July Snack Pick

Say Hello to the Bounce Energy Ball. 

I can quite safely say that I am addicted to these. They come in eight different flavours, but I have to champion the Coconut and Macademia Protein Bliss Ball. 

At first sight, it looks a little weird and the texture is a bit of a surprise, but not only are they packed with protein, fibre and antioxidants, they taste incredible. If you're craving a mid morning or afternoon snack, these are a great way to fill you up and because they're so filling, there's no risk of a binge session. 

For something that tastes so insanely delicious, these are the the health benefits for you:

• High in Fructose
  
  • Slow Release Energy

• High protein
  
  • Contributes to growth and/or the maintenance of muscle mass
  • Contributes to the maintenance of normal bones

• High fibre

• High in vitamin E
  
  • Contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress

• High in manganese
  
  • Contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism
  • Contributes to the maintenance of normal bones
  • Contributes to the formation of connective tissue
  • Contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress
    
     

So you want to get your hands on one now?! You can purchase Bounce energy balls from Waitrose, Tescos, Holland and Barratt, Wholefoods, POD, GNC, Planet Organic and Nutricentre. 

 

Well done Bounce. This is ultimate guilt free snacking. 

Taste of London 2014

I went to Taste of London last week. For those who aren't familiar, Taste is a restaurant festival showcasing some of London's most exciting places to eat. Each restaurant has 3 or 4 showstopping dishes on the menu for you to try. Plus lots of bars, foodie stalls and giveaways!

I did spend most of my time wandering around completely wide eyed but I managed to snap a few pics to share with you.

Starting with Meatliquor. You know I love Meat Liquor, and Meat Market and Meat Mission. All the Meat boys endeavors. We had Cheeseburger Sliders and Monkey Fingers (buffalo chicken strips) - juicy, moreish and meaty.

 

From Plum and Spilt Milk, I had an Elderflower and Berry Jelly with Clotted Cream. I'm not normally a jelly fan, but this was fantasticly fresh, fruit and indulgent.

We had fresh Strawberry ice cream Gordon Ramsey's Maze, covered in popping candy! Almost looks too good to eat.

Next up was Italian fare from L'Anima. They were shaving huge truffles everywhere! 

I tried the Burrata (my favourite cheese at the moment) with pomodoro and anchovies. I was a little disappointed by this one - the cold tomato sauce left a little to be desired.

 

 

There were lots of chefs to fangirl over. Here are some that I took photos of :) 

 

Thomasina Miers

Michel Roux Jr.

 

 

Gizzi Erskine

We also saw Monica Galetti and Valentine Warner. I was grinning like an idiot with excitement.

Time for a VIP champagne break with Laurent Perrier and a free promotional recipe book. 

Next onto my newest obsession - Duck and Waffle. I had Barbecue Crispy Pigs Ears. They were so tasty, but I couldn't eat the entire bag. Luckily I saved it and we shared them later in front of the telly. It was very romantic.

 Now for my absolute favourite thing I ate. A creation by Andre Garrett. This was a Peanut Butter Parfait with Chocolate Mousse and Meringue Topping and a secret core of salted caramel. Heaven.

 

We finished off our summer excursion with a cocktail. I had the French Spring Punch, which tasted like an alcoholic lemonade. Perfectly refreshing in the summer sun.

Blanchette Soho

Imagine you're sat in a beautiful little bistro in Paris and you're about to embark on tasting a variety of French delights. Now imagine that a group of Shoreditch hipsters are running said bistro. What do you have? Blanchette. 

I don't say this is a negative sense by any means. Blanchette's visual quirks and rustic feel are all part of its charm. From the mismatched crockery to the Gerard Depadieu cookbook, it's exactly the kind of place where you could cosy up into a corner with an old friend on a Friday night, consuming a lot of cheese and wine before merrily stumbling towards the last tube. 

 

As for our visit, we smugly passed the long queue for The Breakfast Club (every weekend guys, surely you can cook your own pancakes?) and were greeted with a relievingly cool and stylish, yet moderately empty restaurant. We were seated at a 'widescreen' (as my partner so appropriately put it) table, where our knees could touch but there was still plenty of room for food. Unfortunately I must prologue this visit by saying that I had a stonking cold, however I was determined to enjoy the first outing Rob and I had managed to organise in a while. This did mean that I decided not to drink any alcohol. It was astonishingly painful to look at the wine and cocktail menu knowing this. I could only imagine the taste of their classic Grey Goose and Tanquery Martini or Loire Valley Savignon Blanc on my tongue.

Blanchette's classic and simple dishes work in a similar way to tapas, and they recommend 3 dishes per person.

We started with Fresh Bread and Butter. The butter was perfect at room temperature (Sorry, Chris) and absolutely delectable smeared onto the warm bread. Although served in a slightly odd paper bag, Rob states it was one of the highlights of the meal.

In true French style, we ordered the Crispy Frogs Legs with Bois Boudran Sauce.

Crispy Frogs Legs

The breadcrumb coating was flavourful and the meat was juicy and tender, and the sauce was the perfect accompaniment to cut through the richness. 

Unable to resist Chacuterie at any time of day, we ordered the Coppa, an Italian cured ham (usually made from pork neck or shoulder). A generous plate, the meat was delicate yet packed with flavour and a smoky finish.

Coppa

For our hot dishes we ordered Braised Lamb Shoulder with Anchovy, Rosemary and Soubise Sauce / Grilled Beef Rump with Nicoise Relish, Grelot Onion and Rouille / Smoked Duck Breast Salad with Heritage Tomato Vierge and Baby Artichoke. Before you ask where the vegetables are, Rob didn't want any of the vegetables and he was paying. So it was a meat fest.

Smoked Duck Breast Salad

Braised Lamb Shoulder

Grilled Beef Rump

Of the three dishes, the lamb is the stand out champion. With orgasmicly tender and melting meat, sweet roasted garlic and a sauce I would bathe in, this is simplicity at it's best. The duck salad was fresh, sweet and the mixture of textures were incredibly pleasing. Finally, the beef rump was the work of a chef who knows exactly how create a dish from lots of little ingredients whilst still letting the delicate and thin beef sing as the star.

By this point I was pleasantly full. But we opted for dessert anyway. As each dish had been fantastic in it's own right, it would be a crime not to. We ordered the Chocolate Marquise with Salted Caramel Puffed Rice and Pistachio Ice Cream and Tart Lemon Pot with Strawberry, Gin and Parlsey Sorbet. 

The lemon pot was creamy and moreish with a beautifully refreshing 'summer on Hampstead Heath' sorbet that contained just the right amount of gin and the parsley was a great palate cleanser. The accompanying twilles were delicate and generously sugared. The marquis was a wholly different beast, rich and indulgent with the ice cream giving a pop of colour to the dish and texture from the puffed rice.

With dishes between £6 and £8, it's impossible not to feel spoilt in Blanchette. 

We were kids in a magasin de bonbons. 

June Snack Pick!

I wanted to share my discovery with you today as someone always on the lookout for new and exciting products. My snack pick for this month is Marks and Spencers Chocolate Coated Wasabi Peas!

I'm a huge wasabi pea fan and I'm also particularly excited by anything with a salty and sweet combo. The first thing I notice is how beautifully tempered the chocolate is, super shiny and tempting. The choice of dark chocolate means that a couple of peas is enough at a time - no binge eating here.

I'm not sure whether the wasabi element has been toned down or the chocolate counter acts the heat but it's missing a little bit of the usual wasabi kick... But the crunch from the pea mixed with the smooth dark chocolate more than makes up for it. It was a good balance of sweet and salty and I think this bag is going to last me for a couple of days! 

Coffee of Note.

Good morning and a Happy Friday to you, food lovers!

I am afraid I am becomming a bit of a coffee addict. Tea has taken a backseat for the time being as I explore and learn about new types of coffee. It also makes it much easier to get going on the last day of the week when you know there is a gorgeous bank holiday waiting for you on the other side.

Yesterday I had a Flat White from POD (St Giles branch), which I really enjoyed and is better than a lot of usual high street chains. However this mornings coffee trumps even that. 

This mornings Flat White comes courtesy of Notes, from their St Giles Coffee Barrow Stall. 

They have their own roastery, where they process a gorgeous bean and they roast their beans slightly lighter than usual, ensuring a delicate flavour that really compliments the natural sweetness of the milk. With three shops - Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and Trinity Leeds, and a number of coffee barrows serving the same excellent product (St Giles, Borough Market and Fleet Street), there is no excuse not to get yourself a Notes coffee this weekend! Even you northerners. 

They even do a larger Flat White containing three shots of their delectable espresso. I am feeling so pumped right now!

Yorkshire Special: Salts Diner

I am currently having a mini holiday in Yorkshire, visiting my Mum and Stepdad and enjoying the fresh air of the Dales. So I wanted to give you a bit of a 'Yorkshire Special Edition' this weekend, starting with this post and a couple more to follow...

After picking me up from Leeds station at the crack of dawn yesterday, we travelled to Saltaire - a beautiful World Heritage village in West Yorkshire, somewhere that they've been looking at relocating to. Saltaire is a Victorian Industrial village that was founded by Sir Titus Salt, who began a huge textile mill in the area. He then gradually built up a village for his employees, providing them with schools, churches and accommodation. 

We visited Salts Mill, which is now a tourism site surrounding the history of Titus Salt and his legacy. They also have fantastic book shops, cook shops, housewares and an antique/vintage store. It was fab! We ate lunch at Salts Diner, which has a huge David Hockney connection (David Hockney lived in Bradford and Salts Mill holds a very large collection of his work). 

Salts Diner had some of the nicest restaurant design I'd seen in a while. Their logo is an illustration by David Hockney of one of his beloved Dachshunds and their menu was really innovative and interesting a beautiful. We didn't each a huge meal here, just having a light lunch. But I did further enhance my Arizona Green Tea with Honey addiction (in the US you can get a huge half litre can for about 60p). 

My mum and I shared one of the Pizza Specials, which was Butternut Squash, Goats Cheese, Beetroot Relish and Caramelised Onions and we had this was a seasonal salad. The pizza dough was delicious, really nicely flavoured and the toppings were perfectly balanced. There was a very subtle sweetness from the butternut squash and caramelised onions and these were matched beautifully with acidic goats cheese and earthy beetroot. One of the best pizza combinations I've tried for a while. The seasonal salad was more than just a handful of standard leaves, which I really appreciated. There were pickles, olives, radishes, peppers and the dressing was lovely. It definitely held it's own. 

So Salt's Diner was a winner! Tonight we're off to Shear's Yard in Central Leeds, which I am extremely excited about. I'm going to do some sort of stomach enhancing yoga stretches now to prepare. 

Busaba Eathai: The Start of a Saucy Relationship.

Busaba Eathai is one of those smaller chain restaurants that had always faded into the background for me. But that was because I didn't really know anything about it. What was this mysterious Asian-sounding enigma? One day I decided to do a little internet research. 

Busaba Eathai was created ten years ago by Alan Yau and calls itself a "casual dining chain" with 9 restaurants around London. But this year they've announced that they plan to double their estate over the next three years including two new London restaurants for 2014. 

Having limited experience in Thai cuisine myself, we decided to give it a try before seeing the anxiously awaited Veronica Mars film (It made my life - Veronica and Logan forever). I started with a Grapefruit Mojito with Vanilla, Mint, Lime and Chilli. I must say that I am not a fan of mojitos in general and don't understand the general excitement that surrounds them but this was absolutely delectable. Tart yet sweet and incredibly fresh grapefruit juice combined with a web of complex and intricate flavours. Plus there wasn't too much mint - my main issue with mojitos. 

To eat, I had the Sen Mee - which is only described as 'beef, capellini, spring onion and dried chilli'. I was presented with a heaving plate of fragrant, moreish noodles dispersed by tender, succulent beef, fresh spring onions, garlic and chilli with a good smack of heat. I could not stop shoveling this into my mouth. It was extremely undignified and I could have eaten a second plate (my tongue said yes, my belly said later). The most interesting part of the dish was the lashings of egg that runs through the dish. It was the perfect touch of umami to an already fantastic plate of food. 

After this first visit, I was quick to tell friends about the experience and returned just a few weeks later to a different location. This time, feeling extremely confident about what awaited me, I was less apprehensive in ordering. 

Straight for the hard stuff, I ordered a Green Tea infused Whisky Cocktail with Pineapple and Honey. Again the flavour combinations were spectacular and the usual bitter taste of green tea was enhanced perfectly by the honeys sweetness. I was so infatuated by my memories of Sen Mee that I did order it again, this time with a side of Chicken Wings with Pandan Leaf. Although appearing measly in size, these crispy and rich little morsels were not lacking in taste. There were different to any chicken wings I have tried before and I welcomed the change, proving an extremely versatile dish. My dining partner ordered the Southern Fish Curry made with Tilapia, which had a beautifully fragrant and silky sauce. Tilapia is one of my favourite fish and it brings back memories of when I first moved to London - everyone should visit Club 182, Wembley. This curry was served with a very generous fillet, which did the fish justice.

So as Busaba Eathai expands it's empire, I hope that they a.) open a restaurant near to my house - please come to South West London, and b.) I also thoroughly suggest you give them a visit. Even if it's for a quick bite to eat - the atmosphere is lovely, the food sumptuous and the prices great value.