Tried & Tested - Lorraine Pascale's White Chocolate & Crème Fraîche Mousse with Stem Ginger

I really struggle when it comes to choosing things to make for dessert. I'm a savoury person and I just don't find it as interesting as putting together a delicious main course or a tasty starter. This weekend I was put in charge of doing the pud for my Mum's birthday meal and I was stumped for ideas. I have a few cakes in my repertoire but they're too big and heavy... I considered hot chocolate brownies with ice cream for a minute before I realised that isn't really my Mum's sort of thing. 

I began to think about what she might like to eat. My Mum's a real healthy eater and loves a fruit salad but that's far too easy and not special enough, so I racked my brains for something a little more indulgent and then it hit me.... white chocolate: Mum's real big weakness. I began scouring my recipe books and came across this gem in Lorraine Pascale's Home Cooking Made Easy. 

This recipe was so easy, it only has 4 ingredients and took no time at all, but best of all, in spite of this it looks really impressive. The mousse turned out beautifully creamy with a bit of a kick from the ginger and it feels like a really decadent dessert. I think I did over whip my cream slightly so the mixture turned out quite heavy, almost like a cheesecake topping. I'll go a bit easier on the whisking next time.

I served the mousse in little glass tumblers, raided the baking cupboard for a few bits to help decorate (pink sugar never fails me) and voila! An easy impressive pud that's definitely going to become a regular on my table.

Restaurant Review - Mother Mash

I can't really remember now how I found out about Mother Mash initially, but being a great pie lover I put it straight on the list and on discovering that you can choose from six different types of mash I made sure it went to the top! 

Now I'll be honest, my first experience at Mother Mash was a bit of a disaster: we were asked to re order twice as the pies we had asked for had sold out and the waiting staff didn't seem very well informed of what was and wasn't still available on the menu. It was only 6:30pm so it was not as if we'd turned up at the end of service and eventually I ended up eating elsewhere. I'll give them a break, it was probably an off day and maybe a supplier had let them down. I resolved to re visit Mother Mash another time. 

I went back later in the week and my experience was vastly improved. One of the things that really drew me to Mother Mash in the first place was their menu and ordering system.... 

Step one: choose your mash. There are six different options including mustard mash and mash with horseradish. You can even choose whether you'd like it smooth or lumpy. I couldn't resist the cheesy option. 

Step two: choose your pie or sausages. Despite the very tempting variety of sausages on the menu I had to go for a pie, and with all the classics to choose from, including the day's special of lamb hot pot pie, I went for the Aberdeen Angus steak. You just can't go wrong with a steak pie.

Step three: choose your gravy. There are five different options here as well! I went for the onion gravy because it's my favourite.

There's also a nice selection of side dishes and I love peas with my mash so I had to get them on the side.

My Aberdeen Angus steak pie with cheesy mash, onion gravy and garden peas.

My boyfriend's lamb hot pot pie with cheesy mustard mash and liquor. He also had french beans with bacon as a side.

There was a really decent amount of meat in my pie and the chunks tore apart so easily, they weren't tough at all.  The pie was nice and juicy and there was plenty of gravy on the plate to get the pastry nice and soggy, I'm not a fan of dry pastry so I like a lot of gravy that I can soak up with it. The main event: the mash, was creamy and smooth, it could have been a bit cheesier but that's just a personal preference. I loved all my choices but I'm keen to go back and try out some of the other options. Lamb and rosemary is a particular temptation.

As regular readers will know, I don't normally stick around for dessert, but since Mother Mash had such a great selection of classic British puds it would have been silly not to. I went for the saucy chocolate sponge with ice cream and this pretty much does what it says on the tin. The wedge of sponge was enormous and with plenty of chocolate sauce and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream this will always be a hit. I do slightly regret not ordering a crumble cos it looked and smelt amazing, and it was apparently so good that I wasn't allowed to try any. It seemed to be a sort of a cross between a pie and a crumble as it was sitting in a pastry crust. I'm definitely ordering this on my next visit.

Saucy chocolate sponge pudding with vanilla ice cream

Apple & blackberry crumble with custard

Mother Mash is a really good option for a nice big comfort food dinner. Don't go here if you want fine dining or a gourmet pie but if you want to fill your belly with some simple decent grub and leave satisfied, this is the place to do go.

Restaurant Review - Honest Burgers

Burger and chips was something that I never really fully appreciated until my visit to Byron a few months ago. I'd always thought it was a bit of a boring option and thought how could a burger and chips really vary that much from place to place..... it turns out, quite a lot! 

Honest Burgers has been around in Soho for a little while now, but tucked away down Meard Street I kept forgetting to pay a visit. I eventually went along one weekend with my colleagues for a slap up lunch to appease the fact we were at work on a Sunday. This is a simple restaurant with a simple menu and simply good, honest food. 

I ordered a cheese burger with stilton which comes with a red onion relish and lettuce and the beef patty is cooked medium rare, which I love, but if you prefer your meat well done you can request otherwise. 

The meat in this burger was nothing short of delicious: perfectly cooked and so so juicy. I couldn't fault it, it was delicious. Both the red onion relish and the stilton added some great flavours but didn't overpower the meat and the bun soaked up all the juiciness but held the whole thing together nicely.

All the burgers come with an enormous pile of the house rosemary chips which are really unique to Honest Burgers. You'd be surprised how difficult it is to find really great chips, a lot of places treat them as an after thought and they end up being distinctly average. It's also not easy to find original chips and if there is a bit of variation on a menu it generally only stretches as far as sweet potato fries. I've not had chips like these before, the first bite really sparked my interest: crispy, fluffy, tasty and different from the norm. The only fault I had with these chips is that they were just too salty. When the waitress brought our food over and I started perusing the condiments (great selection) I thought it seemed odd there was no salt on the table and I thought I'd ask for some once I'd tucked in and tried some, however after a few bites I understood why there was really no need. Since I like to dip my chips in mayo that did subdue the saltiness so it wasn't a massive issue for me.

I might have to make Honest Burgers my go-to burger joint I loved it that much. I cant wait to go back, it was absolutely excellent and at £6-8 for the burger and the chips very reasonably priced for such great quality.

Rachael's Recipes - Greek Tzatziki Dip

Tzatziki is a real classic in my house. It's a great dip, really versatile, light and refreshing. It's also ridiculously easy to make. This is a great one to have at barbecues and will always go down well in a buffet, it's also particularly nice as a side dish with roast lamb and some mediterranean roasted vegetables. Perfect easy recipe to use loads over the summer months.

Ingredients

500ml Greek yoghurt

1/2 cucumber

generous handful of mint

1 clove of garlic, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Crush the garlic, finely chop the mint and finely slice the cucumber, or dice it if you'd prefer.

2. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Told you it was simple!

Sunday Bakes - Apple Cake

After a little break from baking over a busy few weeks, I am back in the kicthen! I'd been thinking about making something gooey and chocolatey and indulgent, but since it's a lovely sunny day (finally!) I thought something a little lighter, fruitier and more spring like would be more fitting. So I sat down and scoured the recipe books and internet for ideas and came up with this pretty and delicious apple cake.

Ingredients

3 large apples

3 eggs

1 lemon

170g caster sugar

150g unsalted butter, softened

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease your cake tin.

2. Peel and core your apples. Dice one and cut the other two into thin slices. Place into separate bowls soaked in the juice from the lemon and sprinkled with a little sugar.

3. Separate the yolks from the whites of all three eggs.

4. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until fluffy.

5. Add the butter and mix until well combined.

6. Sift in the flour and baking powder and combine into the mixture, stir through the chopped apples.

7. Whisk the egg whites until light and fluffy and they form soft peaks. This requires a fair bit of elbow grease, so use an electric whisk or mixer if you like.

8. Stir these gently into the cake mixture, trying not to knock too much air out but ensuring they are thoroughly mixed in.

9. Pour the cake mix into your cake tin and arrange the sliced apples on top. I've placed mine in a circular pattern to create a pretty floral design, but pick whatever design you like, but ensure to cover the whole cake.

10. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes until the apples begin to go golden at the edges.

11. Remove and leave to cool before removing the tin.

This would be great served as a dessert with vanilla ice cream.

Tried & Tested - Andy Bates' Slow Roasted Lamb with Feta Salsa

A few months ago I was watching Andy Bates' Street Feasts on Food Network and saw him make this delicious lamb recipe and have been dying to give it a go ever since. A few weeks ago I finally got around to giving this one a go and did it for the whole family on a Saturday evening.

I already had a leg of lamb, so adapted the recipe slightly by using this instead of the shoulder joint used by Andy. The lamb joint is marinated overnight with cumin and garlic and roasted slowly in the oven so that the meat starts to fall off the bone. I didn't have time to do this the day before and I marinated a little while before I put the lamb on to cook. The flavour of the cumin used in the marinade didn't come out in the lamb too strongly in the end result so I think marinating it overnight as per the recipe would have helped this. Accompanying the meat is a sautéed chickpea and vegetable side dish, Greek tzatziki dip and a feta cheese dressing. All the side dishes are really quick and easy to prepare whilst the lamb is in the oven so making this really wasn't complicated at all. 

I loved the chickpeas and vegetables as a side dish and will definitely make this again to go with other meals. The highlight of this meal was definitely the feta dressing though. I often use feta in salads and Greek spinach and feta pies are one of my specialties, but I've never thought of heating and melting it into a sort of sauce like this before. This cheesy, garlicky sauce would make a great dip, and worked amazingly as a dressing with this meal. The lamb cooking slowly made it really juicy and not overcooked and dry at all, although I think the lamb shoulder joint from the original recipe would probably have worked better and cooked more evenly.

I also bought tomato and basil pita breads to have on the side with this dish so we could make up filled pitas, and they were delicious! If you make enough to have plenty of leftovers these pitas would also make a great lunch. I used the leftover vegetables and tzatziki in the wraps I made for my packed lunch the next day.

This was a great meal and I'll definitely be adding it to my repertoire and making it again. With no stodgy potatoes or rice on the side it's really light and quite healthy but still really filling and more than satisfying. This would be a great meal to have in the summer time and is a great one to share with friends and do for dinner parties. 

You can find the recipe on the Food Network website if you fancy giving it a go yourself.

Rachael's Recipes - Cheats' Carbonara

I've called this a cheat's carbonara because the sauce is traditionally made using eggs which are stirred in right at the end and cooked from the heat of the pasta, a traditional carbonara doesn't actually use cream. Although it is absolutely fine to eat eggs lightly cooked like this, a lot of people aren't comfortable with the idea and it's not advisable to serve them to pregnant women or young children. So this creamy alternative will please everyone, is extremely tasty and incredibly quick to make. This will take less than 15 minutes from start to finish so this makes a great mid week meal with minimal fuss. 

Ingredients

Spaghetti (approx 300g for 4 people)

100g mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/2 red onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 rashers bacon, cut into strips

150ml single cream

approx. 75g parmesan

handful fresh parsley, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan on a med-high heat.

2. Add the spaghetti to a large saucepan of salted boiling water. Check packet for cooking times.

3. Add the onions and garlic and fry until onions are slightly softened.

4. Add the bacon and continue to fry until it starts to go a bit crispy, keep everything in the pan moving to ensure the garlic doesn't burn and the onions don't stick.

5. Add the mushrooms, parmsesan and cream and stir the sauce through. Don't allow to boil but let the liquid reduce a little.

6. When the pasta is cooked, drain and keep about half a cup of the pasta water.

7. Add the parsley to the sauce and stir through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

8. Add the pasta and the water to the sauce and ensure the pasta is well coated.

9. Serve with garlic bread and extra parmesan.