Eaten out

Roka. A whiff of a big city. :-)

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Last December when Steve and Christina came over and we wined and dined, we had a plan to fly to Edinburgh and eat at The Kitchin, Tom Kitchin’s place that’s on my bucket list( the special appendix of the bucket list, the places to eat at before I die). Once we did the maths we sadly reached the conclusion that flying there, staying at a decent hotel and having a set menu in The Kitchin would be sickly expensive, so Steve suggested we stay at his  and Christin’s shabby old place in Surrey instead and eat somewhere in London, so many great places to choose from. So we decided on Roka, booked it 2 months ago and went last weekend.

I had sky high expectations.

We arrived a bit too early and had a drink downstairs in their Shochu lounge. A bit like a nightclub, Christina said, music far too loud to even attempt a conversation, great decor though. Once moved to our table upstairs we quickly opted for a set menu plus wagyu beef. First plate of yellowtail sashimi, super thin, with citrusy dressing and a hint of truffle oil stopped us talking, it was that good.

More sashimi followed with some delicious scallop tartar, then a deep fried sushi roll(!!!) stuffed with minced wagyu, fried in tempura and topped with caviar, served still warm. Divine. My favourite plate of the evening.

Their chargrilled scallops topped with a tiny bit of wasabi mayo I loved, shame we only got one scallop each, they were phenomenal.

There was also some gyoza, black cod, some lamb chops in Korean spicy sauce, then some chargrilled wagyu, which for me was a bit disappointing- I agree with Wagyu House, it can’t be served rare, the fat needs to have time to render down, here they didn’t give it a chance to do that.

The dessert was a massive plate of ice cream, sorbet, some chocolate fondant, poncy looking fruit and what not. Did not blow me away.

For the great company, that yellowtail, scallops and tempura roll it was definitely worth a visit.

Made in Poland

Łazanki

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At Mum’s, in Stronie. In her dramatically tiny kitchen, stuffed with things she refuses to get rid of.  So many of them that some need to be moved in order to get access to a cupboard. With stunning orchids in the big, very clean window.

From this kitchen we’ve been eating some stunning food. On my request this afternoon there were łazanki, a simple, cheap pasta dish, that I’d have no problem stuffing down all by myself, the whole bowl, if I were not concerned about the size of my butt. I am concerned, so I only had seconds. Regretfully.

Mum made fresh pasta, cooked some sauerkraut for 30-40 mins just in water, also some porcini mushrooms, for half that time.  On a bit of słonina (back fat) she fried some onions, then added that sauerkraut, chopped and mushrooms, seasoned simply with salt and pepper and tossed with pasta. I love it.  And will be making it soon, after a visit to Polish deli when we get back home.

Eaten out

Pasta Ripiena.

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When looking for a place in Bristol to dine for Florek’s birthday I came across this little place. Most people on tripadvisor gave it 5 stars, one even said – go and camp outside if you can’t get in, it’s that good! Initially I couldn’t get a table ( 3 weeks in advance), but I persevered and when called a week later checking for cancellations, I got lucky!

Tiny little place, Dinings kinda tiny. Rough on edges, on the same level with the small, open kitchen, we could see all the food prep, all of the action.

There was a sweet touch for Florek in terms of the menu-

We had focaccia to start, some prawns and arrancini to follow, then a plate of fantastic pasta for mains. Mine was stuffed with braised beef shin, had some smoked, thin cured meat lovingly wrapped around it.

It was super al dente, almost undercooked, but simple and fantastic.

The star of the evening for me was the pannacotta with pistachios and …olive oil. Phenomenal. So good I seriously considered a second one!

Miss Banks enjoyed some lemon and mint sorbet, really tart, but she finished it quite enthusiastically.

I can’t wait to go there again, when we fly from Bristol next time.

Good Food

Scottish wagyu burger.

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A few months ago in “Saturday Kitchen” Tom Kitchin was cooking a wagyu steak that did not come from Japan or Australia, it came from Scottish Highlands, where they know breed wagyu cattle.  Their website’s here :

https://www.wagyuhouse.co.uk/

I was initially put off by the prices, but having slept on it a few times I decided I’d love to order some burgers from them, as a birthday present for Florek.  I considered some steaks too, but at £15 per 100g of sirloin, ribeye or fillet, I only ordered the burgers.  They’ve arrived yesterday, 4 in a pack, 2 went to the freezer and 2 were devoured last night- with clear conscience, as on Florek’s actual birthday on Tuesday we’ll be dining in Pasta Ripiena in Bristol.

Easily the best burger I’ve ever cooked. Even while in the pan the smell was intense and promising great flavour. I tried to keep it simple, so that the burger was the star on the plate, so all we had on it was cheese, iceberg lettuce, some shallots and a slice of tomato. I held off any sauces, just toasted the brioche buns and made fresh fries from the oil.

Florek was very happy and agreed we’ll be ordering from Wagyu House again. 🙂

For the science

Pork cheeks.

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They seem like a trend  now, Masterchef contestants are cooking them,  Jason Atherton in Saturday Kitchen did too,  so it was time for me to make my way to the butcher’s and place the order.  I’m a big fan of ox cheeks, even managed to convince Florek to them, but my last night’s effort with pork cheeks was not a triumph, I must say.  They didn’t look the part  when I was preparing them, I’ve removed quite a lot of fat and sinew and them proceeded to braise them they way I would do ox cheeks, but for less than 2 hours, as the size was considerably smaller. While they were braising, I’ve made a side of roasted, grated beetroot and some dauphinoise and then when I tasted them shortly before serving- I quickly panfried 2 eggs for Florek, I knew he would not be enjoying pork cheeks. There were 2 or 3 pieces of beautifully tender meat that I ate and rather liked, but mostly I ended up with lots of fatty pork, the texture of which did not appeal to me at all. The sauce was lovely and rich and I saved it, but the pork went to the bin, sorry to say.

I’m glad I tried, for the science, but will not be running back to Toby’s for some more.

Baking

Blueberry macaroons.

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I bought some particularly delicious blueberries this morning in M&S. They taste a little like the wild blueberries available in Poland in late summer. I’ve baked a spontaneous batch of macaroons and they turned out perfect, not a single one cracked, stuck, had a boob, nothing, 3 trays of great macaroons. I filled them with a simple combination of whipped cream with blueberry puree, good splash of lemon juice really brought it together. Each macaroon has a blueberry in the middle, sitting in the nest of whipped cream. I’m really chuffed with these, so chuffed I sent a photo to Dorota from mojewypieki.com and I’m also giving 6 of them to the lovely people who deliver fresh farm eggs to us for the last couple of weeks. Brawo ja! 🙂

Good Food

Duck. From A to Stock.

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Ocado delivers my shopping on Tuesday mornings. I already had 2 duck legs on order, then watched Masterchef, where a dude cooked a duck breast, the look of which made me grab my laptop immediately and edit my order.  2 duck breasts cost £9, 2 legs £4.50. The whole duck, just under 1,5 kg was on offer at £6.70. I hesitated for a few minutes, as I’ve never taken apart a bird and I’d hate to make a mess of it. But there’s youtube.com, so I watched 2 videos of how to do that and ordered the bird.

I have to say that butchering the duck was not as difficult as I thought it would be and it made me feel like I’ve just learned a new skill, saved some money and ended up with both breasts, legs and extras as well. My mum often makes soups on turkey/chicken wings, so I saved mine and froze them for that purpose, then decided to use the carcass to make some duck stock. Another 2 minute video helped with that- never done my own stock before. I whacked the carcass in the hot oven for 25 minutes till browned.

When cooled a little,  it went in  the pot together with a shallot, some green celery, carrots, bay leaves, peppercorns, a few porcini mushrooms and cooked nice and slowly for over 3 hours.

Strained, it now cools in the fridge and will be used for sauces, especially to accompany duck legs.

I then went on to reward my good housekeeping by dining on a pan fried duck breast with fabulous daphinoise potatoes and green beans, washed down with a large glass of Argentinian malbec.  Yum.

Baking

Lime and mango drizzle.

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Shelina Permalloo’s recipe from Good Food mag.  Beautiful on the picture, even though I had no dried mango to pile up on top. I had 2 relatively ripe mangos on the windowsill and enough limes, so I baked it last night. Florek reckons it’s better the next day, I rather liked it warm after dinner last night too.

Easy. 150 g of caster sugar creamed with 150 g unsalted butter till fluffy and pale. Zest of 2 limes in.  3 whole eggs, one by one. 150 g of self raising flour. About 200 g of fresh mango, chopped in small pieces. All this into a baking tin and into a 180 degrees hot oven for about 45-50 minutes.  While it baked, a juice of 2 limes previously zested was made into a drizzling syrup, alongside 75 g of sugar, gently heated up until sugar dissolved. Right after the cake came out, I punctured it with a skewer all over and poured the syrup on top with a little help of a pastry brush.  Finally a touch of icing sugar.

I do like the limey flavour, but I was thinking a bit of custard, last night, while it was eaten slightly warm would make it a very lovely dessert. Will keep in mind for 2 loads of guests due to come over later this month.

Good Food

Scallops with wasabi mayo.

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We’re off to dine in Roka Charlotte St in 2 months time with Steve and Christina, I can’t wait. Had a good look at their menu and I think I’ll go for their set menu at £90, which might just take me to food heaven by the look of it! One of the several dishes on that menu are scallop skewers with wasabi mayo. I had some frozen scallops, so last night was the time to see what kind of combination it is. Obviously that was me executing it,  a certain Masaki Sugisaki was contacted in order not to cock things up.  Mayo and wasabi mixed did not taste particularly exciting,  Masaki suggested either salt or soy sauce, I added a bit of both and ended up with lovely creamy finish to my simply panfried scallops. As it was an evening meal , I made some panfried potatoes with chorizo, shallot and lots of spring onions too.  A glass of Gruner Veltliner completed the picture. 🙂

Dessert

Mango and peach charlotte.

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I needed a cake for a double birthday I threw yesterday for Mariusz (46) and Ewa (43). I chose the charlottle from mojewypieki.com just by looking at it, never made one before, never tasted it. It was fun to make,  not too complicated, but I still changed a few things, having read the reviews.

I baked my usual sponge with 2 eggs, sliced it in half horizontally and then started building the cake with the tiramisu kind biscuits, having to “shave” the last one to fit it in perfectly, sponge nr 1 neatly on the bottom. And still a little bit of the mango mousse escaped, but nothing that couldn’t be tidied up.

For the mango layer I used a small can of mango puree, the 450 g one, roughly 270 ml of double cream and 4,5 gelatine leaves. I skipped the orange juice and zest, but next time I’ll use less cream, it wasn’t mango enough for me. On top of it went the sponge number 2. To the fridge to set for an hour. On that some whipped cream and mascarpone,lightly sweetened, half and half, to which I added a few tbsps of the orange jelly that was waiting to go on top. On the creamy layer I arranged some thinly sliced canned peaches, a few bits of cherries in kirsch ( pomegranate seeds would have been better but I didn’t fancy buying the whole fruit to use a few seeds), then jelly and the whole thing rested in the fridge overnight.

It came out of the tin without any problems, a ribbon was added for extra touch too.

My only complaint would be that the biscuits did not soak up any of the filling and were quite dry, Macy enjoyed then, while we ate the inside.  🙂

On the joys of cooking and eating