Penne pasta with porcini and parmesan

Penne pasta with porcini and parmesan

Today's lunch is another quick and ridiculously easy pasta dish, the rich meaty flavour of the porcini mushroom, the salty nuttiness of the parmesan creates a beautiful flavour combination. Grind over some black pepper to give a little bit of bite and you are done.

Ingredients

Cooking time: 15 minute | Serves: 1

- 75g dried Penne pasta, cooked until al dente

- 25p dried Porcini mushrooms, re-hydrate as per packet

- Parmesan cheese, to taste

- 10 - 15ml olive oil

- Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Add the pasta to a medium pan of rapidly boiling water and cook until al dente, normally a couple of minutes less than it says on the packet

Whilst the pasta is cooking re-hydrate the porcini, the instructions will be on the packet.

One the pasta is cooked drain and set a side, add the olive oil to the pan the pasta was cooked in, drain the porcini and add to the oil and warm though for two minutes.

Add the pasta to the oil and porcini and toss thoroughly.

Serve the pasta and grate over the parmesan to taste and finally the pepper.

Fifteen minutes and it's all done and ready to eat, enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Scrambled Egg with Wholegrain Bagel

Scrambled Egg with Wholegrain Bagel

A simple but tasty breakfast whipped up in minutes and full of goodness and flavour, the nutty flavour chewy texture of the bagel compliment the soft egg and peppery rocket beautifully.

I believe Scrambled eggs are a very personal thing, I like mine slightly soft with a good pinch of salt and a splash of milk before cooking. Whisk up and pour into a medium hot pan with a good nob of melted butter, keep whisking gently throughout cooking, this is a slow gentle process to keep the eggs light and fluffy and not at all rubbery. I mixed in a couple of hand fulls of rocket once the pan was off the heat and served. Perfect for two.

Eggs from those great people at the Happy Egg Company and bagels from my local store.

Enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Santo Lounge - Shirley, Southampton

Santo Lounge

Just a few images from the fabulous lunch I enjoyed at Santo Lounge in Shirley, Southampton. This uber cool lounge bar is a great addition to Shirley and certainly seems to be the new hot spot in the area. Whether you are looking for coffee and pastries, a chilled out lunch with the family or a great night hitting the cocktails with your friends then the Santo Lounge should be a place to consider.

My lunch date and I chose a selection of tapas and we were not disappointed. The shredded pork was sweet, tender and packed with flavour; the meatballs were moist, herby and served in a sweet tomato sauce and the sautéed potatoes with Manchego cheese provided a great accompaniment.  All in all a great lunch. Add to the great food their fine range of drinks, including the best selection of spirits I've seen in any bar for many years, and some of the richest, tastiest coffee we've had in a long time and we may have found a great place to hang out and enjoy life.

A full review will follow in the next couple of weeks but I can certainly recommend Santo.


Enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

East Beach Cafe - Littlehampton

,

East Beach Cafe Littlehampton

East Beach Cafe, Littlehampton what an amazing place, I'd never visited Littlehampton so it was great to find this beautiful haven of fine food, great drinks and the friendliest of service. Huge thanks to Jo and her beautiful family for the invite to join them.

East Beach Cafe has tardis like qualities; from the outside it appears to be small contemporary structure perched perfectly on the expansive sea front. Once inside, it opens into a beautiful space with fabulous curved walls and ceiling which bounce lashings of light in from a panoramic window that runs the whole length of the south side facing out to sea. The window affords an amazing view whatever the weather.

The food menu is small but perfectly formed with great snacks, starters, mains, deserts and a sumptuous selection of pastries. Add to this a fully licensed bar, wine list and the best quality stock and this is a perfect place to eat and drink for so many occasions. On my visit it was full with families enjoying lunch, the happy chatter of little people, and parents and grandparents enjoying great food and drink. Although it was busy the service was still swift, attentive and polite which is sadly a standard that so many venues fail to achieve.

I went for a classic that from my experience does not appear on anywhere near enough menus, my Croque Madame was perfectly made for me with thin slices of white toast, succulent slices of ham, a richly flavoured cheese and topped with a perfectly fried egg with a warm soft golden yolk. The crispy toast, salty ham, warm gooey cheese all topped off with a rich and flavoursome fried egg create one of my favourite food experiences of all time. I chose a cappuccino to partner my Croque Madame, made with care it had a rich coffee flavour, light foam with a beautiful creamy texture and finished with dark bitter chocolate powder.

Jo went for a classic pot of tea and a huge cheese and tomato baguette made with the same quality of ingredients we'd experienced throughout our visit. Served with a little can of the most fabulous chips, golden and crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, marvellous.

All in all the food was great and certainly will require a return a visit for a full on meal, the service was fantastic and the atmosphere so welcoming and relaxing that even the grotty weather couldn't put a damper on the day.

Thanks again to Jo for the company, it was great.

Enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Smoked mackerel on ciabatta with watercress and horseradish

Smoked mackerel on ciabatta with watercress and horseradish

Tonight's dinner was inspired a couple of days ago after a foodie chat with a friend and very tasty it turned out to be too.

A fresh ciabatta roll, crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle; layered with iron rich, peppery, crunchy watercress, a smoky and salty mackerel fillet with a lovely flaky texture and full of essential oils; all finished off with hot and creamy horseradish.

No instructions needed just warm the mackerel through as per the instructions on the packet, simply fabulous.

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Mushrooms on toasted muffin

Mushrooms on toasted muffin

A follow up to this mornings post Mushrooms here are the tasty fungi pan fried and served on a buttered toasted muffin

The closed cup keep a nice firm texture even when cooked, the chestnuts have a nice nutty flavour and the porcinis are the king of the show with their meaty flavour and aroma giving some real depth to the meal. All piled onto a toasted and buttered muffin, garnished with some peppery rocket and seasoned with some salt and pepper.

Enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms

Just a selection of mushrooms I'll me using for a post later today.

Enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Chicken Stir Fry

Chicken Stir Fry

Lunch with the kids was quick, easy an colourful today, wok fried strips of chicken breast mixed with courgettes, red and green peppers and serves over fine egg noodles. The noodles are dressed with toasted sesame oil and I added garlic infused hot chilli sauce. Season the the chicken with salt and pepper before cooking in a small amount of vegetable or sunflower oil. If you you are making this for adults or older children you can toss the whole lot in a hot and sour sauce which gives an additional kick

Ingredients

Cooking time: 30 minutes | Serves 2 adults + 2 children

- 4 chicken breasts

- 4 sheets Sharwood's Fine Egg Noodles

- 3 peppers, colours of your choice

- 2 courgettes

- Toasted sesame oil to taste

Optional dressing

- 3 tsp runny honey or mirin

- 6 tsp lime juice

- 3 tsp fish sauce

- 2 or 3 tsp hot chilli sauce

Method

Slice the chicken breasts into strips on the diagonal and season with salt an pepper, fry in a hot wok until golden and good through thoroughly. Once cooked set a side and keep warm.

Slice the peppers into strips and the courgette into rounds on the diagonal, season and fry in the wok with the same oil as the chicken was cooked in. This will help add colour and flavour to the vegetables.

Whilst preparing the chicken and vegetables cook the noodles as per packet, drain and dress with toasted sesame oil

Once everything is ready toss together in the wok and serve.

If serving for older children adults you can added home made sauce by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl and adding whilst tossing all of the ingredients together after cooking.

Enjoy

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Willie's Delectable Cacao

Willie's Delectable Cacao

A fabulous range of chocolate I have recently been introduced to by my friend Alex, these rich dark chocolate squares with a variety of added flavours are delicious. We've started with Ginger & Lime, Luscious Orange and Hazelnut & Raisin the orange is great with a real natural zesty orange flavour, sweet honey and dark bitter 65% cocoa chocolate. More photos and my feelings on the flavours to follow.

Willie's Cacao is available fromWaitrose amongst it's many retailers.

Stuart Webster Photography provide Food, Lifestyle and Commercial photography services throughout Hampshire and the UK.

Enjoy