Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

I don't bake often, as with just the two of us we'd have to get through an awful lot of cake to avoid waste but when a gathering is planned, it seems the perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe. This was based on a raspberry cheesecake recipe I'd seen, but as strawberries are just coming into season, I thought it would make a good and seasonal substitute.

The recipe needs a bit of tweaking; as delicious as it was, the base could have been crunchier and the filling a touch more set, so I've added what I think you should alter to achieve this in brackets. Nonetheless, it was devoured. The cooked strawberries are sweet and soft while the fresh fruit on top gives good bite and a touch of tartness.


Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

Serves around 8

600gr cream cheese
8 digestive biscuits (I'd suggest using 10 for a drier, crispier base)
50gr butter
142ml soured cream
2 tbsp plain flour
2 eggs + 1 yolk
175gr caster sugar + 1 tbsp
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
500gr strawberries

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Hull and halve the strawberries. Process the digestives into fine crumbs, and met the butter. Mix the two together well and press into a 20cm springform tin. Bake for 10 minutes, and then leave to cool.

Combine the eggs, cream cheese, soured cream, vanilla essence and flour in a bowl. Add the 175gr sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. Stir in half of the strawberries, and then spoon into your tin. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes. The middle should have a slight wobble when you remove it from the oven. Leave to cool in the tin.

Halve the remaining strawberries and put in a small saucepan with the 1tbsp sugar and a tablespoon of water. Heat gently until the strawberries are very soft. Squeeze through a sieve to get the juice. When serving, pile the fresh strawberries on top and drizzle with the strawberry sauce.

The Drapers Arms Invasion

When the day came for The Drapers Arms Invasion, I was weirdly nervous. Nick, the owner, emailed us to let us know that a mammoth 1080 eggs had arrived for us from Clarence Court. We'd asked for 60. I could sense an eggy future. The were Cotswold Legbars; gorgeous pale blue shells and vivid orange yolks. I pushed a box on everyone leaving that evening.

The sunshine blazing, we got to work in the cellar, separating out the fruit and veg boxes kindly donated by Riverford. It was a flurry of fruit flying around, a frenzy of activity.

The very first thing we did was to give the 6 shoulders of hogget, from the hugely generous Donald Russell a good 4 hour bathing in red wine, leeks, onions and carrots. They then went into a low oven to be braised until it was tender enough for the meat to fall off the bone. Then, we got to work making the super rich, super fudgy chocolate brownies, melting huge vats of chocolate from Green & Blacks.

Helen and I spent a good 2 or 3 hours boiling, peeling and halving quails eggs for canapes. Poor Helen spent a further hour stuffing them with the mixture I'd made using the yolks, creme fraiche, smoked salmon from Donald Russell, spring onions, lemon and parsley. There were millions of them and I didn't even manage to get a photo of the final product.

Bread from Kindred in Herne Hill arrived still warm and smelling gorgeous. The walnut bread was sliced thinly and dill sour cream was smeared on, to be topped with flakes of soused mackerel and herring. Lumpfish caviar pepped it up some.

A last minute panic ensued when the supplier of our ham hocks and trotters for us to make the starter simply forgot to send them to us. Luckily, Polpo stepped up to the plate and donated us enough terrine for 55 - superstars. Perhaps a bit of a cheat on our part, but we were in some dire straits. We fancied up the plates with a fennel and orange salad - it is HARD dividing a bowl of salad into 55.

The meat from the hogget shoulders were removed, the sauce reduced. Loins of hogget were also sent to us and these were started in a hot pan, then roasted in the oven until they could be sliced nice and pink. The platters were then sprinkled with gremolata for a bit of freshness. Sides of purple sprouting broccoli and swiss chard were steamed and tossed in garlic butter. Jersey royals got the same treatment, plus a sprinkling of parsley and mint.

A truckle of Stichelton donated by Welbeck Farm Shop was enormous and well received with Peter's Yard Crispbreads and onion chutney from Tracklements.


Rhubarb pavlova was perhaps not the prettiest, but dolloped with whipped cream, the chewy meringue made by Ollie and James sweetened up the tart rhubarb and orange sauce. Brownies followed swiftly with bowls of Rodda's clotted cream to really finish our guests off.

Wines donated by Bibendum Wine, Berkmann Wine Cellars, and wines from Rioja and Germany were gulped down. Beer from Meantime, Innes & Gunn, Duvel, and Westons cider were, presumably devoured, given the happy faces I caught a glimpse of.

We raised £2000.35 in total for Action Against Hunger, a pretty damn good achievement. Thanks, of course, go to The Drapers Arms but also to their lovely chef James who lent us a helping hand and made everything look easy (it wasn't). Also, their brilliant KP who saw us in a sticky time-pressured situation and scrubbed about a million potatoes for us as well as all the washing up. Thanks also goes to We Got Tickets who agreed to donate 20% of the booking fee to Action Against Hunger.

Gone midnight that evening, I fell into my front door and headed straight for the shower, a sweaty, smelly mess. I realised we'd eaten nothing but scraps all day. I had always wondered how it was possible there were so many slim chefs.

Spanish-Style Seafood Rice

I hesitate to call it paella, even though that's what it was intended to be. We didn't follow a recipe, but rather made it up as I went along, and it wasn't even cooked in a paella pan. So instead, let's call it Spanish-style seafood rice.

After a scorching weekend in the sun, we fancied something light yet comforting. A big delicious Pimms-fuelled lunch by the riverside at The Ship in Wandsworth knocked us out; after a quick lie-down on Clapham Common, we headed back home South East, raiding the shops on the way to knock this up.


The subtle saffron flavour in the rice, pepped up with the paprika smokiness of the chorizo and the freshness of the lemon gives this dish a really summery feel. White fish, added at the last minute to just cook through isn't the most strongly flavoured meat but a tin of smoked mussels bought on a last minute whim added an extra seafood oompf.

Spanish-Style Seafood Rice

Serves 5

500gr paella rice
1 onion, diced
7 cloves of garlic, minced
2l fish stock
150ml white wine
1 tsp thyme
5 tbsp chopped parsley
A large pinch of saffron
150gr chorizo
400gr firm white fish - we used cod
1 tin of smoked mussels
1 lemon
1 bulb of fennel, sliced thinly
2 sweet red pointed peppers, chopped roughly
100gr cherry tomatoes
1 tsp paprika

Heat the fish stock so that it is at a very gentle simmer. Add the saffron strands. In a large pan, heat the oil from the tin of smoked mussels and add the onion and garlic and cook on a low heat. After 10 minutes, add the paprika. Chop the chorizo roughly and add to the pan, along with the thyme. Once the chorizo has released its oils, add the rice and stir to cover. Add the white wine and simmer until it has been absorbed. Add the sweet peppers and the fennel, then add 1.5l of the stock. Simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes. If it's looking dry, add more stock. Don't stir it too much or the rice will go mushy.

Next, chop the fish into large chunks and halve the cherry tomatoes. Add both to the pan, stir very carefully and cook for another 5 minutes. Take off the heat, scatter the parsley over the dish and put the lid on, leaving to stand for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning - I found it needed an aggressive hand with salt - before serving with lemon wedges.

A Hot & Sour Soup

Not the prettiest of dishes, I'll give you that. But it was definitely tasty, spicy as hell and it felt nourishing. That extra soft tofu made a reappearance (I confess, I'm quite addicted to it) and its wibbly chunks, bobbing around in the fiery soup packed with vegetables slid down easily.

It's not the most traditional recipe, given I used random things I found in the fridge, but as long as you get that sour-spicy balance, I think that's fine. An egg, cracked into the soup and left for a few minutes to set enriched it and was a riff on whisked egg, usually drizzled slowly while the soup is cooking.

Hot & Sour Soup

Serves 2

100gr extra soft tofu
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
A handful of dried woodear mushrooms
1 small tin of bamboo shoots
Some form of greenery - I used courgette batons
1.5 tbsp chilli bean paste
300ml pork stock
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
3 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
1 garlic clove
1" of ginger
1 red chilli
A pinch of sugar
2 spring onions
A handful of coriander
A drizzle of sesame oil
2 eggs

To start, boil some water and soak the mushrooms in it. Slice the bamboo stalks into thin matchsticks and set aside. Prepare your greenery. Heat a little oil and fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the chilli bean paste, fry for a few minutes and then add the pork stock. Set on a very light simmer.

Meanwhile, mince the coriander and slice the spring onions diagonally. Drain the mushrooms and shred the woodear. Cut the stalk out of the shiitake mushrooms and chop roughly. Add to the pork stock. Put the tofu carefully into the pork stock in chunks. Add the greens whenever so that they cook properly, then add the Chinese black vinegar and sugar. Taste and add more vinegar if necessary. In a bowl, mix up the soy sauce with the cornflour. Add this last and simmer till thickened slightly, then take off the heat.

To serve, ladle the soup carefully into each bowl and garnish with coriander, chopped red chilli, spring onion and finally crack an egg into the broth. Cover with a plate for a few minutes until the egg is set, then eat.

Breakfast at The Riding House Cafe

I've worked in the Great Titchfield Street area for the past 3.5 years and I've seen the transformation of this place. When I first made the move from Soho to Fitzrovia, it was a generic Slug & Lettuce, as bland as they come. Later, I laughed heartily at the name and endured many pints when it became Chutney n' Lager, a tacky restaurant / bar that would serve poppadums with your beer, with various sports on big screens. I usually stood outside.

In its new guise as The Riding House Cafe, the sleek teal and wood interiors and all day brasserie-style menu shows it means business and is here to stay. We clattered in at 8:30am on their official day of opening for a spot of breakfast. Workmen still flitted about, screwing in various bits and bobs.

Service was somewhat sketchy and we waited a while for menus, and then were given more menus even after we'd ordered. No matter, they were sweet and it was opening day after all. My companions were alarmed when our waitress suggested the bircher muesli. "Christ, do we look like muesli people?!" We shunned her suggestion and I ordered the Eggs Hussard, with an extra order of buttermilk pancakes with berries and clotted cream for a sweet note.

I wasn't sure what Bordelaise sauce was that came as part of my dish, but after one bite I was sure. Red wine sauce. With Hollandaise. At 9am. Oooof. A toasted slice, slowly soaking up the sauce was topped with good quality ham, a slice of tomato and wilted spinach, before being topped by two poached eggs and a generous helping of the aforementioned Hollandaise. While one egg was perfectly poached with a runny yolk, the other was over done and the yolk had set. The serious sleeps were starting to set in, but I soldiered on gamely.

Buttermilk pancakes has slightly crispy edges and fluffy innards. Drizzled with maple syrup and then smeared with some excellent clotted cream, the berries balanced out the sugar with a hearty tang. With coffee and service, the final bill came to £14 per person. Again, not an every day breakfast, but for a spot of indulgence.

I have no doubt that The Riding House Cafe will have more staying power than its predecessors. Having had a brief glimpse of their lunch menu, I know I'd be torn with indecision as everything sounded tasty. I hear they do good cocktails too...

The Riding House Cafe

43 - 51 Great Titchfield Street,
London W1W

Tel: 020 7927 0840

Le Wei Xiang, Lewisham (EDIT - new name, Tasty Inn)

Good God, my friends are difficult to get together. Way back in December, we arranged to visit Le Wei Xiang in Lewisham, a restaurant that seemed to specialise in far more than your average neighbourhood Chinese restaurant. Four attempts later, and with only half the originally intended group, we finally got there.

So, straight to the 'genuine Chinese tastes' section. Our party of 5 kept shouting random orders: "tripe! I want the tripe!" so in the end, it was just easier to write a list of numbers. One of the first to arrive was the cold tofu, steeped in a mixture of soy sauce and black vinegar, garnished with chopped preserved duck egg, spring onion and coriander. One of my favourite dishes of the evening, it was cool, creamy and flavoursome. The egg isn't as strong as you might think; it's jelly-liked textures and mild flavour was liked by all.

Lamb skewers were, dare I say it, better than Silk Road's. Juicy, pink meat, the cubes didn't alternate with crispy lumps of fat as in the aforementioned, but each piece was generously fatty. Alongside a dusting of cumin, these were marinaded with fennel seeds and had a caramel-like sweetness to them. I could have eaten the whole plate.

Sliced sea bass with preserved vegetable was a behemoth of a pot. Bobbing in the broth was silky slices of fish. At first, it tasted slightly bland, but blandness turned to comfort when spooned over a bowlful of rice.

Cucumbers in chilli oil were garlicky, spicy and wildly addictive.

Double cooked pork Sichuan style wasn't as spicy as I'd hoped but the pork was well seasoned and tender. Potato shreds with Sichuan pepper (opening photo) were properly and utterly mouth numbing. Other dishes such as aubergine with minced pork and cold noodles in 'sauce' were fairly unexciting but well made but one total failure of a dish was pigs blood and tofu soup, which managed to taste of absolutely nothing with a hint of dishwater. It was left untouched.

For £17 a head with (sweet and friendly) service and a couple of beers, we were all stuffed to the brim. I think for the money, Silk Road perhaps edges it slightly, but Silk Road doesn't do that tofu dish. And Silk Road doesn't deliver to my house...

Le Wei Xiang

80 Lee High Rd,
London SE13 5PT

Tel: 020 8318 2525

Breakfast at St John Hotel

After what felt like eating a million noodle or rice dishes in South East Asia, what better contrast than to go breakfasting at the newly opened St John Hotel?

I've been following their progress for a while. From when the scaffolding first went up outside Manzi's on Leicester Square, every day twice a day I've been peering at that facade, willing it to hurry the hell up and open. Don't get me wrong; I'm not some sort of weird restaurant stalker, it's my route to and from work. Honest.

Sadly, our early December booking was cancelled as the hotel was late to open. Similarly our January reservation. And then hooray! Finally, our day had come.

The room is very white and very simply decorated. We walked in at 8:15am, the only patrons, and it remained that way for a good half hour.

The breakfast buns had to be ordered. Served with a gorgeous yellow raspberry jam, we halved each a butter, a cinnamon and a currant bun. They were warm, flaky and incredibly decadent.

I spent a long time uhm-ing and ah-ing over boiled egg and anchovy soldiers, or Arbroath smokie with potato and egg. The latter won out. The smoked fish was worked into smooth and creamy mash, topped with buttery sauce and a perfectly poached egg. It all looked very beige until the egg was burst; rich, intensely orange yolk spilled forth. It was a matter of very few minutes before it was all hoovered up.

We sat back, replete. The menu isn't huge, what with 5 or so main items but what they do have is resolutely British, very in keeping with the St John style. At £25 a head with coffee, juice and (worthwhile) service, it's a luxury breakfast but well worth the money.

I didn't eat again until at least 2pm.

St John Hotel

1 Leicester St
London
WC2H 7BL

Tel: 020 3301 8069