Monthly Archives: October 2010

A week of Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals – spinach and feta pie

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We recently purchased Jamie Oliver’s new book – Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals – and this week we’ve been trying out some of the recipes. I haven’t been home to watch the TV show but you can get some of the recipes at the Channel 4 website, or you could just buy the book.

The idea behind 30 Minute Meals is to cook a whole meal in 30 minutes – not just one dish. While I love this idea for when we have guests over, it isn’t practical on an every night basis. So far out of the four meals we’ve made, we haven’t actually made a whole meal, just the main dish and the sides. If you’re not making the whole meal it can be confusing with your timings as the recipes are laid out in stages, and don’t always include times because you’re meant to be cooking the whole meal. Apart from this, the recipes are incredibly easy to follow and you really can do them in 30 minutes, you don’t need to be fast or get flustered while cooking to do it either.

The spinach and feta pie really appealed to me and it was dead easy to make, but in a genius kind of way. It was really so easy, and looked so beautiful when it was cooked – this would be the perfect thing to cook for guests as it seems like the kind of dish that is a lot more work than it actually is. It’s also creative in its use of just one pan to make the whole thing so there’s not even a lot of cleaning up involved.

The complete meal serves 4-6 people – the other components of the dish are a cucumber salad, tomato salad and coated icecream. The pie is surprisingly filling and we ate only a 1/3rd of it between the two of us so I have no doubt this meal could serve 6 with the extras.

This was a creamy, rich and oozy pie and adding the cayenne pepper to the filo pastry gave it a really nice zingyness to the outside. The contrast of the crispy, buttery filo and the filling of the pie meant it was never too heavy or boring. I loved this pie and can’t wait to tuck into the leftovers for lunch today!

Barbarossa Restaurant, Cathcart

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I’d always wanted to try Barbarossa after passing it so many times through Cathcart station. We decided to head there with a group of friends for Sunday lunch – enticed by their lunch special of 3 courses for £13.50 (some dishes attracting a supplement).

Barbarossa is a impressive looking building in Cathcart – lots of dark wood, lots of stairs and hidden corners for dining. I like that it isn’t just one big open space and makes for an interesting restaurant to explore. We ate in the restaurant area but they also have a wine bar downstairs to dine in – we are definitely going back soon to try it.

I started with the smoked salmon and king prawn salad with marie rose sauce. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it in the blog before, but an Australian’s definition of a king prawn and a Scottish king prawn are two very different things! Despite the size of the prawns, this was a really enjoyable, light starter and the flavours were balanced really well with not too much sauce but a generous serving of salmon.

Graeme had the pasta special – spaghetti with beef and Parmesan meatballs. For an entrée, this was a good sized dish and packed a lot of flavour into the sauce, without being overly rich.  The meatballs were also excellent – obviously handmade, and distinctive enough to compliment the pasta.

This dish hasn’t photographed too well! This was my main – artichoke ravioli with cherry tomatoes and asparagus. I thought perhaps this was a bit light on asparagus (there was maybe one or two chopped up stalks in the sauce) but the ravioli was silky and delicate and worked really well with the artichoke and ricotta filling.

Graeme’s main was pan fried pork medallions. I didn’t try too much of this but the pork wasn’t overly soft like I was expecting, although the overall flavour was delicious.  The sauce worked well with the pork, as did the accompanying vegetables, and the pork had been well seasoned, with pepper dominating nicely.

We both went for the same dessert which is really unusual for us! I would have tried the cheese platter but it had too many creamy cheeses on it for my liking, so we went for the chocolate and orange pudding. This was a nice dessert with segments of orange and chocolate sponge at the base.

Some things we really liked about Barbarossa – for our friends with a child, they asked when we booked if she needed a high chair (I learnt a child of nearly 5 does not need a high chair!); and then they checked whether she would like her main meal with starters or mains, which her parents really appreciated. The service was really good here, the staff were all very friendly and attentive, and when it came to ordering desserts they even told us how many portions of each dessert were left so that we could organise it between ourselves, which was really helpful. Even though I wouldn’t say the food amazed me, it was a good solid meal and I would be glad to go back to try the wine bar again soon.

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Eat Deli, Clarkston

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What I really loved when I lived in Melbourne was going out for a late breakfast or lunch along Carlisle Street or Chapel Street. It was almost a weekly ritual to catch up with friends for a debrief over death benedict (eggs benedict served on hashbrowns). I haven’t really found similar places in Glasgow but perhaps I am looking in the wrong areas (so recommendations are appreciated!).

I popped into Eat Deli in Clarkston the other day for a late lunch. I was on my own so I wasn’t looking for anything over the top, but I was starving and needed something uplifting. Eat Deli is always packed on the weekend, so I was glad to be able to get a seat at the window on a weekday afternoon (which is so good for people watching). I had a while to kill, luckily, as it took them a while to get around to taking my order. I had French Toast with fruit.

French toast with fresh fruit drizzled with maple syrup – £6.95
An incredibly generous portion that I think would have happily served two people. I, of course, ate it all on my own. While I feel that £6.95 is very steep for French toast and fruit, I couldn’t find fault with this at all. It was absolutely perfect, the fruit was so fresh and succulent, the toast was cooked perfectly and there was just the right amount of syrup and sugar. A really lovely afternoon pick-me-up. I also loved being able to bask in the sunshine in the window seating (such a rarity in Glasgow I’ve discovered). 
I really enjoy Eat Deli, I just wish it wasn’t so popular so that we could eat there more often on the weekends. 

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