Tamarind and Thyme

Or, an artichoke recipe for lazy people. Fresh artichokes always look so intimidating: that spiky exterior, the amount of prep required, the amount of work needed to eat them. Well, this method (told to me by Blai) ignores the first point (ha!) and removes the need for any difficult prep whatsoever. I got to test this technique last week when we acquired 5 globe artichokes for the bargain price of £1. Yeah, that’s 20p a choke – excellent!

Again, this is one of those recipes that doesn’t really need to be in recipe format – I’ll just describe it. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Allow for two artichokes per person if they’re to be served alongside another main course. Wash each artichoke and shake off all the water you can. Slice off the stem and a little of the bottom of each artichoke and sit the artichokes in a roasting dish. Sprinkle salt all over, piling it a little on top of each choke. Roast for 45 minutes. The artichokes will go quite dark and tender and the salt will crust on top.

To eat it, give each person a little shallow dish of extra virgin olive oil or serve each artichoke in a little pool of it. Peel off each artichoke petal, dip into the olive oil, and chew/suck the tender part at the base. As you move further inwards and closer to the heart, you should be able to eat more of the petal. There’s definitely work involved when eating an artichoke but getting to the heart is reward itself! If your artichoke is young-ish, the choke (that fibrey, hairy bit above the heart) won’t be so mature and you should be able to eat everything; if not, just scrape off the tough choke and eat the tender heart with lots of olive oil!

Of course, you don’t have to serve this with olive oil. The traditional hollandaise or melted butter would also be lovely and the internet is full of recipes for artichoke dipping sauces. I can imagine an allioli would be superb!

Vegetables and Salads
Aubergines with Fried Onions and Chopped Lemon
Baked Portabello Mushrooms
Braised Red Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Pine Nuts
Catalan Style Swiss Chard
Chayote and Carrot Salad
Collard Greens with a Gammon Shank
Courgette and Cheese Fritters
Fresh Corn Fritters
Fried Artichokes
Fried Okra
Garlicky Cavolo Nero
Greek Salad
Grilled Aubergines with Lemon and Yogurt
Indian-Spiced Mashed Potatoes
Kale with Sesame and Soy
Malaysian-Style Dal
Maple Baked Beans
Momofuku’s Brussels Sprouts
More Palatable Baked Beans
Pimentón Potato Wedges
Raw Courgette Salad
Roasted Artichokes
Roasted Cauliflower with Caper Vinaigrette
Rojak
Sambal Aubergine
Sayur Lodeh
Spanish Style Swiss Chard
Stewed Green Beans with Tomato
Sweet Potato, Maple and Pecan Bake
Thai Beef Salad
Tomato and Egg, Chinese Style
Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
Vietnamese Aubergine Salad
Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon Pickles

Eggs
Baked Eggs and Beans
Cheese Soufflé
Huevos Rancheros
Kale and Cheese Strata
Revuelto with Young Garlic
Tomato and Egg, Chinese Style
Turkish Eggs with Yogurt

Soups and Stews
Braised Beef and Daikon
Budae Jjigae
Chicken Meatball Nabe
Chinese Steamboat
Chorizo, Chickpea and Kale Stew
Fiakergulasch
Khoresht Bademjan – Persian Aubergine Stew
Kimchi Jjigae
Pork and Preserved Vegetable Noodle Soup
Rindsgulasch
Sayur Lodeh
Tonjiru

Poultry and Meat
Asian Style Chicken Stew
Bacon, Cheese and Onion Filo Spirals
Banh Xeo
Beef and Tomato Sauce
Beef Rendang
Bo ssäm
Braised Beef and Daikon
Breakfast Tagine
Budae Jjigae
Catalan Roast Chicken
Catalan-Style Stuffed Aubergines
Char Siu Pastries
Chicken Escalopes with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers
Chicken Meatball Nabe
Chicken Paprikash
Chickpeas with Sausage, Raisins and Pine Nuts
Chorizo, Chickpea and Kale Stew
Croquetas de Jamón
Curry Chicken Bread
Fiakergulasch
Hainanese Chicken Chop
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Ham in Coca Cola
Homemade Hamburgers
Jiang Niu Rou – Soy Sauce Beef
Khao Kha Moo
Khoresht Bademjan – Persian Aubergine Stew
Kimchi Jjigae
Loco Moco
Meatloaf
Oven Fried Chicken
Peruvian Roast Chicken
Pork Adobo
Pork with Basil and Chili
Pot Roasted Buffalo
Ragù alla Bolognese
Ragù alla Napoletana
Red-Cooked Belly Pork
Red-Cooked Pig Cheeks
Rindsgulasch
Shopsins Style Sliders
Sloppy Joes
Slow Cooked Pork Tacos
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Garlic and Rosemary
Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Anchovies and Chestnuts
Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Fennel
Spare Ribs with Dry Rub
St Louis Style Barbecue Spare Rib Chops
Sunday Sauce
Taiwanese Style Fried Pork Tenderloin
Thai Beef Salad
Tonjiru
Vietnamese Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

Fish and Seafood
Baked Sea Bass with Roasted Vegetables
Fish Fillets with Scrambled Egg on Rice
Mackerel Fillets with a Soy-Honey Glaze
New Orleans Style Barbequed Prawns
Thiéboudienne
Tuna and Potato Cakes

Vegetarian Main Courses
Brussels Sprouts Frittata
Cheese Soufflé
Curried Roast Vegetable Couscous
Huevos Rancheros
Kale and Cheese Strata
Käsespaetzle
Mushroom and Brie Tart
Potato and Cheddar Perogies
Revuelto with Young Garlic
Tartiflette
Turkish Eggs with Yogurt

Pastries and Snacks
Bacon, Cheese and Onion Filo Spirals
Char Siu Pastries
Courgette and Cheese Fritters
Croquetas de Jamón
Curried Potato Mini Croissants
Frito Pie
Mini Spicy Shrimp Rolls
Mushroom and Brie Tart
Pani Puri
Roti John
Sambal Dried Shrimp Sandwiches
Sardine Rolls
Sobrassada, Cheese and Honey Crescents
Spring Onion Pancakes
Tau Sar Piah – Penang Mung Bean Pastries
Tuna and Potato Cakes

Sandwiches
Bánh Mi
Curried Potato Mini Croissants
Homemade Hamburgers
Pa amb Tomàquet Sandwiches
Roti John
Sambal Dried Shrimp Sandwiches
Shopsins Style Sliders
Sloppy Joes

Pasta
Bacon and Fried Egg Spaghetti
Cacio e Pepe with Asparagus
Cajun Spiced Sausage and Broccoli Pasta
Creamy Carrot, Leek and Sausage Pasta
Fusilli with Smoked Mackerel and Peas
Linguine with Prawns and Lemon
Orecchiete with Broccoli and Anchovies
Pasta with Pancetta and Peas
Ragù alla Bolognese
Ragù alla Napoletana
Spaghetti with Crab, Basil and Lemon
Spaghetti with Mushrooms
Spaghetti with Sausage and Cavolo Nero
Spaghetti with Tuna, Lemon and Pine Nuts
Spaghettini with Wild Garlic
Sunday Sauce
Tomato and Caper Sauce for Pasta

Rice and Noodles
Chorizo and Pea Rice
Cuban-Style Rice
Fish Fillets with Scrambled Egg on Rice
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Khao Mok Gai – Thai Biryani
Kimbap
Kimchi and Spam Bokkeumbap
Konlo Mee
Leftover Pork Belly Biryani
Loco Moco
Oyster Mushroom Risotto
Pad Thai
Pork and Preserved Vegetable Noodle Soup
Spam, Egg and Rice
Spiced Pilau Rice
Thiéboudienne

Other One Dish Meals
Bánh Mi
Breakfast Burritos
Cheat’s Chai Tow Kueh
Chickpeas with Sausage, Raisins and Pine Nuts
Chinese Steamboat
Curried Roast Vegetable Couscous
Curry Chicken Bread
Frito Pie
Käsespaetzle
Kimbap
Loco Moco
Pa amb Tomàquet Sandwiches
Roti John

Savoury Sauces
Balsamic Caramelised Onions
Chili and Ginger Sambal
A Smokey Salsa
Wild Garlic Oil and Picada

Breakfast
Baked Eggs and Beans
Breakfast Burritos
Breakfast Tagine
Buttermilk Pancakes
Huevos Rancheros
Kale and Cheese Strata
More Palatable Baked Beans
Turkish Eggs with Yogurt

Desserts
Banana Cake
Banoffee Tarts
Hot Fudge Chocolate Brownie Sundaes
Lemon and Passion Fruit Roulade
Lemon Squares
Little Orange Cheesecakes
Mango Lassi Ice Lollies
Peach and Blueberry Cobbler
Pine Nut and Currant Tart
Profiteroles
A Quick Fruit Tart
Salzburger Nockerl
Tiramisu

Cakes and Tarts
Banana Cake
Banoffee Tarts
Blackberry Coffee Cake
Kek Lapis
Kuih Bakar
Little Orange Cheesecakes
Pine Nut and Currant Tart
A Quick Fruit Tart
Rock Cakes

Cookies and Slices
Black Sesame Biscuits (Langues de Chat)
Cranberry and Walnut Brownies
Graham Cracker Toffee
Kuih Rose
Lemon Squares
One-a-Day Cookies
Rock Cakes

Breads
Corn Tortillas
Curry Chicken Bread
Parker House Rolls

Sweets and Sauces
Dulce de Leche
Hot Fudge Sauce
A Quick Blueberry Syrup
Vanilla Marshmallows

Drinks
Apple-Rosemary Refresher

About a week ago, I made my way across the city to Old Street – to Tramontina Brindisa – to feast (invited) at their first calçotada of the year. If you’re not familiar with this term, it’s a Catalan celebration of the calçot, a long onion shoot that’s served grilled with a sauce made with peppers and nuts. Apparently it’s only in the last decade that the calçotada has become a big deal, even in Catalunya. The city of Valls is particularly known for their calçots and their calçotades (as well as their castells).

I’d never been to this particular Brindisa but I liked the slightly industrial style space – to my surprise though, I was shown through to the glowing red covered terrace out back. The red glow was due to a copious number of outdoor heaters turning a frigid January in London into a much warmer January in Barcelona!

There’s enough seating for at least 30, I reckon, and those heaters really did make things cosy.

Now, in case you’d forgotten what the event was, the space was full of calçots and other Catalan vegetables not typically found in this city. Those dried chillies are nyoras, used to make the romesco sauce for the calçots. Do you recognise the tomatoes?

While everyone mingled and sipped on cava, we watched as head chef Leo Rivera started grilling the long onions over a portable gas stove – very handy! It does seem more convenient to bring out the portable butane rather than go to the trouble of charcoal whilst it’s cold and windy.

We were then invited to find our seats (what beautiful table dressing!) and the calçotada started in earnest.

Well, almost in earnest! First were a couple of less traditional calçot preparations that are currently featured on their a la carte menu. Fat orange stuffed olives were a nice tangy foil to rich tempura calçots, served with romesco.

My preference was for the calçot croquetes, only because I really cannot turn down a croqueta. These large marble sized nuggets were perfectly creamy and oniony.

Before we got much further, Leo gave a demonstration on how to drink from a porró – a Catalan device for pouring a thin stream of wine directly into your mouth. Soon there was plenty of red wine splashing down everyone’s chests!

Bundles of grilled calçots wrapped in paper were handed to us along with dishes of romesco sauce (or technically salvitxada, a thicker romesco sauce specifically for eating with calçots). After grilling, the calçots were wrapped in newspaper, allowing them to keep warm and steam a little, separating its layers.

Another demonstration! How to eat a calçot: Peel the charred layers of calçot skin off to reveal the tender, translucent slips of grilled calçot. Dip this into sauce and drop its length into your mouth from above. Oh, and ensure that your bib is on. I went through my pile in minutes.

A massive platter of meat (to be shared between two) was then set in front of us. Grilled meats are the traditional second course after calçots; it seems natural to make use of the grill since you’ve got it fired up! Grilled botifarra (a Catalan sausage), presa iberica, lamb chops, and chorizo were accompanied by a grilled artichoke, roasted red peppers, a baked potato, plenty of toasted bread and aioli.

Everything was of the quality we’ve all come to expect from Brindisa. Extra artichokes were brought out for us as well and I’m not ashamed to say that I managed to have an extra artichoke and an extra botifarra as well! (Botifarra are rare in London as the shops don’t tend to stock them as they perish quickly.)

For dessert, it had to be crema catalana! We were shown how a hot iron is used to burn the tops of the creams and then we stuck in. Brilliant – these were creamy and not too sweet, the sweetness provided by the crunchy caramelised tops.

It’s not too late to book a seat at one of Brindisa’s calçotadas – they take place on Saturdays and Sundays in February and March only at lunchtimes and at both Tramontina Brindisa and Morada. All the food plus a glass of cava is £35 per person. I can definitely recommend it; it’s a comfortable space and a calçotada is great fun. Book your calçotada here!

Thank you very much to Brindisa for the invitation!

Tramontana Brindisa
152 Curtain Road
London EC2A 3AT

We were starting to take things a little easier on the 4th and 5th days. First up was a visit to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)…

…and its calming Sculpture Garden. I love it.

We could have spent all day here and we almost did; for lunch, we stayed in the museum and tried the restaurant on Level 2: Cafe 2. We were impressed with the food in the canteen-like setting (but there’s table service). The restaurants at MoMA are actually part of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and they’re keeping some good company in their portfolio of restaurants.

We split an antipasti tasting consisting of three of our chosen antipasti from a list. Artichoke gratin was plenty of sliced artichokes with hot cream and cheese, perfect for dipping into with their homemade carta di musica.

There was also a lone meatball (excellent though so lonely) and a brilliant roasted carrot salad with almonds and maple and yoghurt.

There was also a good-sized bowl of perfectly al dente rigatoni with braised pork-fennel sausage and a creamy tomato sauce.

And, of course, for dessert, gelato. I’ve heard that theirs is from Il Laboratorio del Gelato though I don’t know if that’s the case anymore. Whatever the case, the chocolate, raspberry and strawberry gelati we tried were very good indeed.

Good stuff overall – it’s definitely a big step up from the usual museum food.

After our time at MoMA, we took a subway to the start of the High Line. This elevated park on former freight rail line wasn’t open when I was last in NYC and I relished this opportunity to see it this time.

What a beautiful park – I loved the way the style of the park would change along its length! Seeing it on a weekday afternoon was excellent as it wasn’t too crowded but there’s lots of benches and it’s fantastic looking over the streets and if we had been hungry, it would have been easy to pop to Chelsea Market for a snack.

We headed back to Brooklyn for dinner. We had spotted Hill Country Barbecue on our first night and it looked like a great place for a meal; we were not disappointed. The place was huge – we were seated and drinks were brought to us but after that, you’re on your own until dessert. It’s up to you to bring your little order card to the counters to get your meats and sides.

I got us a sampling of their moist brisket, a jalapeño-cheese sausage and some ribs. This was all wrapped in brown paper and placed on a tray. They were brilliant – I loved the tender peppery brisket and the mild cheesy sausage. The ribs too had a good chew to them and I had plenty of their barbecue sauce with them.

I liked that you had a choice of sizes for the sides and we opted for the smallest to get a variety. White shoepeg corn pudding was a surprise, all sweet and creamy corn kernels. Braised collard greens had been cooked with smokey bacon. Green bean casserole was made in the traditional American manner with a creamy mushroom sauce and crispy french fried onions. Tender cornbread was served with whipped chipotle honey butter. All were excellent.

The start of the 5th day was excellent. Unfortunately it was also Blai’s last day in New York as his flight was late that evening so the day was tinged with sadness. but we made it a super food day, beginning with a trip to the Dough outpost in Manhattan.

It was doughnut heaven in there! We tried a hibiscus one…

…and a mocha. Yes, for us, Dough beats Doughtnut Plant – I like their doughnut texture and taste and their glazes. Well, no more doughnuts for me for a while. Oof.

Then our walk took us through the West Village where we came across Pasticceria Rocco on Bleecker Street. I knew we had to walk in upon seeing their pastry display in the window and their sign proclaiming the best cannoli in the city! Blai had never had cannoli and we bought a mini one for takeaway. The ricotta filling was piped into the shell to order and we had a choice of pistachios or chocolate for the ends. It was fantastic.

For lunch, it was back to another outpost of Luke’s Lobster at Blai’s request. We skipped the lobster rolls and went straight for the crab rolls, with, of course, more of their clam chowder.

For dessert, it was off to Grom, the Italian chain of gelati shops. This was probably the best gelato we tasted in New York – Grom, please open in London!

After a bit more wandering and a rest back at the flat, Blai was off! I was by myself now and work was starting the next day. I was supposed to meet a New York friend for dinner but due to a number of happenings, I had to cancel it as I had an early morning.

But I still managed to get a good (and light) dinner in me at the Pok Pok Phat Thai. The small restaurant is one in Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok chain (which originated in Portland) and is next to Pok Pok NY and across the street from their Whisky Soda Lounge. The Phat Thai branch was probably the most casual and that Wednesday night, it was easy to get a seat for just me.

The tables were set with colourful tablecloths and all the proper Thai condiments were available. A nice touch was that the drinking water was infused with pandan.

I chose the simplest phat thai on the menu, without the addition of large prawns or minced pork. That’s not to say it was vegetarian – there were still dried shrimps giving lots of flavour. Excellent stuff and it hit the spot after all the rich eating the previous days.

And then I was on my own in the city for work.

MoMA Cafe 2

Hill Country Barbecue Market

Dough

Pasticceria Rocco

Grom

Pok Pok Phat Thai

My friend KK is so organised. Again he visited from Switzerland and he’d already made a lunch booking for us at The Dairy before I even learned he was going to be in town that weekend (we had discussed visiting on his prior visit here!). And two Saturdays ago, that’s where I met him, at The Dairy in Clapham Common. It’s a tiny place from the front (blink and you’ll miss it) but there’s enough seating within. I very much liked its pseudo-rustic cosy atmosphere.

Along with the menus, we received the following little snack: a Marmite crisp topped with cheese and onion. It was a very promising start, with the usually very assertive trio of flavours toned down into a very pleasing amalgam.

There were a couple of menus for us to peruse. We didn’t choose the tasting menu (£45 per head) but instead chose a number of things we liked the sound of from the a la carte menu. We were originally advised to choose a snack, a vegetable, a fish or meat and a sweet for each of us but we ended up all over the shop on the menu. Just the one snack, one veg, two fishes and two meats between the two of us and we’d decide on dessert later!

Straight after putting in our order and returning our menus, we received bone marrow butter on a stone and a little canvas bag with a small round loaf of homemade sourdough nestled within. Oh, it was warm and cosy within that bag! This was one of the best breads I’d received in a restaurant in recent memory and I could have made a meal of just that and the luxuriously meaty butter.

Our only snack was what we thought sounded like the most exciting thing on the snack menu – the Cured Iberico presa, parsnip, hazelnut (£6.50). The slices of  tender pork shoulder were here topped with parsnip crisps and shaved hazelnut. Delicious but yes, snack sized!

Our vegetable was the Hay smoked curd, Jerusalem artichokes, roasted onions, chanterelles (£8.50). What impressed me was not only the flavour combinations but the variety of different textures too. The Jerusalem artichokes showed up in three different ways on this plate: braised to a slippery smoothness, mashed into a puree and fried to a crisp. Inspiring!

Our fish dishes both arrived together. The ‘Lady Hamilton’ smoked cod, charred leeks, sorrel, fried bread (£8.50) was delicious. I loved the way everything combined – the smokiness of the fish, the sweet and smokey leeks, the zesty zing of the sorrel and the crunch of the fried bread.

The ‘Julie Girl’ monkfish, toasted cauliflower, romanesco, dulse butter (£10) was equally excellent. Neither was “better” than the other; they were just different. I loved the way cauliflower, a normally kind of dull vegetable, was here again used in different ways – there was roasted cauliflower, fried crumbs, puree, and raw shavings. I’m still not entirely sure what dulse butter was but the slick of butter was quite nice under everything.

Onto the meats! The Chicken oyster, crispy skin, cellar kimchi, burnt kale (£9) was a fabulous combination of two of my favourite chicken parts with homemade kimchi and the fashionable crispy kale. That pressed chicken skin terrine thing….wow. That was one of the best chicken skin things I’ve ever had. I have no idea what to call it. This plate was perfectly put together with the rich and the sour balancing ever so well.

We finished with the Suckling pig belly and cheek, cabbage, apple & walnut chutney (£10) which was also very good. The cheeks were braised and tender and the belly was roasted and also tender and both matched well to the sweet and tangy chutney. The cabbage came in large strips which were visually pleasing but y’know, they were just large strips of blanched cabbage. That said, I can see why they were included – their blandness were a foil to the richness everywhere else on the plate.

Of the three desserts on the list, only one really shouted out at us (we weren’t in the mood for rice pudding or pannacotta). Our choice of Salted caramel, cacao, malted barley ice cream (£6.50) was just incredible. It was all very moreish without being too sweet and cloying.

We were very happy with our meal. We were made even more happy with the lovely petits fours that came before our coffees. What struck me about their sweets was how they all weren’t too sweet – and the petit fours were no exception. Tucked within the folds of an old menu were pieces of short and buttery biscuit, a herby green cake with a red berry centre, and a pear jelly coated in sherbet powder.

With a large bottle of sparkling water, 2 double espressos and service, the total came to about £37 each. I’ll be back – I can’t wait to see what other dishes they come up with!

The Dairy
15 The Pavement
London SW4 0HY

The owners of The Dairy have recently opened another restaurant in Clapham – The Manor. If you’re visiting London, I wouldn’t recommend trying both the restaurants on the same visit as there’s quite a bit of overlap between the two menus. My friend KK learned that the hard way.