Ordinary Food

Grilled Haloumi with Chilli

This is a great nibble or starter dish. I often serve it at dinner parties, or as part of a ‘meze’.

Ingredients:

1 lump of haloumi (available in most supermarkets- it comes in a vacuum pack)
1 or 2 red chillis
A lemon
Olive oil

Take a red chilli or two depending on size, finely chop and place in a small bowl or glass. Add a slug of olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice and leave to marinate. Within twenty minutes or so chilli will become brighter- almost flouresent, and take on a milder flavour, loosing some of its kick.

When ready to serve, take the lump of haloumi cheese and slice thinly. Place on a foil-covered grill pan and grill for a few minutes on each side, turning carefully half way through. Often haloumi can spit in the grill- if so, you may need to lower the grill pan.

When coloured lightly on both sides, place the pieces of cheese on a decent sized plate and drizzle the chilli dressing over. I find this nibble goes particularly well with champagne or white wine and makes a great stand by dish as the haloumi lasts for months in the fridge.

The Volunteer, Abinger Hammer

Water Lane, Abinger Hammer, Surrey

My friends Chris and Kai proposed we meet at the Volunteer for a pint and dinner. I have never been to this particular pub before, and boy is it difficult to find! Eventually I found the place.

As you can see from the picture it is a pretty pub. There is a garden above the pub’s car park, but there were no spare tables so we found a table on a strip of grass between the other side of the car park and a stream and decided on a fish pie (£10), a steak, ale and mushroom pie (£10) and a sirloin steak (£14).

The food arrived promptly on square plates. Yes you read right - square plates in an English pub. The food didn’t look especially promising either. My steak and ale pie was served dissected, with a piece of pastry sitting on top, like a nouvelle cuisine garnish. A more accurate description would have been steak and ale casserole served with a pastry hat. A few new potatoes featured on one corner of the plate, a few wisps of cabbage and what looked like raw celery pieces by another. Surprisingly, it tasted rather good. The celery as suspected was raw.

On a trip to the bar for another pint, I discovered the chef was Swedish which may explain this odd marriage of ingredients. The meat was tender in a rich sauce, and despite what looked like a small serving, was filling. The fish pie was similarly presented and well made. Like the two pies, the steak really could have done with some more vegetables but was cooked as requested. Sauces provided were of the sachet variety and no french mustard was available - unforgiveable at these prices.

We shared two summer puds for dessert. They arrived suitably minimalist - sat in the middle of a large plate with a few surrounding flecks of sauce. The puddings tasted somewhat neutered - I like a summer pudding to taste fresh and vibrant - these tasted of a pack of frozen berries, which while not unpleasant didn’t quite hit the mark.

What to make of the Volunteer? It is with a heavy heart that I give this place a cautious recommendation, which has as much to do with the dearth of decent country pubs in Surrey as it does the merits of this establishment.

Yummy Olives at a Reasonable Price!

Karyatis Kalamata Olives, which I buy from Sainsburys are delicious. Here’s why- they are stone in, they come in extra virgin olive oil and are seasoned with sea salt and oregano. The bottle looks like this (sorry for it being empty but they never last long!) and once you’ve eaten all the olives the oregano infused oil is fantastic for dipping with bread, or adding depth to a pasta dish or for tapenade- take a look at my recipe for speedy tapenade. By the way, Kalamata is a town in Greece- I once went there- it is not the most exciting of places as it suffered from an earthquake at the turn of the century and has since been rebuilt, but their olives are reputed to be the best in the world.

Pizza Express, Various Locations

Pizza Express had a bit of a wobble a few years ago when their pizzas suddenly shrunk. I must add the word apparently because I can’t quite remember them changing in size and I don’t want to be subject to a libel suite.

Either way, I’m pleased to report that currently their pizzas are certainly big enough to fill my 6ft 5in frame. I usually go to my local Pizza Express in Guildford, which is light and airy, with funky black spot lights and cheerful art work. Like all their restaurants, the kitchen is on display, so if the mood takes, you can watch the chefs making pizzas.

For starters, avoid the bland arancini (little balls of risotto) and stick to the salads or bruschetta. Everyone has their favourite pizzas so I won’t make recommendations here, beyond discouraging ones using roasted vegetables - they taste odd - and big upping those with a sprinkling of rocket, which always tastes so summery, peppery and decadent.

A word of caution- the pizza bases are not old school Italian- they edge towards their American deep-pan cousins with their slight thickness, but I would still describe them as thin-crust, and they are delicious anyhow.

I’m not a huge fan of deserts generally, but enjoy their Sicilian Lemon Sorbet with a splash of limoncello liqueur. This treat isn’t cheap at over a fiver but is delicious and low fat!

Pizza Express’s wine list is varied and interesting, but a little pricey- my advice is to stick with the house wine for both red and white- it is perfectly drinkable at under £12. If you are feeling flush, go for the text-book primitivo at £15, packing a fruity but refined punch which is perfect for pizzas. One of the joys of chain restaurants is that they usually have the same menu and pricing in all their restaurants, including their ‘flagships’.

One of Pizza Express’s finest restaurants is on Bankside SE1, near Southwark Bridge. Pick the right table in the evening and you’ll be rewarded with stunning sunset views across the river, not dissimilar to those enjoyed by those dining at the Pont de la Tour. Not a bad deal considering you’d be hard pushed to spend much more than £25 on a three course meal including wine.