This week I have been mostly eating puy lentils (except for kebab night that is lol!)
I made a huge vat after reading a great recipe in the Sunday Times for roast squash with lentils and goats cheese:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article6844128.ece
The butternut squash is roasted with the skin on - which is fine for small squash, mine got a little crispy as some of the pieces were a bit too thin, so check them at 30 mins to avoid cremation..
I also like roasting squash skin on with a pinch of chilli flakes and some cumin - the spice and the chilli works well together and is a lovely warming snack on a colder autumn day.
When cooking the lentils the sweating of the onions and celery basically creates a good stock with loads of flavour - very yummy - and my packet also recommends cooking them with half stock and half wine which would give flavours similar to a classic risotto - definitely worth a try.
I also have a friend who does a great puy lentil 'salad' with olive oil, lemon juice, feta cheese and roasted red peppers, which is great cold for a summer BBQ veggie option or hot as a side dish.
The Camden Road Cook
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
#3 possibly the poshest kebab in Camden?
So this blog is all about the good cheap eat in Camden..
The current jewel I've found is the possibly the poshest kebab shop in Camden.
Not sure I want to advertise it fully, but its located on York Way, and is a great place to go for a cheap and cheerful dinner.
T and I shared the mixed grill this time, at a table set with napkins, proper cutlery and with glasses for our soft drinks - see I said posh!
When you're eating in they always give you a selection of meze type salads to start & some warm turkish bread before bringing your main meal - really yummy and enough to make you think its actually healthy.
The mixed grill was a good selection of kebabs - and came with more salad and rice - all for £4 each - barginest goldmine!
So, stated from stuffing ourselves with meat and salad (and lots of garlic sauce - might regret that later lol!), T and I found ourselves nursing some after dinner liquors over a chocolate fondant at the Lord Stanley on North Villas.
http://www.thelordstanley.co.uk/
This is a nice local pub that seems to be always open, and always serving, both food and drink!
The bar is in the centre of the room with an open kitchen at the back - the menu is short and sweet, but good (especially the puddings!). There is also a gem of a back yard, with strategically placed mirrors to bounce light around - perfect for drinks on a balmy afternoon or summer evening.
Just found out that they now serve brunch til 11.30am at weekends - so will check that out and report back to you....
The Camden Road Cook
The current jewel I've found is the possibly the poshest kebab shop in Camden.
Not sure I want to advertise it fully, but its located on York Way, and is a great place to go for a cheap and cheerful dinner.
T and I shared the mixed grill this time, at a table set with napkins, proper cutlery and with glasses for our soft drinks - see I said posh!
When you're eating in they always give you a selection of meze type salads to start & some warm turkish bread before bringing your main meal - really yummy and enough to make you think its actually healthy.
The mixed grill was a good selection of kebabs - and came with more salad and rice - all for £4 each - barginest goldmine!
So, stated from stuffing ourselves with meat and salad (and lots of garlic sauce - might regret that later lol!), T and I found ourselves nursing some after dinner liquors over a chocolate fondant at the Lord Stanley on North Villas.
http://www.thelordstanley.co.uk/
This is a nice local pub that seems to be always open, and always serving, both food and drink!
The bar is in the centre of the room with an open kitchen at the back - the menu is short and sweet, but good (especially the puddings!). There is also a gem of a back yard, with strategically placed mirrors to bounce light around - perfect for drinks on a balmy afternoon or summer evening.
Just found out that they now serve brunch til 11.30am at weekends - so will check that out and report back to you....
The Camden Road Cook
Sunday, 11 October 2009
#2 the merits of pot roast
So this blog is about pot roasting, something I recently tried for the first time on some unsuspecting friends... and it turned out really well
I was inspired by the Autumn weather and wanted to do a roast of some kind - already had the veg sorted (made butternut squash gratin from the Sunday Times Style section - really yummy as you would expect something with cream and cheese in it!), and was inspired by my friend who has done a pot roast for me before..
So I started by phoning her and asking how she does it - a basic recipe is:
take one pot
add one chicken
add flavours - I would recommend chilli and lemon, but I also added rosemary as I had some and my friend uses chorizo too - put the flavouring in, on and around the chicken
then add hot water to the pot - so its approximately 1/4 inch deep
cook in a 180 degree oven for about an hour with the lid on
take off lid and let the chicken brown for about 10-15 minutes
then serve with lots of crusty bread to mop up the lovely juices..
I also served the squash gratin, spinach and some roasted new potatoes with mine.
I think my friends liked it - the lemony chilli chicken was quite tasty and the pot roasting left it so tender that it fell off the bone when carving.
To follow that up I decided to go with another Sunday Times Style suggestion - baked figs (in season and my new favourite!) with a chocolate sauce made with cream and Green & Black's cooking chocolate = heaven!
So pot roasting = thumbs up, and the sauce that was made from cooking the chicken in the pot was a mixture of the liquid added, you could try wine or stock instead of water, and the flavours, and the result of cooking with the chicken bones.
This reminded me of an Anjum Anand recipe that I've done that requires boned chicken and a special masala spice blend finished off with tamarind paste, so next time I pot roast think I will go Indian in flavouring...
The Camden Road Cook
I was inspired by the Autumn weather and wanted to do a roast of some kind - already had the veg sorted (made butternut squash gratin from the Sunday Times Style section - really yummy as you would expect something with cream and cheese in it!), and was inspired by my friend who has done a pot roast for me before..
So I started by phoning her and asking how she does it - a basic recipe is:
take one pot
add one chicken
add flavours - I would recommend chilli and lemon, but I also added rosemary as I had some and my friend uses chorizo too - put the flavouring in, on and around the chicken
then add hot water to the pot - so its approximately 1/4 inch deep
cook in a 180 degree oven for about an hour with the lid on
take off lid and let the chicken brown for about 10-15 minutes
then serve with lots of crusty bread to mop up the lovely juices..
I also served the squash gratin, spinach and some roasted new potatoes with mine.
I think my friends liked it - the lemony chilli chicken was quite tasty and the pot roasting left it so tender that it fell off the bone when carving.
To follow that up I decided to go with another Sunday Times Style suggestion - baked figs (in season and my new favourite!) with a chocolate sauce made with cream and Green & Black's cooking chocolate = heaven!
So pot roasting = thumbs up, and the sauce that was made from cooking the chicken in the pot was a mixture of the liquid added, you could try wine or stock instead of water, and the flavours, and the result of cooking with the chicken bones.
This reminded me of an Anjum Anand recipe that I've done that requires boned chicken and a special masala spice blend finished off with tamarind paste, so next time I pot roast think I will go Indian in flavouring...
The Camden Road Cook
#1 chilli attack
Hi, first blog on the topic of food in general and my attempts at various recipes...
I think I'm an ok cook, however some things remind me that I still have to pay attention as not everything turns out alright!
Take today for example - I attempted curried aubergine from last week's Something for the weekend:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/curriedaubergineonto_92480.shtml
Unfortunately I didn't read the recipe before starting (thinking that a cupboard full of Indian spices would have it covered), and so had to subsitute fenugreek for fennel seeds, not ideal, but just the start things going wrong...
(I usually try to alter recipes to fit what I have in the cupboard anyway...)
But then I misread curry powder for chilli powder, and we had full on chilli attack - the recipe had already called for fresh chopped chilli (provided by my friend home grown from the seed pack you can pick up at Wahaca's), which I had neglected to de-seed, so the three times the chilli pretty much took away from most of the flavours..
(except perhaps the fennel seed :))
So a glass of milk later I've just about recovered from that! Also along the way with this recipe I had to overcome onions and aubergine sticking to the bottom of the pan - so go non stick all the way is my advice, or else use a lot of oil - not ideal for those on diets...
However not all my attempts at cooking/following recipes go so badly - and I would definitely try this one again as I love aubergine and curry, but next time will try to follow the recipe!
The Camden Road Cook
I think I'm an ok cook, however some things remind me that I still have to pay attention as not everything turns out alright!
Take today for example - I attempted curried aubergine from last week's Something for the weekend:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/curriedaubergineonto_92480.shtml
Unfortunately I didn't read the recipe before starting (thinking that a cupboard full of Indian spices would have it covered), and so had to subsitute fenugreek for fennel seeds, not ideal, but just the start things going wrong...
(I usually try to alter recipes to fit what I have in the cupboard anyway...)
But then I misread curry powder for chilli powder, and we had full on chilli attack - the recipe had already called for fresh chopped chilli (provided by my friend home grown from the seed pack you can pick up at Wahaca's), which I had neglected to de-seed, so the three times the chilli pretty much took away from most of the flavours..
(except perhaps the fennel seed :))
So a glass of milk later I've just about recovered from that! Also along the way with this recipe I had to overcome onions and aubergine sticking to the bottom of the pan - so go non stick all the way is my advice, or else use a lot of oil - not ideal for those on diets...
However not all my attempts at cooking/following recipes go so badly - and I would definitely try this one again as I love aubergine and curry, but next time will try to follow the recipe!
The Camden Road Cook
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