Toptable action

Twice in October Mr DB and I tried restaurants we'd never been to before, spurred on by a toptable.com offer (book and eat twice during the month and get a load of extra points).

The first was 108 Marylebone Lane, which is in The Marylebone Hotel. It has a fab bar and a really buzzing atmosphere for a hotel bar. It serves typical bistro fare, but I can vouch for the excellent lobster bisque and pan fried sea bream with risotto. However, the service was a little haphazard - it wasn't always as attentive as it should have been and they forgot the bread. But in general food was excellent, especially since they make a point of sourcing their food from local businesses. Mr DB had the proscuitto to start, then the sausage and mash, which again, he was more than happy with. All washed down with a Ruffino Chianti.

Our second outing took us to Pomegranate, on Upper Street. We walked past it a couple times and were slightly concerned by the lack of patrons at 7pm on a Friday. But by the time we tipped up at 8pm, it had started to fill up. And with good reason - the food was pretty decent. Billed as 'Greek fusion', there are no starters or main courses at Pomegranate. So it's essentially meze! 10/10 on the wordsmithing exercise...

The lamb souvlakia was the highlight - melt in the mouth. And the grilled halloumi a close second. We opted to try a bottle of the Ode 2005 red wine from Greece. Boozier than I'd normally order (13.5%) it had a smokiness that complemented the dishes well.

Autumn drinking

It's been over a month since my last post. And luckily it hasn't been a dry month, just a lazy one.

So earlier in the month Mr L and Miss H came over for dinner. Winter cooking kicked off in earnest with a roast veg curry and home made flat breads followed by 'no-stir' home-made ice cream.

Dessert could (and probably should) have been a complete disaster. Most ice cream recipes require at least 6 hours of chilling, preferably overnight or an ice cream maker. I had none of these. I made the ice cream at 6.30pm in the evening and it had set by 9.45pm! The recipes also doesn't require you to break up the ice crystals every 30 minutes during setting, which is a complete ball ache.

I combined the best of two recipes to create the best lemon ice cream...

Ingredients:

• 3 large lemons, unwaxed
• 175g icing sugar
• 300ml double cream
• 120g marscapone cheese
  
• 3 tbsp iced water

Method:
1. Finely grate the zest from 2 of the lemons.

2. Squeeze the juice of all 3 lemons and pour into a bowl with the zest and sugar.

3. Stir to combine and leave for 30 minutes, to allow the flavour to develop (I did the first three steps before I left for work).

4. Whisk the cream with the water until it holds soft peaks, then add the mascarpone cheese and whisk in the sweetened lemon juice.

5. Pour into a shallow container, cover and freeze until firm.

Wine that night was all about the Riesling: two bottles, one at 13% and the other at 8.5% alcohol.

Jacobs Creek Steingarten Riesling 2005, Barossa
At 13%, this one was drunk with nibbles and the main course. A Sydney Royal Wine Show Gold Medal winner in 2006, this is a limited release wine made from grapes grown in a small number of cool climate vineyards at higher altitude in Barossa. The wine is dry, with aromas of lemon and lime and a mineral quality to it. This was great with the spice of the curry.

Loosen Bros. 2008 Riesling "DR. L", Mosel
This wine is at the other end of the scale to the first: with a lower alcohol it has more residual sweetness. It's not a sweet wine, but lent itself well to the ice cream - the acidity helping to balance the sugar, cream and cheesecakeyness of the mascarpone. Grapefruit and a hint of grass on the nose, but more lemon on the palate.