Topic: What are you eating / What did you eat.

[goldshirt*9]

Raspberry buttermilk coffeecake

That sounds lovely

[6pairsofshoes]

It is lovely.  Recipe here:  http://www.gourmet.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/recipes/2000s/2009/06/raspberry-buttermilk-cake.html  I add ¼ c brown sugar + ¼ c chopped walnuts & ½ tsp of cinnamon to the top before I put it in the oven.

It works as a nice coffee cake for breakfast or as a nice afternoon snack.  I don't know if you get buttermilk in the U.K.  I suspect that substituting an equal amount of plain yogurt will work as well.

I'm having tea and need to go roll out some scone dough.

[smokester]

I had a salmon Poke bowl from the Asda Panku section. It was damn good and only £6.

Definitely doing that again, sometime.

[6pairsofshoes]

That sounds really good.  I'm about to go to a party with a big batch of fresh guacamole and some chips.   There will be wine, salad and pizza.  The guac.  was easy to make so I'm looking forward to sitting and relaxing for a while.

[8ullfrog]

oh man, I feel like a dumbass.

I made enchiladas and I could have just made guac! It was hot today! I even have decent chips!

El Pato has been my go to enchi sauce for a while, their red is divine.

Unfortunately, I went with green. And I didn't strain it, so I got seeds and fibers. No biggie I thought, the sour cream will neutralize that problem.

Reader, it did not neutralize that problem, and now I get to pick at my teeth with dental sticks.

What's even worse is they turned out utterly fantastic, some of the tastiest enchiladas I've made in years.

Well, I've learned my lesson. El Pato for red, Las Palmas for green. (I use their recipe).

The chicken was boring, so I hit it with diced onions and minced garlic. It was still boring, which confused the hell out of me. Onions and garlic fix everything!

 I hit that with some tabasco sauce after cutting the heat to the pan. THAT gave it a delightful kick.
I've got a tray of utterly delicious enchiladas that should have a dental warning label.

[6pairsofshoes]

El Pato, isn't that "the Duck"?  I'd never heard of it but I'm always looking for good sauces.

I made so much guac that I brought half of it home.  So I've been eating it pretty much every day.  Also, salad.  Just nice vegetable/lettuce salads.  It's been warm outside.  But tonight I might just make something easy, like heat up Indian food.  Pasta with jarred sauce would work, too.

[6pairsofshoes]

Fresh cream scones and a cup of tea.  Not exciting in the way of news, but very satisfying and tasty.

[8ullfrog]

I've been trying various canned refried beans.
La Sierra are Mexico's #1 canned beans.

Going by the taste, I don't think Mexicans much bother with canned beans, because La Sierra is BLAND. Do they taste like beans? Yup. But the dominant note on these beans is water.

Right now my winners for canned refried are surprisingly the kroger house brand. They taste good without being overpowering, but I suppose I'll have to branch out for others.

I suppose I should give my childhood staple rosarito another shot too.

[8ullfrog]

Got my free jumbo jack for hamburger day, just had to buy a medium fry to qualify.
I feel like they gave me small vegetables out of spite, but it was still good. I slapped some bbq sauce on it to kick it up a notch.

I always wonder about these "days". Like apparently Taco Day is October 4th and burrito day is the first Thursday of April.

Pizza day is February 9th. Who decides this stuff?

[6pairsofshoes]

Hallmark.

Ha!  or some marketing company.

I am contemplating a turkey sandwich.  Not exciting in the least, but it's what's in the fridge.

[6pairsofshoes]

Just to go back to this: Veeraswamy was pretty good, but I can honestly say it wasn't memorable. The bill came to nearly 4 figures too, so you'd think I'd be more impressed. However, last night we went to Amaya which is another restaurant owned by the people of Veeraswamy. The food there was absolutely incredible and all served in a Indian tapas way. The bill was again nearly 4 figures, but I do feel it was a unique experience in all ways and that is worth more than money. I think that's something one says when they're older ...

My husband found an instagram review of Gymkhana -- have you eaten there?  The menus look great.  55 pounds for lunch, while pricey, is worth the experiment.  I expect there are other fine Indian restaurants in London, but the offerings here look pretty varied and good.

[smokester]

My husband found an instagram review of Gymkhana -- have you eaten there?  The menus look great.  55 pounds for lunch, while pricey, is worth the experiment.  I expect there are other fine Indian restaurants in London, but the offerings here look pretty varied and good.

I haven't eaten at Gymkhana, but as a lot of my recent outings were actually more "research", I think that might also be in the offing.

To be honest, I am probably going to part owner of a new Indian restaurant in Twickenham, hence the recent interest in the more haute cuisine side of things. However, the restaurant I would be involved in is actually more a springboard to something more classy, so it wouldn't try and mimic the Michelin starred ones just yet.

[8ullfrog]

If you're considering going in on a restaurant... don't.

Seriously, I was clearing out my old emails, and one thing I like is Yelp tells me whenever a new restaurant opens in my town.

They all fold. Usually within six months, but almost none hit the year mark. I can understand having a passion for food, I wouldn't have made this thread if I didn't want to catch other peoples love for food, but a restaurant honestly seems like preheat fryer, drop your money in.

On a lighter note, I've always been a bit of a hinge enthusiast as far as sub sandwiches go, and today I learned, I've been doing it wrong all along.

A true hinge cut is not 90, which was my impression. It's 45 degrees. you come in steep, and stop cutting before you go through. This both preserves the hinge AND keeps the veggies in the sandwich.

I found this after reading an article about the old subway V-cut. They used to cut a V into the bread loaf, making something of a bread bowl. That isn't great for speed or condiment retention. And Americans love their condiments. Oil and Vinegar may honestly be the reason I bothered with Subway for so long.

[smokester]

If you're considering going in on a restaurant... don't.

I appreciate you would have no way of knowing this: but if you are lucky enough to have a restaurant in Twickenham, you can cover your entire year with just the Six Nations.

My partners have owned a restaurant on the same street since 1982 and they are standing room only any day of the week. The new restaurant wouldn't be that busy for sure - certainly not in the first year - but it could probably survive on the overspill from it. However, the main aim would be to replicate the Dishoom chain and they just couldn't be any more successful. But that's a plan for the future.

You had better start work on the website now, then.

Next time you and your minions are on a drive out, you should pop past for a curry.

[6pairsofshoes]

8ully, our favorite Indian restaurant was run by the same chef for many years and then he retired with others taking over.  It's not as magical as it once was, but still going and decent.  It's really a bummer when you find a great place and eat there a couple of times only to discover it's been sold to someone who can barely boil water or that it's closed completely.

chrisT, you can always cook!  This is the book that Lachu Moorjani wrote and the recipes are delicious.  https://www.amazon.com/Ajanta-Regional-Feasts-Lachu-Moorjani/dp/1586857770