Rhythm Kitchen, Westfield Stratford City

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Rhythm Kitchen at Westfield Stratford to see them making a fish dish – and try it for myself. They made us steamed sea bass three different ways, which you can see on this video:

I had Option 2. The fish was really nice and moist, with the stuffing adding interest. It’s also the biggest sea bass I have ever seen and filled me up for the rest of the day!

If you want to make your own, I’ve put the recipe for Option 1 at the bottom of this post.

It was my first time at Westfield Stratford but I have to say it was a bit nicer than the usual cookie cutter shopping mall experience and I think this was mostly due to the food on offer. They have quite a few independent food offerings and some of the smaller chains like Wahaca, as well as the Great Eastern Market where you can stock up on interesting food to take home. For more videos you can see the Food Explorer page.

Also, if you get down to Westfield Stratford before the end of February they have a downloadable book of vouchers for many of the restaurants and food outlets.

Rhythm Kitchen Fish Dish Recipe

Ingredients:

1 large filleted Sea bass (400/600gram)
40 g Diced Pumpkin or Squash
75 g White Cabbage (shredded)
1 small carrot
6 g Dried Thyme
¼ small red onion
Jamaican Crackers 3 (optional )
Black Pepper pinch
Salt Pinch
Garlic Pinch
Ground Pimento pinch
Butter 25 gram
100ml fish stock
Red chilli pepper or scotch bonnet pepper
3 fingers of Okra
Garlic
Lime Juice
Foil

Cooking Instructions:

Wash & descale the fish. Peel carrot and chop in 1cm cubes. Peel squash/pumpkin and chop into 1cm cubes. Chop Okra into 1 cm chunks. Blanch the vegetables in boiling salted water until just cooked.

Tear off a sheet of foil approx. 35cm long to make a parcel for the fish. Use a small amount of the butter to grease the foil. Place 1 fillet of fish on the foil. Season the fillet with salt, pepper, Pimento (allspice), garlic. Place blanched vegetables & thyme on top of fillet.

Place 3 Jamaican crackers on top of vegetables along with remaining butter spread across the fish. Pour over approximately 5g of lime juice.

Season the second fillet as per first fillet and place on top of fillet covered in vegetables. Gather the foil around the fish but do not close. In opening in foil around fish pour in fish stock. Seal foil to make a parcel and place foil in hot oven for approx. 15minutes.

Leave to rest for a few minutes. Open foil and enjoy.

Wholemeal oaty pancakes

I make pancakes nearly every weekend. I just love them. As it’s pancake day, I thought I’d share one of my recipes with you. It’s an adaptation of Alison Holst’s oaty pancake recipe from Meals Without Meat (well out of print but available second hand here and highly recommended for easy, everyday vegetarian food).

A while back Dove’s Farm sent me some of their Heritage Wheat Flour for review. I’ve tried it in a few things now and I think it’s particularly good in cakes, even as a replacement for white flour. In fact the possibilities are limitless, I keep thinking of things I want to make with it like carrot cake, apple cake, wholemeal cheese scones…

Back to pancakes. Give this a go. The oats add a slightly nutty wholesomeness to the pancakes, while the buttermilk makes them fluffier than you’d expect. Packed with nutrients, yet you’d never know once it’s topped with a knob of butter and decent glug of maple syrup.

Wholemeal oaty pancakes

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup Organic Heritage Wholemeal Flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 large organic egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon of butter, melted

Mix the dry ingredients together, mix the wet ingredients together, then lightly mix the wet ingredients into the dry. At this point you can let it stand for up to half and hour to let the buttermilk and baking soda do its thing. The batter should be fairly thick but still slightly runny.

Heat up a frying pan to medium-hot and melt a knob of butter (the more butter, the crunchier the edges). Spoon a ladle of batter into the pan and spread into a smallish circle. Wait for the bubbles to rise, flip and cook for another minute or so on the other side.