L’antica Locanda – York


I absolutely adore Italy! From the culture to the people and most of all…THE FOOD it is a lifestyle I admire and throw myself into fully when I am there. I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to eat in some wonderful restaurants both here and in Northern Italy and I must say the use of seasonal fresh ingredients does inspire a lot of the dishes I cook.

This weekend I went exploring the lovely sites of York and was advised to try an Italian restaurant called L’antica Locanda. The restaurant is on the cobbled streets of The Shambles, slap bang in the centre of York so be careful if you’re in heels, needless to say I wobbled about a bit and this was BEFORE wine! Behind the restaurant is the market and I had the chance to have a great nosy round in the morning looking at all the lovely fresh produce. The array of colourful vegetables and seafood in particular caught my eye and pretty much summed up my food choice for the evening then and there!

Scallops with ginger and leek

King Prawns with rocket and cherry tomatoes

After such a positive start I had high hopes for my main. I truly believe you can tell a good chef by how well they prepare dishes with a range of meats or seafood in. Because different cuts have different cooking times it is an art to do it right and do it well. This being said, I narrowed it down to two choices, mixed seafood risotto or mixed seafood linguine. I asked the waiter his opinion and he said hands down the risotto so that was what I went for. Interestingly, it was the cheaper option at £11.25. I was pleasantly surprised at the value of the main, especially in comparison to the starters. The waiter was clearly advising on flavour and not profit…round of applause to the man!

Mixed seafood risotto



Rum Ribs with wedges, honey mustard slaw & corn on the cob

Have you ever just got home from work, can’t be bothered and want the comfort of a homey tea? That was my night on Monday. JB was ill and had a craving for potato… It didn’t bode well for the week ahead. My solution to the Monday funk I was in was a picky tea. As a serial grazer it is my idea of heaven. Some of my favourite bits and pieces just served up on a board with napkins… BLISS

The solution to last weeks misery-fest at casa BK was simple, rum ribs! To start the process I boiled the ribs in our homemade chicken stock, bay leafs, peppercorns, a clove of garlic and a chilli that was just pierced a couple of times. I truly believe this helps tenderise the ribs and also means it has added flavour throughout. Whilst that was in I knocked up the marinade. This came together by adding some store cupboard ingredients and one of my favourite weekend tipples, dark rum. The measurements were simple and it was just a case of waiting.

I pre-heated the oven to 180o then drained the ribs and poured on the marinade whilst still hot. After a good shake it was into an ovenproof dish for 45mins, making sure to pour on some of the marinade every 15mins and give them a turn to make sure the ribs were super sticky #yum

Surely you have to have ribs with something to mop up the excess sauce? I went for paprika wedges. Simply quartered some potatoes, drizzled with soy sauce and sprinkled over some black pepper, mixed herbs and smoked paprika. These slid in the oven under the ribs for the final 20mins of cooking.

They do take a bit of prepping but the effort is worth it I promise you! Check out the recipe and let me know how it goes.

Enjoy : ) x 

Burger quest

Round 2: Byron vs The Banyan Tree

So we’ve rang in the new year and tried getting used to being back at home and doing a big shop again when I spotted a cheeky little Wowcher for The Banyan Tree in Manchester. With it being January and only a few pennies left in my pocket after Christmas, I have to say a half price meal was a bonus. Aside from meaning I can put off braving the supermarkets for another day (victory) it was also a chance for me to re-start my #burgerquest… WIN!

Banyan Spiced Beef Burger

As per my self set rules, I was hungry and ready to take on a burger. Walking into The Banyan Tree I instantly felt welcomed, it just had a really laid back, chilled out kind of vibe to it and I immediately felt comfortable. Old school beats playing in the background and the staff couldn’t have been nicer.

At £10.95 including sides I thought this was value for money before I even saw the size of it. Now I’d already heard pretty good things about The Banyan Tree so I was looking forward to their burgers. One thing everyone failed to mention was the sheer size of the thing! I mean… COME ON! That thing was so big it need an ice lolly stick to hold it together, that’s right, an ICE LOLLY STICK. 

I wont lie, I was intimidated. So let’s break it down. The burger was made up of a toasted brioche bun, two thick beef patties, two slabs of bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and some of their bloody mary ketchup. To make it less of a challenge (yes I wussed out and no I don’t care) I removed the bacon, all the cheese and gave it a good weighty palm to thin it out a bit. It worked. I could just about take a bite out of it now but it wasn’t pretty!

The patties were well seasoned with loads of flavour but they did fall apart slightly, the brioche was still warm and wasn’t soggy but the winner for me was that bloody mary ketchup.  
 
HOLY COW!! I just wanted to soak in a bath full of it. That stuff was amazing, it had a warmth and tang to it that went perfectly in the burger. I am not ashamed to say it… I was defeated. It is a challenge I would happily take on again though.

Now for the comparisons… it was a toughy, although the burger had a better flavour at The Banyan Tree, I am all about having my red meat how I want it so Byron tops out on that one. When it comes to sides and value for money though, the tables are turned. Those chunky chips with sea salt sprinkled on where hands down champions over the slightly soggy sweet potato fries at Byron. All in all it was a close call. but when it comes down to it it’s the burger that counts. I give the Banyan spiced beef burger a solid 8.5/10 but the Byron classic is still tops for me with 9/10.

Sometimes, size really isn’t everything : )

TGIF

Pizza Friday

This all started about 3 years ago… when there was an outfit between work clothes and pjs… we’d both had a tough week and I wanted to do something nice. I didn’t want to wait 45mins (+ 25mins decision time) for a delivery so I raided the deli section of the local supermarket for a range of meats and sufficiently pongy cheeses (for him) and knocked up a pizza dough. Throw in a couple of cold beers and pizza Friday was born. Since then it has been a weekly ritual at casa BK!

So yesterday, aside from it being the first week back after a break from work, it also feels like the longest. In order to chase away the January blues JB and I brought pizza Friday back into our home.

Our pizza’s have taken on a variety of shapes and sizes in the 3 years we have been doing this and the range of ingredients changes according to season, availability, laziness or just because (valid reason might I add). One year I grew yellow courgettes and chucked those on for colour.

I always use strong bread flour and fast action yeast*. It speeds up the whole process after a long day at work and it is sooo simple to do. Once the dough is done it can rest in a warm place while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. I am all about the tomatoey base of a pizza, it is my belief that there is no such thing as too much. I mix tomato puree with minced garlic, oregano, black pepper and loosen it with water or olive oil to help it spread more easily.

Then it comes to the toppings, we have our standard bell pepper and mushroom and that is were all similarity ends. We are so lucky to be within spitting distance of some great produce. @Katsouris has a deli with lovely mozzarella and sun blushed tomatoes as well as a range of other tasty picky bits.

One of our favourites is a little polish stall on the outdoor section of the world famous bury market : ) It is run by a lovely couple who are always more than happy to let you try before you buy and recommend a range of ingredients to suit what you are making. We got some pancetta cut as we asked (in thick slabs). Some of it became pizza fodder and the rest we saved for a spaghetti carbonara.

I am a fan of all things veggie with a dash of meat whereas JB is full blown carnivore. If it used to moo, quack or oink he’ll have double. Same with the cheese, I’ll have non cheesy cheese and he switches between a smoked applewood and a goats cheese. That’s the great thing about homemade though, you know what is in it, choose what you want on it and it takes 20mins prep time and a swift 8mins in the oven.

Some of our fave pizza Friday’s…

It is comfort food at it’s best and long may it last. Here’s to feeling comfortable : )



*warming the outside of the bowl you rest the dough in helps it rise quicker.

Round 1: Manchester Central – Almost Famous vs Byron

A burger is usually the last thing I’d dream of ordering from a menu, in fact I’d usually even go as far as saying I am not a fan. “SAY WHAAATT!” I hear you shouting. I know, I know. It all harks back to university and post drink hankerings for food. Those of you that know Sunderland or went to University there will remember the beauty of a Chilino’s ‘dirty burger’ after a night at the point! Never the less I’m sure we have all had that experience after a night out. Needless to say that put me off the taste of burgers for a good few years.

So why would i put myself though this? Well it happens to be my fiancée’s favourite food! After years of coming up with other places and dodging the ‘burger joints’ I decided to bite the bullet and get over it… Surely nothing could go wrong? I had one, figured it wasn’t so bad and have eaten a few mediocre burgers since. Surely it had to get better I asked myself. So I have decided to jump on the bandwagon and join the quest for the best burger in a 10 mile radius!

Obviously there had to be some ground rules:

• The burger has to be as simple as offered
• I had to be hungry to fully appreciate it

Almost Famous – Famous Burger

Byron – Classic Burger

Before

After : )