Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa

For Adam's birthday this year I perused my list of restaurant 'must-go-to's' in my phone and stumbled across Barbecoa, Jamie Oliver's Barbecue Steak House. This meat joint is located at One New Change overlooking the lovely St Paul's Cathedral. Luckily enough I was able to get a booking on the Friday night only at the time of 6.45pm and was kindly reminded when booking that we must vacate this after a couple of hours.

Having stated when booking that it was Adam's birthday in the hope that we would get a good table with a view we were disappointingly lead to a table in the middle of a few other couples and pretty much with no view at all. We were then asked if it was a special occasion and I repeated we had booked for Adam's birthday in which they then offered for us to have a drink at the bar whilst they tried to find us a table overlooking the Cathedral... sweet we didn't mind waiting at all! To our surprise a table was found within moments so we didn't have time for a drink but were placed at a table for two with a lovely view of St Paul's blissfully illuminated on the wet, grey London evening (well Adam did I was very kind and gave him the view for his birthday).

Once seated we were greeted by our happy smiley waiter for the evening who was very impressed with our large order for the two of us. I had done a bit of research and gorged over the menu prior to the evening. I had read good things about the baby back ribs so amongst those we ordered a smoked duck salad, and the calamari, followed by the rump steak with charred aubergine, and pulled pork with slaw, and then settled on a dessert to share of a chocolate sundae with pistachio ice cream.

Smoked Duck Salad

Baby Back Ribs

Adam settled on a bottle of French red, and then another, which ended up costing us the same price as the food totalled up! The starters came out in good time, and our waiter was full of good banter, not over the top but just friendly enough to have a laugh with. The baby back ribs definitely lived up to their expectations, and were probably the highlight of the meal. If I were to go back I would order a main of those puppies. The 'crispy' calamari with avocado wasn't so crispy and lacked some flavour however the smoked duck salad was a nice fresh accompaniment to the rather heavy-duty meal filled with pomegranates, mixed herby leaves and segments of blood orange.

Rump Steak with Aubergine

By the time our mains came out I was almost regretting my rump steak choice. I went with the rump option after recently completing my 'Cook the Perfect Steak' course at L'Atelier des Chefs where the chef there advised us that the muscle that does most of the work usually has the most flavour which is why most chefs would choose a rump over a fillet any day. So I took the chefs advice and went with the rump. Rather disappointing choice I have to say, it was dry and I wasn't advised to begin with that I would need a sauce to go with it. So after devouring a couple of fairly unflavoured dry mouthfuls I enquired about some Bearnaise. This was brought out swiftly but it still didn't give the beef the oomph it required. Adam kindly offered me some of his pulled pork and my goodness these were the most succulent and juicy mouthfuls I had tasted. The pork just oozed flavour that exploded in your mouth, combined with the slaw this really was ticking all the boxes. Accompanied by sides of duck fat chips - tick, ash-cooked sweet potatoes - bit disappointing in flavour and creamed spinach - the third runner up for the best item on the meal. This creamed spinach gratin was perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of  cream so it wasn't runny and finished off with grilled breadcrumbs and cheese = delish!!

Pulled Pork with Slaw and Waffles

Duck Fat Chips, Creamed Spinach and Sweet Potato sides

And I bet you are thinking 'I don't know how we could any more in'... well yes, yes we did!
We shared a pistachio nut chocolate ice-cream sundae that was brought out on a board with the words Happy Birthday scrawled across in chocolate sauce. A neat additive to the evening especially as Adam kindly let me swap seats with him over dessert so I could take in the view of the Cathedral.

 Barbecoa describes itself as 'a cathedral to fire and food'' which pretty much nails the theme of the place, with the meaty menu and situated right next to the beautiful St Paul's Cathedral.  Overall our night was fun, we weren't kicked off our table after two hours, we had great banter with our waiter and delicious wine with a delicious view. The food was a bit hit and miss but with a good few key items on the menu, the creamed spinach, pulled pork and baby back ribs. We ate to our hearts content and to be honest it was a little too much - I was literally in pain on the tube ride home and little did I know my stomach would no longer be able to cope with an overdose of red meat after this! But I would go again even if it is just for an extra large serving of the ribs and the view!

Cooking Class : A Couple of Handy Skills I Learnt

From my recent experiences at L'Atelier des Chefs I would like to share with you two techniques I thought were rather handy and would be useful for you too:

1. Finely dicing onions (which is supposed to not make you cry!)
2. The 'Finger-to-Thumb' steak test

I have also realised that these will be quite hard for you to visualise so I have included two hand drawn diagrams to help.... hopefully!!

1. When preparing the main course for my French cooking class I had to master the art of finely dicing a shallot (a more skinner type of onion for those of you who are not aware). This was a technique I had not mastered and I was advised if done properly it also assisted in preventing the awful bout of tears that follows when one usually cuts an onion.

I was very intrigued to learn the most efficient way to finely dice an onion as they are considered a constant tear-jerker vege for me. I was informed this technique (if done correctly) is not supposed to make you cry, however I did end up crying a teeny bit so clearly I still need to master this skill at home!!

To start with you needed to cut one end off the onion, peel the skin back and discard. Slice the onion horizontally starting from one end to the other, making sure not to cut straight through to the intact end of the onion. Then turn the knife sideways and slice the onion again in about three or four layers depending on its size. Final step is to slice the onion vertically using the point of the knife and press down to slice through the onion, then slide the knife through, repeat all the way through to the intact end of the onion. One important point to note is that you do need to invest in a good quality sharp knife!

NB: A note on the whole 'onion-cryinging-thing' is that it is often when you 'bruise' or bash the onion so its own juices come out that you start crying. The onion juices are attracted to the nearest liquid which is usually the liquid in your eye (believe it or not!). Another solution to help with this is to put a glass of water next to you when you chop onions. Also a pair of sunglasses may do the trick...

2. The 'Finger-to-Thumb' technique is used to check if a steak is cooked to your liking was a very exciting idea to me. For some reason this skill had never come across my radar and I was an avid pre-meal steak cutter to check if it was cooked through to my liking whilst it was still in the pan - therefore serving a steak with a cut in it - not ideal. So basically this technique is as easy as feeling different parts of your hand to reveal how you like your steak cooked : rare, medium-rare and well-done. Touch the middle of your steak with your finger when cooking it to feel the springy-ness. The below will tell you how to cook to your liking:

Rare : Feel the piece of skin between your thumb and forefinger on your hand palm side down
Medium-rare : Feel the piece of skin on the heel of your palm when your thumb and forefinger are touching (palm side up)
Well-done : Do exactly the same for the medium-rare test but using your thumb and middle finger

And there you have it! No more cutting steak mid cooking - you can now cook the perfect steak with this great little technique!

My First Cooking Class at L'Atelier des Chefs

I recently indulged in having a week off work in London, which I was advised by my work colleagues is a 'staycation': a vacation but in your home location.  Basically I had to take some time off work to use up some holiday days, and so deciding not to travel abroad I made some arrangements to do one main thing each day to keep me occupied. When living in such a fantastic cultural city there is an awful lot for one to do, so I had plenty to choose from but I had been meaning to tick a few things off so this provided the opportune moment.

I started the week off with an exhibition at Somerset House celebrating 60 years of Valentino's couture and ended with an exploration of Kensington Palace. The Valentino exhibition was a captivating, engaging showcase of the coutourist's masterpieces, and emphasised the attention to fine detail that made Valentino one of the most compelling designers of our time.  Seeing his work in person was very moving, I'm only saddened by the fact I had none of the ladies in my family to share the experience with.

I took what I learnt from Valentino's passion for fashion to my day two adventure: A three-course French cooking class at L'Atelier des Chefs.  L'Atelier is a cooking school just down the road from where I work at Selfridges which I had passed on numerous occasions. When my staycation arrived I thought what more than a better idea but to go try my skills at a class and boost my knowledge in some French cooking...

 

My class started off with an introduction on how the lesson would pan out; the Chef would guide me through making the three courses from the class I had chosen, assisting in each step of the way. I could then either eat the food I had cooked at the dining table with a glass of wine or I could take it away. No recipe was needed for the class and I was told this would be sent to me within 48 hours of the class (which it was). I was guided downstairs and introduced to my Chef for the class; Satti. Fortunately I was the only one who had booked on to my class so I had the Chef all to myself, so was told to make the most of his expertise!

The lesson consisted of:

• Goats cheese crostini with candied walnuts and salad
• Lyonaise potatoes and l'moutarde chicken
• Chocolate mousse and pistachio and almond toffee

Satti explained what we would be cooking together and briefly how each course would unfold. We started with making the dessert; a homemade chocolate mousse with pistachio and almond nougatine. The moose consisted of two eggs separated, melted dark chocolate, and caster sugar. The mousse was a bit fiddly, having to whisk the whites, then the yolks, add the sugar then fold into each other until smooth, which made for a very sore wrist! And then cool in the fridge. The toffee was then a matter of making it quickly as the sugar and water turns into a caramel and needs cooling time once poured onto a baking tray with the nuts, both items needing cooling so it was only right we completed these first.

We then went straight in to cooking candied walnuts for the goats cheese salad. Satti explained a deep fryer of any sort was the way to go and didn't need to be expensive. I didn't have the heart to tell him I'm not overly into deep frying and have no desire to purchase a machine! The making of the candied walnuts seemed very fussy to me; boil water with sugar and walnuts to precisely 113 degrees, remove the walnuts and drain, then fry in oil heated to 140 degrees until they rise to the surface, remove and drain, leave to cool. Now, for those of you that read LoveBites you know I am all about reasonably quick, efficient and effective food. Candied walnuts does not really fall into that category, however as I was here at the cooking class I embraced the experience.
We then made a costini, using a circular cookie cutter, cut into thick white toast bread and fried. Not really my type of crostini, I prefer the friend French bread type, but this was a interesting change. I then also had to make a dressing of whisked vinegar, mustard and walnut oil which did seem to hurt the hand after so much whisking! It was then a matter of creating a layered crostini, crumbled goats cheese, repeat, garnish with lambs lettuce, sprinkle around the candied walnuts and drizzle with the dressing. Voila! Starter completed and I was able to sit down and eat. This was rich and probably had a bit too much goats cheese but I did enjoy the candied walnuts as a nice accompaniment to the cheese despite the fact they took some TLC to cook!

The next step was to prepare the chicken, sauce potatoes and salad. The chicken was roasted, the potatoes were boiled then sliced, then fried with onions and thyme leaves. The sauce involved sauteing the shallots and garlic, adding white wine, chicken stock, mustards and cream. The salad involved whisking a dressing together in much the same fashion as the dressing for the candied walnuts. To serve we halved the chicken diagonally and placed atop the fried potatoes and doused in the sauce. The salad leaves were tossed with the dressing and served on top of the chicken as garnish.

Needless to say after all this preparation I had pretty much cooked a feast! The chicken and potatoes were bursting with flavour which was emphasised by the sauce and each mouthful was a succulent tender and juicy masterpiece. The dish was once again exceptionally rich and I could only manage half the meal - had to leave some room for dessert! As I tucked straight in to the chilled mousse which was also powerfully rich, I felt like my stomach was going to explode! I managed to finish most of the mousse but felt quite overwhelmed with the richness of every dish.
Each course was tasty in its own right, the main course being my favourite but I do think if I was going to repeat this at home I would need a lighter dessert, or starter as each dish felt very heavy. However this is the style of French cooking and as I had just completed my first French cooking class I could not complain. After this mammoth meal I did not need any dinner but was able to replicate the remainder of the main course for Adam when I got home which he thoroughly enjoyed!

This was a great class, I had a great teacher and a lot of fun, and would definitely recommend going to L'Atelier to anyone. I did in fact enjoy it so much that I went back later in the week for one of their fast lunchtime classes where a friend and I learnt how to cook the perfect steak! I was so impressed with this steak that I ended up buying the Le Creuset grill pan we used shortly after and have been using the finger to palm steak test ever since!

For the recipes I made check out the links below :
Caramelised goats' cheese salad with candied walnuts
Chicken a la moutarde with Lyonnaise potatoes and salad
Chocolate mousse with pistachio and almond nougatine
Rump steak sandwich with truffle mayonnaise and rocket salad

My Favourite Type of Friday...

...or any day for that matter!

At the beginning of my Food for Thought blog I began to discuss my love for antipasto platters. This love grew from a young age at family gatherings in New Zealand where we would always start with h'orderves, which usually consisted of what I feel a traditional Kiwi antipasto platter should entail: cheese (often a few types), olives, sundried tomatoes, gherkins, a dip of some sort usually hummus or a pesto inspired concoction, salami crackers and / or sliced French bread.

This love for antipasto platters has never wilted, however there seems to be a severe lack of antipasto options on many menus over here in the UK, hence the lack of posts and ratings on the blog!  More so they seem to call them a 'chacuterie board' which they have inherited from their French neighbours. Which is all good and all when they actually have it on the menu. You tend to have to go to a particular delicatessen or charcuterie to actually get a proper selection of meats and cheese for example Gordon's Wine Bar, one of London's oldest wine bars (definitely recommend!!). However, pubs and restaurants are catching on with a selection of cheeses to have after your meal. The English tend to save cheese for a post dinner and dessert snack usually consumed with a glass of port or whiskey. This does seem to make sense to me considering when we have antipasto platters as h'orderves they tend to fill us up so much that we then are either too full to have a proper meal or for those of you like me, tend to still fill up the dinner plate and overeat!

Sharing platters are also common over here, usually consisting of a selection of deep fried seafood, a Greek mix of tzatziki, koftas, olives and pita or a meat platter with an assortment of sausages and processed meats.  Despite these great efforts to catch on over here I have missed a good ole classic Kiwi antipasto platter. So recently on one snowy Friday night in London, I decided to make my own. One that would conjure good memories of back home with the family, one that would make them proud and one that would certainly be jam-packed with all the goodness of what I truly consider to be the ultimate antipasto platter.  Of course consumed with a bottle of red... Voila!

 

One thing to note: There can never be enough cheese... I have a love for cheese that can be satisfied at any hour before during or after dinner - There is always time for cheese! However I do consider myself more on the English side here that cheese after a meal served with a glass of red or port is one true delicacy that will never fail to delight me.