The Weekend

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Dabbous

Peas with mint

10 Days of Summer

Red Pepper Smokey Meatballs

Vodka Olives

Sunny Pizza!

Have you ever tasted THE MOST AMAZING, adventurous,  gooey crisp on the sides delicious pizza… made by you? Ever? Well I haven’t either till recently. I am really lucky to be surrounded by Italian friends who love cooking and feed me with most amazingly creative and delicious (sometimes healthy) food. However, I have decided it’s my turn to start whipping up storms in the kitchen.  And where did I decide to start? – Pizza of course!

Sunny Pizza is a ‘pizza creative’ if you like. You can go wild with toppings and make it as exciting as it can ever get. Pizza does resemble sun (to me) and it gives joy, so I thought it only fair to call it Sunny. Also, if you're wondering why everything is about sun to me - this is a great opportunity to let you know, that my first name Saule means Sun in Lithuanian – my homeland. Can you see how everything makes sense now? Ha!

The recipe makes 2 large pizzas.

For the Dough you will need;

•         500g strong white bread flour
• 0.5 tablespoon of sea salt
• 1 x 7g sachetsof dried yeast
• 0.5 tablespoon of golden caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 325ml warm water

Ideas for Sunny Pizza Toppings (This is for 1 veggy and 1 meaty version)

·         1 small Jar of Artichokes in Olive Oil

·         3 medium size balls of Mozzarella

·         Chopped tomatoes

·         Red Onion

·         Goat cheese

·         Ham

·         Chorizo

·         Small jar of Anchovies

·         A can of Black Pitted Olives

·         Parmesan

·         Rocket Salad

·         Egg

Making the dough

Sprinkle the flour and salt on to a clean surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to join together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands, until you have smooth, springy dough.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-ed bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Now have a glass of wine and start chopping up the toppings! Or just sit there sipping wine until you realise that dough has doubled in size and then start chopping the toppings. Up to you.

 

 

Making the Pizza

Once the doughball has expanded, remove it on to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – if you want a cool expression for it, it’s called 'knocking back the dough'.

When you’re ready, divide the dough into two balls and place them onto olive oiled (with a paper kitchen towel) baking trays.  Thin out the dough with your fingers or a bottle of wine to the sides of the baking tray. I like it very thin, so I try to make it trasparent but not to the breaking point.

Then pour chopped tomatoes evenly on both pizza bases you just made. You can use your fingers to spread it out.  Then place the thin sliced mozzarella, and from here onwards – go wild! Be creative and adventurous for taste buds tantalising pizza achievement.

Pop it into preheated oven and cook at 150 degrees for about 10 minutes (or just check to see if it is enough crisp for you)

Sprinkle some chilli olive oil and parmesan and ready to indulge!

Amore

We ate till we groaned while washing it down with frozen white wine, chatting into the early hours.

Have you tried it? What wild toppings did you dare to use?

Meat Liquor – Best burger in town

OK lovely people, I am just too excited -
this is a new(ish) place for the BEST BURGER in London Town!! I am really lucky (or am I?), as it is situated right next to my office… so I have paid quite a few visits there already… what a guilty pleasure!

So, let me introduce you to Meat Licker Liquor  : It is just a perfect place for a cool hangout and (hands down) best burger I have ever tasted. It has no booking policy, so queue outside is usually a must (my favorite)! Get a beer before you go in, so you can enjoy a chat and a cold sip while you’re waiting, unless you arrive 12noon on the dot when they open (like I do) and sneak in before everyone else gets hungry.

They are really strict about their queueing policy so don’t try and use your ‘celebrity status’ (I saw one ‘celebrity’ being turned away and I tell you it was cringe) as it is not going to work.

So here we go…. wait for it…the mighty, gooey, …. wait for it…. melting in your mouth…. Delicious Epic Burgers –

Dirty Chicken Burger

Cheeseburger

Double Bubble - how nasty! Love it.

Whilst eating, you can gaze around to a really unusual decor and wall art. It is all very Vampirish, goes really well with bloody/meaty theme.

The toilets are very well named

Some more pretty strict rules -

They also have these yummy chilli cheese fries that are well filling. Or as you may have read in my previous blog -  ‘packing’. Most people wouldn’t be able to finish a burger and a full portion of chilli cheese fries, so share the love.

And overall, it's just a very cool place for lunch/dinner/hangout/starvation attack/date ..

Do you have any other burger places in mind that you think could compete with Meat Liquor? I would love to hear from you!

Mamounia Lounge – Knightsbridge

For a perfect Friday night, my man and I had a pleasure to dine at Mamounia Lounge, Knightsbridge.

Situated next door to Harrods, it’s a perfect place to rest your arms from shopping bags and indulge into mouthwateringly delicious and exquisite Lebanese/Moroccan food.

With a ‘clubby’, yet romantic feel to it, the restaurant attracts young-ish crowd.  Dim lights, candles, cocktails and funky music can set your mood well for going out afterwards!



Sambousek Cheese – Pastry stuffed with Halloumi Cheese, Onion and Pine Nuts (V)




Makanek – Home made Lebanese Sausages fried with Lemon Juice.



When it comes to Moroccan Food, we can’t resist but go for most traditional favorites;



Steaming Lamb Tagine





Lamb Tagine




Mixed Grill – Grilled Skewers of Chicken, Lamb and Kafta





Authentic Lamb Tagine with Couscous

 Sweet tooth joys


Selection of Baklawa



Mamounia Lounge has a brilliant selection of fantastic signature cocktails and if you’re a keen smoker, you can have a fragrant shisha at a table outside (even in March!), being warmed by heaters from above.

Along with the wine, we also managed to slurp out quite a few Raspberry Perfections

The staff were exceptionally attentive and welcoming, and we ate ourselves ‘packed’. (My own invented expression for ‘stuffed’)

When everything was slightly blurry and we realized that we were almost last to leave, we took a stroll down Knightsbridge at night.  No sleep for the wicked…

You can find them here!

Let me know how you liked it, I would be very happy to hear read! xx