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Monthly Archives: August, 2008

Borough Markets, London

For Christmas this past year, my sister gave me a book on Borough Markets. I flicked through it eagerly going first to the recipes and even made a couple of them. I didn’t realise that only a 6 months later I would actually be at Borough Markets sampling some of this very fine produce that I was reading about. Borough Markets are London’s oldest markets, incredibly since Roman times when they built the London Bridge, they have been at this location for 250 years and is a market steeped in history and pride of the storekeepers. Artisanal is a term that comes to mind when walking through these stalls (although I hope Artisanal is not a term that become abused as I suspect it might, look out for McDonald’s “Artisan burger” )

Fresh pasta made 15 hours ago

Various cheeses on offer

Mmmm sausages!

Various baked goods

The day after arriving, our first stop is here. We’re taken by my sister’s friend Candy who is an expat from America who has lived in London for 4 years. She shows us around Borough Markets, which are huge, much bigger than I ever envisaged. There are throngs of people everywhere. It seems that either half of London is on holiday or that the neighbouring offices house a great number of people that pour out into the markets every lunch time to wait in long queues to eat delicious home grown locally made produce.

Huge slabs of chocolate and truffles

Pick your own truffles

Nuts, dried fruit and chocolate coated goodies

Prices vary but on the whole they’re generally at a premium. Most of the providores are artisans proud of their produce and there are many samples proffered to the waiting public in an attempt to seduce.

Huge mounds of butter

Slices of cakes, eclairs and strudels

Delicious sounding jams

Along with picture perfect fruit and vegetables, there are vividly coloured flowers and a range of seafood, some of which I’ve never seen before like the long cylindrical clams.

Wild things!

Seafood on offer

Huge lobsters

Big crabs with fat claws

Impressive mushroom medley

Different kinds of tomatoes

How perfect do these tubs of redcurrants look?

Even French food gets a look in

“Harry Potter No. # 3 filmed here” You didn’t think I’d miss the chance for a Harry Potter moment?

There’s even a sign near the pub saying that a scene from Harry Potter was filmed here-one look at the pub and you can definitely see that it could have been.

Free range Basque Pig Salami

Enough of this browsing, we’re ready to eat and it seems so are most of the markets as the queues stretch out long for most of the hot food. We tried to get a table at Tapas Brindisa to no avail so we settle with one of their Chorizo rolls (a double with two sausages £4.75). I line up at another stand whose name escapes me, just look for the queue, and get a roll filled with Wild Boar sausage and a Devils on Horseback roll filled with cumberland sausages wrapped in bacon and prunes (both £4.00 for large £3 for small). The Wild Boar sausage was guaranteed at least 90% meat which is a refreshing change for English sausages from what we’ve seen on The F Word.

Brindisa’s stall-for those who can’t get a table at the restaurant, which is… everyone

Brindisa’s Chorizo roll (double sized) £4.75

The chorizo roll is small-ish although the double amount of chorizo is good for chorizo lovers like me. It’s a good sausage although I feel as though something is missing from the roll. My husband and Candy however are thoroughly impressed by it.

Devils on Horseback roll £ 4

The Devils on Horseback roll with cumberland sausage wrapped in bacon and prunes is very good and absolutely enormous filled with caramelised onions and salad. The roll however is very floury and we find ourselves leaving the roll behind and eating the filling.

Wild Boar sausage roll £4

The Wild Boar sausage on a roll, also filled with onions and salad is a strongly flavoured and very meaty as promised. Adding a cranberry sauce to it helps to sweeten it and ease off the intense edge off it.

We dust the flour off our face and hands, stomachs full of all sorts of exotic goodies.

Borough Markets

Southwark Street London SE1 1TL
In front of London Bridge subway station, use “Borough High Street” exit.
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
Thursdays: 11am - 5pm
Fridays: 12pm - 6pm
Saturdays: 9am - 4pm

20 comments | August 27, 2008 - 8:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Persian Love cupcakes

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Sweet things

If the name doesn’t sound dreamy enough, perhaps the look of these delicate frosted rose petaled cupcakes will convince you to make them. The cakes themselves are light as air, much like an unusual flavoured Angel food cupcake. It’s a simple-ish, light cake - specifically lemon with a cardamom pop in almost every bite. If you prefer your cupcakes, a little milder tasting you could certainly halve the amount of cardamom and crush them to disperse the flavour a bit more rather than having a concentrated pop when you bite into a seed.

The cake part is not overly sweet and barely contains any oils or butters and would be perfect with a cup of tea (I’d think coffee might overwhelm it). I found that this recipe made about 9 1/2 cupcakes but you may find it makes a round dozen if you have slightly smaller cases. And whilst you can technically eat the rose petals, I can’t say that I relished the petal I tasted. One thing to note that is if you refrigerate the cupcakes with petals atop, they will become “wet” and lose their fabulous glacial beauty so if you need to refrigerate them, add the petals on before serving. And it goes without saying that with this name it is best served to your loved one or your wannabe loved one in lieu of a piece of poetry.

12 comments | August 26, 2008 - 8:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Foliage at the Mandarin Oriental, London

Posted in Eating, NQN's most memorable moments and meals, Outside of Sydney

Sometimes the only thing that will do when one is stressed is some coddling, charm and civility. So where does one turn but a 5 star hotel for lunch.The best part of dining in London is getting to try Michelin starred restaurants. Michelin doesn’t bother with Australia so whilst Tetsuya’s would be worthy of a Michelin star, he remains untouched with the fairy wand. So now is my chance to consume as many Michelin stars as possible. Housed in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Hyde Park London, never a shabby place to stay, Foliage has 1 Michelin star. This lunchtime Blythe and I are battling traffic congestion due to two tube lines being closed down and numerous roadworks near by. In fact we’re half an hour late for our booking and when we finally get there frantic and exhausted, we feel like we’ve really “earnt” our meal in effort.

We’re rewarded by broad smiles, soft welcomes and soothing tones. Foliage is a small room with enormous windows that offer a lovely view of Hyde Park, up close and personal. Guests are welcomed by not 3 but 4 courses. And for a price that’s an absolute steal in what can be a criminally expensive city £29. Yes you read right, £29 for lunch.

The menu has 4 choices which is generous and all of them call out in some way. We finally decide on some dishes after a little deliberation. We’re given bread, a choice of white, sourdough or walnut with salted and unsalted butter (walnut the clear winner, singing with walnut flavour through the copious amount of chunks).

Amuse Bouche: Chive Vichyssoise

We’re then bestowed with our Amuse Bouche, a Chive Vichyssoise. It’s creamy and smooth with a light mascarpone quenelle floating in the centre. A delicious start.

Starter: crab, mango, cucumber and coriander

Our starters then arrive, mine was the crab, mango, cucumber and coriander. The crab meat is delicate and sweet, the thing mango slices swirled on the plate with cucumber flavoured pasta and coriander sprigs. It all works beautifully together, never overwhelming the delicate crab. There are two delicious fried crab balls to give an alternate texture and taste.

Starter: Foie gras, beetroot, ginger bread and pecans

Blythe’s starter, a Foie gras, beetroot, ginger bread and pecans cleverly resembles rhubarb stalks. I do like Foie gras although sometimes I find it too strong. Not in this case, it’s beautifully balanced and beetroot goes wonderfully with the foie gras mousse. There is also a ball of foie gras rolled in pistachios which is also wonderful with the walnut bread which is thoughtfully topped up for us.

Intermediate: Scallops, squid ink, orzo, green almonds

8 comments | August 25, 2008 - 8:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Jessica Seinfeld - Rainy Day Spaghetti Pie from Deceptively Delicious

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Dinner recipes

Its an rainy day during Sydney’s Winter that I decide that the Spaghetti Pie recipe will get an look in. There’s nothing better than being inside when its raining and it becomes a little more gratifying when there’s something delicious smelling in the oven.

Being particularly time poor that day, I short cut the meatballs by using Chevups skinless sausages which are low in fat and high in meat. I added some fresh breadcrumbs to them to fluffify and lighten them, some milk to bind and stirred in the broccoli and oddly enough, we have a new meatball favourite.

I also couldn’t get by without using my favorites tomato pasta bake sauce, Remano Creamy tomato and basil from shock horror, of all places, Aldi. Its creamy and very tomatoey and we make special trips to Aldi to stock up our cupboards with it. My husband and I are those oddball people that actually love cottage cheese. We could eat it by the tubful so I need no convincing to use it. In fact the texture, once cooked, is like using mince. And since I’m not a fan of mozzarella, I used regular tasty cheese, nothing fancy there. It wasn’t as crispy as the recipe suggests that it would be - perhaps the addition of the pasta sauce instead of regular tomato sauce did it but it was still very good and a favoured alternative to spaghetti and meatballs.

(Rainy Day) Spaghetti Pie from Deceptively Delicious

This is a perfect recipe for that leftover pasta you’ve got in the fridge from last night’s dinner

Nonstick cooking spray
3 ozs/90g whole wheat spaghetti or angel hair pasta (or 1 cup cooked leftover pasta) I used fettucine
1/2 pound/250g lean ground turkey or sirloin (I used 200g chevups sausages and 50g fresh breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup broccoli puree
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 cups bottled tomato sauce
1 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1/4 cup carrot puree
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella (I used regular tasty)

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Coat a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander (Skip this step if you have leftover pasta)

3. In a small bow, mix the ground turkey or sirloin with the broccoli puree, egg white, parmesan and garlic. Form the mixture into 1/2 inch balls

4. In a large bowl, stir the cooked pasta, tomato sauce, cottage cheese, carrot puree,, and salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the pie plate and smooth the top. Scatter meatballs on top and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake, uncovered until the centre is firm and the cheese is bubble, 25 - 30 minutes.

Prep: 20 mins Total: 45 mins serves 8-10

By Jessica Seinfeld from Deceptively Delicious

10 comments | August 24, 2008 - 8:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

NQN Competition: Win a Herbies Comfort Food or Aphrodisiac Gourmet Spice Kit!

Posted in Competitions

**THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THANKYOU FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES. PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS**

I’ve heard that there was a time in Australia when the only seasonings or flavours used were salt and pepper. To me, that sounds unfathomable and a little frightening. Where would we be without the rich scents of the herbs and spices that routinely feature in our recipes today? It goes without saying that Herbies herbs and spices are the best in Australia. If ever there was an area to splurge it’s on good quality herbs and spices. They only cost you a dollar or two more than other but are well worth it as they contain no fillers, starches, MSG, free-flow agents or additives of any kind. Just pure unadulterated spice. I often see Ian Hemphill from Herbie’s on TV in the morning and he often shows how to use these herbs, his knowledge shining through.

This month, we’re giving away two Herbies Spice Kits worth $30 each. For those of you still battling the cold weather (me included), we have one Comfort Foods Spice Kit - Seven spices and blends (ground rosemary, mixed spice, Baharat spice mix, tagine mix, chipotle chilli powder, samber spice mix and thyme) with recipes for Apple Crumble, Bean Mash with Rosemary, Lamb Tagine, Smokey Vegetable Soup, Slow-cooked Ox Cheeks, Sambar and Farmer’s Potato Bake.

For Lovers and Wannabe Lovers we have one Aphrodisiac Spice Kit- Six aphrodisiac spices (Pasilla chilli powder, nutmeg, cardamom, saffron and cumin), plus Za’atar which you could team up with known aphrodisiacs like oysters, olives, artichokes and figs in recipes for making Oyster Soup, Bruschetta with Artichoke Puree, The Bird Stripped Bare, Pears with Saffron Jelly,and Spiced Figs. I’d say these will get you some action better than the phrase “I’ll do the dishes tonight honey, you relax!” or “Go ahead and buy that new Chanel bag, it’s worth every cent!”

All you have to do is tell me “What is the difference between a herb and a spice?” and which kit you’d prefer. Email me on: nqn.herbies.comp@gmail.com with your name, email and postage details. You can enter once daily but because the prize is food, I’ll have to keep the entries within Australia -we don’t want the precious spices to get caught at overseas customs! The competition ends midnight AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday the 30th of September so you have plenty of time!