Burger and Lobster





There's a real trend at the moment in London for restaurants which you can't book for without a minimum party - from MeatLiquor and Bubbledogs to Burger and Lobster. I hate this trend. There's nothing fun about queueing for hours or having to go away and come back - so i've avoided them like the plague unless with a big party.

The one exception to the rule however, is Burger and Lobster. Who can resist? 

Yum Yum



At an upfront £20 for a whole lobster, lobster roll or burger, i'd have been mad not to try it.

And i've now been twice already, once to the soho venue and once to the Mayfair one and am planning plenty more trips!

Tip (you can book for a table of over 6, so worth getting a group together, if like me you don't like hanging around)




http://www.burgerandlobster.com/

Foodie Penpals - Final parcel

Well, I'm certainly posting this one a bit late. Way back in October I resigned from the Foodie Penpals program after a nasty run in with a lady from Lithuania who wrote an incredibly rude post about the parcel i'd sent her.

So, October was my last delivery of foodie pen pal goodies. And boy, was it a goodie. I was incredibly lucky to be partnered with Ksenija from Health Ninja.

I mentioned that I was looking to eat a bit healthier, so she included a variety of 'healthy' items and included a recipe and all the ingredients needed. I also asked her if she'd add in some of Katja's yoghurt gummis as they are a real favourite of mine.

Great parcel and a great way to end the program in style.

Take a look at Ksenija's healthy eating blog here: http://healthninja.wordpress.com

Union Jacks - St Giles, Covent Garden (ish)

As you can probably tell by my review of our visit to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant, that the experience put me off not only him, but visiting any of his restaurants...so it was with trepidation that I went along to Union Jacks.

There are three things we discovered that this restaurant does really really well - pizza, ginger beer and service. 

Number 1: The staff at the Union Jacks we went to near Tottenham Court Road (St Giles) in London were fabulous.  So, if you are reading this 'Mr Manager of the restaurant' the whole team deserves a pat on the back.

The menu is slightly confusing but the team are well prepped to take you through it all, answer any questions and give advice. Great team.

Number 2: homemade ginger beer was a real winner too - I could just go back for that!

And finally Number 3: Pizzas. I went for the Old Spot, a favourite of most diners which saw the tomato on a regular pizza replaced by apple sauce and topped with pork scratchings and pork shoulder.  An interesting combination if a little too sweet. Delicious pizza though and the base was absolutely stunning as cooked in a wood fired pizza oven.

My other half went for the plain margaret (a typical tomato and cheese pizza) topped with pork shoulder. This was the most delicious pizza. The tomatos (jack hawkins) were so tasty and added a real flavour to the pizza. Definitely go for this one, if you visit as you can top with a variety of different options.

We'll be back to try out the others....

A Margaret pizza with shoulder of pork

The Old Spot pizza

http://www.unionjacksrestaurants.com/

Slutty Brownies

Warning and disclaimer - These are the most droolworthy brownies in the world. You'll become obsessed.

Thanks to the lovely Rosie at The Londoner http://www.thelondoner.me/ I found myself making her fantastically decadent recipe for slutty brownies.

It's a ridiculously good combination of oreos, chocolate brownie and cookie dough.

As i'm a foodie blogger and don't like cutting corners too much I followed her recipe but used a homemade recipe for chocolate brownie and cookie dough, rather than using a box mix.

You simply make a cookie dough, add oreos on top and then finish off with the chocolate fudge cake.

Absolutely immense when served warm with ice cream.



Here's the cookie dough with oreos on the top!



Delicious brownie when cooked

Just before I tucked into it!

My Kitsch Kitchen

I just wanted to share this fantastic teapot with you all. A present from my Grandma, it's the perfect thing to brighten my kitchen. I love it...but for obvious reasons, the husband isn't as keen...

My Kitchen Aid Mixer

Yes, this is an incredibly late post, but i couldn't help but share the news that I have a brand spanking new, bright pink Kitchen Aid mixer....and I love it.

www.kitchenaid.co.uk

Scandalicious Baking

It's been a while since I last posted. So apologies - it's been incredibly busy (but that's not an excuse!)

I was sent the new book, Scandalicious Baking by the lovely Signe Johansen to review a couple of months ago and I wasn't disappointed. Take a look here for more info: http://www.signejohansen.com/

Nordic is big business in the UK at the moment, thanks to the likes of the Nordic Bakery and Signe's books, Brits are beginning to realise there's more than meets the eye to Scandinavian cooking, including baking.

Scandalicious Baking is a fantastic book which gives you plenty of recipes to get stuck into which give you a taste for baking these delights without being too intimidating. From Chocolate and Orange Marmalade Loaf cake, through to Queen Maud muffins and Grilled Cheese with mushroom and hazlenut, there are plenty of recipes to satisfy a sweet or savoury tooth.

The photography in the book is a good enough reason to buy this book alone. Beautiful images that conjure up ideas of being the domestic goddess I'd always imagined I could be.

The first recipe i've had a go at from the book was the Cinnamon Bun Sharing Cake. Absolutely stunning. I'm always a little intimidated by any recipes which involve yeast, but this really wasn't a tough one to do...and the results were so impressive.

My lovely cinnamon bun!

 

I'll be using this one regularly - especially when I want to impress guests.

Pick up a copy from your local bookshop or on Amazon.co.uk