Welcome to Issue #23

I'm playing catch up this week as I tell you about all the new foody things from earlier in January. Buckle up because we've got a top 100 pizza restaurant, a local Japanese lunch out and three new home-cooked recipes.

Food

At the back end of last year my friend sent a link to an article which features the 100 best pizzerias in the world, four of which are based in London. As part of the theatre outing from last week's issue, we took the opportunity to try the #15 ranked pizzeria, 50 Kalo.

The restaurant is situated just off Trafalgar Square and is certainly popular. We did book a table but given how quick everything moves I suspect we wouldn't have had a wait if we had walked in.

Small tables with wooden chairs are crammed into every inch of the relatively limited space, which doesn't give it the most luxurious of feels, but that's ok; it works for pizza and you aren't there for long. Waiters are busying around taking orders, delivering fresh pizza to the tables and clearing away. It's a slick operation but it doesn't go unnoticed.

The taste of the pizza is why we're all here though and it was reeeeeeal good. I wouldn't go as far as 'best pizza I've ever tasted' territory, but it wasn't far off. If you have a look at their website there's a big emphasis on their unique extremely hydrated dough and on the quality of ingredients used. I have to say the base was the best part. Doughy and crispy perfection! The tomato sauce came a close second.

I chose the 'Del Monaco DOP' pizza which had salami from Southern Italy and two types of cheese, including the 'Provolone Del Monaco DOP Cheese'. Although the taste of these cheeses were both lovely, I believe it was this one which had a slightly rubbery texture.

In spite of this I still thoroughly enjoyed it, ate every crumb of what was a pretty large pizza and would go back in a heartbeat to try another off their menu. Prices start at £8 for their marinara but are typically around £14-16. It's not cheap but well worth it for the quality of ingredients as well as the location.

Rating: 8.5/10

One local restaurant we find ourselves going to again and again is Zushi. It's one of the few Japanese restaurants in the area and luckily for us the quality is consistently excellent. I would estimate that we've been 10+ times in the last couple of years and we've never had a bad meal. Service is always friendly and the food arrives promptly regardless of how busy they are.

Last weekend we decided to go and both selected a bento box from their lunch menu. I had the teriyaki chicken which comes with tempura prawns, edamame and miso soup. We also ordered some salmon and avocado uramaki from the main menu as it's my all time fave.

It came to around £40 for the two of us which isn't particularly cheap for a lunch, but it's a generous portion and neither of us needed much for dinner. It's funny how £40 for dinner seems cheap but the same meal at lunch feels expensive. Is that just me?

Rating: 8/10

I'm not sure whether this was put through our letterbox, or my partner grabbed it on a shopping trip, but an Aldi magazine appeared on our kitchen table and apparently they print recipes. The issue in our house features a cauliflower curry and a couple of weeks ago I gave it a try and it was surprisingly good.

I've had a google and the recipe can be found on Aldi's website so I won't write it out here, but can say it's very quick (ready in 30 minutes), has already been cooked a second time since and is likely to become a regular in our household.

I actually cooked it without the coconut milk as my partner isn't a fan of creamy curries. It still worked well, you just might need to add some more chopped tomatoes to stop it drying out.

I wrote about the chili con carne I like to make in Issue 14 and mentioned that I've made it as a vegan chili in the past. I did the same again last week in a massive batch which we've been able to have with tortilla chips, rice, wraps, etc. Half of it ended up getting frozen and will make for a few more tasty meals in the coming weeks when we can't be arsed to cook.

I stand by what I said that I struggle to taste the difference between the beef and Quorn version. It comes out really rich and tasty either way.

I made a strange meal one night of bun-less lamb burgers, roast potatoes, mint sauce and gravy. I'd had actual lamb burgers the night before and needed to use up the rest of the 4-pack as it had already been defrosted. This meal itself wasn't much to write home about but the roast potatoes came out so tasty (same method as Christmas dinner potatoes) and having cooked enough to feed a family of four, I had leftovers.

So with no plans for one of my lunches this week I decided to put these leftover potatoes to use and make a Spanish chicken and potato dish. I'm calling it Spanish after the fact because the flavour profile reminded me so much of the tapas I ate while living in Granada, but it was simply a happy coincidence after I seasoned it with plenty of paprika, garlic and rosemary.

• Roughly chop one small red onion. Cut a chicken thigh into bite sized pieces.

• Fry the chicken in a little oil until browned on all sides. Add the onion and stir occasionally to avoid burning.

• Add half a teaspoon of garlic powder and paprika and continue stirring for a couple more minutes.

• Pull apart the leftover roast potatoes into bite sized pieces and add to the pan. If they were cooked with rosemary, you won't need to add any more, otherwise add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, or half a teaspoon of dried.

• When you're happy that the potatoes are warmed and the chicken is cooked through, add a couple of tablespoons of cream cheese and allow it to melt into the mixture, stirring gently to avoid breaking apart the potatoes.

• Serve immediately.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo, probably because it's not the most photogenic of dishes, but it packs a punch. On reflection adding some red peppers would be a good addition, but I really enjoyed it regardless and ended up cooking the exact same thing for lunch the following day.

Sign Off

If you aren't already subscribed, click the button below for access to every back issue of Flavour of the Week. You can also pop your email in to get it sent straight to your inbox.

If you are already subscribed and have any feedback, you can get in touch by replying to this email and I hope to see you again for next week’s newsletter.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Adam