Brighton Mash

I was inspired to make this after I had an awesome filo pastry roll, stuffed full of sweet potato, chilli and spinach from a stand called Sultan's Delights at the BN1 Street Diner.

I decided to call it Brighton Mash for three reasons:

1) I live in Brighton (and 'originality' is my middle name)

2) Brighton is full of hippies, and hippies love sweet potato and spinach. This is a fact.

3) The potato is mashed.

Let's talk flavours. There's the sweetness from the potatoes and caramelised onions, with a smokey spice from the Chorizo. Chopped pistachios give a lovely nutty flavour and texture, whilst coconut oil suggests a hint of Thai. Chopped spring onions and crumbly feta add a sharp, tangy saltiness that cuts through the sweetness, and finally a poached egg drizzled with balsamic vinegar brings the whole dish together with a great big ERMEHGHED!

This made the most epic of brunches.

To feed two:

3x sweet potatoes (pick the size depending on how hungry you are)

half a bag of spinach

2x large garlic cloves, sliced thinly

a chopped red onion

1 tbs coconut oil

half a chorizo sausage, diced

handful of chopped pistachios

black pepper 

crumbled feta

chopped spring onions

poached egg

balsamic glaze

I've made this recipe twice now, and both times had different ingredients- as long as you have the sweet potato and spinach, you can basically add whatever you want in. Want it vegetarian? Swap the chorizo for mushrooms, and add a tablespoon of paprika to get the same sweet smokiness.

Start by quartering your sweet potatoes, rubbing them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bung them in the oven at 200 degrees for around 45 mins.

 Chop your chorizo, onions and garlic and heat with the coconut oil until the onions are softened and the whole lots is covered with a scarlet chorizo glaze.

 Coconut oil is one of the healthiest fats you can eat, and it tastes bleeding delicious.

Throw in your spinach and cook until wilted- you will only need this on a very low heat.

Add your chopped nuts.

 When your sweet potatoes look like this, take a knife and starting at one end, run the knife along the bottom, and the roasted flesh should pop out whole.

Add the sweet potato to your spinach mix, and mash away until it is all combined. Add plenty of black pepper- you shouldn't need any more salt as the chorizo is salty enough, and the feta will also be salty.

Split into two bowls, top with a poached egg, crumbled feta, and chopped spring onions. Drizzle the entire lot with balsamic vinegar and eat immediately.

Delicious!

Birthday Treats

I've a naughty habit of dragging out my birthday for at least a week- this year being no exception. My birthday was on Thursday, so naturally I celebrated the weekend before, and this weekend as well.

Normally I'd take the day off if my birthday was on a week day, but as I am going to Tokyo in less than two weeks (EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!) I thought it would be a bit cheeky to take another day off. Luckily, I work with some pretty amazing girls, who bought me cake and treats and completely made my day.

Macarons from Cocoa and two gorgeous little china trinkets, which you can count on seeing popping up in the odd recipe post on here. (The macarons are all gone now...they were DELICIOUS.)

So here are some pictures, as it is perfectly normal to take pictures of your presents...yep.

Chilli Pickle with Ellie

On Sunday Ellie took me out for lunch for my birthday, and rather than go for the traditional roast, we opted for Indian. Chilli Pickle is a restaurant that I'd heard pretty mixed reviews about, but I'm happy to report, it was excellent.

This isn't your typical Korma/Tikka Masala/Vindaloo joint. On no. There were curries on the menu that I'd never even heard of.

The decor is sleek and modern, with an open plan kitchen and chunky wooden tables topped with silver water jugs and cups. The staff were attentive and friendly, without being persistent and annoying.

And the food? Wowza.

I went for the King Thali; a large bunch of side dishes, with a naan and a poppadom, and a curry of your choice. I had the Mutton Chettinad- a roasted coconut masala with mutton, onions, curry leaves and chilli. The lamb was melt in the mouth, the sauce rich and spicy, and the accompaniments were nearly all incredible...except the wonderberry pickle..bleurgh.

All in all, I'd say it is a great place to go if you love Indian food and you want to try something a little bit different. Thanks for treating me to lunch Elephant x x x

Gelato Gusto

I've walked past the fairly new Gelato Gusto quite a few times now, and each time I've gazed somewhat longingly at the rows of pastel coloured ice creams. On Sunday, I finally went inside, and immediately picked the Dulce de Leche flavour, piled high in a crispy, sweet, waffle cone.

The ice cream was rich, smooth and utterly delicious. Apparently most of Brighton agrees as the place was absolutely packed.

Next time I'm going in I want to try their Brioche ice cream burger; a scoop of ice cream, chocolate sauce, all sealed in a Brioche bun...um, yes please. Also want to try the smokey bacon waffle ice cream...something tells me I will LOVE it. So I'm thinking I should get the smokey bacon waffle ice cream burger. YES.