Anna del Conte's sea bream en papillotte

I love the high street where I live - we have lots of proper local shops run by nice people; BUT there is no fishmongers and no butchers...  Sometimes there is a fishmonger at the market near my office; today I bought two lovely sea bream there for our dinner.  Anna del Conte's recipe calls for the fish to be cleaned, dried off and then cooked for 15 minutes at 200C in a parcel of greaseproof paper (or foil) with a little salsa of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, herbs (I used sage, marjoram and rosemary), salt and pepper.  To make the parcel,  you tear off a big square piece of paper, brush a little oil or salsa on it, then place the fish in the middle; spread the salsa over and inside the fish, and then fold over the paper, twisting the ends together at the head and tail.  You then put the parcels in a baking tin.  These fish were quite big and needed 25 minutes in the oven.  You serve the fish still twisted up in their parcels on the plate - they look really pretty.  We had them with boiled new potatoes and some tasty left over ratatouille.  (Camera's out of battery - pictures will return soon!)

Dinner at the Queen of Sheba

Tonight Marc and I had a delicious dinner at this bustling Ethiopian restaurant in Kentish Town (http://www.thequeenofsheba.co.uk/).  One of the highlights was Bozena Shiro - cubes of beef with a buttery curry sauce that had a fresh, citrussy edge to it.  The meal was served on a large flat bread (like a pancake) which was moist and tasty - a kind of slightly fermented flavour - and there was no cutlery; you use the bread to pick up the food.  The service was warm and low key, and the waitresses were very beautiful.  Lovely evening.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera but you can see pictures of the food on the restaurant website. 

Prawns with tomato sauce

Second week back at work, we're just getting back into the routine of midweek dinners.  This is one regular favourite - a simple tomato ragu with prawns.  To make a tomato ragu, these days I use the method suggested by Rick Stein (http://www.rickstein.com/) in his Mediterranean book which is (as I remember it) to put a big slosh of good olive oil into a frying pan and add crushed / chopped garlic before turning on the heat.  As soon as the garlic starts to sizzle, pour in the contents of a tin of tomatoes.  Doing it this way round avoids the risk of burning the garlic.  Cook the sauce for a while until until it is reduced and thickened, stirring from time to time, then add salt and pepper and whatever else you fancy.  We added half a chopped, de-seeded chilli and a pack of pre-cooked prawns, heating them thoroughly in the sauce.  Delicious with rice and chopped parsley on top, and so easy to make.  Followed by left over cobbler!

Peach, greengage & blackberry soured cream cobbler

Peaches are my favourite fruit (not counting lemons).  This cobbler is based on a Nigel Slater recipe, taken from his Kitchen diaries (http://www.nigelslater.com/).  He uses peaches and blueberries (a gorgeous combination with bubbling, dark blue-ish juices).  For last night's pudding, I used a couple of ripe peaches with greengages and blackberries bought by Marc.  The tart berries set off the sweet, delicate peaches and greengages and the rich scone-like topping.  I like to eat it with single cream.

The cobbler dough is made by combining plain flour, baking powder, sugar and butter in a crumble-like 'breadcrumb' mixture.  You then add sour cream to make a soft dough and split this into walnut-sized pieces, flattening them before placing on top of the sliced fruit (tossed in lemon juice with a little flour and sugar).  Dust with sugar and bake for half an hour at 200C.

Lunch at the Cinnamon Club

Today was the first anniversary of the day Marc and I met for the first time.  We were introduced by our friend Athalie at her Bollywood birthday party in the Cinnamon Club (http://www.cinnamonclub.com/), a very smart Indian restaurant and bar in Westminster.  A year ago we were downstairs in the bar, dancing and making small talk; today we had lunch in the restaurant as a married couple!  A wonderful treat following a hectic few days back at work after our honeymoon.

The Cinnamon Club is very different from the much loved Indian restaurants that you find in abundance on the average UK high street, a typical example of which we went to with friends last night for a quick curry before going to a gig at the Troxy in East London (one of my very favourite bands, the Old Crow Medicine Show - http://www.crowmedicine.com/ - was playing along with Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings amongst others; a fantastic show).  Today's meal was more of a 'fine dining' experience.  We had a very good three-course lunch in luxurious surroundings for £22 each.  The picture shows Marc's starter, which was 'stir fried pork with garlic and aubergine'.  It was accompanied by a lemon-y mint yoghurt and tasted as good as it looks.

Marc's lentil curry with lovage

Marc cooked tonight and I was late home because of a thing after work; we haven't lived together long and it is such a treat coming home to find the lights on and a delicious cooking smell in the flat.  Tonight it was a deeply spiced (clovey smelling) lentil curry served with rice and an experimental topping of fresh, chopped lovage, which neither of us had ever eaten before.  We decided it tastes like a mix of celery, parsley and (Marc thought) coriander...wolfed it down - lovely. 

I have much to learn when it comes to lentils and other pulses - I've just never really cooked them (except various beans in chilli con carne).  Marc tells me you need to cook lentils for about 20 minutes, and these were nicely al dente (not mushy) and very satisfying.  Clearing up after dinner, the packet of funny little bright orange dried lentils made me think of gluey collages I made at school.

Salmon fillets baked on a cedar plank

I love eating fish, and most often end up cooking salmon as I'm not so keen on the cod, smoked haddock and mackerel that my local supermarkets usually have to offer.  (I wish I liked mackerel - so versatile, economical and good for you!)  I like to cook salmon briefly enough so that it is still slippery inside, and I don't add any oil or butter in the cooking as I find it quite rich as it is. 

I bought this cedar cooking plank on holiday in Alaska a few years ago.  It adds a delicate woody fragrance to the fish, but really the best thing about it is that it makes the kitchen smell like a sauna while it's cooking - that lovely dry scent that slightly burns the nostrils.  These fillets were sadly skinless so not very pretty for the photo, but tasted good; I cooked them for 12 minutes at 190C coated in a mix of soy sauce, runny honey and white wine with chopped fresh ginger and dried crushed chillies; served with plain baby new potatoes and young spinach - wilted, then tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Yum!

Soft boiled egg with marmite on toast

One of my favourites for a late Sunday breakfast this morning - in need of sustenance after a run.  I'm not sure there is much that is more delicious than an egg boiled just the way you like it, with buttery marmite on toast.  I cook the egg in boiling water for 6 minutes to get a nice runny yolk.  The toast has to be hot, so I don't even put it in the toaster until the egg is done (the egg will stay hot in the egg cup until I'm ready to eat it).  This was a small egg and not refrigerated (bought on a special mission from the corner shop), so the yolk is more well cooked than usual but still very good.  Eaten with a strong cup of coffee a favourite Sunday morning CD on the stereo.  Perfect.

Tomato salad with garlic

I got married 2 weeks ago, and today my husband Marc and I got back from our honeymoon in southern Spain. While we were away I decided I would like to try writing a blog about food that I like cooking and eating, and that I am interested in trying.  This will be a purely personal indulgence and, I think, a welcome distraction from busy working life in a big city.  I don't know how long it will last; I hope you enjoy reading. 

I adore tomatoes - so it seems appropriate that my first posting is about a very simple, mouth-wateringly good, tomato salad, made tonight by Marc.  This was an attempt to recreate the most delicious dish we ate on holiday - a plateful of sliced tomatoes liberally sprinkled with tasty virgin olive oil, with plenty of chopped garlic and salt (if the garlic and salt are squashed together with a spoon before being spread over the tomatoes, it tastes especially good).  We ate it so quickly that I forgot to take a photo.

Until next time
K