Into the Unknown...

Lunchtime is always a funny one, a lack of time being your main obstacle but you still need a good meal to carry you through the rest of your working day. Tempted by Subway or M&S meal deals on the go where you can't tell what they put in your food, making your own lunch is the best way forward. It just takes a little more effort.
Today I fancied experimenting.
I've inevitably got myself into the Great British Bakeoff (it was only a matter of time) and the contestants ingenuity had me questioning my own level of adventurousness when it comes to cooking. I can follow recipes a treat, but creating meals totally from my own brain is something I have yet to venture into.

So on that note!

Here is my choice for today's lunch and my own creation.

Fresh Lamb Flatbreads

For the Lamb Filling:

A Handful of lamb

1 clove of garlic chopped

2.5 tablespoons of natural yoghurt

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp tumeric

Mint leaves chopped finely

1 Dried apricot chopped finely

1 tsp lime juice

Salt and Pepper

For the Flatbread:

Half a cup of natural yoghurt

A good sprinkle of baking powder

1 cup of plain flour (adding more if the dough is too sticky)

To Serve

Ripped fresh parlsey

Fresh lime

Method

• Start by slicing the lamb into cubes and put them into a bowl.
• Add all your other lamb filling ingredients to the same bowl and combine well to cover the lamb.
• Let it marinade for 10 minutes.
• Next make your flatbread, by combing all of the listed ingredients in a new bowl. 
• Use your hands or a spoon to bring the mixture together until it starts to form a dough.
• Add more flour if you need to.
• Once a dough has formed, flour a work surface and kneed it for 5 minutes until it has become elasticated.
• Roll the dough out with a rolling pin or stretch it out with your hands until it is 1cm thick.
• Heat a grill pan to a high heat with a little bit of olive oil and throw in your lamb mixture. 
• Keep the leftover marinade for after the lamb is cooked. 
• Try not to turn the lamb too much so that it gets nice and crispy on each side.

• Cook for a couple of minutes until browned and place back into your marinade - give it a good stir and cover the meat again.
• Now place your flatbread into the same pain and fry for 2 minutes of each side.
• Place your grilled flatbread onto a plate and spoon the lamb mixture into the middle.
• Sprinkle over your fresh parsley and squeeze a bit of fresh lime over.
• You can add salad such as red onion, watercress, radish and carrots.
• Roll up your wrap and eat!

There you have it, a tasty, filling and fast lunch!

Tequlia Mocking Bird

Friday was my last day in the office, and after an amazing four weeks I was a little sad to leave. It's one of the only jobs I have stuck with until the end and not magically disappeared because I just couldn't bear to go back (cowardly behaviour that I've now dropped). They were so kind to me and bought me an amazing new cook book! More tasty recipe adventures ahead. It was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'River Cottage Every Day'. I have to say I haven't had much experience in watching his programmes or trying Hugh's recipes, apart form last year when I made his Christmas fig chutney (delicious).

I digress! To celebrate my last day and my progression onto a new career path, Rob and I decided to pop out for a quick dinner before a date with our new clean sheets and some shuteye.
We chose Wahaca at Westfield because it's convenient for us and we love Mexican food. It was absolutely oozing atmosphere on a Friday night, tequila and burritos flowing all round.

Starting off with chips and guacamole and a Tamarind Margarita, we perused the Wagamama's style menu.
We decided on a sharing platter for two with a selection of tostadas and tacos.
My goodness do I wish there was more of that Margarita, with a  sweet and sour fruit base and a chilli sugar rim, it danced on my tastebuds like a Jabberwockys performance. Delicious.
The service is Wahaca was not to be faulted either. For a casual Friday night dinner it was perfect. Our waiter was friendly and professional and had such a great vibe.

Our main course arrived extremely quickly, and again like Wagamamas, they brought the food as soon as it was ready so we had time to savour each little tasting dish.

We started with pork and chicken tacos.

The pork, pictured above, was the highlight of this meal. It was full of flavour and fell apart with a touch just like pulled pork should. The greenery complimented the pork perfectly. The only thing I would say was the amount of fat and grease that seeped out of these little beauties was excessive. It basically covered my plate and made my tacos soggy, which was a shame as I felt a little put off by the unhealthy spectacle staring me in the face. The chicken was also nice with a deep, smoky flavour - it didn't hold a torch to that pork though.

Then came the vegetarian options with crispy new potato wraps which were surprisingly good, covered in feta cheese (bit of an odd choice I thought) and a fruity mango sauce and then Black bean tostadas.

These were lovely little additions to the meal.

For dessert I cleansed my palette with a mango sorbet and Rob had the churros. We washed it all down with two great shots of tequila - the selection was great! (Bonifide tequila lover here).

The best part of Wahaca was the drinks, the pork and the fact that we had a three course meal and were out within an hour - great as I was shattered and wanted an early night! A more indulgent, wine swirling evening it is not. It's street food with a seat and a cocktail, and they do it reasonably well. 

Anytime is Cake Time.

"Happy Thursday! Help yourselves!" 

Exactly what you want to see when you rock into work at 8.30am on a Thursday morning.

This beauty was made lovingly by our HR manager, Lucy. 

The sponge was so beautiful and lemony with a yoghurt glaze, and it was awesome.

Unfortunately she won't divulge her special recipe, I was just lucky to have scoffed it.

Where the Wild Things are and the Cool Kids go to Play.

MOOLI'S.

"9/10 of our friends think that Mooli's is way better than Pret and Eat."

If you have an easily addictive personality then do not read on - I'm talking to you James Lewis.

Since moving to London, this has been our greatest find. Rob discovered Moolis whilst searching on The Guardian website for the best budget eats. So with a whole weekend to ourselves for the first time in a while, we headed into town for a bit of shopping and exploring. We headed straight for Moolis.

With street food on the incline, but places like Eat and Pret dominating the market, there should be more places like Moolis. There should be a Moolis on every corner.

In it's essence, Mooli's serve Roti wraps, salads, Chaats and roasted poppadoms, washed down with a Kingfisher or a Crabbies. But they are so much more than that.

We ran into Moolis gladly out of the rain, but I just could not understand that why on a rainy Saturday, when Oxford street was crammed, that more hungry shoppers had not sough solace in such an incredible spot.

We both opted for the Beef Mooli: 

"Inspired, by Olathiya Erachi, the signature dish of the Syrian Christians of Kerala. Legend has it that they were converted to Christianity by St Thomas (yes, the doubter himself). The beef is braised for hours in a heady blend of Malabar spices. Spicy and peppery, the melt-in-the mouth beef is perfectly offset by crunchy coconut, a fresh cucumber raita and mixed leaf salad."

Pork Mooli

After one bite, I can safely say I have an addiction to these things. Despite being incredibly full for just £5(!), I instantly wanted to try the rest of the menu. Infatuated, Rob and I are still thinking about it now. In the heart of Soho, this is a great place for a mid work/mid shop lunch. They also do delivery. Is there anything these guys have got wrong? 

The place itself was spotless and had the atmosphere of a warm June afternoon, despite the awful weather outside. With it's rainbow walls, rainbow plates and chilled out playlists, this was the perfect eating experience. A true gem of London Town.

http://www.moolis.com/misc2.aspx

So later on, after a rather stressful (and instantly regrettable) trip to Primark on Oxford Street, we fancied a slice of cake. Rob, being the man about town that he is, took me to 5th View - the bar/cafe/restaurant on the top of the Piccadily Waterstones.

Not only does this place have 4 floors of books - a dream come true for a book geek such as myself, but 5th view oozes the cool that you've only dreamed of as a book lover. Serving a huge variety of drinks, food and cakey treats, with a view towards the river, it's perfect for an early evening stop with a friend for an intimate chat, or a date to share some incredible food.  

We stopped for a cocktail and a bourbon, and at 5th view the measures are generous to say the least. It definitely took the edge off a stressful shopping experience. We then ordered a pear tart and a slice of vanilla cheesecake - both fantastically executed, and definitely indulgent.

http://www.5thview.co.uk/

I am desperate to try their sharing platter. Ranging from antipasto to greek mezzes and cheeseboards, everyone around us was tucking in to incredible boards of tastiness. With a cocktail in one hand and my other hand ravenously grabbing for a selection of potent cheeses, I would be one happy book worm. And one drunk book worm by the end of it.

Working Girl

So it's been a little while since I last posted and that is because I now have a job. A job! A REAL JOB! Well... it's only for four weeks so far but A JOB! This is great for 2 reasons - a.) I get out of the house and b.) I get some money! MONEY! YES. At last.
The downside, of course is less time for cooking and blogging.

However, I have been keeping track of my delicious lifestyle for you despite being ever so busy and business-like.

As my body is definitely still adjusting to the 'having to get up at a reasonable hour' syndrome, when I arrive home I'm so shattered that finding the will to cook is even proving to be a challenege. So last week, when I arrived home in desperate of a horrible, greasy (yet extremely tasty) curry, and we took a trip to Club 182, an authentic Indian in the heart of Wembley Park. On first impressions, it's just a pub with booths that could do with updating and a huge wooden bar, and they had a huge party in the room at the back. Great for atmosphere, service was suffering.

I was feeling a bit 50/50 as to what to expect but had good authority that this place was 'the shit'.

But, Oh My Gosh was this place AWESOME.

I ordered the Grilled Talapia Fish, Sag aloo and a Garlic Naan. I don't usually order fish in Indian restaurants, I tend to stick with chicken or vegetables, but I'm really glad that I did this time. It was the most beautiful fish I have ever tasted. It was light and flaky and covered in fantastic spices that weren't over-powering and complimented the delicate flavour of the fish. Very impressed.

I would definitely recommend Club 182 - great prices and great food.


After a long day of typing up expenses, all I want to eat is comfort food. Salads I can deal with at work but after the gruellingly long drive home stuck in copious amounts of traffic and frantically V-ing at anyone who cuts me up, I just want to get into my pajamas and eat a severly indulgent meals.

So this is what I've been cooking:

Bouef Bourginion.

Possibly my favourite dish of all time. Beef and a lot of red wine, what more could you ask for? Served with Potato Dauphinoise - food heaven. It's also one of my favourite things to cook because you can just leave it for hours whilst the beef tenderizes.

Burgers. Not just any burgers thought, because that would be boring. These burgers we formed from scratch (not as far as killing an actual cow) and then rolled in morrocan spices (these being cumin seeds, coriander and a little smidge of sumac) to form a crust. They were garnished with fresh tomatoes, baby spinach and onions and served with sweet potato wedges (one of my favourite things in the world.)

My new office is not the sort of place where you have to bring in your own cake on your birthday - oh no. Your birthday is celebrated with a menagerie of cake, games and on this occasion, Wagamamas.
I offered to make the cake this time, despite my up and down luck with baking. The unfortunate victim of this was Sarah, and it is common knowledge that she loves Mojitos... a great excuse to make some interesting cupcakes.

First of all I planned on making some individual rum cakes with a mint and brown sugar frosting. Despite these cakes being in the oven for an hour(!) they were terrible. They didn't rise and the middle was uncooked. Rubbish. Or just my luck with cakes...

So I reverted back to my good old Hummingbird Bakery cook and made plain vanilla cupcakes. They came out perfectly, so beautiful and delicate. For the frosting, I combined 2 shots of rum, lime zest, lime juice, fresh mint and butter until the butter had softened and then gradually added icing sugar until I had a thick, creamy frosting. Now, I don't usually like mojitos at all but this icing was so incredibly fresh and delectable that I could have happily eaten the entire bowl. I frosted the cupcakes and placed a mint leaf and sprinkling of brown sugar on each. Mojito cupcakes. They went down a treat.