FRIDAY

Biker - Topshop
Chiffon Metallic Detailed Dress - Topshop Boutique
White faux snakeskin sandals - Zara
Bracelets - misc from previous

Payday treat at Mooli's
Cheating, yes - it is pay day after all! When I am not bringing my own lunch my first port of call has to be Mooli's, they do incredibly tasty Indian roti wraps, recipes cultivated from travelling the country, roti's made fresh everyday and carefully crafted chutneys that compliment each protein. Today I went for the meal deal for £6, a wrap and side...the paneer wrap had crumbled to a cous cous consistency but with a creamy flavour, spiced with garam masala, nigella and cumin seeds. Teamed with shredded red cabbage, carrots and iceberg for crunch,
 tomato chutney all blanketed in a ghee stroked roti.
For my side I chose the potato salad with swirls of yoghurt and intensely bitter tamarind sauce, hiding chillied chick peas in a ight tomato sauce with corriander leaves.
If you're around the Soho vicinity defintely head to Mooli's!

THURSDAY

Top - Apostrophe

Necklace - Isabel Marant

Fan Print jeans - Topshop

Black Tip Wedges - Vintage

Pork, Roast Vegetable and Salad

A bit of a fail safe lunch of roast vegetables with an addition from the other half of the pork belly from the other night (this half roasted but not marinated.) Veg of choice was some celeriac and sweet potato tossed in extra virgin olive oil, garlic and thyme, topped with little crunchy cubes of crispened pork skin. 

WEDNESDAY

Asymmetric Dress - Topshop

Khaki Military Shirt - Army Surplus Store

Manitee badge - Car boot sale

Boots - Kurt Geiger

Momofuku Pork Belly Ssäm  with Mustard Seed Sauce

I am in love the Momofuku food, loosely Asian but very American, unfortunately I have only ever sampled it through the making of my own hands. I can hear the legendary pork buns taunting me back to their NYC home! But for now I am cooking from the book and love the simplicity of this recipe but how delicious it is, straight out of the oven / bbq or cold in a lettuce wrap with radish and carrot slices. It's a simple marinade of salt and sugar for up to 24 hours, then blasted in the oven on high then a little bit longer low, and that is it folks, literally.  Mustard sauce is suggested and is creamy but punchy too - step by step recipe coming soon!

TUESDAY

Blazer - Topshop
Pussy bow blouse - David Szeto
Jeans - thrifted
Converse hi tops

Crispy Lamb and Aubergine Salad
This was inspired by an incredible dish I had at Moro, so I have taken each component, simplified it slightly and loosely arranged into a salad. Elements being crunchy meatiness, charred yet mellow aubergine (just left on open stove flame and turned occasionally till deflated and soft inside,) pickled sweet but spicy piquillo peppers, spinach leaves, toasted pine nuts and then I added a little of natural yogurt - perfect for a sunny day :)

MONDAY

Dress - Topshop  Boutique
Boots - Acne
Biker - Topshop
Neon Scarf - Vintage, gift
Necklace - Isabel Marant

Mango Chicken & Lentil Chilli Breads from Pushpesh Pant
This cookbook is well used  in my house, for the sole reason that every thing out of it is absolutely delicious.  If you haven't noticed it in the book shop, it's the one that stands heavier than any other with a white cover and jazzy primary coloured writing, next time you see it, buy it! Once you've got the base spices, ghee and some chilies the prep and cooking is totally doable. The lentil bread was just a blitzed mixture of two kinds of lentils, chili, coriander, turmeric and a few more spices, then flattened and baked. The mango chicken was slightly sweet and sort of like a semi dry curry, not too overpowering as the bread was full packed with punch as too were the spiced peas so a little plain rice and lambs lettuce is rounded it off just fine!

Young Turks at the Ten Bells

84 Commercial Street  London E1 6LY      Tel: 020 7366 1721

If you had stepped into the Ten Bells for a pint over the last six months you could be forgiven for missing the scribble of neon lights in the far corner of the room. It’s the only indication of the temporary residents, who have turned the want for affordable yet inventive food into a coveted reality. I was lucky enough to sample the trio’s resourceful food at a perfect London summer's night at Frank's last year, despite the drizzle they injected the essence of July in their food; meats straight off the grills and foraged seasonal veg. Since October they swapped the view of the city’s skyline with the lights of Shoreditch's glittering strip, but kept the set up relaxed choosing the East end boozer's weathered oak dining tables and shabby embossed brocade wallpaper to house their next venture.

Pigeon sausage and Chutney

Between them they have and continue to cover some of the most important culinary bases in the business, now they're doing it their own way. It's a match made in heaven with the cooking covered and the Clove Club boys taking care of the guests with unwavering charm and gusto. The final night as with all the previous was brimming with industry aficionado’s and food lovers alike all anticipating the kingly five course feast. Admirably the line up of dishes are rotated weekly in accordance to season and availability which at a humble thirty eight pounds seems like a steal considering the extra care and thought applied each week.

Butterhead Lettuce, Goat's Curd and Toasted Almonds

Chicken and Pine Salt

It was the grand finale of a half year stint and having been before the menu read like a best of compilation. Some  with the same base flavours taking on a new form from before, such as swapping of ox tongue for beef in a dish still accompanied with beetroot now in raw slithers rather than of jam, or completely reworked to be future classics. Plainly speaking we kicked off the evening with sausages, fried chicken and cheese on a leaf. Perhaps not sounding that out of the ordinary but when sausages are filled with intense pigeon meat, the chicken aromatic with pine and the cheese is pillowy goats curd, that puts it in a Young Turks context.

Pheasant Egg, Venison Broth and Peas

The starter was a plump pheasant egg island which oozed out molten yolk into the pool of crystal clear consommé, a delicious meeting of pure savouriness and dense richness. The dotting of golden crouton craters provided a crunch against the smooth sweet peas.  Lamb hearts seem to be a favourable meat for the Young Turks from the ockabasi wraps at Franks and now to an unusual surf and turf dish of diced duck hearts and anchovies. It is another delightful looking dish with singed moons of onion, shimmery backs of the little fish  slinked over the pink hearts, offsetting the flavour ping pong of salty, pickled and rich.

Lamb's Heart, Grilled Onion and Anchovy

The final savoury dish was an all round favourite, simply seared quality meat on a bed of tricolour freshness. You could say that the Dexter breed is about quality not quantity since it is known for being a small beast but with excellent marbling. This was a perfect example, with a buttery nuttiness resonating in each piece. The folds of white and pink beetroot added sweet crunch whilst the Twekesbury mustard sharpened everything up.

Dexter Rib, Beetroot and Twekesbury Mustard

The final flourishes again at face value were pleasing, touching on a nostalgic feel. If I had a Scottish grandmother she would have definitely favoured cranachan as a fail safe desert and serve up bulging foil wrapped tea cakes to those dropping by for a cuppa. But these were the last paragraphs of the Ten Bells chapter, were family favourites going to cut it as show stoppers? Of course they would, the cranachan was dreamy; fluffy sweetened cream, tart rhubarb, toasted ground oatmeal offset the oaky notes in the geniusly drizzled whiskey. The tea cake was of heightened greatness incomparable to the memories any of us would have consumed as a sweet toothed child, the mallow was ultra mellow, the biscuit had enough bite but gave in to crumbling and all was thinly cased in dark chocolate. A wonderful accompaniment to a little Square Mile coffee pick me up.
I have spoken a lot previously of honesty in restaurants. A sense of genuine good food intention spread across the edible offer and service, pardon my gushing but I would say that the Young Turks exemplify this approach. There is a certain admirable understatement about what they do, with a chameleonic approach to their surroundings they pare down everything else allowing their food to speak for them. As we and the rest of the room toasted our last delectable mouthful, we were already yearning for the next instalment, which by the sounds of the whisperings will be soon and permanent.