Red's True Barbecue, Nottingham

Been having cheat meals almost everyday for the past few days -_- #somuchfail

Went to an American diner after Church today which specialises in all things greasy. And of course, since it's the weekend, the place was packed to the brim. We had to wait for 30 minutes before we could get a table. 

Make sure you're extremely hungry before you enter this place or else you'll end up like me only finishing 1/4 of my meal D:

The menu may seem overwhelming at first so my tips is to check out their menu online first on their website at the comfort of your home and in your snuggly duvet, while sipping on a hot cup of Japanese green tea.  :PPP

AND BEHOLD:  THE DONUT BURGER. (£12.95)

I cannot imagine the amount of calories in this beast. A donut alone is already about 300 calories. I had a small bite of this burger and am surprised the donut didn't taste as sweet as I expect it to be? I don't think they glazed/coated the donuts with sugar. So yeah, if you're bored of the traditional cheeseburger, I would recommend anyone to try this! (unless if you have cholesterol, then don't.)

I'm that unadventurous friend who orders the same thing over and over again. I always order ribs whenever I see ribs on the menu in any restaurants. 

MEMPHIS-DRY ST LOUIS FULL RACK OF RIBS (£24)

I thought I ordered half rack but full rack came (din't know it was full rack until I asked for the bill). Other than the fact that I unconsciously burned a hole in my purse T__T, the ribs still lived up to my expectations! It didn't have the weird porky smell to it (that somehow British pigs tend to have). One thing though, it would have been better if the meat is more tender? 

We only ordered tap water since the food itself is already quite expensive for students but I have say that their milkshake looks quite tempting though! Quite a number of customers ordered that while I was there. 

Will go there again if I feel carnivorous! :B

Website: 

http://truebarbecue.com/

Address:

11 Queen Street,

Nottingham NG1.

Time Out Cafe, Nottingham

Waaa someone's on a roll this week. I had the luxury of time to do quite a lot of non-academic related activities this week because I only had one day of class for the week \(^_^)/ #somuchwin

I came to know of this Cafe from a friend who posted  a photo  from this Cafe on Facebook and I knew I had to visit it asap because:
1. This is an Asian Fusion Cafe (Probably the first in notts);
2. It just started operating few weeks ago so of course I want to be one of the early birds lololol;
3. It serves Pho (This alone is enough to convince me!);
4. and also a variety of other Asian snacks and light meals.

The cafe is situated along Wheeler Gate street, next to Poundland, on the first floor. It should be easy to spot, just look out for the blackboard sign in the above picture!

 Interior of the cafe. 

You can tell from their decorations and furnitures that all those are picked personally by the owners. 

(Sorry for the bland descriptions btw lol)

Newspaper-looking menu! And there's free wifi! Any cafes that provide wifi deserve credit. (Y)

My friend ordered Hong Kong Milk Tea (£2.50) and I had Thai Milk Tea (£2.50).

The taste was pretty spot on but my only issue was that my milk tea was lukewarm (instead of cold). The owner (I suppose?) though did explain that this could be due to the fact that the milk tea was just brewed and did not had the chance to sit in the fridge for long.

Finally this was the reason why I was there. BEEF PHO (£6.95).

The broth was good! I don't want to be nitpicking but I was hoping for more ingredients? Eg. Beansprouts, Basil, Mint leaves, Chilli peppers. But for the price, I think this is overall still a great bowl of pho. 

My friend ordered Mentaiko pasta (£6.95). Anyone who loves Japanese food will equally love this and I believe this dish is great for supper! Speaking of supper, another selling point for this cafe is that it opens till 11pm on weekdays and on Saturdays. Now I finally have a place to go for snacks in the evenings yay :3

Overall I had an enjoyable time dining there. It definitely stands out as compared to other cafes in Nottingham. Will be back there again to try other dishes in their menu!


Their link:
Time Out Cafe's Facebook

Address: 
First Floor,
14-16 Wheeler Gate,
Nottingham,
United Kingdom.

Recipe: Rose Scented Macaron (Italian Method)

This recipe is not of my own. I also do not claim to be a professional baker.

Original source: http://loveandmacarons.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/macaron-recipe-italian-meringue-method.html

I have baked macarons for quite a few times now and I am afraid that my macarons are still not as delicate and perfect as I want them to be. However, each time I bake, I learn something new on how to perfect these little yummy creatures! 

I stumbled upon the Italian method of making macarons while reading an entry on dayre (a mobile blogging app) and the writer claimed that the Italian method is a lot better than the French method. Now all these while, I have been using the usual French method. What's a French method? Those are the usual macaron recipes you find on Google just by searching 'macaron recipe'. 

I find the Italian method easier and much more foolproof as compared to the French's! And the shells are not hollow at all! It's like biting into a mini cake :3 

Ingredients:

150g Almond Powder (*important* Remember to sift this! Alternatively you can process it in the food processor)

150g Icing Sugar

2 Large Egg Whites

Food Colouring (Optional)

2 Teaspoon of Cornflour (For humid place)

A Pinch of Salt

Meringue:

2 Large Egg Whites

35g Caster Sugar

120g Caster Sugar

40g Water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 150 Degree Celcius. Sift the almond powder and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Then add the 2 large egg whites and mix them thoroughly, followed by food colouring, salt and corn flour. 

Note: If you're using food colouring. It is advisable to use gel food colouring and please add more colour than usual as the colour will lighten as you combine all the ingredients in the end. 

*Mixing*

It will look like this in the end. Put it aside and now it's time to make the meringue!

 Put 120g sugar and water on the stove over medium heat. Wait until the mixture becomes bubbly all over the pan with no sign of unboiled water.

(Image from Google) It should look something like this. 

Once you start boiling the sugar water, beat the 2 large egg whites in a bowl until it becomes foamy then add 35g of sugar to it and continue beating either using a stand/hand mixer on low speed. Please make sure you do not over beat the eggs! 

Now add in the sugar water slowly while still beating the egg, and turn the mixer on high speed. 

Beat until stiff peaks are formed and then STOP RIGHT THERE (because we do not want to over beat the eggs :p)

After that, add 1/3 of the meringue to the almond mix until fully incorporated. After that, you may add in the rest of the meringue. Fold the mixture and you have to be careful about this step. Do not undermix and do not overmix. Make sure the batter is flowy enough (when you lift your spatula the batter runs down from it) but not too runny! I counted that I probably folded around 20 times?

Now the fun part! Pour the batter into a piping bag (For anyone in UK, you can get cheap £1 piping bags from Poundland!) and pipe them onto your baking tray which is lined with baking paper. 

You can pipe your macarons in any size that you want.

Then tap the baking tray few times on a table or kitchen counter to release the air from the macarons. *important*

Let the macarons rest for an hour. I usually will place them near the windows where there's wind. After that, you should be able to touch the shell with your finger and it will not stick onto your finger.

Now you're ready to pop any of the trays into the oven! I usually pop them in one by one to ensure even heat when baking these babies. Leave them in oven for around 13 minutes.

 AND YOU'RE DONE!

Do not remove the shells as soon as you take them out of the oven. Allow them to cool down first. 

Then you may assemble the macarons with your favourite filling!

I used rosewater buttercream. It's very easy. Around 150g to 200g of butter which is whipped at high speed until it becomes white, then fold in 100g of icing sugar. Whip the mixture again and last but not least, add 1 tablespoon of rosewater. 

I know macarons can be very tricky, which is why I think commercially it is an expensive dessert but I believe after a few trial and errors, anyone can attempt to bake them successfully!

Please try baking them and don't hesitate to ask me anything if you have any queries. 

Thanks for reading!

As cliche as this sounds... FIRST POST!

First post! I've always wanted to start some sort of a food blog/channel so I can keep my recipes with me whenever I want to use them but never found the time *cough excuses* and law school is insane. But I've have had my fair share of failed recipes mainly due to the fact that I NEVER save my previous recipes which I found usually by googling, so no more excuses this time!

I don't think I will have as much time as other *professional* food bloggers so unless if you're lucky, the photos I take will be clear and nicely edited :P
(All photos taken/will be taken by my trusty Iphone 4s)

I love food hunting too! I've been living in the city of Nottingham, UK for almost a year now and I've tried almost every single restaurants and cafes here. I love the cafe and tea cultures in UK. It's very.. how should I put it, unpretentious? I'm very grateful to my friends who always trust my tastebuds, and they're one reason why I am confident enough to create this blog.

As a true foodie myself, whenever I travel, the first thing I research on is not on which tourist attraction should I go to, or how do I travel using their public transportation, but it's ALWAYS which local restaurant has the best ratings & reviews in town .  *who's with me? :D*

AND I can't wait to go back to Malaysia and start introducing the local food there because (I may be bias) MALAYSIAN FOOD IS THE BOMB.

I don't know what my next post will be. Probably recipe for my favourite dessert? or review on the last few cafes/restaurants I've been to?? It'll be up in the next few days so you'll find out then!

Here's a glorious photo of a bowl of Sarawak Laksa to end the post. :P