BOW BOATS & SMOKEY TAILS

The last day of August 2013, TOUCH DIGITAL, the company I work for, decided to squeeze in a Summer Party before it was too late. So all eight of us plus partners headed out to East London for a day in the remaining bits of summer on The London Canal! 

We commandeered Bow Boat, Hazel and her Crew and they steered us from Limehouse Basin to Hackney Wick and then finishing off at London Fields.

Arriving at Hackney Wick we went off in search for the recently new Smokey Tails! It was a bit tricky to find but after a bit of perserverance we did get there. On route we did come across CRATE, also based along the canal (serving up delicious thing crust pizzas and good beer) 

On arriving at Smokey Tails, they were still setting up but were happy for us to settle in. ST was set up by two guys with help from some of the people from The Secret Garden Party

We put in order for food and set about deciding on cocktails pritchers £26 each.

Cuban Mule - Havana club, lime, bitters and ginger beer
Smokey Summer Cup - Gin and lots of fruit?... It was good though!
Moitjo

LUNCH

Choice of three smoked meats; Chicken wings with choice of sauce.

 Pulled Pork in a brioche bun or sticky BBQ ribs, £12 each. 

They then come with two really tasty salads from a choice of three; Tomato salad with pickled walnuts, Courgette and rocket with parmesan, New potato and dill salad with lemony dressing.

We also had the desserts which included the Hackney Mess (the Hackney being a lemon curd sauce) and a Chocolate Brownie & creme fraiche, both £4. Have to say I wasn't that impressed with the puddings. The chocolate brownie was a little lifeless and was missing that gooey coco hit and the Hackney Mess, well really did look like a mess and was just whipped cream with lemon curd mixed through it with the odd chunk of merging and blueberry. Wouldn't bother...

Our final leg took us onto Broadway market/London Fields for more chilling in the sun in the park then finishing of at London Field Brewery for a beer or two. 

www.smokeytails.co.uk
The Container Yard, 119 Wallis Road,
Hackney wick, London E9 5LN

For private hire please email info@smokeytails.co.uk

Opening hours: Thursday 1pm – midnight. 
Snacks 1-6pm. Dinner from 6pm.
Friday, Sunday 11am – 12 midnight

Follow them on Twitter
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Nearest station: Hackney Wick

WHITSTABLE // JOJO's

That is Jojo herself creating the fantastic food in the open kitchen!

You may not realise it, but Whitstable is a foodies heaven!
All you need to do is a little research and you come across some of the most fantastic restaurants that both serve up superb food, great friendly service and all at a reasonable price plus the usually BYOB!?


Whilst we were in Whitstable, it was Holly's birthday. We headed over to the other side of town to Tankerton, where the fantastic JOJO'S is. Jojo's is a superb restaurant that only opens a few days a week and is so good you have to book two weeks in advance! Most evening bookings go in the first 30minutes of them opening reservations, so be warned.

I managed to get the five of us booked in for lunch. Everyone who works at Jojo's are incredibly helpful and friendly. Plus you can bring your own bubbles or wine too!

As it was a special occassion we nipped to the OFFY in Whitstable and picked a bottle of 

Prosecco di Valdobbiadene D.O.C Frizzante - N/V which was really tasty. 

However unlike most bottles of bubbles you have to use a corkscrew to open it.... 

As you can see Ben and Elliot were a little concerned!

Excited as ever we all ordered a dish each that was then shared between us all. I'm so sorry but we hoovered up some of the food before I could even take a photo - It really was that tasty!

Here is what we went for:

Lamb Cannon Thinly sliced and seared with jelly (usually mint) 

Seasonal Green Leaf Salad With feta cheese and red onions 

Haddock / Pollack Goujons Deep-fried in beer batter with tartar mayo 

Chargrilled Sardines with Moroccan couscous & puy lentil salad with pomegranate molasses, poppy seed & lemon dressing

Hummus, Taramasalata and Mojo With pitta bread

Off the menu - pork cheeks with fennel and crackling

Homemade sorbets - blueberry, raspberry, mango

Cinnamon and vanilla seed ice cream.

Dark chocolate torte and chantily cream

Jojo's Homemade Dip Selection - Hummus, Taramasalata and Mojo With pitta bread

Moules Marinee and a Seasonal Green Leaf Salad With feta cheese and red onions

Chargrilled Sardines with Moroccan couscous & puy lentil salad 

with pomegranate molasses, poppy seed & lemon dressing

Off the menu - Pork Cheeks with Fennel and Crackling

Holly, the Birthday Girl and a delicious wedge of dark chocolate torte 

with Chantilly cream & a candle

I even got a hold!! Whilst the birthday girl ate her chocolate torte ;)

JoJo’s Meze, Meat & Fish
Restaurant & Coffee Shop
2 Herne Bay Road
Tankerton
Whitstable
Kent
CT5 2LQ
United Kingdom

Opening Hours:Restaurant Lunch:
Thursday to Sunday
12.30pm to 2.15pm (last booking)
Restaurant Dinner:
Wednesday to Saturday
6.30pm to 8.30pm (last booking)
Coffee Shop:
Tuesday to Sunday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm
No booking is required for the Coffee Shop
Bookings for the restaurant can be made up to two weeks in advance on 01227 274591

BOROUGH MARKET SECRETS FROM THE BOROUGH BELLES

Many of you may know that I am indeed part of the WI. The Borough Belles Women's Institute to precise and in recent months was made joint president. Not only does the Borough Belles give me so much fun and also contact with other like minded women, but it also makes me privy to inside information...

Each year the WI votes on a resolution, this year it is the "High Street SOS"  which you may have already seen in the press with faces such Mary Portus heading the campaign. Our very own President, Lara Clements, also became a face for this campaign by being interviewed on Channel 5 News. Read more about the campaign HERE. We were so proud of her and she'd only been given a few hours notice from WI HQ! Following the interview she headed straight to our August meeting with a talk from David Matchett, the market development manager at the famous Borough Market!

One point that was brought up during Lara's interview and also when discussing the local high street shops and markets, is the fact that it is more expensive than shopping in the big supermarkets! We put this point to David, during the Q&A, after his talk.

David agreed that Borough Market stall holders do not sell the cheapest of produce, but that it is of high quality and each stall holder could tell you where it came from and what day it was picked. Also making the point that it is only in recent years that you can buy chicken everyday due mass production and that when buying meat it would be savoured and only bought one day a week. Society has changed and people now expect & are looking for quantity rather than quality, which is what Borough Market stall holders are selling.

That said, David did inform us of how once a week a few stalls do 'food bargins' & '£1 bowls'. He has very kindly sent the Borough Belles insider info that the girls have allowed me to share with you here on Never Eat Wobbly Jelly!

For ease of location please use this link to locate the traders named below

http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/market-map

Elsey and Bent have 1kg bowls of heritage tomatoes for £1! 
Get the chutney pan on. Gary will see you right here!!

Teds Veg also has a self serve £1 selection with other fruit and veg.

Sillfield Farm Shop  has wedges (up to 250gm)  of creamy lancanshire for £2 each and also big wild boar steaks at 2 for £6 each. Ask for Peter for any porcine advise.

Une Normande a Londres, will have their 5 fromage for £10 deals back  next week, these are selections of cow,  goat, and sheep,  hard, soft, washed rind and blue, and one of the best deals on the market. Uli  will guide you on his selection of cheese and charcuterie

Also if you need to stock up the spice cupboard Mags at Spice Mountain has got a 6pack of basics for £10; Mags also gives discounts for refilling if you bring your own storage jar.

Other £1 Fruit and Veg bowls are on offer from Jock Stark Thursday to Saturday; usually an interesting selection and good quality; and from Paul Crane on Friday and Saturday. Paul Crane is great for buying in bulk, ignore the prices on the flash and buy by the case; he wont refuse any interesting offer.

Game will be coming into full swing and as the harvest approaches the time of plenty should be easier on the pockets.

Do you have any ideas for how we can support our local high streets?

Is there any local business that you think we could feature on the blog and why? 

If you do post me a comment on the NEWJ blog or feel feel to drop the Borough Belles WI a line either via their FACEBOOK PAGE or by email: boroughbelleswi@gmail.com

Cloche Burger & Brioche Bap

Happy New Year All! 

I've started as I mean to carry on 2012 by beginning with some serious savoury cooking. This year the sweet stuff is being put on the back-burner and we begin with one of London's new trends!

In previous posts I've talked about London's 'craze' of pop-up restaurants, well now it's all about the Street Burger! You may have about places such as Lucky Chip, The Meateasy & Honest Burger.
I've had the splendid joy of being to, two of the three above and I have to say, I don't think I'd ever had a proper burger before I had tried one from the above establishments!

The Meateasy also known as The Meatwagon has now moved to the west-end & re-named itself Meat Liquor. I went to the Meatwagon whilst it was still based in New Cross & have to say it was a fabulous experience of trying my first cloche burger!

So here are the two recipes I used to get the creation above in the photograph.

Light Brioche Burger Buns -  Got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen
Adapted from Comme Ça restaurant in Los Angeles, via the New York Times
Go! Make these! What are you waiting for?
Makes 8 4 to 5-inch burger buns
3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sesame seeds (optional)
1. In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.
3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours. (In my freaky, warm apartment this only took an hour.)
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours. (Again, this only took one hour in my apartment and I suspect, you’ll also only need an hour for a second rise.)
5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Cloche Burger - recipe found on The Independent website

1kg coarsely minced chuck steak with about 20 per cent fat (get this from your butcher not the supermarket)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little vegetable oil for grilling
4 slices of cheese
4 soft homemade Brioche buns

Mould the mince into round patties the same size or a little larger than the burger buns. Season the burgers then heat a griddle or heavy frying pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, keeping them nice and pink. When it's almost done, splash a little bit of water into the pan and then puts a cloche over the top to let it steam a little.
If you are using cheese, just place on top of the burger for 30 seconds or so to melt it.
Meanwhile, lightly toast the bun, assemble with your chosen relish and serve immediately.

Dill Relish
Chopped dill
Tommie K
Mayo

 Once you make a cloche burger you'll never do it any other way.

Go on give it a try!!