MPM: 24th October 2016

It's D's birthday week!

On Sunday, the big day, we are off to Whitby. We will walk to the end of both piers and visit the arcades, play pool and lunch on fish and chips which sounds like a pretty idyllic time to me. A bit less high-end than some previous years but given that we will be hitting a three Michelin star establishment when we visit Paris in November, I think we (and our wallets) will cope. Saturday, or Birthday Eve, we're seeing my parents for lunch so nothing planned dinner-wise, but seeing that M&S have started bringing out their Christmas party range, I think that something nibbly will do the trick.

On Thursday we are doing something unusual - cooking a dish for the second week in a row. It's just that good - when pressed to come up with things to eat this week, it was all we could come up with! On Friday, a new recipe from a lovely new book by the fearsome, but undoubtedly talented, Ms Monica Galetti.

Elsewhere:

Monday: Moules Marinieres

Tuesday: filled pasta tossed in butter, black pepper and Parmesan

Wednesday: soooooooooooooup

Thursday: Vietnamese style braised pork

Friday: chicken tartiflette (from Monica Galetti's new book, "The Skills")

Hana Matsuri, Meanwood

Meanwood, a suburb to the North of Leeds, has been undergoing something of a middle-classifying since Waitrose opened a branch here several years ago. The latest indication? A tiny little sushi restaurant, just seven covers strong, has popped up on the high street and it is ASTONISHINGLY good.

Never having been to Japan (although I've visited plenty of Yo! Sushis in my time) it is obviously hard for me to judge the level of authenticity myself. Fortunately, when we visited the other week we were seated next to a lovely Canadian lady who had lived in Japan for a number of years who informed us that it was spot on - and then blew our little socks off by praising the chef in Japanese.

We ordered a platter of sashimi and a platter of sushi so we could try a good range of items. The freshness and quality of the fish was amazing - sweet and cool and buttery textured. We asked, hopefully, whether it was sourced locally but sadly not (they get it from a specialist supplier in London).

The platters would have been more than enough but, fired with enthusiasm we, er, ordered more. Chicken wings - hot, sour, crispy, addictively good. I am a massive fan of the confit chicken wing recipe in David Chang's "Momofuku" book and these were very similar. Silence reigned as we inhaled these, wistfully sucking the bones when they were gone like the middle class cavemen we are. A soft shell crab roll was similarly well received.

All this incredible bounty came in at just over £60 - good value to my mind, considering the quality of the produce (and the fact that we were utterly bowled over). I know raw fish is not for everyone - my mother, for example, can't stomach the stuff - but for those who love it (and I think it is hard to be ambivalent) this is such an exciting addition to our little local scene. It doesn't have an alcohol licence currently but there's a great bar a couple of doors down for a pre or post sushi tipple and, quite frankly, when your mouth isn't full of food it will likely be occupied in rhapsody.

Book review: "The North Yorkshire Cook Book"

A shamefully long time ago, on arriving back from our Scottish trip, this was waiting on my doorstep.

Not literally, you understand, Postie had managed to get it through the letterbox. But what better way to celebrate being back in Yorkshire than by reading about its lovely food?

The recipes contained within its pages have been provided by restaurants and specialist food shops from across the region (a full directory is included in the back). Because these venues range from high end dining to smaller cafes and delis, so too do the recipes vary massively in style. Personally, I like that - the book is a treasure trove of unexpected delights - but those who prefer their recipes books to focus on one particular ingredient or style may not be so keen.

Some of the places featured in the book are well loved haunts of ours: Norse, in Harrogate, have submitted a delicious sounding mackerel tartare recipe, while Rafi's, the spice shop that we used to frequent in our York days, offer up an intriguing Moghul style roast lamb dish that I'm very keen to try. There are also some nice bakes to be found - the Ye Olde Sun Inn bread flavoured with honey is definitely on my to-make list.

Some of the recipes are for restaurant style dishes (presumably because they have been written by, er, restaurants) and thus not for everyday - the plate of Yorkshire pork designed by Guisborough Hall sounds amazing but is not something that I'm going to knock out for a weeknight supper (although it would be perfect for a posh Sunday lunch party). Again, I like that - I'm a confident cook and not averse to spending a bit of time in the kitchen for something truly special, but it won't be for everybody.

What's really lovely about this book is that it shines a spotlight on some really special little corners of North Yorkshire - most of the recipes come with a little introductory page with some history and information about the venues which is a nice touch, as are the lovely accompanying photographs. If you were a foodie paying a visit to York or Malton, the directory would give you a pretty good idea of the places to check out (assuming you are like us and basically spend your holidays lurching from meal to snack to meal).

As a celebration of our little corner of the world, this is an absolute treasure of a book. It costs just 14.95 of your English pounds and can be found on Amazon - so you don't even have to come up to North Yorkshire to buy it, although who wouldn't want to visit this most beautiful part of the world? And, to whet your tastebuds still further, I hope to be sharing a recipe from the book with you in the next week or so (assuming I pull my increasingly lazy blogging finger out). Stay tuned!

(PS I was sent a free copy of this book to review. You know the drill - yes, I like free stuff but I try and be honest because if I can't be honest with you, dear blog readers then with whom can I be?)

MPM: 17th October 2016

We've just booked ourselves a long weekend in Paris in November and I could not be more excited. It's been ages since I last visited. We fly out the day after I sit my last (touch wood!) exam, and after a frankly horribilus of a annus, I can't wait to soak up some good food and wine and culture - but mostly food.

With my thoughts full of crisp baguettes, ripe, glistening cheeses and scented cassoulets, this week's meal plan seems a little pedestrian but we'll make it work!

The eagle eyed may notice pork making two guest appearances - both dishes using leftovers from yesterday's roast. I am always surprised by how much I enjoy a pork roast - in my mind it is the poor relation of the chicken or the lamb but on the plate it always delivers.

We are out Friday and Saturday (I know! A social life!) and Sunday has yet to be planned (after two nights out we will probably be good for nothing except beans on toast on the sofa). So, for the remaining evenings:

Monday: creamy smoked salmon tagliatelle

Tuesday: cold roast pork, taleggio stuffed onions, salad with honey mustard dressing

Wednesday: soup night

Thursday: Vietnamese style braised pork with egg fried rice

No direction

For the past few weeks, this blog has been little more than a series of meal plans which, while clearly an important part of social history to be preserved for future generations, hardly makes for riveting reading.

And I was out with my Mum yesterday afternoon and she asked me when the blog would go back to being about Weight Watchers. To which I replied, it won't because Smart Points kind of killed off Weight Watchers for me. The trouble is, I have yet to embrace a viable alternative.

One option is, of course, just to admit final defeat but when I really think about it, I don't want to. I talk a good talk about embracing self acceptance, and I'm certainly past making weight a moral issue, but I would be happier smaller. I'm not even talking small-small, just small enough to be healthy and unremarkable. But I feel like I have used up every ounce of dieting mojo allotted to me. Dieting is SO BORING. It is so much effort and so joyless.

I must admit, I've wondered about going down the VLCD route - a few months of Lighter Life or Cambridge to remove food from the equation and just get some pounds off but, ugh. Joyless to the power ten. Plus, I don't know if my marriage would survive.

It's all most irritating. But, while I continue to thrash around on the horns of my oh-so-first-world dilemma, I promise to make a more concerted effort to blog. I've got some excellent sushi to tell you about and a book to review just for starters, plus tomorrow's meal plan which I know is awaited with baited breath...

MPM: 10th October 2016

Ugh, I don't understand where the weeks go. I'm sure it was only yesterday that I was writing up last week's meal plan and yet...here we are, Sunday night, Countryfile on the tellybox and time for another MPM post. If, in the meantime, I was out having adventures then fine but nope, life is quiet. I like quiet but I begin to wonder if I'm a little bit too attached to my spot on the sofa.

Five meals planned for this week; on Tuesday, D and I are going out to try a new local sushi joint. It looks authentic to my entirely untrained eye. And on Friday I am out for girlie cocktails. I have recently discovered the Porn Star martini - unfortunately named but an utterly addictive, sour sweet mix of passion fruit and vanilla.

Otherwise:

Monday: spaghetti carbonara

Wednesday: slow cooked beef stew with a pillowy pile of mash - I'm thinking of trying a recipe from Nigella's "How to Eat" which flavours it with thyme and anchovies.

Thursday: soup

Saturday: lemon sole with brown shrimp butter - an old favourite that D wants to revisit and, possibly, sex up a little bit.

Sunday: roast (pork?), bacon and herb stuffing, taleggio stuffed onions and greens.

YUM.

MPM: 3rd October 2016

It's hard to believe that we are entering the final quarter of the year. Colour me shocked.

Still, these last few months are often the very nicest. I love the cooler weather, the dark nights and the crisp, pale mornings. Plus, both D and I have birthdays coming up before the end of the year.

The freezer is, finally, nearly empty. It's only taken, what - three or four months? But defrosting can now proceed and, once that is out of the way, restocking - which is far more exciting. We've been trying to work out what our freezer staples should be - chilli and corned beef for sure, perhaps fish pie? Not to mention pizza dough and sauce the presence of which should dissuade us from making too much use of the takeaway.

So, this week's menu plan:

Monday: fish cakes with herb remoulade and dill potatoes (from "The Scandinavian Cookbook" by Trine Hahnemann)

Tuesday: leftover lamb biryani

Wednesday: lemongrass and turmeric chicken filo parcels 

Thursday: soup night

Saturday: Goan fish curry

Sunday: some sort of roast

There is definitely a spicy sort of slant to the week but I have no issues with that! D is out and about on Friday so I will most likely be pricking and pinging some form of pasta. Or making cheese on toast. Hurrah for cheese on toast!

Whatever you are up to, have a fabulous week of cooking and eating - and if you have any ideas as to what we should be getting for the freezer then do, please, share.