A Leon love affair

Since moving to London I kept stumbling across Leon restaurants everywhere I went (but not in the annoying Pret A Manger kind of way) and wondering what it was like. The idea of healthy fast food never really appealed to me. If I want something quick, chances are I want something big, carby, meaty and probably covered in cheese, because lets be honest, there is no time for kale or rye bread when hunger strikes. But as I discovered when I first visited last month, Leon isn't at all neo-hippie in it's approach to food on the go, it's just really good food, and fast.

Whilst my friend and I were in East London, we headed to Leon for a bite to eat before immersing ourselves in a day of shopping in an array of vintage shops (or 'trendy second hand' to you and me). The feel of the place is really laid back, the food was fuss-free and not to mention really delicious. On our way out, I noticed the stand of cookboooks. The brightly coloured hardbacks with beautifully stylised covers caught my attention, mainly because they're just SO pretty!

My reluctance to part with twenty-five pounds for the book lead to me picking up 'Leon: Family and Friends' in TK Maxx for only eleven, which I was more than chuffed with. When flicking through the book on the tube, I realised how great it is. The photos, illustrations and even anecdotes add a really personal touch and make it so much more than just a glorified instruction manual.

Thanks to having close friends in the food publishing world, my choice of degree and my job, I have been given/bought/flicked through a selection of really great cookbooks, but this Leon cookbook is really impressive! The book is segmented into unusual parts titled; 'memory lane', 'food on the move' and '10 things you should know how to cook before you leave home'. It has a abundance of great recipes including, easy pad Thai, garam masala and British classics like roast lamb. It also has a number of really useful pages including; 'the wheel of tomato based pasta sauce and the best of party nibbles titled 'things on sticks!' (which I can assure you, is a cheese and pineapple free zone). There is even a short section at the beginning about nutrition.

All in all, Leon is a huge winner for me. I highly recommend popping in for lunch, and if you love to cook, or even just want to learn a few basic dishes and skills, pick up a Leon cookbook for a truly lovely food experience.

The Bakehouse - St.Albans

Last weekend I went back to Hertfordshire, where I grew up, in St.Albans. St.Albans is one of my favourite places and I have such fond memories of living there. Most of my friends and my sister still live in Hertfordshire, so I went back to pay them a visit. On the Saturday, my sister and I popped into town for something to eat. The weather was lovely, so The Bakehouse seemed like the perfect choice as we could sit outside. The courtyard sits at the top of Verulanium park in the heart of the city and overlooks the beautiful cathedral.

The Bakehouse offers amazing homemade cakes and coffee as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has a really lovely wholesome feel to it and offers some really tasty homemade food.

For drinks, I had an iced coffee with some butterscotch syrup, which was delicious, and Emma had a pot of Earl Grey tea. To eat, I ordered the Pork & Leek Sausage sandwich with onion marmalade & mustard on white artisan bread, and my sister had the BLT. The sandwiches were both served with a pot of homemade slaw and crisps (but we couldn't help ourselves and ordered a portion of chips to share!) It was thumbs up all round for the sandwiches. Mine was really flavoursome and the onion marmalade really made it. Emma's BLT had sun blush tomatoes mixed in with the mayonnaise, which was a really lovely touch. My only criticism is that the slaw didn't really live up to my expectations as it was slightly lacking in flavour.

Overall, The Bakehouse is a really lovely relaxed dining experience, offering delicious homemade food in a lovely setting. I will definitely be heading back to try the cakes next time!

Turtle Bay - Birmingham

At the weekend I returned to the Midlands to visit my Mum for a couple of days. On Saturday we headed into Birmingham city centre for some lunch and shopping. We happened to stumble upon Turtle Bay, which I had heard lots of great things about from my friends. After a quick glance at the menu, we were sure we had to try it.

The interior has a really laid back beach feel to it - brightly coloured painted metal, aged wood and colourful murals on the walls, pulled off without looking at all naff. On every table sit an array exotic looking sauces, offering a variety of traditional flavours to add to your meal (although the food wasn't at all lacking in flavour!)

Having not tried a great deal of Caribbean food, we were keen to explore what Turtle Bay had to offer. The menu is really reasonably priced and is made up of a wide range of dishes, including a lunch menu, offering a variety of simple, ligher dishes perfect for midday munching.

The cocktail menu is extensive for a restaurant and features an array of exciting cocktails included in a 2-4-1 offer, much to our delight! The cocktails aren't your bog standard mojitos or daquiris, they are an eclectic medley of spirits, fresh fruit and homemade sodas - and wow do they pack a punch! My mum and I both had a raspberry and white rum concoction followed by a 'Marley Mojito' (Appleton Special rum, midori, fresh mint & watermelon, home-made ginger beer) and they were both delicious!

We ordered 2 starters (or 'cutters' as TB call them) to share; firstly Jamaican fried bait - which is whitebait to you and me. Being a personal favourite for both my mum and I, we have tried our fair share of whitebait, but it was the coriander and lime mayo that made it stand out for us. We also ordered duck rolls, which were served with the most delicious orange chutney, that I can only describe as tasting like Christmas.

For our mains, we chose from the lunch menu. We both ordered wraps; mine jerk pulled pork with fries and my mums shrimp and mango with salad. Although the wrap itself was a bit of a let down for both of us, the fillings were delicious. My pulled pork was melt in the mouth, sweet and spicy. The fries I had must have been tossed in some sort of Cajun-esque seasoning, and they were perfect.

Overall, my mum and I really enjoyed Turtle Bay. The food was delish, the service was excellent and the cocktails were cheap and tasty (not to mention strong!). Although sadly there currently isn't a Turtle Bay in London, I will definitely be the first punter through the door when they do open one!

Wahaca Southbank Experiment

Last weekend my boyfriend came to visit me in London. We decided to do the standard tourist walk along Southbank. Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, The Eye, The Tate Modern and St.Pauls - we saw it all, and the weather was lovely!

We were spoilt for choice when it came to choosing somewhere to eat lunch. The Southbank centre hosts a number of lovely chain restaurants, however we wanted to choose somewhere where we hadn't been before (although I had been to Wahaca in Covent Garden before, but a million years ago).

The Southbank Experiment Wahaca isn't your standard restaurant set up, it's made out of a few recycled shipping containers and is covered in quirky street art. The inside is a tasteful mix of tribal fabrics, wood, brightly coloured painted metal and even neon lights.

When we arrived there was a 20 minute wait for a table but they lead us up to the bar where we got Coronas with lime and sat and looked over the river which was lovely.

The menu was curated by Tommi Miers, a winner of MasterChef from a series a while back. It has a really traditional feel, offering both small and big plates at a really reasonable price. We chose tortilla chips and chunky guacamole (my favourite) to start which was lovely. For the main, we shared chicken taquitos - small crispy deep fried tortillas filled with delicious spicy chicken. We also had a chipotle chicken quesadilla which was cheesy, melty and delicious. The big dish we shared was slow cooked pork burritos which were so amazing! Spicy but really flavoursome and tender. We both spotted churros on the dessert menu and thought it would be rude not to - and we weren't disappointed! How can deep fried food and chocolate ever go wrong?

Overall, we both really enjoyed it. The service was brilliant, and setting is perfect and the food was really really good. Our bill came to just over £30 which was amazing considering how full we were feeling when we left!

I would highly recommend Wahaca to anyone and will definitely be visiting again soon.

Recipe: Courgette pasta

I am a huge courgette advocate. I think it might be one of those things you only begin to like as your get older, as both me and my sister hated 'corj-ee-ette' (as we used to call it) growing up. My mum gets most of the credit for this recipe, and I added a few things in along the way. My mum first made this when a family member presented us with a giant courgette she had grown in her garden - no, not a marrow, just a really really big courgette. We had to find something to do with it, and that's how this recipe was born.

It's an unbelievably delicious and inexpensive meal and everyone I have cooked it for has loved it, even my courgette-hating boyfriend.

Ingredients:
(serves one)
2 whole courgettes - grated
1/2 red onion (optional) - finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic - crushed
Chorizo - cut into small pieces
A pinch of chilli flakes (or 2 if you're feeling daring)
Portion of pasta
Olive oil
Cheese - a small handful, grated
Knob of butter
Salt & pepper

1. Add the grated courgette to a large saucepan/frying pan with olive oil. It may seem like a lot of courgette but as you cook it, the water cooks off and it reduces dramatically in size
2. Add the chopped onion (if using), chilli flakes, salt, pepper and crushed garlic
3. Put pasta on the boil
4. Cook the courgette until it is considerably less green in colour (around 8-10 mins) then add chorizo
5. Cook for a further 3-5 minutes
6. Drain the pasta, transfer back into pan, and add grated cheese and butter. Stir through until fully melted.
7. You can either serve the courgette on top of the pasta or mix it in. I personally prefer to mix it with the pasta.

Enjoy!!

Ladies that lunch (in Shepherd's Bush)

Today my mum, my sister and I ventured to Shepherd's Bush for lunch. After walking around and finding very little other than fried chicken shops, we stumbled upon the Hummingbird Cafe. The place was rammed, which is always a good sign!

The cafe is quaint and is decorated in a sort of 'your nan but cooler' style, with floral wallpaper and pastel pink and pistachio painted wood. The menu was relatively limited, but it all looked so good, I was still torn over what to order. I went with the chipotle pulled pork and slaw ciabatta and a ginger beer, my sister went for the Moroccan lamb sandwich with tzatziki and a homemade lemonade with mint, and my mum went for the curried chickpea and quinoa salad with an iced coffee.

Overall the food was lovely! My pork was really flavoursome and packed a spicy punch and it was thumbs up all round from my mum and sister too.

Change is good!

So, a number of really exciting things have happened in my life recently. The biggest change of all is that I am now living in London! The other big change is what bought me here, a job with The Walt Disney Company. For the next year, I will be working with the FMCG team doing food product development whilst I am on placement as part of my University course.

Anyone who has gone through the trials and tribulations of placement searching knows that it's not easy. Psychometric testing, application forms, assessment days, phone interviews, face to face interviews, group interviews - I was on the verge of giving up when I applied for the job at Disney, but I am so glad I didn't.

Working at Disney has already been one of the most exciting experiences of my life. Without sounding extremely cheesy, everyday there is magical. Everyone is so friendly, the offices are incredible, and not to mention I met Mickey and Minnie the other day! I have already been given a tremendous amount of responsibility, a great deal of creative freedom and most importantly I have a job which revolves around food - everything I wanted from a placement and much more.

Having lived just outside London for the majority of my life and often visiting my dad in London, I have had some exposure to what the city has to offer in the way of food. Whether it's markets, restaurants, street food or pubs, London has it all, and I can't wait to share my foodie experiences over the next year on my blog.

(For now, enjoy this picture of me with Mickey and Minnie, looking far more excited than a 20 year old should)