Maangchi's Spicy Rice Cake or TTeokbokki

Admitedly tteokbokki or spicy rice cakes were never my favourite Korean street food when I lived there. I think because it was so easy to get ahold of and therefore I took it for granted. 

When I recently went back to London, a family friend's wife made this for lunch and watching her make it I realised how easy it was. Now, this is my husband's favourite meal so I guess I had to make it at some point! I'm using a mix of her and Maangchi's recipe for tteokbokki but the former is a very reliable and authentic blog of Korean food.

Yay or Nay: Yay

Spicy, tasty and delicious! So simple and quick. This will be made again! I added some leeks that I had leftover during the week but I guess you can add any extra veg you might have!

Amelia Freer's Roasted Peppers With Baked Eggs

Another day without the Hubby so another opportunity to make a dish I know he won't eat but I will! I figured I had to give another recipe a try from Amelia Freer's cookbook Cook. Nourish. Glow. even though the last recipe didn't fare so well.

Anything tastes good with an egg on top, so when the book naturally fell open to this recipe I knew it was one to try! Let's hope this recipe for Roasted Peppers with Baked Eggs will do better.

Yay or Nay: Undecided

I did make a few changes to this recipe; I added quinoa and replaced some veggies with what I had on hand so it is different from the original. On the plus side, it is a quick meal to throw togther and the egg adds a rich creaminess that you would otherwise expect by using cheese. Also, the harissa adds some welcome heat to an otherwise kind of bland meal. HOWEVER! Maybe it is down to technique and not overstuffing the peppers - but adding the egg on top was like mission impossible! The peppers kept toppling over so couldn't keep the egg on top, the filling didn't allow the egg to sit on top and the egg kept sliding all over the place so I ended up with pretty much half an egg.

Tip: Scoop out a hole/groove/pit to place the egg in or you'll end up with eggy mess!

Deliciously Ella's Gooey Black Bean Brownies

A quick post as I've been battling jet lag/allergies/tiredness/getting back in a routine! I had a need to bake yesterday and had a flash of wanting to make brownies. I had seen a recipe for Black Bean Brownies a while back and had always wanted to make them to see how brownie-like they could be! 

I had a reminder of brownies from Deliciously Ella's latest cookbook called...Deliciously Ella - highly inventive! The book was a bit of a dud as it didn't feature anything new or exciting so I returned it to the library. Although, I did see her recipe for Gooey Black Bean Brownies and her recipes are easy enough to follow so I went with it!

Yay or Nay: Yay

No every tells you whether these taste of beans or not - well I can attest that they don't! Yay! Pretty easy, whack everything in the blender and then bake. She does stress to let them cool and I forgot so poked my finger in (you can see the indent in the pic) and it was true to word soft. But seeing as it was late at night I let them set and woke up to solid brownies! I didn't have honey so I subbed brown sugar and didn't have any raisins either but I don't think that makes too much of a difference!

Amelia Freer's Mediterranean 'Pasta'

After eating so decadently I needed a bit of a break from rich and moreish dishes. As soon as I was back home I spent most of the morning trying to save plants from the dead and unpacking. I realised that I had no food in the fridge so had to quickly think of some things to eat for the week. In the muddle of jetlag I flicked through Amelia Freer's book Cook. Nourish. Glow. and picked out a few recipes that I could rustle up without searching far and wide for ingredients. 

The one plus of going away was that I came home to a jungle of herbs, berries, peppers and tomatoes which I knew I would utilise this week for sure. For the Mediterranean 'Pasta' I had 90% of the ingredients bar the courgette/zucchini and olives so I knew this would be easy, but would it be tasty?

Yay or Nay: Nay

I love the idea of zucchini/courgette noodles and all that but it never really lives up to expectations - I did have an amazing bowl of noodles in, of all places, Prague but I've never really had anything close to that since. There's always that weird taste when it is raw so knowing that this was cooked appealed a little more. Once the noodles cook down it does have a better aftertaste and the zest of lemon adds freshness but it was overall kind of bland and boring. Plus there was no mention of seasoning it! I'm not a big salt person but even I knew to add salt and pepper for at least some flavour!

Holiday Hiatus

This month was vacation time hence the hiatus on posts - I took a trip back home to London and ate my way through the weeks. It was a month to indulge in new hot restaurants, home cooking courtesy of my mum and friends, cooking classes and favourite UK snacks! Here are some pics to hopefully convert you into thinking England hasn't got any good food!

Kimbab made by a friend

 

 Fish and Chips in Oxford

 Proper Roast Dinner in Oxford

 Pie and mash with mushy peas from Pieminster in oxford

 Salted Creme Brulee Doughnut from Bread Ahead Borough Market

 Japanese Breakfast at Koya, London

 Learning to make Ramen at Yuki's Kitchen, Crystal Palace

 Spicy Fried Chicken and Beef Carpaccio at Bao, Soho London

 Lamington Doughnut by Crosstown Doughnuts, Broadwick Street London

 My Mum's Pho, London

This was only a small portion of what I actually ate, not including junk food like Salt & Vinegar Hula Hoops, M&S Strawberry Trifle and Profiterole desserts, Thai Food in Clapham, Spicy Chirashi from Wasabi, Pork Pies and Scotch Eggs from South Bank Food Market, Bubble Tea and Matcha slushies and so on - it was endless! 

I will be back tomorrow with a new post, so check back!

 

Pure Delicious' Mulligatawny Soup

When the temperature drops, straight away I crave something warming and hearty. But when you know it'll get back up to the 90s you kind of want something in the middle. As I was flicking through the Pure Delicious cookbook, this recipe for Mulligatawny Soup caught my eye with it's bright yellow liquid and contrasting pop of colour from the pomegranate seeds.

Now, I have heard of mulligatawny soup before and was pretty sure I had had it before, but there's no harm in testing it out.

Yay or Nay: Yay

This soup has a similar flavour profile to a Vietnamese Curry my mum makes, or even Katsu curry so it was definitely a hit. The only issue was making this in advance meant that when we were ready to eat this (the day after) it was waaaay to thick, almost like a stew but it was still tasty. Then again, it could have been the fact that I didn't have enough chicken stock for 8 cups, so I tipped what was left of the box in and figured it would be enough!

TIP: Don't add the stock and rice until you're ready to eat otherwise you won't get the consistency of soup.

The Woks of Life's Ants Climbing A Tree

This recipe for Ants Climbing A Tree has been sitting in my Pinterest to-make list and finally I had an opportunity to make it. What enticed me was my husband's and I's love for Sichuan food. Both of us are not big fans of Chinese food (apart from Dim Sum), especially as the offerings are usually horrible greasy western versions of traditional dishes. However, there is a local joint that is Proper, with a capital P, Sichuan cooking. How do we know? The clientele is a big hint (no one speaks English as well as the staff!). We love the spicy, numb your mouth spices although we HATE the super s-l-o-w service!

So instead of waiting around, I decided to make this dish based on its ingredient of spicy fermented bean paste - I have no idea if I bought the right thing but based on the ingredient list I have to just cross my fingers...

Yay or Nay: Nay

It looked so promising, the ginger and spicy sauce making everything a hot shade of red. The flavour is spicy yes, but doesn't have that much depth. It's kind of bland, it could be because I didn't have the two types of soy sauce and just used one, or the paste was the wrong kind but it was a big disappointment. Lesson learned, don't be fooled by styled food pictures!