BBQ Shack, Worlds End Pub, London Road, Brighton, UK

Reviewed 05/08/2011
World's End pub, 60-61 London Road, Brighton (01273 275 757)

Well, I'd been hearing these rumours for a while, slowly I was building up this weird ' I wish I knew' crush for BBQ shack. I'd talk to total strangers about how 'I'd heard' they did these mouthwatering 18 hour slow cooked ribs. Homemade BBQ sauce. The best slaw this side of 'the pond'. It was getting desperate. The final blow, Jay Raynor from the gaurdian writes a review - I felt left out.

QUICK. The ques will be un heard of.

Well, nah, not really. BBQ shack run's out of the Worlds ends pub,  up London Road, you'd feel out of place with anything other than a flat shoe and even wearing a clean t-shirt felt like I was pushing it. But who cares. I'm in a pub. It's gonna be good and it's gonna be straight to the point, no prissiness's just really good meat, cooked to perfection.

Well. I was half right. The 18 hour slow cooked ribs, smoked over apple and hickory arrived and they were dam good, the meat fell off the bone with a little bite and they tasted sweet and sticky - but they arrived nearly an hour after my boyfriends dinner (pit smoked beef burger) did. So we ate separately except for the slaw when 3 arrived at once, each bland, in need salt. The dumb waiter broke down during service, but there was no compensation or words from the staff, they mostly just mumbled and tried to avoid eye contact, which leaves you feeling kinda of cheated. It's a shame because when these things happen you don't get a true indication of how good a place can really be and that moment when I bit that first bite of rib I knew something great was happening on my taste buds. I couldn't appreciate it though, and ended up just being glad to finish.

Maybe another time, eh.

Pea Soup w/ cumin toasted pumkin seeds and olive oil croutons

3 bowls of soup at a time is fine, right? 

Sweet Summer time Soup

I thought it being summer and all I would try a butterless soup, closer to a blitz broth, one that's cooked only briefly to maintain all the goodness and can be whipped up super quick for instant sunshine lunchtime treat.

5 sprigs of tymne

2 handfuls of fresh basil

2 cloves of garlic

2 bay leafs

1 carrot

2 big potatoes

3 cups of frozen peas

salt / pepper

1 tsp tahini

1 handful of pumkins seed

2 slices of crusy bread (broken into little bits)

3 tsp of cumin

Add all the soup ingredients to a large pot, fill it with 1 kettle full of boiling water. Add salt and peper, boil for 15mins (until potatoes are soft). Remove the carrot and the bay leaves. Blitz the soup a couple of ladel fulls at a time. Return to the heat and cook for a further 10mins. Turn on the grill, add the torn bread, pumpkin seeds, cumin, some salt and pepper - drizzle lots of olive oil over and grill untill golden. Adjust seasoning to soup and serve with a handful of the your crouton mix and some fresh basil or watercress on top.

Guinness Gingerbread Cake w / Ginger Whisky Crumble

A Whisk in the Mix

It doesn't take much to set me on a cake making agenda... a birthday is a better reason than most. This cake tastes like Christmas in a brewery, playful boozy and syrupy with a heady lift from the stout. Easy too, just keep adding to the pot whisking in as you go - my exuberance to get it done quick broke the whisk in two - but somehow this made me think to add some whisky to the mix - crumble on top?? Yes please.

Ginness Gingerbread (Originated from Nigella Lawson)
200g dark brown muscovado sugar
160g salted butter
3tsp ground ginger
3tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
320ml Guinness

300ml golden syrup

300g plain flour
2 tsp bicarb of soda

2eggs
300ml sour cream

Whisky Crumble (makes more than you need)
2 handfuls plain flour
40g caster sugar

2tsp of ground ginger
40mls of whisky (or so)
100g butter

Grease a cake tin. Pre-heat the over to gas mark 3. Place the sugar, butter, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, Guinness and syrup in a pan and heat gently. When melted, add the bicardonate of soda to the flour and gradually whisk in to the batter. When combined, whisk the eggs and the sour cream together. Whisk into the batter. Pour batter into cake tin, put in over for 45mins. Make the crumble. Combine flour, sugar, ginger. Add the whisky to and rub it into the flour with finger tips. Add the cold butter and rub into the flour mix. After 35mins sprinkle on top of the cake (really quickly, open oven door, sprinkle over cake). After about 10mins remove from oven (you can grill for a few mins to make the crumble more golden on top.

Chocolate and Cookie dough tart

It's begun - my friends are getting married

Biscuit, darkest chocolate and flaky buttery pasty. This combo is about as perfect as my friends chip and Sam. This pastry recipe is fail safe - replace the icing sugar with a little extra flour and some salt to make it savoury. Yes, it's totally labour intensive, but the end result is magic - so take your time and enjoy learning the routine. Adding the cookie dough gives a new dimension and the added butter to the chocolate mix creates a kinda brownie ganache, equally the goldenness of the flaky pastry and cookie dough crumble against rich dark chocolate depth looks so pretty.

Sweet pastry1/1/4 cup of strong white bread flour
20g icing sugar
200g salted butter
1/4 cup ice water
2 tbl sp lemon juice

Chocolate Filling
300ml whipping cream
300g dark chocolate (broken up into cubes)
2 eggs (1 full egg and 1 egg yolk)
100g butter

Cookie dough 
I didn't follow Dan Lepard's but I trust it more than mine - I'll get mine right eventually

Dan Lepard'sDan Lepard's all purpose cookie dough recipe

Pastry: Freeze flour and butter for one hour. Add the icing sugar to the flour - giving that sweetness to the pastry that this treat craves. Then cut the butter up into cubes and gradually work into the flour. Mix up your sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the crumbly flour / 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 of them together in your hand, just until joined. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 1 hour. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees. Roll your pastry out. Lightly flour a spring based tart tin / or a baking tray - add the pastry. Place in the fridge to chill for 30minutes.

Chocolate Part: Scald the whipping cream in a pan then remove from heat and add the broken up chocolate. When melted, add the butter and put back on the heat for a few seconds. Melt. Whip up the eggs, add some chocolate mix to them to temper them - then add choc egg mix back to main pan.

When the rolled out tart is chilled - make a tin foil ring that reaches to the sides of the tart (or use baking beans) and prick all over with a fork and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven (turn heat up to 180 degree). Add lumps of cookie dough and pour over the chocolate part - top with more cookie dough and BAKE 15-20mins until it only wobbles in the middle.

Nothing worse than dry falafal

Baked falafal's w/ zingy lime and pea yogurt

Food at Glastonbury is always on power with the music, but the falafal could have done with a kick and a tad more moisture, to save you having to smother your pitta with mayo (although this is still always a good call). These are are such little beauties to make, you feel that lovely transformation - I have created - magic happened - feeling and who'd a thought pea and lime went so darn well together (I heard once that if foods are the same colour - risk it - nearly always a success).

Falafels
1 400g tin of chickpeas
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
4 tsp cumin
handful of flat leaf parsley
handful of coriander
1 chilli (seeds and all)
3-4 tbsp veg oil
1 egg
some breadcrumbs
lots of salt and pepper
spoonful of tahini

Lime and Pea Yogurt
Some half fat creme fraiche
juice of 1 1/2 limes
200g garden peas (cooked in hot water for 2 mins)
1 tsp salt

Add all the falafal mix to blender and blitz. Leave in the fridge for 2 hours. Pre-heat oven to 230 degrees / add some oil to baking tray. Take little handfuls of the falafal mix and roll into little balls (makes about 16-20) - put falafals on hot baking tray and bake for 15-20 mins (until golden). Meanwhile, add all the lime and pea yogurt ingredients and blitz - adjust ingredients to taste and wait for your falafels to cook. Serve with pitta pockets, maybe some beetroot chutney / hot sauce / salad.

I cant speak, so I'll cook

Cumin salted chickpeas w/ sweet neon beetroot dip

Well my best contribution to a conversation seems to be 'uha!' or 'heunm?' (freaky lip cut has made most of my diction sound unrecognisable) - so might as well relocate to the kitchen. Smokey cumin, sticking to a hot pan giving off the air of a late night Moroccan carnival, fire in heaps of pomegranate seeds, that give sweet little rose water notes of freshness and then.. scoop it up with some crusty bread and creamed beetroot and you've got yourself this lovely little mezze selection that feels totally fresh and summery.

Cumin Salted Chickpeas
4 tbsp cumin
lots of salt
1 400g chickpeas (drained)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1/2 pomegranate (the seeds)
1 lemon (juice)
100g chorizo
handful of flat leaf parsley

Sweet neon pink beetroot dip
5 beetroots (pre-cooked)
5 tblsp cream fraiche
1 clove of garlic
2 chilli's
1 tbsp tahini
splash of balsamic vinegar
drizzle of olive oil

Make the dip. Combine all the ingredients and blitz until it's a smooth mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat some oil in a pan,  add the cumin and salt, don't mix, after 1 min, add the chickpeas, mix a little, leave for a min or two, add the garlic and a little more cumin. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Leave it for a few mins, it will start to smoke. Add the chorizo and the pomegranate seeds. Then toss a few times and serve with the dip and come crusty bread.

Squash Mondays (eating not excerising)

Roasted Butternut squash and sweet greens Thai curry

Feeling all inspired from Micky B's sausage casserole, some nutritious hot pot had to emerge after 2 weeks of crumpets and taco chips. Basic Thai green curry recipe, but sweet and garlicky thanks to slow roasted squash, and heavy with vegetables and chilli's, so you can feel all green and superfooded at the start of the week with bikram yoga style heat from your forehead - with 'oh yeah' feelings instead of 'omg nothing is worth this'.

1 butternut squash (halved, drizzled with olive oil, lots of salt covered w / ginger & garlic and roasted on gas mark 4 for 1 hour, plus twenty Min's on gas mark 2)

Vegetables
1 packet (300g) of mixed green (runner beans/broccoli/sugar snaps)
2 handfuls of mushrooms (sliced)
Any other vegetables you feel like popping in

Curry Paste

2 onions (finely chopped)
6 hot green chilli's
3 cloves of garlic
2 inches of fresh ginger
2 spring onions
2 tsp of palm sugar (or 1 of Castor)
big big handful of fresh coriander (and 1 of basil if you have it)
1 tblsp of fish sauce

1 tbsp dark soy

2 tblsp light soy
1 stalk of lemongrass
juice of 1 lemon or lime

1 tin coconut milk
1 tin of water

Roast your butternut squash. Fly the onions in a little oil in a big pan, for a couple of mins. Then add all the curry paste ingredients except coconut milk & water. After 5mins, add the coconut milk and water. Add the sliced mushrooms. Let cook for a 10-15mins, then add the roasted butter nut squash all chopped up. Add the greens and put the lid on the pan. They will steam cook. After about 5-6mins it's ready.