Zoom Zoom Zuma

 

My mum's birthday is on Saturday and she decided she would take my sister, my boyfriend J and me out for lunch to Zuma in London.

Hidden away on Raphael St in Kensington, Zuma is a japanese restaurant with the idea of sharing lots of dishes, rather than having one plate to yourself.



 

We started off with a bowl of Edamame beans and a bowl of crispy fried squid with green chili and salt, I didn't get a picture of this because it was snaffled down at great speed.

Mum recommended that we have the soft shelled crab with wasabi sauce, as when she went before she found it delicious.

 

Tempura king prawns were J's choice, and they were such a good choice, the sauce that came too was a great accompaniment.

 

Zuma tempura popcorn was a dish chosen on a whim, sweetcorn pieces in batter may sound a little bit odd but in my opinion pretty much anything that has been deep fried or is in batter sounds good to me!

 

My sister chose spicy octopus sushi, which for someone who doesn't like spicy things, wasn't really perhaps that spicy at all, or maybe I just got lucky.



 

 

The seared beef was really tasty, rare beef wrapped around what could be rice noodles or stringed vegetables and coriander.



 

 

The tempura vegetables were really fun, the batter almost disguised which vegetables they were, the carrot, below, was the most obvious but others included sweet pepper, asparagus, aubergine, okra and enoki mushrooms, which were really good.

 

Vegetarian sushi selection was one of my choices, while I'm a huge fan of sushi I prefer vegetarian sushi, the tofu hosomaki (brown triangles to you and me) were delicious and one of my favourites.

 

Crispy fried lemon sole with spicy ponzu sauce and green onions was one of J's ideas. As someone who doesn't like fish much at all, these were really good, and the ponzu sauce was perfect, the pot of sole seemed to be bottomless!

 

Sake grilled chicken wings with sea salt and lime were a really nice side, crispy on the outside and not at all dry, they had a barbequey aroma to them from being flame grilled infront of hungry customers.

 

The duck breast (cannot remember its full title!) was delicious, but for four stomachs that were getting filled a little rapidly it was a little rich. Mum and I agreed that if we went again (which I hope we do) we would get some rice to make a few of the dishes a little less rich.

 

 

Our penultimate dish was seafood sushi which apparently had seven types of fish, I would have been a bigger fan if I was mad keen on fish, but it was delicious nonetheless!

The meal itself was amazing, the presentation really made it more enjoyable and the staff were really friendly and clued up as to what everything was and what tasted the best. They knew exactly what order to bring out our mismatch of dishes and there was a constant stream of freshly cooked, hot food that arrived quickly and fluidly to our table.
I was really glad that I wore leggings because I ate so much that I was glad not to have a waistband restricting me!

Apricot Tagine

A little while ago my mum went to Morocco and tried all sorts of things.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, she tried sheep brains, served in the skull, now while this doesn't appeal to me, the tagines that she tried there do.

When she came back she found some goat meat at the farm shop where I work and despite having tried all sorts of odd things (squirrel!), goat wasn't one of them... Until today that is..

 

To serve four:

1 tsp of each- ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and ground ginger

1/2 tsp of each- smoked paprika and ground chilli/cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

750g goat meat, cubed (you could use lamb or beefb)

1 finely chopped onion

2 crushed cloves of garlic

1 can of chopped tomatoes

50g chopped dried apricots

1 cinnamon stick (or a dash od cinnamon, like me)

Stock or water

Zest and juice of half a lemon

1 tbsp of honey

First put all of the spices in one bowl and add the meat, mixing well.

 

Heat a little olive oil in a large pan, then add the chopped onion, allowing it to sweat for 1 minute, then add the meat and garlic to brown.

 

When all the goat has browned stir in the chopped tomatoes, apricots and the cinnamon stick.

 

Add just enough stock or water to cover the meat.

 

Bring this to the boil, then reduce it to a slow simmer, leaving it to cook for 1-1 1/2 hours.

Add more liquid if it becomes too dry, but if it becomes too watery, drain off the excess liquid into a saucepan and reduce until thickened then return it to the meat mix.

I served ours with piles of cous cous and a bowlful of spinach and baby leaf salad!

 

Personal Pizzas

Its Easter half-term for my sister and I, and my mum is lucky enough to be able to work from home meaning she gets to spend more time with us during the holidays, which has its downsides when you're trying to get out of revision.

I was feeling creative and offered to make everyone pizzas, the base of the recipe I actually nicked from Rose, but I've changed it only slightly to make it a little healthier.

500g wholemeal flour
1 tbsp salt
1 sachet of yeast
1 tbsp golden sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
330ml tepid water

Sift the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl then add the sugar, make a little well in the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients and combine.

Knead really well and leave in a warm place for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Once rolled out add a tomato sauce, a basic pizza topping should be avaliable from your local supermarket but here's one if not:

1 can tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

Drain the juice from the tomatoes and put in a food processer, add the seasoning and oregano and blitz it!

Then it's up to you as to which toppings you'll have, my sister plumped for mozerella, chedder and chorizo,

Mum went for chedder, tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto,

Then I made my own healthier one with mushrooms, onion, parmesan and some spinach, which didn't add a lot to it.

Pop them in the oven for about 20 mins, my oven is really hot so it only took about 12.

This recipe makes about 5 personal sized ones, but this was just for a light lunch, I'd have preferred to make mine bigger!

Tropical Jeans

Today was probably one of the nicest days that Suffolk has seen in a long time, the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze, even Pip and Wisp came out to join me to take some photos.

 

 



 

 

I got these jeans a few summers ago from Topshop, and these were as close as I could find online.

My shoes are TOMS and they have been a staple in my wardrobe since I was about 15, for every pair of TOMS you buy, the company then gives a pair to a child in Africa so its a good investment for something as comfy as these.

This jumper is from a shop called Beyond Retro and this jumper actually featured in one of my monthly favourites a little while ago, it was only £26 and for 100% wool I thought it was definatley worth it, they have loads of cool vintagey things so take a look, heres a similar jumper.

 

 

Now, Pip (below) is Wisp's (first photo) daughter, and she is the wiggliest and most excitable spaniel around.

 



 

 All this photo taking business meant she felt she wasn't paid enough attention and was bounding everywhere and all over me, so I had to end it there.



Rocky Road

In this post I introduced you all to my version of rocky road, and I did mention I'd do a post on how to make them.
It was my oldest and best friend E's birthday party last night so J and I thought we'd whip up a birthday batch to hide the lack of present.

If like me, you have some Easter eggs lying around still (I know, what is wrong with me?!) this is the perfect time to use them.

400g milk chocolate (Cadbury's is the best in my opinion)
200g honeycomb chocolate
100g dark chocolate (optional)
Golden syrup
A bag of Minstrels or M&Ms
A bag of Malteasers
A bar of Milky way, Mars or Snickers
Marshmallows in abundance
Chocolate covered honeycomb pieces or a chopped Crunchie

Well hello there, heart attack!

Melt the chocolate gently so that it is just melted and not too hot, otherwise the heat will melt your Minstrels and that is less than ideal.

 

Add your Minstrels or M&Ms, this time I used Minstrels but personally I would use M&Ms because they look more fun, and a good splodge of golden syrup, I used a dessert spoonful.

Whilst on the hunt for mini eggs in my local sweetshop, J and I came across these, chocolate covered honeycomb pieces..

 ...Chop these up to smaller chunks and bung them in with some Malteasers.

 

You have to be certain that the chocolate is as cool as possible but molten when you add the marshmallows and Milky way or they'll disintegrate into a mess.

Pour into a lined tin and decorate if you wish, then pop in the fridge for at least an hour!