Gail's Kitchen Review - Ice Cream Sandwich

After hearing so much about Gail's Kitchen I had pretty high expectations coming here and I was sadly left disappointed. The restaurant was very empty when it came to the end of our time there, but with no waitress to be seen we were left sitting there for about 45 minutes with no bill and no drinks left. The company was good, but 2 hours for 1 course and 1 drink was a bit extreme.

Source

Now on to something more positive. I'd heard so much about their Ice Cream Sandwish I just had to try it, and it was fantastic! Made with vanilla ice cream squashed between freshly baked brioche and drizzled with salted caramel sauce this tasted like heaven. I'm glad I just went for a dessert as it was like a meal in itself. The Berry Crush cocktail was also devine. 

The Reverend JW Simpson Review

This basement bar in London's Goodge Street retains its original wallpaper, tiles and flooring from its former occupant - Reverend JW Simpson. There's chipped paint, pealing wallpaper and even has a hidden toilet (if the bar wasn't hidden enough). 

In contrast to the walls, the seating is cosy lounge chairs and low tables with candles. When we arrived glasses of water and a bowl of nuts were added to the table. 

The East 8 Spritz (below) was my favourite cocktail (aperol, pineapple, passion fruit, lime and fizz), whereas my Applejack Rabbit was quite refreshing with grated cinnamon on top. I am crazy about passion fruit so I always jump at those drinks.

The toilets are communal, and a lot of people got lost looking for them. Tip: you've already walked passed it.

Image source: Rev JW Simpson and Bar/Lounge

Simply Irresistible Caramel Éclairs Recipe

Have you ever seen the 1999 film Simply Irresistible starring Sarah Michelle Gellar? If you have then I'm sure you'll remember the delectable caramel éclairs she makes. I recently saw the film again and have been craving these mouthwatering éclairs since. Having visited many patisseries and bakeries on the hunt for them with no such luck I decided to make them myself.

I've tried a few recipes and this is the one I've settled on for the time being - I'm still looking for a caramel topping! I topped a few of these with chocolate instead. I started by making the filling as I could do this the day before.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients
65g Cornstarch
200g granulated sugar
8 egg yolks
980ml milk
4 tbsp water
2 tbps vanilla extract

Method
1. Place the cornstarch and 100g sugar in a large bowl and mix together.

2. Add the egg yolks and mix until a paste is formed.

3. Stir in 245ml milk (a quarter of the total).

4. Place the other 100g sugar and the water in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until sugar turns a burnt amber.

5. Carefully pour in remaining milk and stir until smooth. Don't worry if the sugar hardens, it will melt again in the milk.

6. Stir in vanilla extract.

7. Bring mixture back to a simmer then pour it over the mixture in the bowl, whisking constantly.

8. Pour all back into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick.

10. Transfer to a bowl and cover with cling film touching the top of the cream to avoid a skin forming. I made this the day before, but you could just leave it to cool for a couple of hours before using it.

Choux Pastry

I used Delia's recipe for choux pastry and used my piping bag with a 1.5cm tip to create lines on baking parchment. I put them in the oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes, before turning it down to 180 for 5 minutes after pricking each éclair to let the steam out.

These tasted delicious, but I think Tom from the film puts it better: "But these are amazing.  The way it starts in your mouth and it just travels to your brain and then shoots down your spine and just explodes out of your toes!"

Sunday Munchies - Vietnamese Chicken Stir-fried with Ginger

I have spent about 8 hours today in the kitchen cooking meals and baking, which has been amazing as we don't have heating at the moment so it was the warmest room in the house! I made lunches for the week and a lasagne for week night dinners. For tonight I made a dish from my Vietnamese cookbook. I'm staying with my mum at the moment and she is ultra fussy with her foods, so I was really worried she wouldn't eat this - at least there was lasagne as backup - but she enjoyed it much to my delight. It looks quite plain, but it is full of flavour and I'll definitely be making this again.

This is really quick and easy to make. I marinated the chicken the day before and then grabbed it out the fridge and cooked it up in about 10 minutes, so it's perfect for those times when you're in a hurry.

Chicken Stir-fried with Ginger

Ingredients

2 tbsps fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
3/4 chicken breasts, cut into long thin strips
2 tbsps vegetable oil
2 tbsps finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsps finely chopped spring onion

Method

1. Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, honey, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

2. Add the chicken, and toss to coat with the seasonings. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes, or cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Heat the oil in a medium wok/pan over high heat until a bit of ginger sizzles when dropped in. Add the chicken and marinade and cook until the chicken is golden brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Add the ginger and toss well. Cook until the chicken is nicely browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

5. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with the green onions. I served this with rice but you could try it with noodles.

Christmas Nail Art

Christmas nail art is a great way to Christmassify your outfit. I love trying out new designs and I've started with the following two. I get a bit frustrated when I start designing with my left hand, and make such a mess of my right hand that I have to start again. Perhaps I should just paint the left hand and then do something simple on the right, what do you do?

I love this simple Christmas tree design. I don't have very steady hands so I used tape, and as you can see they're a bit wonky and uneven, but trees are so I think I can get away with it. I used a dotting tool for the red dots. The gold is the foil nail effects from Barry M and I adore it! I don't usually wear colours like that so it's nice to have an excuse to as it's a really nice polish to work with. 

Does anyone else love Shloer drinks? This is their white grape, cranberry, and raspberry and it's a great alternative to wine. The Christmassy PJs are from Primark. Back to the nails though, these are Santa outfit inspired from Kandee Johnson. These are very easy to do so they're perfect if you're just starting with nail art. She also has three other designs on that page so do check it out. 

As you can see this post has nothing to do with food, but as I don't have as much time to bake these days I thought I'd transform it in to a baking, cooking and crafts blog. I will have a big Christmas baking post soon as there's a bake off at work which I hope to enter. 

Gingerbread Christmas Trees

Christmas is fast approaching with only 22 days to go. I recently was sent the book Winter Wonderland and a Christmas tree cookie cutter by the wonderful author Belinda Jones and Hodder, so I had to make some biscuits to take in to work. I decided to go for gingerbread biscuits as I didn't have time to decorate sugar cookies. Don't they look lovely? I used this very easy recipe but excluded the cinnamon and added a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Ninjabread Men

Oh dear it really has been awhile! That's the one thing I hate about working full time with a long commute, I never have time to cook a proper meal or bake for the fun of it. I have really missed it. Yesterday though I was determined to make some cookies. One of my friends bought me ninja cookie cutters as a house warming gift when I moved in to this flat in July last year, and I have finally got around to using them. 

Aren't they cute? Or rather angry looking. I took these to work today and they got gobbled up. I also used a couple of them as a bribe but I won't go into that. Some funny biscuits are exactly what I needed during a stressful day at work. I used a simple recipe from BBC Food. Using cinnamon meant whenever I opened the lid off these today it made the room smell lovely.