Chilli Crab Noodles

These Chilli Crab Noodles are utterly delicious, really quick and easy to make and pack a fiery chilli punch.

I have recently started Slimming World, and in case anyone else follows that diet, the entire dish is only 2.5 syns for the sesame oil and Sriracha making it less than 1.5 syns per serving. 

I really like the heat of x2 red chillies, but if heat isn't your thing reduce to one, or take out entirely. I also add fresh coriander which I adore, right at the end, but if you're not keen on the flavour of coriander you could try mint or basil instead.

The below serves two. 

Chilli Crab Noodles

Here's how:

• 200g white crab meat (fresh or tinned is fine)
• 1 garlic clove
• 3cm piece of fresh ginger
• 2 red chillies
• 4 spring onions
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• Tenderstem broccoli 
• Handful coriander
• 90g cooked vermicelli rice noodles

Firstly add the tsp of sesame oil to a wok and pop on a low heat.

Slice the spring onions, red chillies, garlic and ginger and add to the wok to slowly soften and flavour the oil.

Once the base is all cooked down, add the rice noodles, the soy sauce, fish sauce and sriracha and use a spatula or wooden spoon to move it all around and ensure the noodles take on all of that flavour. 

While the noodles are heating through (they just need a minute), roughly chop the coriander leaves and set aside. 

Now add the crab meat to the wok and again, move it all around and mix it into the noodle and vegetable mixture until it's heated through; 1-2 minutes is plenty. 

Remove from the heat, squeeze over the lime juice, which will add a lovely freshness and add most of the coriander and mix again before dividing between two plates. 

Now return the wok to the heat, and add the tenderstem broccoli; this will cook in just a couple of minutes on a high heat. 

Serve with the Chilli Crab Noodles and scatter over any remaining coriander leaves as a garnish.

Crab and Asparagus Linguine with Parsley Pangritata

I love any kind of seafood pasta but a crab linguine is one of my favourites, and I find that the simpler the list of ingredients, the better it tends to be.

I make a few variations with tomatoes, some with fennel and all with fresh chilli and garlic but this is one of our favourites and the sauce is a simple amalgamation of the brown crab meat, a splash of white wine, lemon juice and then an egg at the very last second before serving. 

The parsley pangritata acts as a beautiful seasoning and gives a contrasting texture  - it's simple but works so well and is a great family meal.

The below serves four.

Crab and Asparagus Linguine with Parsley Pangritata

Here's how:

• 1 slice of bread
• Handful walnuts
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large dressed crab
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chilli
• 1/2 glass of white wine
• 1 lemon
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Handful of asparagus spears
• 1 egg
• 200g linguine

Firstly fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil for the pasta. 

Pop the slice of bread into a toaster or under the grill and lightly toast, then place into a blender. Peel one of the cloves of garlic and pop in the blender too with the walnuts and about two thirds of the parsley then blitz. Once it has become a crumb texture, add to a dry pan on a low heat and toast slightly, turning it over to a very lightly browned colour, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Cook the pasta according to the pack - be careful not to overcook. 

Finely slice the remaining garlic clove and the chilli and add to a further pan with a drizzle of oil on a medium heat. 

Finely slice the asparagus and add to the pan.

Now scoop out all of the brown crab meat and add to the pan, mix slightly. It should cook down quite quickly and look like a bit of a paste, then add the wine and allow this to cook down completely.

While everything is cooking, crack an egg into a small bowl, season generously with salt and black pepper and mix well. Set aside.

Also roll the lemon under the palm of your hand and then cut in half, ready to squeeze the juice over the pasta shortly.

When the pasta is cooked, use a large serving spoon to move two spoonfuls of the pasta cooking water to the crab mixture. This will loosen the sauce and help it to stick to the pasta.

Now drain the linguine, and add to the crab sauce. Give a good stir and ensure all of the pasta is well coated with the mix. 

Squeeze over the lemon and add the white crab meat and last spoonful of parsley, remove from the heat and stir through. 

Then finally add the beaten egg and season one last time. Stir it through and dish up onto a serving bowl or platter, then finally scatter over the pangritata breadcrumb mixture. Enjoy!

A few other pasta dishes:

Chilli and Prawn Chorizo Spaghetti

Bridget's Easy Peasy Cheesy Veg Pasta Bake

Truffled Mushroom and Leek Tagliatelle

Prawn and Chorizo Carbonara

Pastitsio

Walnut and Basil Pesto Penne

Creamy Chicken, Tarragon and Lemon Spaghetti

Super Green Pasta Sauce

Crab, Chilli and Asparagus Pappardelle

This pasta dish is one of my absolute favourites - there's barely a sauce, the rich brown crab meat and white wine plus all the seasonings make just the most delicious coating for the thick pasta, and the white crab meat stirred in last minute plus lots of fresh parsley add a delicacy and freshness that is just beautiful.

I used fresh pappardelle from La Tua but dried is good too and you can use the more traditional linguini or spaghetti too but I just love this combination.

The below serves two as a main course.

Here's how:

200g fresh pappardelle
1 whole medium dressed crab (brown and white meat)
4 spring onions
1 clove garlic
1 whole red chilli
Handful of asparagus
1 courgette
2 tbsp white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh parsley
Salt and black pepper
Zest of a whole lemon, juice of half

Firstly drizzle the olive oil into a pan and place on a low heat. Also boil the kettle or put a pan of water on ready for the pasta.

Now finely chop the spring onions and chilli and mince the garlic and add all to the pan to flavour the oil and slowly soften.

Use a vegetable peeler to slice the courgette into ribbons, halve and set aside. Break the tips off of the asparagus and discard the thick ends.

Add the asparagus tips to the pan, and then pour over the white wine. Allow to cook for two minutes.

Add the brown crab meat and use a wooden spoon to break apart so it's evenly distributed.

If using fresh pasta this is the time to place it on to cook with a pinch of salt as it only takes four to five minutes from here.

Chop the parsley finely and keep to one side.

Add the courgette ribbons to the pan too and move around with the wooden spoon.

Add about a third of the parsley at this stage.

Once cooked to your preference, take a tablespoon full of the pasta water and add to the crab mix, drain the pasta then add to the pan and give a good stir to ensure that the pasta is coated.

Now add the white crab meat, the parsley and grate on the zest of a whole lemon stirring all the time. This should only be just heated through for a minute or two.

Now cut the lemon in half and before serving squeeze over the juice of half of the lemon, season with salt and pepper and give a final stir.

The 10 Cases

I went for a last minute Saturday night dinner a few weeks back with my parents and my brother Daniel, and avoiding the huge queues everywhere, we stumbled upon The 10 Cases on Endell Street, somewhere I’d never been to, or even heard of.

It’s a small space and was packed to the rafters, with just one tiny table left at the back that the four of us crowded around. We were greeted by a friendly waiter who took our drinks order and left us to ponder the menu.

It’s very dark in The 10 Cases and there’s certainly a buzz in the air from the many people, the excitable Saturday night chatter from the varying groups of friends and couples who were the predominant diners on this occasion.

We had all selected what we fancied from a small, elegant sounding menu, but it was to be another fifteen minutes before our drinks were brought to our table, despite being within touching distance to the bar – not a great start.

We chose some bread, pork belly carpaccio and some olives to start; all simple but all executed well. The pork belly slivers were greasy, but packed full of porky flavour and were lovely with the fresh, crusty white bread and butter. The olives were tasty – not my favourite Kalamata, but instead, plump green and juicy little fruits of deliciousness. Please do excuse my photography as it was incredibly dark and lit by candle only – hopefully you can get the gist of things though!

We’ll start with the positives. My dad, Les had opted for a special of Pollack on a bed of vegetables. Whilst this was taking simple to a new level, it was a perfectly cooked piece of fish, with very little added flavour wise. Not something to set the world on fire, but perfectly edible.

Daniel and I both opted for the crisp pork belly option. I have to say the pork belly was cooked well, the skin was beautifully crisp and crunchy, as it should be, and the meat was cooked well, if a little lukewarm. The accompanying red cabbage was lovely too, it had an almost pickle-like taste to it with the perfect balance of acidity with sugary sweetness and was lovely. The bad point of these plates (aside from not-hot meat) was the mashed potato. It was bad. Aside from being almost cold, which is frankly a sin; the mash was overly salty and had lumps throughout, really not pleasant at all.

The final dish of our four, was the worst of the bunch- a crab linguini. I simply don’t know where to start on this, my mum, Vicky, has a reputation amongst our family as being a little fussy when eating out, so when the plates arrived it was a collective inward gasp of horror around the table. Unfortunately due to the lighting my photography really doesn’t show what a dismal looking plate of food this dish was. Aside from swimming in grease, which upon tasting, appeared to be butter, there was very little other flavour to this dish. Lacking in crab, lacking in seasoning and lacking in any kind of oomph – oh dear.

We had some Chenin Blanc between my mum, Daniel and I, and my dad chose a couple of beers and all of this came in around the £130 mark, which, given the standard of food, I was seriously unimpressed with.  

The 10 Cases brags to be ‘unpretentious with wine as its main focus’, I can certainly see this. I would certainly return for a glass of wine here, as I have said the staff were friendly, the atmosphere was lively, however would I return for something to eat? I think not.

Brunch at Villandry, Great Portland Street

A few weeks back I won a Twitter competition to enjoy a brunch for two at Villandry on Great Portland Street, so a week later I trotted along one August Saturday morning with my mum, Vicky for a leisurely brunch followed by some retail therapy.

Having only ever popped into Villandry for a tea or coffee with a slice of cake before, I was keen to try out what else they had on offer. Our table was booked for 11:30am and I immediately ordered a Virgin Mary with a pot of tea for Mum, and a latte for myself, whilst we perused the menu.

The Virgin Mary had a good hit of spice in there, which is just how I like them, and for once I wasn’t hungover, so I wasn’t craving a good glug of vodka for that oh-so soothing hair of the dog feeling.

Rather than the traditional egg and bacon options, Mum and I were rather more tempted by their ‘small plates’ section of the menu which had some very enticing sounding dishes listed.

We chose the Villandry Mediterranean mezze platter, a smoked salmon dish, salt and pepper squid, beef carpaccio and a dressed crab salad with some chunky bread – in short, a mini-feast for the pair of us.

The platter consisted of a quenelle each of hummus and babaganoush with some focaccia, some deliciously salty black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet roasted red pepper, some griddled courgette and some mozzarella balls rolled in a mild pesto. 

The babaganoush and focaccia were the stand-outs of the mezze. In fact, all of the bread is produced on-site and is outstanding, but the focaccia had an extra something – a slight garlic hue with the crunch of sea salt, it was sensational – I could have certainly eaten more of it. The babaganoush had a coarse, chunky texture and a divine smoked flavour – again, I could have eaten tons more of it, but luckily we had plenty more to get through.

The Severn & Wye smoked salmon had a beautiful flavour, gently smoky and with a melt in the mouth texture, the drizzle of lemon over it only improved it, with of course the essential sprinkling of black pepper. Eaten with a hunk of the delicious Villandry bread, this was a winner.

The salt and pepper squid was fantastic. Coated in a beautifully light batter that was packed full of flavour, the squid was cooked to perfection, unlike so many other venues that over-cook their squid, this was light with just a touch of bite to it, but had, happily, completely avoided that awful rubberiness that I’ve experienced time and time again elsewhere. I did find it a little strange that this was served with what tasted and looked like a thousand island dressing, but hey ho. 

The other real winning dish was the dressed crab and avocado salad. Once again the quality and flavour of the crab was excellent, and with a little green leaf covering the mound of crab, and the cucumber jelly which covered the square plate, it was a very, very  pretty plate and certainly wasn’t a case of style over substance. I would actually return for this alone as a delightful lunch dish. 

The only other dish we had was the beef carpaccio, which was the only thing that there was really any left of at the end of our feast. It was perfectly acceptable in terms of quality, but really was lacking in seasoning, and when compared to the delights of the squid, salmon, crab and the mezze platter, it just didn’t match up, but as we’d over ordered anyway, this wasn’t a problem at all.

The service was attentive, friendly and informative throughout our brunch at Villandry. We sat in the restaurant area rather that the café, which was a mistake as there was much more of a buzz in the café area that was packed full, but this certainly didn’t detract from what was a very pleasurable meal. We were gifted a £50 voucher and had a small bill of £8 to pay at the end so this also presents good value in the heart of the West End. Definitely a key contender for the best brunch spots, but I will certainly return to try some of the main dishes too as they all sounded rather glorious too.

Bistro du Vin Clerkenwell

I was recently invited to dine at Clerkenwell's relatively new Bistro du Vin courtesy of the lovely people at The Cullinary Guide. This is one of the newest members of the popular Hotel du Vin family so I was keen to see how it matched up and what it had to offer.

I took the boy again and as it was just over a week since we'd been to Les Deux Salons, I was slightly worried he wouldn't be keen on more French fare. I need not have worried though he'll try anything and luckilly he had a very enjoyable meal.

Like Les Deux Salons this place had the buzzing atmosphere that I think is essential to any French bistro-style venue in London. What I thought gave Bistro du Vin the edge was the fact it's slightly more compact therefore created a very intimate setting. Overhearing the chatter from the neighbouring tables does, for me, put me in mind of a French restaurant. It was very busy with a mixed bag of diners and there was just a genuinely good vibe about the place. Also the decor is very chic and stylish, I was suitably impressed.

The menu has a good selection, but not an overbearingly long list and it didn't take me long to opt for a fishy feast. I chose the potted crab to start and it was sublime. Simple but perfect. A delicious round of white, dressed crab meat topped with an amost paste-like brown crab meat and served with delicious, crispy, lightly grilled sourdough slices which tasted as though they had been rubbed all over with garlic, salt and pepper - it was lovely. A little large for one person perhaps, but this turned out to be a blessing.

The boy chose the lamb sweetbreads - like the snails the week before, this offal dish is something he'd never tried before. They were fantastic, well seasoned, cooked to tender perfection, full of delicious flavour in a sticky berry jus and topped with a little coriander. Once again this was a large portion for an entree, however for the boy with his larger appetite, this was not a problem.

For his main the boy went for a sirloin of steak cooked medium rare and I have to say it was truly cooked beautifully. Flavoured with a subtle hint of garlic and with an almost crust of salt on the outside it was melt-in-the-mouth gorgeous. He had some chips on the side, which were good, and which I naturally stole a few of.

My main course was, unfortunately, a bit of a let-down to an otherwise excellent meal. I'd ordered the Sole Veronique, which promised to be sole cooked in a creamy white wine sauce with mushrooms, clams and mussels. The sole was cooked well and did have a lovely fresh flavour, taking in all of the contributing flavours from the sauce and the shellfish and the sprigs of parsley that were plentiful. So far, so good. I'd ordered some new potatoes and a mixed leaf salad which were also good, the salad was dressed in a nice, simple oil.

The disappointment came when I first tried a clam. I'd had probably the best clams I've ever tasted a couple of weeks earlier at Fino, but these would probably have still been as good, as the flavours seemed fine, however as I took a bite, my mouth was filled with gritty bits of sand. Not good. I would have been willing to put this down as a bad one that had slipped through the net, but I tried another and once again my teeth came down on sand, very, very unpleasant. The realisation that these hadn't been cleaned properly didn't fill me with joy.

I tried to persevere as the sole really was very good, and after a few enjoyable mouthfuls I plucked up the courage to try one of the mussels. These were the same as the clams and unfortunately it was the final nail in the coffin for this dish for me. I was beyond put-off. Clearly you don't ever want to take a chance with shellfish anyway and I was suprised that a restaurant of this standing could fail in such a basic way.

At least I had room for pudding (every cloud and all that). To be frank the dessert I chose was alone worth visiting the restaurant for. It was gorgeous - a valrhona chocolate tart with honeycomb and a vanilla chantilly cream. The pastry was the best I've ever tasted in England by a mile sweet, light and delicate with a filling to die for. The chocolate was creamy, rich and almost velvetty - it literally had me making 'mmm' sounds out loud about three times. The cream and delicious, crunchy honeycomb were the perfect partners for this chocolate perfection.

The boy had a strawberry and cream affair which was nice, but not a patch on mine.

Aside from the main course of mine, we enjoyed a great meal and I can see Bistro du Vin's Clerkenwell joint going from strength to strength. They were bursting at the seams and as I mentioned they really had a great atmosphere.

The presentation wasn't amazing. It was good and all looked appetising, but as they say on their website they're not trying to be pretentious, merely provide wholesome, hearty food and I think they have achieved this well - with a few adjustments in the kitchen (especially where cleaning out clams and mussels are concerned) I think this will become a front-runner on the London restaurant scene.

What I think makes this superior from other bistro-style restaurants I've visited in London is the centre-point open plan kitchen with bar-style seating. Diners are able to take their dinner at the bar and enjoy the theatre of watching their dinner being cooked - wonderful.

Service on the whole was good throughout - the head waiter in particular took his time to welcome us. Also the wine waiter was very attentive and good at explaining what would make a good pairing to various parts of the meal, which I found impressive. Towards the end of the meal we did find we had to fight for attention a little bit and certainly we waited a while for our empty dessert plates to be taken away. But to be fair to the staff it was very busy in the restaurant at this time - I'd put this down as a teething problem.

Bistro du Vin's Soho sister is due to open shortly and I for one will definitely be booking a table to see how this matches up - although I may give shellfish dishes a miss!

For more information or to book a table please visit the website at:

http://www.bistroduvinandbar.com/