Bank Holiday eating

My dear pal Kat came to High Wycs to visit over the Bank Holiday and did we fill our bellies! We went for a Cream Tea in the village of West Wycombe at the Community Library. They do it every Sunday during the summer and it was AMAZING. For the pricely sum of £7 we got quiche, a round of sandwiches (prawn and chicken and stuffing for me and cheese, prawn and egg for Kat), a walnut and carrot cake for me and coffee cake for Kat, and if this wasn't enough a scone with jam and clotted cream. It was great- so full it hurt.
I also cooked some brownies but will do a separate entry for those.

Mmmmm pie

The next day we both fancied pie (we had stinking hangovers) and we went to the Chequers Inn in Great Missenden. I had a great steak and ale pie, which I couldn't quite finish, with good home made chips and nice veggies. Kat had a brie, cranberry and maybe mushroom combination in pastry. These both hit the spot. It is a nice friendly pub and reasonably priced and one I would recommend.

A taste of south America.

Peru and Japanese cooking?

This is another Olive recipe, which I cooked for my family when I was home. I got a bit flustered at the end as there was quite a lot to do but it was worth the effort. It is a South American themed meal of Chilli Cumin lamb skewers, Biro Biro rice and sweet potato fries.

For the lamb skewers, which has a Japanese influence with Mirin and rice vinegar, as apparently there is a large Japanese population in Brazil and Peru.

600g lamb neck fillet, cut into chunks- although dad got more than this because he loves meat and it still wasn’t enough.

Marinade

3 tsp cumin seeds

1 red chilli

250ml olive oil

4 cloves garlic

3 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp rice vinegar (both of these are found in the world food section)

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp salt

Then toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan then add the chilli, garlic and half the olive oil. Heat gently for 5 minutes. It says to tip into a blender, but I didn’t have one so I just then mixed in the other marinade ingredients. I marinated the lamb all day.

Then in the evening I put it onto skewers and cooked under a hot grill for about 15 minutes until brown.  

The prep of the onions!

Then onto the biro biro rice:

400g basmati rice

4 tbsp olive oil

1 diced red onion

4 chopped spring onions

Shallots:

Oil for deep frying

2 small shallots

50g plain flour

200ml milk

Cut the shallots in half and then slice. Dip them in the flour, then the milk, and flour again- it’s a bit messy. Then fry in deep oil until browned.

Cook the rice. Then heat the oil and soften the red onion before adding the rice, spring onions and dried parsley. Check seasoning then put in a bowl and put the shallots on top.

Then for the sweet potato fries all you need is two large sweet potatoes, oil and paprika and sea salt.

Cut the sweet potatoes into thin fries and put in iced water for 15 minutes. Put the oven to 180C, fan 160C/ gas 4.

The finished product on super retro plates

Put the sweet potato chips on a baking tray and cover in oil. I cooked them for about an hour but this was too long. I think 45 minutes would be ok. Once cooked sprinkle with sea salt and paprika and serve with the rice and lamb skewers.

The best fish and chips in the world?

During a walk with Tom we went to The Frog at Skirmett in Bucks. I had heard they served the best fish and chips in the world. Quite a hefty statement, I hear you say, but I had to give them a go. And they are pretty special. The batter is light and crisp and not greasy, as it can so often be. The fish flaked off and was so tasty. The chips were good and well salted. It was served with half a lemon which seemed a bit over generous but welcomed. And the home made tartare sauce was a delight. For £12.50 these fish and chips were pretty special and some of the best I have ever had. Quite possibly the best, although I have to admit I cannot remember every portion I have ever had of this Great British treat.

Good veggie burger recipe

Sweet potato and Quinoa (or cous cous when the supermarket sells out) burgers

Another Olive recipe! You just can’t go wrong with this. And a vegetarian one too. Ooo eer.

I cooked them for Penny and I  and they are SO easy to make. You will need:

50g quinoa if you have any but I used cous cous

2 large sweet potatoes

1 tsp ground cumin

A pinch of chilli flakes

Parsley (I used dried parsley- about half a tbsp)

2 finely chopped spring onions

1 egg yolk

Plain flour for dusting

Oil for frying

4 rolls

Avocado

Soured cream

Chilli sauce

Cook the cous cous according to the packet. Then drain and cool and pat dry with kitchen towel. Cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave until tender and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Then add the cous cous, spices, spring onions, parsley, and egg yolk and make four patties, so the recipe says but I made six!

Then cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Heat some oil in a pan. I used olive. Dust each burger with flour and cook for about 5 minutes each side until crispy!

Put in the rolls with avocado slices, soured cream and chilli sauce. I served with oven chips and Penny’s lovingly prepared salad.

These are good, tasty burgers. Also! As an alternative you can roll the mixture into small balls and serve in pitas for a falafel-type snack. Yum.

Good roast at the Hit Or Miss

After Penny and I got very lost in the rain and having to drive rather than walk we went to the Hit Or Miss in Penn Street. I had seen good reviews for this place and they were right. It was Sunday lunch and it was really busy, which is always a positive! There was a limited choice as it was Sunday- either turkey, salmon, beef or lamb and a vegetarian option. One course is £11.95. We both went for the beef, which was excellent. It was my kind of beef- with lovely fat on it full of flavour. There was a good selection of vegetables from cauliflower, carrots, parsnips to roast potatoes and some vegetable type sweet potato thing which we didn't even know what it was! Yorkshire pudding was not up to my mum's standard but you can't have it all. A thoroughly good roast!

Baba Ganoush- exploring Moroccan food

HAVING always wanted to try Baba Ganoush my dream came true (!) when I went to Ayoush in Bourne End. This Moroccan restaurant has two other restaurants in London and Eton and is worth a visit.
Lara and I had a Travelzoo voucher so it was £29 for a mezze and a cocktail each, which normally comes to about £60.
The cocktail was amazing. We both had Arabesque, which is Absolut citron vodka, creme de fraise, champagne and strawberries. It was deliciously sweet and far too easy too drink. It is normally £10 which seems a bit overpriced though!

Then onto the food. It is served on two large platters with naan bread. I was worried it wouldn't be enough to satisfy my hunger but it certainly was.
So to the Baba Ganoush. it is roughly chopped grilled aubergine mixed with tahina, garlic,
fresh lemon juice and olive oil. If you like aubergine you will love this and is very moreish with the bread as was the home made hummus.
We also had vine leaves, which were stuffed with rice, lemon juice and olive oil. They were ok but I am not a massive fan as I am not keen on the slimey texture. There was also something called Labna which is tangy soft cheese made from yoghurt with finely chopped cucumber, fresh mint and olive oil. I am not a massive cheese fan but this sauce did not taste cheesy.

There was also fatoush which is a

Lebanese speciality - crispy salad and toasted pieces of bread,

lettuce, radish, mint, tomatoes, spring onion in sommak herb, olive oiland lemon dressing. This was really fresh and went well with some of the heavier items as did the

Foul Akhdar which are green broad beans in tomato sauce, garlic, cumin, coriander and olive oil.

On the hot board there was good ol' Falafel, which is always a winner, Lamb Samboussek, which is like a samosa and really tasty, chicken wings which weren't that great- the meat tasted a bit cheap!

The mini mergueze was amazing- this is grilled North African spicy sausage and tasted like kofta.

There were two cheese items, which I was not a massive fan of as I don't like cheese A LOT. The Cheese Samboussek, were pastry parcels filled with feta and were edible but the Cheese Balls were not good! They were made from goats cheese and were so strong. I left that.

But on the whole the food was great and I love have a good selection so this really suited me. The service was also excellent so I would definitely recommend this chain- just avoid the cheese balls.