Any eagle-eyed readers may notice similarities between the title of this post, and my very first piece that I wrote last year, both revolving around Italian food. Whilst the title of the first one centred around the notion that Spaghetti Bolognese isn’t in any way, shape or form an authentic Italian dish, this one serves to educate the reader on the, what I’m sure any Italians would consider very obvious, differences between a panzerotto and a calzone.
So, with the Italians’ culinary pride in mind, I’ll attempt to highlight those differences, and do justice to the much-loved Southern Italian street food snack.
greenwichmarket.london
Panzerotti (plural form) originate from the region of Puglia, in the south, and consist of a savoury fried parcel filled with pizza-style fillings. It is much lighter than a calzone, with thinner dough, meaning it’s perfect as a hand-held snack. Another notable difference would be in the cooking – as mentioned above, panzerotti are fried, whilst the calzone is oven-baked.
The most basic filling is tomato and mozzarella, but these can be customised as easily as pizza toppings. Despite originating in Puglia, this perfect on-the-go street food has spread throughout Italy, gaining particular popularity in Milan, and has now reached international waters including the US, Australia, and of course here in the UK.
When it came to starting my background research for this post, it’s interesting that nearly every single one of the first three pages of Google results was specifically related to the London street food business that I’m going to focus on today. In fact, there were relatively few results discussing this dish in general.
I was inspired to do a little bit more research on Panzerotti after being invited to try the street food stall Panzerotto Blues, who trade at both Greenwich and Tooting Markets.
I headed to Tooting, which is a market that I’d never visited before. It’s covered, and is open on weekends with various seating areas, so is a great place to go with friends and family for a chilled outing. There are a number of traders with everything from butchers, to organic beauty products, to record shops and bars, and of course street food.
Panzerotto Blues is located towards the back of the market, surrounded by fellow street food businesses, and there’s plenty of seating. There are a number of options for your panzerotto filling, from mozzarella, to gorgonzola, olives to meat feast. I went for the Diavola, with pepperoni, mozzarella and added chilli flakes for a subtle kick.
I loved that you get to watch this being made in front of you. It’s so fresh, and super interesting to watch the dough being made, rolled out, stuffed with fillings then folded and crimped before being dunked into the deep fryer. Despite the fact that it’s deep fried, it’s actually not that greasy at all, and it ends up being surprisingly light as it’s not overloaded with fillings. The crunch from biting into the outer shell was so satisfying, and that combined with the ooze of the melted cheese on the inside just made the perfect contrast. Although at Greenwich there isn’t any seating so you’re given the panzerotto in foil to hold and bite straight into, here at Tooting it can be served on a plate complete with knife and fork so it doesn’t have to be messy!
They also do a number of side dishes which I’m keen to go back and try. As well as mozzarella sticks and onion rings, they have a dessert of little fried dough balls served with mini marshmallows and nutella. To. Die. For.
Panzerotto Blues is 100% somewhere I’d recommend in London. It’s exciting to see small businesses strive to recreate ‘authentic’ local dishes, even when they’re not widely known over here. Yes, we all love pizza, pasta and arancini, but there’s a lot more to Italian grab and go food, and this is the place to try it.
Running an independent street food business that trades in various locations is a tough gig. Factors completely out of anyone’s control such as the weather can so easily affect profits meaing that without that stability, it’s a job to be done only by those who really care about the food they produce, and it’s vital that businesses like Panzerotto Blues get our support. London has such an excitingly diverse culinary scene, and so much of that is down to its markets and street food. Let’s continue to celebrate our city’s culinary diversity, and most importantly, listen to the experts – IT IS NOT A CALZONE!
Haven’t done a review for a while so here we go… This review actually should’ve taken place a couple of years ago, except for the fact that I got confused, and booked a table at the underwhelmingly shit Steak and Lobster, instead of Burger and Lobster.
Before I dive into the actual review, just for comparison, Steak and Lobster has a near identical (although slightly less interesting menu), obviously is based around the same ‘surf ‘n’ turf’ concept, but the interior is weird and sterile, the service was a bit shit, and the food was dead. Literally of course, the steak and lobster were dead, but going beyond that. Dead af. Bland and uninspiring. I’m not sure I could paint a less glowing picture.
So after this unintentional restaurant visit, I’d been pining for the real deal. Pining for two years in fact. And today was finally the day that I got my Burger and Lobster.
This is not acceptable lighting.
I can probably concede that the only thing Steak and Lobster did better was the lighting. I have a thing about poorly lit restaurants. Really does my head in, and the Burger and Lobster in Soho at least was like this. That is, however, pretty much where the negativity ends.
To start, the three of us shared the Lobster Croquettes. These were super creamy with a lovely level of spicy flavour from the bed of Chipotle mayo. The little avocadoey blob on top doesn’t add much but it does look pretty. These aren’t cheap. You get 4 croquettes for £9.50, and you can bet that we divided that last one up between us into incredibly precise thirds. But at the end of the day, it’s a lobster restaurant, so if you’re on a budget, just don’t bother in the first place.
I’d always thought that I’d end up having the Lobster Roll here, but ultimately after some intense social media stalking, I decided that the B&L Beast Burger looked exciting. It consists of a thicccc AF beef patty (medium rare ofc) with a solid chunk of lobster meat on top, gooey melting Brie, truffle and tarragon mayo, fennel and Chinese cabbage. It is such a satisfying burger. Part of me thinks the flavour of the lobster gets a bit lost when it’s served like this, but despite that I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. It really is a bit of a beast.
I was super tempted by the melty Gruyere Spinach on the side, but decided to be slightly less naughty, and opted for the tenderstem broccoli instead. As far as veggie sides go, it was nice and buttery, but obviously there are more interesting options. I did however, have to try one of my friend’s Truffle Chips of course. I was surprised that they were proper thick cut chips rather than fries, and if I’d known I might have been tempted myself, although we all agreed that despite the truffle smelling quite strong, there wasn’t much actual truffle flavour from them.
Finally we come to dessert, which I had told myself I wouldn’t have. But why stop myself if I change my mind? Gutted I didn’t get there last Easter for their Creme Egg Cheesecake, but rather than going for their plainer White Chocolate Cheesecake, I was taken by the Cranberry and Hazelnut Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream.
First off, it definitely ticks the gooey box. It was super soft and melt-in-the-mouth. The hazelnuts and cranberries were both really nice additions, both in terms of texture and flavour. My only complaint would be the warmth of the brownie. Normally when something is served with ice cream on the side, it’s so hot that the two kind of melt together, and the hot-cold contrast works beautifully. With this dessert, the brownie seemed to be kind of lukewarm in the first place so that delicious contrast wasn’t quite there.
Service was great, super friendly, and the menu has a decent selection of mains combos.
There is probably a gimmicky element to the lobster craze, which accounts for the high cost of the food, but if you’re willing to look past the food as a trend, for me at least, it was a good quality, tasty meal. £25 for a burger with a small amount of lobster in isn’t ideal, but I’m in London, I know what I’m getting myself in for, so there’s no use in complaining.
As I often tell people with a sickly sweet smile at my place of work when they scoff at the pricing,’It’s fine, you don’t have to buy it.’ 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Paella is incredible. It’s one of the first foods from overseas that I remember loving. Holidaying in Spain fairly often when I was younger gave me loads of opportunity to get used to this beautiful seafood rice dish – surprising considering this was a time when I was incredibly fussy and actively disliked so many staple foods, even including plain white rice. I remember saying that I only liked ‘yellow rice’.
The highlight of my paella journey was probably having it for our Christmas dinner about ten years ago, and I can honestly say, with that incredible seafood, I didn’t miss the traditional roast at all.
There are many different varieties within Spain itself, paella valenciana being one of the most popular, and hailing from the city after which it’s named. You’ll find paella with a combination of seafood and chicken, some with either or, and sometimes vegetarian paellas are available.
Other variations that wouldn’t necessarily be classed as paella are arroz negro (black rice) which is made with squid ink, and fideua which uses short lengths of noodle-like pasta instead of rice. I’ve only ever had this once, but it was cooked by the abuela (Grandma) of the little boy I was looking after as an au pair in Barcelona. We went to stay in the grandparents house in Costa Brava for a weekend. She cooked this on the outdoor oven, and we sat in the sun by their pool (alright for some) enjoying this incredible meal. This was before I’d discovered my incredible appetite and I honestly struggled to deal with the amount of food they would try and pile into my plate, but they really did look after me.
I’m sure most Spaniards would be completely disapproving of any ‘paella’ recipe coming from elsewhere in the world, much as they were when Jamie Oliver added chorizo to his version, but you can guarantee that isn’t going to stop me from trying.
I browsed a selection of recipes online in the days before I was planning on attempting my own version, and so when it came down to it, I was able to wing this much-loved dish of mine.
When attempting dishes like this that are so adored in their country of origin, you kind of have to forget what people might think. Forget about how others might rip it apart, criticise every wrong turn. Just do it your way. Of course, if you are making any obvious major adjustments, it’s better to acknowledge this, and the fact that your version makes no attempt to follow the ‘traditional’ norms, but otherwise, you’re all good, and I don’t think I stray too far from tradition here.
Paella takes a bit of patience, but it’s actually very simple. My first attempt was certainly a raging success, even if I do say so myself.
Just promise me one thing – if you’ve bought one of those packets of frozen mixed seafood that no longer even bears any resemblance to seafood, not even an ounce of flavour, just don’t even bother with the paella. Not worth it hun x
Serves 2
1 red pepper
garlic
onion
Paella rice
Saffron
tinned tomatoes
pimentón
white wine
chicken or shellfish stock
peas
selection of seafood (mussels, squid, prawns etc.)
chicken thighs (optional)
lemon
Preheat oven to 180C.
Roast red pepper until it’s bursting from its skin.
Heat oil in pan and fry garlic and onion until fragrant and softened.
Add paella rice and coat with the oil already in the pan.
Add a small amount of the tinned tomatoes or normal salad tomatoes.
Add pimentón.
Make up the stock and add the saffron then pour into rice bit by bit along with a splash of white wine.
Add handful of peas and season.
Whilst the paella is cooking, cook the seafood (and/or chicken) separately if necessary and then add to pan when done along with the cooking juices. Prawns can cook simply by sitting on top of the paella, same with squid. Mussels should be washed and cooked along with a splash of white wine, garlic and butter until open. Use your common sense with anything else.
Keep adding stock until the rice is cooked through but still firm and there is no liquid left in the pan (if you overcook it the rice will go mushy so make sure you keep tasting as you go along).
Stir through the roasted red pepper and top with the seafood, ensuring everything is warm and cooked through.
Before serving squeeze lemon all over and serve with slices of lemon on top.
It may look like a lot of effort but actually the individual steps really aren’t. In terms of the ingredients, it can be as much or little effort as you like. Go for a simple chicken and/or prawn paella if that’s all you fancy. Or head down to your local fish counter to see what they’ve got in for a more ‘all-out’ dish like the one above, featuring mussels, monkfish, squid and langoustines.
Gonna end this one, bigging myself up a bit with something my friend said – apparently, after spending a year abroad in Barcelona, the flavour of the above paella that I cooked was better than any he’d had over there.
When I visited Morocco about 7 years ago now, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that taken by the food. I entirely put this down to the fact that I was still in my fussy phase at 18, rather than the food actually not being good.
Tagine and Cous Cous were frequently on the menu, and apparently neither of these satisfied me back then. Added to that was the fact that I was on a school ‘expedition’, so most of the meals that I was eating had been cooked for me by our hosts, whether that was Rashid’s wife in Taroudant or the amazing team who looked after us during our camping trek in the Atlas Mountains. Looking back now, this gives me even more reason to be in awe of the food. No choice, just delicious home-cooked (or mountain-cooked) meals dished up for us every breakfast, lunch and dinner. It really was a treat I should’ve appreciated more.
I’ve not really eaten much Moroccan food here either. I once had a tagine from Giraffe at Birmingham aiport, and despite having had some lovely meals from there before, it really wasn’t good.
Other than that, my inspiration for this probably has to come from my Dad’s leftover lamb stew, that we’d have the day after a Sunday Roast. For years I refused to eat it if it had apricots/dates in, as the idea of mixing sweet with savoury really didn’t work for me, but now that’s my favourite part.
I’ve finally come up with my own recipe for it, along with a side dish for mopping up all the sauces, inspired by Nadiya Hussain’s ‘Cheat’s Paratha’.
Of course it would be more ‘authentic’ to serve with cous cous, but ultimately you can choose whichever side dish you wish. This one’s satisfyingly indulgent, but I guess cous cous would be the slightly more health-conscious option.
A few disclaimers before I get to the point.
I don’t do recipe writing. It’s not my forte, but I do want to be able to share my successes. Because of that, my way of instruction won’t be the most precise – you’ll have to trust yourself to go with instinct sometimes, but the basic guidelines will be there.
Serves 2
For the stew
Ingredients:
1 onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 tin of chickpeas
1tsp tamarind paste
1tsp ginger paste
2 tsp rose harissa pasta
1tsp ras el hanout
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
handful of dried apricots
small handful of dates
leftover lamb
water
salt/pepper
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion and garlic.
When fragrant tip in drained chickpeas.
Add the pastes and spices, give it a good mix and cook for a few minutes.
Chop dried apricots and dates into smaller pieces (generally I’d chop apricots in halves or quarters and dates into thirds), and add these along with the chopped tomatoes and seasoning.
Chuck in the leftover lamb and add enough water so that everything is almost completely submerged.
Leave to cook on a low heat for preferably a couple of hours (if you’re massively impatient like I often am, a shorter cooking time just to reduce the liquid slightly will do)
This stew-style sauce should still be liquidy when ready – don’t expect it to reduce down completely. You are aiming for the perfect balance between a thick pasty sauce and watery broth.
For the ‘Paratha’
Ingredients:
Puff Pastry
1 chilli
½ ball of mozzarella
1 tsp chilli powder
As I mentioned before, this is inspired by Nadiya Hussain’s Cheat’s Paratha. Certainly not a paratha (type of flatbread) in the typical sense, instead of having to make the dough from scratch, here you are just using puff pastry. It ends up having the most amazing soft, spongy texture, and I’ve just added a couple of extra ingredients to make it even more delicious.
Cut your ready-rolled puff pastry into 2 rectangles (you probably want enough that when you roll it into a ball, it’s a fist size).
Roll each rectangle into a ball.
Finely slice your chilli, and tear the mozzarella lump into smaller pieces.
There is no precise technique to this next bit – basically divide the chilli/mozzarella mix into two piles – one for each paratha, and press the puff pastry ball into that pile, constantly pushing the dough around so that the chilli and mozzarella becomes incorporated into the dough. At this point you can also sprinkle over as much chilli powder as you can handle. You want to knead the dough/push it around for a couple of minutes so that the mozzarella and chilli are evenly distributed throughout the dough rather than just being concentrated in one area.
With a rolling pin, roll them flat into circles – I like mine quite thick, so I’d probably go for the thickness of two pound coins. If you’ve used rubbish, cheap mozzarella like me, don’t worry if the dough is incredibly sticky and wet, it might seem like a disaster but it will still work fine.
Heat a frying pan on high, and once rolled out, add your paratha to the dry pan. There’s no specific cooking time, but you want to leave it until it’s crisped up and is no longer sticky at all on one side, and then you can flip it to crisp the other side. A couple of minutes should be enough, but just monitor it and use your common sense.
When fully cooked, you should find that they are browned up on both sides but that the centre is soft and slightly gooey and when you pull it apart, the cheese should stretch between both sides.
Serve the stew with your paratha on the side for a cheesy, spicy dipping experience!
Would love to know if anyone ends up trying this, so please leave a comment or connect with me on Instagram @foodtravelsldn.
It’s been the year of the plant-based, Netflix’s Street Food sensation and the cancelling of Deliveroo for all eternity (at least on my part). But on a more personal level, it’s been a year of progression and big changes, and many of those can be linked to this very blog here.
I’ve managed to break down 12 months of memories, breakthroughs and generally excellent food into 20 highlights, so without further ado, here are the dishes and food experiences that have made my year.
1. Making fresh pasta
Thanks to inspiration from Gino D’Campo’s Gino’s Pasta, I ended up buying an inexpensive pasta machine from Amazon, not really expecting very impressive results. Admittedly, I have only used it twice, but the two dishes I managed to whip up have automatically made it worth the money.
I first tried Gino’s Ham and Ricotta Stuffed Pasta with Chorizo. It’s surprising how easy the pasta sheets are to make – literally just flour and egg, mixed together into your dough and then fed into the machine, ready to be flattened into usable sheets.
One of the first things I’ve noticed on both occasions is that once you boil the pasta, it becomes very slimy – I don’t know whether this is a tell-tale sign of it being fresh, and therefore a satisfying texture, or just an indication that I haven’t quite perfected it yet. Either way this dish was very tasty, and simple; the most difficult part probably trying to seal the little parcels without them flipping back open to reveal the filling inside.
My second pasta attempt (also Gino) was his spinach and ricotta cannelloni, so a slightly different venture to the parcels. In one sense this is even more straightforward, as the pasta sheets don’t need to be cut into shapes, just rolled up, but I’m still unsure as to how the rolling up and sealing of the cannelloni works, and so, although it didn’t affect the flavour, I ended up with about 38585 excess rolls on each pasta tube. Still delicious though with a simple passata tomato sauce.
2. Loaded Fries
How many times do I have to mention it? Potatoes are my least favourite carb. However, add a ton of mouth-watering toppings to a big tray of fries, and I’m sold. Loaded fries are becoming an increasingly extravagant dish, and so should probably only be indulged in once in a while, but I definitely have two highlights within this category.
The first were the beetroot fries from Seasoned, at Hatch in Manchester. Slightly less heavy on the toppings, these were incredibly striking what with the beetroot salt and creamy, beetrooty feta sauce. The flavour absolutely lived up to the appearance.
Secondly, and possibly the most unhealthy thing I’ve ever eaten was the New Yorker bucket from The Bucket List in Cromer, or Norwich where I tried them. The toppings seemed to be endless, from mozzarella balls, to bacon, to aioli to fried Brie (I think?) and plenty more, but these really were the definition of loaded fries. Interesting that neither of these highlights actually came from London – maybe the fry guys down here have a thing or two to learn.
3. My Mum’s Cooking
Very cringey but can’t be avoided. All I want to do when I go home is eat monkfish paella not paella risotto not risotto and slow cooked pork with everything on the side. No more needs to be said, I’ll just leave the photos here…
4. Annie’s Burger Shack
There’s not a huge amount on the food scene that Nottingham (my hometown) is known for, but one that cannot be missed, and that I only just tried for the first time earlier this year is Annie’s Burger Shack. The menu is incredible. It’s not the burger patties, or the buns that are mindblowing, but instead the incredible combinations of toppings and fillings that make these way more than your standard burger. I’m still desperate to try the Roast Dinner Burger featuring an actual Yorkshire pudding in/on the burger (and literally every single other one on the menu), but for the time being I’ll leave you with The Johnny Vegas Burger, that I devoured on my first visit: crispy bacon, toffee apple butter, black pudding, chilli jam an a mini Guinness jelly doughnut on a stick on top. It’s mad, but that’s the point.
5. Chalida Invite
I don’t really get many invites due to my Instagram engagement being so low, although this isn’t an issue as I’m always happy to pay for food I really want to try. Having said that, being invited to new Thai restaurant Chalida in Chinatown, Leicester Square was an amazing night this year. My friend and I indulged in the biggest thai feast, and the food was wonderful. My highlights of the meal included the Beef Massaman Curry and the Chilli Aubergine. It’s definitely worth a visit.
6. Baking!
It’s not that I’ve never baked before, it’s just that this year, I suddenly realised how much joy it brought me, and has consistently acted as a kind of therapy. When I’m in the kitchen I literally think of nothing else other than when it need to turn down the heat, or what seasoning I’m going to add. I still have kitchen disasters, but this year I’ve impressed myself with some of the outcomes of my baking. Here are a few favourites:
7. Italian pasta, and watching the svogline at work
The tortellini I had in Bologna (the best place in the world to try it) was sensational. One of the nicest things I’ve ever tasted, and as well as tasting it, I got to watch the experts at work. During the city food tour I went on, we went to watch the svogline (ladies who make the pasta), and it was incredible how quickly and precisely they worked, especially when making such tiny parcels. Obviously we got to sample their work afterwards with a glass of wine, and I didn’t mind that too much either.
8. Meeting Nadiya
If you didn’t already know that I met Nadiya Hussain (most wonderful bake off winner in the history of the world, soon to be MBE, and all-round inspirational powerhouse of a woman), then you’ve been hiding under a rock. Yes I embarrassed myself by getting all snotty and cringey and sobby, but hearing her speak about her life experiences live, in person, was really fantastic, and she is as beautiful as she is articulate and kind.
9. Maturing Taste Buds
Surprisingly I used to be an incredibly fussy eater when I was younger – I didn’t like the most standard things, like pasta, or Yorkshire puddings, or even cheesecake and doughnuts (I semi wish that were still the case lol). Over time, I’ve learned that actually I do like most of these things, and this year in particular I’ve been really open-minded in terms of still trying foods and flavours that I mentally perceive to be ‘not to my taste’. One of the most significant food groups is nuts. I’ve always hated the woody, dull flavours but now I’ll gladly throw them into my cooking and baking. I’ll put peanut butter in my curries, almonds in my porridge and even chuck some hazelnuts in with my broccoli! Raw tomatoes are also becoming slightly more palatable to me, so maybe 2020’s challenge will have to be cucumbers (vom, or maybe not).
10. Forman and Field
I love seeing where the food I eat comes from – admittedly some of those places would probably shock, and maybe even disgust me, but in this case, visiting Forman and Field’s smoked salmon factory was fantastic. From the enthusiasm and passion of those behind the family-run business, to the quality of the food they produce and serve, it was a wonderful day, and really interesting to see the whole process, from the salmon arriving into the factory, whole, to it leaving in neat little packages.
11. My First Roast Dinner Cooking Experience
On one of those lovely bank holidays earlier this year, my flatmates and I decided to attempt a roast dinner. About time seeing as I’ve never actually tried to cook one before. We were able to sit outside on our lovely patio in the sun with a bottle of wine, and thankfully the food turned out equally as well. The roast chicken was tasty and perfectly-cooked, the Yorkshires were slightly cake-like but still delicious, and accompanied by roast potatoes, parsnips, veg, gravy and stuffing, it really was a very satisfying feast, particularly as we’d cooked it all up ourselves.
12. Reading About Food
Not only do I love eating, cooking and writing about food, but I also appreciate reading about it and learning from that too. I currently have a huge list of food-related books on Amazon that I want to try and get through this year, some of which I stumbled across myself, some were recommended by Felicity Cloake at her Food Writing Guardian Masterclass, and others I took note of in the bookshop at KERB Seven Dials Food Hall. Speaking of Felicity Cloake, her book ‘One More Croissant for the Road’, about her combined cycling/food-sampling tour of France was one of my favourites. I wish there was more decent food-travel writing out there. I also enjoyed reading more scientifically about food and nutrition, although this can be quite dodgy ground as there are always people willing to use ‘scientific evidence’ to make bullshit scaremongering claims. Despite that, I really enjoyed ‘Is Butter a Carb?’, which approaches the nutrition side of things in a very matter-of-fact way without preaching about lifestyle choices.
13. Toffee Popcorn Pie – A Pie Party
You should know by now how much I love A Pie Party, and cannot wait for Claire’s new range in the New Year, but this special has honestly never left my mind. An absolute flavour/textural highlight on the food front this year.
14. Energy Balls
Thanks to Emma Hollingsworths, I discovered these super simple, easy to make, and incredibly tasty vegan snack balls. There are so many different variations I want to try, and so one of my New Year’s challenges will be to adapt a few recipes for these of my own. A perfect lunchbox snack.
15. Max’s Sandwich Shop
The first sandwich I tried from Max’s was life changing. The Ham, Eggs and Chips Sandwich (below) is the best sandwich I’ve ever had, but it’s not only been devouring his sandwiches from the shop that I’ve loved. I also bought his recipe book, giving you all the recipes for his best-loved sandwiches and fillings plus plenty more. The reviews for this on Amazon are hilarious and just go to show how many morons there are in the world, but I can tell you the focaccia recipe is fantastically foolproof. In case you needed further proof that this book is worth buying for any sandwich fiends, here’s my attempt at his Spaniard Sandwich, with everything made from scratch (to the left).
16. Ainsley
Before this year, when I thought of Ainsley Harriott, all that appeared in my mind were images of him in Ready Steady Cook that was constantly on when I got home from primary school when I was little. Now, however, I’m not listening to him in the background whilst playing with Bratz dolls, I’m following his amazing recipes and whipping up some wonderful meals. Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen is one of my favourite recipe books ever, and below are a few of the meals I’ve made so far.
17. Plant-based
My one week a month of veganism is going really well, and I plan on keeping it up forever. Rachel Ama has been a huge help on this journey with her interesting, original recipes, including the French toast and oyster mushroom jerk tacos below. In terms of eating out, my vegan highlights are the Cheezeburger burrito from Club Mexicana, the Seitan wings from Temple of Seitan, and the Philly Cheezesteak Sandwich from Jake’s Vegan Steaks.
18. Paella
One of the most exciting and successful meals that I made this year. I’ve always loved paella since I was very young, despite as I mentioned before the fact that I was very fussy. For some reason I didn’t like normal rice, but I did claim to like ‘yellow rice’ (saffron-infused paella rice). I wish I’d had more seafood in this paella but it still tasted beautiful. Look out for round 2 in 2020, which will be accompanied by my recipe for it.
19. Gadgets
I invested in some fantastic kitchen gadgets this year. From a new non-stick frying pan, to a slow cooker and egg wash brush, I’m acquiring quite a collection. The poached egg pockets I got from my Brunch Fest goody bag worked really well, and so if you struggle to contain your poached eggs to a presentable form, these pouches are perfect for a rounder, cleaner finish. I’ve also already used the multipurpose food processor that I got for Christmas, and it’s been amazing for the pastes I make from herbs, spices and veg to enhance the flavour of my dishes.
20. ¡Comemos!
Had to save this one until last of course. It’s been a year of ups and downs, but this blog has given me real focus. I’m proud of the work I’ve produced, and hope that there are at least a few decent reads on here. ¡Comemos! really is in its infancy right now, and so I’m looking forward to seeing what new material I have to work with in the New Year, and where I can take my love of food writing.
I hope your year has been equally as fruitful, and that 2020 is another year of progression, and growth.
Here’s to the little things that make us happy, and the dedicated work required to reap such rewards.
Second year of uni. Food plan for the weeks ahead sorted. £80 Morrison’s shop delivered.
(Yes £80 – this is what happens when you don’t drink that much)
This was the way things went every month. Stock up and then by the end of the month my food supply would be depleted ready to start again.
Or at least that’s how I expected it to work. But my food plans would change constantly and after weeks had gone by I would find heaps of gone off food in the back of the fridge, all of it ending up in the bin.
And I didn’t really think much of it.
Fast forward a few years however, and lots has changed. Now, to me, food waste is criminal. It’s very rare that I end up throwing stuff away, and that’s how it should be.
This is a sort of guide with a number of suggestions and recommendations on ways that you can make the most of what’s in your cupboards, but also help to reduce commercial food waste.
On a personal level, Nadiya’s Time to Eat was what started my full on appreciation for my freezer. So many of the foods I’ve thrown away over the years would’ve been perfectly edible had I frozen them. Your freezer is your friend and the sooner you realise that, the less waste you’ll end up with.
The current contents of my freezer are as follows:
Cardamom Ice Cream
Gingerbread Fondant Cups x3
Vegan Sausages x4
Chips
Edamame Beans
Peas
Shortcrust Pastry
English Muffins x2
Bacon x3
Squid
Smoked Salmon
Broad Beans
Focaccia x1
Croquettes x1
Vegan Fries
Bagels
Shellfish Stock
Some of the things on this list are obvious – where else would you keep ice cream? But others have meant I’ve preserved food that otherwise wouldn’t have made it.
Take the Gingerbread Fondant Cups for example. I made dessert for two people. When it comes to buying ingredients, just making two little fondant cups isn’t really worth it, so I ended up with about nine. There was never any chance of me eating 9 in one sitting, so they’ve now been resting in the freezer for a few months, ready for me to dish up as dessert if I ever have guests over, or for my flatmates.
Making sure you freeze in practical portion sizes is essential. If you tend to just be cooking for one, don’t freeze 3 chicken breasts together – you’ll come to regret it when you only want to defrost one.
My freezer is also a saviour for bready carby products – bagels, muffins, and all sorts of actual bread. Okay, so it’s never quite the same after being defrosted, never as soft and fluffy, but it’s edible, and when you slather it with fillings, the bread really isn’t the star of the show anyway. The focaccia I made the other day is waiting patiently until I delve back into my Max’s Sandwich Shop book in a month or so’s time – and because that’s already sorted, the sandwich recipes I want to try will take me ¼ of the amount of time what with not having to make the actual bread again.
This is one of the sandwiches I made for lunch this weekend with a portion of the focaccia I’d frozen weeks ago. All that remained was to whip up some guacamole and fry an egg!
You can also make the most of slightly stale bread by blending it to breadcrumbs or toasting cubes of it for croutons. This is a much better option than buying packets of these straight from the supermarket.
Another thing that I’m not afraid to do is freeze leftover food that I’ve bought from stalls and restaurants. I currently have my loaded fries from Temple of Seitan sitting in there after I couldn’t manage to eat them the other week as I’d already had 4 wings, a burger and Mac n Cheese lool. I’ve done this before with fries from Truffle, which tasted just as good heated up weeks later. The alternative is wasting perfectly good food and in my mind that’s just not a option. There should be no shame in taking home leftovers when you’ve been out to eat – this is much more responsible than overordering and then allowing it all to be thrown away. It also means you’ve got food ready to be reheated for an evening or lunchtime when you’re in a rush and don’t have time to cook something from scratch.
Saving them for a rainy day.
And the final point to add on the topic of freezing things is that many unappealing-looking scraps can be turned into something useful before or after being frozen.
Example number 1: Shellfish stock
I recently made a crab curry and found myself left with all shell and claws. Instead of binning them straight away, I boiled them into stock with a few other added ingredients, and have now frozen that stock ready for when I make a squid stew later this week.
In the process…
The finished product
Example number 2: Vegetable soup
This one might not sound that appealing but it was so satisfying to make. I froze a load of veg scraps – parsnip peel and cauliflower stalks etc and once I had built up enough, I boiled them, eventually blending the scraps into a smooth soup. You could just make stock, but why make stock and end up throwing the scraps away again when you could actually just blend them and use them as the substance for an entire meal. The idea of eating vegetable peel and stalks doesn’t sound massively appetising but it made for a really satisfying meal.
Before the blending
Example number 3: Aquafaba mayo
I was surprised to learn during my vegan week (from Rachel Ama) that vegan mayo can be made using aquafaba, or the liquid that comes from tinned chickpeas. Instead of draining the liquid when making a chickpea curry, I kept the liquid in a sealed bag and froze in, later using it to make the mayo.
The point is, if you do your research, there are plenty of ways to think outside the box when it comes to using your freezer to its full potential to limit the amount of food waste you’re producing.
And it’s not only vegetable waste that we can avoid. Fruit that is past its best can also be utilised to make tasty snacks. One of the most obvious examples is with bananas. Overripe bananas that are too mushy to eat are perfect to bake with – whether its cupcakes, muffins, or of course, banana bread. Other fruit works in a similar way – it might not taste great eating it on its own, but you don’t need or even want the freshest fruit when it comes to cooking it down for a compote, or baking it into cakes etc.
If you don’t fancy all that added sugar from baking, try making smoothies or shakes instead. Blend the fruit alone, or add milk or crushed ice (or even ice cream if you want to indulge) for the perfect pick me up in the morning. Once again, the fruit does not need to be on top form for this, as it’s going to be blended to a pulpy mush anyway.
Although most often I cook just for myself, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to try cooking bigger joints of meat, so I often find myself with lots of meaty leftovers. I tend to freeze the meat in smaller portions but there are so many things you can do with leftovers like this, whether it’s chicken, beef, lamb, pork or something more exotic. Using a food processor, you can blend smaller chunks of meat into mince. Obviously the texture ends up being quite different to shop-bought mince but it works in exactly the same way, and often has more flavour.
One of my favourite things to do is use leftover meat in a pie. I made a lamb roast dinner a few months ago, and with the leftover meat, I made a harissa lamb pie filling which was delicious.
After the pie there were still leftovers, so wanting to use up the lamb in as many diverse ways as possible, I added it to a greek lamb orzo dish. Another time I used some leftover brisket as the filling to some deliciously cheesy eggy bread. Adding your leftover meat to stews and curries is another perfect, and very easy option, and the possibilities really are endless.
As well as the things you can do in your own kitchen, there are now a number of really useful apps you can use on your phones and tablets to help reduce waste in your local community. Here are 3 of my favourites:
Too Good To Go
A large number of cafés, restaurants and even supermarkets are now using Too Good To Go to reduce their end of day waste. You can browse the app to see which locations will have waste at the end of the day, and how much it will cost (significantly reduced prices of course). You never actually know what specific items you will receive in your mystery bag, as because it’s a sort of pre-order system, the businesses cannot predict what they will have leftover, but they generally tend to give you an idea of the things you can expect to receive. Collection only.
Karma
Karma works in a similar way to Too Good To Go, except businesses upload individual waste items live as they have them, and so you will find food ‘to rescue’ even first thing in the morning. Also, rather than committing to buying a surprise goody bag like in the previous app, with Karma you can choose to buy specific dishes. You’ll even find street food style businesses on this app. Again, it’s collection only but each establishment will let you know when you need to collect the food by. More often than not, the food items are half price.
Olio
Saved my favourite until last! Olio does work alongside businesses but it’s designed more so for normal people like us who have food in our homes that is perfectly good to eat but that we’re not going to use. Instead of wasting it, you put up a post on the app, showing what food you are trying to get rid of with a short description, and when it will be available to collect from yours. People can then contact you if they are interested in collecting the item and you can arrange the pick up. A lot of the time people will leave the item securely wrapped outside the property so that you can collect it even if they’re not home, and I’ve done this at mine so I don’t have to worry about whether I’m going to be in or not. The food items can be brand new and unopened or even half used. This might sound odd, but why let half of a loaf of bread go to waste, or even half a bottle of ketchup if it’s perfectly good to use and it saves you from buying a whole new one! I really recommend using this app, and certainly not turning your nose up at it, as I reckon if we all properly thought about how much food we throw away on a yearly basis, it would be shocking. I’m still delighted about the fact that it saved me a few pounds the other month when I needed some strong bread flour and a lady living about 10 minutes from me had a whole unopened packet going for free. Result.
Most of my suggestions above are probably pretty obvious. Use your freezer. Sounds silly, but every time you’re about to throw something away, just think, is there another way I could use this? Might I want this for a dinner or packed lunch next month? Do I know someone who might want this? Of course there’s no point in filling your freezer with a load of things you are never ever going to go back to, but if that’s the case, you need to question what you’re buying, and how much of it you actually need in the first place.
Bottom line is we’re throwing far too much away. There are constant talks of shortages of this and shortages of that, but how can we be suffering shortages at the same time as wasting so much??
The moral of the story is think very carefully about what you’re buying and what you actually need, and do challenge yourself to try one of the apps or recommendations above this month, and see if you can reduce your waste.
As I often like to reiterate – food waste is for losers.
I’ve actually reached the point where vegan week no longer feels like vegan week. I’m not noticing the differences in the food I’m eating anymore, and it doesn’t feel like such a conscious effort to avoid meat/fish/dairy etc.
Despite that it’s still as exciting. I feel lucky that because I love cooking so much I’m more than happy to invest loads of time in trying new plant-based recipes rather than my vegan diet consisting of dull, flavourless frozen packets of things from that supermarket aisle (Linda McCartney chorizo sausages not included in this shade as they are DELICIOUS). But yeah, I can appreciate that for those who don’t have the time or the interest in cooking, a plant-based diet isn’t necessarily as appealing or exciting.
Anyway, there were a whole new load of things I tried in week 3, both things I made at home and places I ate out at, so let’s dive in and take a look.
I started things off by winging it. I’d bought some okra which, when cooked well, is one of my favourite vegetables. I only tried it for the first time when I was living in Brazil and fell in love with the flavour and texture. This curry however, was a bit shit. I think I should’ve had more patience and let it simmer for longer, but also I forgot that I had coconut milk so added vegan yoghurt instead and that just made it too sweet, so I will not be making a note of this recipe lol.
The only other thing I ate recipe-less was a sandwich that I took to work. I used the focaccia I’d made the week before and added some HECK Thai curry vegan sausages along with a chilli tahini and a lil bit of Bombay Mix for the crunch. I actually really enjoyed these sausages, probably a bit more than the last ones I tried which I think were Indian spiced.
The recipes that I followed throughout the week came from my usual favourites, Nadiya Hussain, Ainsley Harriott, Jamie Oliver and Rachel Ama.
One of the first was a spicy parsnip soup from Jamie’s VEG, which so far I’ve been really impressed with. The photo alongside this recipe looked so enticing but I actually found myself disappointed with the result.
Along with okra, parsnips are my other favourite vegetable (are they a vegetable?) but I lost the elements that I loved in this soup. It was less sweet and didn’t have the creamy, roasted texture that I loved. It was quite a chunky soup, whereas I think I prefer them pretty smooth.
I also tried my first recipe from Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen (just from looking at the recipes it’s my favourite cookbook ever…), but unfortunately I started with the wrong one.
I was trying to be reasonably healthy with his Mango, Avocado Brown Rice Salad but I actually had to throw it away. I’m not sure what I did wrong (other than following a recipe with mango and avocado which are two things I don’t really like lol) but there was this weeeeird bitter taste to it and so yep, it all went in the bin. No disrespect to this cookbook though because honestly the recipes look insane.
I brought it right back to the good stuff though with Rachel Ama’s One Pan Breakfast. Basically just tomatoes, spinach, baby potatoes and mushrooms but this was really satisfying. Simple to make and makes you feel pretty healthy, I’ll defo be eating this again.
On the side of that, I made Nadiya Hussain’s Country Beans and whilst there was lots of flavour and they tasted good, I felt that my attempt just looked a bit shit on the plate so I wasn’t massively fussed by this recipe.
A few days later though I persevered with her Turmeric Tomatoes on Avocado Toast and this was a hit. Although I mentioned I don’t really like avocado, I still occasionally cook with it because if it’s surrounded by other flavours and textures that I do like, I don’t mind it too much. The turmeric with the tomatoes was lovely, and again, this is another recipe that made me feel pretty good about what I was putting into my body.
Just a few more recipes to go, and this one’s a breakfast one. I prepped Jamie’s Ripped Smoothie Bowl the night before so I didn’t have to spend ages before work and I really enjoyed it. The vegan yoghurt didn’t taste any different to me to normal yoghurt, although I’ll admit that I much prefer Rachel Ama’s recipe for granola than Jamie’s which he includes for the smoothie bowl topping.
My vegan week came to an end last night with what I again have to admit was a not great meal. I have never tried ackee before, and the scrambled egg appearance tied in with it being described as a ‘fruit’ weirded me out slightly, but I’m open minded and will give any food a shot. The whole recipe was for Smoky Aubergine and Ackee Scramble Bagel and I had that with Nadiya’s Aubergine Pakora with Spicy Ketchup. The smoky aubergine part was okay and I mostly ended up eating this on the bagel, but the ackee didn’t do it for me and I had to bin it which rarely happens 😦
The aubergine pakora was also a fail but I’m pretty sure this must’ve been my fault somehow – the deep frying process just left me with soggy, saturated aubergine that didn’t have any flavour to it, however, I did rate the spicy ketchup.
So my home cooking was a mixed bag this week, some very decent, simple recipes and others that I just wouldn’t bother with again, but I’m still glad I”ve tried new things.
I’ll run through the desserts and sweet treat snacks that I indulged in next. Only one of these I made myself and they were the Lemon and Ginger Oat Balls. I’ve just scoured the Internet and my phone to see who I got this recipe from but I honestly can’t find the exact one. I loved these though, and after my success with Emma (Mrs) Hollingsworth’s peanut butter and chia jam oat balls last month I’ll definitely be making this kind of thing all the time because they taste amazing but are pretty healthy with no refined sugar.
Something that was slightly heavier on the sugar was Doughnut Time’s Good Pie-dings doughnut. It’s part of their Christmas range and is a vegan doughnut stuffed with mince pie filling and topped with cinnamon sugar. It might not look the most appetising but this was so tasty – both the sugary dough and the sweet filling.
As I’ve also spent a fair bit of time working at Winter Wonderland recently I’ve had loads of opportunities to try some amazing food there. I tried Badbrownie’s Salted Caramel Brownie which they have a vegan and non-vegan version of. This was very tasty, although I do prefer an eeeeven gooier brownie (not easy to achieve when it’s this cold outside).
Other Winter Wonderland highlights included the Chickpea Mushroom Curry from Makatcha. This was so full of flavour, I really rated it. Defo want to try their non-vegan options at some point.
Oh My Dog also have a couple of vegan hotdog options and so I tried the Deluxe. It comes with ketchup, mustard, crispy onions and pickles. It was pretty nice and in terms of the hotdog sausage itself I probably wouldn’t even have known that it was vegan.
My final feast at WW came from Fanny’s Kebabs and was probably my favourite. The hummus and pita were okay but nothing exciting, however, the falafel wrap was delicious. There was so much filling packed in and even the fries were impressive. The seasoning on their Persian Fries is amazing, and I love the minty kick that they have.
The only thing left now is my wonderful food from Temple of Seitan, but as I did a review of all that the other day I won’t go into much detail here (you can find it by clicking on the Reviews tab in the menu above). Long story short – get the bbq wings. Amazing.
Highs and lows complete, another plant-based week complete. Like I mentioned before, I don’t even feel like I have to try now, it’s really very easy to eat like this and there is so much that I want to experiment with.
As the weeks have gone by I feel like my vegan week diet has become more varied and is less dependent on just vegetables and beans/pulses – you just have to do a bit of research to see what’s out there and work out what the simplest substitutes are.
Meat Me Halfway: Week 4 will be coming to you a bit sooner next time, as in order to avoid it falling on Christmas (Plant-based Christmas???? I think not), I’ll be doing it a week earlier.
I have a few brunch and street food places that I’m super excited to try and bring to you next time around so you can look forward to that in a few weeks’ time.
I’m back with another review, and this one’s fully vegan.
You’ll get the full lowdown of all the vegan cooking and eating out I’ve done during week 3 when I write it all up in the next few days, but for now, we’ll just focus on this one specific feast.
From my flatmate, to work colleagues, to strangers on Instagram, Temple of Seitan had been recommended to me so many times. They have two sites – their main location in Hackney and then another one in Camden.
The Camden one was slightly closer to me so I headed there, but it is quite hidden away; you’d have to actively seek it out because there’s no way you’d accidentally stumble across it.
It’s got a kind of fast food set up to it. You order at the counter and then wait for your name to be called to collect your food, and there are a number of tables dotted around, but it’s not massive inside. It is however, a light, open space that’s not overcrowded, and so although I didn’t eat in, if you were to, it would be a chilled experience.
I only had to wait 5 minutes or so for my food, and the menu is pretty extensive without being overwhelming.
And here’s where you get to take a look at what I got…
Burger-wise I wanted to stick to ‘chicken’ as opposed to the beef substitute as I feel like that’s what they’re more known for. Even so, they have a few different Chick’n combos to choose from so I ordered the Nashville Hot. This comes as a hot dipped Chick’n fillet with ranch mayo, lettuce and pickles. Overall I really enjoyed the burger – it was indulgent and tasty in a decent quality bun, but the only slight disappointment was the patty. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted good, but it was very very thin – like half the thickness of a standard slice of bread (other than the particular side you can see in the photo which got a bit thicker), meaning that you got a lot of crunch from the outer shell but not much texture from the Seitan itself. What with all the lettuce and pickles in the burger, everything just kind of lumped together in a big crunch-fest, rather than being able to note a clear difference between the texture of the patty and the relish. Still would recommend as I reckon this was just an anomaly in the kitchen.
To reiterate what I often mention, I don’t always see the point in ordering standard fries as a side (unless I’m at Mcdonald’s) because they’re never really that exciting and I’d rather try something different, however, the exception to this is if they offer some kind of loaded fries or an interesting twist on the classic. This time I went for the ‘Döner’ Snack Pack – regular fries with vegan doner meat, mayo and spicy sauce.
It’s a pretty big portion, so definitely a sharer (or something to freeze for another time like I have done), and there are a decent amount of toppings. The sauces weren’t bad but I wasn’t a fan of the vegan Döner. The texture was pretty convincing but it didn’t really taste of anything and so I don’t feel that it enhanced the fries in any way. I’d definitely try their other Animal Snack Pack loaded fries if I were to go again.
As this is breakfast, lunch and dinner in one go I’ll move onto the next part of the meal- the Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
You can’t fault them on how much they can cram into this pot, and this is just the regular size. For me though, it just wasn’t creamy enough. The ratio of pasta to sauce was completely off, although that’s not to say it didn’t taste good. The macaroni were very small, meaning that more pasta could be packed in tightly, which in turn meant that the sauce literally just covered a few of the bites on top rather than coating every single piece. It was also quite salty, and so this wouldn’t be my first recommendation, but again, it wasn’t bad at all.
I do love to save the best until last, especially when it’s an unexpected one like this. The BBQ Wings were probably the thing I was least excited about ordering but I was still intrigued enough to try them.
Whereas the quality of the Seitan as a chicken substitute in the burger didn’t really do it justice, the wings really showcased why it’s such a good match. There isn’t really anything here to distract from the Seitan itself, and I found the texture to be very convincing. It doesn’t tear apart in the same way that fried chicken would, but other than that it really is spot on. There’s no oddly suspicious ‘this isn’t meat’ flavour, which allows the bbq sauce to take over without having to mask an unsettling aftertaste.
Some people love eating from the bone, but I find this quite annoying and would rather be able to bite into something freely without having to work my teeth around them so I’m grateful that there’s no dodgy attempt to create a mock bone here (the attempt at this in Biff’s Jack Shack’s jackfruit wings really weirded me out and put me off eating them when I accidentally bit straight into a solid piece of god knows what…)
So these ‘wings’ were my absolute highlight and I insist that if you’re reading this, you try them at some point, whether you’re vegan or not.
The four items together were £23 in total, which I think is pretty decent for London prices, especially as some vegan food I’ve had in the city has been the same amount for half the food.
I enjoyed trying a variety of ‘dishes’, and will definitely be trying the popcorn Chick’n next time.
This kind of food is not just for vegans. It’s indulgent and tasty, and even if you’re the biggest meat eater, you should try to overcome the psychological barrier of thinking ‘but this isn’t meat’ to decide for yourself non-judgementally if you could enjoy this instead of meat from time to time.
And if you hate it? Oh well. At least you’ve been adventurous and tried something new. I don’t even know if I’d choose this over a chicken or beef burger but I’m still really enjoying opening my mind to this new kind of cuisine.
But ultimately if you’re happy and healthy with what you’re eating then all is well; meat, veggie or vegan…
¡Comemos! 