Sunday Supper Club: The Gravadlax Edition

Sunday’s supper club went very well. Those that follow me on Twitter might have noticed me getting myself into a bit of a tizzy about finding dill in Brixton (apparently a military-styled task to test even the most ardent of resolves) for the Gravadlax – but all’s well that ends well. So without further ado, I present the Crumbs and Dirty Dishes Secret Supper Club: The Gravadlax Edition...

The menu :
Gina welcome cocktails
Gravadlax with New Potato Salad and Ballymaloe Brown Bread

Scallops with pancetta and purple sprouting broccoli on a bed of lentils with lemon crème fraiche

Tarte Citron
Cheese & Biscuits

November dates are 7th November and 28th November and filling up quickly. £20 for four courses and a welcome cocktail – BYO wine. Email crumbsanddirtydishes@gmail.com to book a place or find out more.

Yours in hungriness,
Julianna

My love affair with lemons – The Easiest Lemon Meringue Pie

A few years ago, when I was a younger, thinner whippersnapper at uni, my good friend Duncan used to make the most amazing dinners for me. To be fair, I made a few for him in return, but Duncan stood out as the only one in my friend crowd who was really, really into cooking.

While I was cooking on the two electric hobs in the uni halls kitchen and my tiny (illegal) portable oven, he was serenely whipping up gorgeous confections in the gargantuan kitchen he had the good luck to stumble across in his house share for the year. Memorable as many of these dishes were, there’s one in particular that still brings a rumble to my tummy and a smile to my lips. Lemon meringue pie.

I’ll be the first one to admit that I’ll normally forgo the sweet stuff in favour of stuffing in the savoury but this version of this pie is one of my favourite dishes. Served straight out the oven and smelling of citrus, pastry and meringue – ¾ of it disappeared immediately after the Sunday roast on the day I baked it, the rest remaining for a rather indulgent midweek treat.

Quick and easy lemon meringue pie

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
For the shortcrust pastry (adapted from Leith’s Cookery Bible)
170g plain flour
A pinch of salt
85g butter
2 tsp sugar
Very cold water to mix
Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the fats until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add 1-2 tablespoons water to the mixture and mix to a firm dough. You may need to add a bit more to make it workable but the crumblier the dough, the lighter the pastry.
Wrap in clingfilm, chill for ½ hour. Roll out and line tart tin, bake blind for 15 mins.
For the filling
250g sweetened condensed milk
80g caster sugar
3 medium lemons
3 eggs

Grate the zest of the lemons. Squeeze the juice into a separate bowl.
Seperate the eggs. Take the egg yolks, lemon zest and juice and beat together. Slowly add the condensed milk and beat until thickened. Add to the partially-baked pastry shell.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until light and airy, add the caster sugar one spoon at a time until the mixture forms stiff peaks and has a glossy sheen. Spoon onto the top of the pie filling and place into the oven. Cook for 25 minutes until cooked through and the meringue is firm to tap on the top.

The Fentiman Arms

God bless Forrest Gump. Of all the movies I saw when I was a child, Forrest Gump is one of the most beloved. Let's see - you had the quirky love story, the simple outlook on life, but best of all, you had the one liners. What could be more true than 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get'? Nothing.

That saying gets to the heart of why I love eating, writing and thinking about food - because you never know what you are going to get. The first time you try a new recipe, or a newly discovered restaurant, there's that frission of excitement... Is this going to be the best dish of your life? Or is it going to leave you wishing you'd stayed at home with a bowl of rice krispies? Only time and your tastebuds can tell. And there is nothing better than when it all comes together and works - which is exactly what happened at The Fentiman Arms last week.

I can't say I've ever thought of the area surrounding The Oval as the gastronomic destination du jour. There are a few gastropubs, normal pubs and local restaurants but, for the most part, it is a local area for local people. This is probably why The Fentiman Arms has stayed off the radar for so long, those selfish people in Vauxhall decided that they didnt want to share. Tough luck cookies, it's been found and has been firmly placed on beacon alert.

The equation is simple - food comes in the form of lip smackingly tempting dishes such as Ham hock terrine with homemade picallili, lamb skewers with garlic, slow roasted lamb with potato dauphinoise and braised red cabbage. Prices are decent and extremely good value for money considering that the portions are on the gargantuan side of things. The wine list too is comprehensive enough to satisfy all but the most pernickity of oenophiles and covers a range of prices.





Next time I'm planning to have a three course meal there, I might consider cracking out the old stomach stretching exercises a few hours in advance. This time I barely made it to the dessert, which was a perfectly flirty little poached spiced pear with vanilla ice cream. As for Natalie's chocolate brownie with hazlenut and chocolate ice cream, well the picture says it all really...



Finally add the soupcon of pretty brilliant staff, who it turns out I met months ago in a random jaunt to Bar 55 in Camden and there you have it, the best possible total of the never know what you are going to get equation.

Waiting rating: Best we’ve come across in a long time, friendly, quick and chatty - definitely helped make the evening so fun
Scoffing potential: Astronomical, I dare you not to try
Wallet buddy: Standard – portions are huge too
The crowd: As it was mid World Cup there were the obligatory footie fans dotted around, locals hanging out on the outdoors terrace with a cold bevvie

64 Fentiman Road
Oval,SW8 1LA
020 7793 9796