Minced Pork with Green Beans

Back on my health kick, but have decided that it will be healthy dieting rather than extreme dieting a la VLC diet (Hussyband wont let me do it again anyway - I keep getting cold I cant shake, and bruises take FOREVER to heal when you are consuming less than 600 calories a day!)

Considering I love Asian flavors  and never want anything sweet after I have had them, I am aiming at more of an asian-style diet. Most of the time anyway! This little gem is from 'Everyday Harumi - Simple Japanese Food for Family and Friends'  by Harumi Kurihara (£14.00 on Amazon.co.uk).

500g green beans, sliced on the diagonal into 4cm piecces
40g leek, white part only
15g ginger, freshly grated
3 large garlic cloves, minced
Vegetable oil (I used a vegetable oil spray and just gave a few spritzes)
400g pork, lean minced
30-45ml soy sauce (I used salt reduced)
Chilies, dried or freshly sliced, to taste
Sesame oil, just a drizzle to taste

1. Blanch the beans in boiling water, drain and set aside.
2. Stirfry the leek, ginger and garlic in a wok or frypan over high heat with a few spritzes of vegetable oil (or a quick splash). Cook stirring for about a minute then add the pork stirring to break the meat up.
3. Add the green beans, soy and chilies to taste and continue to stirfry until the beans are heated through. 
4. Add a little sesame oil to taste, and serve with rice and a bowl.

This recipe serves 4 people.

We also had a bowl of miso with this, and I didn't have any rice. The calorie content per serve for this is: Calories: 226, Carbs: 12, Fat: 10, Protein: 23 and Calcium: 5. Nutritional info was calculated using www.myfitnesspal.com.

Hussyband hoovers this up, and I like the bite I get without the fat content. Hint: eating it with chopsticks makes it feel like you are having a lot more to eat than using a fork!

A Sweet Ending

So, it has been a while between posts, I am still doing the Lighter Life diet, or I should say I am again doing it. More sensibly this time, giving myself a night off once a week to eat and drink sensibly with loved ones.

Last night was one of those nights, with friends from Oz coming for a much planned dinner. Brian and Tony have been living in London for a little over a year, and Tony works way too much, so getting into his diary takes a bit of planning to say the least!

Sticking to the plan of healthy eating, we dined on a small Mexican feast of tequila and lime marinated chicken thighs, and a 2 inch thick slab of rump marinated in Rescado de Bistec paste mixed with lime juice from the Cool Chile Company, bowls of salsa and home made guacamole. All washed down with margaritas and red wine.

To wash down such a lush dinner we needed something special. Many moons ago in a country far far away I had the pleasure of dining on a brown sugar pavlova at a restaurant in Crows Nest named MuMu Grill. I had replicated it a few times back in Oz, but not made it since moving to London. Now was the time.

Brown Sugar Pavlova
230g raw caster sugar
110g soft, light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
4 large eggs, whites only
1 teaspoon cornflour
Fruit and whipped cream to decorate

Preheat oven to 120°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Spray with vegetable oil and dust with cornflour, shaking off excess. Mark a 24cm-diameter circle on the paper.

Use an electric mixer to whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved. Rub a little meringue between fingers. If still "gritty" with sugar, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves. Add cornflour and whisk until just combined. Spoon meringue onto the foil, using the marked circle as a guide. Smooth sides and top of pavlova. Use a small spatula to forms little peaks around edge of pavlova. Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours or until pavlova is dry to the touch. Turn off oven. Leave pavlova in oven with the door ajar to cool completely. When completely cold, transfer to serving plate or store in an airtight container until required.
Serves 6


One of the mags I miss from back home is Australian Gourmet Traveller, it is too expensive to import here, but thanks to the joy of Ipad, I now subscribe to the electronic edition. This months cover reminded me of my MuMu fun so I decided to use the syrup recipe to build in a bit of the joy we had over Christmas in Cuba (oh yeah - we went to Cuba for Christmas, ate too much pork, drank too much rum and I even got a suntan!)

Rum and Lime Caramel
330 gm (1½ cups) raw caster sugar
70 ml golden rum
60 ml (¼ cup) lime juice
½ cup firmly packed mint

Stir sugar and 180ml water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cook until dark caramel (5-6 minutes), then remove from heat and carefully add 100ml water (be careful as hot caramel will spit). Add rum, lime juice and mint and cool to room temperature. Strain (discard mint) and refrigerate until required. Rum and lime caramel will keep refrigerated for a week.

To serve this I piled the pav with freshly whipped cream, fresh pineapple, passionfruit pulp (fresh is best, buts lets face it, this is London, in winter, I have no chance! I used a can of John West Passionfruit Pulp bought at a ridiculously marked up price from the Oz Shop.) I finally drizzled the whole lot with the rum and lime caramel and stood back so as not to be speared by the fast moving spoons!

With such sweet friends, this was a sweet ending to a great night. Now I just have to go and face the piled of washing up.....*sigh*.

Scallopalooza (aka Xmas in London)

Happy new year dear readers, I am sorry for my lack of posting but work and life got a little insane the last few weeks.

This was my first Xmas living away from Oz. Instead of being surrounded by my family drinking and eating ridiculous amounts of seafood in my parents backyard - surrounded by flies, rainbow lorikeets and magpies, we were holed up in Woolwich Arsenal with our growing London Family - literally growing, as Ruth and Chris announced their impending parenthood to us over Veuve on arrival at the house (confirming my suspicions that Ruth's aversion to alcohol was not antibiotic related as she had been claiming for a month!)

The plan for this first Xmas, was a staggered sharing of cooking duties. I had prepared he canapés, starters and deserts, whilst Chris had prepared the main (which will be his/Ruth's story to tell!)

I had pre-ordered my seafood in early November for delivery on Xmas Eve from the team at Fish For Thought in Cornwall - it was delivered on time, well packed in a thermal box with enough ice to sink the Titanic! I had a combination of comestibles - live oysters and scallops, fresh fish in the form of filleted salmon and a couple of sea bass, frozen prawns and tuna, and a slab of smoked salmon.

Waiting on the table when our loved ones arrived was a platter of fresh blinis topped with sour cream, smoked salmon and lemon juice and a cracking of fresh pepper, and champagne (of course).

Now in true Antipodean style, Xmas isnt Xmas without lots of seafood....so our starter was actually a series of three. Scallopalooza was a progression of fresh Cornish handdived scallops.

First up, we had the grill pan fired on the stove, into which I tossed some thinly sliced spanish chorizo that I had picked up from Borough Market, once the lovely oils had started to leach into the pan, I added the scallop and basted it with the juices while the quickly seared them off on both sides. I then returned it to the shell and drizzled over the oil, and tossed a few sliced spring onions for Xmas Color.

Round Two, and I felt the need to leave the European shores and trip on over to Asia. Xmas eve saw me doing lots of last minute foodie shopping, and one of me favorite places in London is SeeWoo in Greenwich - a HUGE Chinese supermarket that caters to the restaurant community but welcomes casual shoppers with open arms and empty bellies.

Back to the food....round two saw the scallops being braised briefly in Chinese XO sauce. My Wiki-fu explains XO as the following "The name XO sauce comes from fine XO (extra-old) cognac, which is a popular Western liquor in Hong Kong and considered by many to be a chic product there. In addition the term XO is often used in the popular culture of Hong Kong to denote high quality, prestige, and luxury. In fact, XO sauce has been marketed in the same manner as the French liquor, using packaging of similar colour schemes......Developed in the 1980s in Hong Kong for Cantonese cuisine, it is made of roughly chopped dried seafoods including scallops, dried fish, and shrimp and cooked with chili peppers, onions, garlic, and oil."  I served these back in the shell top with thinly sliced radish for crunch and a few coriander leaves for fragrance.

The final round was supposed to have been grilled, but by this stage, Chris' mains were in the oven so I had to improvise. I decided to stay on Asian shores and grabbed down my wok and bamboo steamer. While the water came to the boil, I grated some ginger and garlic directly onto the scallops, drizzled on a bit of sake and mirin then whacked everything into the steamer and promptly forgot about them for a bit. A glass of bubbles later, I wandered back over and they were perfectly cooked. To serve, I lifted them onto a plate carefully to avoid loosing any juices, and added a couple of drops of sesame oil and a sprinkling of spring onions.

Personally - whilst they all tasted brilliant, I liked number three the best!

After this we moved onto Chris' main - totally delicious and juicy guinea fowl which was glorious. The pomegranates burst in my mouth like little happy bombs, and the gravy was lush!

We served this with duck fat roasted potatoes - crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and so naughty they were perfect.

Leftovers the next day made for an awesome hash fryup by the way!!

Somehow we made room for desert. Again, I went overboard and made two! Part one was the Boozy Xmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce, and the second, by request from the Hussyband, was another of Nan's recipes, a Rum Pie. The brandy sauce and rum pie recipes will have to wait for another rainy day though - but I can assure you dear reader, they are worth the wait!

Fifteen Cornwall

So a couple of weeks back, the Hussyband and I went on a Haggis Adventures bus trip for 5 days through Devon and Cornwall. This was a bare bones trip, with a very comfortable bus and tour guide, and staying in backpacker hostels (I will not get started on my hatred on the accommodation part of the trip.) Being that we were being forced to stay in dorm rooms, I rightly justified that we could afford to go to a Really Nice Dinner (TM). And considering we would be staying in Newquay for 2 nights, where better to go that to Fifteen Cornwall for a splash up dinner...(well nowhere really, Padstein was too far away!)

My original attempts at booking seemed to have gone seamlessly, via Toptable, but less than a week before departure I get a rather distressing phone call. Our reservation had been cancelled. Strike a scene of hair pulling, wailing and pounding of my head against a wall, ok a bit dramatic. On calling Fifteen I was told that I would only be able to get a table at 6pm or 9pm - too early to ensure we had arrived on the bus, and too late for this hungry little camper who would normally eat by 8pm and settled into drinking. Following a tweet, the gorgeous Jo from the Fifteen Marketing Team, came to our rescue and got us a table...HUZZAH!

So after a day crossing Dartmoor, patting ponies, climbing waterfalls and trying not to kill an idiot boy from the 'Gong up the back of the bus, we rocked into Newquay and dumped our gear at the hostel, showered, frocked up into a dress (shocking the backpackers) and slapping on the spack filler, we grabbed a cocktail and sat outside the bar of our hostel enjoying the view (which was awesome I will admit).

Heading over to Watergate Bay, we wanted to check out The Beach Hut for a pre-dinner cocktail and to watch the sunset and surfers. What a view. Words cant describe, so just look at this and wish that every day ended with a view as chilled as this.

Heading upstairs to Fifteen for our reservation, we were greeted by friendly helpful staff, an amazing view, and a well decorated interior - all pinks and browns...I love pink bits!

Started off with some more cocktails - Fifteens Amazing Dry Martini (Skyy Vodka stirred down with a touch of Noilly Prat, some orange bitters and a twist of lemon or mammoth olive) for Hussyband, and a Cider Car (Somerset 10yo cider brandy shaken with Cointreau & lemon) for me in honor of being in Scrumpy territory.

Now, the menu at Fifteen changes daily, and is to reflect the very best seasonal produce available, with at least 80% of this produce sourced from Cornwall. So I was excited to see what was going to be on offer for our visit.

Once seated at our table, we were presented with a wooden platter of Baker Tom’s bread baked daily and the best Puglian green olives. The bread was crusty with a hint of sweetness, and the olives were plump, juicy and full of bite.

First up "to get us started" (according to the menu) was a Crostini of Cornish mackerel ‘in carpione’ with pickled chard and St Austell bay mussels. Never having been a fan of oily fish, I had not tried mackerel before (that and it isn't hugely prevalent in Oz) - and I was brave, and surprised. My mouth was filled with flavor, it was fishy, but not in an in your  face kind of way, and the mussels and pickled chard offset it perfectly. Nom nom. More please?

From here on, we had to pick, luckily Hussyband is easily swayed, so we got one of each for the insalata and primi courses and "shared". Also with luck - we have very different likes and dislikes, so while we go to try each dish, we also got to hog the ones we liked best.

Insalata of juicy Italian flat white peach, mozzarella di bufala, Buttervilla’s funky leaves and aged balsamic  - now to me funky leaves means that they will either dance on my palate or smell like a pair of footballers socks. Thankfully it was the former and not the latter! This salad was light, with the peach, mozzarella and balsamic coming together in a way that I would not have expected. Sorry for the over exposed pic...but you get the idea!

Bresaola della Valtellina, Newlina’s green beans, micro leaves with thyme and mustard dressing - Hussyband the Carnivore was thrilled with this, salad, with meat. I found the dressing to die for and wanted to lick the plate. Hussyband beat me to it. He is a tramp and gets his tongue out whenever he can I am afraid.

Of the primi's Hussyband's favorite was the lightest potato gnocchi with Angus oxtail ragu and horseradish gremolata, I had to tear the plate away from him to try the lovely slow cooked meat sauce, with pillows of potato-y goodness, and the gremolata was just strong enough to give the back of my nasal passage an ushiro mawashi geri (a back kick for the non-martial arts minded among you) as it slid down my throat.

For me, the aged carnaroli risotto of girolle mushrooms, tarragon and mature pecorino ticked all the boxes. Coated the ribs, smelled earthy and sweet, with a good grating of pecorini to tart it up. I could quite happily curl up in front of a fire and devour a huge bowl of this on a cold winters night. Just what the doctor would order considering how London's weather is now turning!!

Onto the mains, and this is where we had a spot of trouble. 2 people. 4 mains. How to choose?

I ended up picking the Crispy fillet of line caught sea bass, with herby Charlotte potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli and the best salsa verde. The skin was crispy and perfectly seasoned, with the salsa verde giving a lovely herbacious bite to it. The potatoes, just lush, but the broccoli just looked like normal broccoli (tasted great anyway).

Hussyband being the meat loving caveman that he is, went for the Roast fillet of Angus beef, borlotti beans, ruby chard and a rosemary and anchovy dressing. The meat was well cooked and bloody (as it should be!) I did not get to try any of his vegetables, as by the time I got my nose out of my own plate, he had scoffed everything but the meat - he always leaves the best to last, whereas I prefer to have a bit of everything on my fork at once.

The dishes we passed on, with difficulty, were the Pan fried Cornish brill, beautifully dressed fregola with heritage tomatoes and basil pesto and the Rotolo di patate (baked potato, spinach and ricotta roll), fagioli in umido and Parmigiano Reggiano.

By this stage, our stomachs were starting to strain at our waist bands, but we forced ourselves to share the best polka raspberry and vanilla mousse, creamy mascarpone and summer fruits from the Dolci e Formaggi selection. It was tart, sweet, in your face, innocent and debauched all rolled into one plate. If I could have taken some back to the hostel, our bunk mates would not have gotten any sleep. Yes, I loved it. Bonus brownie points: it has pink and purple bits, and that the purple bit was a pretty flower. Yes, girlie girl moment. Get over it.

Deserts that we passed on, were  the Amazing Amedei ‘No.9’ chocolate truffle tart, chocolate and chilli sorbet and frozen Muscat grapes, and the Formaggi: Stichelton, Driftwood and Old Winchester with walnut and date bread and Fifteen’s fantastic fruity chutney.



No room for coffee, we waddled out of there stuffed, satiated and satisfied that our contribution to the Foundations coffers was worth every cent.

Tasting Menu at £55 per person. Wine pairings optional at £42 per person (we didnt).






Fifteen Cornwall
On the Beach
Watergate Bay
Cornwall
TR8 4AA

T: 01637 861000

Great Rivington Lobster Massacre

Let me tell you a story of 4 maidens, cast adrift on a harsh unknown sea. There were two Australians, a South African and a Swede. They had found themselves on a desolated shore – no bars, no restaurants, no shoe stores....and then like a mirage on the horizon, they spied their salvation. Glittering in the distance, a purveyor of fine food and beverage...The Rivington Grill in Greenwich.

OK, so I am being a tad melodramatic, but living in South East London, there is a distinct lack of awesome dining options for hungry TwEaters. More so in Woolwich Arsenal where KangaRue and I make our home, slightly better across the river where CookSister resides, and Cathy257? Well Gotenberg is home to some of the best restaurants in Sweden, but she was staying in Holland Park in West London – so it was a double trek for her to catch up with us.

I had met CookSister at Food Blogger Connect a few months ago, and we have stayed in touch on Twitter, this was our first chance to catch up in person since, and her first meeting with KangaRue and all of us were meeting Cathy257 for the first time. And look that, I am rambling already!

We started the evening with a drink on the outdoor terrace...ok it was the second drink for Kanga and I, but she is a bad influence at all times and I accept no responsibility.

Moving inside, we settled in to view the room, and the menu. A wonderfully crusty hot loaf of bread with salty butter was deposited on our table. The smell of freshly baked bread is only surpassed by the smell of rain on hot asphalt and freshly mown grass for me, and I was in a very happy place.

3 of the 4 of us decided to be unoriginal and go for the Heritage Tomato Salad with Lovage and Wensleydale. KangaRue bucked natural order and went for the Chilled Beetroot and Horseradish Soup.


My salad was gorgeous – about 6 or 7 different types of heritage tomatoes that tasted like they had just come off the vine, served at room temperature so the full flavour was apparent with creamy shards on Wensleydale cheese. Kanga’s soup was gorgeous to look at (hey I like pink bits!) and tasted of the earth with a nice kick in the back of the nasal passage from the horseradish as it went down.

I also am on a quest – to try as many different oysters in the UK as I can get my tongue around. So, on seeing oysters on the specials board, and there being no minimum, I ordered one for myself. Now, as luck would have it, the kitchen stuffed up – so we got 3...poor Kanga missed out as these little suckers were lush.

When the waitress had been talking us through the specials of the day, it had been a unanimous decision that we were all going for the Lobster Special. A whole lobster served with chips, and a rich luscious unctuous mayonnaise. Now, I know you are thinking “She has just quit her job and is ordering LOBSTER?” But, as we had booked an online special, we were getting 50% off the food...so really was very affordable.

The lobsters arrived, and they were, well, they were huge. With a large separate dish of crispy fluffy perfectly salted chips that on their own I would have been happy with....but I had a whole lobster before me. And so, after thanking the crustacean gods for their sacrifice, I dived in. There were juices flying, shells cracking and flesh sucking....all accompanied by the sounds of 4 women in a happy food place.

As the piles in front of us grew small, our bellies and the plate of discarded shell grew significantly larger. 1 lobster makes for a lot of shell....4 makes for a mountain!

By this stage our asses were getting numb, as the chairs were not the most comfortable for a long leisurely session, so we moved to the couches to digest and contemplate....could we fit in dessert? Why yes...I believe we can! Just.

CookSister and I had been eyeing off the Honeycomb Ice Cream with Hot Toffee Sauce since we arrived at the restaurant...and were heartbroken to be informed it was sold out. We took them up on the offer of good old fashioned vanilla, with the toffee sauce and were very happy. Thick oozey toffee goodness was a perfect accompaniment to the icecream which cut it nicely.

Kanga went for the chocolate mousse, which she was disappointed in (I tried it – and have to agree that I got the better pud!) Cathy went for the Eton Mess – her first ever!

Of course, booze was consumed....but like the bad blogger I am, I was too happy by the end of the night to remember what it was. All I can say, was it was really good, and there was a lot of it.

In summary: lovely company, great food on the most part, lots of booze, laughter and silliness. Bad points: chairs not so comfie, tables to close together, choccie mousse needs work.

All in all a great night, and cant wait to do it again. South East London Foodies Must Unite!

For other versions of this dinner please see Cathy and Kanga's blogs!

Tom's Kitchen - 7 Hour Lamb

Last week at Taste of London, Tom Aitkins lamb was one of my favourite dishes. As luck would have it, Allens of Mayfair, also at the festival, had a lovely shoulder of lamb that had my name on it, and was lugged back home across London by a very boozey me at the end of the night.

Early Sunday morning, while the rest of the house slept, I was up surfing the net, writing my last post, and getting caffine into my system to start the day off right, and let the lamb come up to room temperature. Then the fun began.

Peeling and slicing onions has never been a chore for me. I used to prepare jars of caramlised onions when they were in season to store and share with friends back home in Oz. Here, it was another story. I dont know if it is because they are stronger, or because I have not cooked for a few months, but 8 onions equated to about half a box of tissues and the uncontrollable laughter of my Hussyband as I sliced and sniffed away. I really must get a mandolin! This would have to one of my worst photos ever...thanks Hussyband!

Now, having just moved and being under strict instructions not to buy everything I desire for the kitchen, I do not have a casserole or dutch oven in the house. So, for those of you similarily impaired, just use a nice deep sided baking dish, and tent the whole thing really well with a couple of layers of foil in both directions. It works just as well, with the added bonus of not having to scrub a lid clean at the end! Laziness/penny pinching has its uses. The last hour or so the foil came off, the balsamic goes on, and I had to paste every 15-20mins....it was worth the effort!

I served this with a huge pile of mash, and some green beans. You might also add carrots, peas or brocollini to the table.

The meat was fall apart tender - you really do not need a knife, and the left overs I mised through with the balsamic onions and froze for another day when I envision them either forming the base for a pie, or making the best damned toasted sandwich ever.

Tom Aitkins 7 Hour Lamb Recipe
1 shoulder Lamb (weighing 2.5 kilos)
1 bunch thyme
8 whole medium sized onions, peeled
2 garlic bulbs, peeled cloves
250ml balsamic vinegar
2g Maldon sea salt
150ml olive oil

See here for the method

Serves: 6

Riddles & Finns

So this weekend saw Hussyband off to the beach at Brighton to enjoy a summer long weekend. As is typical of Bank Holiday here in the Old Dart, it was crap weather. There was wind and there was rain. At one point we did get enough glorious sunshine for me to get my cleavage and arms burnt which was fantastic (on a side note: I am obviously drinking too much if I get my elbows burnt right?)

We had some marvelous feasts along the shore during our stay, and decided to finish off our visit to a little place in the Lanes that came highly recommended by the owner of our hotel.

Armed with a map, our first attempt at finding R&F on Saturday had been unsuccessful, but miracle of miracles we stumbled across it just in time for lunch on Sunday (and with enough time to cancel our booking at its sister restaurant down by the water Due South).

Now, having moved into our own place last weekend, the belt strings have had to be tightened, but thankfully I was hugely hungry as I could have run rampant on their menu.

Once seated we were presented with a bread basket complete with salted butter on a scallop shell, mackerel pate, aioli and fresh horseradish cream, and two types of bread both with gorgeous crusts.

We settled in for a starter shot - yes, a Bloody Mary Oyster Shot. It had just the right amount of oomph to clear the nostrils and the mind from the previous nights shenanigans. The oyster was perfect - meaty, sweet and salty. And while it was shuffling it's way down my happy gullet, all I could think of was our best man the day after the wedding, come tearing out onto the deck of our beach house after consuming the kick-start I kindly left by his bed, tears streaming from his eyes, begging that next time I "use a little less Tabasco please!". WIMP!

Hussyband went for the Pan fried tiger prawns cooked in garlic butter
with shallots, paprika & lime, which came with a gorgeous salad. He washed it all down with a taste fo home - Little Creatures Pale Ale.

I went for 6 oysters 3 ways...natural (dressed with lemon of course), a cold dressing of tomato, coriander, red onion and chilli, and a hot dressing of champagne foam. I washed my selection down with a glass of 2007 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine sur Lie, Brebionnier France which had a lovely citrus finish.

Natural - delicious, fresh, the aroma and taste of the sea filled my mouth and mind with memories.
Tomato Salsa - good, couldn't taste the chilli (which was remedied by me adding Tabasco to my second one which made a world of difference.)
Champagne Foam - WHOOOHOOO I now have a second favorite topping for oysters (refer PS below). It was rich, creamy and lush. I soaked up every visible dreg with the last of the brown bread and would have happily demolished another 6 just for the sauce (hell give me a mug of sauce and I probably would have been content!)

We really have been blessed with some awesome seafood in the last week. Now I just have to find a fishmonger close to home so I can start to try and duplicate some of these recipes!

PS: If you are wondering what my favorite oyster topping is, I would have to say Motoyaki, which are oysters topped with white onions finely sliced mushrooms and Japanese 'Kewpie' mayonnaise mixed with miso, then baked, and served topped with finely sliced green onions.

101 Pimlico Road

Ruth H-B and I were spending a lovely afternoon perusing the beauty that is the Chelsea FlowerShow. We met up for pre-show drinks at 101 Pimlico Road (to get us in the mood and whet our appetites for our later dinner booking). We started off with a huge glass of rose, then decided to move outside and sit in the sun while we chatted with the owner and head chef, while downing a bottle of prosecco.

Then we stumbled down the 2 blocks and spent 3 hours traverssing the gardens and sobering up (a little bit).

Come 8pm, the show was closing and we wandered back for our reservation and to meet up with Hussyband and BoyWonder.

Drinks were high on our agenda (just for something different) and we ordered a bottle of La Flor Sauvignon Blanc (De Pulenta Wines, Argentina)Famished, we demolished the first basket of bread, which was quickly replaced with a fresh basket overflowing with baked goodness. While this was going on Hussyband showed up, and settled in with a bottle of Mean Time Amber Lager from Greenwich, which he describes as "a very flavourful lager, almost like an Amber Ale". It was to be the first of many.

BoyWonder was running a bit behind time, and we were ready to eat the crutch out of a low flying duck, so we ordered a starter of potted shrimp with melba toast and lemon to share. This was so damned good. And when we ran out of melba toast, they happily gave us yet more bread to spread the shrimp on. Nom Nom.

Upon arrival of Ruth's hard working other half, we ordered mains. I wasnt very hungry by this stage, so ordered the starter size of he home cured organic salmon with lime creme fraiche and quail's egg. Due to a slight mix up downstairs, when our meals were delivered they had sent me the pan fried sea bass, puy lentils, caramalised fennel and orange sauce....not to be rude, and at the insistance on the kitchen, I shared the bass with the rest of the table.

Oh.My.Gawd. This was the most gorgeous piece of fish I have ever had. Never having been a huge fan of puy lentils or fennel I am now won over to their cause. The orange sauce cut everything perfectly, and every bite was met with little moans of pleasure around the table.

After we all but licked the plate clean, they bought up my previously ordered salmon. It looked beuatiful, with dainty cubes of beetroot scattered around the plate. And whilst it looked beautiful, it tasted even better. Yes, a paragraph ago I claimed the sea bass to be the best fish ever. I take it back. This home cured salmon was perfect. Each sliver across my tongue was like heaven.

Being that this was a special nite out, and I had been saving space for dessert, I could not go past the desserts menu. Being a creme brulee addict, it was a hard call skipping the tonka bean version that I had seen whisking its way past me throughout the night. Instead, I settled on strawberry and champagne jelly with chantilly cream.

Washed down with a glass of muscato, the jelly left me all quivery and happy in places that are normally reserved for the marital bed. Oh who am I kidding? I like to get quivery anywhere and this was no exception! This jelly puts to shame my old favorite (Strawberry Aeroplane jelly for meeee....) It was full of the flavours of a full blown english summer (you know the sort we havnt experienced yet, but I am ever hopeful.)

All in all, a fantasic night, with awesome company, and fantastic staff!

Sheens Secret Supper

The deal with Secret Supper Clubs, a phase currently sweeping the globe. Is that you go to a strangers house, you give them money, they give you food (and in some cases wine). Some venues you are at your own table (within elbow distance of your neighbor), others, you dine communally and get to know your fellow campers.

On this particular gorgeous Saturday evening, in a secret undisclosed (well it is secret) location, a group of diners came together to partake in a repast in a strangers home. We were welcomed into their place of residence, made to feel at home, drinks proffered and introductions made. Its 'Come Dine With Me' without the cameras, tanties and bitching.

This evening saw us dining with D&K, friends from Oz who have been calling London home for 8 years now. We were all Secret Supper Virgins and eager to see what all the fuss was about.

Upon seating we are presented with a dish of marinated olives and gherkins. Hussyband and I were starving after having spent the afternoon in a pub yelling at Chelsea, and D&K were running late....so we might have scoffed the lot. They had a nice bite of chilli and garlic and were firm and delicious.

D&K finally made it through the nightmare that is London traffic, were seated, water poured and our first course bought to the table.....

Butterbean & Bacon Soup with Chili, served with Parma Ham Soldiers on the side. This has to be the best soup I have ever eaten. It was full bodied, with a hint of saltiness from the bacon and a good after-kick in the back of the throat from the chili. There was also a large basket with an assortment of bready goodness that was used to wipe all of our bowls clean.

Our main course was Stuffed Breast of Lamb with Wild Garlic, Dripping Potato Cake and Onion Sauce. The sauce and potato cake were absolutely to die for. Sadly, mine and 2 of the other 3 dishes at the table had really really overcooked lamb. I wanted to love it, truly I did, I am an Aussie, we love our lamb, it is coded into our DNA to eat their cute little bouncy flesh. But I just couldn't and that made me very sad. From comments from the other tables, we were not the only ones suffering from this malaise.

The cheese course was scoffed so fast I could not even take a photo of it, I tried, all I got was fuzzed images of what could be fists grasping yellow things. Vultures!!

And finally we come to the pud. We all know how I can pound a good pud into submission, and this was no exception. Bakewell Tart with Rhubarb and Pink Grapefruit Jam, and Rhubarb Ice-cream....drool. Just drool. I didn't see any of the jam on my plate, but the tart was amazing, the ice-cream delightfully tarty (like my Hussyband) and together they finished off the meal perfectly.

Throughout the evening our glasses were topped up regularly by the host, and I would have to say that our first foray into the world of Supper Clubs has been a success.

Watch out for the owls if you ever make it here....I am sure they are just faking being stuffed, whereas by the time we left, we really were.

Creme Brulee - A Trilogy

Last night we went to La Matafan for dinner, and whilst the mains really were lovelly, what I want to tell you about is the desert. Not just A desert but THREE deserts all lined up pretty on a platter.

Now, unlike Amelie, I am neither innocent or naive, but like her I do so love a good creme brulee - the crack of the sugar under the back of my spoon, the smooth creme across my tongue and the sigh of satisfaction as it rolls down my throat.

These brulee's were to die for. We started with the brown sugar one...nice, perfect top, and the ramekin was lined with the sugar as well making for a wonderful caramel throughout.

Number two was my personal favorite, as I find it near impossible to go past anything that has raspberries in it (we even have French raspberry cordial in the chalet!!) It was full and bursting with rich raspberries, the only thing wrong with it was that there should have been 4 times as much!

Number three I was kind of dreading. Not that I have anything against vanilla brulee - but I do have something against the genipi that was floating on top of my crust! Genipi is of the Chartreuse family, a booze which has left me sick for days when I have drunk too much of it back in Oz (let alone almost done something we would regret if Ger hadnt been sober-ish enough to stop it happening!)

But, I girded my loins and dived in. And was surprised! The vanilla creme cut the pungent Genipi with a precision that sushi chefs strived to achieve in their lifetimes. It was herbal, and vanilla-ey and lush.

I washed desert down initially with a glass of Portugese Sherry, and then moved onto a Montbazillac which was poured with a very generous hand!

We stumbled off to Cheyenne for a nitecap, where Ger attracted a very hairy creature who proceeded to hump his leg, so we made our adieus and wandered back to the chalet for an early nite (for a change!)

Fondue in France

Hussyband and I are currently ensconced in Belle-Plagne
View Larger Map in the Rhone Alps, surrounded by chocolate box vistas of snowy mountains and sugar coated trees.

Also the sounds of children screaming....but we avoid those by the time honored tradition of going into a pub. Apres Ski is my sport of choice this holiday, I like my limbs in one piece thank you very much.

But, after a hard afternoon of snowboarding, Hussyband gets hungry. This is aided by the liberal application of happy hour booze. Then of course, we need food to soak up the booze and this led us on a fondue adventure of epic proportions. Not that we had far to go mind you, just the serving was fricking HUGE.

BestManMatt booked a table for the 3 of us at Bistro de la Cloche, a lovelly little place across from the pub we were funding. Everywhere up here seems to serve the same sort of fare, with little variation except for the prices.

We ordered the 3 cheese fondue with all the trimmings - jambon, salamis, sausages, frittes and salad. I cannot begin to say how awesome and cheesey this was....and then about halfway through the richness kicked in, and my feeding frenzy started to wane...I turned to the salad and pickled onions and cornichons between bites, but even that wasnt enough to stop the balloon that was growing in my belly.

We couldnt finish it. It was amazing, delicious, rich, gooey and did I mention rich? We stumbled back up the hill to our chalet and collapsed on lounges in a food coma that can only be likened to drinking way too much booze. But we hadnt, not really.

Consider that we ARE at 2000mtrs above sea level, that the air is thin, and one glass of booze is the equivalent to 2 back at normal level....would I do it again? Not this trip! I am now also avoiding raclette - there is only so much melted cheese one can eat in a week (and this is coming from me!)....but I do have a lovely stash of cheese in the fridge for cocktail hour and it will be consumed with gay abandon and rivers of red wine.