#19 Yauatcha, Soho (*) & #20 Medlar, Chelsea (*)

I really wanted to post about both of these restaurants when I went to them as I was really impressed. Also it had been so long since I clocked up a star. Sadly, it's just going to have to be short and sweet.

Yauatcha
Way back on May 8th I venture to Yauatcha as a work dinner with our service provider. I had always wanted to go here but they don't publish their prices on their website so it was far too risky for someone with my wage. Let's just say my fears were confirmed on seeing the menu and I was so very glad that it was on them!

Knowing me rather well (afterall, the first time I went out formally with them I ended up at the senior manager's house playing with his pugs - not a euphemism, I was actually just playing with his dogs), I am always being plied with cocktails. Glowing on lemonberry martinis, the array of starters we got were amazing. But my favourites were the mushroom dim sum, especially the wild mushroom dumpling. Then it was followed by cripsy ducks and pancakes. And then ridiculously, some mains. One of the waitresses came over and told us we ordered too much food and decided not to bring out two dishes. We could have eaten it all. It is a beautiful restaurant, it was no wonder it was a backdrop to a scene in that (terrible) film I Give it a Year (I was on a plane, there was nothing to do!).

Having got a brief glimpse of the bill, I suggest you come here with someone with deep pockets or a good credit card. That or get your service provider to take the hit.

Medlar
I had been dying to go to Medlar since it opened and prior to it getting it's star. This is because I madly fell in love with The Glasshouse in Kew when I venture there in January 2011. The great thing about Medlar and her sisters (La Trompette and Chez Bruce) is they have a set menu. There's no worry about breaking the bank and calling in a mortgage here for your dessert.

My sister and I dined here on a quiet Sunday night for £35 for 3 courses. Yes. I'm serious. I'll let the food do the talking.

And don't think for that £35 that you are going to get tiny dishes. These were the largest dishes I've seen ever at a Michelin star restaurant. So many of those bright beautiful petit pois to bed my beautiful lamb! And I thought having scoffed that main I'd get something lighter for dessert...but that serving of macadamia cookies and luscious sorbet had other ideas.

Just don't ask what the weeds on the wall are because you feel like a dick when they tell you it's medlar.

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I was supposed to tick off number 21 on my 29th birthday but writing myself off a 9:30pm the night before meant I spent my actual birthday getting acquainted with the new flat's bathroom.

But if anyone wants to go on a foodie adventure, I'm ready!

Vegetarian Classics

A few years ago now - wow, okay 2009 - I decided to try do better myself through healthy eating and the environment by reducing meat. This was by introducing several vegetarian dishes into each week. A couple times in 2010 I managed to eat fully vegetarian for a few weeks (yeah I know it's not much but I came from a town where it wasn't considered food unless it meat and three veg). If anything, it's just a good way to think about new ways to cook. That and that's how I fell in love with mushrooms.

There were two favourite dishes that resulted out of this and in the last two weeks I've managed to revive them after long absences.

Bean Burgers

The only reason I haven't cooked my bean burgers in a while is that I always make quite the mess I make them. I always think I should cook double the recipe so I only get beans fragments on the floor and in my hair every few months. But I kept only having one lonely tin of Sainsburys Basic Kidney Beans in my flat and one day I just couldn't resist anymore.

1 Can Kidney Beans
Half an Onion
Olive Oil
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp of grated/cut ginger
Good splash of soy sauce
Handful of bread crumbs (blitz one slice of bread)

Heat the oil in a pan and toss in the onions until soft. Throw in the spices and mix around. Take off the heat.

Blitz your kidney beans in a food processor - this is the fun part. And is why it doesn't matter how cheap your kidney beans are. They're gonna end up mashy mushy beans anyway. You can also mash them like potatoes but I love my food processor. Keep them a bit chunky at this point.

Put the onions in the food processor along with the soy sauce, ginger and bread crumbs. You can add in chilli at this point if you like - fresh or flakes. I sometimes sprinkle flakes in if I'm feeling spicy. Blitz until it's a kinda disgusting looking mincey paste. I will not deny that this mix looks absolutely disgusting.

Roll out and separate into equal sized balls. Flatten with your hand. With a little more oil in the pan, fry on both sides until warmed through and cripsy on the outside. Again at this point, still not attractive.

I like to serve mine in a bun with the other half of the onion fried up with some mushrooms, rocket salad and garlic aioli and ketchup. Oh, and of course kumara chips.

These patties freeze really well. No, they still look very unappealing that way too. But trust me, these things are super tasty and will up any beef burgers (or is it horse...?)

Curried Parsnip Soup

Parsnips are one of my favourite smells. I could peel parsnips for hours just to have my hands fragrant with their sweetness. There's nothing that says autumn/winter more than parsnip. This is a great creamy and warming soup. The only drawback is that it will stain everything it touches that curry yellow.

2-4 large parsnips chopped in 2cm pieces
Half an onion
Teaspoon of chopped garlic
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
2.5 cups of vegetable stock
Half a medium potato sliced
200ml coconut milk

Fry the onion and garlic until soft. Put in the parsnip and fry briefly before adding the spices. Then add the potato and stock. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the parsnip and potato are soft. Take off the heat and blitz either in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth.

Return to the heat and stir in coconut milk. Season with crack black pepper. The best touch is to serve it with fresh coriander on top but I didn't have any. Also do I need to mention crusty bread with butter?

Both these recipes take minimal time really. Especially the parsnip soup. If you've got 25 minutes, you'll have a nice yellow soup to brighten those dark England winter evenings.