Rosie & Jim's Sunday Lunch - Holloway

Yesterday I went to my first ever supper club, run by James Ramsden (you might have read his articles in the Guardian) and Rosie Hogg. One Sunday every month they are kind enough to invite a bunch of strangers into their home for a four course lunch.

Dining at a supper club is an utterly different experience from eating in a restaurant. The usual rules and etiquette no longer apply, but that is half of the charm. Being able to watch your food being prepared and speaking to the cook adds a personal aspect you wouldn't get in a restaurant. There's something quite intimate about going to someones house, sitting at their dining room table and eating a meal they have prepared for you; I worried that it would be awkward, but our hosts were utterly charming and at ease.

We were greeted with a bloody Mary, which was much appreciated after a few too many post-rugby drinks on Saturday night. To start we were served smoked salmon and fluffy blinis, with a healthy dollop of creme fraiche and caviar. This is one of my favourite starters and it didn't disappoint.

The main course was roast chicken served with smoked garlic mash, roasted carrots, peas, bread sauce and a light chicken gravy. This was the perfect roast for what felt like the first day of spring. No heavy gravy or roast potatoes, just simply prepared and delicious food. If I was a judge on Masterchef, I'd say something about how they let the ingredients 'sing' by not overpowering them with too many flavours. I've no idea how they managed to cooked half a dozen chickens and vegetables for twenty people without using a professional kitchen, very impressive.

For dessert we had rhubarb crumble with orange ice cream followed by an incredibly creamy Stilton, oatcakes and homemade red onion relish. At this point we were pretty much ready to burst, but just managed coffee and homemade mint tea before heading home to lounge on the sofa for the rest of the day.

Everything we ate was delicious and for £30 it was great value. The food was simple but beautifully cooked, the atmosphere was cheerful and relaxed and despite cooking for twenty hungry guests our host's were incredibly calm and friendly. Yesterday's fantastic lunch sparked a new found interest in supper clubs, I'd love to hear your recommendations...

 

To find out the dates for the next Rosie & Jim's follow James on Twitter or have a peek at his blog. 

Chorizo, Butternut Squash & Spinach Risotto

Ah Valentine's Day, possibly the least romantic day of the year. Flowers and a nice meal shouldn't be a once a year occurance; if you're lucky enough to be in a happy relationship, you should do something romantic for the person you love all the time. If you're single, you shouldn't be made to feel bad about it by the tedious status updates of the 'OMG, just received an embarrassingly large bunch of flowers' variety.

Last year Chris managed to dislocate his shoulder on Valentine's Day, so this year I was just glad he wasn't high on morphine with his arm hanging off. As Valentine's Day is renound for being the absolute worst day to go out for dinner, we stayed at home and I cooked us chorizo, butternut squash and spinach risotto. Packed full of flavour from my favourite ingredients, it's simple enough for a midweek meal but special enough for a treat.

Serves 2 hungry people!
150g risotto rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
100ml white wine
50g chorizo, skinned and chopped into small chunks
Half a butternut squash, peeled, deseeded
1 tbsp half fat creme fraiche
1 tbsp milk
2 handfuls of spinach

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Peel, deseed and cut the butternut squash into small chunks. Roast with a little oil and pepper for 45 minutes, until the flesh is soft
2. Meanwhile, gently fry the onion in a little butter until soft. Add the garlic and chorizo and cook until the chorizo has started to go crispy. Add the rice and cook for a further minute
3. Stir the wine into the rice, let it bubble away until it has cooked off completely. Gradually add the stock by the ladelful, stirring regularily, making sure all the liquid has bubbled away before you you add more
4. Once the butternut squash is done, add half to a blender with the creme fraiche and plenty of black pepper, wizz until you have a smooth paste. You don't want the paste to be too thick, so add a little milk to loosen it if necessary. Keep the rest of the squash warm in the oven whilst you finish the risotto
5. Once the rice has plumped up and only has a little bite left, stir in the butternut squash puree and spinach. Cook for a few more minutes, until the spinach has wilted. Divide between two warm bowls, topped with the roasted butternut squash and Parmesan

Clissold House - Stoke Newington

On Sunday we headed down to the newly refurbished Clissold House. Hackney council finished a £9m renovation of the house and gardens in January. The house has been sympathetically updated to include a cafe and several function rooms, which you can book here.

 
The cafe serves a range of delicious looking cakes, sandwiches, salads and hot and cold drinks. I had a blueberry and white chocolate muffin and Chris went for a crazy looking hazelnut and chocolate pavlova, both of which were really good. We also shared a cafetiere of coffee while Chris read the paper and I finished my book.

As the cafe was so busy, we sat outside with a lovely view of the park. It's a great place to people watch, there are so many children and dogs running around there's always something to entertain and  getting away from the traffic and concrete makes it feel peaceful even though the park is always busy.

While we were sitting outside a sweet lady asked us to look after this little guy, how cute is he?! Having Googled 'borrowing a dog to walk in London' a few days previously, it was great having a dog for the morning and I think he enjoyed eating the crumbs from our cakes.

There were a lot of children and it was ludicrously busy, but that goes for every cafe in Stokey. I imagine the prices are prohibitively expensive for many local families (around £5 for a coffee and a cake), but that won't prevent anyone from going into the house for a snoop or enjoying the gardens. The food and service were both good and having somewhere to pick up a tasty sandwich and a drink during the summer will be really handy, so all in all I think it's a great addition to the park.

Toffee Apple Pastries

Last Wednesday was Dydd Santes Dwynwen, the Welsh equivalent of Valentines Day. As Chris is a Welshman I decided to cook us a special meal (any excuse for a celebration in dreary January). I made roast duck legs with a red wine sauce, followed by toffee apple pastries topped with toasted almonds and boy were they good. They take 5 minutes to put together if you use ready rolled puff pastry, so are perfect for a mid-week treat. If you're feeling particularily romantic you could always cut the pastry into hearts...

Serves 2
1 cox or granny smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced
Small tin of carnation caramel - trust me on this!
Ready rolled puff pastry (I used Jus-Rol)
A small handful of flaked almonds
1 egg or a little milk to glaze the pastry
Creme fraiche or custard to serve

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and pop a baking tray in to heat up. Cut your pastry into 4 inch squares and add a tablespoon of the caramel to the middle of each, spread outwards in a circular motion
2. Peel, core and slice the apple, then fan over the caramel. Cut around the apple, leaving at least 1cm of pastry at the edge and top with the flaked almonds
3. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little milk or egg and bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is golden and the apples are soft. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or custard

Rasa Travencore - Stoke Newington

After living near Stoke Newington for over 4 years, I finally made my first trip to Rasa to celebrate the end of the dreaded first week back at work. Multi-award winning (albeit several years ago) and with half a dozen branches around London I had high hopes, but unfortunately the meal we had was verging on inedible.

Kathrikka

There are two branches on Church St, one specialising in vegetarian food and one for the meat-eaters, Rasa Travancore, which is where we ate. Rasa serve traditional Keralan food; I will happily admit that I've no idea what distinguishes the food of Kerala from the rest of India, however, I presumed it would be full of flavour and well spiced. I've often heard that the anglicised curries served in most Indian restaurants pale in comparison to authentic Indian food, unfortunately all four dishes we were served were under seasoned, under spiced and bland to the extreme.

Mysore Bonda

As it is famous for its vegetarian food we started with mysore bonda (or potato balls to you and me). The potato was supposed to be 'laced with fresh ginger, curry leaves, coriander and black mustard seeds and crisply fried' however what we were served was a bland and soggy ball of potato, which tasted more of cooking oil than anything else. We also ordered the kathrikka, slices of aubergine fried in a coriander and chilli batter, which were equally as unappetising. Both starters tasted as though they had been cooked earlier in the day and reheated in the microwave, although it must be said that both were served with a reasonably good salsa.

Nadan Kozhy & Konju Thenga

We ordered two curries, the nadan kozhy (a pepper massala chicken curry) and konju thenga (tiger prawns with coconut and green chilli), both of which were luke warm and insipid. It's not that I love spicy food and need a curry to be hot, I just want it to taste of something. I've never known Chris to leave food, but even he couldn't finish off either of the curries. The one saving grace of the meal was the crispy paratha, which really was delicious.

Paratha

The service was quick, although not particularly friendly and the decor was in need of some TLC. I don't like to bad mouth a local, independent restaurant, but it was a thoroughly disappointing meal. I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on Rasa; is the vegetarian restaurant better? Did we simply choose the wrong curries? Is this what traditional Keralan cooking should taste like? Any feedback welcomed.

The Three Crowns - Stoke Newington

I've eaten a lot of roast dinners in London, and more often than not they're a bit disappointing. There is an awful lot that can go wrong with a roast when you're cooking for four people, let alone a fully booked restaurant, but I'm still surprised by how difficult it is to find somewhere which can serve up a decent Sunday lunch for less than £20. Thankfully, I've discovered the Three Crowns on Church Street who will pile your plate with excellent food for just £13.95.

We started off with potted crab, served with lightly toasted white bread for dipping and a well dressed salad. The capers dotted on top cut through the rich crab meat perfectly and the bread was soft enough to soak up the devilishly good browned butter. Having a starter before a massive roast was certainly unnecessary, but well worth it.

I always opt for roast beef; I love lamb, but the lure of horseradish and Yorkshire pudding is just too great. Two thick slices of slightly pink beef were served with crispy roast potatoes, root vegetable mash, braised red cabbage, Yorkshire pudding and lashings of gravy. There were no greens on the plate, so you can't even pretend it's healthy, but it sure was delicious. I love red cabbage and after my dad outlawed it at Christmas I was very pleased to finally get my fix. I think the chef had been a little over zealous with the five spice and salt, but I enjoyed it anyway. The Yorkshire's were crispy on the outside, but soft and eggy on the inside whilst the gravy was rich and thick. It was a great meal, washed down with a glass of the excellent house red before heading home for an afternoon nap. Rock and roll.

My only complaint is with the horseradish they serve. I like my horseradish HOT and unfortunately their creme fraiche with freshly grated horseradish doesn't quite hit the spot. Aside from this, it's a reliable option for a tasty Sunday lunch. The service is always speedy and friendly, they were playing some great fifties tunes and they have a few sofas you can lounge on post-roast if you're in the mood.

The Diner - Islington

Last month I went for dinner with Fran and Becky. We fancied eating somewhere cheap and cheerful to cure our festive hangovers, so we headed to 'The Diner' on Essex Road. It's a classic American diner, dishing up the kind of food you'd expect (hotdogs, pancakes and milkshakes) whilst you lounge on one of the comfy booths.

Fran and I both ordered cheese burgers. The seeded bun was soft but stayed together well and the burger was juicy and pink in the middle. Best of all they top their burgers with gherkins and serve them with a little pot of burger sauce (which I love). At just £5.90 they're excellent value, although they're not quite as delicious as the excellent burgers at Byron. Becky ordered a fish sandwich which I was assured was also very good.

We also ordered some onion rings and chili cheese fries to share. Fran introduced me to these fries a few years ago, they sound repulsive but are actually incredibly delicious. Crispy french fries, generously topped with chunks of beef in a chili bean sauce finished off with melted cheese - so bad, but oh so good.

The service tends to be a little sloppy and I wouldn't advise trying any of the Tex-Mex food (their burritos are pretty poor) but the burgers, chips and onion rings are all excellent. It's a fun place to head for some cheesy American music, tasty cocktails and meaty goodness. If you do go, make sure you try out the hard shakes, they're to die for.