Category Archives: Food

Cooking, Food, Uncategorized

A lower fat pasta sauce

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To appease my sister who seemed to think that my previous pasta sauce recipe would quadruple the incidence of heart disease in the United Kingdom.

This is the classic ‘Pomodoro e Basilico’. (Tomato and Basil if you don’t speak Italian), traditionally served with spaghetti or tagliatelle, but it goes with almost any pasta you can think of.

The chilli is optional, but it does give the sauce a bit of a lift, the sugar is there to counterbalance the acidity in the tomatoes.

Ingredients (for about six portions)

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
  • ¼ – ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 large handful basil leaves, torn into small pieces
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Grated Parmesan and/or Percorino cheese, to serve

Preparation method

Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently cook the onion and garlic until softened. Stir in the tomatoes, chilli flakes, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for 45 minutes-1 hour. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. This can be left chunky or blended in a food processor for a smooth sauce.

Serve spooned over cooked pasta with plenty of Parmesan/Percorino cheese.

Cooking, Food

My Favorite Pasta Sauce – Pancetta & Blue Cheese

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This is my favorite, at the moment, recipe for a pasta sauce. I think that it works best with Penne or Fusilli but try it with any other pasta other than possibly the stuffed pastas like Tortelloni or Ravioli and it will probably be fine.

I use Dolcelatte cheese but Gorgonzola is equally good. Vegetarians can leave out the pancetta and possibly up the cheese slightly.

It is dead simple to make and can be knocked up not much more than ten minutes

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 servings)

  • about 100 g pasta per person
  • 100g cubed pancetta
  • 100ml double cream
  • 30 g Dolcelatte cheese

Method

Cook the pasta until it is al dente. The cooking instructions should give you a clue about the length of time that will take, normally about 10 to 15 minutes for dried pasta. Ignore any instructions written in German.

While the pasta is cooking, fry the pancetta in its own fat, add the cream and the cheese stir until the cheese melts. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes, then toss the pasta in it.

Serve with good bread and a cheap Italian red.

Cooking, Food

I am glad to see that The Guardian agrees with me

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The Guardian has backed up what I wrote about porridge in a post last year.

Porridge is one of those dishes which, made well, can be ambrosial, as the French heroine of that wonderful film Babette’s Feast proved when she transformed the grim sludge that the Danes call øllebrød, a kind of rye porridge, into a delightful morning treat. Her porridge began the process of spiritual renewal through good food which transformed the life of the remote Danish village to which she had been exiled.

Couldn’t have said it better if I had tried.

Cooking, Food

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

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(from a Michelin Starred Chef)

I found this recipe by Angela Hartnett in last weeks Guardian. She has been publishing a series of quick and easy dishes that are described as Angela Hartnett’s midweek suppers. This is the first one I have tried, not so much because I didn’t like the look of the others, it is just that this was the first vegetarian dish in the series. I decided to make it for lunch today. My Veggie Wife thoroughly approves of it and so do I. It is dead simple to make. All the ingredients should be available at your local supermarket, if you don’t already have them in your cupboard.

I served it with naan bread (bought from Tesco’s) and a slightly chilled Hook Norton Bitter

I’ve included the ingredients and the method below.

Ingredients

(Serves four to six)

1 whole cauliflower
3 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
½ tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp ground coriander
2 star aniseed
½ tsp ground chilli
4 curry leaves
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of chickpeas*, drained
2 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander

Method
Remove the stalks from the cauliflower and cut into large florets. In a pan of boiling water, add the cauliflower and cook for five minutes. When ready, drain from the water and place back in the pan. Cover so it stays warm.

While the cauliflower is cooking, cut the onions into small pieces. Squash the garlic with the back of a knife to make it easier to peel. Chop until nice and fine.

In a pan, add a touch of butter, plus the onion, garlic and ginger, and sauté until golden brown.

In the same pan, add the dried spices and cook for a further five minutes.

Add the tin of tomatoes and  chickpeas and stir well. Then add the cooked cauliflower. Top up with 100ml of cold water and bring to a simmer for five to 10 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked.

Finish by adding the chopped  coriander. Serve on a warm plate.

*garbanzo beans if you are American.

Food, Restaurants

Riverside Vegetaria

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Riverside Vegetaria* has long been one of our favourite restaurants and as we have eaten there three times since Christmas (four if you include Christmas Lunch), I have decided that it is about due for a review. We don’t normally eat there quite that regularly as Kingston is a good half to three-quarters of an hour journey from where we live. Recently however circumstances have led us to eating there  almost every Sunday, or at least that is how it seems.

Today, my brother-in-law and his wife had come to visit us. They are both carnivores, so our original plan was to take them to an Italian restaurant as we can usually find something that Mrs johnm55 (who is a veggie) can eat on an Italian menu. However when we arrived the queue was out the door and we were told it would be at least half an hour for a table. The brother-in-law didn’t fancy queueing so suggested that we try Riverside as Mrs johnm55 had been raving about it.

The first thing to note about Riverside is it’s setting. It is right on the river, and especially in summer the setting is, idyllic is probably going slightly over the top, but it is very attractive. The second thing is the service, which is always friendly and as efficient as it needs to be. The third thing is how do they manage to get as many tables into such a small space.

The fourth thing is the food. The menu is fairly eclectic, but does tend to have a bias towards food from the Indian Sub Continent. Also, and this is not a criticism, this is a traditional vegetarian’s vegetarian restaurant (vegans are also well catered for), as opposed to  a place like Terre a Terre in Brighton which has a more obvious appeal to omnivores, whilst still remaining vegetarian. So how did a couple of carnivores, or three if you count me, get on?

The women decided to skip the starters and stuck to the wholemeal garlic bread, which always arrives with the drinks. My b-i-l decided to have the Cream of Broccoli Soup and I had the Organic Spicy Vegetable Balls with Coriander Sauce. The Cream of Broccoli soup was pronounced as very enjoyable, but different to what he had expected. I pointed out that here a V beside a dish means Vegan not Vegetarian, so the unexpected taste might have been down the lack of cream, which he agreed was a possibility. My Spicy Vegetable Balls were excellent. They were two  balls of finely shredded carrot, onion and potato, well spiced, dipped in a light batter and deep-fried.  The Coriander Sauce that they were served with, tasted of fresh coriander, just enough chilli, cumin and ground coriander. I had never ordered them before, but will do so again.

The main courses arrived. My brother-in-law and I ordered the same thing, the Masala Dosai, my sister-in-law went for the Green Lentil and Vegetable Curry, and Mrs johnm55 decided that she was having the House Salad. Normally the House Salad has Cottage Cheese, but as she doesn’t like cottage cheese, they replaced it with a rather large quantity of avocado. I was an impressive plate of vegetables, fruits and nuts, accompanied by a jug of dressing. My sister -in-law was in the meantime tucking into her green lentils with obvious enjoyment.

My Dosai was as I expected it to be. The Dosai is a bit thicker than you would normally be served in a South Indian restaurant but nicely crisp on the outside and stuffed with a tasty, spicy, potato filling. Accompaniments  are a vegetable curry and a very good coconut sambar.

We debated having puddings, but decided that we were all full enough.

So how did the carnivores get on? I enjoyed my meal at Riverside as I always do, my brother and sister-in-law, thought it was excellent and said that they wished that they had something like it near where the live, so all in all a success.

The bill, including a bottle house red (which was perfectly drinkable, if nothing spectacular) came to £67.50, but as we have been eating there a lot recently we had a 20% discount card so only paid £54.00.

Because I am a bit of a coffee aficionado (or possibly snob) and sometimes have been disappointed by their coffee we walked along to Carluccio’s for coffee.

It was raining fairly heavily otherwise we would have gone for a walk along the river to help a very pleasant lunch go down

*If you click-through to the restaurant website I don’t think it has been updated recently and my feeling is the prices are slightly higher than those shown on their sample menu.

Cooking, Food

Porridge

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As London grinds to a halt under the effects of a major 10cm snowfall, thoughts shift. People realize that corn flakes are not quite what is needed for breakfast. I should add that I appreciate other parts of the UK may have had more snow than us in London. However, what you don’t appreciate is the fact that if it hasn’t happened in London, then it hasn’t really happened.

This is the season for porridge for breakfast. Besides all the well touted benefits of eating porridge for breakfast, making and eating a bowl of porridge is also satisfying. It does take slightly longer than pouring out a bowl of Rice Krispies. But believe me, you will be a better person, or at least feel like one, for making the effort.

The first piece of advice I will give you is do not make your porridge in the microwave.

Shortly after I was diagnosed as diabetic, I had a session with a Dietician. During our discussion about good food choices for blood glucose control, she mentioned that porridge was probably one of the best things I could eat for breakfast. She also mentioned that it could be made in the microwave. However, she forgot to tell me the most important thing about making porridge in a microwave. My immediate thought was ‘that will save washing up’. The next morning I proceeded to make my porridge in the microwave.

I measured out my usual recipe;

  • For 1
  • ½ a cup of rolled oats
  • 1 ¼ cups of water
  • a generous pinch of salt

I put it all into my porridge bowl. Then, I stuck it into the microwave and pushed start. After that, I went back to drinking my coffee and reading the newspaper. About five minutes later the microwave went ping. I wandered across the kitchen to retrieve my no effort, no washing up porridge. I discovered that the bowl was empty. The microwave was generously coated with porridge. I also discovered that removing porridge from the walls of a microwave is much harder. It is easier to remove it from a pan.

What my Dietician forgot to mention is that porridge made in a microwave foams up and boils over. Use a bowl that is at least five times the volume of the liquid. If you don’t consider this, do not make your porridge in the microwave. do not make your porridge in the microwave.

I now always make mine in a saucepan. It is just as quick and I think tastes better. Using the recipe above, put all the ingredients into a pan. Bring it to the boil. Then, turn it down to a low heat and allow it to ‘plop’ away happily for about five minutes. Give it a stir now and then. Traditionally, you should use a tapered stick called a spurtle. This stick usually has a thistle as a handle. We made them this way in woodwork class when I was at school. Stir it clockwise with this tool. I find that stirring it with a wooden spoon anti-clockwise also works. I put the salt in at the start. Some people like to cook the porridge then add salt to taste. All I will say is do not neglect the salt. It doesn’t need much, but porridge does need some salt.

For Saturday mornings, porridge made with oatmeal has a unique quality. If you are a traditionalist, it does have something that porridge made with rolled oats does not have.

The recipe is fairly similar but here are a couple of variations.

For 2

  • 600ml/1pint water
  • 100g 4 oz medium oatmeal
  • Salt
  • Bring the water to the boil, add the oatmeal slowly, stirring all the time.
  • Reduce the heat and allow it to cook slowly. Just give the occasional ‘plop’.
  • Let it cook for up to 30 minutes, depending on how solid you like your porridge.
  • Give it a stir every now and again, add salt to taste and serve.

Again traditionally, you should eat your porridge by dipping a spoon of hot porridge into a bowl of cold milk. This is to keep your porridge hot, as adding cold milk to the bowl of porridge will cool it down. Nice though that is I think there are more interesting things to add to porridge.

Here are some of my favourites.

  • Honey
  • Thick natural plain yoghurt
  • Fruit compote
  • A tot of whisky and honey
  • Cinnamon and chopped and toasted nuts
  • Cream

Or of course any combination of them.

Should you make too much porridge, let it go cold and set solid. It is absolutely delicious sliced, fried in a little butter and served with runny honey.

As for washing up the pan, don’t, fill it with cold water and let it soak for a few hours. The porridge sticking to the pan will have come off as a sort of skin. This skin can be scooped up and discarded. This process leaves a clean and shiny pan behind.

Food, Restaurants

Jaffna House Café Tooting High Street

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I’ve been eating fairly regularly at the Jaffna House in Tooting since being introduced to it by Mrs Johnm55’s Sri Lankan friend. We have just had lunch there (with the aforementioned Sri Lankan friend) an I feel that it is time to announce what a fine and wallet friendly place it is.

I am talking about the café / takeaway part on Tooting High Street rather than the licensed restaurant, the entrance to which is round the corner on Coverton Road. The restaurant I am sure also serves excellent food and will also be very good value for money, but I have never eaten in it so I can’t comment. The café however is in my opinion brilliant.

My starter was quite simple, just two Masala Vadai, served with red and green coconut chutneys, they were nicely crisp on the outside, but the spiced potato filling was moist and soft. The chutneys had, for me, just the right amount of chilli kick, the red being a bit more fiery than the green. I pinched a bit of Mrs johnm55’s Chana Chundal (chick peas) and they were excellent as well. The SL friend originally wasn’t going to have a starter, but changed her mind and came back with a couple of what looked like miniature deep-fried Cornish Pasties, she did say what they were, but as you get older the short-term memory goes a bit.

My main was Oothappam which is probably best described as a thick pancake with peppers, tomatoes, chillies and other veggies mixed into the batter and served with a vegetable curry and a coconut sambar. The softness, almost but not quite stodginess of the pancake batter was sharpened by the heat of the chillies. The vegetable curry added more flavour and lubrication (after I had picked out the okra – I don’t like the texture) and the sambar gave a bit more heat, if needed. I was just what was needed on a grey rainy November day.

Mrs johnm55 had a Masala Dosai as she normally does, and pronounced it as being up to the normal standard. The SL friend had three Idaly. I’m not quite sure what they are, but as she often orders them, I’ll take it on trust that they are good. I might even try them the next time I eat there. The fourth member of the party, a Canadian, had the Sunday special, Jaffna House Special Noodles, which are noodles with mixed veg, mutton, egg and prawns, which she said were rather good, just don’t turn up on Tuesday expecting them to be on the menu

If you decide to eat there remember it is a café, Sometimes all the plates do not arrive at the same time, but they do arrive within a few minutes of each other. The café is also unlicensed so no Cobra.

There were four of us, we each had starters, main courses and (soft) drinks. We all enjoyed our meal.The total bill was just under £16.00. I consider that pretty good value for money.