Giraffe Norwich review

Once upon a time Norwich had a serious lack of lunchtime venues apart from the odd sandwich shop, pub and chain fast food restaurants. More recently there has been an explosion of places to eat which means, on the whole that you don't have to queue for ages at a weekend to get something decent for lunch.

Giraffe is a nationwide chain which promotes food from around the globe. I've eaten at a few Giraffe restaurants before in London and Cambridge and so when Tootsies folded I was quite excited when I heard that it was to become a Giraffe. It's not in a dissimilar vein I suppose !

Thursday was an INSET day for Norfolk schools so I had son no1 with me and with some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket we decided on some shopping in the morning with a treat of lunch out before picking up son no2 from nursery. Son no1 for an 8 year old doesn't have a bad taste in places to eat. It's not all McDonald's and KFC so maybe I am doing something right. His initial choice was Carluccio's but we settled on Giraffe because he likes the plastic giraffes you get in the drinks there !!

We were there early at about 11.50 as we had to get back for son no2. We were shown straight away to a table and son no1 furnished with an activity sheet and crayons. He quickly decided on his meal (sausage, chips and beans) but the kids menu is quite broad with pizza, pasta, chicken and beef burgers, chicken strips and cottage pie plus fish and chips and BBQ chicken wraps. They quite willingly interchange chips and mash and there are veggies too ! Because we were eating midweek we got a drink and main from the kids menu for £4.75 which I thought was excellent value.

I went for the Huevos Rancheros which I utterly adore, yes I know it's more Mexican fare and yes I am possibly a tiny bit obsessed ! I could have chosen from the brunch menu or the lunchtime menu and there was offers again on the adult menu which seemed nice. I can't possibly go into details on the menu here as I'd be here all day but here is a link.

The food arrived quickly and was steaming hot, my only criticism being that son no1's food arrived 5 minutes before mine and no one made any effort to see where my food had got to. Son no1 got two huge juicy sausages, a smallish portion of chips which he supplemented from my side dish and some baked beans. My huevos is pictured above. The salsa was different this time to before and I wasn't quite as keen but it was still a delicious combination of crunchy tortilla, chorizo, cheese, black beans, eggs and salsa - what is there not to like ?? In my opinion though it could be a little spicier with a little more chilli heat but now I'm being picky.

All in all a good experience, fast and friendly service and some yummy food. We were in and out in 35 minutes which given we were in a hurry wasn't bad. The bill arrived super promptly when I said we were pushed for time and came to a not bad £20.85.

I'd recommend for a quick bite of lunch and it gets the kids seal of approval too. Just one thing, if anyone from Giraffe reads this PLEASE bring back your yummy cajun chicken burger, I was distraught when that was taken off the menu !

Spicy bird tacos

Well, after all the speculation about these I thought I should probably post the recipe !!

This carries on with my Mexican obsession and is from my Mexican cookery bible. I've made these before with fresh chicken breast but as we'd had friends over for lunch on Sunday and I had quite a lot of left over chicken this seemed like a perfect solution. I did these as burritos instead of tacos and added some black beans into the burrito as I had a tin open but they're not essential. You may also notice from the picture the ends of the burritos are a little singed - I was side tracked while cooking them by the small people ! It didn't affect the flavour at all really.

On the Weight Watchers scale it's not so good, coming in at 16pps per portion but is fine if you're careful the rest of the day !!

SPICY BIRD TACOS
serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil and a knob of butter (I reduced these to try and reduce the fat content)
1 large onion sliced
salt & pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
generous pinch each of ground allspice and cinnamon
2 fresh bay leaves
2 fat cloves of garlic chopped
2x400g cans of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons of chipotles en adobo (I used Discovery chipotle paste)
600-800g leftover roast chicken
16 small corn tortillas or 8 larger ones

Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan and then add the onion, seasoning, sugar, spices and bay leaves and cook for 15 minutes then add the garlic cloves and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and chipotles and simmer for at least 15 mins over a low heat. Finally add the shredded chicken and check the seasoning. Remove the bay leaves before serving !

I served these in tortillas with a spoon of black beans and then topped with sour cream and grated cheese which went all melty and gorgeous.

Salsa & guacamole

Oh my goodness, how glorious has this weather been the last few days. It's only the end of April and we've had blisteringly hot days, BBQs, the paddling pool out for the children. It's been more like July than April and it's been fantastic !

My meal plans haven't really been reflecting this sudden, rather unseasonal change in weather so there has been much chopping and changing of meals and impromptu barbecue-ing which has been great. I am only hoping and praying that this continues, for at least another week anyway. I fear however, with the Royal Wedding looming at the end of this week that we won't be that lucky. I believe they are forecasting rain.

Anyway, back on topic. I have previously alluded to my love of Mexican food and this weather makes me want to eat big salads full of burstingly ripe tomatoes, soft and silky avocados with juicy bbq-ed chicken which indeed I did on Saturday evening. Faced with left over tomatoes and avocados I made some salsa and guacamole to mop up the alcohol from our rather boozy family lunch yesterday.

I swear these are the best salsa and guacamole I have ever made or eaten. After you've eaten this guacamole you'll never go back to the shop bought stuff again.

Both these (tweaked) recipes are taken from Thomasina Miers book which I have mentioned, oh at least a couple of times before !

FRESH TOMATO SALSA


8 large ripe, flavoursome tomatoes
Small handful of coriander, stalks removed
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 red chilli chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-2 limes squeezed
1 teaspoon soft brown or demerara sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Put a small cross in the base of the tomatoes and put in a bowl of boiling water for 1 minute
Remove and take off the skins. Quarter, deseed and chop roughly
Stir in the coriander and then add the other ingredients but only 1/2 the lime juice
Check the flavour and add more lime juice, salt and pepper to taste
Leave for 20 mins for the flavours to develop

GUACAMOLE


1/2 a red onion very finely chopped
2 red chillis chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 ripe Hass avocados
juice of 1-2 limes
small handful of coriander leaves chopped
black pepper

Put 1/4 of the onion and 1/2 the chilli in a pestle & mortar with the salt and mash to a rough paste
Cut open the avocados and add the pestle & mortar with 1/2 the lime juice and mash
Add the red of the ingredients and season with plenty of black pepper
Keep tasting and adjusting seasoning/ lime to taste

Cajun chicken burgers

I will admit I have a small obsession with Mexican food. Ok so this isn't strictly Mexican but it is amazing. It's a good job my poor, long suffering husband likes it too. In fact he wasn't really that bothered until we went to Wahaca about 18 months ago. Since then, and following my Thomasina Miers book purchase he's been well and truely on board. I've even managed to persuade the small people of the joys of enchiladas and fajitas !

This was originally an idea I got from BBC Good Food but never one to follow a recipe to the letter I had to tweak. There are several parts to this recipe, I'll post the recipes for salsa and guacamole on a separate entry as it would be perfectly acceptable to use (good) shop bought alternatives.

CAJUN CHICKEN BURGERS

serves 2

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
Cajun spice (I used Schwartz)
Olive oil
2 Ciabatta rolls
Slices of cheese - I just took slices off a block of cheddar but Monterey Jack or even Mexicana would be good
Salsa, guacamole & sour cream

I made my own salsa and guacamole but as stated above shop bought would be fine too

Beat the breasts flat and then sprinkle the spice mix over both sides. Drizzle with the oil and bake at 200C for 25 minutes
Heat the rolls and then split. You may need a little sour cream to stick the chicken to the roll !
After resting, slice the chicken on the diagonal and pile on the rolls and add the cheese
Spoon over the sauces. I was rather over generous in the above photo which caused all kinds of messiness !
Put the top back on the roll and serve with whatever you see fit.

I served with corn on the cob and crispy potato slices from Waitrose. It was so delicious but left a fiery mouth burn !!

Chicken fajitas

This is one of my favourite quick meals and it is very quick. The majority of the time is taken up with the chopping and prep and like most stir-fry type dishes you do need everything prepped before starting cooking.

The thing I love about this dish is that it's so versatile. It can be done with rice and dollop of soured cream and called cajun chicken. It can be served in lettuce wraps for a low carb alternative and it can also be done with tortilla wraps and all the odds and ends to make fajitas, which is exactly what I did last night.

CHICKEN FAJITAS
serves 2 generously

groundnut oil
2 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 red onion cut into slim wedges
1 red & 1 yellow pepper cut into strips
1 red chilli chopped
2 cloves of garlic
zest and juice of 1 lime
S&P
1-2tsp cajun seasoning (I use Schwartz)
Handful fresh coriander chopped

tortilla wraps, salsa, sour cream, guacamole and grated cheese to serve

Heat the oil in a wok or ridged griddle pan and then add the chicken strips
Cook until brown and then add the onion and pepper, cook for 2-3 minutes
Add the chilli and garlic and briefly stirfry before adding the lime zest and juice
Add the seasoning and a good grinding of pepper, I never add salt but that's a personal taste !
Stir around to mix before adding the coriander.

So quick and very tasty !!

Mexican yumminess !

I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote anything on here. I keep cooking and think "Oh, I must blog about that" but never do.

As usual life has taken me over and it's all been total craziness, as many Mummies with young families can sympathise with I'm sure. Anyway back to my usual topic and a new cookery book which I am totally in love with.

Last summer, the Husband and I were given a rare overnight pass by the grandparents and we hot-footed it to the Big Smoke. Being a Masterchef fan, I'd been wanting to try Wahaca for some time - the restaurant owned by Thomasina Miers. I love Mexican food but it always seems to be limited to more "Tex-Mex" fare than true Mexican. The meal we had there was quite simply amazing. Very fresh, clean flavours and some of the best guacamole I've ever eaten. Very reasonably priced too for the middle of Covent Garden !

When I heard she had a book out, I had to get it despite the comments from the Husband about my ever growing recipe book collection !

The book, like a lot of this genre, does require a few hard-to-source ingredients and needs some substitutions too. I couldn't find proper corn tortillas in my little corner of Norfolk (what a surprise) and had to go with the Old El Paso alternative. I also need a trip to a good chilli shop at some point so I can try making my own chipotle en adobo.

I can say though I have made the gucamole and salsa which are firm favourites here and I don't think I'll be able to go back to the mousse-y shop bought gucamole ever again. The spicy bird tacos are lovely as are the chorizo, potato and thyme quesadillas. I love refried beans too and even though it's a bit of a faff, the recipe here is to die for.

If you like Mexican and are prepared to put in a little effort then I can't recommend this book enough.

http://www.wahaca.co.uk

Chicken enchiladas

Tonight my darling hubbie is cooking me dinner and for once I have a good idea what I fancy. The last few weeks has been quite dire on the cooking and eating front as I never know what I fancy but I think that's mainly because I know whatever I eat will make me feel sick !

Anyway tonight is Mexican night. We did briefly think about chicken fajitas but Hubbie thinks they're too messy and has offered to make me chicken enchiladas - under supervision I might add.

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
serves 2-3 depending how hungry you are !

SPICY TOMATO SAUCE

1 onion chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic crushed
1-2 red chillies de-seeded and chopped
1.5 tins chopped tomatoes
squeeze tomato puree
seasoning
1/2 tsp sugar
fresh chopped coriander

ENCHILADAS

2 large or 3 medium chicken breasts
4 tortillas (I use discovery ones as they are not too big)
Grated cheese

To start, make the sauce - while you're doing this you can grill the chicken breasts until cooked through.

Fry the onion, garlic and chilli in olive oil until soft (I have used a mix of olive and chilli oil too)
Then add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients apart from the coriander. Stir well and add 1/2 can of water and simmer until thickened. Take off the heat and stir through the coriander.

Shred the cooked chicken and mix with a few spoonfuls of the sauce to bind.

Lay out a tortilla and spread with a little of the tomato sauce. Place 1/4 of the chicken mix in the middle and roll up. Put in a lightly oiled baking dish with the open side downwards. Rpt to use the rest of the tortillas.

Top this with the remainder of the tomato sauce and then plenty of grated cheese.

Bake in a moderate oven until the cheese is browned and the enchiladas are hot in the middle.

Serve with salad and a little Mexican rice salad.