Afternoon tea at the Connaught

My mother has always wanted to go for tea.  The Ritz or something like that.  Although I'm not really into sweet foods, I was also interested so offered to take her for her birthday this year.  Ideally I wanted to go to the Langham or the Goring, but as expected both were fully booked For months.  So after a bit of research I settled on the Connaught - which was a great choice!  The hotel is conveniently located in Mayfair and while the tea room is relatively small, off the entrance of the hotel, the windows are large making the room very bright and airy.

The feast began with a choice of tea - I went for Earl Grey while my mother chose Jasmine - and a selection of sandwiches and pastries.  The pastries included chocolate and caramel mousse, which was was the best, a strawberry tart, was also good, and the raspberry and pistachio one was interesting - a good interesting - to name a few.  The savory sandwich selection included foie gras in brioche, which was divine, and a mini smoked salmon sandwich.

That was followed by a selection of scones and jam.  The selection of jams was huge - we went for the safe choice with the raspberry and exotic with pineapple.  The scones were lovely - we had requested only the plain ones and they were really light and airy.  Finally came the cake and by this time I was very full.  I had to have a mouthful of each - the berry cake was not to my taste, very perfumed and overly sweet.  The chocolate cake on the other hand had a lovely deep, dark, lingering chocolate taste.  I was done with sweet food by then though, so a bite was more than enough.

I was most impressed with the service.  Not only was it impeccable, but they also gave us a lovely surprise!  In the comment section when making the online reservation, I had noted that we were celebrating my mother's birthday.  Halfway through the tea they brought over her very own chocolate and caramel mousse pastry on a plate with happy birthday written across it in chocolate.  Happy birthday mother!

Wright Brothers take 2!

So for our second visit to Wright Brothers, we went for mine and my mother's birthday.  She had said she wanted seafood, so this was the obvious choice.  We were going to meet somewhere for a drink first, but being a Friday night and raining cats and dogs, we ended up all meeting in the bar of the restaurant.  The restaurant was very accomodating and offered to seat us whenever we wanted (even though it was an hour until us reservation).  We had a quick drink and headed down to enjoy our fish feast.

When I had previously come to the resaurant, we had opted to not have a fruit de mer plate.  Mistake.  So this time it was the first thing we ordered.  You have a number of options to choose from.  We went for a selection that included fin de clare oysters, langustines, prawns, brown shrimp, crab and mussles.  The selection was amazing.  The oysters were perfectly sized and unbelievbly fresh.  The prawns were amazing, I've never had so much taste in something so small. And the crab was a real winner with everyone.

We also ordered a selection cooked food.  Rather than each having a plate, we shared everything (so we could taste everything).  The mulles marines came in a lovely sauce, delicious with the bread.  The cod with chorizo and butter beans was perfectly cooked and delicious.  But the total winner of the evening?  Fried oysters!  Hot, creamy, smooth and tasty.  I could have eaten them all night!

So once again, Wright Brothers have impressed.  And to finish?  Well, a cheese plate of Neil's Yard cheeses of course!

One pot lentil chicken!

Apologies for the lack of posts.  It has been a busy few weeks, what with festivals, flu, work and Ibiza.  I'm now back, needing a bit of rest and relaxation.  And what a better way to do it with good food...

So during the week, I like to try and take food with me for lunch to work a few times a week.  It's mainly because deciding what to eat (and we have LOADS of choice around our new office) can be super time consuming, especially since I'm so picky.  I'm also trying to be healthy and I have a feeling the lovely wraps from Doughmasters or the massive portion of chicken chili fried rice from the Japanese Canteen is not exactly low in fat.

So I've come up with this lovely, filling and relatively healthy one pot chicken meal with lentils!  It's easy to cook, so great for making on a Sunday evening, and tastes even better after a day in the fridge.  You can add as many different types of vegetables to it, whatever you have in your fridge/freezer.  I like it both served hot or cold with a handful of baby spinach leaves.

One pot chicken

Serves 4-5

6 skinless and boneless chicken thighs
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried thyme
sprinkle of paprika
sprinkle of white pepper
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs olive oil
1 bay leaf
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
chillies (optional)
 150 ml red wine

6 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped

fresh or frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, spinach, broccoli, courgette, aubergine etc, chopped into rough cubes)

1 can chickpeas

3 handfuls of brown rice

3 handfuls of puy lentils

500 ml chicken stock

1.  Marinate the chicken thighs in the olive oil, soy sauce, spices, chillies, garlic and onion.  Leave in the fridge for at least an hour, but overnight if you have time.

2.  In a very hot pot, brown the chicken thighs then remove.

3.  Deglaze the pot with the red wine.  Add the remaining marinate plus the onions, garlic and sundried tomatoes.  Simmer for a few minutes

4.  Add the rice, lentils, chicken and stock to the pot and bring to a rolling boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 45 mins or until the lentils and rice are almost tender.  If the mixture becomes too dry, add a bit of water and stir.

5.  Add the chickpeas and any vegetables.  Cover and simmer for another 5 mins or until the vegetables are tender.

6.  Serve hot or cold with a handful of salad and chopped tomatoes and sprinkled with sliced fresh coriander.