When I first found that an English fish and chip shop was going to open on my street I was very, very excited. Being a Brit I take fish and chips very seriously, it is our national dish after all. So when I walked past and found out that it had finally opened I was one of the first people in line to give it a try. it’s a tiny hole in the wall which looked very authentic. With a name like Whitby, one of Britain’s premier seaside towns and a fish and chip mecca, I had my hopes up high.

I ordered a fish and chips (9,000). I duly waited for about 5-10 minutes and was presented with a package wrapped in paper, exactly as we would get them at home.

i opened them up to reveal two pieces of fish and a portion of chips served with tartar sauce. The chips, which are my personal favourite part of the meal, weren’t bad; but for a restaurant that sells only two things, fish and chips, the chips should be made with real potatoes not bought in frozen from Costco.

The fish is not bad, the batter is fairly light, and it does hit the spot. But it is in no way reminiscent of the lovely thick soft and crispy batter we have at home. The fish and chips at the wolfhound is far superior.

Whitby is located in HaebangCheon. Take a train to Noksapyeong station (line 6) . Walk straight out of exit 2 for about 200 meters and take the first left and walk straight along the road with all the kimchi pots. Keep walking straight up the hill until you see Whitby tucked away to your left.

Yesterday I was making a killer sandwich. I purchased some turkey from Suji’s Deli and wanted to make something really delicious. I had my bread, turkey, and bacon but we had no mayo. I don’t like a dry sandwich so I figured I’d better whip some up. It was quick, easy, and really tasty. From now on I will be making all my own mayo.

Ingredients

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of mustard powder (optional)

1 cup olive oil (roughly)

1 lemon (zest and juice to taste)

1 teaspoon of chives

Directions

In a bowl whisk the egg yolk, salt, lemon juice, and mustard powder (if using) together until combined. Add the olive oil a little at a time and whisk. Don’t add the next bit until the last part has fully combined. Some people do this in a steady stream but I just added a little at a time and it worked perfectly.  If you add too much oil it will curdle, but don’t despair, all a fresh egg to the bowl and add the curdled mixture to it a little at a time until you are back on track. After a while you should see it turn and become thicker like mayo. Keep adding  as much oil as you like until you are happy with the taste.Then add the zest and lemon juice to give it that lemony flavour. I also stirred in some chives. Once it’s ready smear it all over your favourite sandwich or just dip your finger in it like I did. It will keep for a couple of days in the fridge covered. Voilà home-made lemon mayo.

OK, so it’s happened, since the opening of Flower Gin, I have become a bit of a Gin slag. I’ve had more gin in the past 2 weeks than I have had in a lifetime. When having a browse of some gin based cocktails I came across Heston Blumenthal’s cucumber infused gin. I wanted it immediately, so I rushed right out to buy all the ingredients. Heston used his own lovely Waitrose earl grey gin to make it, but sadly we can’t buy it here. I would have used a bottle of Bombay Sapphire or some lovely Hendrick’s but it’s still 5 days until pay day so I used a bottom of the barrel bottle of cheap Combo gin. After a little more research though, I found this could be a plus as the cucumber will have more of a presence due to the lack of flavour the gin has. After consuming copious amounts, I can say without  a shadow of a doubt that cheap gin is the way forward, it was bloody gorgeous and as soon as I finish this bottle I shall be making another. Happy Ginning!

Ingredients

1 bottle of gin

3 cucumbers

Directions

Peel your cucumbers then roughly chop them. Put them into a jug with the gin and blend them until pulverized. Cover and refrigerate for about 24 hours. When the gin has infused strain off the cucumber though a sieve.

To make the gin and tonic, fill a tall glass with ice. you may notice from my picture that my ice cubes are nice and fancy. I chopped up some pieces of lemon and cucumber and form them into the ice cubes to make them extra pretty. Top with 50ml of gin and 150ml-200ml of tonic. Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy. Voilà cucumber infused gin!

Another day, another dip. I am very into bread and dips at the moment. I have been going through them by the bucket-load. It’s so hot, that I am trying to limit my cooking to every other day. Some bread and dip is all I need to satisfy me on a hot summers eve. Once again I picked up some beetroot cheap and was looking for another interesting way to use them. This dip is easy and tasty and it’s bright pink!!! What more could you ask for? Feta was the ideal thing to pair it with but you could easily use Greek yoghurt or sour cream instead. I found a jar of feta cubes in my local store which I used but I believe they have real feta at Homeplus and the foreign food mart in Itaewon. If you are vegan then just skip the dairy completely, the roasted beet tastes great on it’s own.

I also decided it was about time I learned to make real pita bread. My flat bread recipe is awesome, but I wanted to take it to the next level. I scoured pinterest and found this recipe. It is by far and away the best recipe I have ever come across for pita bread and my most successful to date. They puffed up beautifully when rising. Sadly they did not get as big as the ones on the site, but  I have since discovered that is because the top heating element on my oven has broken, so they are rather on the pale side and not as golden brown as they could be. But they still tasted wonderful. I will definitely be making more the second my new oven arrives.

Ingredients

Beetroot dip

2 beetroots

2 – 3 cloves of garlic

50g of feta (I used about 10 small cubes)

A squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Pita Bread

1 tablespoon yeast (I used instant)

1 1/4 cups of warm water

1 teaspoon of salt

31/2 cups of flour (450g)
Directions

To make the pita bread dissolve yeast in water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook or with a whisk, beat to make a batter. Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead  with your hands for 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller. I make all sorts of sizes to suit different snacks and meals. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’.

Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 425F.
With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down on to a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden. Stick around for the first five minutes of baking when the pitas perform their magic and puff up from flat pancakes to proud, four inch high pitas.

These store for up to two days well wrapped or frozen for three weeks.

To make the dip, you need to roast the beetroots for about an hour at 185 degrees Celsius until they are soft in the middle. If they are small to medium you can keep them whole, if they are large cut them in half. If you like you can drizzle a little olive oil on the beetroot first to stop it drying out, but its not 100 % necessary if you are looking to keep the calorie count down. When the beetroots have roasted they should be easy enough to peel, be mindful of pink hands though! Chop the beetroot into pieces and put it in the blender and blend with the garlic. You can roast the garlic first to take the edge off of it or keep it raw, it’s up to you. When you have a beautiful beetroot paste crumble in the feta and blend again. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste and maybe a little more feta. Voilà roast beetroot and feta dip with home-made pita bread.

After making a big batch a dips last week I found myself chip-less. How was I to enjoy my delicious dips? Walking to the store in the blistering heat seemed like such a big effort so I thought why not try and make some myself. I had plenty of tortillas in the freezer so I set about making some  tortilla chips to go with my lovely scrummy spinach hummus. I also took these to the Vegan Potluck and they went down a storm.

Ingredients

Spinach Hummus

300g dried chickpeas or  2 cans of chickpeas.

3-5 tablespoons of Tahini (buy it at the foreign food mart in Itaewon or make your own, it’s really easy just blend sesame seeds with olive oil)

200g of fresh spinach

200 – 300ml Olive oil

3 – 5 cloves of garlic

The juice  and zest of 1 or 2 Lemons

2 -4 tablespoons of cumin (foreign food mart or Gmarket)

1-2 tablespoons of paprika (foreign food mart or Gmarket)

Lime and Coriander Chips

4 tortillas

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of lime juice

1 tablespoon of Mexican seasoning

1 bunch of coriander (cilantro)

1/2 a teaspoon of salt

Directions

Soak your chickpeas over night or for several hours in cold water, do not add any salt. Cook your chickpeas in boiling water for 2-3 hours or until they mash easily with the back of a spoon. I use my rice cooker to cook them as you don’t have to worry about topping up the water, just give them a lot at the beginning and they will be fine.  Once your chick peas are done, strain them but reserve some of the water for later. If you are using the canned chickpeas you can skip the cooking stage.

If you are making your own tahini, blend the olive oil and sesame seeds until they form a paste. Then add the garlic and blend again. Finally add the spinach. Keep blending until you have a lovely vibrant green paste. I prefer to use fresh spinach as frozen or cooked is too stringy and will cause problems for your blender unless you have a very good one.

Blend the chick peas in your blender with a little of the extra water,  until they start to resemble the consistency of hummus. Everyone has a different preference about how they like their hummus, some like the runny oily kind whilst others prefer it thick. It’s really up to you, whatever floats your boat, so add more or less water depending on how you like it. Once your chickpeas are blended, add the tahini and lemon juice. Then you can start to add your salt and spices, a little at first stirring them in until you get the taste you want. You also might want to add more tahini and lemon juice too. Hummus is one of those recipes that is hard to pin down. I generally make it the same each time but the results always seem to vary. As long as you get all the basics in there though it should turn out well.

To make the chips cut your tortillas into triangles. The tortillas I use, are the large ones from Costco so I usually get about 10-12 chips from each one. Place the olive oil, lime juice and coriander in your blender and blend until you have a green paste. Then stir in the salt and Mexican seasoning. Using a brush or the back of a spoon coat one site of the triangle then lay on a baking tray. Try not to overlap the chips. Bake in the oven for about 2-4 minutes. Times will vary depending on the size so make sure you keep checking on them. They are done when they are golden in colour and the paste is dry. Store in an airtight container and they will keep for at least a week if you can resist eating them. Voilà home-made chips and a dip. Perfect for any party.

Today is Gay Pride in Seoul, a chance to celebrate equality and freedom for all.  So in honour of all my wonderful gay friends I designed this fabulous drink. It’s perfect for  Summer-time drinking. Fresh and fruity just like me and exactly what you need on a hot Summer’s day. It goes down a treat. Not that I ever need much of an excuse to get a bit more cock(tail) in my mouth. But if you can’t do it on gay pride, when can you?

Ingredients

50ml Pear Absolut

2 tablespoons of mixed berries

1 tablespoon of simple syrup

crushed ice

100-200mls of soda water

A few mint leaves (optional)

A wedge of Lemon (optional)

Directions

In a tall glass muddle together the vodka, berries, and simple syrup. Fill the glass with crushed ice and then top up with soda water. Garnish with a wedge of lemon and a sprig of mint. Voilà the pearberry vojito!

This weekend I shall be celebrating my 19th  29th birthday. My first thought was to have a good old cry about the fact that I shall no longer be young and hot and that all my party days are behind me. However, I decided that instead I should celebrate the last year of my twenties by getting really drunk and having as much fun as possible. Enter the strawberry lemonade. It’s so good I have decided it shall be my signature party cocktail. It tastes just heavenly without being too sweet and it’s just perfect now the sunshine is well and truly out. I made mine with fresh strawberries since they are in season but you can always make it with frozen ones in the winter months to come.

Ingredients

250ml of Absolute citron

500g of Strawberries

6 tablespoons of Country Time lemonade powder (foreign food market/homeplus)

1 litre of Sprite

Ice

Sliced lemon and strawberries

Directions

Put the strawberries, vodka, and lemonade powder in a blender and blend until smooth. Top up with the sprite and stir. Serve over ice with a wedge or two of lemon. Drink until all birthday blues have been banished, but stop before you have difficulty standing up or have vomited all over your new dress. Happy birthday to me!

After making my lovely key lime pie, I wondered if the mix would work as well with lemons. It certainly did, plus I had the added bonus of being able to use fresh lemons instead of concentrate without having to bankrupt myself. It was still quick and easy to make and totally delicious. You can also make it with just a trip to your local Korean mart.

Ingredients

200g of digestive biscuits (Graham crackers)

100g of butter

1 can of condensed milk

3-4 lemons (zest and juice)

3 egg yolks

200ml of whipping cream

Directions

Crush the digestive biscuits until they resemble fine bread crumbs. You can do this with your blending or smacking them up a bit with a rolling pin.  If you wrap them in a tea towel and keep them in the packet, you can prevent making a big old mess.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, then add the biscuit crumbs and mix together  Pack into your pie tin and make sure you bring the mixture up around the sides.

In a separate bowl mix together the condensed milk, egg yolks, and lemon zest and juice. Pour this mixture onto the biscuit base. Then bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool then pop it in the fridge for 2 hours to set. Once the pie has been chilled, whip the cream and then pipe around the edge to decorate. You could also add a slice or two of lemon and a little zest too. Serve with more cream and strawberries. . Voilà the lovely lemon pie.

When it rains it pours, and these past few weeks it’s been raining falafels. First Zayd started selling them over at Med food in Korea. Then I had some over at El Grecos. Then finally I made some myself and they are so good that I just can’t stop. I have been making them by the truckload lately and having them in all manner of salads and wraps. I also took a batch a down to the vegan potluck and the whole plate had disappeared within minutes. They are actually surprisingly easy to make if you have a sturdy blender.

Ingredients

2 cans or 800g of soaked chick peas (this is the weight once they have been soaked in water)

1 onion

5 cloves of garlic

1 lemon (zest and juice)

A large handful of parsley

A large handful of coriander (cilantro or 고수 found in many korean supermarkets)

1 -2 tablespoons of cumin

2 teaspoon of ground coriander

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

2-3 tablespoons of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

Oil for frying (I use soybean because it’s cheap)

Directions

If using dried chickpeas, soak them in lots of  cold water overnight. Drain the chickpeas and blend until they resemble cous cous or bread crumbs in consistency. Next you need to blend the parsley, garlic, and onion. I did this in the blender too until it made a green onion smoothie. Mix together with the chickpeas, then add the salt, pepper, and spices. Add the juice and zest of the lemon and mix.  Stir in the flour and baking soda then cover with cling-film and leave in the fridge for about an hour. When the mixture has had time to rest remove from the fridge and form into ping-pong sized balls. Heat your oil to a medium heat then fry the falafel, they should take about 3 minutes on each side. If the oil is too hot they will not be cooked on the inside. Once they are done let them drain on a piece of kitchen towel to remove excess oil. Enjoy fresh from the pan with lots of hummus and flatbread. They can also be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. Voilà fabulous falafels.

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time now. Mussels are insanely cheap in Korea right now and what better way to use them, than in this classic French dish. Coming from a family that lives by the sea, my mum regularly whipped this up for us at home. It’s very easy to make and you should be able to find all of the ingredients in your local Korean supermarket  It tastes great and also looks very impressive. It’s always been one of my dinner party favourites, so if you’re unfamiliar with it give it a try.

Ingredients

1.5kg of Mussels (roughly two packages from the mart, mine were 2,000 each)

1 onion

5 cloves of garlic

30g of butter

200ml of cream

200ml of white wine

2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley

1 lemon (cut into  wedges)

A glug of olive oil

Directions

Clean and wash your mussels thoroughly in cold water. Remove any beards that are still left on them and discard any mussels that are open. Finely chop the onion and garlic then fry in the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan for a few minutes until softened. Next,add the mussels and the glass of wine to the pan and put on the lid. Steam the mussels for about 5 minutes until they have opened. Remove the lid and pour in the cream and parsley. Mix to make sure everything is coated then remove from the heat.  Throw away any mussels that have failed to open after steaming. Put the mussels into bowls and top with a wedge of lemon. Serve with the finest crusty bread from Paris Baguette. Voilà, moules marinères, the most luxurious way to eat the fruit of the sea!