Monday, 5 March 2012

Best Burgers In London

Our burgers hear at Mildreds continue to be the best Veggie burgers in London.  We were recently paid a visit from Ten Lifestyle as they were writing an article about the best burgers in London, we were more than happy to be included in their top 5.  

Text below taken from Ten Lifestyle, to read the full  article go to tenlifestyle-best burgers

 

Mildreds 

45 Lexington Street, London W1F 9AN

 

At this cosy and busy vegetarian restaurant in Soho, you might expect dishes such as the organic energising detox salad, but not hearty burgers and fries. The chef makes a daily special with whatever fresh vegetables, herbs and spices he chooses, so you’ll never eat the same recipe twice. With a soya protein base and a crunchy outside, it’s great for vegetarians fed up with sloppy, disintegrating patties or a Portobello mushroom in a bun. Beetroot and Mexican-style burgers are among diners’ favourites, and all varieties are vegan, unless you add cheese. Another popular upgrade is sweet potato fries – wedges with crispy skin and sea salt. The accompanying basil mayonnaise – a secret vegan recipe – is absolutely delicious.

Monday, 20 February 2012

Salad Bar

with our salad bar proving to be a great new feature here at Mildred's, alongside the daily hot specials,  we are continually changing the salads and specials on offer to give customers a variety of ever changing healthy options, including vegan and wheat free choices.

if you haven't  yet come down to try some of the salads and specials on offer, do pop in as you wont be disappointed.
Salad Bar open:
Monday - Friday
12 midday - 3:30pm

Tuesday, 18 October 2011


We will be continuing the, salad bar, daily hot specials and take-away service from Mildreds Restaurant. 

Monday, 3 October 2011

Dancing Wonton Flowers ...


Thank you very much for visiting this blog. It has been close to a year since I last post ...

Cooking can be a great way to express our personality, exercise our creativity and explore new things. Feel like getting in touch with my cooking skills yesterday. Sitting quietly in my kitchen with very few ingredients, enjoying the solitude, playing with the tofu and feeling the texture of the wonton skin, having expectations of what will turn out to be ...

And ... these little dancing wonton flowers just bloom ... 18 of them dancing gracefully on the plate. 

Looking closely at them, the curve, the lightness, the flow, the soft folding of the wonton flower, it is so beautiful and each of them is so unique! Maybe, I learn to see perfection in everyone of them and all of them look lovely. I smile. 

It's mediation, it's quiet and it is lovely.  Had an enjoyable time. 

May you be happy any time regardless whatever you are doing right now, be it cooking, washing dishes, reading, handing out with friends or alone enjoying the solitude ...


p.s: Click here for Recipe - Tofu Wonton Recipe ...

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Aubergine chickpea tagine

Aubergine, Chickpea Tagine with flaked almond cous cous & harissa
(Recipe by Daniel Acevedo)
2 cm ginger
1-2 red chillies
3 aubergines
200-300 ml sunflower oil/veg oil

1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 star anise
1 pinch saffron

3 tins (720g) good quality crushed tomatoes
150g green olives pitted
2 tins (480g) good quality chickpeas
1 tsp salt

Before we start I would like to explain why this recipe contains no garlic or onions.  Over the recent years working as head chef here at Mildred’s restaurant I have noticed an increase in the demand for people requesting food not containing anything from the onion family.

This dish is fairly mild in spice so feel free to add more or less chilli to your liking.  The star anise and saffron in this recipe gives it a unique taste and makes it stand out above your regular tagine.

For better results with this recipe please source quality tinned tomatoes and roasted red peppers from your local deli or even better buy the equivalent weight in very ripe plum tomatoes and red peppers from the market, with tomatoes dice or give a quick blend in a food processor before adding to your tagine, with your red peppers lightly coat with oil, and roast on a high heat in the oven to blister the skin of the peppers, remove from oven and place in a bowl or plastic container covering with cling film to steam the peppers, allow to cool, peel and de-seed peppers ready to use for your harissa sauce.

Time allowing, your chickpeas can also be bought dried from your local deli and soaked overnight about half the amount of dried chickpeas will yield the same amount once cooked so approx 240g.  Drain and cook these chickpeas in 3-4 cups lightly salted water for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until tender.

Prepare your harissa first and allow to cool before starting your tagine and cous cous.

1. Pre heat oven at 180c, cut aubergine in half length ways then into quarters again cut these pieces in half again giving you aubergine wedges approx 7 cm long and 2cm wide, in an oven tray generously coat aubergines with sunflower/veg oil and toss to make sure all the pieces are oiled.  Bake for 15-25 min until aubergines are fully cooked.  
 

2.  Wash or peel the ginger to clean, then along with the chilli finely dice and crush with a chef’s knife into a smooth paste.   Alternatively you can blend this in a food processor to achieve the same result.  In a medium sized pot over a low heat lightly fry your paste for 7-8 min

3.  Lightly Toast your coriander, cumin, and star anise seeds in the same manner as your harissa spices, grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder and add to ginger chilli mix along with your pinch of saffron and fry further for a few min.

4.  Add crushed tomatoes, salt and simmer on low heat for 20min

5.  Drain your chickpeas and add to the tagine along with your cooked aubergines and simmer  on a very low heat for a further 10-15 min(at this time you’re ready to prepare your cous cous, see recipie below).   

6.  Remove Tagine from heat and serve with cous cous,  garnish with some fresh coriander  and a side of harissa.


Flaked almond Cous cous

400g cous cous
450ml water
2 tsp Vegetable stock powder
50g toasted flaked almonds
1 pickled lemon very finely diced
100ml lemon juice
100ml extra light olive oil
Pinch of Salt & Pepper

1. Boil water along with pickled lemons, salt and pepper
2. Once water has come to the boil remove from heat and add your cous cous along with lemon juice & olive oil, mixing thoroughly,  cover and allow to sit for 15-20 min.
Harissa

400g roasted peppers or good quality tinned roasted red peppers
2 chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
50ml  extra light olive oil
To roast the peppers, simply scorch over an open flame, on a chargrill or under the grill in your oven until the skins are blistered and black. Put in a bowl and cover with clingfilm so they steam. When cool enough to handle, then skins should come away easily. 


1. Lightly Toast your cumin seeds in a pan on the lowest heat setting for 4-5 min, adding the smoked paprika  at the last min for a light toasting, remove from heat and grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder.

2.  Drain your peppers and blend in a food processor along with your chillies, spices, salt and oil for 5-10 min until you have a very smooth sauce.  You can also pass the harissa through a small to fine sieve for a smoother result.

3. Set aside and allow to cool

Serve all three together with some warm flat bread.