The Leeds Kitchen By James Martin

Following my post back in February regarding James Martin's new restaurant at Alea casino I thought it would be nice after a lazy Good Friday to see if all the hype was worth it.

With it recently opening  I decided best to book, getting through was easy and spoke to someone straight away, unfortunately I had left it a little late to get the time we wanted but they managed to reserve me a table at 6pm. After a few details for the booking system I received confirmation via email together with a copy of the menu which I thought was a nice touch.

On arrival you need to give your name at the entrance to the casino and once inside The Leeds Kitchen is the first thing you come to. We were given the choice of having a drink at the bar or being seated at the table, we choose the latter.

We were swiftly brought some warm bread with salted and unsalted butter to nibble on whilst we perused the menu. Our drinks arrived fast and were given the choice of iced tap water which the glasses were regularly topped up throughout the meal.

My partner chose Cod and monkfish collops in a vodka and tonic batter cooked in beef dripping with watercress and tartar sauce (£6.75) to start. I struggled to decide between two dishes to which the waitress enquired which they were and give her informed choice. I opted for the Course chicken liver terrine with Black Ale mustard (£6.50). Whilst waiting in anticipation for the starters the waitress brought to the table a wooden tray containing the 3 iconic British accompaniments, Sarsons malt vinegar, HP sauce and Heinz tomato ketchup. The starters came out of the kitchen fast and fresh, both looked lovely. The chicken liver terrine was served with two warm slices of thick crisp toast tucked between a warm napkin and a small quaint  jar of Black Ale mustard. The batter on the cod and monkfish was very light and crisp with the tartness of the the tartar sauce complimenting it well. It seamed a popular choice as most tables seamed to order the dish.

We are both suckers for bellypork so when we saw it on the menu we knew we didn't have to look at anything else and chose the Cured and slow-braised Robinson pork belly with seared scallops and apple (£18.50), with sides Roast leeks with brioche and cheese (£3.25) and Chips (£3.25). Thinking about how hartey the dishes the Yorkshire chef cooks on his TV series and Saturday Kitchen I was a little disappointed when presented with one of my favorite meats. The portion size I felt was a little small verging on a taster menu size.

We still had room for a desert my partner chose the Cox's apple custard tart with Yorkshire clotted cream (£5.75) and I went for my favorite Classic sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce (£5.75). Unfortunately the sticky toffee pudding didn't taste as good as it looked with the sauce tasted bitter and treacly.

The bill came to just over £80 which included a few drinks each. All in all its a lovely restaurant with attentive staff, I just can't help feeling a little disappointed and let down especially compared to some of its competition.

Alea Leeds
4 The Boulevard
Clarence Dock
Leeds
LS10 1PZ

Reservation Bookings: 0113 341 3202

Website

Opening Times
Monday to Saturday 6pm - 11pm
Sunday 12pm - 3pm







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Spice Up Your Tuna Pasta Bake

Following a minor operation I was incapacitated for a couple of weeks barley able to make a cup of tea let alone get in the kitchen to do some cooking. I was left in the hands of my fiancé who very rarely cooks. Up till then i have only sampled her signature and only dish of pasta in Arrabbiata sauce (ready made) a hand full of times. So when she came home from work one night clutching a hand full of recipes printed from the Internet I felt a little relived. Although one recipe I did turn my nose up at, tuna pasta bake. Since being a child a gave tuna a wide birth not liking the smell put me off, but as she was doing a fantastic job of looking after me I didn't want to be too picky.


Since then we have had this dish a few times and I've altered the recipe to our taste as the original recipe had far to much chilli in and swapped sweetcorn instead of peas which gives the dish a bit more texture and sweetness. Here is my version of the tuna pasta bake to spice things up a little.


INGREDIENTS
200g cup pasta (macaroni, small shell or spirals)
1 tin tuna
½ cup chedder cheese grated + 2 tbsp extra
1 tin sweetcorn
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lonumirus (Maldivian chilli sauce, made out of 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garlic paste, juice of 1 lime and ½ tsp ground black pepper and salt)
250 ml milk
1 slice of bread
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
Salt

METHOD
1) Place the bread in a food processor and pulse to make fresh crumbs and set a side.

2) Cook pasta until almost done, but has bite to it . Drain and put in a large bowl with the drained sweetcorn. Add tuna flake it little, add salt (a pinch would do) and lime juice, mix well.

3) Make cheese sauce : Melt butter, switch off heat. Add flour and whisk it till you have a nice paste. Add curry powder and mix it in to the flour. Place it back on the stove over a medium heat. Add milk slowly, whisking all the time to prevent lumps from forming. Let it boil and then simmer till the sauce thickens a little, about 5 minutes. Add lonumirus and cheese. taste and add salt if necessary and pepper.

4) Pour the sauce into the pasta mixture and mix well, pour in to a suitable oiled oven dish.

5) Make topping by mixing olive oil , the fresh breadcrumbs , parsley and chedder cheese together, sprinkle on top of the pasta and bake in a 190- 200 °C oven for about 30 minutes till nice and golden.

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The Perfect Carrot Cake

Everyone loves a good carrot cake. It's one of those treats that you can kid yourself its healthy and can be counted as one of your five a day. Of course, you can use low-fat cheese or leave the cake unfrosted. It will still be delicious, personally I like it with out.

INGREDIENTS
For the cake
350g carrots
60g pecans
110g self-raising flour
110g plain wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
240ml vegetable oil
170g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons golden syrup

The topping (optional)
200g cream cheese
60g softened unsalted butter
60g sifted icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

METHOD
1) Start off by grating 350g carrots and chopping 60g pecans. Put to one side.

2) Sieve together 110g self-raising flour and 110g plain wholemeal flour with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda. Tip the bran bits left in the sieve into the mixture.

3) Whisk together 240ml vegetable oil, 170g soft brown sugar, 4 eggs and 2 tablespoons golden syrup.

4) Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until it’s nice and smooth. Stir in the carrots and pecans.

5) Tip the mixture into a greased lined 9" round tin and cook at 160°C for an hour, or until cooked.

6) For the topping, mix 200g cream cheese, 60g softened unsalted butter, 60g sifted icing sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, until smooth. Allow the cake to cool and then add the topping. It will keep for a few days in an airtight container.

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Human Breast Milk Ice Cream @ Icecreamist

Only days after going on sale Westminster City Council have seized boutique ice cream shop, Icecreamist's, human breast milk ice cream following two complaints from the public over whether a shop should be selling edibles made from other people's bodily fluids. The local authority is currently awaiting guidance from the Food Standards Agency.

The human breast milk ice cream named "Baby Gaga" went on sale last Friday at the Icecreamists restaurant in London's Covent Garden and amazingly sold out of it's first batch.

Priced at £14 pounds, the ice cream was made with breast milk, Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest.

The Icecreamists said the breast milk was donated by mothers who responded to an online advertisement on mothers' forum Mumsnet, each being paid £15 for each 10 oz donation. All the milk "was screened in line with hospital/blood donor requirements." says owner and founder Matt O'Connor.


Source: YouTube

What's next breast milk cheese, skinny breast milk cappuccino? At what stage does it become unacceptable of what we put in our mouths? For instance, human blood, we eat black pudding which is pigs blood. Why can't we have human black pudding it's not flesh so it's not classed as cannibalism, yet that seams unacceptable but on the same premise as the breast milk it's a fluid and carries key nutrients that are good for us?

Lily Kwok's Chinese Chicken Curry

I really enjoy a good curry whether its Indian or Chinese but trying to replicate them at home is fairly hard. I stumbbled across this recipe for Lily Kwok's chicken curry a few years ago.

Lily Kwok opened Lung Fung, on Taylor Street Manchester, one of the first Chinese restaurants in the country, in 1959. Her distinctively creamy Lily Kwok curry became famous. Lily’s daughter Mabel continued in the family business and in 2004 her three granddaughters, became the third generation of women restaurateurs, opening the Sweet Mandarin restaurant in Manchester, where they still serve Lily Kwok’s Chicken Curry.

This is a fairly spicy curry as my sister will tell you (sorry sis), so adjust the amount of chilli's according to taste.

INGREDIENTS
For the sauce
6 tbsp vegetable oil
3 onions, finely chopped
4 cm piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
4 mild fleshy red chillies, seeds removed and chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tbsp chilli powder
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
125 ml water
2 1/2 tsp plain flour
2 1/2 tsp self-raising flour
400 - 500 ml chicken or vegetable stock

For the chicken
3-4 tbsp cornflour
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp fresh peas


METHOD
1) For the sauce: Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan or wok over a high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for 3 minutes, or until starting to soften but not brown. Add the ginger, garlic and chillies and continue stir-frying for 30 seconds, then reduced the heat to very low and leave to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened but nothing browns.

2) Stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli powder and curry powder and continue cooking very gently for a further 5 minutes. Don’t burn the spices or the sauce will taste bitter. Sprinkle on a few drops of water if you’re worried. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool a little.

3) Put the water in a food processor or blender and add the contents of the pan. Blend until everything is very smooth, then add both the flours and blend again. Put the puréed mixture back into the pan and simmer for 20–30 minutes (the longer the better) over a very low heat, stirring occasionally. Add a little hot water if it starts to catch, but the idea is to gently ‘fry’ the sauce so that it darkens in colour to an orangey brown. Once you have a thick paste, gradually stir in the stock and simmer until the curry sauce has reduced.

4) For the chicken: season the cornflour with salt and pepper to taste, and toss the chicken strips in this to coat them. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until they turn white. Add the onion and peas and stir-fry for a further few minutes, then stir in the curry sauce and heat until everything is piping hot. Serve immediately with boiled rice.

All Bran Loaf

From time to time I get an urge to bake. I'm not a great baker but there are a few baked treats that I do amazingly well, even if I do say so myself!

This recipe for All Bran loaf is great, there are just five ingredients, i don't use weighing scales just grab a tea cup or mug out the cupboard, mix everything up and pop it in the oven and it turns out great every time.


INGREDIENTS
1 cup/mug All Bran
1 cup/mug Milk
1 cup/mug Self raising flour
½ cup/mug Sugar
1 cup/mug Dried mixed fruit (you could even mix in some of your favourite nuts)

METHOD
1) Pre-heat the oven to 325°F / 170°C.

2) In a bowl put in the All Bran and milk, let this soak for a few minutes.
Once soaked add the self raising flour, dried fruit of your choice and sugar and mix until well combined.

3) Pour the mixture into a well greased baking tin and place in the oven for about one and a half hours. If you check it by placing a skewer in it, when it comes out clean its ready. Take it out of the tin and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.

4) Serve with a cup of tea and butter.

Giddy Kippers

A friend a while back introduced me to a little sandwich shop in Calverley called Giddy Kippers. I always try and call in if I'm in that part of Leeds around lunchtime.

The shop is for take away mainly but does have three stools along the back wall for those wanting to eat in. The standing area in front of the counter feels a little tight if there are more than four of you waiting.

They serve a selection of hot and cold sandwiches, salads, jacket potatoes and cakes all made fresh on the premises. The sandwich selection is a lot more adventurous than most shops featuring the Italian Club - chorizo, salami, dolcelatte cheese, sweet pickled pepper, green leaves and mayo or the Smoked salmon, cream cheese, black pepper, lemon juice and cucumber.
The sandwiches come on a traditional breadcake or you can choose to have a baguette or ciabatta for an extra 20p. They are all made to order and wrapped individually in grease paper. The sandwiches are top notch but you have to pay top notch prices for them, they start at £2.20 for an egg mayo with most around the £3 mark.

They offer a range of homemade salads from Ginger and chilli noodle salad to coleslaw. I've found the portion sizes for the salads vary massively. Not good when your super hungry and you open your carton thinking it must have come open and some fell out. The cakes on the other hand are portioned generously and the bakewell tart is a must for any frangipane lover.

Great sandwich shop shame they are city centre prices.


Giddy Kippers
62 Carr Road
Calverley
Leeds
LS28 5RH
0113 255 6444
Website



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