T.G.I.F

Did you know that on a Friday in the UK, 20% of meals purchased outside the home are from a fish and chip shop?

Having worked in a fish and chip shop for the best part of 7 years, I would like to think I know what it takes to make a good dinner - triple cooked chips, beef dripping and by no means least, a gherkin. 

With just a week left in our east London office before the big move to Chiswick, we decided to head down to Kennedy's on Goswell Road for our last fish and chip team lunch. At just a fiver for your meal and glass of wine/cuppa cha, it is a right bargain.  

I went for my usual of cod goujons, chips and curry sauce - always a winner. Others went for scampi, fishcakes and a classic cod, chips and mushy peas which all looked delicious. Not a saveloy or battered sausage in sight!

Nom nom

Lunch time rush hour

Minced Chicken and Lettuce Wraps

This has to be one of my favourite Chinese dishes but I have never found the time or patience to recreate it myself. Having finished work a bit earlier than usual, I decided this was the perfect dinner for the evening so popped along to Tesco to get the remaining ingredients needed.

It is by no means a hard dish to make but the tedious preparation takes up the most time - not being able to buy minced chicken either was a bit of a bugger. I followed a recipe which just used chicken breast but decided to do a mixture of breast and thigh to intensify the flavour of the meat. 

So, after chopping up all the ingredients I was finally ready to start cooking!

Ingredients:

1 iceberg lettuce
3 chicken breasts (minced)
3 chicken thighs (skinned, boned and minced)
1 large onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 chestnut mushrooms (chopped)
thumbsize piece of ginger (peeled and chopped)
1 tin water chestnuts (drained and chopped)
1 bunch spring onions (thinly sliced)
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons Sriracha chilli sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Preparation:

1) Rinse lettuce leaves, trying to keep them whole and set aside to drain. 

2) Add tablespoon of sunflower oil and cook the chicken in a large wok over medium heat, stirring often to break up the meat. Add onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, ginger and chilli sauce. 

3) Cook until the meat is crumbled and brown. Add water chestnuts, mushrooms and green onions and cook until the onions begin to wilt, about 2 minutes and then stir in sesame oil. 

4) Spoon meat mixture into the centre of the lettuce leaf and eat like a taco. 

A Taste Of Vietnam

Affectionately referred to as the Pho Mile, myself and a group of friends ventured to Kingsland Road in Shoreditch to our favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Mien Tay. Located just around the corner from Hoxton Overground station,  this family-run restaurant is amongst an array of Vietnamese restaurants which I have yet to try but all look delicious. 

Having also eaten at the Battersea venue in Lavender Hill, do not be put off by the aesthetics of the restaurants as they do look a bit run down, but once you step in you will be blown away by not only the quick and efficient service - albeit a bit brisk - but more importantly the quality of the dishes.  

Now on to the food. For even the pickiest of eaters, there is something for everyone, and they cater to vegetarians superbly. Although I'm not brave enough, one of the guys in our group went for the salt and pepper eel which went down a treat. Personally, my favourite dishes have to be the Vietnamese spring rolls with nuom choc dipping sauce followed by rice vermicelli with tofu, chilli and lemongrass and their clay pot curries are to die for. With just the right amount of chilli and hit of ginger, this sumptuous curry beats a night down the Balti House any day. 

Ollie and his salt and pepper eel

Vegetarian spring rolls

Rice vermicelli (picture not doing it justice)

Steph and her chicken clay pot curry

Lemon Curd and Blackberry Loaf

Whilst whiling away the hours looking through some of my favourite bloggers this weekend, I came across this delicious recipe for a lemon curd and blackberry loaf. Being a recent lemon curd convert, I jumped at the chance of recreating this and bring to work on the Monday. Well, I have never seen something get demolished so quickly! 

The cake has a wonderful tartness to it, with just the right amount of sweet to balance it out, and was incredibly *cringes* moist due to the Greek yoghurt. A lovely summery cake that is perfect for the gorgeous weather we have been having. Long live British Summer! 

Ingredients:

175g softened butter

100ml Greek yoghurt

3 tbsp lemon curd

3 eggs

1 tbsp lemon juice

200g self-raising flour

175g caster sugar

100g blackberries

For the icing:

icing sugar

lemon juice

Preparation:

1) Preheat oven to 160°c/140°c(fan) and line a 2lb loaf tin.

2) Put all the cake ingredients, apart from the blackberries, in a bowl and beat together with an electric whisk until just combined. Don’t overdo it or you could have a heavy cake.

3) Pour the cake batter into the lined tin then sprinkle the blackberries on top. Bake for 1hr15min – 1hr30min or until cake has risen, golden and cooked through. Use a skewer to test it.

4) Once cake has cooled turn out of the tin. Mix icing sugar and lemon juice together until you think its about the right consistency and drizzle over the cake.

Virgin Blogger

So after toying with the idea of starting my own food blog for quite a long time, I finally caved in today and put this together. I have to say, coming up with a name for this was probably the hardest part - now I just have to remember to keep it updated!

If you love baking, cooking and everything in between and I hope you will enjoy following me on here and trying out some of my favourite recipes.

First proper post coming later tonight x