Cooking is about much more than a recipe and a stock of ingredients in the house. I’m the kind of person who likes to shop for groceries and food, and the more options, the better. You can sometimes find me agonizing over the perfect lemons or the biggest head of garlic.

One of my favorite places to shop for those ingredients in London probably isn’t the first place people would expect. Maltby Street market has great food to snack on and speciality items to take home, Borough Market is the foodie’s paradise in London, and North End Road is the place for those who like an old-fashioned working class London experience.

However, my personal favorite has to be Brixton Market. Brixton has everything from measure-your-own spices to the freshest shrimp, with the cheapest vegetables and some of London’s best Neopolitan-style pizza in between.

Recently I introduced a good friend and fellow blogger, Natalia, to the joys of Brixton market. We wandered between market arcades, visited shops, stopped at a few stalls and took lots of photos along the way. Check out her blog post about our day on her blog Nat w Londynie (note: it’s in Polish)

I got to spend a little time being a London Tour Guide (which doesn’t happen very often… the accent probably puts people off) in this slightly off-the-beaten-path neighborhood that isn’t actually very far from Central London. As I write this, I again have the Eddy Grant song “Electric Avenue” in my head, which was written about Brixton’s Electric Avenue, the first market street in London to be lit by electricity.

We picked up quite a few things, like shrimp at Jeffries Fish Market, inside Market Row, across from Franco Manca, where you can get some of London’s best pizza. I love Jeffries (and Franco Manca, for that matter). The seafood is affordable, with a great (fresh!) selection and the nicest people. I would go out of the way for their shrimp – the best I’ve had in London, by far.

Plus there’s Nour Cash & Carry, a wholesale, cash-only store where you can buy all sorts of bulk foods, cheap (so cheap!) fresh vegetables and herbs and some really interesting, unusual things. Definitely not the kind of stock you can find at the local Tesco.

Lots of meals have come from my purchases in Brixton, but this one is symbolic of a day roaming between market arcades and local stores in Brixton.

Polenta with Shrimp and Tomato Sauce

Serves: 4

On the Counter

soft polenta:
2 cups (340 g) coarse-ground corn meal (polenta)
8 cups (2 liters) water
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter

tomato and shrimp:

1.5 lbs (700 g) fresh shrimp (prawns), peeled
1 can peeled plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, finely diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 cup (100 g) fresh or frozen shelled peas
crumbled feta to garnish
fresh parsley or cilantro to garnish
salt and pepper to taste

What to Do

Start the polenta by boiling the water in a large pot over high heat, with salt. Slowly whisk the corn meal in, until smooth. Simmer, covered, on lower heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for desired consistency. Once it’s cooked, whisk in the butter until completely melted.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add garlic and shallot, cook for 2 minutes, or until shallot is translucent. Add in chilli flakes and tomatoes, and break up with a wooden spoon. Add tomato paste and about 1/2 tsp salt, stir to combine. Cook for 15 minutes, tasting, until sauce is mostly smooth. Add more salt if needed. Toss in shrimp and peas, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until shrimp is pink and opaque.

Spoon the polenta into bowls, top with tomato sauce and shrimp, top with feta and parsley/cilantro.

I got nearly every ingredient for this (including the salt!) from Brixton market, so this meal really was a reminder of an interesting Saturday and the joys of shopping around for quality ingredients.

Have I mentioned that I like macaroni and cheese? Cuz I really do. I like all sorts of variations, from stovetop to baked, to Velveeta and broccoli, to pumpkin…

But this version… whoa. I do not normally have portion control issues, and I’m pretty good at saying no to seconds, but this mac and cheese had me back in the kitchen FOUR times. Just too good. (I suspect some of the healthier attributes of this particular mac & cheese were probably undone by having 4 portions of it.)

I modified the inspiration recipe by halving the cheese sauce, dropping some of the cheeses and chopping up pretty much every vegetable I had in my fridge. This recipe was great for using up both cheddar and carrots that had been sitting around for a while.

If you want the full-on cheesy experience, I suggest using the proportions and ful ingredients from the original recipe at Ezra Pound Cake, or doubling what you see below.

Check out all those veggies…

Serves: 6-8

On the Counter

1.5 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1/2 (58 g) cup small radishes, quartered
3/4 cup (130 g) broccoli (with stems), chopped
3/4 cup (175 g) carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
8 oz (227 g) elbow macaroni or other small tube pasta

Cheese Sauce

1.5 cup (60 g) grated cheddar
1/2 cup (30 g) grated parmesan
1 egg
1 cup (237 mL) milk

Topping

2-3 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup panko
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

What to Do

Cook the macaroni in salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Mix topping: Combine panko, parmesan, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ (35cm x 24 cm) baking dish. Set aside.

In a large, deep pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and sauté for 2 minutes. The add the remaining vegetables. Sauté for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove the vegetables from the heat, stir in the pasta and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk  the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, pepper and cayenne together until combined.

Pour over the macaroni and vegetables, and add the cheese, stirring until combined and cheese is melted in.

Gently pour macaroni mix into the baking dish. Top with tomatoes, and then sprinkle topping on.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

This is definitely a macaroni & cheese that all elbow pasta should aspire to.

January is definitely the month of tight budgets, both money-wise and diet-wise, and I can’t say that I’m the exception. While it’s nice to imagine that while traveling between New York, London and Edinburgh over the holidays, I ate well, didn’t spend much money and therefore don’t need a quiet January, that’s just not true. (Then again, my January hasn’t been as healthy and frugal as I’d have liked either.)

This meal, however, is something no one has to feel guilty about. I first grabbed this recipe from The Kitchn, and went back to it for a great January meal. (By the way … how is it nearly February? When did that happen?)

For what it is, this panade is way tastier than I expected. It has deep, rich flavors and is super-hearty. One portion is a lot more filling than it looks!

I had some whole wheat bread loaf butts hanging around in my freezer waiting for such an occasion, and it worked perfectly. Worth noting: I tried freezing and reheating, and while it needed a little bit of water before going in the microwave, it worked out really, really well. Also, if you want to make this vegan, you can leave out the cheese without losing too much. Just be willing to adjust your herbs and spices to compensate.

Hopefully your 2013 resolutions have gone well so far! And if it involves using up bread butts, now’s your chance.

Adapted from: The Kitchn

Serves: 4 (at least!)

On the Counter

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz.(400g) cans of tomatoes, whole or diced, undrained
1 cup (240 mL) hot vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar
1 bay leaf
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
2 thick slices old whole wheat bread
1 16 oz. (400 g) can of white beans, such as cannellini or navy, drained and rinsed
2 cups (50 g) fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup  (40 g) grated cheddar cheese, plus extra for garnishing
salt and pepper

What to Do

In a thick-bottomed soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent and soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for another minute.

Add in canned tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, crush them with a wooden spoon. Follow it up with the broth, one tablespoon of sugar, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon is a good place to start).

Stir and increase the heat until it boils, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Add in bread and beans, and stir. Make sure the bread is well covered.

Simmer for at least 5 minutes, or until the bread has become soft and mushy. Break it up with a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat. Add in spinach, and let it sit until just wilted, about 1 minute.  

Stir in the cheddar. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. If it tastes bitter, add
the remaining sugar and stir.

Serve in bowls, topped with a bit of freshly grated cheddar.

I love this dish!  It’s so easy and filling, and it really feels hearty and comforting. Plus, there’s pretty much no guilt in this dish. With only two slices of bread in the whole thing, it’s definitely not a calorie deal-breaker.

I’m writing about pasta… on Thanksgiving. What am I doing?! Well, being in London means I’ll get to celebrate Thanksgiving a few times, just not today. Instead of spending tomorrow morning in pajamas thinking about Black Friday shopping, I’ll be at work with everyone else here, waiting for the weekend to begin. So really, this dish is for everyone who can’t celebrate Thanksgiving today, for whatever reason, wherever you are.

This dish came to be one night when I had a pile of mushrooms to eat, and not a whole lot of spinach. (I actually made this to be 2 portions, but doubled the recipe for the blog.)

I love quick tomato sauces. They’re an awesome way to make a weeknight dinner that’s still homemade. I think most home cooks have a tomato sauce that they rely on, and the more often you make it, the more you learn how much you can play with it. This one could work with shrimp, or sausage or… well, lots of things.

Yummy, healthy, easy and versatile! Vegan, cheesy, meaty… this can be whatever you want it to be. Except maybe the main dish at Thanksgiving. Unless you’re really into pasta.

Serves: 4

On the Counter

200g button mushrooms, quartered
150g fresh baby spinach
2 cans (16 oz or 400g each) chopped tomatoes
1 lb (500g) linguine
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
3 tsp raw or cane sugar
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

What to Do

Cook linguine in salted water until al dente. 

Saute onions in olive oil on low heat, cook til soft and translucent, then add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add mushroom quarters and some salt.

Turn up heat to medium. Cook until mushrooms are golden and soft.

Stir in tomatoes, sugar and basil. Add more salt if needed.

Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until tomato sauce has thickened.

Take sauce off the heat and stir in spinach. Let it wilt for 2 minutes.

Serve atop linguine, with grated fresh Parmesan if desired.

As I’m writing about this, I kind of want more. Not kind of, definitely.

Eggs are pretty fantastic. There are so many ways to cook them, and they have so many uses. Some of my favorite desserts are egg-based, which probably comes from growing up in a Portuguese family where we’d eat lots of custards, eggy bread (like pão de ló, made with 9 eggs) and puddings.

But even though I frequently have them for breakfast, and love them for dessert, they just don’t seem to make it onto my lunch menu. It’s even a rare occasion for me to have a hard boiled egg on a salad.

A summery Sunday afternoon seemed the right time to change that. The original inspiration was a craving for baked eggs, but with no interest in turning on the oven and a streak of impatience, I decided to switch to skillet eggs.

Skillet eggs can come in all sorts of combinations, and if you have some pre-made sauce handy, they’re even quicker! I recommend keeping the sauce simple; you don’t want to overpower the eggs.

It was the perfect day to have lunch in the garden, where I could enjoy some of the bounty of my overfilled cupboards and sit with the potted herbs lining the fence.

Serves: 2

On the Counter: 

the sauce:
1 can (14.5 oz/400 g) of chopped tomatoes
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1 medium clove garlic, minced 
1 tablespoon (17 ml) balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon (17 g) demerara sugar
2 tablespoons (34 ml) olive oil

the eggs:
4 large eggs
chopped fresh basil and parsley
salt and pepper

8 inch/20 cm skillet/frying pan

What to Do: 

The sauce: Heat olive oil in skillet, on medium heat, until it shimmers. Add onion, cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes. 

Pour in can of tomatoes, stirring the garlic, onion and oil into the tomato sauce. Turn heat up to high, and stir occasionally, until the tomato sauce starts to bubble. Cook for 5 minutes. 

Add balsamic vinegar, sugar and season with salt. Stir to combine. Once the sauce has thickened a bit  (to your taste), make an egg-sized well in the sauce with a big spoon. Crack the egg into the well. Repeat for each egg. 

Cook the eggs on medium heat until they’re cooked to your taste. About 5-6 minutes leaves you with a runny yolk but a firm white, which is my preferred way to eat them. 

Once they’re finished, spoon an egg + sauce into a small bowl. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs. This goes really nicely with a bit of buttered bread on the side, which you can use to dip into the tomato sauce. 

These eggs are an easy and filling lunch meal that still leaves room for dinner!

I love cooking. I find it relaxing, fun and satisfying.

That said, I also like sitting, watching the Olympics and ‘me time’. On those days, I love cooking quick, easy meals that have way more flavor than they have any right to.

This post is about one of those meals.

The vegetables were flavorful, juicy and gave the fish an amazing sauce, keeping it moist. The flavors really compliment this firm but mild fish. You won’t have to worry about too much competition between the fish and tomatoes like you would with tuna or salmon.

I bought haddock filets for a friend’s barbecue, and conveniently left them at home. When Sunday night rolled around, I wanted something that would satisfy my desires to: watch the Olympics, paint my nails and relax. I wasn’t in the mood for cooking a long, complex meal, but I knew I wanted something fresh and flavorful for a summer evening.

Conveniently, it was also a “counter-cleaner”, and now I have an excuse to buy more veggies. While my tomato looked good, it had been sitting, waiting for me, for more than a week. I’m impressed it lasted that long, but maybe it knew what was in store.

If you can’t find haddock, look for pollock or cod, which have similar flavors.

After digging out my last tomato and the final shallot and snipping herbs from the garden, I was in business. The whole meal took me about 25 minutes including cooking time. (And I would not win any speed-chopping competitions.)

I served it with a potato salad I whipped up using some extra herbed crème fraîche from a previous recipe.

Serves: 2 people with minimal sides or 4 with extra side dishes.

On the Counter:

2 skinned haddock filets, about 3/4 inch thick
2 vine ripened tomatoes
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
Fresh herbs: I used dill, thyme, parsley
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200C (390F).

What to Do:

Chop tomatoes, shallots and herbs. Mince garlic. Combine in a small bowl. Drizzle with of olive oil and gently mix it all together. Let it sit for 5 minutes, to allow flavors to meld.

Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. Drizzle fish and cookie sheet or oven pan with oil. Spoon the salsa on top, and any remaining around the fish.

Bake for 15 minutes.

This holds up pretty well to eat the next day, so if you somehow have any leftovers, don’t let them go to waste!