Tamarind and Thyme

Sometimes only bread will do. But when it’s a Sunday night and all the shops are closed, you have to fend for yourself with what you’ve got in the cupboards. Spring onion pancakes don’t require any particularly fancy ingredients and if you’re a fan of Chinese cooking, you’ve probably already got sesame oil in your cupboard. If not, substitute regular sunflower oil.

This recipe makes six crispy spring onion pancakes that I like to serve with a dipping sauce of soy and Chinese black vinegar. Some toasted sesame seeds would do nicely in there too.

Spring Onion Pancakes
makes 6.

2 cups plain flour
1 cup boiling water
1/4 tsp salt
sesame oil
5 spring onions, sliced finely
oil for frying

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt and boiling water until it all comes together. Carefully use your hands to then knead the ball of dough until it’s smooth, about 5-10 minutes. If it’s still too hot, let it cool for a bit before starting to knead. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes; keep it in the fridge if you’re leaving it for longer.

Divide the rested dough ball into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a flat, thin round, dusting with flour if the dough is sticking. Brush the surface of the round with sesame oil and then sprinkle over a sixth of the chopped spring onion. Roll the round tightly like a swiss roll, with the oil and spring onions on the inside. Curl this now tubular dough piece into a tight snail shape, tucking the end underneath. Now roll this snail shaped piece of dough out into a round about 5 inches in diameter. Pieces of spring onion will start falling out but don’t worry – just show them who’s boss and jam them back into the dough. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces (I start to fry at the same time as rolling them out).

Heat a frying pan (mine is nonstick) over medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil and fry each pancake on both sides until golden brown, draining on kitchen paper when cooked; repeat with all the pancakes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Oh, the summer is leaving us this year but I can still reflect back on some great al fresco meals we’ve had – ok, who am I kidding? I have a bit of a photo backlog from this summer and I’m finding a few gems here and there to share with you. Like that day we went bicycling along the Thames and the path was so pebbley that I thought either one of my tires would get a puncture or my teeth were going to jiggle out. And then we came home and used Google Map Pedometer to map our ride and it turned out to be 30km – nice. Only when I thought about it, it felt like much longer since we were negotiating all those pebbles.

At about lunchtime that day, we’d reached Richmond – no coincidence since I’d timed for us to arrive there for our midday meal. We were headed for Stein’s, a consistently busy beergarden on the Thames serving Bavarian food and beer. It was a fine day when we got there but do call ahead if the weather’s bad (as suggested on their website). I can’t remember if they had outdoor heaters.

We parked nearby, secured our table, and I joined the long queue for food. The queue moved at a snail’s pace, what with the people wishing to practice their German, people unclear on what to eat, people unclear on the drink policy (drinks are only served with a main meal and a pretzel is not a meal!). Drinks you collect immediately but the food is brought to you when it’s ready. To drink, I had an Almdudler sparkling herbal lemonade imported from Austria; no photo of it but it tasted like a slightly gingery lemonade – gorgeous stuff.

To eat, we ordered the Bayerische Schlachtplatte – a Bavarian Sharer platter for 2: A selection of grilled Nuernberger, Thueringer and Polnische pork sausages & bacon, served grilled with lots of sauerkraut and potato mash, all with a little Bavarian flag on top. While the little Nurnberg bratwursts weren’t up to scratch, the Polish style one and the big Thuringer bratwurst were both delicious, as were the Polish sausage and the bacon. The bacon was actually sublime – porky and meaty and a far cry from the watery specimens found at most supermarkets. The big slab that looks like Spam is Leberkäse (don’t worry – no liver and no cheese in it) and it was very moreish as it wasn’t as salty as the version I’ve tried previously. The sides were alright – nothing can compare to the memory of the porky sauerkraut I tried in Munich!

The platter might look huge but we managed to put it away rather easily and also found space for a slice of mediocre Sachertorte. A number of cakes are on display for dessert and are joined by a few others listed on the menu – I’m up for trying the Dampfnudel mit Vanillesauce next time! Actually, what I’d like to do is gather a group of friends to try Die Grosse Bratwurst Sause (a whacking huge platter) for 6-8 people!

Stein’s
Richmond Towpath
Rear of 55 Petersham Road
Richmond TW10 6UX

The National Trust were having a Heritage Open Day on Saturday, 12 September and we took the opportunity to visit Osterley House, set in Osterley Park. We’d both been to the park but had never set foot inside the house and we were pleasantly surprised to thoroughly enjoy our visit – perhaps we’ll take visitors there next time. The surrounding park is huge and consists of not only the manicured gardens but also working farms (we always take the time to pat the horses). The existence of these farms also results in a farm shop filled with lots of magnificent fresh produce, located near the parking lot.

I bought a few bits and bobs from the shop but was totally indecisive over a massive bagful of Swiss chard going for a song. How was I going to carry this home on my bicycle? Well, we found a way:

With pinenuts and raisins at home, I knew what I’d do with our new treasure. With the leaves, I made a Catalan Style dish to go alongside a tortilla I made with the colourful stems. It’s not necessary to separate the stems when making this dish though – I just liked the idea of a full Swiss chard dinner! Anyway, this makes for a lovely vegetable side dish, with the sweetness of the raisins and nuttiness from the pine nuts complimenting the greenery. Spinach is a good substitute for the chard, but use lots as it shrinks more.

Catalan Style Swiss Chard
serves 2 as a side dish.

500g Swiss chard
30g pine nuts, lightly toasted
30g black or golden raisins
1 clove garlic, minced or finely sliced
2 tbsps olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soak the raisins in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Wash your Swiss chard and cut the thick stems from the leaves. You can either save the stems for another dish or slice them and boil them and add them later with the boiled leaves (the stems take longer to boil). Chop the leaves into smaller pieces and blanch them in boiling water until tender (you may need to do this in batches). Drain, squeezing out the water, and set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pinenuts and soaked raisins and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and continue sauteing until the garlic is fragrant. Add the cooked Swiss chard and continue sauteing for another couple minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and then serve.

I’ve barely had a chance to sit down at my computer and compose a post this week due to some craziness at work. In lieu of a proper post, here’s another long overdue list of my faves from the food blogs recently.

The Homesick Texan provides a recipe for bacon jam. I’ll let that sink in: bacon……..jam.

It’s aubergine season and I’ve been bookmarking loads of recipes for these gorgeous silky vegetables. mmm-yoso!!! have recreated a spicy steamed eggplant dish with sizzling soy sauce they had at a restaurant. And it looks good!

From Lekker lekker lekkerste, there’s a recipe for spaghetti with butter crab sauce. This fusion dish is based on Malaysian butter crab; the ingredient list is simple but it sounds totally scrumptious.

I want to eat at Spring the next time I’m in Paris! I know the lobster sandwich isn’t available all year round but something tells me that the menu is always good here.

This rainbow of quickie pickles at Kitchen Scraps is pretty inspiring. As a big pickle fan, they’re like jars of jewels to me.

I’ve written about Le Vacherin before, when I visited for dinner, and it was only dinnertime that I’d visited until about a month ago, when we went for lunch. It was at Thring for Your Supper where I first learned of the bargain of a lunch he’d had there. On Sundays, when he went, it’s £19.50 for three courses; on all other days, it’s £16.50 for three courses and £14.50 for two. (I notice that the website has been updated this month to £19.95 and £16.95/£14.95, respectively).

Luckily for me, Chiswick is but a gentle bike/bus ride away from home and we chose the former option that Saturday. I parked directly across from the restaurant so it could be watched at all times – I still freak out about bike thieves. Cue Blai – “No one wants to steal your bike.” Well, yes, perhaps my vintage folder isn’t exactly on the hot list but I love it so much.

We were the first into the restaurant (I was hungry!) and we were seated in a prime spot by the window (good for my incessant looking out at my bike). Bread and butter were brought out almost immediately – the butter being one of my favourites in London as one gets both plain and anchovy. The butter should have been a little softer though – they were still fridge cold.

From the lunch menu, I chose with the Bayonne ham with celeriac remoulade to start. It’s exactly what it says on the menu – a generous pile of thinly sliced Bayonne ham (similar to prosciutto) drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with pepper alongside a slightly smaller pile of grated celeriac in a mayonnaise-based dressing. A bite of this, a bite of that – they balance each other nicely – the saltiness of the ham and the creaminess of the remoulade.

For Blai, the endive salad with Roquefort and melon – he adores blue cheese with endives and found that the addition of the sweet melon entirely complemented this classic duo.

I wanted something fishy and light for my main course and so chose the sardines with roasted peppers. Two whole grilled, filleted sardines lay atop a mound of sweet roasted red pepper and fresh endive that was just starting to wilt under the heat of the fish. Nothing fancy but it hit the spot.

Blai also wanted something piscine and ordered the smoked haddock, mustard sauce. I can’t remember much about this dish other than he enjoyed it very much and cleaned his plate. It does look lovely!

Summer Pudding is surely an unusual offering from a classically French restaurant! Blai’s dessert definitely looked like a prime example of this bread based, fruit stuffed sweet.

My Île Flottante was perfect. Seriously, this was the nicest one I’ve ever had and I nearly licked my bowl to prove it. The poached meringue was fluffy soft, the creme anglaise was beautifully vanilla-y, the caramel sauce not too sweet and the almond slices were caramelised and crunchy. Perfect.

What a total bargain of a lunch this was! If the thought of getting to Chiswick makes your head ache, it looks like Le Cassoulet, Malcolm John’s second restaurant in Croydon, is equally as good. I was sad though to see that Le Vacherin was mostly empty for lunch that day – perhaps it was the middle of the summer hols. I shall return for more lunches in the future (especially since I hear their chicken liver parfait is gorgeous)!

Le Vacherin
76-77 South Parade
Chiswick
London W4 5LF