Fire & Stone, Covent Garden

I was reminded by a friend that one of my first dates with my husband was at Fire & Stone, and as I sat in the restaurant I began to remember how much of my twenties was spent in the restaurant - it was always the 'go to' after work to meet with friends, celebrate birthdays and generally just enjoy good pizzas and drink, while not spending too much.

So, I don't know why I haven't been in a while!

We went on a Thursday night and it was packed. So definitely worth booking a table if you can. You can book online, so no excuses.

We both opted for pizzas from the specials section, but they have a large variety of pasta too and the two surrounding tables both tucked into some delicious looking pastas.

Canberra

Madrid

 

I love the combinations of toppings at Fire & Stone.Really different and the bases are lovely and crisp.

 

The Canberra pizza is roast chicken breast, garlic and rosemary potatoes, marinated mushrooms, mozzarella, sour cream and topped with sweet chilli sauce.

 

The Madrid pizza is spicy chorizo, prawns, roasted red peppers and garlic, mozzarella, garlic mayonnaise and chopped parsley.

 

Gorgeous combinations, really flavoursome and filling!

 

However, we managed to make room for some dessert with the Fire and stone ice cream sandwich and the warm Belgian waffle. Yum!

 

Waffley goodness

 

Ice Cream Sandwich

Find out more and see the full menu on www.fireandstone.com

Thanks to Fire & Stone for inviting me for a review meal.

 

Quark

Quark has had a bit of a renaissance recently since the Dukan diet arrived on the scene and people have been snapping it up to make their high protein pancakes. But for me, its something I've never really thought about trying.

So when The Lake District Dairy Company sent me a hamper jam pack full of Quark and ingredients to make a moussaka and a cheesecake as designed by The Fabulous Baker Brothers, I was keen but dubious.

Delicious hamper of Quark goodies

Lake District Dairy Co. Quark

A week later and I'm a convert. Lower in calories than creme fraiche or cream, using Quark seems to be the way to get something deliciously creamy for a lot less calories - the cheesecake was literally half the calories.

Moussaka

So thanks for introducing me to Quark!

Find out more at www.lakedistrictquark.co.uk/

Darcy's Restaurant St Albans

It's always a good sign when I don't have time to take pictures of the food, as I'm too busy eating...but that's exactly what happened when we visited Darcy's restaurant in St Albans.

It's the second time we've visited and the second time was just as good as the first.

We began with cocktails downstairs in the bar area, then headed upstairs for the main meal.

We started with a sharing platter of Duck Gyoza, salt and pepper squid and miso soup - a really good start to the meal.

I then opted for the special fish dish which was pollock wrapped in chorizo and my other half went for the meat special, the pork belly.

Finally, to finish off the meal, my dining partner chose the dark chocolate and honeycomb bomb, which looked amazing. A massive cone shaped chocolate creation.

Chocolate bomb

 

I chose the After Eight dessert cocktail - mint baileys mixed with mint choc chip ice cream. Incredibly decadent, but worth visiting just for this!

 

Another great meal thanks to Darcy's - we'll be back!

 

Take a look at Darcy's here: http://www.darcysrestaurant.co.uk/

Chocolate and Coffee tasting

Chocolate and coffee..the perfect combination?

I was thrilled to be invited to the Lindt and DeLonghi coffee and chocolate tasting in London a couple of weeks ago, as who doesn't love that combination.

The event was held at Kettners, in one of the private rooms upstairs, which was a bit of a bonus as i'd always wanted to see inside this old London staple. On arrival we were greeted with Cherry Espresso martinis which had been designed for De'Longhi by Rebecca Seal - so good.

I'd always had a fondness for Espresso Martinis but if you use a cherry vodka, rather than a plain one...you have a delicious cherry flavoured Espresso. Give it a go!

Once settled in the tasting room we were introduced to Robert Henry, expert Barista from De'Longhi and Stefan Bruderer, Lindt's Master Chocolatier, who led us through the tasting process. Pairing decaff coffees and regular coffees with the range of Lindt chocolates, we were shown how the two complement each other perfectly.

Pairings included:

 

• Lindt Excellence White Vanilla with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Long Black
• Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy with Brazil Fazenda Passeio Long Black
• Lindt Excellence Dark with a touch of Sea Salt with Brazil Cerrado Decaf Espresso

 

So give them a go at home!

 

The new De' Longhi Primadonna S range machines were on display throughout the event and used to give us our delicious coffees. Such lovely looking machines. I've already got a De' Longhi espresso machine in blue in the kitchen, but i'm already adding these to my wishlist - mint green please if anyone is thinking of buying me one!

It was a great event which led me to think about chocolate as more of 'an event' - why not pull out some bars when entertaining guests and see which pairings they like best.

For further information on De'Longhi and Lindt pairings, visit the new pairing website: www.lindt-excellence.co.uk

Bill's restaurant - St Albans

My friend first introduced me to Bill's, when we met for a drink in Covent Garden. Great place to meet friends, in a fun environment.  I loved it from the first visit and have returned on many an occasion. I've also tried the one in Soho.

So, I was excited to see the new St Albans venue open recently and my husband and I went along to give it a go. The new restaurant has replaced the rather short lived restaurant, Baroque, on Chequers Street, right in the centre of town and just down from Jamie's Italian.

The restaurant mirrors the other Bill's restaurants in London, with the same quirky set up, menu and buy from the shelves. We went on a Tuesday night, and it was already packed with a variety of people...proving its initial popularity.

Staff were friendly and helpful - nothing was too much trouble. So we started our meal in a good frame of mind.

We ordered a Bill's Burger and the mac n' cheese and weren't disappointed. We split both and there was certainly enough! Great food, lovely drinks and great service.

Delicious burgery-ness

The mac n' cheese

Bill's Beer

Pink lemonade

Bound to be a favourite in St Albans.

Visit: www.bills-website.co.uk for further information

Healthy Snacks - A Weight Watchers post

Yes, yet again I'm attempting my yearly membership to Weight Watchers. I've been doing it for four weeks now and it's all going to plan at the moment. I'm a bit of a snacker, to say the least, so I've come up with some easy, tasty Weight Watchers suitable snacks.

One of the great things about Weight Watchers is that fruit is completely free - so the first stop is always a banana, some berries or an orange. Point free and naturally good.

However, if i'm looking for something which feels a bit more of a treat, then the new Sakata crackers are pure genius. I was sent some to try recently and since then they've been a permanent addition to my shopping basket.

These little Japanese crackers are packed full of flavour and a very small 2 points per row (yes, that's per row...not per cracker) so you can indulge guiltfree. Available in lots of different flavours, but favourite has to be seaweed and soy sauce.

Take a look at this link for more info:www.sakata.uk.com

And finally, I think i've discovered the ultimate dessert - A healthy Eton Mess. Simply mix a punnet of raspberries with a crushed meringue (individual meringue - 1 pro point) and a small tub of Total 0% greek yoghurt (2 pro points) for a really decadent feeling dessert, without the guilt. It's my new favourite. Especially after a roast dinner!

Cookbook round up

I admit it. I've got a problem. I'm addicted to cookery books. I've now got around 90 in my collection and it's still growing. I love flicking through recipe book pages, copying the recipes or just getting some inspiration.

So I thought I'd share some of my most recent additions with you.

Bit of a mixture - First off the Hairy Dieters book by the Hairy Bikers. I watched the TV show and pretty much ended up buying this one alone for the pizza base pies - genious idea of replacing pastry with pizza base, knocking the calories down. It's an easy to use, simple recipe book. Not beautiful but practical.

On the other end of the scale we have the incredibly beautiful cookbook by Rachel Khoo, The Little Paris Kitchen. This is a gorgeous book to flick through in the evening but the recipes are really stand out too. I loved the Croque Madame recipe, which puts the eggs into little bread shaped cups. Delicious start to the weekend and perfect hangover food.

The Skinny French Kitchen by Harry Eastwood is another lovely book with fabulous photography and mouth watering recipes. It's typical french recipes with a skinny twist...think missing out the double cream...

We've only tried one so far, the boeuf bourguignon, but it certainly came out with an amazing flavour.

Finally, I succumbed to buying Gwyneth's book, Notes from my kitchen table in advance of her new book launch in April. I've not attempted a single recipe yet...but I will do!

Oh I love cookbooks.