Christmas Rocky Road

Christmas is here...and the perfect excuse for some more baking. I love Nigella Lawson's recipes of all things baked, may it be sweet or savory. One of my favourite recipes is the Rocky Road Crunch Bars. Very easy to make and absolutely delish!!! Plus the recipe can be modified to everyone's liking :) So here is my very own version of the yummy Rocky Road.

First of all, the ingredients:

125g  unsalted butter
300g  dark chocolate (min 70%)
3 tbs  golden syrup

100g  biscuits (I used 50g rich tea biscuits and 50g ginger snaps)
80g    mini marshmallows
50g    chocolate covered raisins
30g    flaked almonds
50g    glace cherries
50g    chocolate wafers
100g  white chocolate 

And here are the steps to making delicious Rocky Road ;D

1. Combine the butter, dark chocolate and golden syrup and melt in a heavy-based saucepan on low heat. It's important to keep the heat low, otherwise the chocolate will burn before it melts. Once all the ingredients have melted, put this mixture to a side. 

2. Roast the almonds on low heat until golden brow. 

3. Break the biscuits into smaller pieces. You can do this by hand or put the bisucits into a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin.

4. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl (mini marshmallows, raisins, almonds, glace cherries, chocolate wafers and biscuits).

5. Add the melted chocolate mix to the bowl and mix all the ingredients thoroughly together, ensuring all the ingredients are covered in the chocolate mix.

6. Line a 24 square cm baking tray with cling film and fill the tray with the mix.

7. Melt white chocolate on very low heat and pour over the mix and smooth the top.

8. Refrigerate overnight and cut into 24 squares.

Voila...and they are ready to eat!

I made 2 batches yesterday, and they make great Christmas gifts!    Obviously you can substitute the ingredients with other nuts, biscuits, sweets as you like :) If you try out this recipe, do let me know jhow it turned out. And of course if you have any useful advice, feel free drop me a message :) 

 

Check out my facebook album for more pictures! Rocky Road Pictures


Merry Christmas to everyone who's celebrating!!! xxx

Bi Bim Bap avec Nee

Been slacking on writing my blog posts the last couple of weeks, with a lot of deadlines just before Christmas :( . But here I am done with all the assignments, enjoying my nice cupa hot chocolate :) 

Couple of weeks ago, I went to Bi Bim Bap SoHo with my friend Nee - a Korean restaurant in the heart of London, serving delicious Korean food in a modern environement. It's located on 11, Greek Street, only a short walk from Tottenham Court Road Tube Station. The atmosphere is beautiful...white walls decorated with small polaroid pictures of past customers...very simplistic design. We visited Bi Bim Bap on a Friday and even though it was full we managed to find nice seats without long to wait. We were spoilt for choice, everything just looked so tasty!!! 

Kimchi Pancake

We ordered Kimchi Pancake and Chilli Squid for starters and the portion sizes were reasonable for 2 to share.
Kimchi Pancakes are made of Kimchi (pickled cabbage) that is sliced and combined with a flour-egg batter and pan fried. It was served with garlic and seasame soy sauce which added the perfect balance to the dish.The closest the kimchi pancakes taste are like an omelette.

Chilli Squid

 

We also had some deep fried squid seasoned with salt and chilli served with garlic and chilli sauce. I was positively surprised, the squid was very nice, not over cooked or rubbery (as on most occasions I have experienced)  and the chilli wasn't over powering =D






We then went on to order our main meals. I ordered Dol Sot - Bi Bim Bap. It's the most traditional of Bi Bim Baps. Bi Bim Bap is a signature dish in Korea. A classic rice dish served in a hot stone bowl, it comes with various toppings from seafood, beef or to just vegetables. The stone bowl is very hot, and sesame oil is added and topped with cooked rice. This creates a thin layer of crispy rice at the bottom of the bowl. Depending on the taste-buds various toppings can be added, usually including raw vegetables, that cook with a sizzle in the hot bowl. The Dolsot I ordered contained julienned cucumber, daikon, bean sprouts, spinach, carrots, mooli and topped with a fried egg. Just before eating the ingrdients in the hot stone bowl are stirred together thoroughly. The dish was delish!!! It did not only look visually absolutely appealing, but the combination of flavours complemented each other very well!

DolSot BiBimBap

 

 

My friend Nee ordered a rice dish -Beef Bool-Go-Gi Rice. Didn't actually manage to take a picture of the dish but it looked very tasty too =D It was served in a hot stone bowl too, filled with rice and topped up with marinated grilled beef. The dish wasn't very spicy but we were given some nice chilli sauce as well as some garlic sauce for us to add to our liking.

The drinks selection was very good, serving cold korean beers to teas and soft drinks. We got some Korean root tea which had a mild flavour, very similar to barley tea.

Overall the experience was very good, and I'd highly recommend BiBimBap Soho to anyone. The service wasn't very friendly though, but I wouldn't let that get in the way of the whole eating experience. The food is truly amazing!!! Definately not to be missed. 
The price was very good too. The bill came up to £25 for 2x mains, 2x sides plus 2x teas. Given it's in central London, it's a very good price for 2...the food was very filling, too!

If you are in or around central London, I'd highly recommend you check out this place, for a truly delightful Korean dining experience! =D 

Guten Appetit!  

BiBimBap Soho Website