After reading James v Burger's review of Nice & Sleazy's new range of burgers, I decided I'd try one whilst in pre-gig during the week.
It was hard to choose as the majority took my fancy! The range of ingredients on each burger is impressive, on average around 5 items with the burger. I narrowed it down to either the Red Mist (chicken breast in sage, thyme, lemon zest with smoked cheddar, double bacon, caramalised onions, mature chedder, bbq sauce & hot buffalo sauce) or Great White Buffalo burger (Jack-Daniels soaked burger with tabasco, worcester sauce, bacon, stilton, garlic mayo, red onion marmalade & hot buffalo sauce)- as put by my friend, chicken or beef? I decided to take the plunge & go with the Great White Buffalo.
When the burger arrived, I thought it looked pretty small but on closer inspection saw how packed it was with the additional ingredients. It came with a small glass filled with triple cooked chips. Again another small looking portion compared to usual pub grub. After cutting the burger in half, you can see just how jam packed it is with ingredients:
On first bite, all I could think was "chinese food". It was a bizarre taste that came from the mix of the sweet jack daniels, worcester sauce & caramelised onions. Not unpleasant but definitely not what I was expecting from this burger! After one half of the burger, I realised I had forgotten that it had Stilton in it. Any taste of the blue cheese was swamped by the garlic mayo which covered the top half of the burger. What really got the thumbs up from me about this burger was the bacon - lovely thin & crispy bacon. Beats the fatty, thick pieces that normally accompany burgers. The caramelised onions were also nice & sweet with a slight acidity that went nicely with both the burger & the garlic mayo.
Overall, I'd say a decent burger but not the best I've ever had. My tip to Nice & Sleazy's would be to reduce the amount of additional ingredients with the burger. If the Great White Buffalo was advertised as having garlic mayo & caramlised onions with it instead of garlic mayo, stilton, caramelised onions & hot buffalo sauce, I definitely would not have been disappointed with how it all blended in together.
A final point that my fiance asked me to put up is the table cloth he thought was awesome (I don't know what goes through his head!).
On a lazy Sunday morning, making breakfast is generally something that seems like too much effort. Mornings like these, we usually head to the Rio Cafe on Hyndland Road for some satisfying brunch.
This morning, however, we decided to broaden our horizons & go elsewhere (mainly so I wouldn't be tempted by chips right at the end of my detox programmes - blog to follow). After much deliberation, we decided to head to the Hyndland Cafe, purely because they were local & did milkshakes, which I had a hankering for!
When we arrived, we were lucky in that there was a table free. I was surprised at how small it was given all the good reviews I'd read online, I had expected somewhere with more than 5 tables & a window seat! Trying to decide what to eat was tough due to the variety on offer - toasties, bagels, cooked breakfast, french toast, pancakes and different types of eggs. Usually this decision is aided by seeing what other people are eating but in such a small cafe, it was difficult to see what others had chosen.
I decided on a chilli & cheese toastie, something a bit different that I had never thought of putting in a toastie before! Whilst we waited for our food, which was a bit too long for my liking (around 15 mins), the table next to us got 2 servings of french toast, bacon & maple syrup & eggs benedict - all of which looked really tasty!
Our food finally came & I can say I wasn't disappointed. The chilli had a good flavour to it & not too much cheese in the toastie that it took away from the taste of the chilli.The homemade coleslaw was also a nice accompaniment.
Overall, a good & fulfilling Sunday brunch. I think we will be back as I really want to sample the french toast which looked really tasty. A word of warning if you go to sit in - expect to wait a while as the amount of people getting take away gives the lone chef a lot of work to do which can leave you hungry whilst you wait for your food.
I've been meaning to put this post up for a while but haven't got round to it.
Anyway, I purchased the Hairy Dieters book after watching the TV series since half of the recipes looked really tasty & surprisingly easy to make. There's so many recipes within the book that I liked the look of: from Spanish Chicken Bake to Lasagne (with Leek sheets instead of pasta!) to Steak and Ale Casserole.
At first look, the book looks like it's got everything sussed as they have a narrative about each chapter along with the calories for each dish. That in itself may be a handy piece of info but in reality, the calories do not match up. When creating the below dishes, I entered the calories of what I used into My Fitness Pal & they most definitely do not add up. So BEWARE if you do buy this book, the calories are not what they seem.
So far from the book I've made 2 recipes:
Cajun Chicken with Spicy Wedges
I am a self confessed cajun chicken freak! If I eat out anywhere & cajun chicken is on the menu, I will automatically order it. However, I've yet to find the perfect homemade cajun spice mix to rival what I've eaten in restaurants/bars.
Ingredients (for 4):
4 chicken breasts
1/2 tsp sunflower oil
Spice Mix:
5 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (if you like it spicier, I would add 1-2tsp)
1 tsp flaked sea salt
Wedges:
3 medium potatoes (around 475g)
1 tsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Chive dip (I didn't make this but it's in the book):
100g low fat natural yoghurt
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
Method:
Preheat the over to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas mark 7. Combine all of the spice mix into a jar with a tight seal & shake it up. If you make this for less than 4 people or prefer to have less seasoning, you can store the spice mix in the jar.
Peel & cut the potatoes into 8-10 wedges, put them in a bowl with the oil & seasoning & toss them to coat them. Cook in the oven for 20-25 mins until tender & lightly browned.
Flatten each chicken breast between 2 sheets of clingfilm to around 1.5cm thick. Grease a griddle or frying pan with the sunflower oil & place over a med-high heat.
Coat each chicken breast with as much seasoning as you wish (they recommend 1 tsp per breast). Griddle/fry each breast for 2 mins, turn to cook for another 2 mins & then finish with another min on each side.
For the chive dip, mix the yoghurt & chives together & serve in rammekins.
Verdict
I enjoyed this dish but for me the cajun spice mix was not spicy enough. I followed the recipe for it & coated both sides of the breast with the spice mix. Next time, I will add more cayenne pepper to the spice mix.
Chicken Jalfrezi
Curries are always difficult to get right at home & often involve using tins of tomatoes which really make the flavour quite bland. This curry was a pleasant surprise & one I think curry fans will enjoy.
Ingredients (serves 4):
6 long green chillies (finely chop 4, deseeded if desired)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into bitesize chunks)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp flaked sea salt
200 ml cold water
2 tbsp low fat natural yoghurt
1 med onion, cut into 12 wedges
1 grene pepper, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, quartered
2 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp water
Method:
Heat a tbsp oil in a large, fairly deep frying pan or pot over a high heat. Add garlic, chopped chillies, tomatoes, spices, sugar & salt & stir fry for 3-4 mins until veg is softened. Make sure the garlic or spices don't burn.& reduce heat slightly so that sauce simmers. Cook for 8 mins, stirring occassionally until the sauce has reduced by about a third.
While chicken is cooking, heat the remaining oil in a pan & stir fry the onion & pepper over a high heat until lightly browner. Add the quartered tomatoes & fry for another 2-3 mins, stirring until veg are tender. Mix the cornflour with a tbsp of water to form a smooth paste.
When chicken is ready, stir in cornflour mixture & simmer for a few secs until sauce thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add stir-fried veg & mix together.
Verdict:
This is a really tasty curry but make sure you lessen the ingredients if you are cooking for say 2 or 3 people. I made this with 2 chicken breasts & used the same amount of chillies (I like spice) & water which made the curry a bit watery & REALLY spicey. But overall, a pleasant curry that I will definitely be making again.
Hello & welcome to my blog!
This blog will be full of recipes I've tried & tested, no matter how horrible they turn out! I'm always on some form of diet so I'm always on the look out for new low fat recipes & meal ideas.
And who can forget eating out! I'll be posting pics of meals out, only if they're worthy :)
Keep tuned for the first real post!
