Mishkin’s

It had been about 5 months since we saw each other last and it was time for me and Jeanne of Cook sister! to meet and catch up – a great excuse then to try a new restaurant. We both hadn’t been to Mishkin’s, Russell Norman’s kind-of Jewish deli near Covent Garden. I had assumed that it didn’t take bookings like his other restaurants and so had pushed it to the back of my mind as a place for an early dinner, the place in my mind for all those no-reservations places that seem to be popping up (see also Pitt Cue Co). It turned out I was wrong – Mishkin’s takes bookings up to a week in advance and that’s how we got a table last week.

The restaurant certainly looks the part inside – a zinc bar, retro booths, glasses of tap water brought over when you sit down. They have a great cocktail list but I do wish they’d have more actual American soft drinks. I’ve not tried Dr Brown’s before but I’d love to see it or the like being stocked here!

Their menu was filled with lots of things I desperately wanted to eat. We first split a 1/2 Reuben on rye with pastrami, sauerkraut, Russian dressing & Swiss cheese & cauliflower slaw (£7). The cheese stretched between our sandwich halves and was the first hint that this was going to be good. And it was. The accompanying slaw wasn’t too bad either with a peppy dressing and I’m not normally a slaw kind of person. The half sandwich was itself pretty big making the whole sandwich at £9 a good deal – we saw a lot of diners come in for just one of these sandwiches.

As soon as I saw the All beef corn dog, green tomato ketchup (£7) on the menu, I had to have it; luckily for me, Jeanne agreed. I’ve missed corn dogs. Hot dogs covered in cornbread, deep fried. These were excellent and the green tomato ketchup served with it was just the right balance of sweet and sour. Why is this not served more in the UK?

Our side of Baby gem & walnut salad (£4) was surprisingly fabulous! The lettuce and walnuts were dressed with a savoury dressing with lots of shaved hard cheese and we shovelled this into our mouths.

Our Meat loaf (£8) came a little after as our waitress had warned us. This little individual loaf was indeed very meaty and held a little soft boiled treasure inside – it’s certainly not diet food. I welcomed the side of boiled spring greens on the side.

That should have been the end of the savouries but we greedy guts had to have another and that’s how the Gin cured salmon, beetroot, apple (£5) off the specials board came to be at our table. The salmon and salad were served with a generous side of rye bread and butter but while it was all pleasant enough, I thought it was our weakest dish.

There’s always room for dessert, right? The Mango, lime & passion fruit pavlova, pistachio (£6) came looking like a winner but sadly was not. The meringue was dry all the way through and while there was plenty of cream and fruit, these could not save it. The pistachios had been candied but were horribly chewy in a way no pistachio should be.

Nancy Newman’s soggy lemon drizzle cake (£6) made up for it though. It was very moist and lemony and came with a big dollop of lemony whipped cream on top. It wasn’t light though and we didn’t manage to finish this either (we definitely could have done without the salmon after all the meaty dishes).

We forgot to ask who Nancy Newman was but I’ve since read online that Nancy Newman was either the executive chef’s grandmother or mother. I love that they’re sharing the cake made to a family recipe.

I really liked Mishkin’s – the food is generally very good and the price is about right (it was £29 each for the food and a drink but we definitely over-ordered). Not everything is great but I’m willing to overlook that to get to those corn dogs! It’s very likely that I’m also totally biased as I do love this kind of pseudo-Jewish-American style diner food that Mishkin’s serves; c’mon, it’s North American comfort food! (Not sure about the schmaltzed radish on the menu though…is it really just radish with chicken fat?!)

Totally not about the food but something about this place and this post is causing me to think as if I were back in high school. Like, yeah!

Mishkin’s
25 Catherine Street
London WC2B 5JS

 

An Afghan Lunch at Masa

Today is the fifth anniversary of Tamarind and Thyme. What a great five years it’s been and thank you all for still reading! The past year has been particularly busy what with balancing work, fun and the blog: filming an online commercial, a belated birthday trip to Vienna, being shocked by prices in Zürich, seeing beautiful Innsbruck, a work trip to Toronto, a shellfish journey in West Sweden, a Christmas trip to Gothenburg, a holiday in Hong Kong, a work trip to Orlando, Barcelona at Easter, a date with a Swedish chef. And then there’s all the usual cooking and eating in London in between!

Anyway, onto the post at hand. A month or two ago, I dragged Blai up to the wilds of Harrow and Wealdstone (hooray for the overground!) to try an Afghan restaurant by the name of Masa. Its grubby location gave no hint of what lay inside – a big square room filled with lots of heavy wooden furniture. It wasn’t fancy but there was something rather imposing about it all. However strangely grand it may have seemed, it was empty that Sunday lunchtime but a few takeaway orders were filled while we were there. We grabbed a sunnier table by the window and proceeded to order.

A starter of Grill Aubergine (grilled aubergine, garlic, walnut, thick yoghurt) (£3.50) turned out to be a dip and was served with a freshly baked naan bread that would have come with our mains but got brought forward so we didn’t have to eat our starter with a spoon. The smoky aubergine was intensely garlicky, in a good way, and the chopped walnuts added a lovely textural contrast.

The naan was delicious and soft – do eat it while it’s hot though as it hardens unappetisingly as it cools.

For mains, we skipped the usual grilled meats (kebabs and the like) to try Afghan dishes that aren’t as easy to find in London. First there was Mantoo (steamed pasta filled with mince, onion and herbs, served with special sauce) (£6.95). These dumplings were lukewarm but extremely tasty with their meaty filling. The special sauce seemed to consist of yoghurt and a mild chilli oil with even more minced meat. We scooped up the extra special sauce with what bread we had leftover.

We also shared a Qabili Palow (rice, carrots, raisins with chunk of lamb meat, served with salad and naan) (£7.95).

The photo doesn’t seem to convey the size of this beast – it was a massive pile of spiced rice concealing a braised lamb shank. This was the star of our meal. The rice was absolutely gorgeous, cooked in lamb stock and studded with sweet plump raisins and carrot shreds. The lamb was plain and yet still tasty and not at all overly gamey as some lamb can be. On the side, we also had a salad and some of the best lentils I’d had in a long time; there would have been a naan too but they served that with our starter. Next time, I’d order another of that lentil dish all by itself. Try as we might, we were unable to finish such a generous portion.

Our total (with two soft drinks) came to about £25 and we carried home the leftover palow. Service was a bit distracted (by the Simpsons being on the large screen telly above our table) but fine. When we left, the most gigantic platter of food was brought over to a family of three next to us and I’m keen to find out what it was they had!

And if just the restaurant can’t get you up north to Harrow, you might be interested to know that Doki Limited, a shop specialising in Japanese tableware, is located about a 10 minute walk away from the restaurant. This shop was originally based in Oriental City before moving to Pacific Plaza and now, well, looks more permanently located here.

Masa
24-26 Headstone Drive
Wealdstone
Harrow HA3 5QH

 

Sayur Lodeh

Sayur lodeh – think of it as a curry and you’ll be disappointed with its gentle flavours; think of it as a thick stew of vegetables in spiced coconut milk and you’ve then got the idea of this comforting Indonesian dish. It’s also been embraced by the Peranakans and Malaysians but strangely, I cannot recall my mother ever cooking it at home. I suspect that the inclusion of so much coconut milk was worrying to her! I love the stuff.

Do not be fooled – this is not a vegetarian dish. Belacan (fermented shrimp paste) and dried shrimps play a big part in the flavouring and it’s imperative that they’re not left out. If you’re having it as a main meal, shrimp or prawns can also be added. I also feel like this shouldn’t be a catch all for any vegetable you might have in your fridge – I’ve used vegetables that work well together; I’m not convinced by the use of peppers, for example. And like most stews, it’ll be good the first day but great on subsequent days. Serve it with plenty of white rice to soak up all that gravy.

Sayur Lodeh
serves 3-43 as a main meal with white rice or 6-8 as a side dish.

For the spice paste (rempah)
15-20 small shallots (purple) or 3-5 large ones (brown), peeled and coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 thick slice ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 thumb sized piece galangal, peeled and coarsely chopped
20 little dried shrimp
5-10 dried large red chillies
1 tbsp chilli paste
1 tsp belacan powder
2 tsps turmeric powder

3 tbsps oil
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
1/2 small cabbage, cut into chunks
2 Japanese aubergines, cut into chunks
1 large carrot, cut into batons
1 small onion, cut into slices
200g long beans or green beans or a mixture, cut into bite sized pieces
200g firm tofu, cubed/sliced
400ml coconut milk
salt and sugar to taste

First make your spice paste. Soak the dried shrimps and dried chillies in hot water for about 10-15 minutes. The chillies should be soft and the shrimps should have softened. Chop up the chillies (discarding the seeds) and then blend all the ingredients together, adding a bit of water if necessary. If you’re feeling nostalgic, pound them all together in a heavy duty mortar and pestle.

Heat a large pot/wok over medium-low heat and then add the oil to heat through. Add the spice paste and fry slowly until the oil separates again from the mixture. If there is quite a bit of water in the paste, this may not happen, in which case fry for at least 10 minutes.

Add the onion and carrot pieces and fry together for a few minutes. Add the aubergine, green beans, and cabbage and continue frying, stirring continuously. Pour in about 1-2 cups water and the coconut milk (this mixture should cover the vegetables – add more water if required). Toss in the lemongrass and bring the entire mixture to a simmer. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked through – you want them soft but not mushy. Add water to thin the sayur lodeh if desired – I like mine quite thick.

Finally, add the firm tofu and when that has cooked through, add salt and sugar to taste. Stir well and serve with white rice.

 

Products from Skåne and a Recipe

Our adventures with Swedish food didn’t end with the last post – Anna very kindly sent us all home with products she had brought over from Skåne. They’re all things I probably should have brought back with me the first time I visited Sweden but y’know… the pepparkakor seemed more important at the time!

This loaf of brown rye bread has gone a long way – it keeps well in the fridge or freezer. It’s dense and has a slight sweetness that’s delicious paired with just about anything – I served some chickpea and spinach stew over a couple slices. Any leftovers of this brown bread are used to make the topping for the traditional Swedish apple crumble.

This is knäckebröd that we must find again! Studded with seeds, it’s hands-down the best crisp bread we’ve ever had and really changed our opinion on the stuff! If you ever see this brand, buy it!

The Abba brand is a classic and I’m upset that it’s no longer stocked by Ikea (they now stock their own brand of foods). This mustard herring was delicious on top of the brown bread.

Priest cheese was so named when milk was used to pay tithes to the church. The priests would make cheese of it – another story was that the cheese was directly used as payment. Whatever the story is, it’s a delicious cow’s milk cheese that goes well with plain pickled herring.

Speaking of pickled herring, this Ättika is the traditional vinegar used in its preparation. Ättika is available in both 12 and 24% strengths and our bottle of 24% comes with suggestions on its use – including for cleaning! It goes without saying that it’s probably best not to consume it neat. Peter taught us the 1-2-3 ratio to pickle our own herring at home: 1 part ättika, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts water.

Finally, a bag of Jätte Salt liquorice. I still haven’t opened this as I’ve been wary of salty liquorice after a not great experience with some Dutch stuff. Any and all encouragement is welcome!

And now, as promised, the recipe for Peter’s veal stew – thank you very much to him for sharing it! It was mentioned during dinner that lamb will also work with dill and I’d like to try the recipe below with it.

Veal Stew with Dill Sauce
by Peter J Skogström
serves 4.

500 g prime rib of veal, boneless
1 leek
1 carrot
2 parsnips
a small piece of celeriac
1 medium onion
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp allspice
5 stalks fresh dill
2 tsp salt per litre of water

Dill Sauce
500 ml water
2 tsp ‘ättiksprit’ Swedish vinegar (12%) – if not available, I think any white vinegar is substitutable
2 tsp sugar
5 stalks of dill, roughly chopped
400 ml stock from the first part of the recipe
1.5 tsp white flour
1 tbsp butter
100 ml cream
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of white pepper
100 ml of chopped dill

Cut the meat into small pieces. Place the cubed meat into a casserole dish, cover with boiling water and place over medium heat. Skim off the scum as required. Slice the leeks, carrots, parsnips and celery into equal sized pieces. Add to the boiling meat. Season with the dill stalks, allspice, bay leaf and salt. Lower the heat and leave to simmer until the meat is tender. Strain the stock and save for the sauce.

To make the sauce, bring the dill stalks, vinegar, sugar and water to a boil. Melt the butter in a pot, sprinkle over the white flour and stir in to make a roux. Add 200 ml of stock and whisk together until smooth. Pour in the rest of the stock and add the cream, stirring continuously. Add the sieved vinegar preparation and the chopped dill. Season to taste with salt and white pepper and a dash of vinegar if needed. Remove the dill stalks and bay leaf and then pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.

Serve with boiled potatoes.

 

A Swedish Blind Date from Skåne

A Swedish blind date? This interesting and certainly different proposition dropped into my email inbox a few weeks ago and I was certainly alarmed by the title. No, not the usual romantic date but a night with a Swedish chef – no, that really doesn’t sound right – wait a minute… a night with dinner cooked by a Swedish chef. That’s right – a Swedish blind date with a Swedish chef!

The chef would be a previous winner of Årets Kock, a prestigious Swedish chef of the year competition, and when I accepted their kind offer, an invitation card in the post stated that the Swedish region inspiring our meal would be Skåne, the southernmost province in Sweden, home to lots of quality meats, cheese, grains and vegetables.

The original offer was to have the chef come to my flat but with my flat being absolutely tiny, hosting both a chef and a small group of friends seemed impossible. VisitSweden pulled through and organised for a flat to be borrowed for the night. I rounded up Blai and three more friends and we went off to visit this traditional Swedish flat (overlooking the Thames) one recent Thursday evening.

Our chef from Skåne turned out to be Peter J Skogström, winner of Årets Kock 2006. He has two restaurants in Malmo, Mat och vin i Slottsparken and Restaurang P2, and also runs three office lunch canteens that aren’t open to the public. He’s a busy man!

Joining him in the flat were Anna Wittgren, our hostess from Malmö Turism, …

… and Peter’s assistant for the night, Jessica Beaumont, who is completing her BSc in Culinary Arts Management at the University of West London.

We had no idea what to expect of our meal and when first led to the living room, we sat there shyly. Anna and Peter made us most welcome with drinks (including Malmö Akvavit, the bottle featured a drawing of the amazing Öresund Bridge) and a trio of canapes. Gravadlax was paired with fennel and pate with Skåne mustard, each on thin rye knäckebröd. My favourite was the pickled herring with potato and Prästost (Priest cheese) and I snaffled the last extra one. From then on, the conversation just flowed.

When we enquired about the drinks and where they came from, it was revealed that everything we would eat and drink that night had been brought over from Sweden by both Peter and Anna. We looked at the drinks and looked at the food and marvelled at how much had to be carried and how they did it. Peter very modestly stated that it was all possible as the airline allowed 45kg in luggage weight. In addition, he and the other chefs involved in the Swedish Blind Date had prepared as much of the food as possible that afternoon at the Swedish embassy.

We moved into the kitchen with its dining table for dinner proper. The table was beautifully set and we settled in, able to watch Peter work at the counter and chat with him too.

He set slow cooked eggs (cooked earlier that day – 63 degrees for 110 minutes!) into bowls with roe, rye bread crumbs and micro-greens and poured in a creamy nettle soup tableside; the young nettles used in the soup had been foraged only the day before. Oh, what marvellous eggs these were, all soft and set like custard and the nettle soup was supremely creamy and comforting.

The main course was being prepared as we slurped our soups. A big pot of veal and vegetables and dill seemingly appeared out of nowhere and a creamy dill sauce was also being prepared to be poured on top. Big portions were plated up and brought to us.

The Stew of Veal in Dill Sauce had meat tender enough to eat with a spoon. And wow, I always thought of dill as a herb that would work with just fish and, uh, crisps but it really did work with the veal. It was fantastic – the slow cooked veal, the vegetables still crunchy and the creamy dill sauce over everything…I had seconds! I was emailed the recipe for this veal stew after the dinner and I’ll have that up on another post soon. On the side were some fabulous boiled Skåne potatoes with onions and lemon zest and I used them to mop up the sauce though they were also perfectly fantastic by themselves.

Dessert was simply outstanding – Vanilla Apple Crumble. The traditional Swedish apple crumble is made with leftover brown rye bread crumbs and of whose recollection caused both Anna and Peter to wince – apparently the crumbs become horrendously dry. Our crumble featured the famous apples from Skåne (though Peter admitted to purchasing two Aroma apples from Marks and Spencers to use as garnish (and surprise, surprise, they’re a Swedish cultivar)! It was the only thing we ate that wasn’t brought over from Sweden) and was a layered dessert that Peter has pre-assembled at the embassy. He had only to scoop on quenelles of sorbet and garnish each bowl with the fresh apple and crumble.

From the bottom, there was apple compote with cinnamon, vanilla custard, apple jelly, almond biscuit crumble, apple sorbet, julienned apple with mint. At the table, he sprinkled on more of the biscuit crumble. Silence descended on the table after the initial clink of spoon to glass – it was that good.

With dessert, we were served an Äppel Dramm, a Swedish spirit distilled from apples – apples all around. It was just a bit too strong for me!

After dessert, we retired to the living room, where candles were lit, to glasses of Spirit of Hven whisky, distilled in Skåne, and plenty of conversation. Trends in Swedish food, the day in the life of a Swedish chef, day jobs and hobbies, pizza and kebabs in Malmö… we touched on just about everything.

It truly was a fantastic night and one that I and my friends will always remember.

Thank you very much to Peter, Anna, Jessica and Beatrice (from VisitSweden and in the photo below on the left) for such a fabulous night. Thank you also to W Communications for the invitation.

All my photos from the night can be found in this Flickr photostream.

Do keep an eye out on Cook Sister, MsMarmitelover, and The London Foodie for their posts on their dinners, all held on the same night with different chefs and regions. Bellaphon has already posted on MsMarmitelover’s night.