Month: February 2013

Dinner at Brasserie Zédel

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It was actually in December that I paid Brasserie Zédel, one of the new restaurants from the team behind The Wolseley, a visit. By then it had been open for a few months and so popular you wouldn’t be able to get a table without a reservation. Much like their other two restaurants, The Delaunay (The Aldwych) and Colbert (Sloane Square) that opened around the same time.

A big expansion it seems, but it also seems to work. Especially Brasserie Zédel, at the heart of buzzing Piccadilly and the Chelsea-based Colbert the prices are kept low but the food is just as excellent as the brilliant service.

The French onion soup we both enjoyed as a starter was very nice and came in a generous bowl. As a maincouse my dining companion had fillet of bream with and olive and onion compote and lentils and I thoroughly enjoyed my rare onglet with red wine jus and chips.

 

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I think The Wolseley will always have a special place in my heart having eaten there at several occadions, but Brasserie Zédel is close. The food is similar French dishes but at lower prices. The service is just as perfect as the original and the decor is of similar art deco style, but the ambiance is slightly different since it is in a basement.

All in all I see this as a more lighthearted and younger version of the original with the buzzing bar just next door. And it is about time Piccadilly Circus saw some glamour.

 

Brasserie Zédel

 

20 Sherwood Street

 

London W1F 7ED

 

Chocolate and fudge cake with salted toasted hazelnuts

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Even though December was _pretty_ hectic I still managed to bake cakes for the office, like I do every month. It was rather helpful, though that my colleagues whose birthday we celebrated chose cakes I had made before; Key Lime Pie and Victoria Sponge. So I only tried one new recipe, and a really good one actually, that I have been meaning to try the last ten years or so… It is from a recipe folder from Dansukker, a Danish sugar manufacturer that took over the Swedish market some time ago.

The cake (or pie even) consists of three yummy layers; chocolate cookie crumbs with butter and icing sugar as the base, a fudge layer and chocolate topping. Delicious!

As most Swedish cakes it was suggested to serve this with whipped cream, which I find completely unnecessary. Instead I opted for toasted salted hazelnuts as a contrast.

Chocolate and fudge cake with salted toasted hazelnuts, serves 8

Adapted from Dansukker’s recipe.

Base:

75 g butter

50 ml icing sugar

1 tbsp cocoa 

200 g crushed chocolate cookies (Maryland for example)

Fudge layer:

400 ml sweetened condensed milk

75 g butter

50 ml caster sugar

Chocolate topping :

200 g chopped dark chocolate

150 ml double cream

2 tbsp caster sugar

40 g butter

Decoration:

75 g hazelnuts

2 pinches sea salt

Melt butter, icing sugar and cocoa in a saucepan. Mix with the crushed cookies. Press onto a baking tray and put in the fridge. 

Mix the fudge ingredients in a saucepan and boil until it has thickened, about 6 minutes. Chill slightly before pouring into the tin. Put the tin back in the fridge to set.  

Mix the chocolate layer ingredients in a saucepan and melt on low heat. Leave to cool a bit before pouring into the tin as a top layer. Let it set in the fridge. 

Toast the nuts in a hot fry frying pan. Leave to cool and chop coarsely. Mix with the salt and scatter on top of the now set cake just before serving.

Tortilla pizza with salami and mozzarella

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The days you lack energy usually coincide with the days you need a little comfort food, don’t they?!

You know which days I am referring to. The days that feel longer than a week, when one is feeling unwell or hangover (or both!) and is incredibly tired. Those days when one can’t help to feel a little sorry for oneself.

Last time this happened to me, I rustled up these darlings from what I had at hand in my fridge and freezer. (I always store soft tortillas in the freezer, that way a quesadilla is only just a few minutes away).

These ‘pizzas’ are so simple I am almost ashamed to blog about them, but let’s be honest, these everyday things are probably more useful  for you than the time consuming and difficult recipes I post.

So, place some frozen flour tortillas on a baking sheet. Slather with creme fraiche and top with salami slices. Break a ball (or two – one can never have too much cheese) of buffalo mozzarella into pieces and scatter on the pizzas. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake in 200-220C until bubbly, crispy and golden (about 5-10 minutes).