Solo Lunch

So here's the thing, for someone who is in a longterm, committed relationship, you can sometimes feel bad about spending time alone.
This particular instance, the captain had just returned from a family trip and we'd been so busy the week before that I'd barely seen him. I had just finished an intense, emotional meeting at uni and was advised to go and treat myself.

I was all set up for going and buying something that I could look at or wear over again and it bring a smile to my face. However on my travels I realised how much I actually hate shopping and how little time I had before my next lecture.

Now there aren't many amazing independent foodie places in the centre of Coventry, much to my despair, but there is Drapers, formerly known as Browns. Local owned and run business, cool vibe, interesting building (a coventrian informed me it used to be a public toilet house).
Popped in and unfortunately they had discontinued the chicken and chorizo salad which was galiothian in taste! So I went with sweet potato cakes accompanied by rice and salad.

The place was quiet enough not to warrant my orange music ear muffs to block out insincere, meaningless drivel, which often frequents lunch dates between colleagues or friends who don't really know each other or what to talk about...or even how to stop.

Phone away, food came, I ate in silence (and only off my own plate). I was alone with my food and it made me happy. Paying attention to what you eat, as you eat it, keeps your mind fuller for longer, not to mention you can enjoy the taste of every last bite.
And man this meal's attention seeking ways are 100% warranted. The sweet potato cakes were actually balls, with a ridiculously thin fried shell, tasting of Indian spices (my favourite part) but once you broke through, the sweet mash and spring onion was a smooth hot mess to be devoured. Yes. Just yes.
I reckon the browny grey thing in the pot was some kind of cold tapenade and the rice was as crunchy as the salad but whatever, SWEET MASH BALLS!

So I had some change and, again because they had decided to temporarily discountinue my 2nd (only to nandos) favourite ever carrot cake which also happens to be vegan, I got a mammoth scone and stupid amounts of clotted cream.

Basically, it was amazing. Going from emotionally drained to lunch for one you wouldn't have thought it would have made me feel better buuuut it did, and it continues to. I can't wait to go back, alone! There seems to be such a stigma around doing things alone at my age. I don't get it, sometimes it's just unnecessary to have to compromise.

I'm back!... And I brought brownies

So I've done something slightly stupid...started telling people about the blog and sharing amongst those I actually know.
The majority of previous posts lack any kind of creative style and substance due to my doubts that anyone would read my ramblings.
But now my masters module of Digital Marketing requires the maintenance of a digital based blog, I've turned back to my personal writings in the sparse spare minutes I have to post about, what else,  but FOOD!

So whilst I'm waiting for my 'scraping the barrel' fish pie to cook, I've made a cuppa and am about to delve into London's best brownie, as voted by Time Out London.
The story dates back to post surgery Mowgli, summer just gone. I was dosed up on meds and the captain decided to plan an oh so romantic trip to London for dinner. He'd researched the best brownies in London and number one, Gail's was round the corner from Bodean's smokehouse.
He let me hobble down to our table for dinner whilst he ran off to get dessert and returned with a rather large bag. He told me he'd bought the store out of brownies.

Definitely the right thing to do. These brownies are insane and get better each day you can resist eating them. The first taste is lush, moist and uber indulgent. The next day, the middle begins to firm up and feels even closer to perfection.
The one I'm about to devour is 4days old and is still gooey in the middle.

Enough talking, here are some photos!

Jon Favreau's Chef

This film has left my hips shaking and stomach rumbling...

Chef is an uplifting, drool enducing, warm hearted gem of a film! 

Because of its simple storyline and uncluttered mise en scene, the viewers' eyes are drawn to the varying vibrant foods, only to be enhanced by the fantastic soundtrack. 

This Oral & Aural feast is guaranteed to provide you with some kinetic energy... Motivation to dance your way to the kitchen and smash out your best Po'boy or beignets!! 

Bodean's

On meeting the Captain's parents & siblings for the first time we spent the day Christmas shopping for each other in London. It soon became apparent that this was hungry work so after running a few essential errands we drove over to a restaurant in Soho. As it was a weekend and around 8pm it was jammed, the wait was 3hours and we were starving. We had to abandon the hopes of visiting this restaurant and go elsewhere. 

That's the closest I ever got to Bodean's...until tonight. 

In 2002 Andre Blais brought the Kansas City style BBQ to London, in the form of Bodean's BBQ Smokehouse. His family owned business has won a load of awards basically saying how insane the food is and rightly so. 

Seeing as I was crutching it up there with my dodgy post-surgery knee, we rang ahead to book a table which is pretty much unheard of (unless there's 8+) they were extremely accommodating and after waiting a short while on the ground level, known as the deli, we were seated below deck in tiny restaurant. The tables were just far enough apart for rib-ripping elbow room. The tables adorned with the essentials; kitchen roll on a holder, steak knives, wet wipes, tooth picks & sauces galore. I rearranged (copied the guy next to me by placing it all in the space between us) to make room for my Passionate Cosmo Cocktail. Priorities, right?! 

As I was contemplating my top 3choices from the menu (I always have to do a short list and then revue the options before I rush into any kind of mad decisions), I realised I hadn't even looked around. There was a lot of dark green for the seating and a mid brown varnish on all the wood. Giant beer tops along the upper walls and a tv to my left showing the world's most boring sport after cricket, baseball. 

Look, if you can wear bling and chew gum so casually it's not a proper sport. 

Our super lovely waitress Lisa arrives to take our order. I was contemplating the  Boss Hog Dog, Pulled Pork Meal or a Burnt Ends & Pulled Pork combo. On an old menu was a sausage platter with sauerkraut slaw which was a definite contender! 

However the Captain informed me there most certainly will be pulled pork & burnt ends on the table so order anything. 

I went for the former. 

 He chose a pulled pork sandwich from the hot deli section. 

Aaand we got some burnt ends & spare ribs to share. 

Our food came shortly after, I remembered everything Triple D and Man v. Food had taught me so I went to town on the protein. 

I picked at the perfectly crispy and fully loaded with flavour bacon bites on the top of my hot dog, dug in to the mound for some pulled pork and then reached over to the burnt ends. Oh my gosh. Burnt Ends. I've been on this earth for 21 years, I've watched a solid 3years worth of american food programmes in which every presenter drools over the hours-smoked cow breast and I had finally experienced this tantilising, melt-in-the-mouth piece of Southern cooking's history. It was and is so worth waiting for. 

Ours came 'wet', already coated in a sauce that reminded me quite a lot of lamb/goat curries from the West Indies. The difference was the slight sweetness and tang you traditionally get in BBQing. 

The ribs were also fantastic! I'm not a huge fan of meat on the bone but there was so much flavour and perfectly cooked meat that I soon cleaned them up too. 

In between ribs and ends I had started to devour the best tasting hot dog I've ever known. It was slightly charred on the outside, the casing wasn't any kind of rubbery and the inside was so juicy and flavoursome! 

A yellow sauce had started to dry on it, which I had presumed mustard but tasted a tad cheesey. I'm guessing that would be the 'Chilli Con Queso', something that tasted amazing but I didnt pay enough attention to. The pulled pork in the middle was delicious and soft but not in the crap way that most English places do it, in the way that feels authentically smooth on the tongue. Due to the feast my eyes were experiencing, my food had cooled substantially by the time I was nearing the end and I think, had the pork been 'wet' it would have survived the queue into my pie hole. (It made the cut regardless, but it was no longer at its full potential, I'm afraid to say 😩)

When the meal was set down in front of me, I made a conscious decision not to fill up on carbs and it's a good job the hot dog bun wasn't as spectacular as the rest of the meal otherwise I would have struggled. Setting that and my rib bones aside, I popped in a few of the flawless chips that come with most meals. They didnt portray anything special however it must have been the cosy, low lighting that meant I had to take a second look after trying, because there was a delicious spice coating on some of them. Kinda like in Nandos when you ask for peri peri salt, except better. Much better. 

The sauce pictured was a chipotle mayo and the sauce woodshop type holdal on the seat next to me had hickory smoked BBQ and spicy chipotle sauce which was  amaaazingggg. As was the refreshing and balanced slaw.

The Captain cleared his plate and shared some of the burnt ends with me but mainly let me run riot across our mini banquet. 

I had at some point ordered another cocktail in which I wasn't even sure of the ingredients but apparently there was some spirit choice to go in it and I chose gin. Clever girl. I'm new to gin so that's a whole nother story..

That was also delicious, as was my first aromatic cocktail 👌

Bevved and BBQed Lisa asked if we wanted the dessert menu (what a joker...always!) and informed me the special was cookie dough cheesecake. 

I like to think she was entertained by my reactions to everything and could most certainly tell I was a Bodean's Virgin. 

Needless to say I ordered the Cookie dough cheesecake...to go and that went in a bag full of goodies for the Captain's family (creamed corn, more cheesecake and some deli bits). 

I hobbled to the restroom where the lovely Latvian waitress who had helped me down the stairs started chatting to me again. She was calling me by the Captain's first name (the name we booked under) like we were good friends and so I just went with it. It proved how attentive and friendly the staff were and as she helped me back up the one flight of stairs we managed to discuss my injury, her masters, her interviewer and the fact it was her last month there which did disappoint me. Rel, housemate of BabyHitler and Pizza Hut waitress often tells me off for my 'high standards and low tipping' (paraphrasing politely) of wait staff when we go to dinner. I am also in the service and hospitality industry, I wait on a wide variety of customers and so have ideas about what I think is actually good, proper & appropriate service...and Bodean's is it. 

Just perfect. 

Giraffe with the Captain- Round 2

Summer evening in Hertford and we go for dinner at the nearest Giraffe. 

Salad is most definitely on the menu, I chose the Chicken, King prawn and mango salad with avocado, leaves and lime dressing. 

The flavour was nice and subtle but the mango brought little bursts of sweetness. 

Due to my extreme hunger I inhaled the dish and only paused to inform the captain of my disappoint at the lack of title produce in the dish. Not only were the chicken and prawns sparse but hard and dry. 

2minutes later I started to experience an allergic reaction to the Brazil nuts. Note to self, don't let hunger blind you, no matter how tasty the food is... 

After ordering brownie & icecream and explaining to the waitress about the lack of chicken & fish in the salad she said she'll sort something. 

Dessert was satisfying as always. 

Hot gooey brownie slice topped with a scoop of Giraffe's very vanilla icecream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. 

Pictured: The captain had a tirimasu trifle. Super strong, "tantalising & treatilicious".

The manager explained that the ingredients for the salad are portioned out by grams hence why it seems like there is so little. It's the way head office do order things to be done, however they took the salad off our bill which was very kind and made up for it :) 

Our last Supper 😢

Stuffed chillies. Hot, yep they were definitely hot. 

The choice to get a bit happy with a frozen, grated scotch bonnet was possibly (definitely) overkill. Apart from that they were quite lush. 

After splitting the mild/sweet peppers I attempted to pipe in the cheese, chorizo stuffing ( I saw attempted because the chorizo chunks were a tad too big for the nozzle hole I'd created therefore everything ended up covered in cream cheese...not always a bad thing).

Anyhoo, the crusty topping is blitzed breadcrumbs and a nice cheddar, oven cooked/grilled for about 18mins.

Lamb roast! 

Jamie's mothership Sunday roast lamb is just heaven. Slow cooked for 4hours in garlic and rosemary. Lil side note: when he says four cloves of garlic, he does mean cloves and not bulbs but if you use 4bulbs you are a madman and deserve for it to work for you just because you are a cheeky daredevil. 

Muddle that with S&P, EVOO and smother into all nooks, crannies and man made holes in the leg/shoulder place on a bed of quartered onions.

Accompaniments include roast potatoes with breadcrumbs and chicken stock cube crunch, blanched green beans, parsnips, roasted carrots (always the ones with greens still attached-so much natural sweetness!) mint sauce of course and all the lush drippings mixed with some gravy granules for a flavourful pool in which the veg can swim. 

Dessert...haha ummmm candied bacon upon peanut butter frosting coating a "chocolate" cupcake.

The lack of cocoa powder makes this a pretend chocolate cupcake. 

The absence of a lot more lardons means the brown sugar and paprika coating buried the little existing amount. 

The peanut butter frosting isn't over powering or too sweet, definitely something to be repeated from the dessert recipe. 

Sweet jacket pot 3ways

Sweet potatoes are a students best friend, it seems like they are immortal ontop of being so damn delicious! And I'm sure there's some kind of nutrients in there that can attempt to save us from scurvy. 

So here's my 3 course meal on one plate. Prawn starter, chicken main and cinnamon dessert. 

Prawns were dipped in hot sauce and then flour, dusted and griddled under pressure (not the Gordon Ramsey kind...more like a cast iron lid) 

The chicken was a sandwich filler tikka thing left by top notch and ever naked housemate Dillon. 

As for the cinnamon, well...  I reckon it's one if the flavourings for sweet potato pie but I currently don't have the energy to find out. Regardless it is insaaane coupling!!