tapas brindisa makes me wish i earned more. it’s not that it’s horrifically expensive but so much of the fabulous charcuterie, cured fish and cheeses that they serve are presented so simply i struggle to justify the cost. c’mon, £12.50 for a plate of ham? cheese and toast for £10.25?

ok, it’s a plate of hand carved jabugo iberico ham. or a selection of regional spanish cheeses served with that toast. i know all about the importance of impeccable ingredients and i’m sure they are delicious. but that’s the point, i don’t know! i just can’t persuade myself to order those dishes no matter how much i fancy them!

so, i end up sticking to the food where they apply their skill in creating and cooking something rather than just plating it up.

things like chickpea and chorizo stew (with a satisfyingly smokey undertone), spinach tortilla, padron peppers (i’ve yet to get a really hot one but love the russian-roulette nature of the dish) or marinated anchovie and piquillo pepper salad with walnut and cabernet sauvignon dressing (a superbly balanced combination of flavours, if only it was larger so i wouldn’t mind sharing quite so much!).

it’s not ideal but that’s the way it is. unless a pay rise is forthcoming and carries me over the hesitation-hurdle!

there is however, one item on the menu that will always keep me coming back to tapas brindisa, regardless of my bank balance - their large gordal olives with olive oil and orange. i first tried these almost a year ago and they instantly became an “oh my god i’ve never eaten anything so fabulous” food. and they remain so in my memory.

sadly, on my last visit to they didn’t have any so i had to make do with stocking up on gordal olives (which are brine-cured and have a very distinctive flavour) at the brindisa stall at borough market and attempt to make my own.

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one of the things i love about weekends is that you have time to cook things slowly and over long periods of time.

shoulder of lamb is a cut of meat that i want to use more often . it’s good value for money and the meat tastes fantastic, especially if you cook it long and slow. i did a version of this lamb and aubergine ragu using lamb shoulder (which was cooked using the method detailed below) and it was fabulous.

however, despite the chilly weather i wanted to do something lighter this time and was inspired by the nigella lawson recipe for shredded lamb salad with mint and pomegranate (where i discovered this method of cooking shoulder of lamb).

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one of my new year’s resolutions was to cook a broader range of international dishes. curries were top of my mind a few weeks ago when i was sorting through the mound of recipes that i have cut out of newspapers and magazines, downloaded or scribbled on scraps of paper.

i pulled out several to try but it was a couple of recipes for rendang that jumped out at me. rendang is a curry that originated in indonesia but is also popular in malaysia and singapore. the combination of coconut milk with tamarind paste, the sour fruit pulp that adds an interesting layer of flavour, was too appealing to resist.

i made this curry a few days before we ate it and i’d suggest you do the same as this really allows the flavours to meld. the flavour is rich with the different spices but lightened by the acidic tang that the tamarind adds.

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sugar high friday is a food blogging event that i often read about but never quite manage to find the time to get involved with. sweets and puddings aren’t that high on my list of things to cook and, perhaps more to the point, people are usually intimidatingly inspired to create the most elaborate concoctions.

however, when i saw that david lebovitz was this month’s host and that the theme was chocolate, or more specifically what brand of chocolate you choose to cook with, i knew i needed to make the effort to get involved.

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like most people, i’m caught up in the january drives to “be healthy” and “save money” which inevitably equals packed lunches.

i don’t have access to a microwave or fridge so whatever i bring in has to be happy sitting on my desk during the morning and taste good at room temperature.

this salad managed both of those criteria and tasted fantastic to boot. i probably need to work on the healthiness factor though!

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