Lebanese London

For the boys birthday this year (which was on Thursday) I planned a magical mystery tour down to London town.  We went and checked out the Lucien Freud exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which was superbly wonderful and moving.  We ate ice cream and drank beer in the sun and mooched around in arty book shops.  All very lovely but we certainly worked up an appetite.  I had been planning the trip for ages and had come up with all sorts of options for eating out.  I'd even booked a table at St John Hotel because it was so close to the gallery, but the pre-theatre menu looked uninspiring on the day, and that's all I could afford!  http://www.stjohnhotellondon.com/

My London brother very kindly posted me his Tastecard and having gravitated towards Soho, we found ourselves on Greek Street (where I saw Mark-Francis from Made in Chelsea!) and in a tiny, bustling, Lebanese restaurant called Kaslick.  

 http://www.kasliksoho.com/Kaslik/Kaslik.html

We were brought delicious olives to nibble on, and I ordered a glass of Coteaux du Liban Syrah whilst the boy went for the Lebanese beer.  We started with a few Mezze; melting, tender aubergine slices with yoghurt and pomegranate, grilled halloumi cheese and cucumber and a lip smackingly sour Fattoush salad (with sumac and toasted pitta bread chips).

Mains were from the charcoal grill, I chose a chicken shawarma and the boy went for lamb.   Both were served with salad and a deliciously moreish garlic sauce, both were basically a kebab but a very, very good one.

The Lebanese wine was also very moreish and we stumbled out into Greek Street feeling very jovial.  Some Tripadvisor reviews I checked out briefly moaned about surly staff.  We noticed that some of the customers were very rude to the staff, we were polite and they couldn't have been nicer back, so I do believe you get the response you deserve.

Fifty percent off all food with the Tastecard (except Fri and Saturday evenings) made it very good value indeed.

Crumble Bum

Since the success of celeriac remoulade our veg box adventures have known no bounds.  We have eaten many strange and wonderful organic items including three different types of kale; every veg box is a challenge and so far we've risen to it.  However, when we were left last week with swede and pumpkin I've got to admit I was a bit stumped.  Until I had a eureka moment and stumbled across a savoury crumble... 

I've made two rhubarb crumbles this year and had decided to lay off them as they are not good for the bottom....but the savoury version didn't seem quite so bad, plus we had a veggie guest for dinner.  Crumble is really easy to make, and the sweetness of the squash, swede and pumpkin with the saltiness of the cheese and the crunch of the chopped nuts made for a most satisfying mouthful.  The dressing is for drizzling over the crumble and I went a step further and added a green salad for a bit of contrast and freshness.  The recipe is from the esteemed Michel Roux Jr; veggie friend asked for the recipe....so here it is:

 

You will need

• 100g butter
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 100g grated mature cheddar, use the nicest cheese you can afford
• 75g chopped mixed nuts
• 300g pumpkin
• 300g swede
• 300g butternut squash
• These quantities can be varied as long as you have 900g of them all
• 1 onion, chopped
• A sprinkle of grated nutmeg
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
• 30ml balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  
  
  1.      Sift the flour and rub in the butter until you have a breadcrumb like consistency.
  2.      Mix in the salt, grated cheese, and roughly chopped nuts.
  3.      Peel and cut the pumpkin, squash and swede into 1 cm cubes.
  4.      Cook on a high heat in olive oil, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are slightly browned, around 5 minutes.
  5.      Reduce to a medium heat and add the chopped onion, rosemary, nutmeg, salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes.
  6.      Add the garlic, replace lid and cook for 10 minutes.
  7.      Remove the rosemary sprigs, and put the mixture into a dish and spread the crumble on top.
  8.      Bake in a 180C oven for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
  9.      Mix up the dressing and serve with a green salad on the side.