fettucine with asparagus and parma ham

a few weeks ago we had an angela hartnett pasta dish that was wonderful – linguine with peas and parma ham.

the mix of crunchy green vegetables and soft sweet parma ham is a winning combination with pasta and is something i’ve revisited regularly. this time, it’s the turn of asparagus to shine, oomphed up with a little lemon zest for extra zinginess.

as with the original dish, this can be made vegetarian by swapping the parma ham with soft goats cheese.

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kastoori, sw17

the kastoori restaurant in tooting, south london, is one of my favourite indian restaurants. the food it serves is vegetarian, cheap and delicious.

on our most recent visit we started with samosas (packed with a mixture of lentils and vegetables, gentled spiced but with a warming and unexpected cinnamon undertone) and dahi puri.

these puris are crispy shells, just over an inch in diameter, with the top removed and a filling of finely diced potatoes, chickpeas, puffed rice onions, pani puri sauce, sweet and sour sauce and a yoghurt sauce. you eat each puri in one go, enjoying the flavours and textures as they mix – soft gently spiced vegetables, tangy sweet and sour sauce (tamarind is the key i think), cooling yoghurt and the crispy puri.

for our main course we ordered the special tomato curry (this is a favourite of mine, fresh tomatoes in a rich lentil and slightly creamy sauce with an abundance of fresh coriander), panir passanda (a rich, almost meaty-tasting dish of paneer cheese pockets stuffed with mint, coriander and coconut served in a cashew and melon seed sauce) and the vegetable curry of the day – a dry pumpkin and spliut lentil dish. a couple of portions of rice and a couple of kastoori bhaturas (shallow-fried thin breads flavoured with fennel and sesame) and we were soon sated.

the problem with kastoori’s food is that each dish has a distinct flavour and so, no matter how full i feel, i just keep eating so i can have a “final” mouthful of each and every dish.

the food we had came to just over £20 between the two of us. given the price and the quality of the food, isn’t it time you paid kastoori a visit?

kastoori restaurant

188 upper tooting road, london sw17 7ej

telephone: 020 8767 7027

breakfast treats – maple drop scones

 

i have an ongoing desire to create breakfast rituals which help make time, usually at the weekend for david and i to spend together (our daily ritual is a homemade smoothie).

drop scones, also known as scotch pancakes, are a memory from my childhood – small warm, slightly doughy discs of thick pancake, smeared with melting butter and topped with jam or golden syrup. the key was to eat them quickly so you could work your way through as large a pile as possible… the use of that tactic continues to serve me well!

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fridgebottom lasagne

 

fridgebottom food is always interesting food. it can be good, it can be bad, but given it involves using up whatever is lurking in your fridge, before it goes out of date or you go away (as was the case when i made this lasagne), it’s always interesting as it usually involves unexpected combinations.

soup is an easy and obvious approach to fridgebottom food but isn’t, in my opinion, particularly interesting or inspiring. tapas is another easy option, especially if it takes the theme of “world tapas” so that your spanish tortilla can happily be served with stirfried vegetables and a cheese and bacon rosti.

creating a single coherent dish that works well is quite a challenge and i was impressed how well this fridgebottom lasagne worked. the key is, i think, to have the different vegetables in separate layers – griddled aubergine; creamy fennel and courgette; fried mushrooms in this case – so the flavours still shine through on an individual basis.

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whole foods market, london w8

the opening of whole foods has attracted much attention. i’m stuck at home studying for much of this month but my lovely friend liz, and her partner alan, visited the shop on the eve of its opening (6 june). this is what they thought…

the closure of barkers and dickens & jones department stores was a real loss. i always enjoyed their relative emptiness, particularly in d&j compared to the carnage on nearby oxford street. no doubt the lack of crowds had something to do with their closures.

still, it was good news when we heard that barkers would re-emerge as the first uk branch of the american owned whole foods market - it would be europe’s largest space for selling mostly-organic food.

the store refit feels classy and high-spec. first impressions are impressive as many of the original features remain: high ceilings, lots of art deco detail, huge windows overlooking kensington high street.

it smells fabulous as, on entering, you pass through the pastries, bread and cakes section. the main hall includes features such as a cheese-cooling room, a large wine space, flowers to go and a take-away hot food bar and salad area.

the basement, with icy aircon, resembles a traditional supermarket, though at “kensington ladies who lunch” prices! there is lots of attractively displayed fresh produce, interesting unseen before frozen foods and brands you recognise but in flavours or packaging you’ve not come across.

there is a very good selection of chocolate, fresh leaf tea, and fresh coffee beans as well as a make your own muesli bar, eggs you can mix and match in your own box and so on. it’s not necessarily a place for your weekly shop, but there is lots of shelf-appeal with many items suitable for the foodie who has everything.

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