A Quick Blueberry Syrup for Waffles and Pancakes

I’ve been watching way too much Food Network UK recently and the one show I constantly drool over is Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I love the old school joints that are featured. There’s many a night I’ve wasted in the past reading about barbecue and meat and three and Coney dogs and stacks of pancakes and everything about this show brings it all to life. Of course, it also brings on some massive cravings, like the waffles I needed one recent weekend.  Rather than pair them with something savoury, I wanted sweet waffles and sweet waffles I would have.

Cheap punnets of blueberries at the supermarket also had me remembering a sleepover at a friend’s when I was much younger and still in Canada. We had pancakes for breakfast with her family and her father brought out a little pitcher of homemade blueberry syrup. The recipes online for blueberry syrup are just that – a thick sweet liquid made from cooking blueberries with sugar and water. But those online are strained while that I remember still had plenty of blueberries in it; this would have to be rectified. It was decided – a punnet of blueberries came home with me and I was going to have homemade blueberry syrup with my waffles that Sunday morning.

Blueberry Syrup for Waffles or Pancakes
serves 2 (on top of waffles and pancakes!)

200g blueberries
3 tbsps sugar
120 ml water

Dump all the ingredients into a small pot and place over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar and when the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer together, mashing the blueberries a bit, until thickened. This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Serve warm over waffles or pancakes. I plopped a dollop of Greek yoghurt on top but it doesn’t really need it. If you like your syrup sweeter, by all means, add more sugar but I like it just like this.

 

Persian Nights in Ealing Common

After grabbing many a takeaway from Persian Nights in nearby Ealing Common, we finally sat down to eat at the establishment with Blai’s parents when they visited over the new year. Knowing that they are very generous with the portion sizes, we insisted on ordering three main courses between the four of us and skipping starters.

First was a weekend special of Zereshk Polo, a stewed chicken dish served with rice topped with barberries, almonds and pistachios (£7.95). While the chicken is fine, it’s the rice that’s the star, with the tart barberries. Utterly addictive.

We also had a Chelo Kebab e Koobideh, two minced lamb kebabs served with rice (£6.95). I’ve always loved these Persian kebabs and these were especially fine and tender. And see that butter? Yeah, melt that over your rice. They can also be served with freshly baked flatbread instead of rice.

Finally, one of Persian cuisine’s most famous stews – Khoreshte e Fesenjan, a stew of chicken in a sauce made of walnuts and pomegranate puree (£8.95). This was luscious and so much more complex than we imagined. It’s definitely a firm favourite of ours now. This was served with another pile of perfectly steamed rice.

And even with just three dishes, we packed up enough leftovers for another meal for one! Portion sizes are huge!

We still found space for dessert though! I shared an order of Bastani with Blai. This Persian ice cream was saffron flavoured and studded with pistachios and chips of frozen cream. It was just the right size to share too after the huge meal.

I do recommend their bread and starters (though I’m not a fan of their Salad Olivier) and their rice with broad beans and dill served with lamb. Reviews online are very mixed though and I do hope they keep the high level of quality and service that I’ve experienced.

Persian Nights
379 Uxbridge Road
London W3 9SA

 

A Brussels Sprouts Frittata

Are we bored of sprouts yet? Still got a few floating about the fridge? Here’s yet another way to use them up.

Ah, Brussels Sprouts. I love the little farty green spheres and I look forward to their arrival in the markets every winter. It wasn’t always this way. I actually remember the first and only time we boiled sprouts at home. It was the first time we bought them ever in Vancouver and my mother cooked them the only way she’d heard how – by boiling them to death. As you can imagine, they didn’t really go down well. Since then, I’ve eaten many a boiled sprout but I’ve also learned that roasting them or pan-frying them is the true way to go. Pan-frying them gets any cut edges beautifully brown and while they’re great to eat as is, here I incorporate them into a frittata.

I also make use of the fabulous crispy fried onions that are so popular in Scandinavia and Germany. I always have a tub to hand – for sprinkling on hot dogs (as they do up in those northern countries), topping frittatas or salads, or just snacking out of hand (terrible, I know). I’ve found them in most supermarkets and also at Ikea.

Brussels Sprouts Frittata

Trim about a dozen Brussels sprouts and cut in halves or quarters depending on their size. Heat a 10 inch non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the Brussels sprouts and fry, turning occasionally until they start browning. Meanwhile, preheat your grill and beat together 5 large eggs, seasoning with salt and pepper. When the sprouts are as brown as you like them, and tender, reduce the heat and arrange the sprouts evenly in the pan. Pour over the beaten eggs and stir quickly to get as much of the egg to the heat. Pat down the mixture before it all sets. While the top still has not set, sprinkle generously and evenly with some crispy fried onions. When the bottom of the frittata starts to take on some colour, move the pan to under the preheated grill and cook until the top has set. Serve.

 

Surviving in Oslo

I’m not kidding when I say I was surviving in Oslo for a whole week. I was still suffering badly from the post-Christmas cold that had me down for a while and having to work in a freezing climate (though it was about 10 degrees warmer than it usually is) didn’t help one bit. Throw in a bout of gastroenteritis and yeah, I’d call it the worst business trip I’d ever had.

Norway isn’t a cheap country and eating out is particularly expensive; I believe Norwegians themselves tend to mainly eat at home and only go out for special occasions. As a visitor staying at a hotel, cooking was out of the question and, of course, the only option was to feed myself at restaurants; of course, with all that illness, I had to look at places either on the way back from work or near my hotel. This is a selection of things that I managed to down that week in Oslo.

The first night, Iwent to Kaffistova, the “budget” eatery where one could taste Norwegian cuisine. It’s all canteen hotplate food and my plate of 3 large meatballs, boiled potatoes and mashed boiled dried peas cost NOK 149 (the exchange rate was NOK 9 to the pound). It wasn’t brilliant but it filled me up and kept me warm inside.

My hotel (the beautiful Hotel Bristol dating back to 1920) had the most amazing breakfast spread – freshly squeezed juices, pancakes, waffles, omelettes, salmon, herring, sausages, cheeses – there was a lot of stuff! Sadly, for most mornings, I could barely stomach any food. This was my breakfast the first morning.

One night, we all went out for pizzas at Villa Paradiso, considered the best Italian restaurant in Oslo. Here, a proper Neapolitan pizza will set you back about NOK 170. They’re certainly very good pizzas but yeah, they ain’t cheap.

When I was feeling at my weakest, I made it an early night and grabbed takeaway from a nearby United Bakeries (the branch on Karl Johans Gate). This salami and avocado focaccia sandwich hit the spot.

A cinnamon bun from the same place was only ok – it was a bit too hard for my liking. It had likely been sitting out the entire day.

One very late night after work, I managed a little rice and chicken tikka from Mezbaan on my delicate stomach and this portion (to be fair, it was quite generous) cost NOK 179. You’ve certainly been in Oslo a while when you start thinking…oh, that’s not too expensive…

There were other sandwiches and Norwegian canteen food and even more Italian food in between. And by the time the day I was to fly off came around, my stomach had settled to a near normal level and I was once again able to take advantage of the hotel breakfast. First a plate of totally random things, including a little omelette and pate…

…and then finishing off with a proper Norwegian waffle. These are soft and pillowy and best topped with lots of jam.

I did manage some sightseeing that last morning, including getting the most perfect view of the fjord from Akershus Festning.

Oslo is quite beautiful – which makes up for it being expensive! And their opera house! It’s gorgeous. I couldn’t stop staring at it; it fits so well in this Nordic city.

It was then off to the airport where I snarfed down a cheese pølse with bacon… I do love Scandinavian hot dogs. Not exactly haute cuisine but it went down a treat.

That was probably not very useful to anyone heading to Oslo! For a proper guide on where to eat out in Oslo, do check out Nordic Nibbler’s list! Mr Noodles has also tried a few places in the city.

I guess I do have some tips for what to bring back from Oslo – the milk chocolate there is brilliant. Single chocolate bars are expensive (about NOK 15-20 each) but the huge bars of milk chocolate (with lots of different additions) run about NOK 30-40 (I found lots available at the airport duty free at only NOK 30). They make great gifts – my colleagues inhaled Freia milk chocolate bars with Daim and Kvikk Lunsj. Another nice thing to bring back is ready made lefse, a Norwegian flatbread made with potato.

All my photos from my trip to Oslo can be found in this Flickr photoset.

 

A Norwegian Seafood Supperclub in London

Also just before the holiday season, I was invited to an event by Seafood from Norway to highlight the seafood delights from that Nordic country; this was a one-off supperclub to promote sustainable Norwegian Seafood in the UK and it was to be catered by Signe Johansen, cookbook author and brunch/supperclub hostess extraordinaire. The location was Republic of Fritz Hansen in central London, a gorgeous shop selling the best of Scandinavian design (why has no one told me of it?!).

The table was already starting to fill up with delicious morsels while people were arriving to the shop. Cured salmon with a shot of Linie aquavit, rye pannekaker, sour cream and pickled fennel was a delicious, and substantial, bite – I loved the pickled fennel with the sour cream and the cured fish.

If I had to choose favourites though, the other canape floated my boat more – the Sweet Norwegian prawns with wild dill pollen mayonnaise, lumpfish roe, pickled cucumber on sourdough crisp bread. These light little bites were perfectly balanced – creamy, crispy, sweet, salty, sour. Yes, yes, I do like Norwegian prawns, thank you very much.

Battered cod cheeks with dill, anchovy and pickled cucumber salsa were another favourite; we were burning our fingers and spilling that moreish green sauce everywhere as we hastily scooped it up.

At this point, Signe emerged from the kitchen to tell us all about her Norwegian background and her love for seafood. The menu was sort of a taster of what a Norwegian Christmas table could feature if it was only all about the seafood (I think meat does feature traditionally). Completely unbeknownst to us, the woman sitting to Signe’s right in the photo below was the award winning Bridget Hugo, who runs Bread Bread in Brixton.

Bridget’s breads were pretty spectacular. The brown one below was made of all rye and included slightly fermented rye grains. The half whole wheat also included some white flour and rye flour. Both were great with a good schmear of butter and we ate plenty of it just as is.

We also scoffed quite a bit of bread with the next dish – Lightly-cured halibut with lemon and elderflower. Elderflower and fish? It was absolutely fantastic and I could have easily cleared the entire platter. It was my first time eating halibut in this cured way and I loved it.

Platters of salt-baked celeriac and a colourful kale and spelt salad now appeared on the table, ready to accompany our main course of Roast haddock with bacon and rye crisp.

And here was my plate. A modest serving as I had filled up on uh…prawns on crispbread. The haddock was lovely but I’m not a fan of the rye bread crisp on top. I understand that this topping is commonly used to top apple crisp in Sweden… and at last year’s Swedish Blind Date, it was made clear to me that it is perfectly awful. It’s indeed one way to use up leftover bread but I’ll give it a miss!

After the meal, Signe then cheerfully brought out shots of aquavit for everyone…

…which I passed and instead went straight for her fantastic homemade pepperkaker. A brick of brown cheese was also brought out and surprisingly, it pairs well with the pepperkaker.

Thank you very much to Lisa from Bray Leino for the invitation! It was a great introduction to Norwegian seafood and Norwegian cuisine prior to my business trip to Oslo.

For Norwegian Seafood in London, ask your local fishmonger or supermarket fish counter. I’ll be on the lookout for those prawns. To try some of Signe’s cooking, take a look at her website for updates.

 

Da Nang in Hammersmith

Just prior to Christmas, I dragged Blai out for an early dinner after his last day of work of the year on a Saturday and we tried a recent restaurant addition to the Hammersmith area. There aren’t many Vietnamese restaurants in west London and those that exist are a bit hit and miss and a new one opening was certainly not a bad thing.

Things started well with glasses of excellent homemade limeade (£2.85) (nuoc chanh da).

Starters of cha gio (£4.95) (fried spring rolls) and bo la lot (£5.95) (beef wrapped in betel leaves) were both good though there could have a bit more pork in the cha gio filling.

Bun nem nuong (£7.50) included both fried cha gio and grilled pork meatballs and plenty of salad and rice vermicelli. We gave it a good dousing of nuoc cham and tucked in.

We also shared a banh xeo (£7.50) filled with pork and seafood. It was huge and perhaps a little on the greasy side but the seafood was juicy and delicious and the whole thing went down a treat.

For dessert, a shared che chuoi (£3.50) (a warm, thick, sweet soup of bananas and tapioca cooked in coconut milk). It was incredibly comforting that cold night… and I should learn to make it at home!

Fresh and good Vietnamese dishes? It’s definitely a good addition to west London – welcome, Da Nang Kitchen!

Da Nang Kitchen
216 King Street
Hammersmith
London W6 0RA

 

Leftover Pork Belly Biryani

Being ill is terrible. We both fell ill the day after Boxing Day and down we went with terrible colds and pounding headaches. Today is one of many with a terrible cough and I’m sure I’ll be coughing over everyone at work tomorrow (apologies in advance). Anyway, I wanted to blog this earlier but it’s had to wait until the new year (Happy new year, everyone!) until I was able to – so here it is. Leftover pork belly biryani. Sure there’s nothing authentic about adding pork (!) to a biryani but gosh it’s good and that’s how we used up the leftovers from Christmas dinner.

I’m not talking about an all in one spiced rice dish but a proper biryani made of layers of curry and rice. It’s not difficult but it takes a bit of time and the result is something that feels quite celebratory. The original recipe on which it’s based is a Pakistani biryani and I’m now keen to try making biryanis from the rest of the region (I do have a Thai biryani recipe on the blog).

If you don’t have any pork belly to hand, this would work with any leftover meat (anything from a Sunday roast would do nicely). Of course, if you have no leftover meat, add about 800g fresh meat cut into chunks and added to the curry after the garlic and tomatoes – you’ll need to adjust the cooking time, of course, to ensure that the meat is tender.

Leftover Pork Belly Biryani
Adapted from this recipe.
serves about 4-6.

For the onions
3 tbsps sunflower oil
3 medium-large onions

For the curry
3 tbsps sunflower oil
2 tbsps garam masala
1 tsp crushed chilli flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric
10 black peppercorns
6 green cardamom pods
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 medium tomatoes, chopped finely
2-3 green chillies (more or less), minced
thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced
about 500g leftover roast meat and other suitable things, all cut in bite sized chunks (I used roast pork belly and pigs in blankets and sauteed sprouts)
salt to taste
125 ml plain yogurt
a small handful of chopped coriander

For the rice
650 ml basmati rice, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
8 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 small stick cinnamon
salt

To finish the biryani
1/2 tsp saffron threads
a small handful of chopped coriander

Start with the onions. Slice them finely and then fry them in the oil over medium-high heat until dark brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the curry, in a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the first six spices and fry for about 1 minute until fragrant. Add the garlic, tomatoes, chillies and ginger and continue cooking, stirring once in a while, for about 3 minutes. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the chopped leftover meat, salt to taste, and continue cooking, covered, for 10 minutes. Finally, uncover the pot and stir in the yogurt and coriander and continue cooking over low heat for another 15 minutes. Take off the heat and leave it in the pot.

Crush the saffron threads and pour over about 125ml of hot water. Set aside.

Set 1 litre of water to boil in a large pan and add all the ingredients for the rice (salt to taste). Let cook for about 5 minutes until the rice is al dente. A lot of the water will have soaked up. Drain and set aside.

Now to assemble and finish the biryani. Back to the curry pot. Take out half the curry and set aside. Spread the remaining curry in one layer. Add half the rice and spread that over the curry evenly. Drizzle over half the saffron water and mix it gently into the rice layer. Put the rest of the curry into a second even layer over the rice and finally layer over the second half of the rice and saffron water. Cover and place over low heat and allow to steam together for 10 minutes. Top with the chopped coriander and serve.