Eat it: Pork and mushrooms with a cyder vinegar jus

Something from the 'What can I get on the cheap and oh what's that in the fridge' school of thought.  The recipe as it stands will serve a supper for one.

INGREDIENTS

Two pork loin steaks/Pork chops off the bone       Fresh Rosemary       5 closed cup mushrooms       

Spring onions       Cyder Vinegar       Salt and Pepper       Three garlic cloves

METHOD

Sit the mushrooms so the domed part is facing upwards, slice them, and put them aside.  Skin and roughly chop the garlic, and put that by with the mushrooms as well.  Cut the root end off the onions and slice them length ways - I haven't specified how many because they slice down awfully thin, so feel free to have as much as you like.  Set these aside also, but separately.

Heat olive oil in a pan and throw in a few sprigs of rosemary while you season the pork with the salt, pepper and leaves of fresh rosemary.  When you have been sufficiently generous with your flavourings, fry the pork with the fatty edge on the side of the pan for 2 or 3 minutes on each side.  Once they've started to brown, take them out of the pan and put them in a warm place to rest - I put them on a side plate and in the smaller part of my oven on a low heat - you certainly don't want them to cook in any significant way at this stage now.  

Pour the mushrooms and garlic into the pan and turn the heat down slightly.  They will soak up the oil in the pan, so keep an eye on it so it doesn't stick too much, making sure the garlic doesn't catch.  After a few minutes of stirring, add the spring onions.  Once they've softened, pour in two tablespoons of Cyder vinegar, and deglaze the pan.  When the sauce is simmering merrily, get the pork back into the pan along with all the meat juices for another few minutes.

When you're ready to serve, set the pork aside and using a spoon, lay the vegetables on the pan.  I normally do so in a single bed in the middle of the plate, but do as you wish - if you want to arrange it in chevrons or a circle, be my guest.  Serve the pork on top, either whole or cut into thick slices, and pour the remaining sauce over.  Service!

#~#

This thing of taking the meat out before cooking the veg in the same pan is a really very simple thing but adds to the dish - you'll notice I even advise it for that stir fry I wrote up oh so long ago.  Resting the meat even ever so slightly allows the juices to stay in the meat preserving the flavour.  Although I don't need to tell you that, right?

NEXT WEEK on Asylum South West: I imagine what it's like to be in the worst play ever, why I let the other person talk sometimes, "Nischt farinteresirt", and why you shouldn't bother being nice to me.  Ever.

Eat it: LL&P

Lamb, Leek and Potato!  I swear it's more interesting than it sounds.

There are no photos for this, I apologise, but there weren't any for the last recipe (but I am sending pictures for fish of the day - more on that later), so whatever.  I'm normally actually cooking rather than thinking about taking photos of food (unless I'm going to instagram it OF COURSE).  This week, a classic: Lamb steak with saute potatoes and leek

INGREDIENTS

Leg of Lamb steak       New or Baby Potatoes       Half a Leek (the white half)       
4-5 rashers of smoked bacon       Dried Herbs: Rosemary, Sage and Oregano       Salt and Pepper

METHOD

First of all, prep everything.  I chuck stuff into bowls so it's all ready to go rather than leave it lying around on the board (because I only have the one chopping board anyway), so get the veg ready to go.  I cube the potatoes really quite small, like less than a half inch, maybe a centimetre (whatever that is) cubed for this.  I'd say it'll work with any size but the larger the cubes the longer it'll take to cook.  I slice mine into thirds to get the right size here, but it's really up to you.  I go for 3 or 4 potatoes, you want enough to cover the frying pan you'll be using.  Cut the root end off the leek and then halve that again, so you have two semicircular bits, and slice them up.  Then chop the bacon rashers down into little strips - Lardons will also work here, but I had some leftover from another meal I prepared.  With all these ready, set them aside and get a heavy bottomed frying pan on medium to high heat with some olive oil in.

Spread some olive oil on the board and lay the lamb steaks on top.  I bought some prepacked nonsense from the Co-Op because it was reduced to mere pennies, but never forget your local butcher is far more likely to know more and be extremely helpful with this kind of thing.  Don't get anything too thin, we're not frying featherblades here.  Cut diagonally across the surface of the meat on both sides, and don't be afraid to cut either through the fat on the side or too deep (well, not too deep).  Rub in the dried herbs and the salt and pepper - my learned colleague Petrus Humanus once waxed lyrical about the virtues of sage and he is not wrong my friends, it is excellent.  

Place the steaks into the frying pan with the fatty side touching the edge.  Now, I like my lamb pretty rare, but something like 3 minutes on one side and then two minutes on the other should be perfect.  Set them aside on a plate and get the bacon in the pan.  If you need to, put a drop more olive oil in to make sure it doesn't stick too much.  Once the bacon is merrily sizzling, add in the potato and the leek, and turn the heat down a little, and add a pinch of salt to the proceedings.  I'll be honest here - I don't really keep my eye on the time for this, but stir occasionally and look out for the corners of the potato cubes to colour for how near it is to be ready.  Once their getting a little crisp, reintroduce the lam to the pan and pour in any juices from the plate they sat on.  Shake the pan to ensure that everything gets covered in all the juices and stuff and let it cook out for 2-3 minutes.  Take off the heat and get the saute onto the plate and place the steaks on top.  Service!

@~#~@

This kind of meat and potatoes schtick is a tale as old as time (a song as old as rhyme?) and you can pretty much apply it to anything.  I chose the leek to accompany lamb with its slightly more subtle flavour; if I was pan frying chicken with this, I'd use a red onion.  Anyway, this is an easy supper for one that shouldn't take more than a half hour start to finish.

Next week: Fish of the Day - a guest appearance somewhere else!  Hopefully.  When I actually write it. 

The sun never sets on the HUBBOX Empire: Eat It

Not content with eating things that I've cooked myself, I often like to go out and exchange money for food, and also to pay my way out of having to wash up.  Nobody likes doing the washing up.  Especially not KPs... 

What started out as a restaurant on the Wharf of St. Ives in 2003 has currently expanded to a converted shipping container serving fried chicken on Lemon Quay in Truro, a new restaurant opened in the old converted chapel at the start of Kenwyn street, also Truro, and another converted building in the centre of Exeter.  It's taken little over ten years for them to reach this position, and long may they reign...

My first experience of the HUB was when they opened a shipping crate in front of Marks and Spencer's in Lemon Quay.  Painted in an unassuming green, it sat there at the edge of town issuing the smells of grilling meat, the smell of temptation on the wind... Unless you don't like the smell of grilling meat wafting across the metropolis (I gather there are several people of this opinion.  Who knew?).  Serving a range of gourmet burgers, bottled craft ales and lagers at prices not too steep accounting for quality, I was a regular offender (as I continue to be) at the take out window cut into the side, filling up loyalty cards one after another: 10 stamps equal a free burger - the prices haven't changed so I'll let you do the math on that one.  Petitions went back and forth to either remove or maintain it at that position, with the latter seemingly holding out.  In the summer of 2014, they finally closed the container and moved in to the chapel on Kenwyn street, the former site of the One Eyed Cat, which has disappeared into memory... In 2013, the box in Exeter opened its doors, which I have yet to visit on my semi-irregular visits, and on the 5th of November, the doors opened on the Chick Inbox in the Lemon Quay shipping container, which is the first of a new outdoor food court that will reclaim the paddle steamer that currently sits empty (well, sits with restoration work taking place actually).

Since their move to Kenwyn street, I've once again become a regular customer, (usually on gentlemen's luncheon with Cardinal Sin) already having eaten most of my way through that menu, and also working my way through the options at the Chick Inbox bit by bit.  No wonder I don't have any money...

Let's face it: HUB make great burgers.  Like, really good.  Hilariously, they're sat over the road from Truro's Burger King (the great signpost), but the gulf between them is far greater than mere Kenwyn street, and I don't really think their proximity has had any real effect on their respective customer bases.  The menu starts with the classic plain beef, and quickly escalates to the Big Kahuna, which is a tasty burger, even if doesn't have any pineapple rings (they serve it with onion rings though, I guess they break even on that one).  There's the mackerel Mack Daddy, and a couple of vegetarian options available as well, including the 'NYC Super Salad', the Plate of Rad, which comes with felafel balls.  Although a kitchen, toilets and bar is cut into the inside of the building, things like the interior stonework, clerestory windows and the stained glass in the north-west wall have been thankfully preserved, befitting its status as a Grade II listed building.  Funnily enough, there was a shipping crate that opened up, gull swing style into a bar sat next to the building in its previous guise... But that didn't last at all.   That said, the entrances to the kitchen, DJ booth and downstairs toilet are painted as an ersatz container, continuing their former aesthetic. 

Seating is spread over two floors, and the building's high ceiling continues to be a credit, allowing the place to seem much lighter; the clear window (almost in rose form) above the entrance lets in a lot of light during the day, and suspended strips and low power bulbs in booths help shape the rough charm of the establishment.  The staff range from very to extremely polite, and the attitude is "we're cool if you're cool" - kind of casual but helpful when you attract their attention.  A range of interesting hairstyles, tattoos and piercings abound, including the manager's enormous and fulsome beard.  Soul, funk and hip hop are the usual day time sounds piped over the speakers, all contributing to this rough charm idea - after all, if the menu is inspired by the Williamsburg neighbourhood of New York, why shouldn't the surroundings be as well?  They can often be quite busy, which is of course, THE PRICE OF SUCCESS.  The waiting time for food is what it is: I find it to be no better or worse than any where else really.  It's always worth asking for the current wait on, and deciding for yourself if you're prepared; don't blame them if you accept a sit down on a 40 minute queue.

While the prices are a step above a Whopper meal, they are worth it.  True, the fries are extra, and it can often be a challenge not breaking over a tenner, something in the region of £15 will get you any burger, fries and a bottle of craft beer, imported or not.  They serve from the tap as well, in third and half measures, and offer a flight of beers for tasting too.  There's the usual range of soft drinks available, along with sweet maltshakes (dreadfully tempting but not worth the possibility of lactose pain), which I am assured are fantastic.  They also offer a smoked brisket sandwich and a roll full of the ubiquitous and world-conquering pulled pork... Pulled pork?  How has that taken over the world?  The Hot Dogs are slightly more affordable than the burger range, and are just as excellent and filling; my favourite is the 'Double Double', which comes with pulled pork and sauerkraut.  When it first opened, they also offered wings and a rack of smoked pork ribs - these are currently retired, though hopefully not permanently.  Currently sat on top of the 'BBQ' section and pride of the menu is the smoked brisket: A tray that comes with a hefty piece of beef, covered in BBQ sauce, on a bed of fries, with pickles and slaw on the side; truly the best bang for buck ratio in the whole place but a big meal for one.

Chick Inbox, on the other hand, is an altogether more direct, "Ronseal" approach to fast food - they serve chicken, in a box.  Let's not mince words here, I think it's absolutely amazing.  This is what KFC wants to be when it grows up, what it dreams of while filling in a UCAS application.  The prices almost seem too good to be true, walking away with 4 pieces of fried chicken covered in sauce with fries, slaw and a pickle for a princely £10.  They recently introduced boneless strips, and serve wings and a range of burgers too.  The three sauces, lemon and herb, Korean barbeque, and (five nights at) Freddy's hot sauce come with the pieces or strips at your choice, or are included in the burgers themselves.  Geographically, it sits in the old HUBBOX site, but with the interior redecorated and doors painted in a screaming yellow to attract the good folk of Truro.  There are no inside seats, but benches outside underneath an open canopy, but there are plans to sure up the seating.  It is the first in a food court, which will soon be joined by a Pizza stop, a new stop for 108 Coffee, and, if reports are to be believed, a pub on the boat!  

It's far easier to avoid the demon cheese at Chick Inbox than HUB.  Sadly, it's taken four returned orders for them to get into the swing that I need the cheese leaving out of burger orders at the Kenwyn street venue - the buns are brioche, which contain more than enough milk in the first place.  I hate sending food back full stop, it's no fun for anyone, either side of the pass.  However, I'm pleased to say that there have been no problems since the start of the month.  The only other real problem I've had is drink service once they close the kitchen.  Sometimes it's been tricky to have been served, as they become a cocktail bar in the evening when they close the kitchen at 9pm.  I'd say that this is less a kind of instant choice venue, more a planned night.  Cocktails, as delicious as they may be, aren't cheap.  There are 2-4-1 offers on Friday and Saturday nights, and if you can't see a familiar beverage on the menu then feel free to ask: The staff are as knowledgeable as they are approachable.  

So?  Go.  You might as well try it.  There are lots of options for grilled, American-style food around and this is definitely one of the best.  The Truro restaurant accepts bookings for parties 10 and above, and remember that lunchtime and early evening are bound to be the busiest servings.  Check out the respective websites, with pictures, maps and menus for more!

HUBBOX Truro       Chick Inbox       HUB St. Ives

 

All information correct at time of publishing.

Eat it - Hors d'oeuvre

Welcome to yet another mad and wild and new departure.  This is all so novel that it's almost exciting to write... Almost.

Yes, this is the inevitable food part of my new blogging plan, a blogging plan for the ages.  Or for the year, at least.  Hopefully there'll be something for everyone!  Or just the hope that everyone will read something.  

Once again, I find no small inspiration from my old friend, Emily P. Burt.  She's gone and done all sorts of things that I probably won't even get near because she's so cool and good and excellent, and this latest venture is thankfully more of the same eloquent and eminently readable style: "Eat Happy!", documenting trips to various eateries in her current city of Cardiff.  She does a bunch of other stuff than just write about recipes and places, so keep up on her twitter to find out all the interviews and other coverage as well. 

I have always had a... Difficult relationship with food, to put it lightly.  I have an even more difficult relationship with my weight because of it and have only now, in my advanced age, reached the princely weight of 11 stones.  I try to look after myself as best I can (so you can stop worrying so much, Mother), and this extends to my often bizarre eating habits.  I am picky.  I'm as picky as hell, actually, and now I have my ever-increasing lactose intolerance to watch out for as well.  I have heightened senses of taste and smell, and have weird issues with food texture as well; I'm one of 'them' who has difficulty mixing "wet" and "dry" food - you know what I mean.  Having any more than an impossibly meager splash of gravy with a Sunday roast is considered pushing the boat out, par example.  I'm a nightmare at dinner parties due to my odd tastes as well: At last year's Burns Night dinner I found myself on the edge of sanity trying to stay polite after allowing myself to be forced into trying haggis, a personal horror of both taste and texture if ever there was one.  Sometimes it's very embarrassing.  It makes me very anxious. 

I initially learned to cook, therefore, to make sure that I could control what I ate, to make sure that it would definitely be something I would enjoy.  My knife skills can be a little, er, rough and ready sometimes but good intentions and taking care often make up for holes in technique.  I've been told I normally underseason my food as well, but I'm fine with a less intense taste as it's not a sense that's exactly deficient.  Although I'm still a fiend for take out, I actually enjoy whipping up a dinner or perhaps an especially hearty lunch.  The flip side?  Washing up, the source of many arguments in my short life already, which (let's face it) nobody really wants to do ever at all in the whole and entire world.  As I said earlier, the next level of control is the lactose avoidance, which can be amazingly and disappointingly difficult, like finding out the milk powder used as a thickening agent in ready meal curries makes you uncomfortable.  Add to that the fact I'm basically allergic to ice cream, life seems cruel and unnecessarily mean.  Or just plain unfair (life's not supposed to be fair blah blah blah).

Also, being a young gentleman about town, the big city here, I go out to many exciting places to exchange my money for food and table waiting.  I often run a constant gauntlet of making myself ill (seriously guys milk powder is in almost everything), but life's too short to let a bit of bloating get in the way of enjoying one's self (seriously fuck milk powder).  I am a regular offender at several places round Truro (especially the Old Alehouse), where I have a reputation as an excellent customer.  I was thinking about this the other day actually; not only am I polite to the staff, often help clear up or definitely take glasses back to the bar, behave well... But also I hand over all my money all the time.  I also make sure I don't be so stupid to make passes at the staff as well, because that always works out for me doesn't it?  Jeez.

Anyway.  I'll be using this as a kind of signal post, and yes I am going to turn into one of those people who takes pictures of food even more so than usual.  As always I will make my first review some place where I have been a lot so we can get started comfortably (like last week), and then see how we go.  In the meantime, here's my recipe for a thai-style stir fry that I've been eating a lot of recently.  It looks like more work than it is, and prep and cook time shouldn't cost you more than a half hour.

INGREDIENTS

Nam Pla (fish sauce)       Light and Dark Soy sauces     Noodles or Rice     
Chicken or Turkey, thinly sliced     Spring Onions     Garlic cloves     Root Ginger     
Red or Green Chilies     Mushrooms     Broccoli     Basil leaves (fresh)


METHOD

Okay, first of all get your rice or noodles on the go.  I use medium egg noodles for kind of everything, but anything should be fine according to your taste.  I just boil the noodles in unsalted water for 5 minutes and then drain, with just a bit left in the pan.  
The rice is a different ball game.  On a high heat, melt butter in a pan with a tight fitting lid.  When the butter is melted pour in however much rice you're using and stir so all the grains are coated.  Whatever you use for a measure doesn't really matter, as long as you can definitely pour in twice as much boiling water once the rice is coated.  Stir up to get all the grains down from the sides of the pan, and once the water starts boiling again, place the lid on top, making sure it's been firmly wrapped in a cloth.  Once the lid is on, turn the heat right down straight away, to its lowest amount, and keep it like this for 15 minutes.  Once the time is up, turn the heat off but leave the lid on; this way, it can stay hot for up to an hour.  When ready, serve!  The rice ought to be fluffy grained and not too dry - you can pack it into bowls to make a timbal if you like.  Speaking of bowls I like to use them to group ingredients, as you'll see...

Prepare your ingredients.  You can get "stir fry" packs of meat at major supermarkets, which are perfect for the job.  Otherwise, just cut Chicken or Turkey breast fillets into thin strips.  Slice the spring onions up either diagonally or into straight rings - white scallions will also do a fine job here.  For the mushrooms, either pull the legs out and slice the head and legs thinly, or for button mushrooms cut into four.  Once prepared, these two can go into a bowl together.  For the broccoli, cut to your preference; personally I chop down the florets from a Calabrese head, or just cut the stalk away if you get hold of some blessed tenderstem...

Next, skin and finely chop three cloves of garlic.  Then slice the ginger - you don't want too much here, perhaps a piece an inch long by half an inch wide.  Finally, the chili.  Either red or green is fine, just cut up into rings, and dispense of the seeds if you wish; I like the heat but I know plenty of people don't.  Make sure all of these go into a bowl together.  Chop or simply tear a healthy portion of basil leaves and make sure you don't forget about them!

Get a wok screaming hot.  Hobs these days sometimes come with a central burner especially for woks, so use that if you have one.  Just pour in either sunflower, groundnut or plain vegetable oil to the wok so it covers the bottom and sit on the highest heat you have until it starts to smoke.  Do not use olive oil, as it will burn, and the wok will be ruined.  Once you've reached temperature, throw the meat in and stir fry until the outside is sealed.  If you cut it into thin strips, it'll cook very quickly indeed.  Once the outside is all sealed, pour in one or two teaspoons of Nam Pla, according to taste.  Be careful with this stuff, as it has a very strong flavour!  Err on the side of caution if you're worried about overdoing it.  When the edges are beginning to brown a little on the meat, pour the contents, meat and sauce, into a bowl for later (we'll throw it back in at the end!).

Return the wok to the heat and add a little more oil.  When you're ready to go, add the ginger, garlic, chili and broccoli, and fry - make sure the garlic doesn't catch but let the broccoli cook as well.  Pour in one teaspoon of Light Soy sauce.  Then add the spring onion and mushrooms, and fry them out too.  Once you're happy with the veg, pour the bowl of your meat back in, and toss all the ingredients together.  Pour in two teaspoons of Dark Soy sauce.  Keep stirring.  Remember what I told you not to forget?  Good!  Add your basil leaves and stir everything together for a minute before you serve.  At this point you can add the noodles if you want, but the rice might be a but much in the wok.  Plate or dish up as you see fit.

Ideally, this will serve two as a kind of medium to light supper alongside a dessert, or a hearty meal for one.  Service!