My First Real Fish And Chips In Thirty Years
I’ve never been a great one for greasy fish and chips in newspaper and my late wife, C, wasn’t either. Although, when we lived in St. John’s Wood, we did occasionally get a takeaway from Sea Shell in Lisson Grove. But even in the 1960s, that was of a different quality to for example the chip shop. I remember in East Barnet close to my mother-in-law’s.
Yesterday I read in Giles Coren’s restaurant review in The Times of The Fish and Chip Shop in Upper Street, Islington. I passed it yesterday whilst shopping, popped in and found they could do gluten-free fish and chips. So later in the day, I returned with my son for supper.
The Fish And Chip Shop, Islington
I had plaice in a gluten-free batter and my son had a fish curry. We both found the food excellent and I finished off with an ice cream, the quality and flavour of which, probably betrayed the usual source of most good ice cream in restaurants in the northern and central parts of London; Marine Ices in Camden Town.
The one problem with the restaurant was that we were a bit cramped on the bar, so if you’re thinking of going, book early. My son and I usually decide to go for a meal, perhaps an hour or so before, so we tend to end up in somewhere like Carluccio’s, Pizza Express or Côte, where booking is optional early in the evening or at lunchtime.
On the other hand, as it is very convenient for me, with the 30 bus stop opposite, it’s one of those restaurants, where if I need supper because my fridge is empty or the cooking has gone wrong, I’ll go and sit on the bar and partake of a plaice and chips. As Giles Coren said in his review, the chips are nice, proper, potatoey English chip shop chips.
Eating out in my local area has just got better!
A Gluten-Free Beer Created Accidentally
I went to the Allergy Show at Olympia today and came across a beer called Crop Circle from the Hop Back Brewery. They say this on the web site about the beer.
Crop Circle is a very clean flaxen coloured beer with wonderful thirst quenching properties. The Subtle blend of aroma and bittering hops gives a crispness on the tongue which is delicately fruity, giving way to some dryness
Crop Circle has always been Gluten Free – we have however only recently had it tested and certified and believe it is the first main stream beer to be awarded the Cross Grain accreditation.
It is a real beer and not a lager, but it was really to my taste and I shall be buying at least a few bottles. For scientific and research purposes of course!
The interesting thing, is that I once spoke to the head brewer of a famous real ale brewery. He thought that although his beers were not gluten-free, because of the method of production, they might be very low in gluten. I’ve drunk the odd bottle of his brewery’s beer and I didn’t have any reactions. But then I’m not a serious coeliac!
Can Food Help Us Cope With Grief?
This article on the BBC web site, asks the question, posed in the title of this post.
Cooking and food has certainly helped me, in that when my late wife died, it was either learn to cook, eat out every night or starve.
So as I already had the basic skills from my mother’s training, I chose the first and now find that I can cook pretty well. Or at least those who have eaten one of my meals, haven’t complained! Or gone to A & E!
The article also has some links to some nice meals, I might try, like this cottage pie.
Zoo Lates At London Zoo
These Friday evening, adults-only visits to London Zoo are one of the highlights of the summer. I went with my son and his partner and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
It wasn’t as crowded as when I went two years ago, but the event was sold out.
One of the highlights of the evening is the food and London Zoo showed how to do mass catering at an event. There were food stalls for every possible taste and I had a Pimms and a very nice and very authentic curry, from a stall, manned by probably a Bangladeshi family.
I have never understood, why outside say football grounds and other events, you don’t see stalls selling proper curries. All you seem to get is tired gluten-rich food, based on burgers and soggy chips. Mother, who was serving the curry, assured me that their food was gluten-free and I haven’t had any adverse reaction.
Antonio’s Pepolata
I had a problem last night, in that I couldn’t find a suitable sauce for my pies. Last time I used one from Bay Tree, that had been in my cupboard for some time. This time though, the only one i could find was Antonio’s Pepolata from Carluccio’s.
Antonio’s Pepolata
The pies worked out fine, or at least the one I had for supper did.
Chicken, Bacon And Potato Pie
But even Carluccio’s didn’t really have a suitable sauce.
How To Do Service
Yesterday, I went to Carluccio’s in Upper Street, Islington, as I needed a good lunch, as I was going to a reception in the evening, where I felt gluten-free food, would be non-existent.
Admittedly, I’m known well there,, as I go probably two or three times a week, but I was ushered quickly by the manager, to an out-of-the-way corner table, where I can sit and do my sudoku, without bothering anybody. He had the gluten-free menu at the ready too. Not that I need it these days, as I could probably repeat it by heart.
I do like saltimbocca and as they had a pork one on the specials menu, I asked if they could do a gluten-free one. The answer was yes and the waitress didn’t even check, as she said, they’d done one the day before for another customer.
But unfortunately, the pork saltimbocca had been popular, so she came back and asked, if I would like a chicken one. I said yes and this is the what I had for my lunch.
Carluccio’s Chicken Saltimbocca
It was very good and it kept me going all day, especially as the reception was gluten-free free.
I think I can draw a big conclusion from this incident and other experiences lately. In general, service and the provision of gluten-free food is getting better in restaurant chains, with possibly the exception of All Bar One.
A Very Bad Meal!
Today, I had lunch with a friend. Perhaps, though to say I had lunch is a bit much, as although my friend had s0me very tasty-looking crab cakes, I had nothing to go with my glass of wine.
C and I used to eat in All Bar One about four or five times a year and although, what I ate was generally a bit plain, it filled a hole.
My friend and I tried one of their bars today and the recipe has been totally glutenised, with things like salsa everywhere. All I was offered was a plain burger or a plain gammon with egg. The chips are now covered in wheat to make them crisper, whereas six or seven years ago they were fine. Or at least, I never had a reaction!
Perhaps the waitress got it all wrong and there was something else I could have had, but I doubt I’ll be going to All Bar One again, except perhaps for a drink. After all with Pizza Express being very gluten-free-friendly, I won’t need to go to All Bar One again.
So I went home hungry and made myself a delicious sandwich.
Fish Pie With Swede And Potato Topping
I regularly do Jamie Oliver’s fish pie and thought it was about time I found another. Especially, as I wanted one that was more in tune with my 0.6L Le Creuset dishes.
I found this one on the BBC’s Good Food website, which was ideal to make two pies.
For the two pies, I used the following.
- 500 g potatoes, cut into chunks
- 400 g swede, cut into chunks
- 200 g tub low-fat soft cheese with garlic and herbs
- 150ml vegetable stock
- 4 tsp cornflour, blended with 2 tbsp cold water
- 500g skinless, boneless cod, cut into large chunks
- 100g cooked peeled prawns
- 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
This is the method.
- Cook the potatoes and swede in boiling water until tender (about 20 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 190°C. While the potatoes and swede cook, put the soft cheese and stock into a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon, until blended and smooth. Now add the blended cornflour and cook until thick.
- Stir the fish into the sauce with the prawns and parsley. Season with some pepper.
- Tip the mixture into the dish or dishes. Drain the potatoes and swede, mash them well and season with black pepper. Spoon the mash over the fish to cover it completely. Bake for 25-30 minutes until piping hot, then transfer to a hot grill for a few minutes to brown the top.
- Serve with frozen peas or sweetcorn.
I served it with frozen peas and a Celia.
Fish Pie With Peas And A Celia
The second pie went in the freezer.
A Week Of Eating Very Well
A lot of people think that the diet of a coeliac is rather difficult. If I look back at last week nothing could be further from the truth.
On Sunday, I cooked a late lunch or dinner of pork with asparagus and shiitake mushrooms. It was the first time, I’d cooked the Japanese mushrooms and they made a change.
Monday, I ate out in Pizza Express, as I wanted a quick meal, to get back in time for the football. The fact that this numerous chain now does gluten free food is going to transform my eating as I travel around the UK.
Tuesday, I had dinner with my son at Carluccio’s in Market Place.
Wednesday, I cooked a fish supper for a friend.
Thursday, I ate with the fried in Cote in Islington, before going to the theatre.
Friday, I was in Geneva and ate at La Tavola.
Saturday, I had a very good meal of lamb cutlets in the restaurant attached to my hotel.
And that was just the evening meals!
Haddock On A Bed Of Asparagus
It seems that the shops have a surfeit of asparagus. As I had some haddock, I looked for a suitable recipe and found this one here on SparkPeople. It took me about half-an-hour to cook it.
For two people you need the following.
2 fillets of haddock
1 pack of asparagus
2 cups of frozen peas.
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 tomatoes (chopped into quarters)
Salt, freshly-ground black pepper.
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegetable stock powder.
As it was 2 small fillets, just for me, I used a pack of English asparagus tips. None of your air-freighted stuff for me!
I started by heating the oil in a saucepan and then adding the onion.
Cooking The Onion
I cooked it, until the onion was reasonably cooked. I then added the tomatoes, seasoned it all with black pepper and let it cook on a gentle heat for a minute or so.
Adding The Tomatoes
I then added a cup of water, the vegetable stock powder and the frozen peas (from frozen).
I left the peas to cook for five minutes before adding the haddock fillets to the sauce.
Cooking The Haddock In The Sauce
After another five minutes the haddock was cooked.
As the haddock c0oked, a cooked the asparagus in the way that Heston Blumenthal used in this recipe.
Cooking The Asparagus
I just fried them in a little olive oil with some seasoning.
It was then just a matter of arranging the asparagus on a plate, putting the haddock on top and then adding the sauce and some of the peas.
Haddock On A Bed Of Asparagus
I also added some potatoes.
I think others might modify this to their taste, perhaps by adding lemon juice. But I liked it the way it came.
The Anonymous Widower 