Recipease

When it comes to food, I am very easily influenced. One moment I'll be detoxing, the next I'll see some salted caramel bites and will have eaten the lot. You might say I've got poor willpower, but I just see it as knowing what I want and taking it. I've been in some serious need of London girlie time for a while, and my go to girlie had been busy with moving house and starting a new job. Finally we had managed to arrange a meet up after work, where we would grab an M&S two for £10 deal and head for her new abode. This was all going swimmingly until, on our way to Marks, we spotted this magnificent sight. 

HELLO. After minimal persuading, we ran for the shop and I stood in awe at the incredible interior. Recipease is a Jamie Oliver project, with branches in Clapham Junction, Brighton and Notting Hill, where you can get high quality, delicious meals to take home for your family, kitchen equipment or to attend a cooking class. At the back of the Clapham branch, a class was taking place and I was itching to jump in. I even suggested that we spent longer than necessary in the back portion on the store so that I could pick up a few tips. Spending a long while oohing and aaahing over the ready made food, incredible selection of chocolate and beautiful equipment, we decided that we would buy dinner here instead. Depsite the fact that neither of our bank accounts would be particularly happy about it. The shop assistant that helped us was so friendly and passionate about what she was doing that I then wanted to work there as well.


So, for dinner we had....

My gorgeous Recipease bag!

Herby Chickpea Salad with Feta and a Chilli Kick.

Savoury Mozzarella Muffins.

Sourdough Baguette.

Roasted Pepper Houmous.

Chocolate Fondants.

Quite a feast indeed. The chickpea salad was the highlight for me - it was beautifully seasoned with just the right amount of heat. The chilli and feta complemented each other perfectly, my tastebuds were thrilled. The houmous was good, but I'm not screaming about it from the rooftops. The muffins were a delight also. Delicate and flavourful with a wonderful texture. As for the sourdough... I'm still not entirely sure what to say about it. It was nothing to write home about and definitely wouldn't match up to the bread at Gail's, but it was sturdy and held our houmous well. 
The chocolate fondants took a little longer than expected to cook and both fell apart on turn out. Disappointing really, as the best part of chocolate fondants is being able to plunge your spoon in and nervously await whether its filling will ooze. Perhaps that was fault at our end with the cooking. Taste-wise, they were to die for. Extremely rich and chocolatey, with just the right amount of sweetness and some cheeky hazlenuts hiding at the top. It was so rich however that I couldn't finish mine. This is an extremely rare feat and I felt really sad leaving just a couple of spoonfuls forlornly on my plate, but I could not eat another bite.
Overall it was well worth spending that little bit extra, and I will definitely be taking a couple of classes there soon. Just as soon as I stop buying food and start saving. Hmm.