Breakfast Burritos Aren’t Just for Breakfast

Why are breakfast burritos generally limited to, y’know, breakfast time? I love that combination of cheesy, eggy, savoury goodness all wrapped up in a neat handheld package and I reckon it’s suitable at any hour of the day.

I wish breakfast burritos were more of a thing here in the UK; in the States, even McDonald’s serves them (they also have biscuits but that’s a rant for another post)! Luckily, they’re easy and quick to put together. Quick enough for a weekday dinner!

Breakfast Burritos

In a frying pan, fry some chopped onions and perhaps some chopped bell peppers until soft and then add meat (chorizo, breakfast sausage, ham, bacon – chopped), maybe some chopped leftover potatoes too. I used chorizo and some tater tots first baked in the oven. A couple of tomatoes wouldn’t go amiss here and when it’s all almost done, perhaps some wilt down some spinach in the mixture. Salsa and jalapeno peppers are good too. Beat a few eggs together and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Pour it all over the mixture in the frying pan and throw in a good handful of grated cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese. Gently fold together until the mixture is set. Take off the heat.

In another pan or in the oven, heat a flour tortilla or two until warm and pliable. Pile on the egg mixture and fold up like a burrito. Eat with salsa or hot sauce.

And sure, they’re also good for breakfast, brunch or lunch!

 

Christmas Feasting

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! We’re not religious at all but I’ve embraced the whole idea of Christmas and the fact that we get an enforced break from work and well, all of that eating, of course! Our feasting started Christmas Eve with a big Chinese meal for the three of us (Blai joined us this year for his first Christmas in London).

My brother had brought over a roast duck from Four Seasons (our usual duck of choice comes from Gold Mine but they had closed early the day before!) and I added a steamed fish, wontons in chilli oil, kai lan with oyster sauce and mapo tofu (I added some pork to that last recipe).

A couple of the recipes came from Fuchsia Dunlop’s book Every Grain of Rice – and I highly recommend this book! I feel I ought to be cooking more Chinese food and I’ll certainly be using her recipes often.

Afterwards, there were slices of Heston’s Black Forest Buche (bought at Waitrose) for dessert. We’re still eating our way along the length of this excellent chocolatey buche.

On Christmas Day, we rose late and started with a breakfast of smoked salmon and crème fraîche on blinis along with scrambled eggs.

Soon after breakfast, I set out a few bites while the main course was cooking. A bit of cheese, A bit of charcuterie, a bit more salmon. It’s what the Catalans call pica pica, all these little bites.

And the main course? Well, we can’t go wrong with another slab of pork belly – it always goes down well in this family. This year, I roasted it with apples and onions and I loved the sweetness and slight tang the apples gave. For a recipe, start with this one and instead of fennel, use a couple of sliced onions and a couple of sliced, peeled green apples and a bit of dried or fresh thyme.

Very buttery mashed potatoes, pigs in blankets, sauteed sprouts, roasted carrots and parsnips and, of course, that pork and there’s my first plate made.

And now it’s Boxing Day and that’s all about using up the leftovers… but first, I’d like to hear what you’ve been eating this Christmas! Have you tried new recipes this year or is this a time for sticking to tradition?

 

The Square and the Launch of the The Square Cookbook

To celebrate the launch of The Square Cookbook by Philip Howard, I, along with a group of bloggers, was invited for dinner at The Square, a restaurant I’ve been meaning to visit for ages but never managed to make it there to try one of their set lunches. We dined in their private dining room that night and little did I realise that we’d get to experience their full tasting menu – and what a treat it was! There were wines accompanying each course as well and as I’m totally useless with alcohol, I won’t describe them here.

To whet our appetites, a few little bites were brought out before the tasting menu started proper. A cone of foie gras mousse was luxuriously smooth and rich. A bite of pumpkin and cepe arancini was creamy and heck, it’s deep fried – can’t go wrong with that. Crunchy squid ink rice crackers stood in a base of delicious taramasalata dip.

Autumn Minestrone with a Slow Cooked Quail Egg, Montgomery Stock, Tarte Fine of Savoury Onions and Cepes

This was incredible,with its melting egg at the bottom of the rich, cheesy infused soup. The tarte fine on the side was just utterly delicious and I could easily have tucked away a whole trayful of it.

Rillette of Smoked Cornish Mackerel with a Vinaigrette of Poole Prawns, Oysters, Sea Water Jellies, Cucumber and Caviar

This may have been my favourite course – the creamy rillettes were hidden under a fresh mixture of prawns and chopped oysters, pearls of sea water jelly and caviar and cubes of cucumber for crunch. It was a great combination.

Roast Foie Gras with Crab Apple Glaze and Toasted Hazelnuts

This was served with a tarte fine of apple, a slice of caramelised quince and a schmear of quince paste. The fruits provided a great sweet-tart balance to the unctuous foie. There didn’t seem to be any toasted hazelnuts though…the sprinkles on top were crushed honeycomb.

Sauté of Scottish Langoustine Tails with Parmesan Gnocchi and an Emulsion of Potato and Truffle

This was an incredible piece of perfectly juicy shellfish that was also served with a field mushroom puree.

Fillet of Turbot with Autumn Truffle and Walnut Pesto and a Smoked Celeriac and Bay Milk Purée

The use of nuts was inspired with this flaky moist Turbot sitting on a bed of Hispi cabbage. The puree was very moreish – I really should try using more bay in my cooking.

Breast of Grouse with Turnip and Celeriac, Pearl Barley, Pancetta and Blackberries

I’m not entirely sure I’m the biggest fan of this hyper-gamey bird but it was obviousl this was cooked with care. The tubular structure on the left was what I was most fond of – it was pastry filled with shredded leg meat.

Perl Las and Barkham Blue Cheese with Quince and Walnuts

This combination of two blue cheeses did me in. I’m not a blue cheese fan and to encounter it both in a pastry and scattered through salad leaves was just too intense for me. The little pastry in which the slice of perl las was sandwiched was delicious though with its crabapple filling.

Brillat-Savarin Cheesecake with Currants

The desserts were equally impressive. I never would have thought of making cheesecake with Brillat-Savarin (a triple cream brie) but it did end up tasting like a regular, though excellent, cheesecake. Currants were everywhere on the plate: a redcurrent glaze on the cheesecake, a blackcurrant ripple ice cream and a raspberry Swiss roll topped with a blackcurrant jelly.

Plum Soufflé with Almond Ice Cream

This was a beautiful end to the meal. What was unexpected was the plum conserve at the base of the souffle but it wasn’t any less delicious for it.  And the ice cream was amazing with its flavour of toasted almonds.

So it turned out that the petit fours were the final end! This collection of jellied fruits was delicious with my favourite being the orange slice of candied grapefruit peel. In addition, there were some salted caramel honeycomb truffles that we struggled to fit into our already swollen bellies. If this meal was anything to go by, their set lunch must also be something quite special.

And the book? Well, Howard himself came out to talk us through it and explained that this was a 10 year labour of love and we ended up comparing his cookbook (a seriously hefty tome where each dish requires a lot of time and effort) versus the current trend for super quick and easy recipes. Well, I reckon it would be nice to push myself a little further in the kitchen and see if I could work through one of the recipes. Personally, I’d have to adapt some things for my tiny kitchen: for example, I won’t be smoking my own mackerel to make the rillettes (yup, the recipe for that dish is included) but would rather substitute a high quality already-smoked fish.

The book out now is only Volume 1: Savoury while Volume 2: Sweet is due out next year. Of course, it can be ordered through their website or any good bookshop. In addition, Howard recently recorded a Kitchen Foundation video mini-series and two podcasts. They describe the foundations of a successful kitchen and I view them as bonus material with the cookbook.

Funny story. I was carrying the book back home on the tube that evening when, to my surprise, the man sitting across from me became very excited by the sight of it. It turned out he was a former cook himself and it goes to show the esteem to which Phil Howard is held.

Thank you very much to Philip Howard and Alix at ME:MO Interactive for the invitation.

The Square
6-10 Bruton Street
Mayfair
London W1J 6PU

 

Astier, Paris

Unbeknownst to us, our Paris hotel on rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud was a short distance away from lots of good eating. Our hotel’s free wifi was a great help, with a quick search finding us Astier, a very traditional French bistro, only a hop, skip and jump away. A reservation was made for our second night and off we went for our dinner date in this quaint red and white checked tableclothed restaurant. A four course set meal (starter, main, cheese, dessert) was on offer for €35 (with about 4 choices for each course, except cheese) and we both chose that. There’s also a choice of going a la carte as well as specials of the day on a separate chalkboard that can be had as part of the menu at a supplement.

My Harengs Marinés, Pommes Ratte en Vinaigrette first came as an empty plate and a bowlful of deliciously nutty potatoes in a tangy vinaigrette. The marinated herrings came separately in a huge terrine dish that was thunked unceremoniously next to me. I love these help-yourself dishes and I certainly did help myself but don’t worry, I didn’t clean out the communal herrings! The herrings were gorgeous – not at all fishy but almost meaty and the pickled pink peppercorns and onions that swam alongside them were so perfect with them.

Blai’s Caillette de Canard aux Herbes, Effilocheé de légumes, jus de viandes was slices of what appeared to be a fat sausage of duck on a bed of boiled green beans and it was delicious. It was a great start to the meal.

For mains, a Pressé de Jarret de Veau Braisé, Légumes à la tomate et olives noires de Nyons was very tender and had very southern French flavours – fresh tomatoes, olives – that I never would have thought to pair with veal. It all made up for a very fresh and relatively light dish.

The Cote d’Agneau Rôties au Thym Frais, Pommes de terre et aubergines à l’ail doux was fantastic. These was some the best lamb I’ve ever had and each lamb chop was cooked to a perfect rose inside. The accompanying mashed potatoes and aubergine puree were equally good.

During our main course, we had been watching the progress of the cheese platter around the restaurant with envious eyes! Finally, it was our turn! Two fresh plates were set in front of us and then Le Plateau de Fromages d’Astier appeared! Oh, what a spread – we helped ourselves to a bit of almost everything but my particular favourite (and always has been) was a brilliant Époisses – you can just see it on the small plate at the back.

Dessert was of the same excellent standard as the rest of the courses. Blai’s Clafoutis et Sorbet aux Framboises was full of butter and fresh fruit.

My Biscuit Tiède aux Abricots, Glace à la vanille Bourbon façon Melba was equally delicious with half an abricot baked into the cake and another half roasted and placed on top. Their accompanying ice creams and sorbets are also to be commended.

We were stuffed. I managed to find some space for a coffee but that was it – roll us out please.

Service was excellent and very jokey (“€200!” announced our waiter as he brought the bill and he laughed as my eyes bulged out of their sockets. Our bill was less than half that.) It’s a fantastic place to take a very traditional bistro meal and yes, it’s good for cosy dates too! Bookings are advised. It was emptier when we went which can possibly be explained by it being the last weekend in August.

Astier
44 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
75011 Paris

And that ends my posts from our long weekend in Paris. All my photos from this short Paris trip can be found at this Flickr photoset. It’s back to London for a bit before I start writing about the south of France!

 

Bastard, Malmo

In an attempt to work off all of the food I’d consumed earlier that day, I hit the streets of Malmo hard, walking swiftly for two hours and seeing most of the old town and castle. There was a three course lunch and all that food from Helsingborg to burn off.

You see, I was trying to make space in stomach for dinner that evening at one of Malmo’s hottest restaurants, Bastard. Yes, the restaurant is called Bastard and yes, it means the same thing in Swedish as in English and no, I’m not going to bother contemplating why you’d want to name a restaurant that. Anna was dining with us and we walked over to the restaurant together; she had booked a table for our party and I’d highly recommend doing the same should you visit.

I had read previously that the restaurant specialised in nose-to-tail eating but there was nothing on the menu to indicate that. However, I suspect this may have been in the past as at present, their website says that they specialise in Modern European Homestyle Cooking.

A Bastardplanka, their speciality, had to be ordered. It was a very generously loaded plank of delicious charcuterie – chorizo, salami, jamon, rillettes, headcheese – served with plenty of cornichons.

But what was running through my mind as I ate it all (it was delicious by the way) was why not feature Swedish or Swedish-style charcuterie? I know there’s definitely some good stuff about as we tasted some amazing hard smoked sausage the next day (that’s the next blog post!).

Denise’s Confit Chicken Wings with Shrimps, Mushrooms and Potato Puree was fantastic – tender chicken wings and creamy puree. What a great combination of ingredients.

Anna’s Chicken Liver Parfait with Capers and Anchovies was, to my surprise, already spread onto toast. It was very good though with the creamy richness of the parfait and the salty tang of the toppings on the perfectly crisp toast.

Anna and I split two main courses between us (out of a list of only three options on the menu). Cod with a Fricasee of Chanterelles and Parsnips and Dill was excellent. I loved the use of parsnips here; they added an unexpected sweetness to the dish.

The Pulled Pork with Cabbage and Apple Slaw, Mustard and Potato Bread was the epitome of comfort food. I used the bread to create an impromptu pulled pork sandwich and when that was finished, I just shoveled it all into my mouth. Fantastic.

There’s always space for dessert, right? Denise chose the Meringue with Blueberries, Lemon Curd and Cream for dessert and while I love this combination of flavours, I found the meringue a bit too crisp without any of that lovely marshmallowy gooeyness in a well cooked meringue. Can’t fault those blueberries though.

The rest of us opted to sample all their ice cream flavours for that day. A Lemon and Elderflower Sorbet was bright and zesty, Turron Ice Cream creamy and nutty and Dulce de Leche Stracciatella sweet and unctuous. The weakest was their Banana and Burnt Butter Ice Cream which tasted mainly of banana bread and nothing of burnt butter.

On our way out, I noticed a DJ sitting in a corner. I really don’t know what to say about that; I suspect I must have looked a bit gobsmacked.

The cooking is all very accomplished at Bastard and I do like how they’ve clearly used seasonal (and local according to our waiter) ingredients on their menu each day. I just feel like some dishes could be a bit more different (like that delicious chicken wing starter)…just a bit. But still, it’s a great place to dine in Malmo.

Jeanne has also written her post on the same meal. Thank you very much to Malmö Turism for the great dinner!

Bastard
Mäster Johansgatan 11
Malmö, Sweden