meemalee

The Square in London has been around since 1991 and, during that time, it has built a reputation for understated excellence, earning two Michelin stars along the way.  This is in no small part down to its chef and co-owner Philip Howard - one of the few "named" chefs who can still be found in the kitchen. Howard was recently voted Chef's Chef of the Year at the National Restaurant Awards, and I was pleased to play a small role in The Kitchen Foundation  from the Square - his Masterclass series where he shares culinary tips, tricks and secrets which he has gleaned and developed over the years. These videos are to celebrate the Square's 21st Birthday and also to promote Howard's new cookbook The Square Cookbook - Volume 1 - Savoury  - a real labour of love, documenting over 100 savoury recipes from the Square.  I have just been given a copy and it's been a while since I've seen such a stunning (and hefty) tome.  Volume 2 - Sweet comes out fro...

Gah I work in the City. Lunch options are scanty - throw a stone and you'll hit an identikit franchise serving variations on the same inedible theme - Pret, EAT., Chop'd, Tossed, Crussh. Bitter experience should have taught me that whenever one of these places launches a new dish, it won't be any good, yet foolish hope springs eternal and on occasion I will return. More recently I've come across instances of what might even be called cultural insensitivity. EAT. are by far the worst culprit - here are just three examples of how their R & D department are completely rubbish. Udon Ramen Exhibit 1: Their "Udon Ramen". Udon Ramen. UDON RAMEN. Udon is one type of Japanese noodle. Ramen is an entirely different type of Japanese noodle. This dish of theirs actually comprises a vague stock plus udon noodles. So it's udon. Not ramen. It's the equivalent of a restaurant serving a dish called Rice Pasta, or Spring Roll Cannelloni. IT MAKES ...

Killer Kimchi Kimchi. Practically the national dish of Korea, this potent pickle is pungent, sour, spicy and unnecessarily delicious. It works well as a condiment or side dish, in stews and curries, with rice and noodles, and even in a sandwich or bun - in fact, a kimchi hotdog seems to be de rigueur these days. Till recently, I've been lazy and got packets or tubs of the stuff from Oriental supermarkets, but I discovered that it's both cheap and easy to make yourself. This is a good thing as I recently had to make a shed-load for my Momofuku tribute dinner Lunchy Peach . The recipe looks long but I wanted to show you all the steps - it's really straightforward. Korean Pepper Flakes and Burmese Shrimp Paste And you can tweak the flavours (saltier, sweeter, sourer) so it tastes even better than shop-bought. (Burmese) shrimp paste, similar to belacan, is my secret ingredient for extra umami - other recipes add chopped-up oysters, dried shrimp or squid, ...

Last year I was lucky enough to be one of the judges at the inaugural Scotch Egg Challenge  held at the mighty Ship pub in Wandsworth. 2012's Scotch Egg Challenge was held last night, and fighting off strong competition, the Bladebone Inn took the first prize, the Hind's Head  came second, and the  Drapers Arms  (sister pub to last year's winner the Devonshire Arms), came third. Unfortunately, I had to miss this year's festivities, so this recipe is for me and anyone else out there who missed out and wants a piece of the eggy action themselves. The judges at last year's Scotch Egg Challenge - Eric Lanlard, Chris Pople, Mat Follas, me, and David Constable Note that this recipe will make two each of original Scotch Egg, Chorizo Scotch Egg and Black Pudding Scotch Egg. If you fancy just making the original flavour, just triple the quantity of sausage meat and leave out the other types of meat. Scotch Eggs Recipe Makes 6 eggs 6 eggs (Burford Brow...

Egg and Bacon Tarts So Sainsbury's contacts me.  They say, "Next month is Organic September - a month long promotion of organic food by the Soil Association - and to celebrate this, we'd love to send you a box of our seasonal goods from our SO Organic range for you to come up with some recipes". I think, "Meh, I do like a cookery challenge. All right then".  The allotted time and date arrives. There's a knock at the door, and a cheerful driver says, "Here's the delivery for Miss Bunty Fairweather*".  I think, "Eh?" and say, "Um, I am expecting a delivery, but my name's MiMi, not Bunty". He looks perplexed and shrugs.  I say, "Are they all organic products?" and he says, "Yes", and hands the goods over since the address is right and he doesn't really give a monkey's what my name is.  I put the bag on the kitchen table and empty its contents excitedly. So. There's milk, ...

When I was ill, the doctors ran all sorts of tests on me and discovered I had a slight calcium deficiency.  My diet doesn't contain an awful lot of dairy, so I did some research and found out that sesame seeds contain a surprising amount of calcium. So here is a recipe for Japanese style scallops using said seeds and a bit of butter - delicious and you can also feel like you're doing your bones some good. Osteoporosis be damned. Japanese Scallops with Soy Butter and Black Sesame Seeds Serves 2 6 fat scallops, coral attached Fat knob of butter Dash of soy sauce Handful of sesame seeds, black if possible Shichimi togarashi (a Japanese pepper mixture) Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan till fragrant, and then set to one side in a saucer. Heat the butter in the same pan till it sizzles but before it burns, and then sear the scallops in the butter for two minutes each side. Chuck in the soy sauce and toss the scallops in the soy butter. Plate ...