Brownies!

Not the best photo I know

Sorry about the photo, I meant to take some photos of them cut up but totally forgot, and then they got eaten!

Anyway, something else I made on Sunday were some brownies for the boys, and for my workmates. I don't have any of my recipe books over here so I couldn't make the ones I usually would, but this recipe I found worked out pretty well I would say.

I made a double batch so Quentin, Seamus and my flatmates could have some, and my work mates as well. First I drained two cans of mixed summer berries from Waitrose. I wanted just raspberries but they didn't have that option so I got mixed instead. Then I melted 300g butter with 1 1/2 cup of cocoa on the stove. You need to make sure it goes slowly so it doesn't burn or anything.

I mixed 6 eggs with 2 1/2 cups of white sugar and a couple of teaspoons of vanilla essence until it seemed mixed and was sort of creamy and thick. Then I added 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1 cup of flour and mixed them in so it was smooth. I didn't want to mix too much because I know that can ruin things sometimes.

By that point the butter/cocoa was cooler, it wasn't cold but it was just sort of warmish which I thought would be ok so I mixed that into the other mix. I poured it into two baking trays which I greased while waiting for the butter/cocoa to cool. Then I sprinkled the berries over the mix and put the two trays into the oven.

The oven was preheated to gas mark 4 which I am pretty sure is around 180 degrees Celsius. Then I cooked them until they looked cooked and sprang back when I touched the top. I think it was around 40 minutes.

They were pretty good, even I ate some and I don't even like that stuff really. It is a pretty easy recipe to make, and uses things you probably already have at home so its good if you feel like doing some random baking or feel like something sweet and don't want to go to the shop!

Sausage Rolls!

So delicious!

Mmmm close up

On Sunday after brunch we had a bit of a look around Fulham and went to the supermarket and then walked home (getting a bit lost, thanks Quentin). We were lucky because when we got home the weather turned mega crap and windy! It was a good day for movies (well afternoon by that point) so we hung out in the lounge watching movies and I made us some snacks.

One thing I made were these sausage rolls. Quentin LOVES sausage rolls and has been known to eat the meat ones at parties sometimes, shocking! Anyway I thought I would make some easy vege ones since I could.

I just got some pre-rolled puff pastry from the supermarket (jus roll brand, which is vegan) and some Linda McCartney sausages (red onion and rosemary) since we hadn't tried that brand before. So far our favourite sausages are the Asda brand ones.

Once the pastry and sausages were defrosted I spread the pastry with some sundried tomato pesto that I had in the fridge, lined up the sausages and rolled them up. There was enough pastry to roll 4 sausages up inside, giving me two rolls. Then I brushed the rolls with a little bit of milk and sprinkled some black sesame seeds over.

I cut them into sausage roll sizes and put them in the greased baking try and then grated some mature cheddar over them all. I cooked them for some amount of time, I really don't know how long, until the looked cooked. Since we have a gas oven with the flame at the back I have to turn everything around every now and then so they don't cook unevenly.

These sausage rolls were delicious and enough for a few people, we couldn't finish them between 3 of us, although we were eating other snacks as well. They would be good food for a party because they are cheap, easy and fast to make. I will make them again for sure.

Brunch in Fulham

Vege breakfasts!

Iced coffee

Quentin's brother Seamus came to stay with us for a few days, arriving on Saturday night so on Sunday we went out for brunch in Fulham. We hadn't been out to eat around where we live for ages, maybe since we went down to the markets! I did a little bit of internet research and found a place that sounded good which was only about 10 minutes away so we headed down there.

They have a small café but also a lot of tables outside which would be lovely in Summer but not so great in winter since it is cold and windy at the moment! We got a table inside anyway which was good.

They had a breakfast and a lunch menu but it seemed like you could just order off either one which was good and bad, good because we had more options, and bad because we had more options... I am terrible at making decisions! In the end I went with what Quentin was getting (vege breakfast) because I thought I might get jealous otherwise!

They also had a bunch of other vege stuff, all kinds of eggs, omelette's, wraps, a burger, sandwiches and so on. I think we will go back to try some of the other stuff because it all sounded really good.

We ordered some milkshakes and iced coffee as well and everything came out super fast! The iced coffee was good because it was blended with ice rather than milk/cream which meant it was more refreshing but it was definitely lacking in coffee flavour, I think Krys would hate it!

The breakfast was good, not great. You got lots of halloumi which was awesome but only one hash brown which is less awesome. The egg was cooked well but the bread was weird and made me cough. The baked tomato was delicious but the mushroom and spinach was not delicious. In saying that I don't actually like mushroom or spinach so it is not their fault. People should just not put them on every vege breakfast! The beans were beans, I can't really say any more about them.

I also forgot to take a photo before I started eating so sorry about that! Overall I would go back to try some of the other things because what I saw coming out of the kitchen all looked yummy. I think it was a good breakfast and reasonable value for money (about £10 each including drinks) but it could have been better. I will give them a 3 out of 5.

Ramen in England

Yum!

My workmates and I all went out to lunch together on Friday to a Japanese place in Putney called the Hare and Tortoise which is just down the road from our work. There are a lot of places to go in Putney which is awesome because I can slowly go to them all! I think most of them have lunch deals as well which is cool, you don't have to spend to much.

This place had quite a lot of choice for vegetarians which was cool, all the food I saw other people getting all looked super yum as well. I wasn't sure whether to get the ramen or a stir fried one which I cant remember the name of because they both sounded so good. I ended up picking the ramen since I remembered how good the one in Japan was.

This one was vegetarian rather than the traditional pork though so it was quite different. It came in a giant bowl, probably the same one that you get the soups in at Wagamama back home, the kind that you have no hope of ever finishing!

The noodles were different than I would expect from ramen, they seemed like 2 minute noodle type ones, but were yum anyway. It came with lots of deep fried tofu which was awesome because I love deep fried tofu but haven't been able to find it in the supermarkets here yet.

It also came with carrot, spring onion, mushrooms, something which may have been bok choy or pak choy and seaweed. I didn't eat the seaweed though because I don't really like it other than in sushi. The broth was not as tasty as the Japanese ramen, although it was still very good.

I will give them a 3.5 I think. The service was quick and the food was really good and filling, for a good price as well. However they did start clearing away peoples plates when other people were still eating which I don't like because it makes the other people feel hurried. They also didn't have any condiments on the tables which was sad because I usually like to add some extra soy sauce.

I would totally go back though because there are more things I want to try and the ramen was good even if it wasn't as good as the Japanese one.

Super easy weekday dinner

"Beef" and Broccoli

So tasty

I work slightly different hours in England than I was used to in Wellington, 9 til 5.30, and it takes around 20 minutes to get home so by the time I am back after work I don't feel like making an intricate dinner, at least not everyday!

This is another meal made with stuff from the vegetarian festival, the "meat" is one called chunky style strips which I think is meant to be similar to steak. With that I just chopped up a whole broccoli and a bunch of spring onions and stir fried it all up until the "meat" was well cooked and the broccoli was tender.

I added a packet of sauce from the supermarket, teriyaki and ginger, and stir fried it for a bit longer until everything was hot and mixed well. Before I served it up I added some black sesame seeds. It was so delicious! The packet of "meat" made enough for both of us for dinner and then I had it for lunch the next two days as well which was good.

It probably only took about 20 minutes to make this, maybe less, I didn't actually time it. And it was so easy, you just had to wait for things to cook really so you could tidy up the kitchen or something while you are doing it which is cool.

I still like to cook all the time even if I am getting home late because I find it much more satisfying than buying ready meals, and it is probably better for us as well!

'Bacon' and egg salad

So delicious!

I love the pretend bacon!

When we went to the food show we got some packets of "bacon" and had some bacon sandwiches with just white bread and butter which was amazing. We had some left over after our sandwiches so I decided to use it in a salad for dinner, with some eggs as well. Kind of like breakfast for dinner which is awesome since I love breakfast/brunch foods!

This salad was super quick and easy to make, I just fried the bacon and boiled two eggs and while that was cooking I put some salad leaves, a grated carrot, some chopped cherry tomatoes, grated cheese and pumpkin seeds into a bowl.

Then when the bacon was done I chopped that up, and chopped up the boiled eggs and put them in, with some vinegar as dressing, and just mixed it all up. It was so tasty I made it again for lunch the next day.

The "bacon" isn't as good as real bacon (from what I remember) but it is still totally tasty and probably a bit healthier than the real thing. It doesn't really crisp up as well as real bacon either, although maybe it would if I cooked it in oil rather than just a dry pan.

Anyway this salad is super quick and easy to make for dinner, and was still good for lunch the next day as well so you can take it to work. It probably has some good "health points" as Quentin would say which is always good. Just writing about it makes me want to have it again!

Cupcakes!

Strawberries and Cream

Chocolate and Coffee

Last weekend I felt like doing some baking to take into work for my workmates so I thought I would make some cupcakes since I hadn't really made any since I made so many for our wedding! Also I found these cupcake carriers at Poundland which are awesome, I wish we had them in New Zealand, they are super useful.

I made two flavours of cupcakes, one was strawberries and cream, where the cupcake has strawberries in and cream on top instead of icing. The other one I made was a chocolate cupcake with coffee icing.

The basic recipe is super easy, and you can just add what you want, like lemon, strawberry, cocoa or whatever to make the different flavoured cupcakes. Usually I would use fresh strawberries but I couldn't find any on the day I was making the cupcakes so I used canned strawberries which still worked out well.

The basic recipe is just 100g of butter, 3/4 cup of sugar, a little vanilla, 2 eggs, 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 a cup of milk. Then I would just add half a punnet of chopped strawberries, a couple of tablespoons of cocoa or jam, basically whatever you feel like flavouring the cupcakes with.

You just need to cream the butter and sugar, mix in the eggs and then add the other ingredients and mix them in. I would bake them in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius, I think it was gas mark 4 but I'm not totally sure. I didn't time how long they took to cook but you can tell by touching the top and seeing if it springs back or not.

After the cupcakes have cooked and cooled you can ice them. I put just cream whipped with some vanilla essence and icing sugar (about two tablespoons) on the top of the strawberry cupcakes, and then swirled some strawberry icing on.

For the chocolate cupcakes I made coffee buttercream which is basically just heaps of butter whipped with icing sugar added, and a couple of tablespoons of strong coffee. I don't have a recipe for this, I just whip the butter then add the coffee and whip it more, then add icing sugar until it seems like the right consistency. I topped it with some chocolate curls as well.

Quentin ate about 4 cupcakes that night which was a good sign, and my workmates and flatmates liked them as well, yay! It was good to do some baking again since I haven't done any for ages, and it is nice to have people to bake for! I might make some chocolate brownies this weekend which should be tasty.

Our new favourite place!

Actual good coffee!

Amazing lunch!

Mac and cheese!

On Sunday we went for a walk to Putney so I could show Quentin where I work and look around on the way there, also so we could go for lunch at the place called Bill's which is there. We went to the Bill's in Shepherds Bush maybe last weekend and it was awesome so we thought we would go again.

The coffee at this one was just as good as last weekend, according to Quentin. I had a hot chocolate which was super yummy too. We weren't in time for the breakfast menu this time but that was ok because I wanted a lunch type thing anyway. They had a mezze platter which sounded really good so I ordered that and Quentin had to decide between the mac and cheese and the pumpkin risotto but ended up going with the mac and cheese.

They have the same sort of décor there as they did at the other one with all different light fixtures like chandeliers and lamps and stuff, also chillis and other things hanging from the roof. The service was good as well and they brought our food out quickly.

The mezze platter came with pita, hummus, baba ganoush, halloumi, olives and tomato salsa. It seemed like something I would be able to eat all of but it didn't turn out that way! I made some sandwiches from the pita, halloumi, olives and different dips but had to give some to Quentin and we didn't come close to finishing anything except the halloumi!

The hummus there is really good, tasty and with enough texture to tell they made it instead of it being some mass produced stuff. The baba ganoush was a bit weird in that it looked like pate. It tasted really good though, like the stuff from home. The tomato salsa was good and chunky with a bit of spice which went really nicely with the halloumi. I got small black and large green olives which were both good but I tend to prefer the smaller olives.

Quentin's mac and cheese was nice and creamy and had leeks and mushrooms in it, and a crispy breadcrumb and cheese topping. We both agreed it could have had a bit more flavour though. Compared to the other food we have had there it wasn't quite as good. However it was still nice, and really filling.

We will most likely go there again as there are still more things for us to try and the coffee is really good. I will give them a 4 because most things are really good but the mac and cheese could possibly be better. They have good food, great coffee and good service.

Saturday dinner - Takeaways

Tagine and mashed potato

Amazing chips

Falafel burger

On Saturday night I couldn't decide what to make for dinner so we decided to get takeaways. I was a bit wary after our last takeaway experience which was not the best but I found a place that sounded good on the hungry house app on my phone. It was different to most of the takeaway places that I saw on there because it didn't sell only burgers/pizzas/kebabs but food that actually sounded good and semi healthy!

I decided to get the Moroccan Vegetable Tagine and mashed potato and Quentin chose the Falafel Burger and chips. I think it came to about 20 pounds all up which seemed pretty fair. They didn't charge any extra for delivery and I could pay online with my card which was good since I didn't have any cash!

The vegetable tagine was so good. It came with some delicious yoghurt sauce. Also it had all the vegetables that I like, onion, capsicum, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, courgette, maybe more. It also had some aubergine which I usually don't like but it was actually good in this. Oh and it had really large pieces of garlic which was awesome. I put the yoghurt sauce on the tagine and the tagine on the mashed potato. I only managed to eat about half of it though, there was so much! I actually ended up having it for dinner on Sunday and lunch on Monday as well, good value!

The falafel burger was delicious as well and had some large falafels as well as other yummy stuff like sundried tomatoes, rocket, mushrooms and other tasty things. Apparently it was very filling. The chips we got were huge, although there weren't that many of them. They may have been cooked twice because they were super crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Even though there weren't that many of them we couldn't even eat them all which is basically unheard of for me, leaving chips!

It was a really yummy meal and totally worth it. I think we will definitely order from there again another time when I am too lazy to cook. I will give them a 4 because the food was really good and I wouldn't change anything, but at the same time I could make the same food myself (except the chips) at home if I hadn't been being lazy.

Homemade brunch.. Yum!

Big brunch!

On Saturday morning we had planned to go out for brunch but it was pouring with rain so we decided to stay in instead and I would make us brunch. I had a look what we had in the cupboard/fridge and found that we actually had quite a lot of things so we ended up with quite a big brunch!

We had some vogels (soy and linseed, yum!) with sundried tomato pesto, and on that was a mix of onion, three colours of capsicum and cherry tomatoes which I fried up and put on the toast. On the side of that I had potato waffle from the freezer, some bubble and squeak from the freezer as well (I just fried both of those up) and some Halloumi from the fridge.

I had a fried egg on mine as well but Quentin does not like eggs so he didn't have one.

It ended up being quite a bit too much for us even though it was lunch time by the time we ate! I ended up giving Quentin most of my Halloumi because I thought it had a weird taste, although he liked it and ate it all. Other than that I managed most of my food, I just had to leave some of the capsicum and tomatoes.

It was a super yum breakfast. The pesto is really good and really cheap as well, less than 2 pounds from Sainsburys. They have a basil one and a sundried tomato one, and possibly another red one as well which I haven't tried yet.

Anyway an easy to make but delicious and filling breakfast that probably has some good nutrition as well, yay!

Dinner and cocktails at our local!

Mojito!

Sea bass with potatoes, nom

Dough balls, OMG!

Pizza of deliciousness!

Margarita, oh yeah!

On Friday I got paid for the first time in six months which was super exciting! We decided to go for dinner at our local pub which is about 30 seconds from our house which is awesome. They have a reasonably sized menu but there was only one thing that was vegetarian (other than pizza) which was a pasta dish in tomato sauce, not super exciting. Because of that I decided to try the fish which was a sea bass with fried potatoes and pesto.

There was quite a lot of choice when it came to pizzas, and you could make any pizza a calzone as well which is cool. They have a proper wood fired pizza oven as well which means good pizza! Quentin decided to get one which I thought sounded the best as well, it had something like mozzarella, brie, tomato and olive but I cant remember exactly!

The fish looked and tasted delicious. I have never tried fish with crispy skin before but it was really good. The fish itself possibly didn't have that much flavour, but because it there was pesto and lemon it was still tasty. The potatoes were really delicious although I couldn't eat them all and had to give some to Quentin. The dish also came with some fried courgette and fennel. I had never tried fennel before and was worried that I wouldn't like it because I don't tend to like anything like aniseed. It was really good though and the dish as a whole was great.

Quentin had his pizza and also ordered some dough balls which came stuffed with cheese and covered in garlic butter, with a bed of rocket. I tried one and I don't think I quite managed the whole thing. It was delicious but very dense and oily. When I had it with some fish and lots of rocket it was good though. Quentin loved his pizza as well, although he didn't quite manage the whole thing. Maybe if we hadn't had the dough balls!

We had some cocktails as well, he had mojitos and I had margaritas. They were delicious and we ended up having quite a few! Overall it was a very good meal and I think we will go back, although probably just for the pizza and maybe some fries. And the cocktails of course. I will give them a 4 because although the food was very good there isn't much choice for a vegetarian.

Japanese in Putney

Delicious curry!

Last week I had a craving for sushi so I went to a sushi place some people at work had told me about which is down the road from my work. It was freezing and raining on my way there though so by the time I got there I wasn't too sure about sushi anymore! Luckily they had some other stuff there as well like udon soup, Japanese curry and so on.

I decided to get a vegetarian Japanese curry because it is delicious. They were super fast which was good and I went back to the office to eat, although there were a few seats at the counter there so I could have eaten in if I wanted to.

The bowl had lots of rice covered with vegetables and Japanese curry sauce. If you like rice (which I don't) this would have been great, however I would have preferred a bit more vegetables and less rice. The vegetables were really good though, cooked just enough and not all soggy, and there was a good variety including carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, courgette and so on. The curry sauce was so good it even made me eat about half the rice which basically never happens. It was quite spicy but in a good way, especially since the day was cold.

I was pretty full after that so I think it would be pretty tough to eat the whole thing! Overall I think it was good although could have had more vegetables. It was quite good value for money as well, I think it was around 4 pounds. I will give them a 3, better than average but could have had more vegetables. I would get it again but I think I have better options for lunch.

A new way with sausage!

Sausage bake

With cheese!

It has started to get pretty cold here now so I wanted to make something for dinner that would warm us up from the inside and make us nice and full. I just thought about what we had in the fridge/cupboard and made up a new thing.

Firstly I chopped two onions in quarters and peeled about 8 garlic cloves and just chucked them in a baking dish. I chopped a bag of brussel sprouts (which I love!) into halves and added them, and then some new potatoes (maybe 200 grams or so) which I also chopped up into about quarters. I got out some vege sausages we had left over and chopped them roughly into four and added them as well. I put a little bit of oil, some salt and pepper on and mixed it all up and put that into the oven to bake for awhile.

While I was waiting on that I had a look what else we had in the cupboard and found some cherry tomatoes which needed using up, plus a can of kidney beans in chilli sauce, some chopped tomatoes and a can of ratatouille. After I had baked the other stuff until it was tender (taking it out and mixing it around a few times) I took out the baking tray and added the beans, tomatoes, ratatouille and cherry tomatoes, then popped it back in the oven.

I think I baked it for about an hour or so altogether, then when it was ready (it really just depends on the potatoes) I chopped some fresh flat leaf parsley and grated some cheese and sprinkled that on top. It was really delicious and fed us for two nights which was cool because I didn't have to cook tonight and could write this blog instead!

You could make this with other veges if you wanted and add other things or omit things if you wanted, it was basically see what you have in the house and bung it all together! Also while this was cooking I had time to make a lemon yogurt cake which my workmates and Quentin seemed to appreciate so it is a useful recipe if you have other things to do that you can fit in within an hour! Yum.

Pizza and frozen yoghurt in Brixton

Vege special pizza

On Sunday we went to meet up with some friends in Brixton, where we hadn't been before. We ended up going to a sort of market place which was inside and had a bunch of different restaurants. We went to a pizza place which was pretty popular, we had to wait a little bit but we didn't mind because it looked and smelt amazing already!

They didn't have that many choices but they had a vege special and a meat special, and you could add things to the options they had on the menu, I think there were about 6. Quentin and I both ended up getting the vege special because it sounded like the best. I meant to order mine with olives but I forgot.

The vege special came with tomato sauce, onions, sundried tomato, cheese and pesto. I think that was all anyway! And the base of the pizza was sourdough which I don't think I have tried before. When it came to the table it was kind of swimming in oil which wasn't super appetising but it was really tasty, I used the extra oil on the top to dip my crust into which was pretty good actually.

I got to have some of Quentin's sundried tomato as well which was great. I managed to eat half of my pizza which wasn't the best effort but I got the other half to take home and ate it later so I ate the whole thing eventually.

While we were eating we ended up talking about frozen yogurt and realised there was a frozen yogurt place a few doors down so we went there afterwards. I forgot to take a photo but I got plain frozen yogurt with raspberries and strawberries and it was really good, I could have eaten twice as much! At the frozen yogurt place you could choose all your own things or you could pick one of their options like an Oreo one or a passion fruit mojito and so on. They all sounded a bit sweet for me which is why I only got the plain and fruit.

I would definitely go back to both places. I would give them a 3.5 because neither thing took too much to make but they were both delicious and with reasonable service and ambiance.

Brunch in Shepherds Bush, nom

Actual good coffee!

Brunch food rulz!

Delicious vege burger

So much Halloumi!

This weekend we wanted to go to the Westfield in Shepherds Bush to get Quentin some new clothes and we also wanted to get brunch. Luckily they have tonnes of restaurants and stuff there, even a Jamie Oliver one. When we got there we had a look at the restaurants because they were all around the area where we were going in (although there are lots more inside as well). We found one which looked good and had some brunch foods there so went in.

It was super cute inside, with all sorts of things hanging up and on the tables. You could buy things there too, like speciality groceries. It was almost time for the breakfast to finish when we arrived but the waiter still let me order the vege breakfast which was awesome, although there were some other pretty tempting things on the menu like mac and cheese and a fancy sounding fish finger sandwich. Quentin ordered the vege burger since he is such a sucker for a good burger.

We got some flat whites as well which were surprisingly good, definitely the best I have had since leaving Wellington. We didn't even have to ask for extra shots and it actually had flavour which was awesome. I have been getting pretty sick of the bland, milky coffee I have been having over here.

The food came really quickly considering how busy the place was, and it looked good! I had to steal a few of Quentin's chips which were delicious, and Ganny would like how they bring you mayo with your chips, as well as ketchup and HP sauce. Winning. I got to try the vege burger as well which was probably the best one I have tried for ages. It had tonnes of Halloumi as well as roasted red peppers and really good hummus as well as some salad.

My vege breakfast came with two massive pieces of what looked like homemade bread, one with red pepper hummus and one with guacamole. Both the dips were homemade and chunky, with some delicious flavours. I also got two poached eggs (poached properly with runny yolks), two grilled tomato halves (properly mushy) a bunch of fried mushrooms (which I gave to Quentin, not a big fan), and I ordered an additional side of bubble and squeak because I have been wanting to try it. It was delicious, if slightly over salted.

Everything was super delicious, I did have to give some to Quentin though, one of the pieces of bread and all the mushrooms, plus some bubble and squeak and tomato. I would rather have too much than not enough though! The only thing that could have made the meal better was if I had hash browns instead of mushrooms but sadly there were no hash browns here.

The service was good and the food was excellent, I already want to go back there. I am giving them a 4 out of 5 because there were a couple of things (missing hash browns, not enough fries) that let them down but I would recommend them to anyone and will totally go back there, delicious!

Thai food in Putney

Sweet and Sour!

Last week I went out to lunch with some people from work and we went to a Thai restaurant down the road. There are so many places to eat in Putney, it's pretty awesome. This one was really tiny, there were 8 of us (I think) and another table of 8 and a table of 2 and that was all that could fit in the whole place.

They had a special 6 pound lunch which seemed to be their only lunch menu but I think there were still about 8 choices. I took forever to choose between sweet and sour and green curry but I went with the sweet and sour and it was really good.

It came with all the veges I like, they weren't overcooked and it had tofu as well. I think it had onion, broccoli, cauliflower, pineapple, tomato, capsicum, courgette, green beans, mushroom, and maybe some other things that I cant remember. It was cooked really nicely, all the veges were still crunchy, and the sauce wasn't too sweet which is always good.

The only thing I didn't like about it was that the pineapple had a weird taste so I didn't eat all of it. It might have been a bit old or something. Also I don't like rice but I never like rice unless it is in sushi anyway.

I think it was a good meal, good value and super tasty. They could have had more tofu in there though and the pineapple was no good. Also the service wasn't great but I think it would be better if there hadn't been so many of us. My meal didn't come until most people had eaten about half of theirs. Overall I will give them a 3.5 and I will go back and try the green curry.

Vegetarian Festival Food - Amazing!

Caribbean Pastry

Fake meat extravaganza

Best thing ever

Potato dream

The weekend before last we went to the Vegetarian Festival which was just down the road from us in Kensington. It was awesome! So many stalls of all sorts of stuff, vege and vegan food, books, magazines, massages, talks, and more stuff. We decided to have something to eat before we looked at everything because we hadn't had breakfast. We found a corner that had a lot of food stalls and Quentin went to get a Caribbean pastry and I decided to get some Asian fake meat food.

The pastry was quite good but needed more flavour. I always expect Caribbean food to have heaps of flavour (like jerk tofu burger!) but what we have had in England so far has been disappointingly bland.

I got a box with some stir fried noodles and veges, some 'tikka masala' and some 'hoisin chicken'. It was really good! Basically the only thing I miss about meat is the texture and the soy meat in this was fairly similar to meat. The hoisin part was definitely the best, I could eat that all day! Just sweet enough without being too much and with heaps of flavour. The tikka masala was good as well but I preferred the flavour of the hoisin. The noodles were quite good but a bit overcooked from staying heated for so long, and a bit too spicy for Quentin. It was super filling as well though and we couldn't finish it between us!

While we were eating we saw someone with a massive amount of potato on a stick and immediately I knew I had to have one! After we had looked around most of the ground floor we found the stall and ordered one. What they did was get out a giant skewer and a potato. They then put the potato on the skewer and ran it through a machine I couldn't see which made it into a spiral which they then spread down the skewer. They dusted it in some flour and batter and then deep fried it for a few minutes. You could choose from a bunch of different flavourings to go on it so we got garlic salt. It was amazing. Probably one of the best things I have ever tasted. It was like a potato fritter but way better because the potato and batter were both nice and thin. The only bad thing I could say about it was that it could have been drained for a bit longer since it was still mega oily. So good though.

We purchased so many products while we were at the festival and I got a bunch of new recipe books (including one called the chip butty) and signed up for a subscription to vegetarian magazine. A very successful day!

In regards to ratings I would give the pastry a 2.5 because it was neither here nor there, a bit forgettable but not bad in any way. The Asian food I would give a 3 because it was good but not great, and the potato skewer gets a 4. I think it would have been better with less oil and plain salt.

Lunch date with my new work people

Delicious pizza!

I started my new London job as a Financial Accountant on Tuesday after not working for 5 months!! It is tough getting back into the swing of things but it is really good to be around other people during the day again and be able to get back into a bit of a routine! The majority of the finance team (I think there were about 14 out of maybe 20) went out to lunch down the road from work on Thursday, to an Italian restaurant down the road.

There weren't many other people in the restaurant but I don't know why because the food was great! I had a bit of a hard time deciding because there were quite a few choices. There is also a weekday lunch menu which is cheaper, around 6 pounds, but doesn't have as much choice. I narrowed it down to either gnocchi with broccoli, courgette and cheese or the pizza which I ended up choosing since most people were getting pizza or calzone.

I actually ordered one of the pizzas which usually comes with meat but just asked them not to put it on. It had tomato sauce, capers, onions, green peppers, olives, spinach and mozzarella. I thought it had artichokes as well but maybe not. Anyway it was super delicious. It had tonnes of cheese as well which was a bit overwhelming.

I got half way and should have stopped because I was stuffed but I managed one more piece and had three to take home to Quentin. I was impressed with the eating skills of my new colleagues though because I consider myself a pretty good eater and they almost all beat me!

The base of the pizza was one of the best things about it. It was crispy but not hard, totally soft but at the same time chewy. Kind of hard to explain but reminiscent of the pizza in Italy which I loved. I would definitely (and most likely will) go back to this place, if only to try the gnocchi. Actually I want to try more of the pizzas as well, and the calzone!

It was reasonably simple food but done really well. The service was really good as well, pretty quick and we all got our food within a reasonable time of each other which is difficult with a big group. I would give them a 4 out of 5 and the only reason I don't give them more is because the food wasn't too exciting and I am holding out the highest ratings for the super fancy places, if I ever go!!

My nicoise salad

So tasty!

One of the things I have found out recently is that Quentin will agree to eat just salad for dinner if it has potato in it. So I have made my own kind of version of a nicoise salad. It still has most of the classic ingredients but is adjusted for Quentin.

I chopped and boiled some new potatoes and when those were done I quickly boiled off some chopped fresh green beans. While those two ingredients were cooling I organised the rest.

Firstly I put rocket and some mixed peppery leaves into a salad bowl. Then I added finely sliced red onion, sliced red pepper (different to capsicum but similar), a can of tuna, about 10 quartered cherry tomatoes, and since we had some feta which needed using up I popped that in as well.

I added the potato and green beans and some balsamic vinegar and oil from the tuna and mixed it all up nicely. Then I put some out for Quentin and mixed some olives in with the rest for me. That is mine that you can see in the picture.

I didn't add the eggs because Quentin doesn't like them and I didn't feel we needed them when we had the feta, and I will never add anchovies because they are super gross!

This salad is totally filling and yum but is still healthy which is awesome for trying to get rid of spare tyres! Try is sometime :)

Mega Onion Rings!

The onion rings are so large!

A baked potato you can actually see!

Vege burger

We went to this place for a late lunch after spending most of the day at Sherwood Forest where they had all sorts of stuff going on. It was a small pub in a tiny town but had some tripadviser awards up which we took as a good sign. Apparently they had the best pub food in Nottinghamshire or something like that. Anyway we were lucky they gave us lunch since their kitchen was probably about to close!

They had a reasonable menu with a variety of things for vegetarians but nothing too exciting. I thought about getting soup until I heard it was carrot and coriander. I don't do coriander unless it is in Indian cooking! They also had a delicious sounding goats cheese salad but I thought I may have been too hungry for that so chose the baked potato with cheese and beans, and Quentin got the vegetarian burger which had aubergine, halloumi and a portobello mushroom I think.

The guy serving us was really nice and let us both try some beers because we didn't know what we wanted. Apparently we don't like the proper ales too much and prefer our beer to be properly cold, plus I definitely prefer a blonder beer.

Getting side tracked. So the food came and I have to say it had better presentation than pubs we have been to previously. Quentin's was served on a slate which is hilarious since we always make fun of people on food shows/other TV who serve things on slate. I don't think he was too impressed. My salad had some actually good dressing on it which was nice, and heaps of cheese which is always going to impress me. Also the potato was cooked well with a nice chewy skin which is definitely what I look for in a baked potato! Quentin's burger wasn't as large as the ones we are used to but it was really good, and so were the fries which I helped him to eat of course!

The onion rings were out of control! Definitely bigger than any I have seen before, probably bigger than any onion I have ever seen before! They were really good, if a bit greasy. I couldn't eat more than about three. Quentin put some in his burger as well which was a good addition.

Overall the food, service and ambiance etc was all good, and the food was good as well but not really adventurous or excellent. I will give them a 3.5 and would go back if nothing else in the little village looked good. I did a bit wish I had gone for the goats cheese salad because I think they would have done it well but maybe another day!

Some super yum food!

Fajitas - Amaze

Mac'n'Cheese

We went out to dinner at another place in Nottingham on Sunday night where my Nana likes to go. I expected it to be a pub sort of place and it kind of looks like one and also has a bar but the food was so good! They have a really big menu which I sometimes have trouble with since I can never make decisions but this one was relatively easy since they had fajitas and I had been craving Mexican food (like I basically always do). They did also have a vegetarian roast which was pretty tempting but I think I made the right choice.

When our food came out I couldn't believe the size of my meal. The red container had four tortillas inside and had been heated in the oven so it (and the tortillas) were nice and warm, then I had that whole platter of chili beans and vegetables, plus the cheese and other condiments! It was about the amount I would make for both Quentin and I for dinner!

It was sooooo good though. The guacamole was clearly homemade and really tasty. I definitely judge places on their guacamole and am always disappointed if it doesn't seem homemade or is bland or too smooth but this was just right. The vegetables were well cooked and had just enough spice in the beans. The salsa was also really good so together it was like a party in my mouth. I managed to eat two tortillas and get Quentin to eat one so we got through most of it but there was no way of finishing it!

Quentin got the mac and cheese which is kind of the obvious choice for him, especially when it comes with garlic bread! He said that the garlic bread was really good and I tried some of the mac and cheese and that was pretty good as well, if a little blander than I would make it. I usually put in quite a lot of garlic and some mustard though so it is a bit different.

Overall I would give them a 4 out of 5. My meal was excellent, I don't think I would have changed anything about it except maybe having more guacamole but that is just me being greedy. Quentin's meal was good but nothing special, if it had have been better they may have got a 4.5 but the actual venue isn't like fancy or particularly special or anything. I would totally go back though and probably just get fajitas again although maybe make Quentin share and then get a starter. Of guacamole. Yum!

More pub grub - Nottingham

Fish, chips, mushy peas

Vege Lasagne, with chips of course

We went up to Nottingham for the weekend just been and went out to a few places to eat up there. This was the pub we went to on the first night we were there (Friday) which was one of those cute old ones which has heaps of random rooms stuck together with all different floor and ceiling heights. I never expect too much from these places but the food has actually been pretty good. Not amazing but better than Four Kings in Wellington that's for sure!

I got the vege lasagne again since it was a cold grey day and Quentin got fish and chips because apparently he has been craving them. I love how everything seems to come with chips here, or at least some kind of potato product! The homemade chips are the best, they remind me of the ones Dad would make, although not quite as good!

Anyway this lasagne was pretty good, I think better than the last one. I don't like the way they do side salads here though, you have to cut it all up yourself. Although I do like the fact they don't put any dressing on since there is always vinegar on the table which I like better than salad dressing anyway. Also I like that there are always many condiments at these places.

So, the lasagne, it had quite a few good veges in there and the sauce was good, although I wish people didn't put aubergine in every lasagne because I think it is my least favourite vegetable, it always seems to be hard and gross. The chips were awesome though and the garlic bread was good (Quentin ate it). The portion was massive though, I couldn't even finish my chips, which is not usual!

I tried some of Quentins as well. The fish was tasty and well cooked, not underdone or overdone as it sometimes can be but the mushy peas were not great. I don't know if that is what they are always like but I found them bland and grainy.

Overall it was a good meal but nothing really stood out or was amazing so I will give it a three. There wasn't anything wrong with it, or the service, or the place but it wasn't exciting.