SouthseaScene

I don't often make Indonesian food because the ingredients are hard to find, but our local supermarkets are getting better at stocking ethnic ingredients. In the frozen section of Tesco, near the samosas, you can find the spring roll pastry.  Don't bother asking the branch in Chester. I was laughed at by the cashier when I asked for spring roll skin, because 'skin' is what we call the wrapper in Indonesian. Her more helpful colleague offered me filo pastry instead, which can be a good substitute. I'm afraid no one in Chester has yet to taste my amazing spring rolls as a result. Friends in Southsea are luckier!  Here are the ingredients to make 30 spring rolls (the packs come in 30 or 40 pieces) 1 medium head of cabbage, thinly sliced 2 carrots, julienned 1 red or yellow pepper, julienned 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 medium courgette, julienned 1 tablespoon of Oyster sauce (omit if cooking for vegan) 2 tbsp soy sauce salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp vegetable oil f...

Last weekend I was actually planning to make a crab and Gruyere tart, but unfortunately, there was no crab to be found apart from a small tub that will cost a fortune to make. Always happy to use ingredients that are at hand, I decided to make the tart with asparagus instead. Now is the season for local asparagus, that tastes slightly sweeter. For the pastry: 225g plain flour 110 g chilled butter a small glass of chilled water For the filling: 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten 200 ml double cream a pinch of nutmeg 100g Gruyere cheese, grated salt and pepper a bunch of fresh asparagus, about 12 stalks Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celcius and grease an 8-inch (20cm) baking tin with a removable base. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl, then chop the chilled butter into small pieces and drop them into the bowl. Cover the butter pieces with flour and gently rub them with your fingertips until they resemble rough breadcrumbs. Add a pinch of salt and then slowly, a teaspoon at a ti...

What to do with those courgettes? Here is a recipe for a moreish quick patties to make with your courgettes. Shred one courgette roughly and shred a carrot too, if you have one. Add some spring onions if you have or some shallots, if you want. Otherwise, the courgettes are fine and mix this with 1 tbsp of gram flour and season well. I sometimes add some Harissa powder to add a bit of flavour. Heat some oil in a non-stick pan and when hot enough drop spoonfuls of the courgette mixture. Fry on one side for 5 minutes, until brown and pretty solid, then flip to the other side and cook another 5 minutes.

Sometimes you find a gem by accident because you have a few ingredients and wondering what to do with them. This recipe is in the cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey that a friend gifted us after cooking us curry dinners at university.  We are delighted by how simple it is to make and how different it tastes to many of the dishes in our repertoire. As we have a vegetarian friend coming over to dinner this week, we thought this would be the perfect dish to make because usually the chicken is added at the last minute. The original recipe is called  Murghi aur mansoor dal  or Bombay-style chicken with red split lentils. As we're serving this to a vegetarian, we have substituted the chicken with cauliflower. The ingredients for 2 people are: 80-100g red split lentils 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped 1 fresh green chilli (we like it hot so we use 1 chilli per person) 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped 400-500ml water Put these in a pan and simmer for 45 minutes....

Friends came over and one of them was a vegetarian, so I opted to serve an Indonesia Rijtafel style meal allowing everyone to choose what and how much to have on their plate. For the vegetarian friend I made Telur Pindang or pickled eggs. The recipe serves 6 people for starter or as part of a larger meal. Telur Pindang Ingredients: 6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled 1 small onion thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced 2 medium ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped 1/2 tsp ginger 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 1 tbsp white vinegar 100ml water Heat the oil in the saucepan and saute theonion, garlic and chillies until the onion is soft (about 5 minutes). add the chopped tomatoes and ginger and cook, stirring, until the tomato has pulped. Add the remaining ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil, stir well, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Half the eggs and serve on the plate covered with the sauce. Normally...

Where can you get the best burger in town? My vote still goes to the ABar Bistro! The meat is very juicy. Other places I can recommend for a good burger is Le Cafe Parisien. Here you can choose between a beef, chicken or vegetarian burger. Each topped with some lovely battered onion rings. As people have preferences and probably been to many other places in Southsea, please feel free to add your recommendations in the comment space below. Looking forward to hear from you!

Hello, After a long sojourn, I'm back with some new recipes which I have tried and tested on a few people. The Easter holidays offered a respite after a very busy few months after Christmas. So lunch was relaxed and one afternoon I made this soup because we have been eating a lot of spinach lately and there is a pack languishing in the fridge. I happened to read an article in the Telegraph Magazine about the production of Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese and this recipe was on it. I made some modification to make it for 2 people instead of 6 on the recipe and here's my version: Spinach and Parmesan Soup for 2 people: 5g butter half an onion thinly sliced 300 grams spinach 50 grams grated Parmiggiano Reggiano a pinch of salt 1 medium potato thinly sliced 200 ml water Parmesan shavings to garnish balsamic vinegar Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sweat the onion until translucent (about 3 minutes) then add the spinach and stir until it's wilted...