#52recipes: recipes 37 - 41

 

Kimchi and gochujang noodles from Bon Appetit
I saw this about three times on Instagram and took it as a sign to make it! I had randomly picked up some kimchi from our local Asian supermarket so had this languishing in my larder. I overcooked the noodles but this was so incredibly simple to throw together - making it perfect for a weeknight. It had just the right amount of heat and was so addictive, Definitely one I'm going to add to my bank of recipes..

Ottolenghi halva and walnut loaf
Halva is one of those ingredients I had no idea even existed until mid 2019. But I've discovered it's a great ingredient for baking to help bring something extra to the cake. This Middle Eastern sesame and honey sweet treat is very sweet by itself. But it really comes into its own when you bake with it. It helps to add a great nutty flavour. I'd say it's kinda like tahini. I can't wait to use it in more bakes. I'd highly recommend this recipe if you haven't popped your halva cherry. It'll make you fall in love with it!

Roasted red pepper hummus from BBC Good food
I love Hummus and swear by this recipe on Jamie Oliver's website made by blogger Leyla. But for a girls night I wanted to try something different. I came across this red pepper hummus recipe on BBC Good Food and decided to give it a shot. It was a bit of a labour of love as I decided to roast the peppers myself rather than buy them ready-roasted but it worth it. It's still not as nice as my normal hummus but was still delicious with lots of crisps dipped in it!

Meera Sodha's cucumber and mint raita from Fresh India
I genuinely think this book was my most used of 2019 and I'm still excited by it to try even more recipes. I want to make more of her snacking recipes and this raita was a start! It was unbelievably simple to do, hardly took any time at all. It tasted really refreshing and is delicious on warm summer evenings.

Diana Henry's Mumbai toastie from Simple
I couldn't find a photo of this which is a shame as it was stunning. I absolutely loved it and still can't quite believe I have yet to make it again! Over the last year I have really started to enjoy making more of an effort for breakfast at the weekend. It feels so indulgent when I only have wheetabix during the week at my desk. This was like a pimped up version of a cheese toast - the added chilli was a revelation.

Read more

Restaurant review: My Neighbours the Dumplings, Clapton, east London

Connor first heard of this restaurant from the Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acastor. We've been trying to build up a list of restaurants in London to try with the view to having a day out, just us two, once a month. First on our list was My Neighbours The Dumplings. We chose it because it's based in Clapton and we wanted to scout some wedding locations. It's all getting real now!

My Neighbours The Dumplings is a Chinese dumpling house and sake bar based in east London. They have a separate menu for lunch and for dinner, we opted to visit for lunch this time. We arrived about 12.30 and it was pretty empty but within 30 minutes it really started to fill up and created a buzzing atmosphere. Keen to try as much as we could, we decided to order every dumpling on the menu. Our best decision of the day!

Keep in mind the food doesn't arrive all at once so expect it to be staggered. So what did we order? Juicy lamb and coriander dumplings, fragrant wonton soup with pork and prawn, tasty veggie dumplings and steamed squid and cod dumplings. The lamb and coriander dumplings won the taste test hands down. I could have ordered three more portions! Although we could have eaten more, we left lunch feeling satisfied but not over stuffed which made a nice change! I would recommend ordering a couple more dishes if you're particularly hungry as four portions won't be enough.

My Neighbours The Dumplings was delicious and I'm so glad we finally got to tick it off the list. I thought the prices were a little high but this is hipster land! Service was pretty attentive and we didn't feel like we were being rushed. I don't think I would rush back especially to visit but if I found myself in Clapton again then I would definitely hit it up. I want to try the dinner menu as the crispy pork belly sounds absolutely delicious.

Read more

An engagement story

It seems only fitting to end the year with the news which has defined my 2019. In fact it seems a nice way to end the decade as I have spent the whole decade in this relationship. I do like it when things go a full circle and are tied up nicely.

Back in October we took a trip over to Northern Ireland for a long weekend with some friends. We had an almighty Causeway Coast road trip planned, showing our friends all our favourite places and discovering a few new ones along the way. We landed in Belfast around 9am, picked up our car and went on our way. After ticking off a few places we spotted a sign for the Torr Head scenic route by Cushendun Caves. We'd seen this sign a few times but never done the route so thought it would be lovely to do something new to us and new for our friends.

We followed the long and winding roads up to the top of Torr Head. It's not a route for the faint hearted! Those roads seem extremely narrow when you spot a car coming towards you and you have to scoot over... We parked at the bottom of Torr Head, took a deep breath and began our climb up. Apart from a group of four people coming back down, the area was completely deserted and we soon had the whole area to ourselves. The one thing I adore about Northern Ireland is that you often have the sights all to yourselves. We trekked up to the top, had a look around the rather grimy derelict house at the top before wandering around.

After noticing that Connor was wandering off, I decided to follow. I've always been someone who is scared to miss out on the good stuff so when someone wanders off I follow! I looked behind me and noticed our friends had stayed at the viewpoint. Thinking this was weird, I just assumed they had had an argument! I climbed over the wire fence to be greeted with a gorgeous view of Scotland. Connor carried on walking but I called out that I was going to sit on a rock to admire the view. He came back and took a seat next to me. From now it is all a bit of a blur, he cracked a joke then grabbed the ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him.

Obviously never one to keep it cool, I had to sit for a good few minutes with my head in my hands to take it all on. I'm not very good at receiving surprises (and a surprise this was!) so needed a few minutes to get it all together and process what exactly was happening. Not the best situation for Connor to be in! The girl he just asked to marry him sitting there with her head in her hands exclaiming she may have a panic attack... But I said yes!

Connor really couldn't have chosen a more perfect place. It is a place which means a lot to us both and we go back fairly regularly to. Connor's dad and family are from the country and I just fell in love with it from my very first visit. Ireland really does make my heart happy. I love the fact it's a place which is just an hour from where we visit Connor's family so we can frequently go back. Maybe even take our children if we ever have any! I'm a sucker for sentiment and adore the fact the ring is an emerald. Pretty fitting for the Emerald Isle!

Read more