Restaurant Review - Cafe Rouge, Epsom

Restaurant name: Cafe Rouge

Location: High Street, Epsom

Description: Mid-priced French restaurant chain

Reason for visit: We went to the cinema to see the Hunger Games, and didn't have much time before the film started. When that is the case, we often go to Pizza Hut on the high street, so I was very surprised to find it had closed down, apparently due to lack of business! Cafe Rouge was a little further along the road and it had been a long time since we'd been to one.

I ate: Burger and fries, £10.95

My companion ate: The same

The food was: The burger was quite thin, and we weren't asked how we wanted it cooked which was surprising for a French restaurant that specializes in steak. The toasted brioche bun was a nice change but overall I've definitely had better burgers.

The atmosphere/service was: Nice, the restaurant was decorated for Christmas and it was very cosy - perhaps a little too cosy as the tables were very close together. It was hard to squeeze into my seat and we could hear the conversation at the next table!

Price range/value for money: Reasonable but I've had better burgers at this price.

Would I recommend it? Yes, it's nice once in a while as there are some good options on the menu if you like French food and from what I remember the steaks are pretty good.

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Floating Islands

Contestants on this year's Great British Bake Off were asked to make floating islands, a recipe I recently came across in the Macmillan Little Book of Treats. The charity cookbook features recipes from a selection of celebrities, some chefs and some TV personalities, as well as a handful of amateur food bloggers - including me!

Dolly Parton submitted a recipe called Floating Islands in the Stream (get it?) and I decided to try making it. This particular version is served in a chocolate custard. The recipe also gives instructions to make a chocolate sauce to drizzle over the top but I decided against making that due to lack of time.

To serve 6, you need:

For the chocolate custard:

4 egg yolks

150g caster sugar

pinch of salt

500ml milk

60ml double cream

125g dark chocolate, melted

2 tsp vanilla flavouring

meringue islands:

4 egg whites

170g caster sugar

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt for the chocolate custard until creamy - I used my KitchenAid to do the job.

Next, stir in the milk and cream.

Cook in a saucepan over a low heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla and put in a bowl in the fridge for half an hour.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites until stiff then beat in the sugar. At the same time, bring a large pan of water to simmering point. I found it easiest to do this in a deep frying pan; the water doesn't need to be deep but you need a lot of surface space.

This is the tricky bit that some of the contestants in the Great British Bake Off struggled with, and I can see why! Using a large spoon, scoop up the meringue in an egg shape (or as much as you can manage) and gently slide into the simmering water. Poach the meringues for two minutes on each side then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Take the custard from the fridge and pour into pudding bowls - fairly large, flattish bowls are good for this. Place a couple of the islands on top so they float in the stream.

Personally I find custard quite difficult to make and today was no exception, and it is hard to get the meringue into the pan of water without them falling apart - though they did poach nicely when they were in the water! This is quite a fiddly dessert and not a particular favourite so I'm not sure I'd bother making it again. I'd be interested to know if anyone makes this regularly!

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Restaurant Review: Nando's, Whitechapel, London

Restaurant name: Nando's

Location: Mile End Road, Whitechapel, London

Description: Chain of South African restaurants serving chicken and chicken burgers

Reason for visit: Lunch during a team building day with work colleagues - we were gardening at a children's centre and went for lunch nearby.

I ate: chicken breast fillet burger in the lime and herb marinade (I don't really like spicy food) with a slice of halloumi and fries

My companions ate: Most people had burgers but several of them went for the extra hot marinade, which my boss likes so much that I took him a bottle when he moved back to America and I went to visit our office there! We also had one vegetarian in the group who had a beanie burger; there is more than one veggie option which is good.

The food was: The chicken is good quality and tasty and the baps are 'proper' bread. I'm not sure I would bother having the halloumi with the chicken burger again though as it's quite salty and doesn't melt.

The atmosphere/service was: This is a causal, low-key restaurant that was friendly and not too busy

Price range/value for money: It depends if you class this as fast food or not; it's more expensive than a McChicken sandwich but good value as a restaurant.

Would I recommend it? I like Nando's, but not as much as a lot of my friends - I don't really understand why some people rave about it. The menu is relatively limited but if I did want a good chicken burger this is where I would go.

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Slimming World Spicy Chicken Burger

This recipe is from a Slimming World magazine; my boyfriend loves chicken burgers so I thought I would try to make my own so it would be as healthy as possible. This turned out really well and he was very impressed!

To serve 2, you need:

2 chicken breasts

1 tsp curry powder

half a carrot, grated

bread rolls to serve

Chop the chicken in a food processor until you have mince

Grate the carrot and mix in, along with the curry powder.

Shape into patties and grill or oven cook for about 15 mins

I cut into one to check it was cooked; the curry powder gives the burgers a pink colour so it's hard to tell from the outside when they are ready.

Serve in a bread roll, and enjoy!

I'd already written this post when I saw that Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle at Utterly Scrummy have come up with a great blog challenge- Extra Veg. The idea is to include an extra portion of veg in any recipe or meal - so these burgers with their hidden grated carrot are perfect (and you can't taste the carrot, I promise!).

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Blue Cheese, Parmesan and Green Olive Bread Sticks

My mum asked me to make a starter for Christmas dinner and I was faced with a problem. Between the six people who would be there, dislikes included: salmon, prawns, pate, salad.... I decided I would be safe with cheese. I also knew it had to be something I could prepare the day before and transport down to my parents, and that my mum wouldn't have a lot of space in her kitchen for preparation or oven for cooking. So the easiest thing, and something I thought we would all enjoy, was baked camembert. You simply buy a whole round camembert (or two, in this case), and put them in the oven for about ten minutes for them to melt. Then you dip bread or veggies into the cheese and enjoy. You could do these if you are having people over on new year's eve, though they are good at any time!

I did want to make something though so I decided to do homemade bread sticks. I'd never made them before, and hardly ever make bread, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy these were, and how well they turned out.

I used this recipe from BBC Food but adapted it slightly.

To serve about 8, you need:

one 7g packet dried yeast

1 tsp sugar

500g strong white bread flour,. plus extra for the worktop

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

5 tbsp grated parmesan

2 tbsp blue cheese

3 tsp herbes de Provence

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp green olives from a jar, chopped

For the rub:

1 egg

2 tsp piri piri seasoning

2 tsp herbes de provence

50g grated parmesan

Add the yeast and sugar to 280ml warm water in a large bowl. Add 75g of the flour, whisk and leave for ten minutes for the yeast to activate.

Add the oil, remaining flour, parmesan and blue cheese, herbes de Provence and garlic and mix well to form a dough.

Chop the olives then add to the mixture and combine

Knead for about 5 minutes then cover the bowl with cling film and leave for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C. Mix the parmesan, herbes de Provence and piri piri seasoning for the rub in a small bowl.

Roll out the dough to a long rectangle and brush with beaten egg yolk, then sprinkle over the rub. You only need to do this on one side.

Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut strips of the dough. Gently twist each one, and stretch a little as you do so, and place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for about 12 minutes until golden brown.

I did these in three batches and by the end had a pile of 16 bread sticks. They were quite large - both longer and thicker than the ones you buy in the shops - so I think you would only need 2 per person.

Here are the breadsticks ready to dip into the baked camembert:

I'm sending this to Four Seasons Food, the blogging challenge hosted by Anneli at Delicieux and Louisa at Eat Your Veg as their theme this month is festive party food.

I am also sending this to Cheese Please, hosted by Fromage Homage, as the challenge this month is to make festive nibbles using cheese. These bread sticks contain two types of cheese and are designed to be dunked into cheese, so you can't get more cheesy than that!

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Meal Planning 2013 - Week 52

I'm really pleased that I lost 2.5 pounds last week given it is so close to Christmas! I am going to make more of an effort with Slimming World next year but this week I will be staying with family and friends so won't have as much control over meals.



Monday I've got the day off today though my boyfriend is at work. Today I'm going to make the dessert that I'm taking to my parents on Christmas day (assuming I can fit everything in my boyfriend's car, which has a tiny boot and no back seats!)

Breakfast cereal


Lunch broccoli and stilton soup

Dinner seeing my boyfriend's parents - I think we are having takeaway at his mum's house




Tuesday -Christmas Eve

Breakfast cereal or yogurt


Lunch either leftover soup from yesterday or a baked potato

Dinner We are going to see my boyfriend's family this afternoon, I don't know if we will still be there for dinner or not. If we are back home I will cook fishfingers and chips as it's quick and easy.



Wednesday - Christmas Day

Breakfast With my boyfriend at our house - but we won't have much time as we need to leave to drive to my parents by 9am, and I'd like to open some presents before we go!

Lunch With my parents - turkey and all the trimmings


Dinner with my parents - probably a turkey sandwich and some sausage rolls




Thursday

Boxing Day- still at my parents' so don't know what I will be having


Friday

- still at my parents' so don't know what I will be having




Saturday

- at my parents then with friends for the rest of the day so don't know what we are having


Sunday

- I will be leaving my friend's house at some point and coming back to London so the only meal I can really plan is dinner and it will need to be something quick and easy that my boyfriend also likes, e.g. fishfingers and chips

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Meal Planning 2013 - week 51

I put on a little weight last week which really doesn't surprise me. Since my last weigh in I had: lunch and drinks with friends on Sunday; dinner and drinks with a friend on Monday; lunch and drinks with work colleagues on Wednesday; the work Christmas party (with a free bar) on Thursday, and a takeaway with my boyfriend on Friday! Though the way it has turned out means I have no social events or plans at all this week, so I am going to try hard to shift the weight I just put on.



Monday

Breakfast skipped breakfast as I left early and had a Slimming World hi-fi bar later


Lunch leftover pasta from Sunday


Dinner My other half is out this evening so I can cook something he won't like; I'm thinking salmon with lemon rice.



Tuesday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch burrito with leftover gammon and rice

Dinner spaghetti bolognese




Wednesday

Breakfast yogurt or toast


Lunch leftover spaghetti bolognese

Dinner Slimming World stuffed lemon chicken - All in One book p30




Thursday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich


Dinner fish in breadcrumbs and chips for me, chicken in breadcrumbs for the OH




Friday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch baked potato or sandwich


Dinner My boyfriend also has the day off today but I am at work. I have promised my boyfriend a takeaway pizza at some point before Christmas (it was actually behind one of the windows of his homemade advent calendar!) so tonight seems a good a night as any.



Saturday

Brunch It's our Christmas party at Slimming World and they are cooking us bacon sandwiches

Lunch I'll also do a bacon sandwich for my boyfriend


Dinner individual roasted poussin for me, chicken breast for the other half, with roast potatoes.



Sunday

Breakfast waffles


Lunch baked potatoes with beans/cheese/tuna


Dinner Slimming World lamb shank casserole for me, sausage casserole and mash for the other half

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