Procrastination With Food #1: How To Make The Perfect Toastie

Procrastination is one of those things that starts as something really small... a passing comment, a shared post on facebook, a retweet on twitter or an article in a paper or magazine. Which then becomes almost an art form as it grows and grows in to a small project... which then turns in to a blog post, and then perhaps a blog feature (TBC).


My latest project, as you can reliably assume from the title of this post, is how to create the perfect toasted sandwich, or toastie for short.

This projected started with a simple tweet from @TheFoodNut who mentioned that he was existing solely on cheese toasties and coffee today (Easter Monday). This started my craving and the beginning of my project. Two other fellow tweeters joined in on the conversation and when I found out that a toastie machine from Argos would set me back just £4.54 I had to go out and purchase one.

A quick call to the supermarket on the way back from Argos and I was ready to go.

Here is my new shiny toastie maker... (not longer shiny but a bit of a greasy mess)

There are other toastie makers available in Argos with a price range from £4.54 to £49.99... the more expensive ones have heavier and bigger plates to make more than two sandwiches at once, and/or removable plates that are dishwasher safe, and non-slip feet. Whether you would want to pay the additional £45.45 for these added extras I will let you decide...

On to the sandwich making!

I chose wholemeal bread purely due to personal preference (and the fact I will be using the remaining bread for my packed lunch this week), cheese slices (for ease), chorzio slices and grabbed a jar of sun-dried tomatoes from the cupboard.

Now to look at the instructions...

The instructions said to put margarine or cooking fat straight on to the plates... a quick check with twitter on the best way to do this and I was left stumped with how to proceed. Thus began the perfect toastie project!!!

So first of all I buttered the plates closed the toastie maker and began to prepare my sandwiches.

This toastie maker is quite small and I wasn't sure that a regular slice of bread would fit with the crusts on. I was right.

But fear not I gave the discarded crusts to a bunch of ducks which have set up camp outside my window.

Next to place the unbuttered bread into the toastie maker on its buttered plates.

The toastie maker wouldn't quite shut at first so I had to hold it for a minute or so until the cheese melted a bit.

There was a slight cheese explosion (slight dramatisation).

I scraped the sandwich from the toaster and Toastie number one was complete!

The next method to try was butter on the plates and butter on the bread. In case you are unaware when making a toasted sandwich the buttered side of the bread goes on the outside not on the inside.

Turns out that over buttering your toastie leads to a soggy mess.

Determined to rescue the moist cheesy sandwich I carefully (the plates are very hot!) replaced the pieces of bread and closed the sandwich maker again. I decided to leave it a little longer in the hope that the toastie would eventually be okay and form a reasonable toastie shape.

This just made it burn a little.

Next up was to try the most recommended method on twitter - buttered bread only.

Here is the result:

Nice crispy cheese around the edges and soft bread in the middle.

Perfect washed down with a cup of tea.

How do you like your toasties?

Yo! Sushi - Trinity Leeds

Sometimes in life it really is who you know rather than what you know.

I was absolutely delighted when Mystical Aromatic Lady (MAL) invited me to be her plus one for the preview night at Yo! Sushi before it and the whole of Trinity Leeds opens to the public on 21st March 2013.

We arrived at the entrance behind Marks and Spencer's gave our names and were led into Trinity Leeds, both of us were extremely excited about what it would be like inside; what shops and restaurants there would be. The lifts and escalators were not in working order so we were led to the back stairs up to the restaurant floor of Trinity Leeds.

Whilst up there we spied a new Carluccios, a new Wagamamas, a new Giraffe... beginning to think it was all just repeats of the same restaurants elsewhere in the city we then walked past the Handmade Burger Company and spotted a sign for TGI Friday's.

We were led to Yo! Sushi and greeted at the door by a lovely hostess and then passed smoothly on to a member of the waiting staff who explained how it all worked as we were both Yo! Sushi virgins.

(Feel free to skip the next part if you have been to Yo! Sushi before...)

You're given a menu which is split in to sections such as Hot Classics, Rice and Noodles, Katsu and Tempura, Sushi, Salads and Desserts. A picture of each dish is displayed next to it's description circled in a particular colour. The colour and pictures make it easier to pick out the dish you want from the conveyor belt in front of you. The different colours also relate to different prices, with green being the cheapest (£1.80) and grey the most expensive (£5.00). If you can't see a dish you like you just press the 'Yo!' button in front of you and it alerts a member of the waiting staff to attend. Most of the hot dishes require you to do this as these are not put on to the conveyor very often to stop them from getting cold and so you get them at their freshest too!

We were sat in front of the kitchen and prep area so we had a good view of all the food being made and the attention to detail being taken. We also got to build a good rap-ore with the guys making the food, honestly the friendliest and funniest guys I've ever met that work back of house (or not so much back of house in this case).

Every 15 minutes you hear them call out for all the kitchen staff to wash their hands too, they are so excited by their job it was great just to sit and watch them work (this may because they are new and haven't yet faced their first Saturday afternoon).

We were given a free glass of Prosecco (thank you very much!) and left to watch the food whizzing by and to get familiar with the menu.

One feature that I particularly loved about the seating areas was the water pumps. No more asking for a jug of tap water you have your very own taps in front of you AND you can get still or sparkling - AMAZING.

Condiments are neatly stacked to the side of each diner and I'm afraid to tell all the choptickphobes out there... there were no knives and forks, but you could use a wooden dessert spoon if you can't handle the sticks.

Okay... let's get down to business and most important part... the FOOD!


First of all I decided to go for the Duck Gyoza and Moromi Miso... but confused and accidentally picked up a Vegetable Gyoza.

These were really good, the dumplings weren't too heavy and the portion size just right. They were soft in the middle and crispy around the edges, a good choice to start with.

MAL decided to start a little heavier with her first dish and chose Chicken Yakisoba. She described this as very filling with a lot of food (considering it would have cost the same as my purple dish which was much smaller) but really tasty.

This is would definitely be something I would have chosen but there was no way we were going to chose the same things all night!

Next up I chose Spicy Chicken ISO - ISO is an inside out sushi of type in that the rice is on the outside and the seaweed is on the inside. The Spicy Chicken ISO consists of tiny bits of Katsu chicken, katsu sauce and shichimi powder (very hot!).

Here it is in it's Jetson like spaceship (note the time stuck to the top - this is when it will be taken off of the conveyor belt as they only stay on for 2 hours)...

Here it is without... I must admit I was a little worried how I was going to tackle this with chopsticks but I had no issues at all. This was a lot spicier than I was expecting and my mouth was left tingling for a good 5 minutes afterwards (a nice tingling for me perhaps not for others?)

Too engrossed in my own food I forgot to take a picture of MAL's next dish... but it was Salmon I think??

For my next dish I decided to chose one of the best sellers from the Hot Classics section - Pumpkin Korroke. Basically just a pumpkin croquette.

These were a little god send, I can see why they are popular. The pumpkin wasn't too strong tasting just like a sweet potato the sauce was perfect with them as it much sweeter and quite fruity.

For MAL next she chose what is simply called 'Beef', which is seared beef with mayonnaise.

Now this she did struggle a little to eat with chopsticks, her and the member of kitchen staff who was amusing us throughout our meal commented on how amazing this dish was, apparently a really tender tasting piece of beef.

Noticing that we had chosen ALL purple dishes we decided to branch out a little and order some hot food from one of the waiting staff.

I decided to go for something that would be a little more substantial... I wasn't quite prepared for how substantial it was going to be when it eventually arrived! I ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry which is topped with Japanese pickle.

The waitress serving us kept apologising for the amount of time it took for this to be made but I'm more than happy to wait for fresh food. Plus time was easily whittling away with good company and the kitchen staff to keep us amused. This was very morish and the pickle was a great addition, I couldn't quite place the flavours but they were intense.

Next up we had a dish to share - Prawn Tempura, which is made with black tiger prawns and fried in a crispy batter with tempura sauce.

I ate a prawn and I liked it!!! I would definitely order this dish myself in the future.

For MALs next dish she had Prawn Korroke which is breaded prawn and potato croquettes with a kimchee mayonnaise.

MAL said these were simply amazing and I think it would definitely be a one to try for me in the future.

We were starting to feel a little (a lot) full by this point and so had to have a little breather and another glass of Prosecco to recover a little before we attempted dessert.

There are 6 desserts to chose from and despite that not being a lot compared to the rest of the menu it was incredibly hard to decide what to have! With them all whooshing by you during your meal they catch your eye and just cry out for you to pick them.

Eventually we did decide (obviously) and MAL went for the Chocolate Ganache Cake which has a meringue centre.

MAL said this was very rich on the bottom but very smooth and light on the top.

For my dessert I tried the Dorayaki (Japanese Pancakes with a custard filling and raspberry sauce).

A very filling dessert but soooo morish I ate them in about 30 seconds despite trying to exercise restraint.

The waiting and kitchen staff were wonderful on this night and I hope their bright spirits stay, they were fun relaxed and willing to have a good time alongside their customers. There was a really good atmosphere in the restaurant (maybe because everything was free?) and I didn't feel crowded despite the place being at full capacity.

There is so much choice on the menu I can't wait to go back and try completely different dishes next time. I also wouldn't mind trying out the Mangajo Pomegranate and Green Tea / Lemon & Green tea drink. Maybe this is the green fanta I once tried in Japan but have never found anywhere else and strive to find out what it is?

Meal prices will vary depending on what you order, the purple dishes are £3 each which I don't think is too bad. They have set menus ranging from £9.50 to £12.50 with a few deals/offers on currently. If you sign up to their mailing list they will send you an update of all their current offers. I will certainly be considering the Sumo Sundays were it is all you can eat for £19.50... not sure whether you will be able to get all dishes on this deal but I certainly hope you can get a few of my favourites!

Great night, great food, great people - I can't wait to go back!

Yo! Sushi
Trinity Leeds
Second floor food court

www.yosushi.com


For those of you who are interested here are a few inside pictures of Trinity Leeds....

Kopi! KOPI! - A review about coffee

For my first guest blogger I would like to welcome TDS... 

Sometimes, life drops something into your lap for free. Free of charge, free of effort. My most recent slice of fortune came in the form of a black and yellow pouch of coffee. Breadstickler received a sample of Kopi coffee, a new monthly coffee subscription service, and had the good grace to share it with me (read: gave it to me as she doesn't actually like coffee…)

For £8.95 a month (or £8.45/£7.95/£6.95 if you pay in advance for a 3/6/12 month package), Kopi will deliver a 250g pouch of high-end coffee to your door. They claim to hand pick a different single source (and ethical) coffee each month. This particular sample was “Java Jampet Estate UTZ Certified Arabica”.

The coffee was impressively fresh for pre-ground beans, thanks to a vacuum packed sachet. As I tore open the rather pleasing black packet, I was hit with a powerful aroma that suggested hints of orange and dark chocolate (like a grown up Terry’s chocolate orange… a winning smell on a Sunday morning!)

Kopi provide you with an information card which I read as the kettle boiled. The card was very interesting. It included everything from tasting notes to a history of Java coffee, experts’ reviews to a recipe for black coffee ice cream (which will be my next project - maybe Breadstickler will be good enough to review it for you…)

Once the water was added the aroma shifted, losing its more floral notes and becoming decidedly richer and earthier. To idle away the time it took to brew, I sliced into a big chunk of chocolate brownie we’d picked up at the Headingley farmers’ market. Mouth well and truly salivating, I took the plunge (pun intended) and poured out two mugs of the coffee.

Disappointingly, the Terry’s chocolate orange smell did not translate to the taste. Breadstickler and I both used the term ‘biscuity’ to describe the flavour. My (admittedly uneducated) palette could not detect the subtler flavours the tasting notes suggested – lavender and pine. I made this first batch following the suggested ratio of coffee grounds to water, and the taste was slightly underwhelming. A few days later I had another go, using the tried and tested “one heaped spoonful per mug, and one for good luck” method. This brought better results, with the coffee possessing enough natural sweetness to drink without sugar. Kopi claimed it would be “a heavy hit of dark chocolate”. I didn't find the chocolate flavour, but it was a smooth and tasty cup all the same.

Subscription services (wine, vegetable boxes, meat etc.) can be a bit hit and miss, with the quality often deteriorating after the first few months. Kopi certainly seem passionate about their coffee and they’re well worth a one-off trial run. I imagine that serious coffee connoisseurs will already be enjoying coffee of an even higher quality than the sample reviewed here. For everyone else, Kopi might just be the gateway to better brews.

Rib Shakk revisited - Leeds

I enjoyed Rib Shakk so much last time I couldn't wait to go back. 

It's a great place to go on a Saturday afternoon, as long as Anthony's is not hosting a wedding and thus the whole place closed off... it's tres annoying. 

This time I decided to branch out and not get the standard rack of ribs. Instead I decided upon a Rib Burger. 

We were informed on this occasion that they had run out of piri piri sauce, a little disappointed I decided to go for the San Diego Style sauce. The rib burgers are basically just the meat pulled off of the bone and then placed in a burger bun, perfect if you don't like getting too messy (there is still a bit of mess to be had as it's quite hard to keep rib meat in a bun).

Once again the chips were great, tons of salt and cooked just right. The burger was moist and messy plenty of napkins on the table will help with this. 

Mayo comes in a cute little cone and below you will also see an action shot of my friend eating their ribs (the same as they had last time). 

I won't go on about the finer details as you can find these on my last post here .

Henry's - Leeds

Just a short post about Henry's on Greek Street.

I wasn't too familiar with Henry's until I started working in the area, it wasn't somewhere that ever caught my eye or fancy. They do tend to have a lot of offers on and if you're lucky you can grab a pamphlet full of vouchers every so often to get a bottle of house wine for £9.95.

This occasion was drinks after work with the (sex and the city) girls who shall be referred to as Samantha, Charlotte and Carrie (because I have never met anyone who wants to be Miranda).

Carrie and Charlotte arriving first decided to use a voucher to purchase a bottle of house wine using a voucher (see above). Whilst keeping some on ice for the arrival of Samantha. It wasn't the best wine... actually by stating that I think it is giving said wine some sort of compliment. It was awful. But it was cheap and glass by glass cheap wine tastes nicer...

With Samantha now delighting our company we decided that drinking on empty stomachs probably wasn't going to to help us the next morning so we decided to order some food. Something to nibble on would be far more sociable than trying to devour a three course meal.

So glancing at the menu we decided to order a Meat Mezze Platter, and two portions of chips thinking this would be more than enough for three young women.

The mezze was slightly smaller than we were expecting...

One piece of ham to share between three people?!

Although the portion size was small (at £9.95 too) the items on the board were actually really nice... or they were after one glass of wine and starting on the second anyway..

The chicken strips were crispy and well battered, the pulled pork although minuscule in size was well marinated and tender not chewy. The chorizo was good and not plastic like or too fatty. A nice surprise was the fruit which came with the board, as you can see (just) there was water melon, grapes and just out of shot strips of apple and pear too. The bread was definitely needed to try and fill our bellies a little!

The chips went down a treat although just one tiny pot of mayo was definitely not enough for two bowls of chips and it took us what felt like an age to get another pot.

Value for money? I'm not too sure, but the quality was definitely there, a slight surprise if I am honest.

www.henryscafebar.co.uk