MACELLAIO RC, SOUTH KENSINGTON

Last weekend I had a massage at home (from Urban Massage). It was my first one in a long time and it was utterly amazing. I love beauty treatments but I rarely have them anymore as my life has been overrun by a very demanding toddler. The same goes for eating out, my daughter Olympia is not keen on sitting in her push chair or a high chair, so that makes going to restaurants quite a tricky experience. I remembered from when my other daughter Arabella was young, that Italian restaurants are always great with kids, so a couple of weekends ago we tried out Macellaio RC on the Old Brompton Road.

Macellaio RC is basically a butchers with a restaurant - you can even choose which steak from the counter that you want to eat. Plus it is not just an ordinary steak - it comes from the Fassona breed in the "special mountain valleys"  north of Genoa. Every cut of meat is hung for the exact right amount of time and precise care is taken to ensure the meat tastes incredible.

We were short of time due to Olympia's attention span and so we quickly perused the menu. It is quite simple - there are a selection of small bites, starters, charcuterie and cheese, offal, mains and grill or pasta. 

We started with lardo bruschetta with honey and walnuts and stracciatella served with rocket.

Both were unbelievably mouthwatering and utterly delicious. The stracciatella was incredibly creamy and I think the best I have ever tasted. I adored the lardo but it was a little too much for me, however Pascal demolished the very generous portion.

For mains, I ordered the rump steak served with sweet gorgonzola and walnuts and I can honestly say I have never had a steak quite like this in London. I loved the way it was was sliced and cooked perfectly rare. Pascal ordered rump steak with Tuscan extra virgin olive oil and salt. His was cooked blue and was also faultless.

We had fries and spinach as sides which were great although the steaks were definitely the stars of the show.

Unfortunately there wasn't time for pudding, Olympia had half terrorised and half charmed the restaurant and it was time to go home after an incredible meal.

There are four Macellaio RC restaurants on London, this one in South Ken, another in Battersea, one in Clerkenwell and another in Bankside. The menus are very similar in all of them and each offer a butchery and bakery masterclass. 

I will definitely be adding this restaurant to my favourites list.....perfect for all carnivores.

Macellaio RC

84 Old Brompton Road,
London
SW7 3LQ
Tel: 020 7589 5834

CHICKEN, BACON & CHEESE ROLLS

These school holidays I have found all the cooking so tiresome and I am constantly trying to decide what to serve for both lunch and dinner, stay healthy (ish) and have some variety in our diet. It is not easy. 

When I was growing up, my father did most of the cooking for the family. My mother loved food (she used to drive us mad with her menu reading - a trait I have now inherited) but she had no confidence in cooking. Despite this, she LOVED to do cooking classes. I have kept some of her recipes and I know she will be so happy that I am cooking them......as she never did!! I decided to try this simple chicken dish of her's that took around 35 minutes.

Ingredients for 2 people:

6 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (I only had 5)
3 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Around 90g of Gruyere or Cheddar cheese
6 slices of smoked streaky bacon
Wooden cocktail sticks

To serve:
Garlic Mayonnaise
(You can just buy this but I made it myself with):
100ml mayonnaise
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
10g spring onions, finely chopped 

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Unroll each chicken thigh and cut away all the nasties. I love chicken thighs, I much prefer them to the breast, but I hate this part of preparing them!

Spread about a teaspoon of mustard on to each thigh.

Cut the cheese into fat matchsticks of around 15g each and place one in the middle of each thigh. Then roll up the chicken.

Wrap each chicken thigh with a rash of bacon and secure with a couple of cocktail sticks. Put the chicken rolls in a baking tray (I lined the tray with foil) in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Cut into the chicken to check it is cooked before serving.

While the chicken was cooking I made the garlic mayonnaise and I basically just copied a random recipe from the Internet. However I had to change the measurements as otherwise I was making a week's supply of mayo!! it was very simple to make, I just mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl and voila!

Despite all the cheese melting out of our chicken rolls, I scooped it all up with a spoon (waste not want not) and these worked perfectly. I love how tender chicken thighs are and I am a big fan of the cheese and bacon combo. These worked perfectly with a green salad for me and cucumber and sweetcorn for my daughter. Another easy recipe to add to the list. These can also be made up previously and frozen until needed. Just defrost fully before you cook. Perfect for the busy school afternoons that are soon to be upon us.