reason, Pesto became quite widely known and used. For that we can thank the 90's!

Pesto in its original, fresh form is a thing of beauty! It has great flavour, texture, colour and is extremely versatile. You can have it plain with some pasta, for a healthy, easy meal. You can add it to fish or meat, add it to a salad or a vegetable side dish. It is definitely a handy thing to have in the fridge. But it has to be homemade - the jarred versions are just not good enough, often leaving a slightly bitter taste in the mouth.

It is such an easy thing to prepare and is really worth making in big batches and keeping in the fridge (you can top the jar with some oil, to protect the pesto and it lasts for ages). This recipe makes enough for a pasta meal for 2 plus baby and some leftovers to be used to flavour another dish (meat, fish or veg).

For the pesto

40g of fresh basil (remove the big stalks)
80-100ml of good quality olive oil
2 tbs of pine nuts (you can lightly toast them in a pan, but I don't)
squeeze of lemon
pepper
2 tbs of grated Parmesan

Put the basil in a food processor and add half the olive oil. Blend together, until it is paste-like. Add one tablespoon of pine nuts and some more oil and blend again. Add more oil if you feel like it needs it (the mixture shouldn't be too thick and the oil helps make it creamier). At this stage add a squeeze of lemon and the pepper and blend again. Set a little bit aside for the baby, then add the remaining pine nuts and the Parmesan and blend for a few seconds, so that the pine nuts retain their crunch.

At this stage you add it to some boiled pasta (around 250g dried pasta for 2 people), along with some of the water the pasta was boiling in (a few tbs). Serve immediately with a little more grated Parmesan. Buon Appetito! x

BLW on her tray. Do not be fooled by the 3 bits of pasta (plus one in each fist). She can go through loads, if she is hungry!)

Nona's Cephalonian Meat Pie - Kefalonitiki Kreatopita tis Nonas

Pies are a big deal in many countries of the world. Before we went travelling, I had no idea how much pride Aussies and Kiwis took in their pies. They were sold everywhere and, to be honest, that was our main sustenance for our 10 days on South Island. Similarly the British are pretty big on their pies too. Beef and ale pie served with mash, mushy peas and gravy - oh, so good!

Kefalonia is also one of those places that prides itself for its pies (and it is a Cephalonian thing, not an overall Greek thing). Yes, you can find Spanakopita (spinach pie) and Tiropita (cheese pie) throughout Greece, but things like Salt Cod Pie, Artichoke Pie and most importantly Cephalonian Meat Pie (hence the name), are unique to Kefalonia. I love these pies. But I have to prepare non-Greeks to the fact that they are nothing like a British pie. There is no gravy involved. In fact, what keeps the filling together is the rice. Rice is a very common ingredient in Greek pies.

This Cephalonian Meat Pie is my Nona's mother's recipe and it is a meal in its own right; it has rice, meat, herbs, spices and flavourings and is surrounded in pastry. You can have a side dish with it, if you like, but you will be full! It is almost a challenge to eat it really - you know you are getting full, but it is too good to stop eating... and you know how much effort whoever made it put into it too, therefore you HAVE to finish it!

This dish really is a treat. We usually only get to eat it 2-3 times a year at home. But when we do, we savour it! This summer, I can't take credit in making it myself... My mother made it for Missy's Christening dinner. Yes, it is a fiddly dish to make, but first of all it tastes delicious and secondly, it can feed an army, so at least you wont have to cook again for a while!

Serves 8 to 10 Greeks

For the filling:

500g pork (shoulder or other braising cut)
500g lamb or beef (any braising cut)
150g feta, crumbled
80g of parmesan, grated
1 onion, chopped
120g long grain rice
200ml beef or lamb stock
5 tbs olive oil
2-3 tbs lemon juice
3 eggs
3 garlic cloves
10 prunes, pitted and chopped
100ml passata
1 tbs mint
1 tbs dill
1 tbs parsley
1/4 tsp cinnamon
salt
pepper

For the pastry:

500g plain flour
1 egg
150ml olive oil
200ml milk
salt

To make the pastry, blend the oil evenly with the flour and a pinch of salt, then mix in the egg. Gradually add enough milk, till the pastry can be handled without being too sticky. Knead the pastry. You can use the pastry immediately or refrigerate before use.

Sweat the onions in the olive oil and set aside. Cut the meat into large chunks and brown them in the oil (brown a few pieces at a time, so as not to 'boil' the chunks if there are too many in the pan). Add the onions back in with the meat, cover with the stock and add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cover the pot and gently stew for 1 hour.

Remove the meat from the stock and cut into cubes. Reserve the stock.

Grease the pie dish (a dish of around 2 litres capacity and 5 cm high) and line with 2/3 of the pastry. Mix all of the ingredients together except the stock and add further seasoning to taste.  Add the mixture to the pie dish then add around 150ml of the stock on top.  Lift the filling gently to ensure that the stock is evenly distributed. The stock should just cover the filling - if there is not enough stock, top up with white wine or water. Seal the top of the pie dish with the remaining pastry and bake for 1 hour (or until the pastry is golden) at 160 degrees in a fan oven.

Cephalonian Meat Balls - Polpettes (BLW)

I was looking through my older posts and I realised I don't actually have many recipes from Kefalonia other than the Avga me Ntomata really... So I thought I should rectify this and cook something Cephalonian. This recipe is a really good introduction to the traditional flavours and cooking from the island. It has cinnamon, tomato and garlic flavours, and has a very homely, comfort-food feel about it. Perfect for a rainy Sunday at home.

It is a fairly easy recipe to follow, though its not my usual quick meal. But it is definitely worth the extra time, if you have it spare. I grew up on these meatballs and this recipe is fool-proof in accomplishing the fluffy texture of the meatballs with the rich flavour of the sauce. It is usually served with long grain rice and some grated hard cheese. We decided to cook it without any salt, so that Missy could actually share the exact same meal with us. I was really surprised to find that it didn't seem to really miss the salt. It seems that the rest of the spices and herbs season the meat enough, so it does not taste bland in any way. Obviously, if you want to add salt, I am sure it will only help make it taste even better.

Dinner for the whole family

Serves 3-4 (and a very hungry little person)

For the meatballs:
500g beef mince
1 grated onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 tsp of chopped fresh mint
2 medium eggs
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 teacup of soft white bread crumbs, soaked in water then squeezed (use fresh bread, as opposed to stale bread for this recipe)
2-3 tbs flour for coating the meatballs
salt (optional if BLW)
pepper

For the tomato sauce
75ml olive oil
400g of passata
1 cinnamon stick
salt (optional if BLW)
pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp butter

Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs together and knead well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Shape the mince into balls and flatten slightly on the top and bottom (about the size of a large egg). Flour them lightly and fry them for 3-4 minutes on each side in the olive oil. Set aside on a plate.

In a separate pan put the oil, passata, cinnamon stick and seasoning and bring to the boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the lightly fried meatballs. Gently simmer in the pan for about 45 minutes, adding a little water if required and checking the meatballs don't stick to the pan. About 15-20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the sugar and the butter to the sauce and stir gently.. Serve with boiled rice or mash and a little grated cheese.

My portion

Missy's portion, which she ate with her hands. We are still finding bits of rice all over the house...

Luardos - Whitecross Street Market

When you write about food all the time, you can often repeat yourself. A lot... I do apologise if any of you are starting to notice this, only a few months after my first post! So here goes the repetition: I love burritos! Since I stopped work and can't have them weekly any more, I dream about them weekly instead.

So I thought I would pay my husband a visit at work for lunch last Friday and we ventured to Whitecross Street Market. I had never been before and I was completely overwhelmed and excited by the variety and number of stalls there, but most of all, by the smells. I could smell bbq'ed meats, Thai curry, Indian curry and all sorts of other delicious things. But I had to focus. I was there for one reason and one reason only: Burritos from Luardos. I had read about this place in a few blogs and magazines and I wanted to check it out and compare it to my favourite burrito in London - Daddy Donkey.

When we arrived at the stall the queue was one of the longest on the street. 'Good start', I thought. If there are so many people willing to wait in the heat and waste their precious lunch break time, it must be good. We eventually got to the front of the queue and I started getting excited. I saw the menu; nice and simple. There were just four options - chicken, pork, steak or veggie. I ordered a chicken with extra guacamole for myself and a steak with guacamole for my husband.

Chicken burrito

Steak Burrito

I quickly took a few pictures of the 'construction' of the burrito and we rushed to a nearby park to consume the goods. We both bit into our respective burritos and a long satisfied 'mmmm' came out of our mouths. It was rather good. The steak was extremely tender and deliciously spiced. The chicken was also really tender though not as flavoursome. All together it was a very good burrito, but not as good as others I have had in London. It was a little lacking in overall flavour and tasted a little 'watered down'. It wasn't as rich as I would have liked. Having said that, the guacamole was fantastic and the burritos are cheaper than most other places I have been to in the UK.

What was left of the meal...

I will definitely be going back to Whitecross Street Market, but although I will return to Luardos, I will probably try a couple of other stalls first.

Luardos 
Pitch 39, Whitecross Street Market, EC1Y 8JL