september: what i ate

Sticky Toffee Pudding at The Barking Dog

Once in a while, when I feel like having a treat, I pop into The Barking Dog. C and I had a wonderful meal a few weeks ago and topped it off with their delicious Sticky Toffee Pudding. The portion was small, but it was just nice after a two-course meal. I do wish that their serving of the honey-flavoured ice cream was more generous though.

Roasted aubergine risotto from Canteen at The MAC

Canteen at The MAC is one of my favourite places to have lunch. Mainly because they don't open for dinner, unless there is a show on. They also do a lovely brunch. And they change their menu every season, so there's always something to look forward to. I had their roasted aubergine risotto over the weekend and it was delectable. The amount of cheese was just right. Pleased as punch.

Home made sumo nabe

 I've really been in the mood for miso-based soup this month and have made the sumo nabe (chanko nabe) many times. You can get the recipe here; almost all of the ingredients are available in asian supermarkets.

Alton Brown's garden vegetable soup

If you're in the mood for a different kind of soup, try Alton Brown's garden vegetable soup. Easy to make in a pinch and very tasty. I usually skip frying up some of the hard vegetables first but I do add in a bit of EVOO for a stronger flavour.

august roundup: what i ate

okonomiyaki

onigiri

okayu

i did not make this: eggs royale

Just a few things I've been making over and over again in August. Except for the Eggs Royale from Canteen at The Mac, which was really good. I think Canteen is really underrated and needs more love. I've enjoyed my food, every time I'm there.

Make Okonomiyaki with Cooking with Dog. Onigiri and Okayu recipes are easy enough to google.

That's all folks!

what have you eaten lately?

Even though I went home for 10 days recently, I feel like I didn't get to eat everything that I wanted on my list. So I've been trying my hand at trying Asian dishes.

pimping my instant noodles, trying to pretend it's ramen, haha

salmon miso soup, recipe here

laksa from prima taste la mian

ok, i didn't make this. i got this bak zhang from Lee Foods (donegall pass)

inside a bak zhang

bak kat teh!

this week in food porn

Tesco's "Finest" range recently undergone a revamp and it's looking a lot more like food you can pick up from M&S. I tried the Spiced Carrot Cake and was surprised at how tasty and moist it was.

I also slept in on Saturday and had breakfast for lunch. I've been baking eggs instead of frying them. Not because I thought it would be healthier, but so I don't have to clean up the mess of frying them.

so this is what i've been cooking

Since moving to Belfast, I'm amazed by the fresh produce I can get easily. So I've started cooking again because: 1) I've got a lot of time on my hands, and 2) I got tired of eating microwavable dinners.

I'm not entirely sure if it is cheaper to cook from scratch or to buy pre-cooked meals. I really think it depends on what you get, and what you do with it. So here's a sample of some of the dishes that I really loved making in the last couple of weeks.

I love the broccoli you can get here. I usually season with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and pop it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes and it's good to go!

Here again you see my obsession with broccoli. I got this recipe off Nando's website. After cooking, I drizzle it with Nando's Garlic and Herb sauce. Yum!

One of the foods that I miss eating is Asian-style seafood soup. It's usually seafood cooked in a broth with Chinese vegetables. I found this great recipe on the Eating Well website that kind of mimics what I can get back home.

I whipped up this warm salad when I had leftover smoked salmon. I found a great recipe from the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation's website. Really tasty stuff.

More on smoked salmon! Found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website. This is really easy to make. All you need is bread, smoked salmon and an egg. Great for an easy, posh weekend breakfast.