ANNA HANSEN of THE MODERN PANTRY - CHEF'S TABLE

I feel very lucky to get some really great invites to wonderful events via my blog. I have been to brand new restaurants, farms where I buy produce from, wine tastings with top sommeliers, and lots of other exciting trips that I've written up on here. I only accept invites to events which I would've gone to anyway, and ones that I think my readers will be interested in. One event that really stands out for me though is the dinner I went to last week. I was invited to go to a chef's table with Anna Hansen, who owns and runs The Modern Pantry, a restaurant that has been on my (long) list of must-visits for a while. The lovely people at Miele invited 5 of us to their Mayfair showroom for a very intimate dinner cooked by Anna.

I was first to arrive (never normally happens!) and was greeted with a glass of bubbles while I waited for the others, and had a sneaky look at all the amazingly high tech ovens in the showroom. The others arrived in no time at all, and once there, we were fed some incredible canapés to start us off, beginning with soft boiled quail's egg, chia seed crostini, wasabi mayo and dukkah - I could've eaten a whole plate of these. The creamy egg and mayo went perfectly with the crunchy, seedy biscuit underneath. I would say these were my favourite of the nibbles, but I couldn't possibly choose between them, they were all so good!

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HOMEMADE LAMB SHISH / HUMMUS

Despite my attempts at vaguely healthy and responsible eating, there may have been occasions, after a few pints at the pub, that I've ducked into the local kebab shop for a lamb shish on the way home, normally at around 2am! I don't do this often, in fact probably only about once a year, but I've still done it. The alcohol normally fuels the hunger, but I do actually really like the taste of lamb shish! So here's my recipe for those naughty kebabs, which you can now make at home (although maybe not at 2am after the pub!)

I can't promise that this version is massively healthier than the kebab shop's, but at least you know exactly what's gone into this one! The thing that makes homemade kebabs super tasty is the marinade, so you'll want to get your lamb out of the fridge, ready to marinate a couple of hours before cooking.

Serves 2

For the lamb:

250g diced leg of lamb (I get mine from the excellent Wyndham House butcher in Chiswick)

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp ezapote (Mexican herb)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp coriander leaf

1 tsp dried chilli flakes (I didn't use these in mine, but would've done if I wasn't sharing with the chilli-allergy one!)

2 cloves garlic, crushed
Squeeze of lemon juice

Large glug of olive oil

Black pepper

For the hummus:

130g tinned chickpeas (one of the mini tins)

1 tbsp tahini paste

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp water, more if needed

Pinch of sea salt

Black pepper

1 tsp cumin powder

For the garlic sauce:

2 tbsp natural yoghurt

1 tsp mayonnaise (I cheated and used shop bought, which I don't normally do, but it actually works best in this sauce)

1 large clove garlic, crushed

Squeeze of lemon juice

Half tsp salt

Everything else:

Flour wraps

Salad leaves

Pickled red cabbage

Sliced tomatoes

Jalapenos

Get things started by getting your lamb in the marinade. Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat and add the coriander and cumin seeds, toasting for a minute or so until you can smell the aromas - be careful not to burn them though as they turn very fast. Tip the toasted spices into a pestle and mortar and grind into a powder. Add the paprika, ezapote, oregano, coriander leaf, chilli flakes, crushed garlic and black pepper. Pour this into a dish with the olive oil and lemon juice, and mix it all together. Toss the lamb pieces in the marinade and put the bowl back in the fridge until you're nearly ready to cook.

Ideally you want to leave your lamb to marinate for at least 2 hours, so give it the time it needs to absorb all those delicious flavours. After a couple of hours, remove the lamb from the fridge and leave it on the side, to allow it to come to room temperature. Whilst that's happening you can make your hummus, and garlic sauce.

You do really need some sort of blender to make the hummus. I use my magimix, but anything with a blade and motor will be fine. Stick the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, water, salt, pepper and cumin into the blender and whizz for a couple of minutes, until it's really quite smooth. Taste the mixture at this point, and adjust the lemon/salt/cumin ratios to your liking. If it's a bit gluey, add some more water, a little at a time. Put to one side.

To make the garlic sauce, simply combine the mayo and yoghurt, crush the garlic into the mix and stir in the lemon and salt. Taste, and add more garlic/lemon/salt if needed.

I like to layer up the wraps at this point, before the lamb is cooked, so that once the lamb's ready you can just add that, and eat the kebab nice and warm. A stripe of hummus and a stripe of garlic sauce, with salad leaves, tomatoes, pickled cabbage and some jalapenos.

Then on with the lamb. Heat a large, wide frying pan over a medium to high heat, and once hot, add the lamb pieces. I start at the edges and place in a circle so that once all the lamb is in the pan I can start turning the cooked pieces over. My chunks were around 2.5cm square, and I cooked them for a couple of minutes each side, to leave them tender and a little pink in the middle.

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BRUNCH at BARRIO EAST

I was thrilled to be invited to Barrio East, one of 3 Barrio restaurants, to try their new brunch and brunch cocktail menu recently. Breakfast/brunch is one of my favorite things, especially when there's time to enjoy it at the weekend. Barrio East is on Shoreditch High St and Sunday was the first time I'd been there since they took over from previous residents Avalon (apparently there's even still a swimming pool in the basement there!)

As you know, it was baking hot on Sunday in London, and getting the tube from West to East was almost unbearable, but arriving at Barrio East, into their cool, bright and funky venue, it all seemed worthwhile. We were seated on a table right by the window, which was perfect for watching the world go by outside.

  

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SAFFRON - TALES FROM THE PERSIAN KITCHEN

A friend of our friend is on a mission, and she needs your help!

Yasmin Khan is raising money via Kickstarter to fund a cookbook and television documentary project offering a unique window into contemporary Iran, through the food the people love to eat. In order to make her project a reality, Yas needs to raise another £5k on top of the £3.5k she has already raised, and you can help her, by funding her through her page on Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/46403768/saffron-tales-from-the-persian-kitchen.

Yas's mission is to travel around Iran asking locals to share their favorite recipes, in order to show a different side of Iran - one that doesn't often make the headlines. Yas will be cooking recipes with locals Iranians and getting the stories behind the recipes from them for her book. The money she is aiming to raise will cover, amongst other things, the costs of a professional photographer who will be on hand to capture the beautiful landscapes, stunning scenery and gorgeous dishes they'll be cooking. As she says on her Kickstarter page, "At a time of increased military tensions, a project which humanises Iranian people and promotes cross-cultural understanding could not be more important. Saffron aims to do just this, guiding readers on a fascinating journey into the hearts (and stomachs) of Iranians today."

I, personally, am a big fan of the flavours used in Iranian cooking - think fresh herbs, fruits cooked with meat, and flavours such as pomegranate, saffron and lots more of my favorite things. Sample recipes quoted on her page include Mirzeh Ghasemi - smokey roasted aubergines, gently fried with plum tomatoes, garlic, turmeric, eggs and olive oil; and Shirin Polo - buttery steamed rice jewelled with carrots, orange peel, pistachios and saffron - YUM!!

So if you want to see more of these delightful recipes, get involved and pledge some money to make it happen!

Kickstarter is an online platform for creatives to raise money for their projects. In order to protect the project manager and investors, the money is only invested if the full amount requested is reached, so please do get funding!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/46403768/saffron-tales-from-the-persian-kitchen.

Good luck Yas!

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STICKY SPICY CHICKEN WINGS

Last year, when cooking roast chicken for friends, one of my very fussy friends ended up  with a plate with chicken breast and a wing on, before moaning about being served chicken on the bone! A couple of weeks later though and he devoured two portions of these sticky chicken wings and said it was one of the best things he'd eaten!

You need to marinade the chicken for as long as possible before hand - half a day is ideal.

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
Handful thyme
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp allspice
1 lemon, juiced and zested
700g free range chicken wings

Mix the soy sauce, honey and oil together. Add the chopped thyme, nutmeg, ginger, chilli, garlic, allspice and juice and zest of the lemon and pour the marinade over the chicken wings. Cover the dish with foil and put it in the fridge. Leave to marinate for up to 6 hours.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Tip the chicken wings and marinade out onto a pre-foiled baking tray (make sure you cover the baking tray in foil; the sauce is so sticky it's a nightmare to wash off the tray!) and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the wings every 10 minutes so you can spoon the sauce back over the wings.

I serve 3 or 4 chicken wings per person and are delicious with mashed buttery sweet potato and steamed cabbage or peas.

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