Rolling with the brunches

Sunshine + weekend = only one thing, lazy brunches. Well, before Pimms in the park. And thanks to the lovely people at Heaver magazine I was out and about in the depths of sunny south west London reviewing brunches... how very well timed. Reviews to come with their summer issue but for now, in pictures...

Friday - Eggs Benedict

The French Cafe

16-18 Rittherdon Road
Balham

SW17 8QD

020 8767 2660
http://www.the-french-cafe.co.uk/

Saturday - A Classic fry-up with a twist

Doukan

350 Old York Road

Wandsworth

SW18 1SS

020 8870 8280

http://www.doukan.co.uk/

 

Sunday - The Fishy One

Schmidt's

2 Rookery Road

Clapham Common

SW4 9DD

020 7720 7787

http://www.schmidtsrestaurant.co.uk/

Feeling Moor-ish: Doukan restaurant review

Since moving to 'sarf' London with Choux Boy last month I've felt a bit lost with my dining options. No more Tas Firin, no more Muhib curry on Brick Lane, no more Viet-Ho on Kingsland Road. Ok, enough the 'East is best' hipster-pretence chat, I need to reset my default dining settings.

So with that in mind, and the fact that Choux Boy and I hadn't been on an actual 'date' since we moved in together, I dragged him off to new-ish Moroccan Doukan on Old York Road on Wednesday. The press release boasted: 'truly authentic Moroccan restaurant opened last month in leafy Wandsworth Town by culinary heavyweight Khalil Abdesslem, owner of Nomades Foods one of London's top suppliers of the finest Moroccan sauces and condiments.' My tummy was rumbling.

'Do you think I can have hummus?' I asked Choux Boy.

'Hummus isn't Moroccan.'

Told. Ok, my hummus-obsession got a mis-signal.

Hummus or not Doukan was pretty packed (always a good sign), and, we were told when we arrived, Channel 4's The F word were in filming (must be a good sign). Was that ok? Give me a menu and a glass of wine and I'm sure it will be fine. The clientele looked typically Wandsworthian - older couples and thirty-somethings with their babies. One of which was crying, right in my ear.

'See in East London there weren't any babies,' I hissed a Choux Boy.

'Oh, Filo she's just tired and hungry and irritable, like someone else I think...'

Fortunately our waitress appeared with my Moroccan white wine (when in Rome... it was called Ksar 2007 for any wine buffs - it was, ok) and the Boy's beer.

First up starter Halumi Maquli - lightly fried halloumi with fig chutney. The batter was perfectly just there and the halloumi a world away from the chewy teeth squeaking variety I've had so often. The fig chutney had a hint of Turkish delights to it that me and the Choux struggled to put our finger on - rose water? It was good.

Next up we did the classic half and half order of Chicken Mcharmel Tagine (aromatic chicken tagine in coriander, tomato and green olive sauce with couscous) and Kefta mechouia (grilled lamb kefta with fragrant shallot salad and couscous). Doukan is big on the authentic touches (and the menu says everything is made fresh on site), so my tagine came all roasty in a proper tagine dish. Both the chicken and the lamb were well cooked and tender and couscous very light and fluffy. The shallot salad was, well, just a salad and we never did manage to work out what that orange sauce was, but it did taste good.

Last up some Halwa Maghribia (assorted Moroccan pastries) tasty, goo-y and nutty. I even forgot about the lack of hummus.

Doukan

35 Old York Road

Wandsworth Town

London

SW18 1SW

020 8870 8280

http://www.doukan.co.uk/

Ooo part twooo: Ostrich

Moving on to the oo-travaganza round two and it was yet another new meat to our kitchen: ostrich. Now I’ve heard great things about this strange bird and it’s more and more in vogue in recent years, but still I had no idea what to expect: is it a bird, no it can’t fly, is it red meat, no it’s ostrich! And a riot of flavours to go along with it: bring it on! (My mother would be proud, once fussy eater reformed).
Serves 2
For the marinade:
Garlic clove crushed
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
½ preserved lemon, flesh only chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Pinch saffron threads
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

2 x 200g ostrich fillets
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 small parsnips
For the sauce:
125ml red wine
250ml chicken stock
75g pomegranate seeds
60g fresh raspberries
2tbsp Grenadine (we skipped this)
1 tbsp butter

Plus:
Green pea and artichoke mash
(Fry ½ onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves in butter, add 250g green peas, 250g canned artichoke hearts. Cook for 10mins. Add 125ml coconut cream, simmer for 20 mins, season, blend)
Herbed sweet potato mash
(Boil 500kg cubed sweet potato. Fry 1 crushed garlic clove then add ½ tsp oregano, ½ tbsp thyme, ½ tbsp coriander, ½ tbsp tarrogan, cook til fragrant. Mix in sweet potato, add 150ml milk, simmer for 10, season then mash, mash, mash.)
Garlic potato mash – normal mash with lots of lovely roasted garlic. Remember its ok as long you both eat it. Nice and wiffy.
It’s probably easiest to make these three first and then re-heat a bit.

For the ostrich – mix marinade ingredients and let the ostrich soak it up for 2 hours or so.
Heat butter, brown sugar and lemon juice in saucepan, til melted and dissolved. Bursh over parsnips and pop them in the oven at 200 degrees for 30mins, brush regularly with butter and sugar.
Take ostrich out the marinade and heat marinade over high heat until sizzling, add the wine and stock and reduce. Lower heat to add your fruit and cook for 5 mins. Let it cool down a bit before giving it a whiz in the blender. Strain with a fine sieve into a new saucepan and reduce for a further 5 and then cover to keep warm.
Fry the ostrich to taste – we had ours beautifully rare and tender.

On the plate, here’s the tricky bit for the full fine service look, top with each of the mashes in turn, in flavour, white, orange, green and steady hand arrange parsnips around the stack. Pour sauce around the base and voila. It’s very moor-ish (sorry). ‘Specially that green mash…