Grilled Chicken Thighs with American Barbeque Sauce
美式烤雞腿
So after 5 days in Paris and all that great French food, returning to London was actually a bit painful on the culinary front. We stayed at Rena's friend Daphne (Yu-Ning) and Paul's flat in Paddington, and had pretty good Indian food on the first night we went back to London -- pretty good break from steak & frites. Bristish food has made great leaps with all the Gordan Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and Nigella hype. However, it's still pricey to get decent food in London. As a thank-you gesture to Daphne and Paul, I offered to cook on Friday night. It was early June, and London was still in the low teens (though a week ago was sunny mid 20s), but I just couldn't resist using the outdoor grill in the patio. I decided to go with a simple American barbeque, with fresh salad and mashed potatoes. After a day of Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London Eye, and Harrod's, Paul drove me down to Waitrose to pick up groceries. I was pretty surprised with the abundance of good quality produce when I went to a Tesco Express a week earlier. Waitrose is actually what I called "upscale" supermarkets, so I was able to find good new potatoes, herbs, meats, and of course, a good bottle of Rioja (somehow I just can't find Rioja too easily in Taiwan). Anyway, Paul still offered to pay since he said I was the one cooking. (thanks again, Paul!)
Tonight's menu included:
- Grilled chicken thighs with American barbeque sauce
- Mixed greens salad
- Caprese salad
- Serrano ham
- Garlic mashed potatoes with white truffle oil
- Sauteed portobello mushroom
All in all, that was a pretty cool experience -- cooking for the first time in Europe. Paul claimed that that dinner was the best they've had in the house. (I hope not!) There were a few mess-ups, but to be able to cook all the way in UK and enjoy the time with good friends was pretty priceless. Thanks again to Daphne and Paul -- I hope you enjoyed the dinner!
反正, 到了倫敦還是要烤肉... 在巴黎待了五天後跟無數的美食後, 回到倫敦實在是有點慘 -- 英國的食物除了炸魚跟薯條之外, 實在不是很好吃 (不過隔天去了個三百多年的 pub 時那食物還不錯). 我們回到倫敦的第一晚吃了印度菜, 還蠻好吃的. 不過, 老實說, 英國食物近幾年在 Gordan Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and Nigella 炒作過後, 其實是真的有改進蠻多的, 但要吃一頓好吃的還是要花不少錢. 為了謝謝 Daphne & Paul, 我就提議說星期五晚由我來下廚. 倫敦的六月初其實天氣還是在十幾度而已, 但看到烤肉架的我就覺得一定要烤肉啦! 因為走了一天的大笨鐘, 倫敦眼, 還有 Harrod's 也累了, 我決定做個簡單的美式烤雞腿搭配新鮮沙拉和馬鈴薯泥. Paul 開著車載了我去 Waitrose, 就是比 Tesco 高檔許多的超市. 隨著美食文化的進步, 超市裡也容易找到很多非常棒的食材, 例如香草種類就很多, 還找到很不錯的小馬鈴薯及肉, 當然我們也挑了一瓶很不錯的西班牙 Rioja 紅酒. 本來我要付錢的...結果 Paul 說是我要煮他堅持要付 (謝啦 Paul!)
今晚的菜單有:
- 美式烤雞腿
- 綜合沙拉
- 瑪茲拉蕃茄沙拉
- 西班牙風乾火腿
- 蒜味白松露油馬鈴薯泥
- 香煎 Portobello 菌菇
基本上, 飛了老遠到歐洲還可以煮菜感覺蠻酷的. Paul 說這餐是他們家最棒的一餐 (希望不是! Daphne 別殺我) 當然雞肉烤得有點凸搥 (不是要遷拖, 那該死的氣溫實在是...), 但可以離台灣那麼遠但可以跟好朋友一起在她們家共享晚餐實在是無價. 希望 Daphne & Paul 都覺得好吃喔!
Grilling in 13C drizzle weather, Baby
在十三度的毛毛雨天氣下烤肉中
Voila
都煮好了
The chicken was a bit of a disaster. For one thing, the low temperature altered the cooking time significantly. Also, I haven't cooked bone-in thighs for a while, since boneless thighs are widely available in Taiwan, so I forgot I needed to cover the thighs for at least 20 minutes to create the oven effect to cook the bones through. Even though the chicken looks great on the outside, most of them didn't fully cook through. Instead of sticking them into the oven, we microwaved them instead (another mistake!). Ah well, can't have things perfect all the time right?
Caprese Salad
愛爾蘭出差完後, 在倫敦待了兩天就去巴黎了. 十年前不懂事時, 都一直比較喜歡倫敦, 可能是因為語言還有那時還不懂法國菜是啥. 這次走完巴黎後, 對倫敦一點興趣都沒了, Paris is my city! 真的是整個城市都是吃的, 到處的人都在吃, 什麼都好吃, 還有試不完的吃的! (食物多到連我們仁愛圓環的 Paul 都有路邊攤推車版) Anyway, 去了五天, 體力鍛鍊到覺得可以直接去爬聖母峰. 五天內能吃的我都盡量去吃了, 離之前去巴黎太久所以多花了些時間在邊走邊找路找餐廳. 下次回去應該會蠻熟了. 也沒挪出時間吃米其林星星餐廳, 不過有吃一家米其林三星主廚開的小 bistro... 夠滿足了. 我一定會回去的, Paris!
是的! 又到了一年一度的葡萄酒趴~ 本來是想沿用去年跟前年的薄酒萊主題, 但聽說景氣太差今年 beaujolais 進得不多. 這當然不會是問題, 因為我們只好開一堆其他的葡萄酒 - red + white! 今年還是會在同一個地方 -- Winebay, Taipei. 食物跟氣氛都將比照去年, 只不過今年人可能更多, 所以桌子不會像去年好像在吃晚餐似的...我們會盡量讓大家可以有更多空間與新朋友互動~
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Sealed (Aug 26)