Eating in Toon - logged

Anytime I try to think of my fav places to eat something delish in Newcastle, I seem to get a mind blank, so before I leave, I thought I'd track down my ideal spots that are totalz hot stuff to dine in - to stop myself forgetting if I ever return.


Alphabetically:

Al basha (the big market): Unreal. Melted halloumi between super thin flatbread. Musaka / Vine leaves / Foul - truly great stuff - mushy bean dish that tastes kinda cheesy. They're pretty generous with their flatbreads and the hummus is perfectly smooth, salty and creamy

The butterfly cabinet (Heaton road): The lunchtime menu here rocks. ESP the mussels, a huge bowl with the most succulent sauce that leaves you wanting to drink the remains straight outa the dish - ps pretty vast portions totally sharable

The Golden Phoenix (7 Marlborough Cr): I have a dark addiction to Chinese food - thinking of salted chilli chicken keeps me up at night - the golden phoenix is the bee’s knees when it comes to Mandarin cuisine - with a pretty hip clientele

Kahns (178 Heaton road): I haven’t been here for so long, but I am making a special pit stop before I leave - my memory is all hazy from eating too much - but it went like this - mmmmmmmmmmmmm - I will have to touch up this entry after Monday

Olive and Bean (Near monumnet, Clayton St.): Lunchtimes in the centre of Newcastle were saved when this place came to town. Totally delish deli and sandwich bar - chorizo and manachego or grilled halloumi are killer - but i've heard good things about the stilton and pear - choices choices

Cafe Paradiso (1 Market lane, behind Popolos): How could I forget this total gem (headz up from Adam). Sitting in a booth surrounded by stylish leather the floury toasted lamb wrap with thick cut chips is pleasure galore with extra drippage

The side cafe (1-3 Side, Quayside): Kindy pricey at moments i.e. the wine - but each dish is so complete, for dinz, the French black pudding should be attempted, although visually looks a little too dark and long - slightly awkward moment when it's staring right back at you, and you know you gotta eat that thing - but tasting it changes everything, so rich and so soft like the best gravy condensed into solid form. For breakfast the hollandaise sauce of the eggs benedict leaves you cleaning the plate with your finger, a slightly ashamed attempt to get the last remnants of your hollandaise fix.

I woke up craving olives

Feta cheese and poppy seed turkish scones

Cooked olives give the best 'perfumey' sweet salt twinge, the feta cheese and slightly lumpy butter melts - keeping the scones moist and making the bites extra satisfying as your mouth makes it's way to the middle - stuffing central

Scone mix

4 eggs (2 yolks set aside for glaze)

2tsp salt

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

200g salted butter

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup olive oil

450g plain flour (add gradually)
2tsp baking powder

Filling / Topping

250g feta cheese (keep a little aside for topping)

handful of chopped parsley

large handful of olives - maybe 100g (save some for topping)

handful of poppy seeds (for topping)

Set oven to gas mark 7 - turn 2 baking trays upside down and grease with butter. Add all your scone mix together in a big bowl- gradually adding the flour, until the mix comes together to make a not too sticky dough. The butter might be abit lumpy - so rub through the mix with your fingertips. Crumble the feta cheese into a bowl, add chopped olives, parsley and add a little salt, some nutmeg & drop of oil.  Take small handfuls of the dough and flatten between palms of your hands into a disc - then flatten (1cm thick) a little more on a floured surface - add a tsp of the feta mix to the middle of the disc, fold the disc like a parcel and roll into a slightly flattened ball. Keep this up until you have about 12 - 14 dough balls filled with feta. Set on the upturned baking trays in sets of 6 - brush with egg yolk - add some chopped olives, crumble a little feta on top and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake for 25mins- until golden

A tart a day

Red onion and goats cheese tart

I can't get over the butteryness of this pastry. Dream material, you can see the translucent layers when it's hot out of the oven, the trick is to totalz enjoy the time consumming integration of the butter and the flour. WOW I wanna eat you.

To make the pastry:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 tsp of salt
3/4 of a stick of butter (so yeah, loads)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup of ice water
2 tblsp lemon juice

Filling time:
1 red onion
75g light brown muscovado sugar
big dollup of butter
2 splashes of balsamic vinegar
100g goats cheese

Add the salt to your flour and freeze for one hour. Freeze your butter for one hour too. Then cut the butter up into little bits and gradually work into the flour. It's pretty meditative, this is a good bit, take your time. Then mix up your sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the crumbly floury / butter and add half the wet mix. Work this in. As big chunks form, remove them and place to the side. Keep removing the big bitz. Then when there’s nothing left in the bowl, roll all the big bitz together in your hand, just until joined. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 1 hour. Work on your filling while your waiting. In a heavy based pan add the butter - slice your onion, so you have long lanky strands, add these to the butter, cook down untill soft, add the sugar and keep the heat really low, add balsamic vinegar and cook until carmalised. Roll out your sticky dough with lots of four, add to floured baking tray. Add the onions and crummble goats cheese over the top. Bake until golden - 30 mins (ish).

Light work load leads to a heavy belly

Toffee and Hazlenut Brownies

I swear to god these are delicious brownies, though the picture makes them look a little dark and ominous. They've got stickyness with bite, and not too much overkill on chocolate as the hazlenut chunks give your mouth a nice dry contrast to rub up against. TOTALLY WORK- could work better with banana jam.

Homemade Toffee

25g unsalted butter

75g Caster suger

Gooey Mix

300g chocolate (200g 70% coco solids & 100g 50% coco solids)

280g unsalted butter

2 eggs

280g plain flour

180g caster sugar

100g light brwon muscavado sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2tsp salt

80g hazlenuts

Make the toffee, add ingrediants together, and heat on a medium (7mins maybe), stirrign constantly with a wooden spoon - then when the mix turns a nice dark caramel colour, pour onto a baking tray, lined with baking parchment to cool. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3. Sift flour and salt and set aside. Melt chocolate and butter together over a pan of simmering water (don't let the water touch the bottom of the pan or let the chocolate mix get too hot) - when melted remove from heat and set aside. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract to a bowl and whisk, just until combined. Fold in the melted chocolate / butter mix. Fold in the flour / salt mix. The caramel should be cooled now, so break it up and add to gooey mix. Add the hazelnuts (crush them in a bag by hitting them with something heavy - a freezer bag works good for this). Then pour / spoon the mix onto a baking tray  that's been buttered and lined with baking parchment. Cook in the oven (25mins) until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Thunder Pizza

Parmesan, basil and chilli pizza (or any other topping that’ s delicious) 

It's just pizza, but makes your kitchen smell real good and this english summer murkiness can be such a downer - pizza can make you feel glitzy and greesy at the same time

Pizza Dough

300g of flour (1/3 plain & 2/3 bread flour)

1tsp dried yeast

10 sprigs of dried/fresh oregano

cup of hand hot water

pinch of salt 

2tbl sp olive oil

Top it off

Tomato puree (as much as you want)

1tbl sp butter

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

10 basil leaves x 2

100g of grated mozzarella

handful of parmesan

2-3 really hot chilis finely chopped (wee small red ones)

So make your dough. Put the flour , yeast, salt, oregano, 2tbl sp oil, in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the water gradually, shifting the flour over the water and blending it all together. Work the flour with your hands -  when it looks like a homogenous ball - transfer it to a heavily floured surface and knead until nice and smooth. If it gets sticky, add a little olive oil and sprinkle some more flour on the surface. Put in a big bowl, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm for (1hr plus) so it can rise. Make tomatoe sauce - heat butter in a pan, add one garlic clove, tomato puree, some olive oil, and chopped basil leaves. When the dough has risen - roll out into the shape of baking tray you have - pizza circle or a rectangular one - both are nice. Spoon tomato puree sauce onto the dough - then add your mozzarella, chopped chili’s, clove of garlic, if I had chorizo I'd add some on as well. Cook at gas mark 6, until it looks ready - about 20 mins. Then top with parmesan, basil leaves and extra virgen olive oil... oh yeah 

Savoury Dreamz

Sweet shallot and goats cheese tart

The pastry is pretty fiddly - what with the freezin and endless chilling - but man, it's so flakey and crumbly, worth the wait. It's so far from a quiche style tart, so much closer to a filled galette.

To make the pastry:

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/4 tsp of salt 

3/4 of a stick of butter (so yeah, loads)

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup of ice water

2 tblsp lemon juice

Filling time:

12-15 shallots

1 clove of garlic

lots of butter

handful of basil

1/4tsp of thyme

handful of parmesan

150g goats cheese

2 tblsp green pesto

Add the salt to your flour and freeze for one hour. Freeze your butter for one hour too. Then cut the butter up into little bits and gradually work into the flour. It's pretty meditative, this is a good bit, take your time. Then mix up your sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the crumbly floury / butter and add half the wet mix. Work this in. As big chunks form, remove them and place to the side. Keep removing the big bitz. Then when there’s nothing left in the bowl, roll all the big bitz together in your hand, just until joined. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 1 hour. Work on your filling while your waiting. Add lots of butter to a pan, add the whole shallots, chopped garlic, thyme, and ripped basil leaves. Cover and cook on low until the shallots are soft. Add some salt. Then add your handfuls of parmesan. Roll out your sticky dough with lots of flour.  Place on a floured baking tray or tart tin. Place in the hot oven for 5-10mins. Take out of oven - add your filling - crumble goat’s cheese over the top - then a couple spoonfuls of pesto. Place in oven and cook for 30-40 mins on gas mark 6.

I blame my gut

Well I think I re-understand the word late - something I just generally am - became a serious issue at Edinburgh Fringe. There are phsyical concequenes up there - n o e n t r y. For example, 4 minutes late - no entry to "Beautiful Burnout' / 1 minute late - no entry to "The not so fatal death of Uncle Freddo" / on time (but at the wrong venue) nearly no entry to the late shows. Three timz in one evening, you need to re-evaluate your life, take some responsibility 

I blame my gut. Possible cultural capital took a beating while I filled up on sea bream and espressos. So, rather than comment on what I saw at the festival i'm probz more adept to tell you where I ate.

Mussle Inn (Rose Street): WIOZ this place is so great. Chill outside on the cobbled street, while you feast on a bucket of mussles. Be prepared to share your table - but let them be prepared that in your mussle excitment, excess white wine sauz is likley to fly excitedly from your mouth to their cheek, becasue you will be slobbering "delicious" again and again.

The Square (Bottom of Nth street St Andrews, near the Stand commedy club): 6 soups of the day, today that incl. mushroom & stilton / red thai - both smelt real good. I had goats cheese, chorizo and pesto ciabatta. G O O D. 

Forth Floor Restaurant @ Harvey Nics (St Andrew Square): Hello skyline. Hello grannite of edinburgh. Looks over St Andrew square gardens, pretty ritzy, eat sea bream and drink prossecco, allow your self a little glamour.

Hendersons (bottom end of hanover street): Savoury lovers dream. Check out that deli counter - highly recommended for any sort of picnic supplies, i.e. sparking elderflower juice / stompolis / vine leaves / falafal 

The Mosque Kitchen (behind the university, 50 Potterrow): What a total gem to be taken too - all food comes from the gigantic pots in this tiny, all white, round walled, red tile floor kitchen. Que up, point to the dishes you want (chicken shish kebabs, spinach groule, chicken or chickpea curry, dahl, garlic nan). Limited choice is a saviour here, as everything looks so good. All seating outdoors under a coloured plastic roof - £4-£6 for food - perfect

Gnocchi balls at midnight

Ricotta and pinenut gnocchi (makes 12 balls)

Hello midnight, I'm hungry again. These make the best late night fridge peak. This is a recipe from the drooly Ottolenghi.

250g ricotta cheese

40g parmesan

handful of pinenuts (lightly dry toasted)

15g flat leaf parsley

15g basil

2 egg yolks

35g flour (sifted)

1/4tsp nutmeg

1tsp salt

pinch of black pepper 

I think that’s it. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until joined. Chill for 2 hours or overnight. Keep your hands moist and take little handfuls of the mix and roll into a ball (a little smaller than a ping-pong ball). When you have rolled all your balls, drop them in batches of 4-6 into bowling water. When they rise to the surface - they're cooked. I like to bake (10-15mins) them for a little bit in basil butter - gives them a nice glow - but they are good whatever way you want. Ottolenghi serves them wrapped in aubergine.

Soup is good

Red pepper, parsley and feta soup (makes 2 people full)

So I was eating scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning, sipping some coffee, when I noticed my kitchen went grey, there was a tea cloth fire on my stove. Comfort food needed. Have some soup.

1 large white onion

4 large red peppers



handful of coriander leaves

handful of parsley

handful of basil

1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)

2tsp cumin

1tsp caster sugar

1tsp salt

1/2tsp dried chilli flakes

500ml vegetable stock (I added lots of parsley and let it brew for a bit)

some crumbled feta (as much as you want to sprinkle on top)

Dice onion. Heat up olive oil in a big pan, add the onion and handful of coriander, cook on low until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic. Dice the red peppers (keep a handful aside) add to the onion, along with cumin, sugar, salt and chilli flakes. Add the stock and allow to simmer for 5 mins. Cover with a lid and cook on low for 15mins. While the soups still hot, use a hand blender to pulverise the soup until it's real smooth. Finely chop the basil and parsley. Pour soup into bowls, add some raw pepper, chopped basil, parsley, and then crumble feta on top.  

I dreamt of lamb last night

Lamb and feta cheese kebabs (makes 8)

I ate these as they were still frying in the pan and burnt my tongue, dam food lust. The cooked feta with the lamb makes for a real gooey/salty/creamy bite. . . oh yeah

50g stale white bread (soaked in cold water for 2 mins)
200g minced lamb
55g feta cheese
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 garlic clove
1 free range egg
15g flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Put all the ingredients in a bowl - mix it up with your hands. Take small handfuls of the mix, pat between palms of your hands and roll to look like fingers. Then let them chill (1hr) - my eagerness got ahead of me at this point and I went straight to frying. After chilled either fry them (10-12mins) or bake them (20mins)