Oh hi! Still trying to find a rhythm with the newsletter here in London. Attempting to go back to weekly, TBD how this goes!
Cooking
Pork, bean and sweet potato burritos: One thing I really miss since moving to London is decent Mexican food. It’s tough to find in the city, and even in most grocery shops, Mexican ingredients are limited to Old El Paso and sad, small jars of salsa. But the best Mexican food starts with fresh produce, so this week I decided to take a pass at making burritos at home for the first time, using some of my fav fillings:
I made my Sweet Potato and Lime Dip but used it as a filling! Instead of roasting my sweet potato I steamed it, and I skipped the cilantro as I didn’t have any on hand.
For the pork, I cut pork tenderloin into bite-sized pieces, and then tossed it in Maritime Madness Chipotle BBQ seasoning, and added some cumin and chilli powder for some extra Mexican flavour. I cooked this in a pan with olive oil, and once the pork was cooked through, added in a can of rinsed black beans to pick up any of the spices that had stuck to the pan and to bulk up the burritos!
To assemble I did cheese (if you are in the UK, Double Gloucestershire is the closest to North American ‘cheddar’ IMO), beans and pork, sweet potato, sauteed onions and peppers, thinly sliced iceberg lettuce (or “shred-duce”), salsa and sour cream! I couldn’t fit in my avocado so I just ate it on the side.
I also assembled two burritos (sans lettuce and sour cream), wrapped them in tin foil, and froze for future me. I will report back on how they reheat once thawed!
Other things I cooked:
Smitten Kitchen Buffalo Chicken Cobb Salad: when I saw SK post about this last week I immediately needed to find Frank’s Red Hot in London so I could make this. This was sooo delicious and refreshing. For the buttermilk dressing I just did milk, added ½ tbsp of vinegar (apple cider was all I had on hand) and let it sit for 5 mins before adding the rest of the ingredients. I also used green onion instead of chives!
Half Baked Harvest Crinkle Top Brownies: these are always my go-to when bringing to a friend’s place. I made these twice in the last two weeks for different birthday parties. I halve the recipe as I find the batter too much for my pan here. For one batch I sprinkled sea salt on top of the batter before baking, and for the other, I swirled maple-tahini on top (1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp tahini, good pinch of salt mixed together). Always a hit!
Smitten Kitchen Pound Cake: I had 1 cup of sour cream in the fridge left from my burrito adventure that I needed to use up, so this recipe fit the bill! This was such a delicious pound cake, more (can I say this)... moist… than I remember most pound cakes being. Perfect with fresh berries for a summer dessert.
Wild boar ragu + tagliatelle: I picked up fresh pasta and a wild boar ragu sauce from my local grocer for a quick, but so so comforting Friday night meal. Delish!
Eating
I finally checked out the Seven Dials Market - a great spot to hit up if you are going to a West End show in London, as food service is super fast, there’s lots of variety, and you are central to most theatres. I tried Ra’s Banchan Bar and got their bulgogi beef plate - so so so good. Spicy was spicy! But delish.
Reading
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. I am loving the descriptive food scenes in this book. I’m about halfway through and it’s definitely one of my favourite contemporary fiction reads this year.
Following
@mac.larena - I started following her a few months ago and just love her food philosophy around “we use what we have” and “it’ll be fine”. Definitely mantras I try to take to cooking, but always nice to be reminded.
Listening
Thinking
About my relationship with my phone / social media. I have been under the weather the last two weeks, and spending a lot of time at home, and I noticed how much I grab for my phone on a minute-by-minute basis. I recently downloaded the One Sec app to add an interruption before I open Instagram (my most visited app), and so far I really like how it helps me think about ‘why’ I’m opening the app.
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh