Sticks & Sushi Review - Covent Garden

Busy Wednesday night at Sticks & Sushi, been wanting to go here for ages now, followed on twitter and been loving the pictures they and customers post @sticksnsushi_UK

Service is friendly and welcoming, staff keep calling out some name as they walk you to your table, don't ask me what it was, despite hearing it many times still could not make it out. once you have sat and ordered you are then given a warm fresh towel to clean your hands, always liked this especially when next thing on is picking and eating with fingers, especially for those not mastered the chop sticks yet

non alcoholic cocktails are excellent especially the one with liquorish & berries, the calpico & yuzu also very good

started with cauliflower that had been fried and served with black sesame truffle sauce, really tasty something different and unusual, cauliflower really picks up the flavour well. Really turns a plain vegetable in to something great.

 This was followed by first plate of sushi

• Daikon Gunkan trout roe with quails egg yolk - really divine roe like popping candy with running yolk that really added to the flavour
• Seared yellow-tail with tsume soy - the searing really helps here, very delicate fish
• Beef Nigri - very tasty beef, perfectly aged and sliced, little nut on top really adds to the total flavour profile

 

First plate of our grilled sticks

• Beef with miso herb butter - perfectly marinated and tender, ate so easy, very good quality meat used
• Panko breaded duck with wasabi Caesar dressing - a stand out dish, really divine, so tender and tasty, you must try these
• Beef with crunchy chilli & garlic - packed with lots of flavour, meat here was not as tender as the beef miso but was OK, just not as tender a little bit tougher, but still a great dish

 

 Second plate of sushi cannot believe i was still going

• Hamachi - really fresh fish used, very tasty and dipped well in the soy and wasabi
• Shrimp - again very fresh and tasty, great quality ingredients
• Miso marinated black cod with tsume & sesame - the heat in this dish really helps all the flavours melt together

 

 Finally another plate of delicious sticks

• Lamb chop with miso herb butter - little bit weird to have bone in rib on sticks, you forget when first biting in to it, but soon remember, again perfect tasting, lamb was extremely tender
• Free range pork and basil - another great meat, its so nice to see somewhere using perfect quality meat in all its dishes
• Scallop wrapped in smoked bacon - absolutely divine, perfect cooked scallops, cooked almost to the point, really succulent - you must try this

Sour Dough Tomato & Parmesan Bread

this mornings effort - see recipe on my original sour dough bread

i added to this

100g sun blush tomatoes cut in small pieces
30g finely grated Parmesan

these were added same time as all other ingredients

lunch with smoked salmon, cream cheese and mixed leaves, simple but delicious

Sour Dough Journey Continues

so my second attempt at making sour dough and one week later, i have now dived in and bought a couple of brotforms to help with the sticking issues that i had last time.

unbelievably a light dusting of flour in the brotform and proof the dough for 12 hours and out my little loaf slid straight on to the bread baking stone - purchased at the same time as the brotforms

recipe is listed below and i am still playing around with the basic recipe so keep an eye out for future recipe posts

most of my recipes are approx weights as i rarely weigh ingredients whilst cooking, however i do always weigh out when making bread

see pictures below, the sandwich is filled with delicious pulled chicken, keep an eye out for this recipe soon!!

Recipe

460g strong white flour
300g sour dough starter
10g sea salt
230g warm water

ice for cooking

Method

1.  i simply weigh out all ingredients and place in to mixing bowl, using a dough hook i mix on slow for approx 10 minutes. 
2. remove hook and cover the mixing bowl with clingfilm, i then put a plastic carrier bag over the bowl, wet a large towel and place this over the bowl. place the bowl in a warm area and proof for approx 45 minutes. 
3. remove the dough from the bowl and push down dough, i then grab dough at both ends and gently shake up and down whilst pulling lightly on dough, this stretches the dough in length. 
4. place the dough on to a work surface, fold over each edge of the stretched dough to the middle of what you have and then i proceed to shape the dough to what i need to fit my brotform.
5. once i have placed the dough in to the mould i place in the fridge for proofing and leave overnight, in the morning i take the dough out of the fridge for 1-2 hours before baking
6. pre heat oven to 250c, i always place my bread stone in the cold oven and let it heat with the oven, at the same time i also place a metal tray on the shelf below the bread stone
7. once the oven is at temperature i tip the dough on to the bread stone, i place ice in to the pre-heated oven tray and then close the oven door
8. bake at 250c for approx 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200c for approx 25-30 minutes
9. test the base of the bread by tapping on it, if it sounds hollow then its cooked. ENJOY!!!

     

Winter Red Cabbage

all ingredients are approx

1 large red cabbage
2 red onions
2 large cooking apples
150g dried cherries
100g brown sugar
250ml red wine
20ml worcester sauce
100g chilli jam
2 teaspn paprika
salt and pepper to season

slice onions and red cabbage
peel, core and dice apples

combine all ingredients in to slow cooker and cook on high for 8-10 hours

serve with roasted pork is the best option, but this goes well with any roasted meat and especially duck breast

dried cherries can be omitted or replaced with similar i.e. dried cranberries

Review Hix Oyster House -Lyme Regis

Really nice location , great to sit out on the deck and good old British weather did not let us down

Service is ok, maybe a little too relaxed 2.5 hours for a two course meal, maybe too long for some but it was a nice day. Could do with being a little more attentive to empty water and asking if anyone needs anything, no mid meal check backs done

Excellent starters stand out dish mackerel salad with boiled egg and herb salad, very nice, but had to search for mackerel, a little more would made this a stand out 10/10 dish. I would say in general starters little bit pricey for quantity, however all excellent flavours, average 6/7 out 10

Mains were exceptional except for the dressed crab extremely poorly presented just chucked out of a packet and on to a plate, no care to make it look appealing or appetising, come on chef, you can do better especially for £14 

Other mains in comparison were far better it's hard to believe that same chef served up these different dishes. Rack lamb with cockles was excellent, as was the sea trout with girolle and samphire salad.

I would have scored higher had it not been for the crab main course you can get better on the Cobb for far less

Review Palomar - London

The reviews are spot on, go hunt this wonderful restaurant out, it's worth the visit and very reasonably priced

I ate far too many dishes as they tasted so good, sit at the bar table and be prepared to wait for a seat, but please wait, it's so worth it


A small free taster - delicious and great dip

Started with home baked bread (chola) with tomato coulis and tahini, really tasty mix, very cleverly done, nice and fresh and works well. Followed with some mackerel esbeche,really tasty some great flavour profiles mixed in to cut through the fatty mackerel. Raw oysters, simple but still fresh and tasty. The daily six were excellent with a stand out two being the Josper smoked aubergine and beetroot with goats cheese, sublime!!!

This was all topped off by the superior Jerusalem polenta, with asparagus mushrooms and truffle, this was so good, really rich and packed with flavour, it was worth the trip alone. YOU HAVE TO TRY IT !!! so good i forgot to take a picture, until i was half way through it.

Mains were sublime again packed with flavour and some great ideas, oxtail casserole really tasty and so unusually light, lots of textures and perfectly cooked. Deconstructed kebab again very cleverly pulled off, again so good i forgot a picture completely this time. Steak with lutka and fried egg, lots of flavour, very tender, worked very well. To top it all off the sweetbread dish was superb, my favourite of the night and something i will return to try again!!

Finished off with a superb chocolate dessert don't ask me what it was but god it tasted great, lots of amazing flavours and textures. By this time I had consumed far too much food, then to finish the equivalent of the wafer thin mint, we were given a taster of the house ice cream, very cleverly done and this did just about finish me off.

Night was made with some free alcohol shots given through night the staff entertainment is very funny and clever to get people involved, also a big win are the chefs cooking right in front of you and talking all through the meal, bad that you have to sit there and watch them plating all this divine food, hence eating far too much

Overall well done and I hope you continue to grow but as you do please please keep it real

Cheese on Toast

So not wanting to waste my first sour dough bread, it got turned in to one of my favourite evening snacks - cheese on toast

So easy, quick and tasty

Weights all approx as I have never weighed ingredients when cooking

2-3 slices of bread

8oz grated cheese, I like to mix mine really strong cheddar with good blue cheese

8oz Branson pickle

Half small jar anchovies

Good dash of Worcester sauce

Toast one side of each slice of bread, on the un-toasted side of bread spread out pickle, top with grated cheese, top with anchovies and then dash of Worcester sauce. Put back under grill and cook until cheese bubbles. 

Pickle can be replaced with piccalilli or any other chutney and trust me try the anchovies really do make it

Sour Dough Bread First Attempt

Well they say the fun with cooking is experimenting, well my first attempt was not a great success, you know that feeling when you just wish you had not bothered.

First time I had used my starter, however this was not the issue. I had read on line about proving by wrapping a tea towel in a colander so I tried this and that was the mistake, came to tipping out the bread on to oven tray and yes you guessed it. Just stuck to the tea towel and would not come out, with oven door wide open and heat escaping there I am stood pulling, pushing and smacking, eventually out it came, completely deflated but by now it's too late so I had to carry on and let it cook.

Result was not bad but not great 

You can see it sticking in the picture below

Things can only get better 

Sour Dough Journey Begins

So I decided to get back into making bread recently, I have never tried sour dough bread but thought it would be as good a time as any to have a go at it myself. So it all begins with creating your own starter, after lots of reading and researching I came up with the following recipe

In a large plastic container weigh out 200g of strong white flour and then stir in 200ml of warm water, keep stirring until well combined. It then needs to be left out somewhere warm so that it can catch airborne yeast. I really did not believe that this was possible and it took 2 days before you really start to see bubbles appearing on the surface.

Each day you need to feed the starter with equal amounts of strong white flour and warm water, I used 100g of each every day for 9 days

After about 5 days I used water that I had soaked crushed red grapes in for over 24 hours, when I added this, the next morning the air bubbles and growth was amazing. I continue to do this every other week 

Many recipes I have seen say about throwing away half the starter when you feed, I have never done this yet and just continue to feed my starter weekly 2-3 days before I need it for a recipe

When not using my starter I leave in the fridge un-fed till I need it, the longest it has sat without being fed is 3 weeks, it soon comes back to life after just one feed.

Keep an eye out for my recipes using sour dough starter

Paella in the Sun

Late October cooking in the Spanish sun, gorgeous paella cooked for family and friends. i love cooking this dish it's so easy, great theatre cooking, eats so well with a jug of sangria

Weights are approx as I rarely weigh anything for recipes

Recipe
olive oil 300ml
2 diced onions and 6 cloves garlic
tinned chopped tomatoes
chorizo 200g
mixed peppers 1 of each red and green
green beans 200g
squid 200g
prawns (shell-on) 500g
mussels 1000g
tuna 300g
salmon 300g
chicken thighs and drumsticks 750g
paella rice 5-6 portions
paella seasoning 15-20g
pimenton Dulce 10g
fish stock 1 litre
chicken stock 1 litre
white wine 200ml
lemons 2

Method - Total cooking time approx 45-60 minutes, serves 6-8

1. heat large pan, i use a large paella pan but this also works with any large frying pan, but you will need a deep one
2.  once heated add oil to pan and then add chopped garlic and onions to pan, cook for a few minutes over medium heat without colouring
3. whilst onions are cooking in middle of pan, add chicken pieces to the sides of pan and cook on each side to colour
4. add chopped tomatoes on top of onions and then spread out over pan, stir every 30 seconds and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes
5. spread onion mix to sides of the pan, add sliced squid to pan with sliced peppers and green beans (sliced on an angle), continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes
6. add the diced salmon and tuna to pan, mix together well and cook for another 2-3 minutes
7. meanwhile heat some oil in another pan and once heated add prawns and cook on both sides, as you do the first turn of prawns, add the mussels to pan followed by the wine. top pan with a lid and cook until mussels have opened. discard any that do not open. remove from heat and keep warm.
8. back to the main pan and now you want to add the paella rice, seasoning mix and pimenton Dulce, stir the rice and all other ingredients together, cook for approx 2 minutes
9. add both fish and chicken stock until all ingredients are completely covered, reduce the heat and continue to cook
10. DO NOT STIR PAN FROM THIS POINT FORWARD
11. as stock reduces you may need to add more stock and keep reducing the liquid until the rice is cooked through, i like to leave mine al dente
12. as the liquor is reducing and after about 20 minutes add the cut lemon wedges to pan and then start to place the mussels and prawns on to the top of the rice
13. once cooked you can add fresh chopped parsley and coriander to pan

You will be tempted to stir the pan whilst it is cooking, but please resist the urge to do this, the idea is for a base layer on the pan to catch and slightly burn, this helps to protect the rest of the dish and creates the much-loved burnt bits known as “socarrat” by paella aficionados

Prawns and mussels can also be added directly to the pan raw and cooked with the rest of the dish, if you do this add them approx 5 minutes after adding the stock

Serve with chunks of fresh warm bread and salad

Aioli stirred in to the paella is also a very tasty addition