melanzana salata from meltemi, rodos

Meltemi on the beach in Rhodes makes the most beautiful melanzana salad (remember they call dips salad so it's really a dip).
It's cooked eggplant (I think they cook them in the oven like you do with a babaganoush) and then roughly broken up into chunks and they serve it drizzled with olive oil and parsley, pine nuts and red onion sliced thinly. It's delicious.

Cretan food

Boureki - like a moussaka but with zucchini and potato.  Pastry on top.  Delicious.

Mum's favourite - Cretan salad.  With dakos (softened bread with pureed tomatoes) and mizithra (a creamy mild cheese, generously served)

The language school gang

YUM - cheese filled pastry rolled in honey for dessert.  Cretans ALWAYS give you raki and glyka (sweets) complimentary after every meal.

Fishies

μελιτζάνα IMAM

Serves 8-10


6 diced tomatoes
7 pulsed tomatoes
3-4 red onions chopped into wedges (may be too much. Depends on your taste)
1 head garlic, sliced
400g tub feta
10 Eggplants cut in half horizontally

Bunch parsley, rip ends off. Leave some small stalks on. Chop up into small pieces.

Stage 1: Slice eggplants in half horizontally.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and put in an oven at 200C until soft not black.

Stage 2: Fry onions in a saucepan with lots of oil on a gentle heat.

Stage 3: Add garlic.  Add salt and pepper.


Stage 4: Add pulsed tomatoes when onions are a little soft (not brown).

Stage 5: After ten mins add the chopped tomatoes.

Stage 6: Put lid on and keep letting tomato mixture boil. Add a good amount of dried oregano.

Stage 7: Add parsley.

Step 8: Take off the heat. Leave to cool a bit.  Crumble a 400g tub feta and stir in. *It is important to let the mixture cool before adding the feta so it doesn't just melt - you want it to remain whole.

Step 9: When eggplants are soft take out of the oven. Not black. Squash the flesh down in them with a fork.

Step 10: Spoon tomato mixture into the eggplants.

Step 11: Put back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Step 12: Serve with some crusty bread and a simple salad.

Any leftover mix? Stir it with egg to make a yummy scram/omelette.

Ottolenghi Oats

Foxcroft

These cinnamon scrolls are to die for. Served warm with apple inside mmmm.

Lovely coffees on berwick St

Foxcroft & Ginger,Soho

Cinnamon French toast at ottolenghi

Creepy...

Looks like a science project. China town.

Bartersea pie shop, Covent garden

Delicious pies! But you have to eat with k&f they fall apart. Steak and Guinness!!!

me on the set of market kitchen

Such a funny day!

Met the guys from this blog - sorted - it's actually a great idea, really awesome format and it looks like fun: www.sortedfood.com

Edith's Aubergine Parmigiana

From Market Kitchen today radio one presenter Edith was on.  She made a really nice chicken kebab - chicken chunks marinated with yoghurt and spices, alternated with onion and cherry toms on the skewer, then grilled on a griddle pan.

Aubergine parmigiana
Slice aubergines lengthways
Roll in flour and then egg
Fry in oil

Sauce
Slice 2 cloves garlic finely
Bunch of parsley - break the stalks off and chop finely
Fry garlic, then add parsley, then add a couple of cups passata
Can add chilli also

Layer tomato sauce, then aubergine, then fontina cheese.  Keep layering, spinning aubergine so you get more in.  End with parmesan and fontina.

Put in oven.

Deutsche essen und trinken

               Düsseldorf's Killepitsch

Mandatory late night wurst

Ilse's pork stroganoff, heavy on the senf

Ilse is the most fantastic cook!!! And she loves it so much

Apfel strudel - mum you would have loved it!

Berliners!

Ich Liebe Frühstück

Monmouth Original Store, Covent Garden

Monmouth is the coffee that has taken over London.  They make the yummiest coffee and all the good coffee shops (including Fleet, Flat White, Foxcroft and Ginger) have it.  They also have a store at Borough Market.

The original store is in Monmouth Street Covent Garden.

They sell their beans in store.

Really nice coffee - rice, creamy, delicious.  Probably about an 8/10.  My only criticism is they only serve full cream milk - not even soy.  Not very nice for the lactose intolerant.  But I guess they are just intolerant to the lactose intolerant.

A nice selection of pastries - the almond croissants really tempted me...but they'll do that.

Heading to Deutschland today for the Karneval - so get ready for some posts on bratwurst, spetzle and all other fabulous things German.

Testing London's best

I downloaded the app 'London's best coffee' and am now working my way through the listed establishments.

Today it's Kaffeine on Great Itchfield St in Soho.

Coffee about 7/10. It's nice and beautifully presented but a bit bitter and not as full and creamy as I like. ]

Atmosphere really nice - good space with exposed brick etc reminds me of the front room in Zekka, King Street.  The food looks ok - lots of sweet stuff - pastries, friands etc. One Brekky style sandwich with omelette and pancetta in ciabatta.

Jamie's Italian Round 3

Went to Jamie's Italian with Georg Mont.  Absolutely fantastic food as always (but still a bit of a wait for a table - 1 hour on a Wednesday...)

We had:

entree...

HERBY MARINATED WHITEBAIT
£4.10
Whole whitebait pickled with chilli, capers and parsley. Served chilled

Marinated whitebait - yum but I prefer crispy

ITALIAN NACHOS
£3.55
Crispy, fried four cheese ravioli with 'angry' arrabiata sauce

DELICIOUS Italian nachos 

mains...

COCKLES LINGUINE
£8.20/£13.35
Sweet cockles steamed open with garlic, chilli and parsley tossed with linguine, butter and lemon - beautiful.

cockles linguine

RABBIT RAGU PAPPARDELLE
£7.15/£11.35
Slow braised wild rabbit finished with mascarpone, lemon and crunchy herby breadcrumbs

and for dessert...

AMALFI LEMON CURD
£4.95

With toasted pistachios and English raspberries

wine


PRIMITIVO DI SALENTO, CANTINE LUIGI SCRITTI 13% 2008 PUGLIA
£16.75
Primitivo is the father of the zinfandel grape. Notes of cherries, cloves, wild blackberries and spice. Delicious!

Chorizo and Cannellini bean stew

Serves 4-6

glug olive oil
1 chorizo sausage, diced
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 L chicken stock
800g tinned cannellini beans, rinsed
salt and pepper

(parmesan and sour dough for serving)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat and cook the chorizo for 3–4 minutes until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–7 minutes until softened.

Add the garlic, thyme and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1–2 minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute.

Return the chorizo to the pan with the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Serve with a crusty sourdough and some grated parmesan.

Grublover comment

This stew is really yum and easy - just a joy to cook and eat.  I will definitely be making it again.

Bagels times tables

Bella Napoli

The food in Napoli was divine. They are famous of course for their pizza and we tried it on the street (for just 1 euro for a mouth-watering slab of margherita), and at the restaurant made famous by 'Eat, Pray, Love': Da Michele. We had to line up for about half an hour to get a table but it was worth it. They only sell pizza - margherita or marinara - beer and water. My dream restaurant!

Like all Italians simplicity is the key - the margherita was to die for with fresh tomato, creamy mozzarella and a single basil leaf.

Mailie eating Pizza Margherita in the old town

We had an amazzzzing dinner at Taverna do re - a little restaurant we stumbled on while looking for a late night wine.  We were really looked after with complimentary champagne to start and a bottle of limoncello to drink at the end! Lovely!  The food was fantastic - I had a dish that was a specialty of Napoli - Pasta Genovese - it is a meaty pasta dish with lots and lots of onions!  Very rich and absolutely delicious.

Salad - divine

Penne genovese

Tortellini funghi

Pho at Song Que

I love Kingsland Road aka the Pho mile. The Pho at 134 Kingsland (supposedly best in London) did rival our favourite little spot in Perth, Dao Vien - the broth fresh and clear. As always quick as a flash (we had to laugh when they seated us and said 'Can you be done in one and a half hours?', as we all knew it would take less than 15 minutes to nail a pho).

I bought this tortellini at borough market - it is fresh pasta stuffed with wild boar. You serve it simply with olive oil, parmesan and lots of black pepper. Belissimo!!!

 

Aunt Netty's Impossible Pies

Netty told me about her famous 'Impossible Pies' at Christmas this year. The rasberries in London are so fresh and cheap (only 1 pound for a box near uni - I will often just buy them as a snack) - I will definitely be trying the impossible rasberry flan.

IMPOSSIBLE RASPBERRY FLAN 

Serves 6

2 Cups frozen raspberries or any other fresh/frozen berries
3 eggs
50g butter melted
½ cup plain flour
1½ cups milk
¾ cup sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 teaspoon vanilla

Thaw raspberries. Place all ingredients except fruit into bowl of food processor. Process until combined. Place raspberries over the base of a round 20cm ovenproof dish or quiche dish. Pour . mixture over. Bake at 280 degrees C fo 50 minutes or until set.

FRUITY IMPOSSIBLE PIE

4 eggs
125g butter melted
½ cup plain flour
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla
415g can fruit diced and drained.

Beat all ingredients except fruit in a large bowl until smooth. Fold in fruit
Pour into a 23cm pie dish.
Bake in moderate oven (180C) for 40-45 minutes or until firm
Serve hot with ice-cream or custard.

SAVOURY IMPOSSIBLE PIE4 eggs
125g butter melted
½ cup plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups milk

FILLINGS
200g can tuna or salmon drained
½ cup grated cheese, q/2 cup parsley

Or

Bacon, tomato, diced onion

Or

asparagus, cooked macaroni and cheese

METHOD

Blend all ingredients together and pour mixture into 25cm greased pie plate. Place pie plate in a baking dish with some hot water to half depth of pie plate. Bake 180C for 1 hour or until firm.

These is of course the kind of recipe you can mix up and put whatever you like in them.  I would like to try the savoury pie with mushrooms and feta. Mmmm.

Greta Anna Cake

This is the best cake - dead easy, only one bowl required and delicious result.  You can substitute whatever fruit is in season at the time.

Recipe

The finished product - blueberry and cherry