Leftovers #149

Happy long weekend! May you also be as hungover as me.

I’m mildly hungover operating on 4 hours sleep. This is going to be a short introduction. All I’ll say is coconut water with orange earl grey iced tea in a big jar over lots of ice is the way out. Slept on the opposite end of the bed and I liked it. Spent the last five minutes doing TFL trivia on TikTok. Thinking about sage fried eggs. Considering a cold plunge and sauna. Dreaming of last night’s cotoletta and how they got the potatoes so perfect in the oven. As always here’s a list of good things to consume both bodily and culturally. Shout out to my best friend in the whole word,

Kyla Ruddell

because it’s her birthday and it’s the first time in years that we’ve not been with each other on our birthdays. It’s hard being on the other side of the world to your other half.

1. Quality Wines is it for me. I think it’s one of my top three favourite spots in London because they deliver on food (small menu, Mediterranean-forward, simple), wine (lots of choice, skilled soms, exciting) and vibes (candle lit, casual, elevated). Alex and I went last night to celebrate Kettle Objects and we went all out. The cotoletta (breaded veal chop) + pappardelle with white ragu + finnochiana + focaccia with a salty sexy sauvignon - probably the best meal I’ve had in London.

2. Speaking of, here’s a simple recipe for ragu bianco.

3. Can’t stop listening to Whatmore but mainly this song by one of guys in the collective.

4. Making use of the deli containers and batch-making at least three things on a Sunday night to make the week’s meals easier. This week it was: a very limey lime miso vinaigrette (lime + white miso + garlic + hot honey), green goddess sauce (anchovies + yoghurt + avo + parsley + mint + dill + chives + wild garlic) and a charred lemon salsa v (charred lemon + red chilli + garlic + parsley + chives + mint + dill + ACV).

5. My friend Jem asked me for roast chicken tips as she was cooking one last time. Here’s what I said:
   - Either dry or wet brine your chicken - for dry brine, I like to use a combination of salt and sugar - add 1 tsp of each into a little bowl and rub all over the chicken and don’t forget to put inside the chicken, too!
   - If you’re wet brining, I like a solution of equal parts soy sauce and water, the juice of a whole lemon, 1 tbsp sugar and a handful of peppercorns.
   - Invest in a meat thermometer - I think it’s such a useful piece of kit to make sure you get a moist chicken and not one that’s overcooked and dry.
   - Spatchcocking is super easy to do at home and will reduce your cooking time - I like doing this on a weekday when I have less time post-work.

6. Stainless steel pan plug: don’t be afraid, it will be the best pan you use. It becomes non-stick you just have to heat it up without any oil/fat - let it come to temperature (you’ll know it’s ready when you throw a little water and it starts to bead and race across the pan). I’m going to attempt a Spanish tortilla in mine this weekend.

   

   

7. I’ve been meaning to read Bonjour Tristesse. It’s a sun-soaked, slow-burn unraveling of a teenage girl's gilded summer, where guilt, beauty, and boredom blur. Anyway here’s a good piece about the book, its author Françoise Sagan and the upcoming adaptation directed by Durga Chew-Bose, on The Paris Review.

8. It’s officially the beginning of cold noodle season, here’s some gochujang peanut noodles to celebrate.

9. Julius Roberts excels in spring and autumn. This spring chicken caesar salad with chicken fat croutons is on the list to make this Sunday.

10. I’m reading Deborah Levy’s almost memoir The Cost Of Living and I’m enjoying her meditations on writing:

    

11. Making use of the deli containers and batch-making at least three things on a Sunday night to make the week’s meals easier. This week it was: a very limey lime miso vinaigrette (lime + white miso + garlic + hot honey), green goddess sauce (anchovies + yoghurt + avo + parsley + mint + dill + chives + wild garlic) and a charred lemon salsa v (charred lemon + red chilli + garlic + parsley + chives + mint + dill + ACV).

12. I love TikTok because it’s how I discover new music. I love hearing about world disco music from Pri and recently discovered a brilliant Iraqi-American indie-shoegaze artist called Nabeel. It’s pure angst and I want to turn it up so loud in my car (except I can’t because my car speakers are stuck at one volume).

13. If you too have ended up on the French side of TikTok, you’ve probably been enamoured by the ear worm that is Le Poisson Steve. I can’t stop singing it. I feel like it’s the only type of meme culture I can get into because it feels very lofi and millennial - like something I would have picked up in 2007 when Geocities was still a thing.

14. It’s also almost my birthday and it’s almost annoying how much I identify has a Taurus:

    

15. My friend is coming to stay from LA and she asked if she could bring anything and I said yes, Rancho Gordo whipple beans, Rocky’s matcha, two packets of proper flour tortillas and Moon Juice magnesium. For anyone heading that way, I’ve been sending friends my LA Google Maps list. It’s pretty extensive and v good. It covers restaurant, bars, coffee shops, shops and vintage stores.