Monday, 21 May 2012

Squiddy Monday

Ahhh sun! How much nicer is Brighton when the sun is shining!? When the sun is shining it's time to let go of the winter stews (this makes me very sad). As a poor teacher I always find summer harder and more expensive than winter. Winter brings the comfort of root veg and slow cooked 'cheap' meats, and summer brings lovely fish, spring lamb and the good ol' BBQ ( all this meat definitely ups the weekly food bill).
On this particular sunny day I came back from work in a summery mood. Looking in my fridge and freezer I found baby squid and chorizo. A bag of salad later and my mind was made up..

Squid with Chorizo Salad.

You will need:

roughly 100g of chorizo
3 baby squid
1 tbsp of capers (roughly chopped)
1 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp chopped red chilli
enough new potatoes per person ( I used jersey royals)
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 bag/pack of salad
lemon
seasoning
Chorizo and Squid salad

  • Cook the new potatoes
  • When it's a couple of mins till potatoes are done start to fry the chorizo till crispy.
  •  When crispy remove the chorizo and immediately add the squid to the chorizo oil, then capers,, chilli and then vinegar (do not cook squid for for then a minute!).
  • Just before you take then pan off the heat chuck in the mint.
  • Put your chosen salad on a plate, chuck over the potatoes, chorizo and squid then drizzle over the pan goodness. Enjoy!

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Sunday at Sams

Probably my favourite restaurant in Brighton is Sams. Tucked away in Kemp Town, this little beauty really is something to shout about. Small enough to be cosy but still modern and fresh, Sams offers seasonal, local and fantastically cooked food. I am notoriously nit picky when I go out for meals (which The Boy finds highly irritating) and yet I can't remember ever having a nit pick when eating here.

Top of the 'Wow' memory list was plaice, stuffed with crab, coriander and spring onion, sitting on a crab bisque risotto. My tongue had a little wiggle just thinking about this one........

Anyway, one thing I find difficult about blogging about food is that I have to remember to take a photo of my meal before I start. This difficulty proved to much on Sunday when my rabbit picnic from Sams was put in front of me.

Rabbit picnic

 As you can see, in my state of excitement, I completely forgot to take the photo when the dish first came out. What you can't see was a) how pretty it was and b) how freekin amazing this once fluffy little bunny rabbit tasted. It consisted of liver parfait & brioche, confit rillettes with radish slaw & kataifi wrapped loin with satay dipping sauce.

This was followed by a lush pork belly roast, served with the BEST roast potatoes (errr didn't take the photos again!). Pub/restaurant roasties are a pet hate of mine. They are NEVER done well. Well these were damned tasty and crispy. The pork was soft and the cracking crackled. It was served with sticky, roasted sweet potato slices, mashed roots veg with greens running through it and crunchy, buttery runner beans. The Boy had the beef (I managed to swipe a slice when he wasn't looking, result). This was served rare, a massive plus in my book, and a Yorkshire that rivaled my mums. All this was served by a lovely Aussie guy, feel really bad because I can't remember his name!

If you have never eaten at Sams, you should. You are missing out.

A Bloody Good Burger

Blimey its been ages since I wrote on here!


It's festival time in Brighton at the moment and last Saturday The Boy and I popped down to the Old Steine to try The Trolls Pantry's burger. I bloody love a good burger (but have been known to eat pretty horrible ones at silly times in the morning) and I had heard great things about the Trolls offerings so I was very excited. They were very friendly behind the counter and spoke passionately about their product (free range is old news, its ALL about wild range!). I'm one of those sad people who love watching my food being cooked and I loved the attention to detail with the Troll; from steaming the bun at the end, to the totally amazing relishes (all homemade of course). The end results was seriously tasty. The patty was slightly pink middle, ok because the meat was so high quality, and The Boy and I decided it was up there with the greats. Hats off to you Trolls Pantry.
Bloody lovely