Sunday 14 August 2011

The De Beauvoir Deli Co.

Right before moved from Stockwell to the De Beauvoir area earlier this year, I woke up in a panic one night: soon I would be leaving my flat 5 mins from the Old Post Office Bakery on Landor Road - would the new place allow Mr. Sprinkle to head out every Saturday morning to pick up my weekend fix of fresh bread and croissants and be back by the time the boiled eggs and tea was ready?  The answer, thank goodness, was yes.  We could not believe our luck when we discovered The De Beauvoir Deli just 5 minutes away from our new home.

The deli has become one of my favourite places in London and a place that I have prohibited myself from going to on an empty stomach.  Cosy is a good word to describe the 2 year old deli, which is open 7 days a week and packed with delicacies, many of them from local and British producers.

You will find fresh bread (from Euphorium on Upper St), pastries, cakes, cheese, cold cuts, meat, wine, spirits, olives, crisps, chutneys, jams, sweets, teas, coffees, vegetables, fruit, oils, vinegars, ice cream (they sell Simply Ice Cream, my absolute favourite), Brindisa chorizo - the list goes on.  I could sit in there all day, eating and staring at the many wonderful foods on display. 







You can buy Monmouth coffee to stay or to go.  You may have to wait a bit on weekends as everyone from the greater area seems to come here to load up on caffeine.  It is worth the wait though. 

The De Beauvoir Deli is located at the intersection of Southgate Road and Northchurch Road.  It is open from 8am to 8pm during the week.  Saturdays from 8am to 6pm and Sundays from 9am to 4pm.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Summer barbecue: chicken, lamb and ribs

One of my favourite things about summer is barbecued food. Thanks to my local butcher (James Elliot on 96 Essex Road N1 8LU) and our new barbecue Mr. Sprinkle and I have enjoyed some excellent meals this summer.

Yesterday I picked up some chicken thighs, pork ribs and lamb chops; I marinated them 4 hours before whacking them on the grill.   

I marinated the chicken using soy sauce, white onion, garlic, fresh ginger, lemon, groundnut oil, sesame oil, dried chilli, salt and pepper. 


For the lamb I used olive oil, rosemary, white onion, garlic, salt and pepper. 



We soaked the ribs in Jamie Oliver's absolutely incredible marinade which we regularly use for chicken and pork.  It has become a staple at our barbecues and, so far, we have never had any leftovers.

I served the meat with a big salad and rice cooked in chicken stock with onion and fresh ginger (another staple when we barbecue).

Rice recipe:
1/2 a white onion
a thumb of fresh ginger
1 chicken stock cube
1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
1 tbsp of olive oil

1. Chop the onion into small pieces, grate the ginger and chop the stock cube into small pieces.  

2.  Heat the oil in a pot.  Fry the onion until it's nearly translucent, then add the ginger.  Fry for a minute then add the rice, water and stock.  Stir until the stock has dissolved. 

3.  Boil until the all water is gone.  Leave it to stand with the lid on for at least 10 minutes or preferably a bit longer.