Le Restaurant de Paul - Review -

Paul is the biggest bakery in France. Today 4.6 million customers walk through the doors each month and it has a presence in 29 other countries across the world.

Since opening its first bakery in London in 2000, the chain has been the object of a few criticisms. Forums talk about unhelpful service. I, for one find it difficult to reconcile "artisan bakery" with such a large company. But as the wise woman says the proof of the pud is in the eating.

A few weeks ago, the family-run artisan bakery and patisserie opened its first London-based restaurant in the heart of Covent-Garden. When we visited, early one evening, last week, the place was packed with theatre goers, the waiters were welcoming and they were taking their time with each and everyone.

We decided that the décor was very "troisieme empire", I am not certain either what that means other than here, murals, fitting and furniture are unmistakably vieille France, the atmosphere is very continental with tables close to one another and Gallic music in the background.

He liked his Pastis so much that he succumbed to another round. I wasn't a great fan of my Kir which was warm and too sweet.

The small plates of charcuterie were generous and the ingredients high quality. Being so close to the bakery....I'll rephrase this: being in the bakery, a baker's basket of freshly made bread would have been more than welcome.

The front of the house was working hard, theatre goers had gone and a new wave of punters were perusing the menu. Nevertheless our waiter took time to choose the correct wine to suit equally our main course. The wine list is succinct but sufficient and affordable, I started to understand why people patronised Paul's restaurant.

All the main courses are French classics; Slow cooked duck leg, Saucisses de Toulouse, Coq au Vin........Loup de Mer and veal which doesn't appear very often on restaurant menus; I opted for Blanquette de Veau which I particularly like. His steak was "delicious".

Paul's chefs are dab hands at cooking simple home-made-style dishes and the quality of the ingredients is really good. Prices are reasonable, with the mains starting at £7.50 up to £13.50 the price of the entrecote and the small starters to share are maximum £4.00.

I liked the food for its honesty and the service for its friendliness. I wish I hadn't glanced at the desert menu because from that moment my liking dwindled, beside the nice patisseries which I had already opted against, there it was, "The Bread".

Yes, au restaurant de Paul, a basket of assorted bread cost £1.75. One could argue that the price is fair but this issue is my main pet-hate. If I've said it once I’ve said it a thousand times one million times, "Bread should be complimentary with meals".

disclaimer : My thanks to Le restaurant de Paul for their hospitality and the complementary dinners which have been reviewed in this post. Words are my own. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. copyright for top image : Paul's website the others are my own

Le Restaurant de PAUL
29 Bedford St,
London WC2E 9ED

020 7836 3304
http://www.paul-uk.com/

Cheese Cake with Dragon Fruit Coulis

I would like to end September blogging with a show stopper. Great British chef gave me the opportunity to develop a recipe with dragon fruit. It was going to be an ice-cream but if the weather is oh so perfect now, it was not that brilliant in August, therefore I put the dragon-fruit ice-cream on the back burner, so to speak.

However, curiosity kept nagging me. With such a delicate flavour, dragon fruit can't be incorporated in any old pud otherwise it would get lost ....and let's face it, when you pay £2 for a fruit, it would be silly not to get value for money.

After a couple of weeks, toying with the idea, I opted for a vanilla cheese cake and the result was magnificent. Read about it and get the recipe here

Camping in Sandy Balls

Most writers are a singular mix of fatalism and optimism with a tendency to peek into the dark side. It's a disposition generated by the fact that most of what we write will never make it to publication. We live in a world of definite maybes.

It may be the case that we shall not secure the much needed support for an trip. Or, if and when we do, the concept might not hit the right note with the editors and... vice-versa. So when all the pieces fit together, it inevitably leaves us a little puzzled.

I first approached Godshill's award-winning holiday village, Sandy Balls, in 2011 when all the above applied. So, when their marketing department contacted me three years later, cold sweat ran down my back. Will the 5 star romantic hide-away provide enough material to engage readers?

Read all about it in Trip Reporter

Butternut Walnut and Sage Gratin

It's getting colder and days are noticeably shorter, time for comfort food. In my books, nothing says. "Comfort food" better than butternut. Starting with peeling, when most cucurbita are knobbly and so hard to peel, butternut is as smooth as an apple. Then there is the nutty taste and the creamy texture of the jolly bright orange flesh.

With such a distinctive taste, it's not too hard to pair butternut with other food, almost a given really. For this gratin, I chose walnuts though the original recipe indicates hazelnuts. Sage provides an earthy addition, use sage sparingly as too much will overpower the whole dish.

Ingredients

150ml double cream 150 ml milk
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 to 4 large sage leaves
40g melting cheese, grated, I used Wensleydale, parmesan or cheddar are also an option
750g butternut squash, peeled, cube and steam to soft
30g walnut, roughly chopped
20g breadcrumbs

Tip: The butternut will absorb a lot of liquid while cooking so don't worry if it starts by looking very wet.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Peel, cube and steam to soft the butternut squash
Mash when cooked
Meanwhile, mix in a large bowl all the other ingredients except the breadcrumbs and cheese.
Mix mash and creamy mixture, season well
Transfer to gratin dish, cover with breadcrumbs and cheese, top with foil
Cook for 30 minutes coved, uncover and cook for another 30 minutes.

Tall Ships Event - Greenwich -

Greenwich and Woolwich have been buzzing for the past four days. More than 600,000 visitors so far have flocked to the borough to take in this year's tall ships event.

With the last tea-clipper on dry dock at Greenwich, the borough was the natural place for such a festival to take place. And, a festival it was, there was a real party atmosphere. It was incredible to see so many (50) majestic boats gliding on the Thames.

He and I were among the privileged press members to board the Iris on Sunday morning. Though the weather was overcast, it was slightly surreal to see familiar sights from a very unfamiliar angle.

The final parade was spectacular. If you have missed the festival do not despair, I am being told that the event will reoccur in 2017.

Latest, an update on the event from the Greenwich media team: The final figures show that there were 1.1m visits to our event sites. People truly voted with their feet and turned up to the event in huge numbers but we have also heard from many local businesses who have said that they had their busiest ever days on record!

Give-Away #27 : A Lifelong Membership to Eat Your Books (EYB)

For my birthday, I so was spoiled that in return, I wanted to present you with one of the best give-aways Pebble Soup has ever run.

Amazingly the fabulous owners of Eat Your Books have offered a lucky reader a Lifelong membership to Eat Your Books.

Not long ago, I read that as an average, we use only three recipes per cookbook. If you have more than 5 books it get very complicated to find the right recipe quickly. Not anymore.......

Eat Your Books is a website that searches for recipes in your cookbooks, food magazines and blogs. It's user friendly. All you have to do is catalogue your books, favourite website and magazine collections. Once that's done, there is a sophisticated search tools which will do the rest. Take a look here.

To win a lifetime membership, answer a quick question in the comment box via the rafflecopter, it will unlock several bonuses. Good Luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Risonitto - Quick Dinner -

Orzo looks like rice, its name means "barley" but in reality it's a small pasta which makes Orzo, a master of disguise. Boil it for 9 minutes, accommodate it, the way you would pasta, alternatively bulk soups with it and you have got yourself a quick meal.

However if something looks like rice, you should expect to treat it like so. Because of its chameleon properties when I first cooked orzo, I boiled it. As a result, he, who is very sensitive to textures, defined it as "slimy". Though, I quickly add that there is nothing slimy about orzo.

Next time round, I wasn't going to take any chances and went for risotto, or in this case, risonitto. Now, hang on to your seats, in Italian, orzotto is a pearl barley dish; risotto is rice based. So what do you call an orzo-pasta-risotto?

Risonitto, as our master of disguise has an alias: Risoni.

Technically when an ingredient is sealed in hot oil it will keep its shape while cooking. That is why French ratatouille doesn't look like mush. Each vegetable is being fried before it goes to the pot.

The same principle applies to most things. Cooked this way orzo is full of flavour, a great option for weekday meals.

Risonitto

Ingredients

serves 4

250g orzo

1 chopped shallot or onion

600ml bouillon (I use marigold) to which 1 tbs. tomato paste

1 chopped red or green pepper

2tbs d'huile d'olive

Sel, poivre

Do not hesitate to add anything else you fancy

Method

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and fry onion and pepper until soft.

When this is done, retrieve the vegetable and place them in a bowl for later use. Keep the oil.

Heat the oil again and add the orzo, stir, when it start to turn white carefully add a little bouillon, keep adding until orzo is soft.

Return the vegetable to the pan, stir and serve

Other recipe : Orzo

Beetroot & Chocolate Muffins

There is little doubt that chipping in to help at the Queen's Orchard, a 17th century wall garden, a favourite in Greenwich Park, has changed my approach vegetables.

And, I bring home a small collection of fresh veggies which I scrubbed lovingly and pay special attention to when it comes to cooking them. Beetroots were a challenge, there are so many salads, cold soups and pasta/beetroot dish one can muster.

I particularly enjoy beetroot used as the "hidden ingredient". In this recipe the flavour disappears behind the chocolate but it gives the texture shine and moisture like no other ingredients. Gorgeous.

Beetroot and Chocolate Muffin

Ingredients

Makes 6

the recipe recommended cocoa powder but I used 40g drinking chocolate powder. If you use cocoa powder increase the sugar.

90g plain flour,

2 teaspoons baking powder,

100g golden caster sugar,

200g peeled and diced cooked beetroot, has to be fresh beetroot, no beetroot in vinegar

2 large beaten eggs

100ml corn oil

1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract (optional)

icing sugar for dusting (optional)