Pork meatballs

I'm slacking at the moment. Almost a week since my last blog post. I've been gadding about all over the place, eating on the hoof, sometimes in restaurants, sometimes not. Cooking hasn't had much of a look in with one notable exception, a batch of delicious pork meatballs. They were porky and herby and cheesy and lovely, so I thought I'd write about them.

The ingredients are flexible depending on what you have to hand. The herbs in particular could be altered (rosemary might be nice) as could the cheese. Whatever you do don't miss out the bread though, as it really lightens the balls, making them a lot less dense than they would be otherwise.

They are best fried in a little olive oil until they have a lovely savoury brown crust and juicy innards. When they're done toss with pasta and a tomato based sauce. I did them two different ways using egg tagliatelle. The first was a very fresh, zesty sauce of fresh tomatoes, parsley and lemon. The second a deeper, sweeter affair made from roasted peppers and tinned tomatoes. Both were good.

What you'll need (serves around 6)

750g pork mince
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
a handful of flat parsley, chopped
about 1 dessertspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 slice or crust of old white bread, grated or blitzed in a food processor into crumbs
1 heaped tablespoon parmesan, freshly grated
salt and pepper

Pasta and a tomatoey sauce to serve

What to do

Mix all of the meatball ingredients together in a big bowl. Use your hands or a fork and a big spoon.

Season generously with salt and pepper. At this point I fry a little test patty to taste and check the seasoning. Adjust if necessary.

Roll out the mix into little balls about an inch across. You should get at least forty. Set them aside until you're ready to cook. They freeze well or will be fine in the fridge for a couple of days.

Fry your balls until they're lovely and crusty and brown on the outside and succulent within. Toss with cooked pasta and your sauce of choice, then serve immediately with extra parmesan.

Akbar's, Leeds

It's taken me a while to get round to writing this review. I was umming and ahhing about whether to bother at all. I was a little merry at the time of eating and the details are proving elusive. No matter I thought, I'll ask my dining companions what they thought, make it a bit of a combined effort. That didn't really help either, everyone was fairly up to speed on the starters but things got a little sketchy from thereon.

I'm reviewing it anyway because I like Akbar's, always have, ever since a visit to the original Leeds Road branch in Bradford around a decade ago. I've always found their meat curries reliably good, their tandoor cooked food (grilled meat and breads primarily) excellent and the service efficient. They also seem to have managed to maintain that consistency as they've expanded in recent years.

Three of us ate at the Greek Street outpost the other weekend. It's a good place for Friday night beer and curry, and by the time we arrived after nine it was heaving with well lubricated diners. The atmosphere was festive to say the least. Don't come here on a first date, really don't. Think raucous bearpit, not romantic hideaway.

Anyhow, after a bad start of three pints of completely flat lager, which instead of sending back we drank before moving onto bottles, a feast was duly ordered sticking to the Akbar's strengths. Grilled stuff, meat curries and bread.

Liver tikka was slightly overcooked, but still delicious. This is a great dish. Think rich, smooth slightly metallic liver enhanced by a tangy, hot marinade. Beautifully soft inside, charred edges with lots of little nibbly crusty bits.

The paneer tikka was also very good. Not bland or rubbery, with a mild but pronounced lactic taste. Again with the same contrast of a soft centre and crusty grilled edges.

We also had a piece of masala fish which was probably nice but who knows? It certainly looks well.

The three curries involved lamb, chicken with keema (bonus lamb!) and something else which escapes me. None of them were exceptional in any way (I'd have remembered exceptional, I hadn't had that much to drink) but they were all a pleasure to eat scooped up with the excellent naan bread.

Which brings me to the naan tree. Some people consider these to be a rather daft gimmick, but to my mind they actually serve a purpose. For me, a good naan bread is all about the texture. That winning combination of a light, fluffy interior and a gently cracking crust, browned where the dough is in contact with the clay of the tandoor whilst it cooks.

Breads served flat, often piled upon one another, keep warm longer but have a tendency to go a little soggy, losing that crucial contrast between crust and insides. Breads served on the tree cool quicker but retain that vital crispness for longer. I'd rather eat cold, crisp naan bread than warm, soggy naan bread.

Whatever your thoughts on this matter I can confirm this: we had a massive naan bread on a naan tree and it was ace. We also had a couple of tandoori rotis but these were a bit pants, being too thick and doughy. Stick to the naans.

Service, as ever, was efficient. They really do a good job here, front of house and in the kitchen. It can't be easy speedily serving a full restaurant, with a bar full of people waiting, most of whom are probably well on the way to being sozzled, but they rarely miss a beat. It's still great value as well, we paid just over £20 each for all of the food, a couple of beers each and a well earned tip.

It's a bit difficult rating this when I can barely remember what the curry tasted like, but it's not like I've got a systematic quantitative approach to ratings anyway, so who cares. I'm giving them 8 out of 10. Call it a gut feeling. I like Akbar's.

8/10

Minerva House
16 Greek Street
Leeds
LS1 5RU

http://www.akbars.co.uk/

Han Sofrasi, Nottingham

I've often driven out of Nottingham on the A610, straight up Alfreton Road, and thought there'd be some likely candidates for a good lunch in the vicinity. Last week I finally got round to stopping and taking a look, and was pleased to discover my suspicions were correct.

Han Sofrasi was advertising a lunch special, £6.50 for the dish of the day with rice and bread. It was pushing 2pm so I was ravenous and the offer of double carbs appealed. Inside I was pleased to find a proper Turkish grill house, massive charcoal grill in situ.

Sadly the daily special didn't involve anything grilled, but was pretty good regardless. I forget the Turkish name, but it was assorted chargrilled vegetables (peppers and aubergines mainly) stewed in a pepper and tomato sauce with chunks of lamb and potatoes. Very simple but well made. Smooth, sweet, tangy sauce, soft char edged vegetables and tender lamb.

The rice was nicely cooked and the bread had been warmed up, giving it a crisp, slightly oily crust (a bit focaccia like) and light, airy insides. In authentic Turkish style there was also bloody loads of it.

Service was quick and friendly, I was in and out in about 15 minutes for the loss of £8.50 including a soft drink and a tip. Would I return? Well it's not worth a special trip but if I'm in Nottingham and after Turkish food then it's probably a great option. Nice tunes on the website too. Check it out.

7/10

Han Sofrasi
91 Alfreton Road
Nottingham
NG7 3JL

http://www.hansofrasi.co.uk/

Italian Express, Walkley, Sheffield

Walkley is lucky to have that rarest of things, a genuinely good pizza takeaway. Thanks to a recommendation from Clare I found out about Italian Express, handily situated just up the hill from my girlfriend's house.

Describing the place as a pizza takeaway is probably doing it a disservice really, as there's a full restaurant style menu; - pasta, risotto, steaks, fish, the lot, all available to takeaway.

I thought I'd put them to the test by ordering the frittura mista, and having it delivered. An assortment of deep fried seafood delivered to your door from most British takeaways doesn't bear thinking about. Imagine what kind of rank, greasy filth you'd get from your average high street pizza/doner/fried chicken merchant. Uurgghh.

Fortunately the Italian Express frittura mista was anything but greasy filth. First impressions were good, I'd been wondering what the method of packaging would be. How to keep the batter crisp and fresh whilst keeping it hot? The answer, apparently, is to put it in a plastic container but cut a little hole in the corner, large enough to let out the excess steam to prevent sogginess but small enough to not let all of the heat out.

It worked, the batter was very thin, very light and very crisp. There were loads of bouncy prawns, mussels large and small, squid rings that weren't chewy, a few octopus tentacles, and something smaller and unidentifiable (cockles maybe?). Everything tasted fresh, not the very finest quality but it was a generous portion for £5.50.

A Bollente pizza (pepperoni, chilli, peppers, oregano, olive oil) had high quality toppings and a very thin, digestible crust with a good char. It was a little too thin in parts, cracking and slightly biscuity in texture rather than crisp then chewy within, but still went down a treat. The toppings were all present in just the right quantities, and the individual flavours of the cheese, pepperoni and olive oil were all discernable.

The pizza was £7.95 so the total bill came to £15.45 with the £2 delivery charge. You can get far cheaper I'm sure, but it will almost certainly be crap. On balance, this meal ought to serve two people, and under eight quid each for food better than many Italian restaurants serve is good value in my book. Recommended.

8/10

391 South Road
Walkley
Sheffield
S6 3TD

http://www.italian-express.net/

Bacon Sandwich Quest: April

Bet you thought I'd forgotten about Bacon Sandwich Quest. Sadly I haven't, the April round up is just running a little late. Things perked up a bit in April, there was an unusual coffee shop offering, a standard greasy spoon effort and of course I threw my own sarnie of champions into the mix.

The coffee shop curveball for starters, from Grind Coffee Lounge in Wakefield. A bacon sandwich toasted on a griddle, eaten in an independent coffee shop, reminiscent of those you get in the chain coffee shops. It was sort of good, flavour packed smokey bacon, but sort of wrong, as the bread was overtoasted making the whole thing rather crunchy. Bacon butties shouldn't be crunchy. Hmm.

Let's face it, if you want a job doing properly you're best off doing it yourself. It seems a little unfair to rate my own bacon sandwich, but given the generally lacklustre standard so far people obviously need some guidance. I don't mean to sound boastful but this is how it should be done. Anyhow I think I've been objective, docking myself a point for service on account of getting cold feet from the kitchen tiles whilst making it.

And finally, Pat's Cafe, Knowsley Industrial Estate's finest. Solid, reliable, unspectacular. No photo, but it looked like any other bacon roll (or barm as those crazy cats like to call it).This isn't the first one of these I've eaten, and it certainly won't be the last. Currently residing in the final podium place, but can it stay the distance?

Here's the leaderboard, formatted horribly but Blogger is driving me up the wall. Sorry. Here's to May.

Three easy teas

I haven't written about any of my home cooking in ages, it's either down to a lack of time or a lack of inspiration in the kitchen. Probably a little bit of both. I have eaten a few meals that I've really enjoyed over the last week or so though, so thought I'd share.

Chick pea and mushroom curry 

A very quick and easy curry this, done and dusted in half an hour. Perfect for after work cooking, and it tastes pretty good too.

What you'll need (for two people):

1 tin chick peas
3 cloves garlic
1 large red chilli
1 onion
1 tsp mustard seeds
a handful of fresh coriander (stems and leaves)
1 heaped dessertspoon hot curry powder
ginger (stem in syrup!)
1 tomato
1 bay leaf
handful mushrooms
water to cover
1 tsp garam masala

What to do:

Heat up a little oil over a medium heat in a heavy bottomed pan. Chop the onion and throw it in the pan.

While the onion is sweating chop up the garlic, the chilli, coriander stems and the ginger then bash them to a rough paste in a pestle and mortar with a little oil, salt and pepper. I'd normally use a lump of fresh ginger, but had none in the house so wondered if a chunk of stem ginger from a jar would do (it did, adding a bit of gingery warmth and also a little sweetness).

Put the mustard seeds in the pan with the onion and stir until they start to sizzle and pop, then throw in the curry powder and bay leaf. Stir and keep frying for a minute or two. Add a little water if it starts to stick.

Throw in the garlic/chilli/coriander/ginger mush and fry for another minute or two. Chop the tomato and add that to the pan.

Chop the mushrooms and add them to the pan. Open the chick peas, drain them and add them to the pan. Add enough water so that the chick peas and mushrooms are just barely covered. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced.

Throw in the garam masala and cook for one more minute. Garnish with the coriander leaf.

Eat. Best with some sort of Indian flatbread.


Lancashire cheese, apple, fennel and watercress salad

A great little salad of contrasting tastes and textures. Crisp and sweet, crumbly and creamy. The sharper acidity of the apples works really well with the more mellow tang of the cheese.

What you'll need (per person):

a large-ish hunk (maybe about 50g) of good quality Lancashire cheese (I used Mrs Kirkham's)
a sharp, crisp English apple
half a small bulb of fennel
a big handful of watercress
lemon juice
olive oil
black pepper

What to do:

Finely chop the fennel and apple into thin slivers. Cut the cheese into little chunks.

Toss the fennel, apple, cheese and watercress together. Squeeze over some lemon juice and add a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Grind over some black pepper.

Eat. Best with some crusty bread (granary works well with this).

A Polish plate

Polish might be pushing it here, but it's closer to Polish than any other specific nation. I think. Anyhow this isn't a recipe, more an assemblage of nice things, most of which I bought from an Eastern European supermarket in Wakefield.

My recent trip to the Czech Republic has piqued my interested in Eastern European food. It's much maligned, in rather the same way as British food has been over the years (tasteless, overcooked stodge with extra stodge), but as with British food there's a lot more to it than that.

Given the large Eastern European population in the UK these days I thought it was high time I investigated one of their supermarkets. It was pretty good. Loads of interesting looking sausages and cured meats, a multitude of peculiar dairy products (at least 73 flavours of cottage cheese as far as I could tell) and lots and lots of jarred pickles of every possible persuasion. I put together this lovely little meal with my purchases.

What you'll need:

a good Polish (or generally Eastern European) supermarket
Kabanos (cured smoked sausage, think nicer peparami)
cottage cheese
dark rye bread with sunflower seeds
pickled peppers (these are Turkish which is stretching the theme but what the hell)
Sliced tomato

What to do:

Arrange everything on the plate then eat it. Be pleasantly surprised at how nice it all is, and how enough of it to serve four or five people cost you six quid.

Pho 68, Sheffield

Mission 'find pho in Yorkshire' arrived in Sheffield last Friday. Surely Pho 68 would come up trumps. The clue is in the name.

Pho 68 is a Vietnamese Cafe serving 'Traditional Vietnamese and select Pacific rim cuisine'. Their words not mine. I'm not really sure what they're on about with the Pacific rim bit, in practice the lengthy menu comprises a fairly short list of Vietnamese classics (noodle soups, summer rolls, clay pot dishes, grilled meat and rice/noodle plates) and a far longer one of Anglo-Chinese dishes.

We mixed and matched, left to my own devices I'd have stuck to the Vietnamese stuff but AS had a craving for crispy duck. A quarter duck and a Vietnamese pancake was clearly far too much food for a starter as both were enormous, a theme that would continue with the mains. Be warned.

The pancake was stuffed to bursting with beansprouts, other veggies and chicken, and wasn't overly greasy like some of these I've eaten in the past. I was rather pleased we'd chosen the duck once it had arrived, as it was fragrant with lovely crisp skin and still moist flesh. The hoi sin sauce doesn't really do it for me though, it's far too sweet. Give me some chilli bean sauce and I'm happy.

Here it is. The real purpose of the visit to Pho 68. Pho with rare beef and braised beef. It looked the part, and tasted it too. They've got the makings of a really good pho here. The stock was excellent. Deep, aromatic and intensely savoury. Wafer thin slices of beef were rare on arrival but cooked through as time progressed, the gentle poaching keeping them tender. The braised beef (brisket I think) was also sliced thin, but had a stronger, minerally flavour. The tendon running through it was soft and gelatinous speaking of long, slow cooking. The noodles, save for a little gluey clump at the top, were cooked just right.

So all was well with everything that arrived in the bowl, it was the plate of accompaniments that rather let the side down. For me, the thing that can really lift a bowl of pho from the good to the sublime is the plate of things to add. The contrast between the earthy depths of the nourishing broth and the freshness and zip of herbs and citrus can be just the best thing ever (especially when hungover).

You'd expect to get beansprouts, a wedge of lime, some chopped chilli, and as a minimum, a good handful of coriander and mint. There are several other herby possibilities (sawtooth herb is my favourite), but I've never seen anything other than mint and coriander offered outside London. Pho 68 offered up one measly sprig of coriander. To be fair, I didn't ask for extra, maybe the good folk of Sheffield don't want their tea tainting with unnecessary greenery so they don't bother. Next time I'll ask, but more herbs really should be the norm.

Our other main was a Vietnamese chicken stir-fry which was pleasant enough, if a little boring. A more generous hand with the lemongrass and chilli would have perked things up a bit.

It's a casual sort of place but they are licensed so we had a couple of beers each. Including those the bill came to around £34 before tip. Service was efficient but also very friendly. It's a bit of a tricky one to rate this, as some things were excellent (the pho broth, the duck) but others disappointing (the stir-fry, the lack of herbs).

I'll definitely return though, sort the herb issue out and this is best pho I've eaten in the North by a clear distance (ahead of Vnam in Manchester and Viet-Thai in Leeds).

7/10

175 London Road
Sheffield
S2 4LH

www.pho68.co.uk