MobyP

I came very close to moving to Crouch End solely because of a restaurant there called Banners. Not only does it have (all day) the best breakfast in the entire world, (hand-made sausages, and piles of thick cut buttery toast, fantastic bacon and black pud - I was was dreaming about it when I moved to America, but that's also because I'm really sad), but it occasionally has great lunch and dinner menus - soul food (Carribean, Thai, but also American South oddly enough). I can't think of a better place to spend a few hours, beit first thing Sunday morning, or last thing Thursday night. Unfortunately, I'm not the only person to know about it, and you have to get there pretty early. Also, I haven't alas been there in about a year (now I'm as Southerly as the day is long). But it is glorious. I second Porchetta. There was - many years ago now - a decent Indian Restaurant called Fleet Tandoori 2 - off the Muswell Hill roundabout, but I don't know if it's still there. Also also also (don't tell BLH that I told you), if you head down Archway, and the Holloway Road, and turn left up Highbury Hill Road, you'll find the original La Fromagerie. And if you go there on a Sunday morning (having been turned away from Banners cos you couldn't be arsed to get out of bed in time - yes yes, it's happened to us all), there's a great Turkish place opposite called Iznik (or Iznic or Iznick) that do wonderful small plates food - stuffed vine leaves, and goats cheese in filo, and sauteed aubergine with yogurt and paprika - it makes for a wonderful Sunday breakfast with the papers - they do fry-ups as well, if you're picky.) Actually, if you cut through the back of Crouch End, and pass through Finsbury, you can be there in under 10 mins. So long as Arsenal isn't playing, you'll be set.

The artichoke recipe is incredibly flexible. Once you have them, you can use the oil for a vinaigrette; if you saute some garlic and pancetta in some of the oil, then add the diced artichoke, you have a great pasta sauce - or to go full hog: saute some pancetta, a clove or two of sliced garlic, a little diced onion, render for 7 or 8 minutes. Then deglaze with half a glass of wine, bubble until almost gone, add a cup of strong chicken stock, reduce by half, add the diced artichoke, and a splash of cream - check for seasoning - and serve over orchiette with parmagiano for an incredible pasta sauce. In fact, add four wheels and a V-8, you have an all terrain vehicle. You can do anything with that recipe. Oh, and you can also make ravioli! No- I didn't do all of them in one week. That would've been a little much. I did it over three weekends, giving myself two or three dishes per weekend. And I took pictures as I went. You can see in the beginning, we had lovely bright weather - but by the time I got to the artichokes, it's cloudy and rainy. Exactly! With Everything. What ever is in season or available: vegetables, meats, fish, cheeses, wines... it can be the sloppiest food imaginable, or the most beautiful. It's really just about using your imagination - you can always go back to the classics - and there are plenty of them. Just walk down the supermarket aisle and look at the choices - those rubbery 'fresh pastas'. Blech. I bet you could reproduce any of the recipes, and make them much better. The main thing is to have fun, though. And enjoy the eating.

I keep seeing those ice-cube tray ravioli molds, and - well - they just don't do it for me. I think it's more fun to give them a little character. Good luck though, and take pictures.

Thanks chaps. It was much fun to do.

Aw, most of us are naked most of the time over here - but you'd sooner see the Loch Ness Monster than a Mariachi band.

Schneier - superb report. What conclusions did you come to about the experience?

I moved around the corner - off North End road - last year. The veg seems pretty decent, but haven't gotten into the habit of it. Are some places better than others?

I think this should be the legend of the UK and Ireland Forum. Possibly a tattoo after your 500th post.

Turnips is the most expensive place I've ever been to for veg. When is Lewisham market on?

Yes, that's fresh pasta...I made it yesterday afternoon, tossed it with some semolina flour, and just let it sit on the counter until it was time to cook. I used a different recipe yesterday for the first time--the one from Moby Pomerance's eGCI course. The pasta was much easier to work with than it has been in the past. I liked it! Yeeeey! Success! (Tears off clothes, runs naked down the street, Mariachi band starts playing - which is quite impressive for London, I can tell you). Great blog, Jensen. Keep the pictures coming. What temp and time are you going to cook the pork for? I tried it recently - very low, and very long - but it didn't quite make the pulled pork texture I was going for.

Feeling like I'd rather have unnecessary and violent dental surgery last night than cook dinner, we decided to pop into the Havelock, and had a fantastic meal. I think they have a new fella in the kitchen - the style seems to have changed slightly. But I swear, this is turning into my favourite place in London. To start, 2 fillets of crispy red mullet wrapped in prosciutto, with salsa verde, and a green bean and rocket salad. This was perfect. Everything about it. The fish, perfectly cooked. The ham, adding a lovely saltiness. The salsa verde - which can be completely overbearing - was subtle and wonderful, with the odd chunk of cornichon or anchovy. And a great salad. And all for 6 quid! Kate had the seared squid with aioli - which disappeared in a blur. For mains, a chump of lamb with red wine sauce, which was cooked properly, and rested properly, and tasted marvelous. Kate had a sea bass, with minted creamy lentils and spinach. Too stuffed for desert. And the pub was more stuffed than usual - you media types! - on a Tuesday! Anyway - please don't go there. I want to keep this place to myself for those moments when unnecessary dental surgery seems like just the ticket.

I agree - you don't need to make it fancy to have a good time (hmm, sounds like a song coming on). But there are degrees - so on one side you could go for a mousse, and use that as a base for the crab meat, and on the simpler side of the same equation, just roughly (or finely) chop a few scallops - even 2 or 3 - and mix it with an equal amount of crab meat - season with a squeeze of lemon, some salt and pepper. Some people use a sprinkle of cayenne. Mix in an egg yolk and a splash of cream maybe to bind. Bung it in the fridge for 30 mins to set. You'll have a great contrast of flavours - the texture of the crab meat is stringy, against the smothness of the scallop, and a strong flavour against a relatively subtle one. You might find the crab taste becomes more pronounced by having the scallop there. Also, you only need a small amount of stuffing to fill a relatively large number of ravioli. For a full fledged mousse, blend 100g (1/4lb / 3 1/2oz) of scallops with some salt and pepper until almost a puree, scraping down sides as you go. Add an egg yolk, and blend briefly to combine. Place in the fridge for 10 mins. Then fold in 50ml of cream, then the crab meat, a squeeze of lemon, and return to fridge for 20 mins to set. Then use in raviolos or raviolis etc.

Foodman - thank you. In the next section, which goes up tomorrow, the recipes get a little more involved - I was hoping to take a beginner level up to intermediate approach, for those who have gained some confidence: Pansotti of braised short ribs, chicken and pancetta tortelloni, and a raviolo of artichoke confit. Marc - exactly! First came the fondu set, then came the pasta machine. "Oh, thanks, yeah, I've always wanted one of those....." (Honey - clear some space in the cupboard!) I can't tell you how many friends I have who have to think about it for a few minutes, and then realise they have one as well. Also, I can't tell you how impressed people are to show up at your place for dinner, and have some course that involves hand made pasta. It's the most massive return (in appreciation, gratitude), for a reasonable investment in time. It also allows the imagination to wander. The crab ravioli sounds brilliant. I know of one restaurant that uses a scallop mousseline to mix the crab meat with - it's like the frame of a picture - in the same way they would use scallop mousse for a lobster ravioli. I bet that would work really well if you were doing large raviolos also. I could look up a recipe if it would be of any help (I'm sure you don't need it). Let us know how it goes. The classes here have been an inspiration to me as well. I think everyone has their favourites - but there are a few which are amazing (and there are one or two coming up which I still can't believe).

Yes! Let me say YES on his behalf - and indeed I'm planning on going to Cornwall in the Summer so I can drop it off - ooh, I'm sure there'll be some left....

You guys should definitely have a pasta day - and take pictures! You could do different flavoured pastas - spinach, beetroot, black pepper, basil - the more people, the easier it would be.

That's quite scary. I sense the first Pulitzer for Pasta.

Mario Batali's Ricotta couldn't be easier - but of course it's not real ricotta (which means re-cooked), which involves only the leftover whey once the curds have been removed. I sometimes use organic skimmed milk to emulate this. Having said that, if you find great organic cream or milk, the result is fantastic. Wholefoods in LA had some raw milk for a while, which worked really well. That must've been fantastic.

I did exactly the same thing! Within a year I was making my own ricotta, using a Batali recipe. You know, I went through a 'trying to get more texture' phase with my pasta making, and it took me a while to realise that I was cooking it too long. As fresh pasta, it needs much less time - when I realised that, my pastas and raviolis had much more texture and bite to them. If you knead the pasta sufficiently, it should have a good bite. Could you pm me the mascarpone sauce recipe? I'd love to see it. Making spinach pasta is a blast - remember to either really squeeze it dry before you put it into the food processor, or chop it finely, or cut down on the eggs or oil.

Thanks Abra. Personally I wouldn't use the King Arthur for the same reason I wouldn't use "Corn Bread Mix" or "Pancake Mix." I prefer to have more control over the elements in my cooking - but others may have had good experiences with it. Also, I thought Durum and Semolina were synonymous (I could be wrong). What city are you in? If you can't find Tipo '00' anywhere, then I'd go with AP, and if you can't find semolina for dusting, then maybe you use that King Arthur stuff? Maybe we should set up a service - people tell us what city they're in, and we all google it like mad, finding a place where they can find '00'?

Is this around the corner from Baker Street? If so, I went to the older version with Mr. Tseng, and thought it was pretty good.

It's unbearably sad.

Absolutely. When I was in Italy, my friends had a proper slicer - and we'd eat paper thin pancetta, raw - which is no big deal, as all cured meats are essentially raw. I mean - Salami - we're basicaly talking meat tartar in a tube, right?

Exactly. The dough can seem pretty dry before you rest it, but 2 hours later it can be sticky again. Just work in more flour and you'll be fine.

There's actually a 60 day storage period at my house before these will clear customs. So, really, I don't fancy your chances. Browniebaker - Usually I can't stand Stilton, but I had some at Neil's Yard just before Christmas that was, qualitatively, so beyond anything I'd had before, I thought I was dreaming. It was one of those moments where you had to realign your entire conception of a foodstuff if the best was really this good. Creamy instead of crumbly. Smooth and luxurious instead of harsh. I still don't believe it. Anyway, I don't know if it was a seasonal product, but it was extraordinary. There are some incredible raw milk cheeses here, and young as well. You just have to see how brave you feel.

What's the budget/time line?