Birthday Dinner at Gordon's

When I left WeeWorld for the Big Smoke, my workmates sent me off with a gift voucher to Gordon Ramsay restaurant. It was most generous and it felt good to know they got what makes me tick. Then again, i didn't really make it a secret that my heart was still in the kitchen and the project manager job was a temporary means to an end (still not found that end yet though). When i started there i was making birthday cakes for each person in the office, then, as more people joined the company i had to move to monthly birthday cakes and finally it got to be too much baking for me. I got to cater the office Christmas party one year, and in my last couple of months had started a scheme selling lunches to the lucky few who put their orders in for the week. I love that they loved my food and i love that they gave me such a grand parting gift.

I decided i'd use the voucher on birthday dinner this year. The first thing to contend with was making the actual booking. The restaurant takes bookings as much as 2 months in advance which i found out the first time i called in January. I patiently waited until 17-Jan and phoned again only to find out that the 17th was fully booked and the weekend preceding and following were also booked up. Next try was during the week and i was able to nab a table for 6:30 pm on the 18th. The other available times were after 10:00 pm -- too late for me!

Step 2 was faxing over a signed 'contract' along with my credit card details saying that i would indeed turn up, that if i cancelled less than 24 hours in advance i'd have to pay a fee and if i simply didn't turn up my credit card would be charged £150. OK.

Step 3 was phoning them early in the week to confirm that yes indeed i was going to show up.

And then we got there. And it was a flurry of attentive french men all over. A bit disarming but i went with the flow. The first 20 minutes happened so fast -- seating at table, menus, champagne, meet sommelier, talk about the menu, amuse bouche....i couldn't keep up! There was even a parade of the last of the year's perigord truffles. I asked for another sniff in the box which of course was immediately obliged.

Everyone has been asking about the meal. I'd say it was faultless. The service was over the top, attentive to the extreme, a bit overwhelming at times. The people we were dining with were mostly inbred marble mouths. But for added diversity there was a family of rich Texans.

At the end we figured that it was more about the whole experience than just the food. And, to be honest I'd rather eat somewhere less ostentatious or go over to France if i wanted a meal like this. Would we go again? Only if we had another voucher.

Here is what i remember we ate:
Amuse Bouche 1: cornet of langoustine and avocado salsa. (Light, crunchy meltingly delicious seafood and avocade yumminess.)+ Paired with pesto and mozzarella sandwiched between two fine crisps of potato.

Amuse Bouche 2: Teeny ravioli of crab with pumpkin soup and shaved truffle



Mel's starter (see photo above) Butter poached Scottish lobster tail with chestnut lasagne, trompettes de la mort, baby spinach and black truffles. (wowww wowww wowww. salivating just thinking about it. earthy truffle, sweet lobster fantastic delicate lasagne.)

Kelsie's starter Pan-fried sea scallops from the Isle of Skye with carpaccio of octopus, gnocchi, sage and parmesan



Mel's main: Pan-fried line caught sea bass with steamed charlotte potatoes, cucumber, oyster beignet and caviar velouté (Fabtastic especially the fried oyster which reminded me of Texas and Florida. Oyster po'boys. yeah)



Kelsie's main: Roasted monkfish tail with chorizo cous cous, baby squid, artichoke and spiced tomato jus



Cheese plate: we had two a wonderful creamy chalky goats cheese and Vacherin which transported us to New Year's eve shenanigans with Ian



Amuse bouche 3: Mango and passionfruit with coconut cream and extra speshal crackly pop rocks. (made me feel 14 again!)

Mel's pud: Granny Smith parfait with blackberry foam, honeycomb and cider sorbet



Kelsie's pud: Bitter chocolate cylinder with coffee granité and ginger mousse

birthday almond cheesecake

almond cheesecake
Originally uploaded by silamuta

it was my birthday a few days ago and mel asked me what kinda birthday cake i would like. i remembered an almond cheesecake that she made last year and asked if she could make that again. OF COURSE was the answer!! its great being hitched to someone who loves to cook. (NB my waistline might disagree!) what with one thing and another going on during the week mel finally managed to make the cheesecake on saturday. and wow it really is great. not too sweet but definately almond!! even the biscuit layer is almond. needless to say ive probably eaten more than my fair share already. im currently sitting in the pub while writing this post so i dont have the recipe to hand. but ill ask mel to add it to this post later or if anybody would like it soon just leave us a message and we will post it pronto. well after i leave the pub and go home. and oooh gordon ramseys restaurant on hospital road on wed. look out for that posting. CANT WAIT!!

carluccios islington

so we headed to carluccios last nite in order to grab a bite to eat before heading to a play. ("duet for one" with juliet stevenson). mel was meeting me from work so i headed there pretty much on time to have a wee beer. i walked in and waited and waited and waited. not a good start. i eventually had to approach a member of staff myself to say i had a table booked. the surly waitress showed me to a table and then walked away without even asking if i wanted something to drink. pah!! nil points so far. however i had a quick look at the drinks menu and when she finally decided to haul her ass back to ask if i wanted a drink while waiting i scowled and ordered a peroni. mel turned up and we quickly checked out the winter menu and ordered the following. to start we shared an antipasto di verdure which contained marinated peppers, buffalo mozzarella, artichokes, olives, rocket, marinated aubergine and foccacia bread. all drizzled with olive oil. very very nice so no complaints there. next up was the mains: i opted for the lasagne and mel plumped for the penne with spinach balls and courgette. the lasagne was ok; it wasnt outstanding and kinda lacked oomff. mel said the same about her dish. i mean it wasnt bad but it didnt leave us ooh and ahhing. we ordered a bottle of the house red to go with meal after quaffing a glass of prosecco each with the starter. i also had a beer. total cost £54. would i go back? probably not. or i would maybe take somebody there who wasnt too bothered by what they ate.

broadway market E8

pretty nifty lil market in hackney E8. not as big or mad as borough but still worth a looksie

Zuppa di ceci

sundays seem to be turning into soup days. i like bringing my own food into work and can't bother thinking up something new every morning before work, so one-pot solutions are the easiest option.

one of these days i'll get organised to try these for lunch. but for the time being i'll stick with leftover or soups.

this past sunday i decided to make chickpea soup, or zuppa di ceci (pronounced che chi in italian). making it was a doddle and eating it this week for lunch has been a restorative remedy for the winter blues.

Zuppa di Ceci

500g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
garlic (1-2 cloves chopped depending on how garlicky you want it)
1 small dried chili
rosemary sprigs (i used 2 but was told that it could have been a lot more)
olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, skinned and chopped
small bunch swiss chard, finely shredded

1. Drain the chickpeas and put in a large pot with the onion, carrot and celery. Add 14 cups water -- if it doesn't all fit at once, add the water while the soup is cooking.


2. Bring to the boil and skim any scum off the top. Reduce the heat to medium and let cook uncovered for 1.5 hours, or until the chickpeas are butter soft. Add more water if you need it. When the chickpeas are close to being cooked through add salt and ground pepper to taste.


3. Puree 2/3 of the chickpea mixture in a blender and return to the pot with the rest of the soup. Add hot water if it seems too thick.


4. In a separate pot, heat the olive oil and add the chopped garlic, rosemary and chilli. When you start to smell the garlic add the chard. Saute for a few minutes until the chard starts to wilt. Add the chopped tomatoes, reduce the heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the tomato mixture cooks down and thickens.


5. Remove the rosemary sprigs and stir the tomato mixture into the soup and let simmer over a low heat until the flavours come together (about another 10-15 minutes). Check for seasoning. Serve with grilled bread that has been rubbed with garlic and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

It's that time of year: Superbowl Chili

OK i know, i'm a week late. the superbowl was last week. the Pittsburgh Steelers won which made my nephew Yechaskel very happy indeed. His Aunt Mel was very happy too, and she didn't even see it -- she even missed the halftime show with The Boss. Why was i so happy? Because the chili i made was probably THE BEST chili i've ever ever made. Eating gave me that eyes glazed over feeling of pure bliss and i spent the next 3 days eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. so so so good.

i'm still trying to figure out what made it so good here are my theories:

1. i used scotch bonnets instead of jalapenos. they're everywhere on stroud green road at the moment and who can pass by a bag of these beauties for a mere £1? these are my favourite fresh chilies -- it's that heady sweet/smoky flavour that gets me going and it was exactly this effect that they had on the chilli. not mouth searingly hot, but a delicious sweet heat that slowly crept up on you and lingered after the last bite.


2. i made the pot of chilli the night before. we all know that chillies and stews always taste better the next day. and on the saturday night that i made it, the house was redolent of chilli, simmering ever so slowly on the stove for hours..


3. instead of chili powder i used ancho chile puree. this was called for in the recipe i was referring to, and yes it made a big difference. again it was less harsh and biting, more warm and smooth in flavour with heat intact.


4. i ignored the recipe and after browning the meat made a sofrito of the chopped onion, garlic and fresh chilies.

Here is the recipe i referred to. I kept to the quantities specified, and topped up with some hot beef stock about mid-way through cooking as it was getting quite thick. I also used the option 1 can of kidney beans and 1 can of chopped tomatoes.

And to serve: pickled jalapenos, grated mature cheddar cheese, chopped fresh coriander and a generous dollop of greek yoghurt (use sour cream if you have it instead).

carrot cake

carrot cake
Originally uploaded by silamuta

ooooooh cake. lordy!


I liked the cake. really i did. but after reading eggbeater's exhasutive analysis of Why do cakes sink? i'm now convinced this cake was a bit of a disaster. too dense. no crumb. was it the too cold butter? was it the silicone pan? did the ground almonds have somthing to do with it? hmmmm.