The Sugar Bar

When I realize the dishes I’ve been cooking are either starting to look the same every time or just backsliding into the boring (or actually I’m simply having cereal for dinner), I know it’s time to invest in a new cookbook/look into some older ones I’ve forgotten, or go grocery shopping for something good. Take-away is a sorry way out. Avoiding it also makes me feel like a better person, by some odd line of reason. So, grocery shopping was what I did last Friday at Borough Market – where there was lots to drink, taste, ogle at and buy of course. Foodies familiar with Borough Market will know that it’s not simply a fresh produce heaven, it’s also a mushroom heaven. I was so thrilled being able to find a couple of stores selling a wide range of wild and exotic mushrooms; indulging myself, I bought a lovely bag of assorted types – one of my favourites being the oyster mushroom and the king oyster (which my mum uses a lot in Korean cooking actually). I saw a stall selling a range of Japanese shimeiji mushrooms too which would be good for my miso soup. A little pricey but that comes with having to import them I believe.

With mushrooms, it’s always good to have them fresh as once they start to go mucky, it’ll affect the taste. Of course, it starts to look less visually appealing as well. So storing them in a dry part of your fridge is ideal. Make sure you haven’t put them next to anything wet or if you’ve left them in those supermarket plastic boxes with a clingwrap top, make sure no condensation has collected underneath the plastic wrap which could drip onto the mushrooms. This will mean they’ll start to decompose quite quickly in the fridge. You want them dry, smooth and springy to touch.

When I first bought the fresh pasta, I kept calling it ravioli and then tortellini which is a mistake. Ravioli – because I’ve been wanting to get a pasta machine and make giant ravioli filled with all sorts of weird wonderful fillings (like a little goblin, it’s been hiding in the back of my mind so much a lot of the stuff I talk about tends towards ravioli which leaves people around me very puzzled). Tortellini because I never knew there was a difference between tortellini and tortelloni. They both look the same. Apparently the sizes and weight differ, from 2g to 5g respectively and tortellini is more often served with broth and not tortelloni. Did you also know, according to the story behind tortellini/loni, that this lovely pasta was very likely inspired by a woman’s navel? Learn something new every day! The beetroot tortelloni is from La Tua Pasta (website is here) and I found its lovely stall, manned by 2 beautiful European men, next to the Empanadas one. To find it, just leave the Green Market, head to the bit selling all the chocolates and patisseries and then turn left which will bring you out into the open.

There’s another stall selling fresh pasta too but there didn’t seem to be much of a range in my opinion. If you’re feeling very decadent, try the squid ink tortelloni stuffed with cheese and crab meat. It looks positively divine and something very similar to one I tried in Spain (why Spain, I don’t know but it was a very good handmade pasta Italian restaurant) – careful though as it’s £9.50 a pop. So if you do try it, would love to hear from you how it is!

beautiful fresh handmade tortelloni that needs to be eaten within 3 days

This beetroot tortelloni has been stuffed with beetroot, ricotta and grana cheese, nutmeg and bread crumbs. I wanted something a little different from the usual sage and butter combo and so tried out marjoram which goes great with mushrooms. I used red onions as well because of its mildly sweet flavour which worked good with the almost citrusy tanginess of the beetroot. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to taste the mushrooms with the onions and the beetroot but thankfully it worked and I thought this dish was quite delicious. The final touch of butter definitely pulled it altogether.

Mushrooms and butter. Actually, butter to anything is always beautiful. I have a book about things to eat before you die. Can’t remember the author or the title right now. It’s sitting on my bookshelf at home and I can distinctly remember what it looks like but not who wrote it or what it’s called – which is really annoying! Anyhow, the writer visits this famous restaurant and talks about mashed potatoes and what is the secret behind getting it stiff but still creamy and amazing like cement paste. And what does the chef say? There’s no secret. There’s no mashing it up and pushing it through a sieve nonsense. It’s just a lot of butter.

Ah. There you go. Goodbye olive spreads, margarine and I can’t believe it’s not butter! nonsense. Butter’s good.

If you share my love of fresh pasta, mushrooms and real butter, why not try out this recipe? You don’t need specialty pasta just some fresh ingredients and you’ve got a quick and easy meal done.

•••

I’ve decided to submit this post to the food event Beet ‘n’ Squash YOU — a monthly food- fight wherein the stupendous virtues of vegetables are extolled. You all know how much I love my vegetables and how crazed I am about mushrooms. This month, the event hosted on Gourmet Fury, boasts 2 lucky winners who will receive a super cute Winner’s badge and some Gourmet, Wild Dried Mushrooms from Untamed Feast. Totally exciting event! Go round and have a little gander ~ this month’s veggie is MUSHROOMS.

Recipe serves 2.
Beetroot Tortelloni with Wild Mushroom Medley
Ingredients

1 packet of tortelloni (about 6 pieces/serving)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 large handfuls of various wild mushrooms, sliced
sprig of fresh marjoram leaves
1 tsp parsley
2 tbs butter
olive oil, for cooking
sea salt and ground black pepper, for seasoning

To prepare the mushrooms, I hear you should gently brush under water them to get rid of dirt and all that. I didn’t have a brush and I’m used to just lightly massaging the mushrooms under the running tap, making sure to get to the gills under the mushrooms. With the chanterells and oysters, simply trim off the ends, wash and dab off excess moisture before frying.

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add garlic, sauté. Add the red onions next and give it a quick stir. Once it starts to soften a little, move to side of pan, add the mushrooms and cook. Stir fry everything for a few minutes then add the marjoram. Season well. Set aside whilst you cook the pasta.

For the pasta, simply cook for 4-5 mins in boiling water. Drain off and pour into the frying pan. Give it a good toss, season a little more if needed. Add the parsley and salted butter. Give it one final toss to mix everything well. Then serve and tuck in.

First, a big thank you to Forever Better, Míele’s PR Company, for inviting me to this event and another thank you to Cherry (she and Lauren liases with the invitees) who is the sweetest person ever. I’m glad I could make it down to the BBC Good Food Show this time round as I had deadlines to meet last year and missed out on all the great foodie shows and tastings. After Saturday, I’m tempted to book my tickets for the next Good Food Show in the Birmingham NEC come summer as that promises to be an even more taste-blowing event.

An experience never to be forgotten and one I’ll always remember by from the puddings we tasted, one of which I was unable to get a photograph of because my camera decided to give up on me shortly before we sampled it. [*I do apologise for that. If I'd been more prepared for low battery, I would have more pictures on of the other things I sampled and stalls visited] But I’ll get to the food we nommed on for lunch later.

There was much going on with the Masterchef Theatre, the Cookery Experience, the Invention Test and all the time, celeb chefs like James Martin, Michel Roux Jr, Theo Randall, etc. were bouncing back and forth between these shows. On the main stall floor, the famous Harumi Kurihara was giving live demonstrations; sushi academy masterclasses, kitchen knife skills by Marianne Lumb (who we bumped into in the ladies!!), sugar roses classes by Phil Usher, cupcakes classes by Squire’s Kitchen and even duck carving were amongst the activities or classes you could take part in. So much to see, so much to sample, so much to enjoy – it’s no wonder the BBC Good Food Show was spread over 3 days 13-15th November. As much as I enjoyed the whole day-out at the Olympia Grand Hall soaking up this splendid experience, I was sorry that there was too much to do within a single day and unfortunately missed quite a few exciting classes like the cupcake and sugar roses demos.

Nonetheless, I was thrilled to have seen the Masterchef hosts John Torode and Gregg Wallace. They are hilarious! So were the Plenty ladies Brenda and Audrey who were right mental! And the previous winners from Masterchef – Steve Groves (whom I adore to pieces) and Mat Follas were there at the Invention Test as judges. A surprise last contestant was James Martin, who appeared a few minutes late much to everyone’s delight. A giant roar from the audience, a squeal from both Anne of Anne’s Kitchen and Sunita of Sunita’s World, (and I’m so glad I finally got to meet these 2 gorgeous foodbloggers! A little starstruck but they were so sweet and easy-going) and an unashamed catcall from yours truly. What? That man’s so loveable and dishy, if a tad bit chubby.

Andi Peters interviewing Steve Groves & Mat Follas

Invention Test was a joy to watch and many of the contestants whipped up – in a stressful 30minutes – some very tasty looking dishes from prawn curry, to vietnamese-inspired pancake to a hearty penna pasta dish using the key ingredients given to them: prawns, pork, pears, etc. Anne, Sunita and I had cowardly turned down the invitation. Being stared at whilst cooking, cooking under a blinding spotlight, cooking against the clock and knowing that this is a competition would’ve gotten to me. Something bad would’ve happened – like setting my hair on fire, scalding everyone around me, chopping a finger off. It wouldn’t be pretty and the whole event might end with a heart attack and me being rushed to the hospital in a half-charred state. I don’t do well under pressure when it comes to the kitchen and small working spaces. But at the end of the show, Sunita was having regrets of not having accepted the challenge and blimey, do I adore her more for it! What a gutsy foodie! I shall need to learn to be more courageous like her.

Plenty ladies Brenda & Audrey having a laugh

As much as I had a great time with the Masterchef Invention Test, what totally made my day was wondering about all the stalls, especially the Great Taste Awards section. So let’s have a look at some of the stalls we visited. There were too many stalls to see, both on the ground level and the floor up. We certainly didn’t get to look at everything but what we did see, we liked very much!

Crabbies 4% alcohol Ginger Beer – this is great. Very crisp and refreshing. Perfect with a slice of lemon. You can find this in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and even your local Wetherspoon’s most likely! These were going for 3 bottles for a fiver and The Angel in Islington will offer you it for nearly £3 a bottle. I’d definitely be getting this for summertime barbies and I’m tempted to get a bottle of this for ginger beer battered fish and chips. Savvy?

Rachel’s Organic Yoghurt – I’ve always try to keep a tub of Rachel’s Greek Yoghurt with Honey or the Rhubarb Yoghurt in my fridge as they taste so good, one of the creamiest low fat yoghurts available in shops and are a great way to jazz up a fruit medley pudding. The new toffee & milk chocolate flavours are great. Toffee is a real winner and doesn’t have that sickly weird colour that toffee “flavoured” yoghurts usually do. A hefty creamy white yoghurt, yum yum.

Tropical Sun’s plantain chips – my first time tasting plantain and I really liked them! Good crunch, looked like banana chips but without the sweetness of it. Very more-ish.

Kikkoman and some live cooking demos – available is Kikkoman’s range of sauces, soy sauces, marinades and a counter for demos. Unfortunately, we just missed it and didn’t get to taste any of the teriyaki chicken that were snapped up in a flash.

Laverstock Park Farm and their offerings of buffalo burgers, ice cream, mozzarella cheese and lagers – you can find most of their products in Waitrose and I’ll definitely be popping into my local Waitrose for the mozzarella made from water buffalo milk. The creamiest, softest and most delicate oozy mozzarella that still holds up well. The buffalo milk is supposed to make this mozzarello firmer but not too firm. I like this a lot! And you’ll be pleased to know that their products are free-range as their buffalos have had a great life grazing on open pastures except in the cold winter.

Eudoro’s porchetta, prosciutto and cheeses – quality meats here are food porn at its best. The cheeses are beautiful to look at and Anne had a taste of the gargonzola. I would’ve loved to takeaway a porchetta panini for dinner that night but somehow backed out. Why did I do such a silly thing?! Regrets.

Yum Yum Tree Fudge – beautiful handmade fudge from Suffolk made from British sugar in a wide range of creative flavours like chili chocolate, lime & coconut, cappucino, lavender, mint chocolate, lemon bon bon, raspberry, etc. Check out their website for more at www.yumyumtreefudge.com

Ethiopian Coffee Company – we didn’t get any coffee although I bet we needed it, surely. This stall smelt amazing.

There were too many stalls to visit in just a day and too much eating and gawking!

•••

Our Restaurant Experience lunch in tapas-sized portions. Restaurants at the show were the Blue Elephant, Roast, Café Spice Namaste, Launceston Place, Skylon, Boxwood Cafe, Theo Randall at The InteContinental, Min Jiang (a new comer to the GFS), Urban Caprice and the MasterChef Restaurant featuring dishes from winners Thomasina Miers, Steven Groves, James Nathan and Mat Follas.

Theo Randall at The InterContinental: Cape Sante – Panfried Scallops with Pancetta, Red Chili, Rocket & Lentils

The Masterchef Restaurant: Mat Follas’s Lavender Mousse with Hokey Pokey and Berry Sauce

The Masterchef Restaurant: James Nathan’s Chocolate & Orange Sponge Pudding

My Shopping Haul:

I love fudge. I think Sunita got 2 bags for her family. I got 1 for a lemon-fanatic friend who was visiting that evening and 3 for myself. Who’s greedy?

Yum Yum Tree Fudge: A medley of flavours – lavender, mint chocolate, lemon bon bon

Mr. Vikki’s Tomato & Nigella chutney, Plum-infused Sake, WARRE’s 10 year tawny Port, Fruits of the Forest Balsamic Glaze

WARRE’s port wine was very impressive, especially the 25 year aged vintage but going at £25 a pop, I wasn’t too eager to split with that kind of money despite the port being very rich, dark and smooth. Hey! It’s the recession. We gotta be wise about things like that, eh. I settled for the 10 year aged that was also very lovely but going for only a tenner! Whey. Talk about Diva doing bargain shopping.

At Apulia Blends stall, I was blown away by their selection of extra virgin olive oils, the apple balsamic vinegar and the fruity glazes. I do love a good balsamic vinegar but I’ve never ever bothered with balsamic glaze. A taste and I was sold. Tempt me with ideas of pouring these glazes on ice cream – I’m sold even more. This forest fruit one was going for £6.50 a bottle which in my opinion, is worth every penny. The shocking thing, however, was that I found the same bottle at the Shoreditch Food Hall just round the corner from my pad being sold for a quid cheaper. Who knew?

Really delicious apple balsamic vinegar at nearly £12/bottle

I’m a loyal customer of Japan Centre as they have the best and biggest range of Japanese groceries I could possibly ever need away from home. Part of the Oishi JAPAN exhibition by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries participants, I was happy to find them plugging a good couple of bottles of sake amongst other kuramotos (sake makers). Tasted some very nice junmai daiginjo, a citrus flavoured sake, some sochu and this wonderful plum-infused sake I couldn’t resist. I love my sake warm and drinking it traditionally from those cute wooden square boxes is always a treat but this plum-infused baby was very lovely drunk cold.

And what about the chutney? There were many stalls selling chutney and it was hard to choose what to taste and where to taste but Mr Vikki’s caught out eye with their huge array of bottle reds (and I mean chutney, not wine). Arranged from the mildest to the hottest, we were glad we started at the bottom of the range in heat – Tomato & Nigella. I do love spicy chutneys but I’m not great at taking the heat as I dislike the tongue-numbing sensation after which always worries me that I’m losing my tastebuds! The guys at Mr Vikki’s were very friendly and my favourites were the Tomato & Nigella and Chili Jam. And to top it all, they were part of the Great Taste Awards section. Winners they are.

I had a great time with Sunita and Anne! The BBC Good Food Show totally made my weekend although I was so knackered after like never before. Took me all of Sunday to spring back to my normal self. I’ve also started writing down a few recipes I’ll be testing with the new ingredients I’ve got so do come visit again for more exciting posts! I have some sweets and main dishes up my sleeve in the coming weeks to come.

Hope everyone had a fab weekend. Have a good week ahead and only 11 days to London Food Blogger Connect!

Who doesn’t love carbonara? It’s on virtually everyone’s (everyone I know at least) list of comfort food and there’s a reason why it’s there. Because it’s bloody good. Period.

And what I love so much about it is that it’s quite so easy to make and you don’t really have to fuss about with a recipe at all for this one. It’s pretty much turned into a sort of mantra in my head – 1 egg yolk, 20ml cream and good grab of parmesan per person for the sauce. Seriously easy. The cooking process is a bit tricky as you need to be coordinated and quick or something might go wrong. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t quite quick enough this time as I was texting on the phone and cooking at the same time which you should absolutely not be doing when making carbonara. Hence, my carbonara was a little overcooked and the sauce got a little egg-cooked. Another reason why the sauce ain’t as glossy as it should be! Tasted wicked nonetheless.

I don’t suppose this is the most authentic carbonara dish. And I certainly have never ordered this in a restaurant where they’ve served fresh thyme (it usually is just a creamy calorific mess on a plate) with it but I just love the flavour of fresh thyme, especially with anything pork. Also, thyme is said to aid the digestion of fat so not only does it give this dish another dimension of flavour, it helps cut through all that bacon and cream fat! Score.

The weather’s been pretty dreadful lately. It’s the beginning of winter and so the grey’s here. It’s wet, it’s starting to get really cold; at least, I noticed it more when I was further up north this week. And when it starts to get like this, all I want is something filling, creamy, hot and delicious. This has been in the making for quite some time now and after twittering with Bossacafez about carbonara and pasta alla vodka, it was time to put some work aside, cook myself a proper meal, let the hair down, put my feet up and damn well eat myself happy in front of the TV for a couple of solid episodes of Friends.

And here we have it. One smooth operator. It always goes down so well and chases any chills and blues away. Yummy.

If you want a recipe with instructions, I recommend using Jamie’s as it’s one of the easiest I’ve come across thus far. It’s a Courgette Carbonara recipe but it’s just Jamie’s little twist on the original. Click here for his recipe. Or you can simply remember these proportions per serving (I noted this down when I was watching one of Jamie’s cooking shows on TV and he pretty much cooked it all by eye and to taste. Hence, the estimates in measurements for the ingredients):

Penne Carbonara
Ingredients according to 1 serving

1 serving penne pasta
2-3 slices smoked bacon/pancetta, sliced or cubed
1 large egg yolk
20-30ml double cream (I have used single cream as I’m slightly lactose intolerant)
heaped 1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
olive oil, for cooking
some pasta cooking liquid
sea salt and cracked black pepper

This is really straightforward to make and not rocket science. But it does require your full attention as a little distraction can cause you to burn the pasta or carbonara sauce, etc. Cook the pasta and have all other ingredients prepared and ready to go into the frying pan. Use a large frying pan as you’ll need quite a bit of space to toss the pasta.

In a mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks with the cream and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the pasta is nearly al dente, heat some olive oil in the pan and fry the bacon til just about golden brown. Once pasta is cooked, drain but don’t forget to save about 1/4 – 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Immediately pour the drained pasta into the cooking bacon.

Toss. Toss. Add the yolk cream mixture. If too dry, add a little of the cooking liquid. Toss toss real quick. At this point, you should have turned the heat down to low as you don’t want to burn or cook the carbonara sauce much. Keep moving the pasta so it coats everything nice and glossy. Season if need. Add the herbs and toss.

Remove from heat quickly and serve (with a generous sprinkling of parmesan if you like).

So, it’s that easy. You just gotta be alert and quick. 

What’s your favourite or ultimate comfort food?