Rum & Vanilla black tea

My new fave place to get a treat for under a fiver is The Tea House in Covent Garden.

Loads of infusions and great flavoured teas including this extremely tasty rum & vanilla combo for £2.75. I was expecting the flavour to be overbearing but it was actually quite soft though the aroma is pretty strong.

The shop is full of decorative tea infusers, tubs and pots to keep tea in, teapots - including Japanese cast iron ones - and of course great tea!

The lemon and ginger fruit blend is worth a buy as well. I'm intrigued by the Chinese gunpowder range so will pop back to give it a try.

Courgette, ham & mozzarella muffins...mmmmm

I pinched this recipe from the Yotam Ottolenghi column in The Guardian the other week and my oh my are they a fine savoury treat!

The recipe is by Dan Lepard, and you can find it here it you wanna give them a go. They won't disappoint.

NB: I found that the muffins stuck to the cases quite a bit so next time I'll have to find a way to prevent that happening. Or if you've got any tips please let me know.

Wahaca chillies progress

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Here's an update for the chillies I've been growing from Wahaca. No chillies yet but healthy looking stems.

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Cake for Summer (sort of)

British summer is rarely a season full of blazing hot sunshine, but that doesn't mean you can't have moment of pretence. Brighten up your kitchen with this summer inspired cake - a lemon, blueberry yoghurt cake to be precise.

The ingredients burst with juicy flavour and the yoghurt makes the cake creamier than using butter. It becomes a softer, almost spongy texture like baked brioche.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups or 6oz self raising flour

1 1/4 cups or 6oz caster sugar

1 heaped tsp of baking powder

A handful of ground almonds (not essential, leave out if you have nut allergies)

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup or 6 tablespoons of greek yoghurt

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon of sunflower oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2oz or 2 big handfuls of blueberries

For the glaze

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Zest of 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon of caster sugar

How To Make:

Pre-heat oven to 160 for a fan assisted oven and 180 for normal. Grease a loaf tin and dust with flour to avoid sticking. If you have an older loaf tin which tends to stick, use parchment/greaseproof paper to line the tin with.

Put the self-raising flour, sugar, baking powder, ground almonds and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and yoghurt and beat the mixture until you get a smooth, thick consistency.

Add the sunflower oil, lemon juice and zest, vanilla extract one at a time stirring in between.

Finally gently stir in the blueberries - keep them in tact so they can burst within the cake in the oven!

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and pop in the oven for 40 mins (checking half way that it's not burning). Put some foil over the top for a further 8 mins or so on a slightly lower heat.

In this time make the glaze by heating the 1/2 lemon juice with the tablespoon of caster sugar in a pan until it goes clear and then take it off the heat.

When the cake has done it's final 8 mins remove from the oven and leave to cool on a rack for 10 mins. While it's cooling add the lemon glaze to the top of the cake with a pastry brush.

As a final touch dust with icing sugar and sprinkle some of the leftover lemon zest over the top for a zing of yellow among the little explosions of purple.

N.B. There are variations on recipes for yoghurt cakes as they work really well with other citrus fruit and berries. Try mixing things up and replacing the lemon with lime or orange and the blueberries with blackberries, raspberries or strawberries. I plan to give the sublime looking lime and blackberry recipe by Smitten Kitchen a go!

Très Orné Odins

Back in May the Davey family went out for dinner in full force for my Mum's birthday. Yes. May. I know I should've posted this ages ago but the sooner you can get past that, the sooner you can read about this restaurant worth knowing about...

We dined at Odins near Marylebone High Street - an Anglo-French restaurant which is part of Langan's restaurants. Now I was initially a little dubious of eating at this place for a few reasons:

1) it has a pretty awful looking website
2) the site says that Odins 'provides the perfect location for that romantic meal or relaxed business meeting' - neither of which are ideal for a birthday meal with your family
3) quite a few reviews were more complimentary about the art in the restaurant rather than the food

However...these points were forgiven (but not forgotten) after eating there and this is why.

The relationship between traditional French and English dishes are combined beautifully and sometimes surprisingly unusual. The pairing of poached egg with chorizzo on rustic toast is something you'd instinctively know went together, but add in a red pepper sauce to the equation and oh my, it sure works on the tongue!

The appearance outside of the restaurant isn't immediately inviting - large windows totally covered by curtains during the daytime. But it's probably to conceal the vast amounts of paintings and art inside.

The waiters and staff are composed and know how to tend to your needs. Glasses were kept full, they were amusing, polite and were hot on recommending food and wine. It was particularly impressive when one waiter de-boned the Dover sole in front of us before serving it.

The food was impeccably cooked. I ordered the beef from the specials menu (medium-rare). It was superb; tender, sizeable and had a brandy and peppercorn sauce which zinged and released more and more flavour after each bite!

As someone who's a lover of chocolate, I obviously went down that road for dessert and had 'Mrs. Langan's Chocolate Pudding'. I was a bit disappointed as most of it was whipped cream with a small base of chocolate sponge. However the rhubarb crumble with custard and the treacle tart with apple compote were delightful to round off a meal.

So essentially this is one of those places where you can't judge based purely on appearances (though it is important to get that right). See past the aesthetic flaws and enjoy what's important - the food!

A few more pics...

Wake up to Wahaca

Wahaca in Covent Garden is a great spot in town for somewhere to go if you're in the mood to share dishes, order more than one thing and sip on Mojitos.

The restaurant (both the Covent Garden and Westfield branches) is the vision of Thomasina Miers; food author, presenter of Channel 4's Wild Gourmets and winner of MasterChef in 2005. Miers opened it in 2007 and in the three years it's been going, I've only just been. The incentive is to experience a Mexican market-style of fresh food and cooking in three different ways:

1) light dishes to snack on while enjoying the drinks menu

2) larger meals all to yourself

3) or antojitos which are smaller dishes designed for sharing

When I went along with a couple of friends recently, we each chose to order a few antojitos to share. They're split into the different ways to cook with tortillas; tacos, tostadas, quesadillas, taquitos and burritos, all of which have their own choice of fillings.

Beef Tostada

Pork Tostada

Chicken Taquito

Plus there are a variety of extra side dishes like their green rice (with coriander, garlic and onion), frijoles (black bean curd with cheese or chorizzo toppings) and spicy coleslaw. These come in some little terracotta ramekins and are enough to share between two people.

Green Rice & Frijoles with cheese

There's even the authentic puddings menu including Churros; doughnut-like sticks which are found across Mexico as a common pastry snack. The name comes from the Churro breed of sheep in Spain, as the shape resembles their horns. Different variations on the ingredients depend on which country you're in and Wahaca have obviously taken the Mexican way to enjoy them, which is with hot dipping chocolate. They're also coated with cinnamon and sugar to balance the bitter dark chocolate.

The prices are really reasonable for the quality of the food and amount you get. The menu advises that if you want the antojitos it's best to order 3 per person. I'd say if you're fairly hungry this is fine but if you're quite ravenous, go for 4!

A bar is situated near the waiting area which serves a combination of customers waiting for the next available table and people who just fancy a drink and some snacks. The design of the restaurant is a mixture of modern and authentic market with benches paired with chairs for the seating, an open kitchen at the back of the restaurant. There's also borrowed elements of Mexican marketplaces where they've recycled reclaimed timber for the walls and kitchen counters.

There are also some little packets in large baskets near the entrance and stairwell which look like you're generic complimentary matchsticks...but they're actually sachets of chilli seed so you can grow your own at home! Nice touch. I'm currently giving them a go myself. As they've only just started to sprout it doesn't look all that interesting yet. But I'll update with pictures of their progress soon enough!

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The chillies have begun to sprout. Fingers crossed they'll do well!

aMAZEing

Usually I wouldn't be able to afford to eat out for an expensive night of fine dining. But the other day I got the chance!

My boyfriend, Roman, received a gift certificate to eat out at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, and after scanning the menus and various blogs for advice on which one to go to - we chose Maze. And boy am I glad we did.

For some reason I was inexplicably nervous when we approached the entrance (maybe because I don't get to visit many high-end restaurants), but the atmosphere was totally relaxed and welcoming I soon brushed that off at the door.

Upon arrival we were greeted with our waiter who took us through the menu options (the Chef's set menu or the A la carte in which you're advised to order two dishes per page.) We opted for the A la carte and studied the choices over and over before deciding. There was no rush from the waiter to order, and in the meantime the drinks waitress took our order for the wine. Unfortunately the two different bottles of Riesling that we asked for weren't in stock, but third time lucky she suggested another Riesling they did have. It was at a higher price which cost half of the voucher - but it was worth it. The Riesling Reserve, Trimbach 2007 was beautifully crisp and light with aromatic hints and as the night went on I noticed the full fruity flavours like peach, apple and lime. This was a perfect accompaniment for the dishes we ordered, especially the seafood.

Now for the food...

Round 1:

Quail, kohlrabi, cauliflower in ‘ras el hanout’, burnt onion reduction. Roman: "perfectly cooked, very gamey and the 'ras el hanout' cauliflower was a delightful new experience and the right accompaniment".

Salcombe crab, brown crab and toast sorbet, sea herbs, pickled black radish, apple vinaigrette: a really playful take on textures and temperatures with the sorbet, crab, salad leaves and radishes. Stunning presentation and colours.

Round 2:
Braised Dedham Vale lamb shoulder, wild garlic risotto, onion powder.

Confit of wild mallard, raspberry gel, walnuts and compressed celery: the mallard flaked into chunky bitesize pieces and the raspberry gel gave the dish a juicy finish.

Round 3:
Roasted hake in cured ham, chorizo and pimento purée, squid paint

Roasted sea bream, cauliflower and broccoli, mushroom cereal:. This was incredible how the balance of the crisp outer skin and the softness of the sea bream worked together to make a perfect melt-in-your-mouth moment.

Round 4:

Suffolk pork ‘cheek ‘n belly’, spiced pumpkin jam, red cabbage, crispy crackling

Roasted Muntjac deer, pine nut purée, baby beets, oats, seeds and juniper: extremely gamey giving off a strong earthy flavour which was accentuated by the catalyst - the juniper sauce!

Dessert:

Devonshire rice pudding, spiced blackberry jam, clotted cream and blackberry ripple ice cream which was scooped onto the rice pudding by the waiter from a tiny saucer.

Bitter chocolate délice, honey gelatine, honeycomb ice cream: devilish rich flavours and layered textures that worked beautifully together. It was really fun to eat as well!

Although the portions of the dishes were slight, the meal was still filling. I think that had more to do with the pacing inbetween each course leaving us to enjoy the experience, the wine and readily provided the fresh bread sticks and rolls.

The wine waiter inconspicuously kept our wine glasses topped up, and despite being told there was a maximum of two hours to be at the table - we ended up spending double that with no sense of being rushed.

The layout and interior design is classy, comfortably spacious and big on leather and wood. (On a side note, the toilets were also impressive. Single rooms rather than a communal one, with little hand towels in separators built into the wall, and Molton Brown handwash and moisturiser.)

If you're not shy of big expenditures then this will be right up your street, but if the prices are too steep try and drop hints for friends/family to get you a voucher for your birthday because it's so very worth eating at Maze; for the culinary precision, the remarkable service and an all round aMAZEing experience!