Food

Had a Swiss cheese, onion ring and candied bacon burger from mother flippers this morning, a delicious start to the day.

If Tongue N Cheek are there next time you are, try their Heart Breaker burger, it is seriously awesome.
Amazingly tender meat and the chimichurri is delicious!

Went to Lantana for brunch for the first time, was superb.

Had to queue for about 10 minutes, which wasn't too bad given it was bang on midday.

I had poached eggs, rocket, and cornbread with ham and chorizo baked beans, my mate had crispy bacon and avocado on corn fritters. Both were absolutely delicious. Reccomended.

Slamm - they were there today, my friend had the Philly cheese steak from them which was by all accounts brilliant.

Yeah it looked awesome, must admit to having a little food envy after seeing the guy in front of me getting one.

Hit brunch at Kopapa - Chorizo hash was more Chorizo mash. Disappoint. Coffee excellent. V. busy as 1030am.

Dinner at mele e pere - superb.
Arancini, favourite. Squid, great light "batter", same with the zucchini, highlight.
Baby roast chicken lovely. Tagliatelli ragu winner.
Whooping hens night there, low-light.

Please could someone post up a good tried and tested banana bread recipe, I know there's some in this thread but my searching has failed me.

Cazakstan - I've found this one pretty fool proof

http://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/b/banana_bread_2011.html

If you do go for the icing - use the generic storebrand cream cheese, the branded stuff is too sour.

Amazing, that's my Sunday baking sorted. Muchas gracias.

De nada. Now I need to dig out a chili recipe for Monsier Cheese.

Although there are many variations on Chili in the US, the one I know best is the Texas Red version. Texas chilis differ from the others in the US in that they have no onions, no beans and no tomatoes. Stripped back and closer to the ones that originated on cattle drives where the mobile kitchens would have had no supplies of fresh ingredients. They are also quite a deep red colour and nothing like the spag-bol texture of the chilis I've seen here.

You can get the chipotle and ancho powders from here - They also have a stall at borough market and are available at various places around London. You can also use their dried Mexican oregano instead. It's amazing stuff.

Chili Mix:
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
2 teaspoons ancho chili powder

For the chili:
1.3 kg beef brisket
5-6 tablespoons sunflower oil (or 90g lard or kidney suet if you want to be old school)
3 heaping tablespoons of the above chili mix
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon salt (to taste but you will need twice that amount if you use sea salt)
1 tablespoon Tabasco
8 garlic cloves

Remove the fat from the brisket and cut into thumb sizes pieces
Brown the meat in the oil/lard/suet in batches
Drain the excess fat and replace the meat
Cover the meat with about an inch of water and add the chili mix. Use less of the chili mix if you want it less spicy or are unsure of your tolerance for heat. The chili heat is like salt, you can always add it to the dish but you cannot take it away.
Bring the whole thing to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 45 minutes – do not let it go dry - add water (or beer) to maintain enough moisture. Don’t stir it much either. Taste and adjust seasoning.
You are aiming for a decent thickness of the sauce – not soupy but not sticky either. Once done, you can thicken the liquid with corn starch dissolved in a little water.

For the love of all that is sacred do not serve this with rice. Ever. Don’t even think about it.

Serve with cornbread, cole slaw and beer.

That sounds incredible.

I had a really nice brunch today; tabasco fried bread with scrambled eggs and smoked & peppered mackerel which was grilled with a bit of feta. Really quick but so satisfying.

Aroogah I'm giving that a go next weekend sounds great!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a224/ladytigger666/CFC3E1E1-4FF8-49E2-BC65-BEC5523E24EA-5109-0000031949861A8F_zps13f99bec.jpg

Banana bread. Waiting for it to cool then I will ice with cream cheese frosting, I'll be popular at work tomorrow.

Top work.

I had a really nice brunch today; tabasco fried bread with scrambled eggs and smoked & peppered mackerel which was grilled with a bit of feta. Really quick but so satisfying.

Tell me how to make this.

I love mackerel and I love eggs. I like feta and tobasco a lot, but not quite as much.

Thank you

Tabasco fried bread is so easy, you just need to drizzle some olive oil over both sides of the bread, season it with s&p and then shake on tabasco, obviously the amount is to taste, then put it on a medium high heat till browned and crispy.
I just bought the premade smoked and peppered mackerel, so put that under the grill till its almost done then crumble some feta over top and pop that back in till the feta starts to brown.
Can I assume you know how to make scrambled eggs? I put some cream and loads of pepper in mine.

Then plate it up, with the mackerel on top of the bread, I don't really eat much ketchup, but this is one thing I definitely have it with. It only takes about 10 minutes and is so more-ish.

I'm going to have a really spicy red pepper risotto tonight with the coldest beer I can get.

I do indeed know the art of the egg scrambling.

I guess I could have worked your recipe out myself, but wanted to know any secret twists.

thanks. This will probably be my post ride meal next weekend as it sounds ace. Unusual but understandable combinations.

Was skeptical but the Gordon Ramsay scrambled egg method does deliver. If you really slow it down you can get custard texture just about set egg.

Went to Wright Brothers Oyster place in Soho. Not so impressed by my roast Bream on a bed of spiced lentils main course but the seafood platter we had as a starter was brilliant. The lentils weren't mushy enough and a bit flavour-less, and the Bream while brilliantly cooked was under seasoned. The Pollock fish fingers my dad had were much nicer, crunchy batter, fresh, well seasoned fish, and the herb mayo was perfect. The meat main, oxtail stew with snails on sliced french bread "giant croutons" that my sister had was amazing. Rich, intense meat flavours, like a steak and ale pie without the lid. Was very envious of everyone else's main.

Amazing. Thank you, Sir!

Although there are many variations on Chili in the US, the one I know best is the Texas Red version. Texas chilis differ from the others in the US in that they have no onions, no beans and no tomatoes. Stripped back and closer to the ones that originated on cattle drives where the mobile kitchens would have had no supplies of fresh ingredients. They are also quite a deep red colour and nothing like the spag-bol texture of the chilis I've seen here.

You can get the chipotle and ancho powders from here - They also have a stall at borough market and are available at various places around London. You can also use their dried Mexican oregano instead. It's amazing stuff.

Chili Mix:
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
2 teaspoons ancho chili powder

For the chili:
1.3 kg beef brisket
5-6 tablespoons sunflower oil (or 90g lard or kidney suet if you want to be old school)
3 heaping tablespoons of the above chili mix
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon salt (to taste but you will need twice that amount if you use sea salt)
1 tablespoon Tabasco
8 garlic cloves

Remove the fat from the brisket and cut into thumb sizes pieces
Brown the meat in the oil/lard/suet in batches
Drain the excess fat and replace the meat
Cover the meat with about an inch of water and add the chili mix. Use less of the chili mix if you want it less spicy or are unsure of your tolerance for heat. The chili heat is like salt, you can always add it to the dish but you cannot take it away.
Bring the whole thing to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 45 minutes – do not let it go dry - add water (or beer) to maintain enough moisture. Don’t stir it much either. Taste and adjust seasoning.
You are aiming for a decent thickness of the sauce – not soupy but not sticky either. Once done, you can thicken the liquid with corn starch dissolved in a little water.

For the love of all that is sacred do not serve this with rice. Ever. Don’t even think about it.

Serve with cornbread, cole slaw and beer.

This is in the slow cooker at the moment...

Photos posted about 4pm when it's ready!

Was skeptical but the Gordon Ramsay scrambled egg method does deliver. If you really slow it down you can get custard texture just about set egg.

Scrambled egg consistency is a big bone of contention in our house. I favour a slow, buttery deep yellow with a creamy, just set, consistency.

She favours quickly done, pale, milky, fluffy and safely dry. Bleurgh!

There's only one solution.

Still - you had a good run.

Scrambled egg though. It drives me nuts when people scramble them to within an inch of their lives.

Just break the yolks, people, and stir gently and occasionally over a low heat.

Enjoy the varying textures. If you want homogeneity, buy powdered eggs.