Lamb and Cypriot New Potato Pittas

Most of the time I don't miss vegetables that aren't in season but one thing I'd love to eat all year round is new potatoes. I'm sorry to say I get quite excited when I see new potatoes in Tesco and can enjoy them with melted butter and mint or as part of a potato salad.

 

Well, now you can get new potatoes in winter, courtesy of the sun-soaked island of Cyprus. Tesco have started stocking the 'spunta' variety which are really versatile - they can be boiled, steamed, roasted or baked and you don't need to peel them so preparation is minimal!

You can even grate them, as I have done in this recipe; even when par-boiled the potatoes are still nice and firm. For this recipe I thought about what I associated with Cyprus, thinking back to a holiday I had there about 12 or 13 years ago. The things that stood out to me were lamb, feta cheese and pitta breads, so I decided to make some lamb and Cypriot new potato patties and serve them with feta cheese inside homemade pitta breads.

You can buy read-made pitta breads for this recipe but don't be afraid to have a go at making your own pitta bread if you haven't before, it's super easy and they taste amazing straight from the oven!

Ingredients (serves 4):

 

250g Cypriot new potatoes
1 egg
1 onion, grated
1 clove garlic, crushed
300g minced lamb
salt, pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
100g breadcrumbs
Oil or low-fat cooking spray
75g feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp. plain natural yogurt

for the pitta bread:
560g strong white flour

10g salt

300ml tepid water

20ml oil

5g dried yeast or 10g fresh yeast

Method:

Begin by making the pitta bread. If you have a freestanding food mixer with a dough hook, put all the ingredients for the pitta breads in the bowl of the mixer and run it for ten minutes until you have a pliable ball of dough. Alternatively, mix the ingredients in a bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for 15 minutes then return to the bowl.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in a warm place for an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is proving, make the lamb and potato patties. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and simmer the potatoes for 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with cold water and leave to cool; change the water a couple of times as you feel it getting hot as this is the quickest way to cool the potatoes.

Grate the parboiled potatoes - you don't need to peel them - into a bowl. Beat the egg and mix in.

Grate the onion and crush the garlic and stir in, then stir in the minced lamb. Season with salt and pepper. Finally mix in the oregano, cumin and coriander until well combined.

Put the breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl. Form the mixture into small balls and roll in the breadcrumbs, then gently flatten the balls until you have patties about three quarters of an inch thick. Press each side in the breadcrumbs again to coat.

Repeat until all the lamb and potato mixture is used up.

When the dough for the pitta bread has had 40-45 minutes to prove, pre-heat your oven to its highest setting and place a pizza stone or flat baking sheet into the bottom of the oven.

When your dough is ready to use, separate into 6-8 pieces of the same size and roll out flat on a lightly floured surface into the shape of pitta breads. Place them (you will need to do this in two or three batches) onto the hot pizza stone or baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes until risen. You will literally see them puffing up in the oven and start to brown then they are done. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Heat the oil or low-fat cooking spray in a frying pan and fry the lamb and potato patties on each side until golden brown.

Slice open the pitta breads (careful of the steam that will escape!) and spread 1/2 tbsp. plain yogurt into each one. Fill each pitta with a couple of the lamb and potato patties and crumbled feta cheese. Enjoy hot with a green salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my entry into the Tesco Cypriot new potatoes recipe challenge. I received a £10 voucher from Tesco to pay towards the ingredients. Cypriot new potatoes are available in Tesco now

 

 

 

 

 

Read More

Restaurant review: Sizzle 'n' Shake, Wallington

 

I really wanted to write a positive review of Sizzle ‘n’ Shake, I really did. But much as I love the concept, the décor, the little touches – the service was terrible and the food wasn’t a whole lot better.

 

Sizzle ‘n’ Shake is a 50s style diner in Wallington and something really different, in an area that seems to be predominantly Indian and Italian restaurants or pubs. I’ve been twice now as we had a mixed experience the first time and wanted to give it a second chance – it was better second time around, but still disappointing. It could have been such a great place!

 

 

Here’s what I loved about Sizzle ‘n’ Shake:

•  The 50s diner styling. The booth tables, the red bar stool chairs at the front window, the pictures on the walls and records hanging from the ceiling, the jukebox playing 50s (and 60s) music with an invitation to bring your own records for them to put on and the menus themselves, which are printed on 12 inch LPs – each diner gets a different record sleeve at random which is a bit of a talking point if that’s your musical era.

 

• The milkshakes, especially the alcoholic ones. Not cheap - £5.50 for 350ml or £9.50 for 700ml but delicious. I had the Monk's Butt (!) which was made with Frangelico, butterscotch, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

• The chips- there is a choice of chunky, skinny or (for an extra £1.50) sweet potato fries which means everyone can have exactly what they want
• They do kids portions at roughly half price which is good.

• The huge choice on the menu (as long as you are not vegetarian) and even the names of the dishes
• -       The personal touch from the man I think is the owner or manager – he was there on both our visits and came over to speak to us both times

 

Here’s what I didn’t love so much:

• -       The location: part-way down Stafford Road opposite a furniture shop with no parking other than the odd space in a side street. Not their fault, and I’m sure they would have loved to have been on the high street, but it is a little awkward
• -       The restaurant itself is also very small; again not their fault but this a great concept and clearly popular. Tables are squeezed in; the non-movable seats in the booths are so close to the table you can barely squeeze in, and it would be nice to have a bit more space.
• -       The prices. The Rebel Rouser which is basically a double cheese and bacon burger cost £14.50; for that my husband was expecting a huge burger that he (almost) wouldn’t be able to finish but it was distinctly average in size. My macaroni cheese burger was £12.80 and was just a plain 6oz burger with a bit of penne pasta.
• -       The burgers themselves: I appreciate that they are homemade and mass produced but they were not particularly flavoursome, not at all juicy and on our first visit, completely overcooked and chewy. On our second visit I made sure to ask for my burger cooked ‘medium’ – they don’t ask how you would like them, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t overdone again. This time the burger was edible and not well done, but not medium either.
• -       The mac and cheese burger I tried on my first visit: I was excited about this as it’s not something you often get on a menu but I’ve had a couple of amazing mac and cheese burgers in the past. In this case, the macaroni cheese was penne pasta that had been mixed with a cheese sauce; there were 5 or 6 tubes of penne just sitting on top of the burger inside the bun, and rolled out as soon as I picked up the burger. I managed to put a couple back in but they didn’t even really taste that great.

• -       The BBQ burger I had on my second visit was better but still didn’t stand out and you can get a better burger pretty much anywhere. I’d put this one on a par with Wetherspoons I think, but it costs a lot more.
• -       I didn’t have a dessert the first time and the second time was really looking forward to the chocolate orange truffle bar, but they had run out. My husband had the waffle with maple syrup which was a plain waffle with a tiny amount of syrup, so very dry – it would have been better served with ice cream or cream or at least more syrup.

 

• -       The service: extremely slow. On our first visit there was only one other couple eating (it was quite late on a Tuesday night) and we felt service was a bit slow. On our second visit on a Saturday at 6pm, the place was packed – but as mentioned above, it’s not that big and there couldn’t have been more than 50 covers. So that’s no excuse for the fact that we arrived at 6pm and didn’t even get our drinks until 6.40 – at which point we noticed two other tables who came in after us had already received their food. 

It’s a shame as the restaurant is a great idea and everything apart from the food and service is brilliant – but it’s the food and the service that will keep people coming back, and I’m not sure that I would.

Read More

Meal Planning Monday 2017 - Week 6

Monday
Lunch The baked potato soup I made last week then froze
Dinner Greggs sausage and bean melt with mashed potato for him and leftover lemon chicken which I froze last week for me

Tuesday I'm working from home
Lunch coronation chicken jacket potato from Slimming World 100 extra easy days
Dinner lamb and potato cakes with pitta bread, beef meatballs for him

Wednesday
Lunch The baked potato soup I made last week then froze
Dinner chicken chargrills for him, leftover homemade lasagne from the freezer for me

Thursday
Lunch  I'm possibly on a course and not in the office so will have to buy something
Dinner sweet potato and goat's cheese lattice pie for me (bought in the supermarket from the reduced section, thought it looked interesting!) and chicken pie for him

Friday
Lunch I'm possibly on a course and not in the office so will have to buy something
Dinner Out with an old friend I haven't seen in many years

Saturday
Lunch bacon and cheese omelette for him, tuna nicoise with leftover pitta for me based on this recipe
Dinner beef medallion steaks

Sunday
Lunch ham and leek hash with creamy onion sauce from Slimming World Little Book of Sauces for me, bacon sandwich for him
Dinner chicken with garlic and herb sauce for him, lamb grillsteak for me that I meant to do last week but didn't, with roast potatoes

This is a blog hop, join in!

An InLinkz Link-up

Read More

Chocolate Crumble

I love apple crumble but as my husband doesn't eat apple I almost never make it - because I feel like I'd have to make him an equivalent dessert at the same time and I can never think of anything similar! My problem  was solved when I found this Tesco recipe for chocolate crumble - it has a gooey chocolate base with a delicious crumble topping.

I feel that I should echo Tesco's comment that "This pudding is very rich and indulgent so it shouldn't be eaten too often. But it's perfect for those special occasions!"

To serve 4, you need:
for the filling:
200g plain chocolate, chopped
150ml whipping cream
1 tbsp. cornflour

for the topping:
100g caster sugar
icing sugar for dusting
100g unsalted butter
150g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 190C. Bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan then remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until it has melted. Whisk in the cornflour until smooth.

Pour into an oven proof baking or casserole dish and leave to cool for ten minutes.

Meanwhile rub the butter and flour between your fingertips to make 'breadcrumbs' then mix in the sugar. Alternatively put the butter, sugar and flour in a food processor and pulse. Spoon the crumble on top of the chocolate filling and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and dust with icing sugar before serving.

 

 

I'm sharing this with We Should Cocoa, hosted by Choclette at Tin and Thyme.

 

Read More

Restaurant Review: Isolabella, Holborn, London

Holborn is an area that I don't know very well - I used to go to a choir rehearsal in a church not far away, and occasionally got something to eat at Subway on the way, but it's not somewhere I ever really go out - or an area you ever really see in restaurant guides. It's sort of half way between the City and the West End (though don't quote me on exact distances), is the nearest tube to the British Museum (though for me the British Museum is in Bloomsbury, not Holborn) - and is apparently part of the Borough of Camden but couldn't be further from the image I have of Camden, which is basicall the market.

I'm sure that like many places once you scratch below the surface you will find all sorts of things to do. One thing that Holborn does seem to have is a large number of Italian restaurants all in one space and with a few exceptions I don't mean chain restaurants. Just before Christmas I went to one of these with a friend - Isolabella.

She chose the restaurant, from looking through places on Opentable with special offers, and I have to admit I was a bit dubious initially when she suggested Holborn. But I trust my friend's taste in restaurants - we have had some great meals out together including the only tasting menu I've ever tried. And once again, she came up trumps.

The restaurant wasn't particularly busy but service wasn't very fast, which isn't usually a problem as we do like to have a good natter! The menu is extensive with pizza, pasta, meat and fish. I do like to have a lot of choice but sometimes wonder about restaurants that have huge menus if they are able to cook everything to the same high standard  - they have 16 desserts for instance which is a lot to be made fresh every day so I wondered whether they get them from a catering supplier or if they do actually make them on site.

The food that I had though was very good - beef ravioli in a tomato sauce (a good-sized portion) and for dessert, apple tart with vanilla ice cream. I think it would have been a little pricey for what it was at £14.50 for the main (especially given it's pasta in tomato sauce, albeit with minced beef) and £6.50 for the dessert (I've had better apple pies for less) - but with the 50% off discount it was definitely worth doing!

 

Read More

Meal Planning Monday 2017 - Week 5

My parents are visiting this weekend and I'm taking them to Ripley's Believe It Or Not - as the weather is meant to be bad and it's indoor, and I think they would like it. What's your favourite thing to do in London when it's wet or cold?

Monday
Lunch: sandwich
Dinner: spaghetti Bolognese with Quorn mince for me, beef for him

Tuesday - I'm working from home
Lunch: leftover spaghetti bolognese
Dinner: Slow Cooker lemon chilli chicken

Wednesday
Lunch: baked potato soup from this recipe
Dinner: My husband is out, I will have a Weight Watchers ready meal as they have some new ones I want to try

Thursday
Lunch: rest of the homemade soup
Dinner: chicken with garlic and herb sauce for him, lamb grillsteak for me

Friday - my parents are coming to stay and will be here when we get home in the evening
Lunch: out with a work colleague
Dinner: chicken kievs and chips, Mars ice cream bar for dessert

Saturday
Lunch: sausages, bacon, toast, baked beans etc
Dinner: out with my parents and mother-in-law

Sunday
Lunch: eggs benedict
Dinner: pork medallions, with chilli, lemon and crème fraiche from this recipe

This is a blog hop, join in!

An InLinkz Link-up

Read More

Dino-Mite Dinosaur Birthday Card

I made this card for an 8-year old girl who is mad about dinosaurs at the moment. Ages ago I bought a pack of silver dinosaur outline stickers for another birthday card and have found it hard to use them up - as they are small silver stickers, sometimes solid and sometimes outlines, they don't work on a lot of backgrounds but putting them on a plain card doesn't look very good either.

I decided to do the best I could with them, and started by sticking the dinosaur outline sticker onto a small square or rectangle of pink paper. I edged that with a silver outline edging sticker and did the same with two smaller dinosaur stickers.

Using a thin rectangular card blank I turned it on its side, covered it in textured pink paper and stuck a strip of pink patterned paper down the middle. I then mounted the dinosaur pieces onto this to make it look a bit more interesting.

Finally I added a slogan I'd seen somewhere: have a dino-mite birthday! I typed it on the computer in pink and printed it out on pink paper. It doesn't have enough space around it to look professional so if I made this again I would use a wider card, but I still quite like it.

Read More