Bill's Produce Store

It has been my intention to not only create my own recipes on here but to review restaurants and the experiences I have had at certain places along the way.  While I try not to be a creature of habit and keep things varied, you sometimes can't help falling for something.  I recently went back to the most wonderful little restaurant in Covent Garden, Bill's, and know I will be a frequent visitor so really felt the need to share how wonderful a place I think it is.

My first visit was a breakfast treat for my birthday with my lovely Ma, I had the most delicious eggs benedict...  I was taken by how homely and inviting the place was and how much of a buzz there was on a Thursday mid-morning.  The furniture is eclectic, mismatched and well loved and there are deli-style shelves with products ranging from jams and condiments to cordials and beers lining the wall space from floor to ceiling these, along with the chilli bunches, colourful tissue paper and raffia hanging from the ceiling, lends the feeling of a more traditional store that happily crosses the modern artisan bracket.  The food was sensational and we had a thoroughly good time there.

Back in January the atmosphere was warm and tempting with individuals and pairs coming in for coffee and breakfast.  The most recent visit was a summery lunchtime session, again with my Ma and sister, where we sat out in the open sunny courtyard with groups of people filling the restaurant.  

At this time of day the menu opens out to include light bites, seasonal dishes and some homely British/Mediterranean food.  Every dish is made up of fresh ingredients and punchy flavours which makes choosing something a challenge because it all sounds so good.  It may not be the world's most unique menu with regular favourites like burgers, pastas and the trad caesar salad all making an appearance but the style and conviction of the place offers so much more.

The ladies declined being included in the photos so it's all about the food here...  We have on the table a duck salad from the specials board, marinated chicken skewers with couscous and tatziki and a slow roasted tomato and artichoke tart with black olive tapenade and balsamic drizzle.

I went for the skewers where the chicken was perfectly cooked with plenty of flavour, that was brilliantly complimented by the lemon, coriander and sultana couscous.  It was just the right amount for a lunchtime meal as well.  All in all, yum.

Just to mention the friendly and attentive staff at Bill's because they really make whole experience great.  Everyone that I spoke to over both trips is very passionate about their food and store and really aims to promote what they do, and I have to say, do well.  So far I have only visited the Covent Garden restaurant but there are a couple more dotted about London and with nine altogether including locations in Brighton and Cambridge, if you see one, pop in and let me know what you make of the place.

Of course another reason I love this place is the fact that in between the rows of edibles on the walls are dotted different recipes for you to muse over until your food turns up.  You can find more of these on the website where they are categorised by season.  Delicious.

The Tomatoes and The Salmon

I think I tried to get too fancy, too soon.

After running out during my mushroom escapades, I had intended to create my own sun-dried tomatoes that I could keep for future recipes and general munching.  What I ended up with was a handful of slightly burnt yet super delicious, shrivelled delicacies and a much better idea of how to get it right next time - I believe it's all in the tomato you use (and not having the oven so high), but I'll try it again and report back.

Without much to show for myself I had to turn this to my advantage and decided to use what was left of my tomatoes (I ate most of them - I had to check the quality of almost all of them) for a recipe I remember reading about a while ago.  

Now, I trawl recipe websites, it's true, it's my porn.  So I'm always picking up different ideas and shuffling things about to fit what I can get my hands on in the kitchen, if I don't remember the recipe, I improvise.  This latest one was plucked out of my repertoire for bringing together the shrivelled toms, some salmon and my current favourite...  

I'm having a couscous phase.  I'm always having a couscous phase, but this time I'm branching out some more. I buy the plain stuff because you get more for your money and I can add different flavours for every meal, it can be as simple as boiling it up with some veg stock and seasoning, delicious.  In this little combo, you bake all the ingredients together and let the flavours infuse for a simple but effective dish.  

All you need is:- 

1 delicious salmon fillet

1 red onion

a handful of home made sun drieds - they can be shop bought

a handful of spring onions

100g plain cous cous

190ml vegetable stock

1/2 lemon zest and juice

a small bunch fresh herbs although dried will do - thyme or rosemary

baking paper  

Make the couscous first by adding some herbs, lemon zest and seasoning to the stock.  Here you can add everything to taste and I like mine fairly tasty so I use a lot of lemon, thyme and pepper.  Briefly boil up the veg stock, add the couscous, then leave to stand, covered for 10 mins.  

In the meantime, chop up your veg.  You could add pretty much whatever you wanted in terms of roughage, I wish I'd had some leeks to add to the bunch.  Then get the oven heated to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Cut a large sheet of baking paper and once the couscous is done, fluff it up and put it in the middle of the paper.  Sprinkle the veg over the cous and lay the salmon, skin side down on top with spring onions and an extra squeeze of lemon juice over everything.

Wrap the whole thing up in a parcel, and place in the oven for about 20 mins.

When you get your parcel open, the salmon should be light pink, flaky and smell delicious.

Not cooking with salmon often makes me want to prolong the enjoyment, so I halved the fillet, added some salad and kept the other half for a work lunch the next day.  If it wasn't for my lovely live-in taster's dislike of fish, I would probably have doubled the fillets, increased the veg count and made a two man cache of couscous to pull out the stops for a delicious dinner.

Lovebox Weekend 2012

I love it when the summer months arrive, it means that festival season is with us again!  And I love festivals.

Please note my two new festival friends racing up behind me...
I love festival land!

I've said before how much I love a big occasion when everyone comes together in a party atmosphere.  But, when you hold it in a field, with music from a list of people I've always wanted to see, all in the same place, great food and a bunch of other happy spirited people, I just can't contain myself! You'll find me dancing at pretty much every opportunity, moving round the site in a constant jig because there's music in the air and I get to spend time with my friends in what feels like another world.

This weekend everyone else might have been getting involved with Isle of Wight or London's own Hackney Weekend and I was watching from my sofa, but with my festival numbers looking a bit small this year I'm trying to make things last longer by reliving my first festival date of the year from last weekend, Lovebox.

Lovebox is a cracking festival.  Created by Andy Cato and Tom Findley of Groove Armada 10 years ago, who, in their words, 'decided to do an outdoor live gig, [and] turn it into a bit of a party.  It had sold out in four minutes.  Which is when the chaos started.'  In the past decade it has gone from a one day party on the common, to a monster 10 stage, three day, action packed adventure in its spiritual home of Victoria Park...  The People's Park! *

The beauty of Lovebox is that every day has a different feel to it.  Friday tends to have a younger audience that is drawn in by the grimy beats busting out all over.  Saturday pulls in the big names, this year Groove Armada themselves made an incredible return to the stage for a one off treat!  Last year it was Snoop Dogg cracking out the full Doggystyle album to the masses... And Sunday is Gay day, with so much joy and flamboyance the park is sparkling and not just with the amount of glitter and sequins in the air!  This year the pleasure was all ours with Grace Jones and Chaka Khan which fully competes with last year's Scissor Sisters and Blondie!  Things just keep getting better.

Unfortunately for me I was only available on Saturday, but that is what makes these London festivals so great.  You can dip in as much as you can without the whole shlep of lugging everything you own to a distant field for 24 hours, yet still be fully immersed in festival land, with your comfy bed at the end of a days dancing.  

So, here are a collection of photos from not only my time at Lovebox 2012 but some carefully chosen others that I hope you enjoy...

10 years of Lovebox posters

I was lucky enough to be invited into the VIP lounge.
Cute tables, a fountain and topiary being the order of the day

An ethereal Lana Del Ray, glowing on the Second Stage

The NYC Downlow

Grace Jones hoola hooping her way through her headlining slot

* For those fact lovers amongst us, Vicky Park was commissioned by Queen Victoria, naturally.  Opened in 1845 as the first public garden for Londoners - the people's park indeed - for many it was the only open greenery they would ever see and was the perfect antidote to living in the city.  The park became an essential amenity for the working classes of the East End with a Bathing Pond for swimming as well as being a central point for rallies and political meetings.  Don't cha know..!