I haven't written in a long time, and suddenly I feel awful about neglecting my blog. For so long, it was a way of expressing myself, taking my mind off of 'things' from the past and the present, a way of using my creativity to entertain others. Whether it was writer's block or external influences, I haven't picked up my pen and notepad since last July. However, one of my best friends RD has been encouraging me to write again for months now. Finally, I feel like the time is right to start again. So, hello again old readers, and welcome to new ones.
I thought I would start again gently, similar to the first trip back to the gym after a festive season of Baileys, cheese and general excess. This post is going to be focused on two food based favourites in my life at the moment - Pie and Eggs. Please be aware that I haven't turned into an obese crazy cat lady while I've been away (here's a happy, smiley, non craycray selfie to prove it)
I just love food, soz.
These foodie loves are slightly naughty, but I'm having like, a Pie Renaissance, or a Pienaissance as my flatmates called it, which I think is rather nice. So here are my very rustic, basic and easy recipes of my Pies du Jour....
BEEF STEAK AND GUINNESS PIE - SERVES 4
Ingredients
1 red onion, 1 white onion. 2 sticks of celery. 1 bottle of Guinness. 500g of quick cook beef strips. 1 Knorr Rich Beef stock pot. 1/2 an OXO cube. Olive oil. Plain flour. Sheet of puff pastry. 1 egg. Salt and pepper to taste.
Method
1. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, and chop the onions and celery into bitesize chunks. Fry said chunks in the oil.
2. Dust the beef lightly with flour, and add to the pan. Crumble in the oxo cube and give a good stir until the beef has browned.
3. Put stock pot in a mug of boiling water, and add to the pan. Give a good stir and scrape the bottom of the pan as you go.
4. Add half the bottle of Guinness.
5. Cover for 15 minutes to infuse and reduce. Drink the other half of the bottle of Guinness while you wait (or wash up, whatever you prefer).
6. Pour the mix into a pie dish and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
7. Cover with the pastry sheet, brush with egg, and bake at 180c for around 40 minutes.
8. Serve with vegetables - we had kale, carrots, tenderstem broccoli, and new potatoes tossed in butter and fresh parsley.
CHICKEN AND LEEK PIE - SERVES 3-4
Ingredients
Couple of chicken breasts. Leeks. Red onion. Knorr Chicken stock pot. Single Cream (I use Elmea). Sheet of puff pastry.
Method
1. Fry chicken, leeks and onion in oil until the chicken has browned.
2. Prep the stock pot as before, and add to pan.
3. Add a glug of cream, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Pour the mix into a pie dish and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
5. Cover with the pastry sheet, brush with egg, and bake at 180c for around 40 minutes.
6. Serve with veg, I had mine with tenderstem broccoli and it tasted great.
If you look closely, you will see that I've topped my pies with cute little bunny shapes, because its spring now, and because, well, bunnies. You can use whatever shapes you like.
If you have leftover pastry, don't throw it away. On Sunday evening, I topped the end of a sheet with Dolcelatte blue cheese, red onion, cherry tomatoes and spring onion, and baked it for 20 minutes. It made an easypeasy, pre-pub snack, and tasted great too. I know pastry isn't the healthiest food in the world, but everyone once in a while, its ok to treat yourself. Besides, at 150 calories per portion of Puff Pastry, as long as you add plenty of veg, it can be part of a decent meal.
Recently, my cooking style has been more focused on taste rather than presentation, a more rustic approach. After working 9am-6pm in a fast paced job in real estate, the last thing I'm thinking about is whether my pie has neat edges. The other evening, I made new potatoes tossed in fried, buttered leeks. It didn't look amazing but my dinner guest was suitably impressed. I'm taking so much inspiration from Rachel Khoo's book, The Little Paris Kitchen. Its definitely worth a read and has great ideas for even the smallest cooking space and sparsest store cupboard.
The Little Paris Kitchen, Rachel Khoo, available HERE
Eat Yourself Calm, Gill Paul, available HERE
I also recommend the "Calm Mood" and "Smart is the New Sexy" playlists on Spotify (thanks Katie), to both read and cook to. Just don't be too alarmed when vintage Enrique Iglesias pops up, por favor.
Onto my slightly healthier food of choice, the humble poached egg. I recently worked out how to use those slightly alien looking silicone poachers (put a lid on the saucepan! Who knew?!).
A really easy brunch idea is simply poached eggs, smoked bacon and half a chopped avocado. Simple, healthy and satisfying. Serve with Columbian ground coffee (arguably the best kind), fresh orange juice, and the Sunday papers. I mean... look at those yolks!
When you work long hours, its hard to socialise properly, and so I jumped at the chance of an early Saturday breakfast with a friend. We went to the The Hoxton Hotel, in Holborn. I've reviewed their first hotel in Shoreditch HERE, but their newest opening in Holborn is hella snazzy and less "East London" than its older brother, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The hotel has a restaurant called Hubbard & Bell which has gorgeous decor, friendly staff, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We both went for the Eggs Benedict - poached eggs and ham, on an english muffin, topped with hollandaise sauce. The latte was made perfectly but I'm not sure if I liked the glasses they were served in. I also had a green juice with kale, apple, cucumber, celery,
pineapple, lemon, spinach,
parsley, and ginger. It was tasty but in a way where you're not sure whether you're enjoying it or whether you may gag. But you know, health etc. The rest of the menu looked amazing too, and next time I'll be trying the sourdough pancakes with pineapple and brown butter, yum.
So that's me for today. I promise, promise, promise that I'll be back TOMORROW with another post, which will have more details about what I've been up to when not eating, at around 6pm GMT. Please come back and have a read, tell your friends, tell your family, shout it from the rooftops that I'm back :)
In the meantime, don't forget to check out my Instagram for daily posts: https://instagram.com/yaasica_lucia/
Lots of Love,
Yaasica Lucia XXX
Make up article coming soon, too!
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