Cut the bulls**t – Get to El Toro

So things are not as bad as I initially thought. My first fears of slumping into some deep, dark depression have not materialised. Boredom has not struck. Nor has starvation, homelessness or enforced sobriety.

Far from it. I am actually liking my life at the moment. I am busy with voluntary work, studying and applying for jobs. Obviously this blog and my foodie exploits also give me something to do. Looking to the future is scary, so I try not to do it too often. What will be, will be. Que Sera Sera and all that. In the meantime, I have to make the most of my time off, and don’t you worry… I am making the most of it.  

In the past Sunday afternoons were reserved for work preparations; no doubt yours still are. Washing, ironing, cleaning etc. Sorry(!), but now I have all week to do these things so Sundays can be enjoyed again! And on this particular Sunday we decided that a bit of a walk was in order, so we ventured up to Broomhill.  We initially wanted to eat at The York (owned by the Forum/Old House/Common Room guys) after hearing many good things about it, but they were only serving their Sunday Dinner menu with some of their standard main dishes and we were after something lighter so we gave El Toro a go.

This has been around for a while, maybe 2-3 years and I have been meaning to visit for a while, but we very rarely go into Broomhill now. Also, we have tapas in town at the fantastic Platillos so such a trip is not necessary. It was very quiet when we entered, which would normally put us off, but the waitress was smiley and friendly so we stayed. It’s quite a small place; cosy. I can imagine it could get pretty lively on an evening, which is perfect for an informal tapas meal. 

The menu was up on blackboards and we made our selection and ordered. The waitress offered to help explain some of the dishes, but we've had tapas before and didn't feel we needed the help. We sat back down and the dishes soon started flying out of the kitchen. 

Sea bass with a passion-fruit sauce was perfectly cooked. The skin was crispy, the flesh soft and moist.  The flavouring was very mild and added a slight sweet taste. It could have done with a bit more of the passion-fruit sauce as if I hadn't been told it was there, I would have never guessed.  Overall, however, it was very enjoyable.

Sea bass

Chickpeas cooked with bacon didn't look so great, but was delicious. The bacon was soft and complemented the chickpeas nicely. I was surprised to find cumin in there as I don’t associate the spice with Spanish food, but it worked.

Chickpeas with bacon

Chorizo with tomato salad was good. The slices of chorizo were thick and tasty. The only disappointment was that the tomatoes were a bit insipid. Such a shame given that this was a tomato salad, but there was plenty of chorizo so no real complaints to be had!

Chorizo and tomato salad

Calamari looked great but was a disappointment for me. A few years ago I fell in love with the calamari at Platillos and since then nothing else has done it for me! Here the squid was a bit tough and the batter was too heavy for me. I also like to have a mayonnaise dip with my calamari. I left this for Gav to finish and he happily obliged, so it obviously must be matter of taste.

Calamari

Fried aubergines with a tomato dipping sauce were a mixed bag.  The aubergine slices were well cooked; deliciously creamy. However it seemed that the calamari batter had been used for the aubergine too and again it was too heavy for me. The dipping sauce, however, was gorgeous. Rich with tomatoey goodness and chunks of onions. Mmmmm… it was the kind of tomato sauce I aspire to make

Aubergine

Beetroot and Goat’s cheese salad was amazing. The goat’s cheese was the best I had ever tasted. It was creamy, but reasonably firm with the strong flavour that I find missing in some goat’s cheeses. It worked beautifully with the beetroot salad which had some kind of shoots in there as well as lambs lettuce etc.  Lovely!

Goat's cheese and beetroot salad

Everything was light and fresh and we were full, but not stuffed after our meal. We had a lot of salad so this did help. I washed it all down with a pleasant house red; he had coke. All in, the bill was about £36 so this was not a cheap lunch, but tapas never is. It is unlikely that we will go again, as we rarely go to Broomhill, but I would like to try it on an evening.  If you’re in Broomhill, give it a go and have the goat’s cheese salad!

What’s your favourite tapas dish?  More importantly, where do you go for good calamari?

Happy Birthday To Me. Part Four: Nonna's.

Ok. Last birthday celebration. Promise. And this one was on the parents who came down to celebrate my birthday, which was basically a good excuse for us all to get together and go out for a meal. 

As you know, I love going out for food, but if there’s a few of us and I'm making the decision as to where to go, I do get a bit anxious. For this get together I had either Nonna’s or the London Club (Blog Update - The London Club closed some time ago) in mind. Nonna’s won in the end, simply because I thought my parents, who are not huge steak lovers, wouldn't really be bothered about a steak restaurant. 

So Nonna’s it was. Now, anyone who reads Sheffield Forum will have read many off reviews about this place. Some say the customer service is bad, others say that it’s full of posers. 

Two things. I do not consider myself a poser and I’ve never had bad customer service at Nonna’s. Admittedly I have only eaten there a couple of times before but I have been for drinks too. Looking at Nonna’s Facebook page, you can tell that they really are passionate about Italian food, and drink. Indeed, on one visit we were given a lesson in the art of making a good Venetian Spritz. To label this place as nothing more than somewhere for posers is wrong.

On arrival we were quickly seated,  but unfortunately we were seated by the toilets, which grew more and more annoying throughout the meal. I guess that's the perils of going to a popular restaurant on a busy Sunday afternoon. Anyhoo, whilst perusing, we were offered bread and olives to snack on and thankfully we accepted these as it took us a while to decide what we wanted. The wine was pretty easy to pick. My husband, Gavin, and I have been drinking quite a bit of primitivo lately so we went for a bottle of Primaterra Primitivo which was rather nice. The wine glasses are large and quite unusually shaped and I remarked that I liked them to the waitress. She confirmed that they sold them next door in their deli. My husband later confirmed that they are £40 for four meaning that I may have to wait a while before I can acquire my own set. The wine however, had been acquired, and was good.

Noticing that everyone was struggling to decide what to have for starters, I suggested the Antipasto Della Casa, a selection of meats, cheeses and roasted vegetables. I assumed, as the menu stated that the dish was £5.50 per person, that everything would be have been served on one large plate for us all to pick from but it was actually served individually on little wooden boards, which probably worked out better as there was a decent selection for each of us. The meats included salame and prosciutto. There was also a very spicy meat which was a bit of a shock to each of us as it was really quite hot, although enjoyable! There were two cheeses. One was a bit like Wensleydale (but I'm sure it wasn't actually Wensleydale as the cheeses were described as Artisan Italian cheeses), the other was a hard cheese and I'm not sure what it was. Man, I need to learn more about Italian cheese!! Roasted vegetables were aubergine, courgette and mushroom and were a nice fresh touch to the plate. I enjoyed it and everyone else seemed to too. They were quite decent servings and I think one, with some olives and bread, would also make a perfect light lunch.

antipasto della casa

Instead of tucking into the antipasti with us Gavin had gone for something different; the Coda di Bue which was slow-braised oxtail.  I had a taste and the oxtail was perfectly tender and served in a rich gravy sauce with bread.  

coda di bue

For mains, we all tried different dishes. I had one of the specials; flank of beef stew with cannelloni beans, rosemary and garlic. It was quite a large flank of beef, sliced and spread over a stew of cannelloni beans.   was pleased when it arrived as the beef was cooked rare and there was a reasonable amount of it. Ok, so the flank isn’t the most tender of cuts, but this was tasty. The stew was full of beans and nicely packed with garlic, although it was a little salty for my own taste. All in all I was happy with my choice, as was my dad it seemed, as he was more than happy to take some of the beef from me when I started to fill up.

flank of beef stew

My dad actually needed the beef. For some reason he had ordered a salad. My dad is no small man and I'm pretty sure he ain't on a diet, so the salad choice was a bizarre one. Having said that he seemed happy enough. He had the Insalata Zucca, a salad of butternut squash and pumpkin seeds. 

Gavin had tagliatelle salsiccia; tagliatelle with a sauce of 8 hour slow cooked sausage, tomato, red wine and chiili. I had a little and it was nice and rich. My mum had lasagne which is made to Nonna’s own recipe (once secret, but now published in their own cook book) which she enjoyed and finished, despite it being a large portion, and quite rich.  

lasagne

My brother had the fegato, pan-fried calf’s liver with sage and balsamic vinegar served with braised cabbage. It didn’t look particularly appetising, but he cleared his plate. I had hoped that he would have offered me a taste as I had almost gone for it myself, but he didn’t. Pfft.  

fegato

We also had patate (potatoes cooked with gorgonzola cream) and rucola (rocket and parmesan salad) as side orders which were good. Plates emptied, we decided to have dessert. Unfortunately, despite the fact that service had been quite quick to start (we had been asked whether we were ready to order a couple of times), it had now slowed and we had to attract a waiter’s attention to order again. We were eating quite late (about 2.30) and tables were being set up for the evening, but it’s a shame that we seemed to have been forgotten towards the latter half of our meal.

For desserts I had the spiced fruit semifreddo which was a slab of semi frozen ice cream and dried fruits. The caramelised oranges served with it were a bit sharp for me, but the semifreddo itself was good.

semifreddo

My dad had gelati misti which was quite a large selection of ice cream. Gavin had white chocolate and saffron pannacotta.  He is quite a fan of panacotta, and said that the texture was very good, and the dish was tasty. My mum had tiramisu and passed little if no comment, so no complaints there. My brother had cioccolato which he wolfed down in about 2 minutes, so I'd take that as a good sign! We decided not to have coffee and we struggled to grab a waiter for the bill, and then again to pay the bill.

Throughout the meal we were served by a few waiters and waitresses, all of whom were friendly and chatty, but it was a real shame that we were forgotten towards the end of the meal. The slack service and the fact that we were sat next to the toilets were the only two annoyances. 

Would I go again then? Yes. Up to now we had fully enjoyed informal, quick lunches/bunches and drinks there and maybe that’s what we should stick to when eating in the day.  The next time I fancy the full shebang at Nonna’s, I’ll go in the evening.

What about you?  What do you think about Nonna’s?  Do you have any favourite Italian restaurants?

What would you like to see me cook next?

You may have noticed that a little poll has appeared to the right of this post. This is your chance to let me know what you would like me to cook next.

Would you like to see an oxtail recipe? I've done lamb heart, how about ox heart? Or would you prefer calf's liver. Of course, you may have had enough of the offal and would rather see me doing a pie.

You decide. Vote Now!

If you have any other requests, please comment below and I'll see what I can do...

Thanks all.

A Roman Feast

My favourite holiday of all time is our trip to Rome. One week in Rome and I was sold. That was about 18 months ago and I NEED to go back. There’s the sights, the culture and the people, but best of all there’s the Food and Wine. 

When we go on holiday, I plan. I don’t do itineraries, but I like to have an idea of what we want to do, and  I'll have a few restaurants in mind so that we’re not wandering around aimlessly when we get there. Before going to Rome, I bought David Downie’s ‘Food Wine Rome’ and this was our bible for the trip. Honestly, it is the best guidebook I have ever set my eyes on. If you’re a foodie and about to go to Rome, then you MUST buy this book. It taught me a lot about traditional Roman food which then helped me to develop an understanding of the culture of the Roman people. When in Rome and all that!

When we came back I wanted to cook Roman food at home and I found out that David Downie had written ‘Cooking the Roman Way’ and was determined to get it. However, it must be a pretty rare book as it was so damn expensive and is still listed at Amazon for about £50! Luckily, one day I spotted it second hand for about £6/7 which was far more manageable. A kindle edition is shortly to be released and that too is at a more manageable price of £16.58 and I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in Roman food.

On Friday I wanted to give the whole Roman meal thing a go. You know, the whole four courses and this is what I did……

Antipasti: Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

So as there were a few courses, I wanted to start with something light and fresh. This dish is so simple, so I thought it was important to get the right ingredients. I didn't have time to trek to an Italian deli, and in any case I'm not even that sure where I would go, so I went to Waitrose. I picked out some ripe tomatoes that actually smelt of tomatoes and I shunned the Aldi packets of Mozzarella preferring the look of this. It was a good choice. I've never really spent money on mozzarella before, I always thought it was a pretty dull cheese, but this stuff is good. It’s still mild but very creamy. To prepare, I just sliced everything up, arranged on side plates and dotted a bit of pesto around. Simple, light and refreshing.  

Tomato and Mozzarella salad

Primi: Carbonara

Carbonara is my favourite pasta dish and since eating it at Da Enzo in Rome (where I learnt that al dente means to leave a white line in the pasta when you bite into it, like this) I have learnt how to cook it Roman style. No cream, no onion and no garlic. It’s incredibly easy and quick to make.

Ingredients

450g pasta (whatever you want really, I used a Rigatoni type pasta)

140g diced pancetta

60g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

60g grated Pecorino Romano (kind of a Roman Parmesan cheese made with sheep’s milk)

5 large egg yolks

1 large egg

olive oil

salt & pepper

Serves 6 

I prepared the sauce in advance. I whisked up the egg yolks and the whole egg with both cheeses in a large bowl and seasoned it. I then left it out to get to room temperature and just before serving I boiled the pasta (to get it al dente you probably want to do it for half the time stated on the packet – 7 minutes is generally about right) and fried off the pancetta in olive oil. You now need to work very quickly. Pasta done, I drained it and mixed some of it into the frying pan with the cooked pancetta to coat it in the juices. Then I quickly mixed all the hot pasta and pancetta into the egg and cheese mixture. The heat of the pasta and pancetta will cook the egg. Trust me. It works. Just keep mixing until the egg mixture coats all the pasta. It then needs to be served immediately.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, I had overcooked the pasta. Al dente it was not. Thankfully, no one seemed to care! The sauce was gorgeous. Eggs, salty cheese and pancetta works. It’s hard to believe that there isn't any cream in there, as the egg mixture coats each piece of pasta perfectly. 

I actually didn't use the Roman cook book for this recipe as David Downie pours the egg mixture into the hot frying pan to mix with the pasta and pancetta and I think the risk of scrambling the eggs would be too high. Instead I used a recipe I came across a while ago. It's by some guy called Daziano who's got a blog on Italian food, it's a good source for a few Italian recipes, take a look.

Carbonara

Secondi: Saltimbocca alla Romana

Veal is a difficult one isn't it?  It doesn't sit well with us and demand for it in Britain is very low. Well, it shouldn't be an issue for us any more as British veal is a actually very ethical food stuff to eat now. Welfare standards have improved and regulations provide for each calf to have bedding, more space and a better diet. Furthermore veal is a by-product of the milk industry. Cattle are encouraged to fall pregnant to bring on their milk. Unfortunately most of the male calves are not required by the farmers (as they can’t produce milk and their meat is considered poor). These calves are then either killed shortly after birth or raised for veal in Europe (where welfare standards are not satisfactory - think cramped conditions and a milk only diet). However, the odd lucky few will be raised for veal in Britain. Rose veal is the British version and it has a light pink colour because of the addition of fibre and iron in the diets, and also the access to sunlight (again something they would not have in Europe). So don’t shun British veal. The more British veal we eat, the fewer cattle will be exported.

Anyway onto the recipe. This one is from David Downie’s book. 

Ingredients

8 thin veal scallops, pounded

8 sage leaves, washed

parma ham

olive oil

100 mls dry white wine

Serves 4

I took the scallops, layered with a piece of the ham and put a piece of the sage in the middle as below.

The layers

I then rolled the scallops up and pinned everything together with a toothpick.  I then just left them in the fridge to be cooked later.

Finished rolls

To cook I heated some oil in a large frying pan and fried the rolls for about 5 minutes on a medium heat. Then I poured in the wine and cooked through for about another 5 minutes. When done, I removed the toothpicks and served with some of the pan juices drizzled over. I also served garlic and rosemary roasted new potatoes and a rocket salad.

The combination of the veal with the parma ham and the sage works. In fact saltimbocca means ‘jump in your mouth’ and they were that good! If you’re not up to giving veal a go then you could use chicken or turkey scallops instead.

Dolce: Ciambelline Col Vino

Wine-dunking cookies are another Roman speciality. We first had them at Trattoria da Alfredo e Ada which is a very sweet little restaurant in Rome. Alfredo died some time ago, but his wife, Ada, still carries on in the kitchen. There are no menus, no wine lists and you are simply asked which of the two options available for starter and main you would like. Wine is red or white and it is produced in the family’s own small vineyard.  Dessert, as you have probably guessed, is always wine-dunking cookies and thanks to David Downie’s book I can now have these at home.

Ingredients

300g all-purpose flour

150g sugar

Large pinch of cinnamon

90mls olive oil

90mls dry white wine

I preheated the oven to 190C and greased and floured a couple of baking sheets. Then I just mixed together the flour, sugar and cinnamon, poured in the wine and kneaded for about 7 minutes. I then tipped the dough out onto a floured work surface and kneaded for a couple more minutes. To shape the cookies, I broke off bits of the mixture and rolled them between my floured hands, formed rings, and placed onto the prepared baking sheets. 15 minutes in the oven and they’re done. They come out hard so you can transfer them to a cooling rack straight away.

Wine-Dunking Cookies

After 3 courses, I, and my guests, would have been over-faced by a full on dessert, so these little cookies were perfect. We dunked them in red wine, but they work equally well with white or sweet wine. They’re really crunchy and, bizarrely, they taste a little of almonds. They’re fantastic little things. Not only are they incredibly simple to make (although the dough is VERY sticky and I managed to get it smeared all over the kitchen) and delicious, they are a perfect excuse to top up the wine glasses!  

So there we go, a true Roman feast. Obviously not as good as the real thing, but it’s probably the closest I'm gonna get to Roman food this year! Everything was really simple to cook and I spent very little time slaving over a hot stove. 

So what’s you favourite Italian dish?  Pizza?  Pasta?  A good steak or some seafood? 

Happy Birthday To Me. Part Three: Wasabisabi.

I first tried sushi about 10 years ago. I was working in a small group up in Edinburgh and we gave Yo Sushi a go. We loved it, well most of us did. One girl refused to eat any raw fish because of 'the parasites' but as she ate with unsnapped chopsticks (still attached at the end) I didn't really take much notice of her.

A couple of years later, thanks to Wasabisabi, sushi came to Sheffield. On our first visit Gavin and I were incredibly naive. Back then I think I was still smearing wasabi directly onto my sushi and using the pickled ginger as a garnish. Thankfully we were sat near an expert and, on watching her, we learnt how to eat sushi properly. So, we poured our soy into the little dish, added some wasabi (HOT horseradish) and mixed it in to make a dipping sauce. Hallelujah, sushi began to make sense! We later learned that the ginger was to be used between different types of sushi; to cleanse the pallet. I can't stand the stuff though so I never use it.

Since then we have been to Wasabisabi many times. Sheffield now boasts three further sushi restaurants (if you can count Yo Sushi's conveyor belt in Meadowhall as a restaurant), but Wasabisabi is, in my opinion, still the best. They have a lot of variety on their menu and they have a Teppanyaki restaurant too. It's also a bit smarter than the rest and apt for a celebration.

We had a drink at Platillos first. Gav had a white Russian which, thanks to the Big Labowski, men can now drink in public. I had a dry gin Martini, dirty, made with Beefeater 24, currently my favourite gin. A good start to the evening.  

Drinks drunk, olive stone spat out, we get a cab to the restaurant. It was pretty quiet when we got there, although a few more did come in as we ate. The decor is Japanese influenced, with little water features, fake orchids dotted around and fabric at the windows. The staff are also dressed appropriately. We sat at the high tables and ordered some Prosecco (which is lovely for the £19.50 price tag). The waitress struggled with the cork so Gav had the pleasure (it's his favourite job) and he was delighted as he opened it almost silently. Apparently fizz should 'sigh' on opening. Nothing more.

We agreed with the waitress that we would order in bits as we went along, rather than having a set number of courses. This would probably annoy some waitresses as taking orders in 4/5 parts must be quite a bit of work, but our waitress was happy to assist. In fact, our waitress was very good. Attentive, but not in our faces, and perfectly pleasant.  

To start we ordered some sushi and sashimi. Over the years, I have worked out that the one form of sashimi that I really adore is salmon, so we had some of that. Sashimi is essentially raw slices of fish; it isn't seared, it isn't cured and it has no marinade. We also went for Unagi Nigri (grilled sea-eel) and Ikura Nigri (salmon roe). Nigri is a rectangle of sushi rice with a strip of fish (or whatever ingredient used) draped across the top. We also got some edamame too, which are soya beans. They are boiled and served sprinkled with salt. Don't make the mistake I made when first eating these and eat the whole bean, casing and all. You just need to pop the bean out of the case and eat that. They're great with drinks. As good as peanuts, but healthier.

The sashimi was as good as ever. Lovely thick slices of fresh salmon with strips of fat running through. It's so fresh and creamy. There was also ample wasabi and ginger served. The unagi, eel, was grilled with, we suspect, some miso flavouring. The fish is perfectly cooked and tasty. I love ikura, salmon roe. I love to pop the eggs between my teeth allowing the slightly jellied juices to splash out onto my tongue. It's probably more of a texture thing than a flavour thing for me; in fact they're not all that flavoursome really. The edamame was served warm and had a good level of seasoning.

Next up we had some gyoza, which are little dumplings stuffed with a variety of fillings. We went for the veggie ones. I think I prefer seafood gyoza as they have more flavour, but these are fine. Fried, but not greasy and packed with strips of veg which is still crunchy. Our next dish is probably our favourite dish available in Sheffield. Japanese black cod, or gindara saikyo miso yaki, which is grilled cod topped with miso.

This stuff is seriously very, very good! The fish is so tender and creamy; it literally melts in the mouth. The miso gives a bit of sweetness and it really is truly amazing! It is also quite expensive; two smallish fillets for £12 is about £1.50 a bite. However, it is worth every single penny! Black cod is a species of cod and I've just googled a few suppliers, so I may be trying this dish at home one day soon.

We then ordered katsu kare which is another favourite. It comes with a miso soup, so we ordered an extra soup so that we can have one each. The waitress serves this to us on its own which allowed for a short break between dishes. It comes in lidded black cups and you drink it rather than use a spoon. Chopsticks can be used to pick out the chunks of tofu along with the strips of seaweed.  

The katsu kare arrived next; pork cutlet, breaded in panko breadcrumbs which gave it a crispy coating. The curry sauce wasn't particular attractive, but this dish is about taste rather than presentation. There were some potato chunks in there and it was served with a decent mound of sticky rice. The sauce was slightly hotter than others that I've had, but it wasn't overly hot at all. Unfortunately I have developed an addiction to Sakushi's version of this dish and this one didn't quite hit the spot for me. It wasn't bad, I just preferred Sakushi's version. We also ordered nasu no dengaku which was half an aubergine cooked in the same way as the cod. Again, this was very creamy. I love aubergine anyway so this was always going to be a hit.

By this point we were quite full, but by having the dishes spread over a number of different courses, we were not stuffed, so we ordered dessert! Tempura Delight was deep fried battered banana served with ice cream. A Japanese banana split maybe. It sounded as though it would be greasy but it wasn't and the banana was still quite firm.  

We shared this along with a Japanese Bellini which is champagne with lychee purée. Probably not as good as sipping the original peach version in Harry's bar, but, for Sheffield, it was lovely. After all, you can't really go wrong with a bit of fizz can you? Gav had an eau de vie de poire William which is kind of a French brandy.  

Suitably satisfied, we got the bill. It's not cheap at almost £90, but we did have a few dishes. Also apart from the slight disappointment with the katsu kare, everything was perfect. The service had been excellent also and we'd had a fantastic evening, so it was well worth the £90.

What do you guys think? Are you more of a Sakushi or Yama Sushi fan? Any tips of where to get good sushi outside Sheffield?

Happy Birthday To Me. Part Two: Gusto Italiano

BLOG UPDATE - GUSTO ITALIANO IS NOW GUSTO ON NORFOLK ROW. IT'S A LITTLE MORE FORMAL NOW AND IT'S OPEN IN THE EVENINGS TOO.

I love, love, love Italy. I have been lucky enough to go to Venice and Rome and I desperately want to go back and see more of this fantastic country. I love the culture, the people, the weather, the chilled out atmosphere and, of course, I love the food.

I love Gusto Italiano, especially as it serves coffee and wine! Gav loves this place because every so often someone will slip in a 'grazie' and as he leaves he will call out 'ciao'. He is very good at learning the odd phrase and when we go away he always makes an effort with the locals. I, on the other hand, am too shy!

We ordered two large glasses of Nero d'Avola, a gorgeous Sicilian red. They still had food available and there was a decent range of hot and cold foods, but we had already eaten so we just went for some olives which was a shame as the food looked very tempting indeed!

The wine was served in enormous, yet delicate and elegant wine glasses and the olives were green, fat and juicy. It was reasonably quiet and we sat, sipping our wine, people watching as customers, family members and Italian friends pop in and out.

The wine was lovely and warming. Once finished, Gav reminded me of the mini croissant pastries that he had spotted on the counter and we decided to have one each with an espresso. We have had these before, in Italy, but I cannot remember what they are called, so apologies for that! They are essentially tiny croissants filled with a sweet creamy custard. They are very sweet, so one is enough.

I will make an effort to eat here soon and let you know how the food is. In the meantime, bear this place in mind. It's great for an afternoon vino, as it is far from just a cafe and it has lots more character than the awful chains!

They don't seem to have a website and I can't find them on Facebook, so here is a link to their location.

Happy Birthday To Me. Part One: Amigos Mexican Kitchen

BLOG UPDATE - NOTE THAT AMIGOS HAS NOW MOVED FURTHER UP LONDON ROAD AND IT'S MORE OF A RESTAURANT THAN A CAFE. THE MENU HAS MORE VARIETY TOO.

Yesterday I hit 31. Initially I didn't think too much of it. I didn't think it would be as bad as hitting 30 and I thought that as I had survived the 30th, I would easily cope with the 31st. Well, things weren't as easy as I had hoped! Firstly there was no excuse to have a mad party or to make my husband splurge on expensive gifts. Instead, all I could think about was the fact that I had now well and truly left my twenties. Sigh...

After celebrating with the girls at the weekend (another depressing experience as we ended up in a nightclub full of kids), I wanted to celebrate the day itself with Gav. The plan was to wander down London Road & Abbeydale Road to Bragazzi's where we would have coffee and lunch. The weather was kind to us. Sure it was cold, but it was bright and brisk and DRY.

London Road is a true haven for me and if it wasn't for the football crowd (it is very close to the Sheffield United ground) I would seriously consider living round there. There are restaurants and takeaways galore and some of my favourite eating places have a London Road address. It's always difficult for us to walk down here and as we wandered down we had to resist many temptations and focus on our plan that was Bragazzi's.

I was looking forward to some cheese, some meats and some good coffee. I also wanted to pick up some supplies from their deli for an upcoming Italian feast. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the deli counter looked rather bare, and there were just a few sandwiches left for lunch. Instantly disappointed we decided to just have espresso whilst we revised our plan. We sat outside on the busy road and had a bit of a wait for our espresso, but once they arrived we quickly swallowed them down; they were good and a perfect boost to fuel us for the walk back into town.

As we walked, I tried to persuade Gav to give Amigos Mexican Kitchen a go. I had heard lots of good things about this place, but Gav wasn't so sure and I couldn't really understand why! Especially as he hadn't even heard of the place! Anyhoo, my powers of persuasion worked and we stopped off on our way back into town.

The interior is pretty simple; more of a cafe than a restaurant, which was perfect for us as we had plans for dinner later. The interior is pretty basic with a few tables scattered around. It's garden furniture, mostly.  Think uncomfortable chairs and wobbly tables.... but this isn't, or shouldn't be, a problem. You won't lounge here for hours on end with endless courses. You will eat and go. There were quite a few people popping in and out whilst we were there and the tables were somewhat in demand. Given that this was a Tuesday lunchtime, the place was busier than I thought it would be.

The menu isn't huge and it's Tex Mex stuff - fajitas, tacos, nachos, chilli etc. We order quesadillas. I had beef steak, he had chipotle chicken. I also, in the interest of being somewhat healthy, decided that we should share a salad and we order the cactus salad.

Our food arrives. The quesadillas came with a small salad on the side and a selection of nachos. We also had some guacamole, soured cream and salsa to share. They were GOOD! The flour tortilla was crispy, well more flaky than crispy, and they had the texture of a thin pastry. Brilliant and so far away from the packaged stuff we buy in the shops. My steak was tender and in a sauce of tomatoes, onions and spices. There was also cheese, quite a lot of cheese, which is great for me! The side salad was nice and fresh with a few beans in there too and the nachos were very moreish. The guacamole had the right amount of heat, but I wasn't that bothered about the salsa or soured cream as I didn't feel that the quesadilla didn't need any added flavour.

Gav's was good also.  It had more heat than mine and was smoky from the chipotle. He ate quickly and quietly - a sure sign that he was enjoying! The cactus salad was fresh and light.  Again, there were beans in there, and coriander too. The cactus itself looked like strips of green peppers and didn't have a strong memorable flavour, so I'd have it again, but I wasn't wowed by it. Shortly after starting our meal, the chef, and owner, came out and offered us chilli oil. Great. Loved it! It had a bit of a smoky flavour and it pepped up the salad no end.

There was ample food and for once we were pleasantly full, but not stuffed. I think the salad helped! All in, with a bottle of water and a can of ginger beer, the meal cost us less than £13. Tremendous value given the quality of the food.

Sheffield has been lacking a decent Mexican eatery for a long time. Yeah, we've got the standard Italian come Mexican restaurants, but their food is generally overpriced and their focus is firmly placed on the party atmosphere only. Amigos is different. The food is good and you come here to eat, not to swig gallons of wine and dance on the table tops. I'm impressed and I think you will be too.

Who said I never had a heart? Stuffed Lambs' Hearts

Well, here we go again; more offal! 

I have two favourite butchers at Castle Markets. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of either store, but I'll try to take note next time I'm down there. The first butcher is a right miserable sod. He only ever grunts at me and, unlike the others, he doesn't double bag anything, so there is often blood splattered down the outside of the carrier as he passes it to me. Once he even had a bit of go at me for pointing at the 6 pack of ham hocks, when I only wanted one. He'd put the 6 in a bag for me and as I explained that I had only wanted one, he moaned that I had pointed at the wrong packs and reluctantly swapped the 6 for 1. My God. If he doesn't want me to frequent his store, I can easily go elsewhere! Having said that, he does have the best chicken hearts and his hocks (and cheeks) are cheap. So I'll put up with the grunts and smile sweetly the next time I point at the wrong thing!

The other butcher is the absolute opposite. He smiles warmly, asks how I am and offers advice on the cuts of meat. In fact, all the staff on that stall are friendly and will have a bit of a banter with the customers. There's a fair bit of variety and the prices are reasonable.  It's the lamb's hearts that caught my eye this time and, on asking, I was advised to stuff them with either rice and herbs or sausage meat. The butcher also showed me the pig's hearts which are leaner and according to him 'more human-like'. Mmmm. Nice! The ox hearts are enormous and I was told that people will often cook these for their Sunday dinner. In trying to sell me more hearts, I am told that I need to forget what I'm eating and just tuck in; I manage to impress by stating that I've already tried chicken hearts!

Three hearts for about £1.80.

Once at home, I consulted my Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson and I was glad to find that there is a recipe for stuffed lamb's hearts. Eager to get on with cooking, I started working on the meat by cutting out any visible valves and slicing off any fatty lumps. There was also a reasonable layer of fat covering each heart but I left in tact as I had heard that hearts can be dry. I then scrapped out the blood clots with my fingers. This bit isn't overly pleasant and it did remind me of the horror stories we used to hear of scary biology lessons. You remember, the teacher would place a heart on each desk and force the pupils to dissect them. A number of kids promised that they would walk out of the class in protest if anything like that happened. Hell, I was probably one of them, and here I was conducting my own experiment.

Anyway a couple of the hearts had slashes in them, which does make them easier to clean, but to make sure I got everything out I soaked them in cold water for 20 minutes or so. After squeezing the water out I placed them in the fridge and got on with making the stuffing.

Clean and ready to go.

This recipe is for 6 people, so, having 3 hearts, I cut the ingredients in half;
3 clean hearts
salted butter
2 onions (Fergus calls for red onions, but I didn't have any, so I used white)
2 garlic cloves, chopped (I am pretty sure there is a typo in the book, as it actually calls for 2 garlic bulbs!)
1 large glass of red wine (about 250mls)
110 g of white bread with crusts chopped off, cubed
ground black pepper
handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped
9 rashes of streaky bacon
string
750 mls chicken/veg stock

Heat the oven to about 170C.

So first off, I melted the butter over a low to medium heat, added the onions and garlic and cooked until softened. I added the wine, reduced by half and added the bread. Then I seasoned with pepper and cooked on the lowest heat for 15 mins. It got a bit dry so I added more wine. According to Fergus I wanted the stuffing to have 'an unctuous but not squidgy quality'. What this actually means in practice, I'm not too sure, so I just aimed for a stuffing like mixture! Once stuffing like, I cooled and added the chopped sage.

Stuffing mix; tastes way better than it looks!

I then set about stuffing the hearts, which was pretty tricky.  I used both fingers and utensils to cram in as much of the mixture as I could. Originally I'd been disappointed to see that two of the hearts had slashes in them, but they were actually the easiest to stuff! I then wrapped the bacon around the hearts, covering off each of the stuffing entrances and tied up with string to keep everything intact.

I placed the hearts in a casserole dish, with a lid. You could also use a roasting dish and make a lid out of foil. I poured in the stock, until the hearts were almost covered and cooked for two and a half hours.

Two and a quarter hours later I turned the oven off, but kept the hearts in there. This was because I needed to keep the hearts somewhere warm whilst preparing the sauce. Fifteen minutes later I strained the liquid from the casserole and put the hearts back in the oven. I heated the liquid up in a pan and let it bubble away for about 15 mins, skimming of the fat and any scum. Once it had thickened up into a gravy, I removed the string and served the hearts with the gravy, some curly kale and broccoli.

Gav went first and declared them a success. He admitted to being a bit nervous. Bless. He is my guinea-pig at the moment. He was right though; they were a success. They were perfectly tender and, although they looked like they had a texture similar to liver, that texture was lost in the mouth. There was an ever so slight offaly taste but they tasted mostly of lamb meat. The fat on the hearts added more lamb flavour and the stuffing added a touch of sweetness.

One each was ample and the third is in the fridge to eat cold. They worked out at about 60p each.and taking into account the preparation required and the resulting dish, I think they are my favourite cheap cut to date. They even top pig's cheeks as they're not as gory to prepare and, apart from the bacon, they are cheaper overall.

I reckon I could stuff them with a variety of stuff and I may give a rice and thyme mixture a go next.  Although I have seen them stuffed with goats' cheese; maybe Stilton would be worth a go, or maybe some bread soaked in white wine with lots of Parmesan mixed in would work. Hmmmm. So many ideas!!

Anyone else tried them? Got any recipes to share? Have I done enough to persuade lamb heart virgins to try one? Go on..... I dare you!

Curry-tastic - East & West

First of all I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year. It ain't gonna be an easy one. The job market is in dire straights and the public sector cuts in April are only gonna make things worse. Who knows when things will start to get better, but my guess is that things are gonna get worse first. I have no idea what I'll be doing job wise in 6 months; at the moment I just hope I will be doing something!

Anyway. Enough of that. Despite all the doom and gloom New Years Eve was celebrated with a suitably messy party and although I can't remember too much I do know that I had a great night. I hope you too had a good time and I truly hope 2011 is a good, or at least bearable, year for every one of you.

On to the food.

Curries are funny aren't they? We all know them as Indian cuisine, but they're probably just as British as they are Indian (or Bangladeshi/Pakistani). The Balti is thought to have been created in Birmingham and Chicken Tikka Masala is known as one of Britain's national dishes. But you just can't beat a proper curry can you?! And that is where the difficulty lies. Finding a decent curry house is like finding the love of your life. Once you have it in your grasp you will not stray to another and you will remain forever loyal.

I have tried many places in my own quest to find the perfect Indian restaurant. I have had dull tasting slop in restaurants with flocked wallpaper, I have had overpriced trash in 'contemporary' Indian restaurants and I have had the late night, beer fuelled curry where, on one occasion a waiter served me a bottle of frozen black tower (don't hold it against me, I was young and naive, so much so, I didn't even send it back!).  I have also been lucky enough to go to India and try the fine cuisine first hand. There is nothing like eating at a dirty roadside cafe; your taste buds will rejoice, but your stomach will fall out of your arse the next day. Cleanliness in eateries is required!

East and West, without a doubt, is the best Indian restaurant I have eaten in, in Britain anyway. So imagine my glee when the husband came home and said he was taking me out and that I could choose where. We debated a few places; noodles, tapas, sushi, pub grub, pizza, kebabs. It was a tough decision, it always is, but eventually we decided on East and West. Apart from anything else, I figured it would make a good topic for a blog post.

It describes itself as a place offering the 'finest authentic South Indian and Sri Lankan Cuisine' with dishes 'prepared with the freshest ingredients and prepared with the proper procedure in an effort to pamper your taste buds and provide a healthy and tasty alternative, without leaving you with a hole in your pocket'. Sounds good, yeah? Well, it is! They don't do the 'bog-standard' curries here. Chicken Tikka certainly is not on the menu. Instead there is vadai, idly, dosas and kotthu amongst other magical sounding goodies.

The restaurant is on Abbeydale Road, a good 20 minute/half hour walk out of town and we do decide to walk, in preparation of the feast ahead. It's bring your own too so we pick up a bottle from the wine rack as we leave the flat. You can't book mid-week so I was anxious to know that we would actually get a seat; it can get pretty busy at the weekend and the place can only sit about 16 at a time. No worries though; there were just two other couples there when we arrived. 

We perused the menu, eventually made our choices and ordered. We have made our way through a fair bit of the menu over time and the dosas are spectacular, but we decided to go for a few new things, partly for the sake of the blog!

We were brought stainless steel cups for our wine; everything is served on stainless steel which is strange to begin with, but the trays with their separate compartments are pretty useful for all the sauces and dips. The staff are friendly and humble. They love to talk about the food and appreciate any compliments you give them. The restaurant itself is a bit like a canteen; simple and with very little in the way of decor. There certainly isn't any flocked wallpaper! The toilet situation is a tad annoying as there is only one to be used by one and all, and that involves a trip down a ginnel (and, yes Sheffield, I did say ginnel, not jennel).

Complimentary poppadoms soon appeared with mango chutney and a yoghurt dip to accompany them. Gav joked that they were our 'amuse-bouche' and he proceeded to stuff his face with them as I tried to restrain, knowing full well that we, as is often the case, had over ordered.

Half eaten poppadoms!

Starters arrived; I went for Samba Vadai. The Vadai were soft plump discs made out of a light flour mixture and they were swimming in the Samba, which is kind of a veggie stew. It's ok  Not bad, not fantastic. Gav liked it; I thought it tasted of tea!

Vadai Samba

The Masala Vadai were better.  They too were plump discs, but made out of channa dal (basically chickpeas), onions and lots of chilli and spices, with a crisp outer layer.  There's just more flavour to these than the Samba Vadai and they left a nice chilli tingle in the mouth.

Masala Vadai

Mains were quick to follow, maybe a bit too quick, as I do like a break in between courses. The mutton biryani was fantastic; the spicing was just right. Damn tasty but not too hot. The mutton was nice and tender, and although I had been trying to have some meat free days after the indulgences of Christmas and New Year, I didn't regret going for it.

Mutton Biryani

I also had an egg rotti. Oh my lord! These are gorgeous. They're made out of layers of flaky pastry type bread, with an egg, onion and spice mixture spread out between each fold. So moreish, but also so filling!  It was a meal in itself and actually would make a fantastic breakfast with a good squirt of ketchup!

Egg Rotti

Gav went for the special - devilled prawns. There were about 5 fat prawns with red and yellow peppers coated in a sticky sweet and sour looking sauce. It wasn't particularly sweet and it had a bit of a kick to it, but wasn't my cup of tea  Luckily Gav was happy and as the dish was of a more manageable size, he was able to assist with my biryani too.

Deviled Prawns

He also ordered puttu which is perhaps the strangest dish I have come across! It's a roll made of rice flour, stuffed with grated coconut. Peculiar to the point that it wasn't particularly enjoyable; for me anyway! I didn't quite understand its purpose as it was very crumbly and couldn't be used to mop anything up. It wasn't all that flavoursome either. Now, I gather puttu can be a breakfast dish, a side dish or a dessert (when made with sweetened coconut). Very versatile for such a dull, dry and ugly looking dish!

Puttu

By this point we were stuffed and very grateful that Gav had taken advice from the waiter and refrained from ordering a chapathi too. We finished our wine, happily paid the bill (which was in the region of £22) and treated ourselves to a cab home.

If you haven't been here yet, then you must. Things don't have to be all that scary as there are the likes of samosas and onion bhajis on the menu as well as a few curries. If you do fancy something new, then you must go for a dosa. They are huge crisp pancakes stuffed with a choice of filing and served with chutney. Grand.

There's only one other restaurant in town like this; Dhanistha's which is just a bit further along Abbeydale Road. It's good, but the atmosphere isn't quite as good as East and West, which is a shame because the food is very good there.

How about you?  Any delights that you'd like to share with us?