Asparagus fries and bacconaisse
SocialJoy
Welcome to my May blog and all the news from this month. I think we are all happy that we can actually go inside a restaurant or cafe to eat, considering the weather has been terrible. At least it is glorious sunshine now though ! My first visit was to my local High Road Brasserie, Soho House for a perfect lunch to ease back into eating out inside!
Meghan’s cafe has also opened in Chiswick, and am a big fan of their brunches which are generally Turkish cuisine, with lots of flatbreads, halloumi, baked eggs etc.
We managed to get away to the countryside and stay in Dorset with a trip to the coast to the Crab House and eat fresh fish overlooking the ocean. Rhubarb, my pooch, went in the sea for the first time, so a great experience for her!
A visit to Darcy’s restaurant in Vauxhall, which is well know for their succulent oysters. however, we had smoked eel skewers to start and mini goats curd & pea filo tarts. Mains were minced beef and marrow pie with grilled courgettes. Even though we were sitting outside, there was still a great ambience for a fab evening out.
I tried our new local restaurant Republic - which is Indian small plates. I would say it was the best Indian food I have tasted! With a twist on the classic english asparagus and a cauliflower starter, we also had hake in spicy sauce too. They will be expanding across London with x4 restaurants in the planning and the next one in Soho.
I am happy that the classes are back inside in the gym, which is great for bodypump and stretch classes.
Had a Spanish themed dinner party this month, with roasted tomato gazpacho shots, followed by a seafood paella and another Nigella salted chocolate tart. All delicious!
Now it is supposed to be summer? I have been replenishing the live herb wall with lots of different mints, such as tangerine mint, moroccan mint, apple mint and ginger mint, plus thyme and oregano.
It is great it’s asparagus season and making the most of eating this English veggie. Just lovely steamed with poached eggs on top or try the recipe below and as per the photo above.
WorkJoy
I have launched another new course this month - Authentic Japanese cooking. The reason for this is, I have had many requests for Japanese food which is clean, fresh and a healthy cuisine. I had a masterclass at my school, with someone teaching me how to make authentic prawn gyoza’s and a seafood ramen soup with soba noodles. Both were very tasty and will be incorporated into my new class, along with a few options on dessert such as matcha green tea energy balls or matcha green tea cookies.
I am experimenting with new dishes and made sticky cauliflower wings with sesame seeds which worked out well. I often make the vegan cauliflower wings which are always a winner so it is good to have an alternative. Also made ginger crunch bars for a sweet but healthy snack, made with coconut oil, dates and oats.
I have been making a few video’s for my website and to launch my new Japanese course and promote my vegan classes. This meant posing in front of my live herb wall and editing it a few times, but was fun making a few takes.
KitchenJoy
More physical classes at KitchenJoy, with vegan, gut health and gluten-free so far this month.
I had a lovely group of Americans from Alaska for a FODMAP cookery friendly class, making chicken kebabs marinated in dairy free yoghurt, brown rice infused with green tea and steamed veggies with a caper dressing. We finished with a vegan lemon drizzle cake.
Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 tuition. This also applies to online private cookery classes and team work building sessions.
Asparagus fries & bacconaisse
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 bunches of asparagus, you want about 20 spears in total plain flour
3 eggs
50g parmesan, finely grated
50g panko breadcrumbs
4 tbsp olive oil
For the baconnaise
250g smoked streaky bacon
2 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra to top up
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk (from above)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp cider vinegar
Method
Separate one of the three eggs for the asparagus. Put the white in a bowl with the remaining two eggs, beat with a fork and set aside until needed. Now, make the baconnaise. Chop the bacon as finely as possible. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the bacon and stir over a low heat for 15 mins, so it ends up sizzling in its own fat and becomes brown and crisp. Sit a metal sieve over a jug and tip the bacon into the sieve – you need about 200ml of fat in total, so top up the bacon fat with extra oil as necessary. Leave to cool for 10 mins.
Tip the egg, egg yolk and mustard into a bowl, whisk to combine, then slowly add the bacon fat and oil mixture – first a drop at a time, then gradually quicker when it starts to come together. (You can also make this in a mini chopper, by blitzing the egg and mustard then slowly adding the oil with the blade running.) Once you have a thick mayonnaise, add the vinegar and chopped bacon, and season to taste. Can be made up to three days ahead and kept in the fridge.
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Enjoy ……..
