Mowgli, Liverpool

So we decided on a last minute trip to Liverpool. Having heard wonderful things about Mowgli's new Manchester site, plus one very enthusiastic recommendation from a friend, it was decision made. I'd also been having a chat to them on Twitter the week before, and it turns out they are pretty nice folk indeed.

Their Liverpool joint is set in my favourite part of the city, Bold Street. If you're a regular to my site, you'll remember me raving about Nolita a couple of weeks ago. It's the kind of place where you could have a different type of cuisine every weekend for a couple of months! It's packed with beautiful little independent cafes and restaurants, including Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, Italian, Mexican and even a decent chippy. There are many more, I just had to stop because I was making myself hungry.

We arrived just before the lunchtime rush, and were advised we could sit wherever we liked. I loved this laid-back approach. We felt lie we were being invited into someone's home rather than packed into a 'best fit' spot in a crate.

Just like Nolita, the front of house team were warm and chatty, and more than happy to recommend dishes. Drinks were quickly offered, and arrived a few minutes later. We had a really good feeling!

Drinks

Anchor Californian Lager - 4.9%: one of the husband's faves.

Homemade mango lassi: I have to have it wherever I go! A very fine example indeed.

Sweet Delhi Diazepam: Gin, raspberries, green chartreuse, fresh ginger, lemon, passion fruit and apple juice. Clearly made by a cocktail lover, for cocktail lovers. 

Gunpowder Chicken - Mowgli’s chicken poppers, ginger, garlic, garam masala and golden fried in a chickpea batter: Even my onion fearing husband was all over this. Beautifully crisp strips of chicken with a definite spicy aftershock!

Mowgli Paneer - Staff favourite. Tender cubes of soft paneer cheese simmered with velvet, sweet, spiced tomatoes, garden peas & fresh spinach: Dish of the day for me. I adore paneer, and this was an example worth bleating about. Genuinely couldn't leave the bugger alone.

Agra Ginger Chicken - Chicken breast cooked in bright fresh ginger, North Indian garam masala, sweet tomato, coriander & spinach: Really tender chunks of chicken breast in a rich tomato sauce. The ginger was just lovely in this.

Temple Dhal - The ultimate Indian home comfort food. Red lentil simmered with toasted cumin, coriander and lemon: Lentils... little bland yellow discs turned into something magical by the power of the Mowgli kitchen! You'll be wanting something to dip in these.

Mowgli House Keema - Succulent ground lamb, roasted cumin, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, tomatoes and pulses: Oh lord. My own keema will forever taste rubbish in comparison. I think the secret here is time. This keema is simmered for hours to let the spices infuse into the meat and pulses. Definitely my husband's dish of the day.

Himalayan Cheese Toast - Coriander, red onion & green chilli dressing, sharp cheddar and served with Indian pickle: That's right, Indian rarebit. Look at it. My mouth is watering and separation anxiety has set in. Delirious.

Puri - Soft, fried, flat breads: The perfect receptacle for dealing with that dhal!

A little bit of everything: I was utterly stuffed after that feast! We left quite a lot too, but don't panic. Our chappie boxed it all up for us and we had the best toasties Horwich has ever seen later that night! Class act...

What a lovely little venue; outstanding food and wonderful service. I'm dying to try Manchester now! I can also highly recommend stuffing your leftovers into a toastie... snack of champions if you ask me. 

Apple Strudel Loaf Cake

How cute is this shape? I bought this Nordic Ware loaf tin in New York, but there is a new version out this year which is equally as pretty.

I love food at this time of the year; warming, spicy and full of plump fruit. I've done a pumpkin flavoured cake before, so off I trot to my local supermarket in search of inspiration. There it was. Those crafty folk at Muller have only gone and created a new apple strudel flavoured yoghurt! It was mine... Such an easy cake to make, yet a massive office pleaser on a dull Monday morning.

I added a layer of demerara sugar to mine, which means the base is even crunchier. If you're using a regular loaf tin, this sugar crust will end up being on top, which is also fine. Do whatever makes you happy - no rules here folks. It does rise a bit, so whatever size tin you use, just make sure you only fill it 3/4 full.

Also, if you're one of those weird cinnamon haters, you might want to try ginger instead, it'll work just as well.

Ingredients:

• 75g sultanas soaked in hot water for at least an hour (I use apple juice heated in the microwave)
• 110g butter
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 75g light muscavado sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 175g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 pot of Muller Apple Strudel yoghurt (failing this 120ml/165g pot of apple yoghurt with 1/2 tsp extra cinnamon)
• 1 tbsp apple sauce (optional)
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar

Method:

1. Soak the sultanas in hot water or warmed apple juice for at least one hour, preferably over night. Cover in cling film.
2. Drain the sultanas.
3. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
4. Prepare a large loaf tin (minimum 2lb) with melted butter and dust with flour. I used the Nordic Ware pumpkin loaf tin. If it's a regular plain tin, tin liners are a good alternative. 
5. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
7. Add the lemon extract.
8. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices.
9. Pour the yoghurt into a jug, and stir in the apple sauce.
10. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
11. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
12. Stir in the sultanas.
13. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
14. Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the cake. 
15. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
16. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
17. I decided to serve mine naked because it's so pretty!

Where to buy this stuff:
Cake Release
Nordic Ware Pumpkin Patch Loaf Tin

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Ning, Manchester

I've become a bit partial to Asian cuisine recently. I told myself for years that I wasn't keen after a particularly heinous incident involving a Chinese restaurant and a four hour flight. Anyway, that's all a distant memory, and my new found bravery has meant that I've been sampling dim sum and rendang left, right and centre.

When Ning asked me to go and put their new Christmas menu through its paces, I was more than happy to oblige, and took my Malaysian food-loving homie for a trusted second opinion. We weren't really sure what to expect when we arrived, and were seated at a long table at the back of the restaurant. As others piled in, it became apparent that co-diners Beth and Adam were our sort of people! Over the course of the evening we shared some wonderful food, funny stories, avoided photos (almost successfully), and laughed lots!

We sampled all the options available to festive diners (yes, we really did take one for the team!). I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Drinks - Rioja Tinto, Passion Fruit Mojito and Strawberry Mojito: A fantastic drinks list with some interesting tropical themed cocktails. We opted for a nice bottle of red and some fruity mojitos.

Mixed plain and spicy prawn crackers: I'm not a huge fan of prawn crackers, but the spicy ones were really tasty. Life hack... save some of these to help deal with the leftover satay sauce from the prawns. You'll see.

Sate Udang Berempah | Spiced Prawn Satay - skewered prawn satay marinated in spices: I don't do fish, especially the type with an actual face. I was feeling brave, and it paid off! These were utterly delicious. Drenched in warming spices and very moist. That bloody sauce... Gorgeous.

Telur Rendang Ayam | Rendage Scotch Eggs - Eggs coated with minced rendang chicken and crispy breadcrumbs: One of the best things I have eaten this year. I urge you to order these. We all agreed on this!

Sup Asam Pedas Ikan | Spiced & Sour Soup - Pan-fried crispy salmon chunk with mangetouts in spiced and sour soup: A little too fishy for me, but a hit with my co-diners. Very pretty too.

Jasmine rice: It's just rice right? No my friend, no. I loved this sticky jasmine rice. Perfect for sauce soaking.

Achar Nyonya | Nyonya Vegatable Pickle - Medley of vegetables pickled in herbs and spices: Cold, crunchy and tangy, this was the perfect accompaniment to the warm chicken, beef and fish dishes to come.

Siakap Halia and Limau | Poached Sea Bass - Fillets of sea bass poached in ginger, lime, lemongrass and coriander marinade: Delicately spiced fish with a subtle lemongrass flavour.

Ayam Goreng Kemangi | Chicken and Sweet Basil Stir-fry - Wok fried chicken pieces with sweet basil leaves and beans: Loved this... The depth of spices worked beautifully. This sauce over jasmine rice rocked my world.

Kerutup Saging | Braised Beef - Chunks of beef braised in Malaysian spices and herbs with roasted coconut: Our favourite main by far. All four of us agreed this slow cooked beef was a huge winner.

Sayur Goreng | Stir Fried Vegetables - Wok fried fine beans, carrot and spinach with a hint of herbs and spices: Nice and refreshing after the meat-fest.

Trio pf Pandan - Glutonous rice balls with palm sugar filling & coated with desiccated coconut, dark chocolate brownies with cashew nuts and pandan flavour, and rich ice cream made of pandan extract with roasted and glazed walnuts: A platter of purest green. A nice way to sample a few little desserts.

Tropical Fruit Salad in lychee juice, cinnamon dust and fresh mint leaves: I was craving this after all the rich food we'd devoured. Those lychees sorted me right out.

Chocolate Lava Cake with orange compote and cinnamon dust served with vanilla ice cream: We left this to the boys; I'd have been asleep in the taxi home! Soft chocolate cake with a fondant centre.

Christmas Pudding with dried cranberries and nuts served with double cream or brandy sauce: I was the only Christmas pud lover in our group. I cursed my fullness for these were spectacular. Soft, spicy and packed with fruit.

We were pleasantly surprised with what Ning had to offer. Chef Norman Musa popped out at regular intervals to explain his food, and gather our feedback. He was happy to talk us through where he has learned from past menus, and what excited him about this one. General consensus was that all diners must order the Scotch egg and the beef dish, although we loved being able to sample all of it! I can't wait to go back already.

Disclaimer: We were invited to give feedback on the new Christmas menu at Ning. We were under no obligation to say nice things, and no-one had my arm up my back forcing me to eat prawns with faces.