Glasgow’s Lunchtime Surprise

As an office drone during the working week there is very rarely ever the opportunity to get my foodie hat on.

Lunch times tended to involve the inevitable trip to Pret, Philpotts or one of the many supermarkets around the finance district.

Then one happy day as I hunted for an RBS branch I stumbled across Riverhill. What I found what a coffee shop with the most fantastic array of salads, sandwiches and deli items all prepared fresh daily!

One of the first things that made me go oooooh was the Puddledub sausage rolls which they make themselves using Puddledub originals, possibly the finest sausage in the land.

On a daily basis they serve two fresh made salads, two soups and their collection of rolls and wraps, some are staples to the menu some are specials!

Favourites with me have been the chicken schwarma wrap, the new wild boar baguette and basically any of their salads which even the biggest carnivore will have to admit is damn tasty!

To add to this they have a great selection of cakes and sweet items that really whet the appetite, top for me is the polenta cake.

With great coffee and fantastic staff it’s easy to see why this place has become the Glasgow food scenes lunch stop of choice!

Riverhill Coffee Cafe comes Highly Jd Recommend!

Turning 30 and Still Kicking Cancers Butt

So my social media amigos, in May 2014 I will be turning 30. Yes despite my boyish good looks this darned fate has somehow befallen me.

As it happens this closely coincides with the 10 year anniversary of me finishing chemo. Now what I have decided is that to mark this occasion I would like to throw a party Prince Harry would be proud of and to in doing so raise as much money as possible for The Teenage Cancer Trust (@TeenageCancer)! To do this I am planning on hosting a huge 1920’s themed party, casino night and auction all under one roof!

To do this I need a few things and I’m hoping here is where social media can help me!

• Reasonably priced venue in Edinburgh that has the capacity to serve canapés and space for say 200 guests
• Volunteers to help with the logistics
• A band
• A well priced events business who can do the casino
• Auction items that will make people go ooooooooooooh

Can you help? Will you help? Please say you will!! At the end of the day it’s all about beating cancer and I think that’s something we can all get behind!

Jd

Venisontastic

Aaaaah venison, it’s long been one of my favourites in a restaurant but I’ve rarely dared to try and cook it. Having discovered a market stall by the name of Seriously Good Venison this had well changed a little.

SGV will sell you pretty much anything and everything you can do with a deer. The dish above is seared sirloin with fondant potato and white asparagus I did a few weeks ago.

They are also doing charcuterie and the smoked venison carpaccio went into created a beautiful starter with pickled bettor, parsnip purée and parsnip crisps below.

Probably one of the greatest things the Edinburgh market sells on any given week however is the rack of venison. This is just incredible, I bought one recently for a dinner party and to say it was a success would be an understatement. The quality of the venison is possibly unbeatable. They are the first stall at the Castle Terrace market every week! Go try them and you won’t regret it, what’s more you’ll soon be back for more :)!!

(Array of venison photos to follow 🙂 )

#Eatlocal with not so local flavours

My cooking lately has all been about foreign flavours with the best of Scottish produce. Above you’ll see Scottish scallops with black pudding, cauliflower purée and grated chorizo. Served on black slate I thought it made for a visually stunning dish.

The chorizo comes from Peelham Farm who if you know me at all by now you’ll be aware I am a huge fan of. The dish itself its a great dinner party starter that looks the business even though the cooking involved is pretty simple.

Another foreign flavour dish with local flavour I tried recently was buffalo madras. Using buffalo from the now famous Steven Mitchell in Fife made this curry with ribeye steaks in less than 30 minutes. Using a wok the dish is cooked on a base of onion, garlic, ginger and chilli with cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric adding depth. Finished with a touch of garam masala it comes together using tomato pasta a little water and coriander. Simple cooking with awesome flavour.

The point of all of this though is that using the best of what’s on our doorstep we can enjoy food with flavours that transport us to any corner of the globe