Kasbah Liverpool: restaurant review

I have been wanting to visit Morocco for a while now but have still not got around to booking a trip, so whilst it sits on my to-do list I'll just have to make do with eating Moroccan food at home. Until recently I have had to make do with making tagines and cous cous at home but now Liverpool has a great little Moroccan restaurant that offers a relaxed and authentic meal without the washing up. Kasbah, situated on Bold Street in Liverpool city centre, has been open a while now and I have eaten great food there a couple of times. As a lover of spice, I always welcome new restaurants that offer something a little different than the standard curry houses or the abundance of eat all you can chinese. Whilst there are some great restaurants that offer Indian and Asian food, the city is lacking in places that offer traditional African cuisine. I love the subtle spices and string aroma of Moroccan food offers, and this is certainly what hits you when you walk into Kasbah. The restaurant has a very warm and welcoming feel, offering a traditionally decorated room; not simply a cheesy themed establishment. There is a small areas dedicated to selling Moroccan gifts and spices, which is a little pricey but offers something a little different if you feel like splashing out. My visit was not about shopping though, it was all about the delicious smelling food that was on offer.

The menu offers light meals and tapas dishes, if you are just popping in for a quick lunch, or more substantial meals for an evening meal or, like me, just very hungry. My husband and one year old joined me on my latest visit, for a late lunch after a day out at the museum. With such a great menu it was hard to pick out what we wanted so we decided to share a couple of the tapas dishes and a chicken tagine. Our first tapas choice was Briouats mama, light filo pastry rolls filled with spiced minced lamb, that tasted really good with the sweet tomato and chilli chutney served on the side. The rolls were crisp and fragrant and were not too greasy, as often lamb and pastry can be. Falafal was our second tapas dish , which was packed full of flavour and not too dry.The ' tagine de Marrakech ' was next up, with strong flavours of saffron and lemon coming through but not spoiling the delicate chicken. The side dish of cous cous was a little bland and could have packed a little bit of flavour to compliment the tagine but it did not spoil our meal at all. Good flatbread helped soak up the juices of the tagine and finished off an all round good meal. . Kasbah is an alcohol free restaurant but the great food more than make up for the lack of wine and you could always pop along to one of the great bars in and around bold street afterwards. They do serve great mint tea though, served in beautiful pots, again offering a traditional take on moroccan dining.The restaurant is great value for money and offers lunch deals that are much better then grabbing a soggy meal deal somewhere.

Creamy Plum and Almond sponge

I recently had great fun baking cakes and raising money for Macmillan along with Cosy Bean Coffee, Say it with Flours and The Mixing Bowl. Cosy Bean is a great independent coffee shop that has a lovely community feel and has regular events to bring in the locals. Say it with flours and The mixing bowl are both small baking businesses based in South Liverpool, providing home baked treats to local coffee shops and homes. We all decided to get together to share our love of cake and raise a few pennies for a really good cause. I made a Brazil nut cappuccino cake, iced buns and a creamy plum and almond sponge cake, all of which went down very well but the plum cake was a particular success. I decided to make the cake as I had a fresh jar of homemade plum and almond jam that I was looking forward to using. For the jam I made this basic plum jam recipe and then added 2 drops of almond essence to give it an extra flavour.

Ingredients

For the sponge

3 medium eggs
175g self raising flour
175g caster sugar
175g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp almond essence

For the filling

3 tbsp plum jam
150ml fresh double cream, whipped

For topping

150g icing sugar
1tbsp milk
pink icing for piping

Method

1. Preheat oven to Gas mark 4/180 degrees. Make the sponge by beating the butter and sugar until smooth then adding eggs, vanilla and almond essence and milk. Once combined sift in the flour and mix gently. Divide the mixture between 2 round cake tins ( I used 20cm tin)
2. Whip the double cream and poor onto one of sponge bases, once the cake has cooled. Once the cream is spread onto the cake add on the jam and spread before adding top layer of sponge.
3. Mix the icing sugar with the milk and spread the icing on to the top layer. Once the icing has set, pipe the pink icing in lines, first of all vertical then horizontal to make a criss cross pattern on top of cake.

Project scouse chicken and barley soup

I wrote this recipe down a few months ago for Project Scouse and thought I would post on here now, seeing as though the jumpers and gloves are out and we will all be thinking of comfort food. When asked to think of traditional scouse dishes my mind immediately went to sitting on Nanna Kitty's couch on a Saturday afternoon, watching TV whilst she cooked in the kitchen. One of the dishes she made quite often was chicken and barley soup, something which I think was a firm staple for a lot of people growing up in Liverpool and something that I still love to cook. The soup uses only a few ingredients, with the key ingredient of chicken being taken from leftovers of the previous nights tea. The fact that the soup uses few ingredients, is quick to make and goes a long is probably why it was a huge favourite for everyone but for me it is a favourite because it not only tastes great but it takes me to a nice warm place full of lovely childhood memories.

Each family will have their own little take on the dish but here is my Nanna Kitty's recipe if any of you would like to give it a try.

Ingredients

Makes large pan

Leftovers from a whole roasted chicken, including bones. If you don't have left overs then use a small cooked breast and a leg or thigh *
1 cup of pearl barley
2 carrots
1 large onion
1 bayleaf
50ml milk
salt and pepper to season

* If you choose to use breast only then you will need to add half a chicken stock cube

Method

1. Roughly chop your onion and carrots and fry in a large pan with a little oil until onion are softened.
2. Take your leftover chicken and remove any fat or skin.  Take any flesh from the chicken and set aside then place the larger bones into a the pan, adding water until the pan is 3/4 full
3. Once water is brought to a boil, add the bay leaf and seasoning and allow the bones to simmer for 30-45 minutes. Remove all bones from pan
4.  Add in the cup of barley and the flesh from the chicken ( I like large shredded strips). Cook for 30-40 minutes. Remove all bones.
5. If the soup looks too thick for your taste then add a little water. Serve with homemade bread and butter.