Jamie's Italian - Leeds

 

 

This past Monday, on one of my exploring Leeds expeditions, I looked across the street and saw a sign that read Jamie's Italian. Of course I ran across the street to see if it was actually what I thought it was and to my surprise it was. A Jamie Oliver restaurant!! Jamie Oliver has been one of my favorite chefs for years, from the early Naked Chef series to his wonderful Jamie at Home. When I met Dan at the train station that night I promptly walked him up the street to see the place. We would eat there the following evening.
When you first walk in, there is a little shop with some of Jamie's items on sale. You walk up a short flight of steps to the get your table. We were seated immediately and the place was pretty busy. The interior is a blend of modern and rustic with a small bar and a large kitchen open to the dining room. We had a very good waitress named Nejra, who had a great personality. The food came out slowly , but it was all worth it. We started with a special appetizer (4 pounds .50), a 3 cheese fried gnocchi with an arrabbiatta dipping sauce that was served on a plank. Great presentation for a great starter! The gnocchi were crispy on the outside and pillowy on the inside. We followed that up with the simple green salad (3 pounds .25) that came with a nice yogurt dressing on the side that was really good topped off with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

 

For dinner I had the pumpkin tortellini (10 pounds .25), which had to be one of the best meals I have ever eaten! The flavors of this dish worked so well together, fried sage leaves, pumpkin, red chilies, amaretto cookie crumbles and butter! Dan had the equally amazing lasagna ( 10 pounds .75), which featured an amazing Bolognese sauce and pumpkin. We ordered lemon meringue pie for dessert ( 4 pounds .95). It was served with a pistachio brittle and candied grapefruit peel. The pie was perfect, a great way to end the meal.
We both started our meals with beer, Dan opted for the Liberta, which is Jamie's brew and it was good. I ordered the Messina, an Italian beer that I had never heard of and I liked it as well. We both ordered the house wine with our meals, Dan the red, me the white. They were both good as well. We will be back, often.

 

They are located at 35 Park Row LS1 5JL 0113-3225-400 www.jamiesitalian.com . Also check out Jamie's nice website www.jamieoliver.com .



Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms and Pork & Leek Sausage

 

 

 

On Sunday, I asked Dan what he wanted for dinner on Monday night and he said pasta. I figured this would be an easy dish to prepare, because all of the ingredients could be found at one store, right? Wrong. Just like most other meals I prepare, I end up going to multiple stores to find all of the ingredients. This time my search was for a proper Italian sausage. I started at Kirkgate and could find none. Sainsbary's no. Tesco no. So I headed all the way up to Morrison's. This was my first trip there and I was very excited because this was a large grocery store. They actually have a frozen food section!! They had practically every kind of sausage that I could hope for , but no Italian! Come on, they had prosciutto, chorizo, hot dogs, brats and Polish, but no Italian. I ended up buying a pork and leek sausage that was okay. Next time I will just buy some pork mince (ground) and season it appropriately. My other problem was that I only have one large sauce pan, so I ended up having to make the sauce and pour it into a baking dish. I then placed that in the oven to keep warm until I cooked the pasta.

 

 

 

Tomato Sauce w/ Mushrooms and Pork & Leek Sausage

 

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add 1 small onion chopped, about 1/2 cup and 170 grams sliced mushrooms. Saute for 10 minutes until soft. Add 4 cloves garlic, minced and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp. Italian seasonings a few grinds of black pepper and salt.

 

Add 200 grams of crumbled sausages (3 removed of casings) and cook through.

 

Add 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning, I bay leaf, 1 (430g) jar of Passata Tomato Sauce with basil, 1 (220g) Can of chopped Italian tomatoes with juice, 1/4 cup red wine and 2 tsp. sugar.

 

Add 1/4 cup water to the tomato jar and give it a good shake to get out all of the tomato goodness and add to sauce pan.

 

Bring to boil, reduce and simmer, stirring often for 1 hour. Adjust seasonings, remove bay leaf and serve over favorite pasta.

Beef, Barley and Vegetable Soup

 

 

 

From our balcony, we can see a shopping center that has a TK Maxx, yes TK here not TJ. Anyway , I needed a large saucepan/stockpot because the apartment did not have one, so I decided to walk on over there to find one. The walk turned out to be a bit longer than I thought and later I realized there was a TK Maxx a little closer and easier to get to, but I'm still learning. I did find my saucepan, plus a bunch of off price shops, so well worth the trek.
After dropping off my purchase, I walked up to Marks & Spencer, an English department store, to do a little grocery shopping. The grocery store located on their bottom floor is much larger than the local grocer and a little overwhelming. They had so many precooked meals, pre-chopped veg and packaged veg mixes that you could pretty much come up with any recipe. I decided to go with a beef and veggie soup. After spending about 15 minutes trying to choose vegetables, I came upon a package with carrots, an onion a leek and something I was unfamiliar with. I asked a couple of ladies if they knew what it was, they knew the flavor, but not the name. I bought it and thought it was worth a try. It ended up being a rutabaga and you prepare it pretty much like a potato. The flavor was like a sweet, mild radish, potato mash up. We both liked it! I also found this cute little Scottish Sweetheart cabbage that had a wonderful mild cabbage flavor. Here's the recipe I prepared. It's mostly in grams and such, because that how the food is packaged.

Beef, Barley and Vegetable Soup


2 Tbsp Olive Oil
450 grams beef casserole steak (stew meat)
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp Italian Seasonings
Salt & Pepper
1 onion, diced
1 leek, white and light green parts only, sliced
1/2 cup red wine
4 carrots, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 rutabaga, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage
140 grams baby new potatoes
1 cup barley
500 grams beef stock
1 (400 gram) can of chopped Italian tomatoes and juice
1/4 cup water

Heat oil in stock pot or large sauce pan. Sprinkle meat with flour and seasonings and mix. Add to pan, in batches, brown and remove. Add onion and leek and sauté 5 minutes. Add wine to deglaze pot. Add the veggies, stock, canned tomatoes, barley and water, bring to boil cook 15 minutes. Reduce, cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper and about 1/2 teaspoon more of Italian seasonings. Serve.

 

Sweet Chili Glazed Carrots

We don't go out to dinner every night in Leeds, nor do I rely on prepackaged meals every time I'm in the kitchen. Sometimes I just cook what comes into my head, like these carrots. I was serving pork chops and needed a side and had bought some sweet chili sauce for another recipe. So this is how I came about this recipe. It's good and it's quick.

Sweet Chili Glazed Carrots

Clean 4 carrots and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Add to 1 1/2 pints of boiling water, cook 5 to 8 minutes, drain. Add 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce, salt and pepper. Heat through.

I like my carrots with a little bite. If you prefer them softer cook longer.

Pork Chops with Pomodorino Tomatoes and Mushrooms

 

This is a recipe a came up with a couple of weeks ago. I knew I was serving the Roasted Rosemary Baby New Potatoes and wanted something really good to go along with them. I saw these beautiful pomodorino tomatoes and I thought they would go great with mushrooms on top of pork chops. So here is the recipe.

 

Pork Chops w/Pomodorino Tomatoes and Mushrooms

 

Season 2 thick cut bone-in pork chops with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Heat  1 Tbsp, olive oil in a skillet on medium heat add chops and brown on both sides. Remove from the pan, place in baking dish and bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Slice 100 grams pomodorino tomatoes in half, slice 75 grams button mushrooms in half, and slice 1 garlic clove, thinly. To same skillet add 1 Tbsp. olive oil, then  mushrooms, sauté 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve over cooked pork chops.

Roasted Rosemary Baby New Potatoes

This is another side that I prepared to go with my pork chops. It's a rendition of the ones I make at home, only I used duck fat as opposed to olive oil in the recipe. I had mentioned seeing goose fat at the market to Lee and Laura and they informed me that the fat makes the best roasted potatoes. They were very good, crispy and creamy.

 Roasted Rosemary Baby New Potatoes

250 grams baby new potatoes

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 Tbsp. dry rosemary

1 Tbsp. duck fat

salt and pepper

Toss all of the ingredients on a small roasting pan and place in a 400 degree oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

Cherry-Limeade Sangria

This is the perfect drink for a hot summer evening or day, which ever you prefer. I served this with ribs and pulled pork and it went over well. The original recipe comes from www.recipegirl.com and I thought it needed some added sweetness, so that is where the simple syrup comes in. I would probably add some more cherry juice too, maybe another 1/2 cup or more. Give it a taste and do what tastes best for you. This will make about 20 servings and can be easily cut in half.

Cherry-Limeade Sangria

2 750ml bottles Sauvignon Blanc, chilled
4 cups prepared limeade, chilled
2 cups bottled cherry juice, chilled
1 1/2 cups vodka
1/2 cup simple syrup
3 medium limes, thinly sliced
3 handfuls of fresh cherries, pitted and halved
1 1-liter bottle club soda, chilled

In a large beverage dispenser or punch bowl, combine all ingredients except club soda several hours or overnight. Add club soda just before serving. Scoop fruit into wine glasses, add ice and sangria.