Friday 22 February 2013

NAAAAANNNDDDOOOOOOSSS!

I love Nandos. I've eaten my way through several loyalty cards and lost quite a few more. The smell alone holds a rather special chicken-shaped place in my heart.

Eating with your fingers, feeling the Peri-Peri warm your tummy and lift your mood. It can bring the sunshine on a particularly crappy day. Mrs P. and I go to the Cinema quite a lot. Usually a couple of times a week if I'm not travelling. A feat made possible by the fantastic invention of the Cineworld Unlimited card, and this Wednesday we thought we would stroll down and see what was on. As, apparently, had the entire population of Milton Keynes. Never people to give up too easily, we drove round the car park once comparing the idea of dinner versus getting grumpy about the people eating popcorn/nachos/sweets too loudly or checking their mobile phone half way through the movie in case, God Forbid, they miss that vital Facebook post that tells them Mandy is no longer in a relationship with Dave. And then gave up.

There was only one realistic choice. Quick, cheap but not fast food, Nandos is the default go-to joint of choice. Strangely, we have three in MK and Mrs P. and I are still not sure why. Surely two can cater for all our chicken desires but apparently not. I'm not complaining, it meant we could leave the cinema to drown in it's own 2 for 1 Orange Wednesday tidal wave of tracksuit wearing Chavs* and make our way to  get some tasty chicken closer to home. We rolled in, got our table and I jumped in the order queue. Although in most places we eat regularly, we try to discover new dishes, Nandos is a bit of an exception. Because they only serve chicken (albeit in various baps or wraps) we have long since distilled the best value dish on the menu. A whole chicken with two sides and two drinks for under 20 quid. What more can you ask for?* Bloody Bargain.

As you may know by now I love my chilli heat. Mrs P. is not so much of a fan but is game for a good go. Therefore, our normal Nandos tipple is a Lemon and Herb marinade with a bottle each of the Hot and Garlic sauces on the side for dipping. It came as a welcome surprise therefore when I noticed as I got to the till that there was something new available. The children’s menu (groaningly named 'Nadinos') mentions a 'Peri-tamer' sauce which proports to be the first step along the Peri-Peri road of deliciousness. Just up Mrs P's street I thought.

The chicken arrived in all it's bounty and looked as good as usual. The new sauce was reminiscent of a sweet BBQ sauce which was reasonably pleasant. My surprise though came when Mrs P. exclaimed that it did not float her boat at all. While nice and sweet, there was no punch to it apparently, it could have been shaken out of any generic BBQ sauce jar and straight onto the grill. I couldn't criticise Nandos for the lack of spice, it did come from the Kids menu after all, but it didn't seem to have anything special going for it. Uniquely average was the position we best thought described it the end result. The chicken and sundries are good value and we love the ability to share food with a large group but we will be returning to the Lemon and Herb marinade next time. That is Nandos, unless you can tempt me away with something else. Go on, I dare you.
 
No, I didn't take this on Instagram. It was just dark.




*This opinion may have been unduly influenced by the Daily Mail that I glanced at on Wednesday morning. I apologise for this.

*If you are Mrs P. that would be halumi cheese. Tips me over £20 every bloody time.

Sunday 17 February 2013

The Great Recipe Book Challenge of 2013 - February


This month, the cries of celebration were heard throughout the land as the random number generator gave us Green and Blacks Chocolate lovers cookbook, and if there is one thing that Mrs. P. loves more than chocolate, I haven't found it yet.


I however felt slightly cheated. Not because of the choice of recipe book, but because of all the recipes available from said book, fate chose to give us biscotti. Please don't get me wrong here, I like biscotti. Nice and crunchy, sweet with plenty of variety it's the perfect dunkable, but cheated because I perhaps wanted to be tested a bit more. That said, I had committed to performing any recipe that came up and this weekend I had the perfect opportunity to crack on so I jumped at it.


I was working with my daughter, so I decided to measure out everything into bowls before any cooking took place. I try to prep most of my cooking to some degree but I was glad I went the extra mile this time. Cooking with kids is great, and certainly the easiest way I know to get the to try new things. My daughter loves cooking with us and we try to involve her as much as we can, although obviously, it's not always possible. This time though the planets aligned and we got stuck in with considerable gusto.



The recipe was very easy, the only things we didn't already have in the cupboard were the chocolate, ginger and orange essence. I suspect that most people might not have 00 flour but as we make a lot of pasta, we managed to scrape togeather enough of that too. 



Mixing and rolling were the only jobs really and when I make these again (which I'm sure I will), I think I'll go for one big one rather than three small rolls. Perhaps it's because it will look more like the ones you buy in Starbucks! I was really pleased when they came out of the oven and when I started to slice, I was surprised at how easily it started to resemble the picture. Back in the oven for a couple of minutes, and here again I would change my strategy. Either a thinner cut or a longer second bake because the end result was slightly chewy in the middle - not what you want for biscotti.

However after a day or so, the biscotti went gone slightly stale, perhaps a consequence of under cooking, again something I hope to remedy the next time around. Even so, the Green and Black's recipe got the thumbs up all around. Nice, quick and easy with a very tasty result. Indeed, I'm chomping on one right now... So, will commit to this recipe again? Absolutely. It would be a massive hit at the School bake sale and the joy of sticking one of these in your tea simply cannot be described.




Chocolate-Orange Ginger Biscotti

Makes quite a lot

150g of blanched almonds
250g '00' flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
50g crystallised ginger - finely chopped
2 large eggs (they ask for free range) - lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp orange essence
icing sugar for dusting
150g dark chocolate with ginger (I bought 2x 100g G&B ginger bars and I will admit to putting both in, so sue me)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line your baking trays with baking paper.

Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Add the almonds, ginger, eggs and 1 tsp orange essence. Stir to form a thick but soft dough. Dust icing sugar over a clean surface, divide the mixture into three portions and roll each one into a sausage shape.

Place the rolls on the lined baking trays and flatted slightly. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and carefully cut each roll on the angle into 1cm-wde strips. Spread the strips in a single layer on the baking tray and return to the oven for 2-3 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.

When the biscotti are cool, melt the chocolate in a bowl and mix in the remaining orange essence. ip the biscuits in the chocolate and leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Consume responsibly.




Sunday 10 February 2013

Penderyn - Welsh Whisky



What? Welsh Whisky? Isn't that some kind of euphemism? If that was your first reaction upon reading the above title then rest assured you are not alone. I, too, was a little non-plussed when I opened my latest birthday present from my collective family. However, the sister-in-law who actually gave me the bottle is quite a devote of the culinary herself and was rather excited but not a little disappointed to be giving it to me, so my intrigue was certainly piqued. 

As with many other things in life, I cannot pretend to be a whisky connoisseur. I have however, developed a taste for it and I have learnt enough to understand the following general rule of thumb:

age = expensive = nice

A simplistic view perhaps, and certainly one that I have fallen foul of over the recent years; it doesn't matter how expensive it is, I do not like Laphroaig. However, through all of the tasting, testing and all the other very serious issues related to drinking, I have discovered that my preferred style of whisky comes from the North East of Scotland. How odd then, that I be given a whisky from not just the opposite side of the great whisky producing landmass, but also not even from Scotland at all! Therefore it was with growing trepidation and curiosity that I cracked the seal to give this little beauty a go.

The tasting notes describe the whisky being aged in bourbon but finished in Maderia casks, 'to bring out its full golden character' (sic). It also professes to offer a 'classic freshness', 'aromas of cream toffee, rich fruit and raisins' alongside 'sweetness to balance an appetising dryness'. The finish has 'notes of tropical fruit, raisins and vanilla'. Apparently.

So, what did I discover when I drank this very nicely packaged gift of love? Actually, I was very pleasantly surprised. It tasted smooth without too much of a rough catch to the throat, and I certainly got the sweetness as described from the maderia barrels. For me, this isn't a very complicated whisky, all this rubbish about finding cream toffee or tropical fruit is just that. Personally, I got an almost grassy, medicinal nose and palette, followed by the raisins - OK, I'll give them that - and finishing with a warm vanilla.

I can see that this is an attempt to bring Welsh Whisky into the mainstream by making a whisky that is as drinkable as possible, and on behalf of those of us who prefer our whiskies mellow, warming and easy-going, I salute you. Great job. 

Friday 8 February 2013

Villa Pereire - Paris

I sit, angry and frustrated, writing this blog post in Paris airport on my way home after three days of attending a damn awful tradeshow for work. The reason behind my emotional vibrancy is simple. I've been here three bloody days and only managed one meal out in a city, rightly proud of it's culinary achievements. Instead of stuffing my face with French fabulousness, I have been stuck either inside an exhibition centre or inside a hotel room.

But do not, dear reader, feel sorry for me. This is a fate I chose for myself. You see, for all three days of this trip I have been suffering from various cold related viri and so I chose to sometimes sit, but mostly lie, in the dark feeling sorry for myself and groaning occasionally rather than suffer through meals with colleagues, bosses and bosses bosses with whom, in order to meet the minimum of pleasantries, I would have had to have expended too much effort than I had available in my personality tank.

Instead, I saved myself for one big blow out and managed to get away on my own to meet some customers at a little Cafe Resteraunt around the corner from my hotel so I could duck back to the safety of my bed without too much trouble if things got rough. And so, let me introduce Villa Pereire.



Poised next to the restaurant situated on a prime corner in the centre of Paris (Who doesn't love an underdog) , Villa Pereire looks from the outside like many other Cafe's in France. Long, thin windows and a dark facade which, I'm sure is all very Avant Garde but I think makes it look a little too austere. Inside was a different story however, with opulently curtained walls and lovely pockets of light which allowed tables privacy and atmosphere, that does however present a problem to the photography of the occasion, hence the appalling photo quality. The service was great as well, the Maitre D was always attentive and very tolerant of my all too consistent attempts to beat his language into submission however much wine it took me.



I started the meal with sea scallop carpaccio , seasoned with lemon juice and dill. The scallop simply dissolved into a beautiful ozone ooze once in the mouth and while I admit not to be a fan of herbs in general, dill is ticking my boxes of late and this was just lovely. I was very pleased to see a good portion size too, not just one corner of a massive plate which so often happens.



For the main there was only really one choice. I very rarely order steak in the UK, unless Mrs. P. and I are out somewhere posh and I can't see anything else I would rather have. The results are just so hit and miss that I don't take the chance. In France, by contrast, I haven't had a bad one yet and this one refused to buck the trend. A massive slab of Rib-eye sorted the men from the boys. Cooked 'blue*', it was a master class in good quality ingredients and a great deft hand on the grill. An absolute beauty. The fries were salty, thin and crisp. Again, when travelling in the UK I do all that is possible to avoid chips. This is because almost everything on the menu comes with them and I'm fat enough already thanks very much. These were great though, the real deal and I lamented (secretly of course), why it was that we are so heavily chained by the frozen chip.

Stuffed with cow though I was, I still felt compelled to order pudding and having consumed a couple of bottles of wine by this point I considered my French to be good enough to order without asking for a translation. In reality, once the waiter had gone, I had to admit that past chocolate and pistachio, I had absolutely no idea what was about to arrive.



Lucky for me, I was saved by the arrival of a baked chocolate soufflĂ© with a chocolate and pistachio sauce filling. It seems I wasn't too far off. While some may say it was a trifle heavy considering the preceding course but I suffice to say I had no trouble getting it in my gob and I loved every mouthful of the rich, untious, nutty sauce that oozed out of the cake, down my chin and onto the table cloth. Perhaps a little pricy but much of that was the wine, of which there was plenty of choice. We went with the recommendation of the Maitre D, and while 44 euro per bottle, worth every cent. Delicious**. I rolled out of there € 277 the poorer for three, including wine. But would I recommend it? Absolutely, my dining guests and I were wined, dined and then sent directly to bed before my snot broke through the floodgates and embarrassed everyone present.


*try asking for that down at your local Harvester and see the look they give you.

** you will notice I deliberately did not mention which wine we enjoyed. Rest assured, if I had any idea what it was, I would tell you.