Posts Tagged ‘Mint’
Monday, May 28th, 2012
It’s been roasting in London for the last week or so, but as Brits, we all know that the blazing orb in the sky’s days are numbered. But while it is doing us the honour of hanging around, I’ve been trying to make the most of it. An when it is hot, I like to eat simple stuff that’s easy to make. I can’t be bothered to fanny around in a hot kitchen preparing fancy stuff, so this Alphonso Mango frozen yoghurt is right up my strasse.
The Alphonso Mango season is short and almost at an end, and if you’ve not tried them before, it really is worth making the effort and tracking some down. Almost incomparable to a regular mango, they are sweeter, richer, and intensely perfumed. Truly amazing. Over the season from April to May, the streets of Tooting are sponsored by that sweet, almost sickly smell. They’re not cheap though (a box of 6 will set you back around £9), but I probably only eat them a couple of times a year, so it’s no biggie.
I used to eat this simply as the Cristal Champagne of yoghurts, but having seen a similar recipe on Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals, I thought I’d give it a freeze to see how it turned out. Very well is the answer. The mangoes are really sweet, so you don’t need to add any sugar, in fact the opposite. I add the juice of a lime to sharpen it up a bit and really bring out the mango’s flavour.
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Tags: Alphonso, Desert, Frozen Yoghurt, greek, India, Lime, Low Fat, mango, Mint, Natural, perfumed, Sweet, Yoghurt
Posted in Dinner, Sweet Stuff | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Last Sunday I was invited to take part in Big Apple Hot Dogs food blogger meet up / competition Blog Eat Blog. The brainchild of BAHDman Abiye, the idea is simple. Food bloggers create their own topping for his dogs, they bring them down to the Vibe Bar, eat dogs, drink beer and somehow a winner is chosen. Having played a small part in Abiye’s story, and a as a lover of dogs and bit of a challenge, I couldn’t resist.
Now, you’ll think I’m bragging when I say that I SMASHED it and won my heat, but I should probably mention that the other three competitors didn’t show up, which is a bit of a shame (lazy buggers whoever you are 
). This being the case, it was a bit of a hollow victory. But a wins a win, right? Right??
Anyway, it was a good afternoon of dogging and boozing, and my Turkish inspired slaw seemed to go down pretty well with the punters. There are three more heats over the next few Sundays, so why not get yourself down to Brick Lane and beat off the Sunday blues with a Pimp Steak.
I’m not 100% sure when the final is, but I’ll be there with my Turkish Slaw, and if you want to make some of your own, here’s how its done (NB. this makes a pretty large quantity, so scale back as required).
Ingredients
2 red onions
1.5 heads of spring cabbage
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Tags: #BlogEatBlog, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Blog Eat Blog, Cabbage, Carrot, Flat Leaf Parsley, Greek Yoghurt, Hot Dogs, Hummus, Maras Biberi, Mint, Pul Biber, Red Onion, Street Food, Turkish Slaw
Posted in Recipes, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Gyoza, dumplings, wontons, pot stickers, whatever you call them, I love them. They’ve fast become one of my favourite snacks. One of those things that when you think about them, you’ve got to have them.
I’d never really thought of making my own, but a chance encounter with a dumpling press and a packet of wonton wrappers in San Fran’s China town changed all that, and now I can’t stop cranking them out. Of course if I was a real expert, I’d be wrapping them by hand, but I’m not, and the $6 press does a pretty good job.
This Thai influenced recipe has a pork filling, but you can stuff these little guys with whatever you want really. You could do a variation with salmon or shrimp and chive, or maybe even tofu and shitake mushrooms. The cases we’ve found work best are Singapore style dumpling wrappers as they’re a bit thicker and give the pot stickers more substance.
One more thing, the pot stickers get fried on one side (which is how they get their name) and then steamed, so you’re going to need a wok or frying pan with a lid. Lets begin.
Ingredients (makes about 20)
For the pot stickers
250g pork mince
1.5 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
3 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (more…)
Tags: Chili, Coriander, Dumplings, Garlic, Ginger, Gyoza, Mint, Pork, Pot Stickers, Scallion, Singapore, Siracha Sauce, Soy, Spring Onion, Thai, Wontons
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Snack | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Week 15. More cake. But as the title of this post ‘hilariously’ suggests, we moved away from the predominantly flour based sponges and in to mousse cake territory.
Most of these cakes followed a similar format. Some kind of sponge base, ‘inserts’ made either from more sponge or set crème anglaise based layers flavoured with anything from lemon and raspberry to mint, surrounded with some kind of mousse set with gelatin. These cakes get finished with different techniques. Glazes, cake walls, ‘pate decor’, we even got to get the chocolate spray-gun out.
Here are a few examples (for some reason I didn’t get as many pics as usual):
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Tags: Bavarian, Berries, Cake, Creme Anglaise, Diplomat Cream, Fruit, Glaze, Lemon, Mint, Mousse, Pate Decor, Raspberry, Sable Breton, San Francisco, SFBI, Sponge, Vanilla, White Chocolate
Posted in Reviews, Sweet Stuff, Travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
Pretty much anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a mild addiction to Pakistani food, and in particular the tandoori lamb chop. I’d more than happily spend an evening at Mirch Masala in Tooting, or Tayyabs, but my favourite place to get a fix is Lahore in Whitechapel (long overdue a ‘Local Hero’ post). The chops may be a bit smaller, but my god they taste good. Spicy, deeply flavoured and smokey. Yep, my mouth is watering and it’s only 9am.
But enough about my issues. This recipe is my attempt to re-create Lahore’s greatness at home. Funnily enough, I don’t have a tandoor in my kitchen so I use a griddle pan to get the charring and smokey flavour, and whilst this recipe doesn’t quite live up to East London’s finest, it’s not half bad. If you don’t have a griddle pan, you could grill them on both sides.
I use lamb cutlets as opposed to thicker chops, and serve them with a coriander and mint raita.
Ingredients
8 lamb cutlets
(for the marinade)
2 large cloves of garlic
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
2 green chillies, seeds removed
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Tags: Bread, Chillies, Cinnamon, Coriander, Cumin, Cutlets, Garlic, Ginger, Griddle, Lamb Chops, Marinate, Mint, Naaan, Olive Oil, Pita, Tandoori, Turmeric, Yoghurt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 2 Comments »
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
The missus and I have been on a bit of a detox for the past couple of weeks, in part due to our impending nuptials, and to be honest, it’s been a bit miserable. No booze, no bread, no dairy, no sugar, no caffeine, no red meat…no fun.
But necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I’ve been having to find new ways to entertain my taste buds. This refreshing smoothie is a result of this experimentation, and proof that every cloud has a silver lining.
The grapefruit juice gives a slightly bitter but pleasant aftertaste, and the mint keeps it fresh. I like it cold too, so I’ll put the fruit in the fridge for a few hours / overnight before I make it.
Ingredients
2 ripe nectarines, stoned and quartered
100g blackberries, washed
10 mint leaves
150ml fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
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Tags: Blackberry, Detox, Drink, Grapefruit Juice, maple syrup, Mint, Nectarine, Smoothie
Posted in Breakfast, Recipes | No Comments »
Monday, July 26th, 2010
My Mac has recovered, so its back to France for a few posts.
When we visited the food market at Forcalquier, as mentioned in this post, the missus spotted some courgette flowers for sale. We both remembered seeing Jamie Oliver deep frying some ricotta stuffed flowers on one of his shows, and despite not having a cookbook or any access to the interwebs, we decided to gave it a go.
Without blowing my own trumpet, the results were great, and to be honest it was easier that I thought it would be. The following recipe serves 6 as a small starter (2 flowers each), and although I didn’t at the time (because my father ain’t fan of the spice) I’ve added some red chilli. Not very French, but there you go.
Ingredients
12 large courgette flowers
For the stuffing
250g Ricotta
50g Parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
Zest of 1 lemon
1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
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Tags: Basil, Batter, Chilli, Courgette, Flowers, Fried, Lemon, Mint, parmesan, Ricotta, Stuffed
Posted in Lunch, Recipes, Snack, Travel | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
It’s been hot, hot, hot in London town this week, and the warm weather has got me thinking about summer food. Aside maybe from a decent burger on a barbie, for me it’s the Mediterraneans that totally nail ‘al fresco’ eating. Grilled meats, crunchy veg and fresh zingy flavours.
These lamb wraps have all that and more. The taste of the spicy, charred, marinated meat and the tzatziki work really well together, and the wraps mean that the dish is still pretty light. We don’t have a garden, so our griddle pan has to do.
Ingredients (makes 3 large wraps)
For the lamb
400g lamb leg steaks
Handful of fresh oregano leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
Juice of one lemon
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the tzatziki
200g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
1/4 cucumber, sliced and diced
Handful of mint leaves, chopped
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Tags: Chilli, Cucumber, Garlic, Lamb, Lemon, Mint, Olive Oil, Onion, Oregano, Paprika, Salad, Tzatziki, Wraps, Yoghurt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 3 Comments »
