This is a great dish if you've got a little time as it takes about 1 hour to prepare and cook. It goes wonderfully with a salad and some new potatoes.

4 chicken legs
2 cups of chicken stock (using stock cubes is fine)
1 lemon (sliced)
2 cloves of garlic
3 Rosemary stalks
Olive oil

Pre-Heat your oven to 200C (Gas 7or 8).Heat a little olive oil in an oven proof frying pan, and place your chicken skin side down in the pan once the oil is hot. Brown the chicken on all sides. Remove from the heat and add in the remaining ingredients, ensuring that a little garlic is placed on each piece of chicken. Place in the oven, uncovered for 25 mins (or until the chicken is cooked through), remove from heat and serve.

At the end of Field Road on the corner of greyhound road sits the Queens Arms. For many years it was the haunt of the local estates, and a very large german shepard that blocked entry. Recently it's been completely renovated in the style of so many gastro pubs in the area. In some ways I miss the stability of the old 50's pub, and the nostalgic "east enders" feeling you got walking through the door. However, on the whole the renovation has changed everything...including the clientel and with the addition of food it makes a resonable venue to spend a Sunday afternoon.

My wife and I went this past Sunday to give it a try.. She had the risotto (which was a little buttery) and I had the sticky pork (which was a little confused - see above). On the whole, the food wasn't bad...I just think that they need to keep the creations much simpler and not try to be too fancy. Also for a neighbourhood pub, it's expensive. Perhaps it's just a few growing pains, and with feedback they'll hopefully sort things out. I'm willing to give them a few more tries, and support the local.

update: I've removed the pricing information based on Jon's comment below. I'll go back, have another meal and report back.

171 Greyhound Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8NL

We decided to make chicken noodle soup for friends this weekend as 2 out of 4 weren't feeling very well. This is based on my Grandma's recipe, and although it doesn't quite taste like hers...it's pretty damn good.

8 Chicken legs
1 bunch of parseley
1 bunch of oregano
1 large white onion
2 carrots
8 sticks of celery
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
1 package of fresh tortelinni

For the stock:
In a large saucepan add the chicken, oregano, half of the onion (roughly chopped), 1 carrot (roughly chopped), and 4 sticks of celery. Fill the pot with water until all of the ingredients are fully covered. Bring to the boil and let it simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pot and continue to simmer the remaining ingredients for 1h. Remove from heat, and strain the liquid using a pasta strainer. Throw out the vegetables and herbs. Keep the liquid in a seperate bowl...for now.

For the soup:
Dice the remaining vegetables and peel the meat from the chicken bones. Add a little olive oil to your empty saucepan and heat. Add the vegetables and fry them until the onion is soft. Add in the broth and the chicken and season to taste. Simmer for another 15minutes and then add the tortelinni. When the tortelinni floats to the top, simmer for 2 minutes and Serve HOT!

My wife is feeling a little under the weather and that got me thinking about the things we eat when we're sick. She likes Tomato soup, so that's what we had last night. I'm more traditional when I get sick, here's a few things I like:

1. Soup. Preferably chicken noodle, or if you really want to kill that cold Tom Yum Gai. Apparently Drs. B. Rennard, Ertl, Gossman, Robbins and S. I. Rennard. have proved that chicken soup does indeed make you better. They've even listed out store brands to help you choose the most effective remedy.

In order of effectivness:
Knorr's Chicken Flavor Chicken Noodle
Campbell's Home Cookin' Chicken Vegetable
Campbell's Healthy Request Chicken Noodle
Lipton's Cup-o-soup, Chicken Noodle
Progresso Chicken Noodle.

2. Honey. Take a spoon full when you've got a sore throat or a cough. Mix it with some hot water and some lemon juice as a decongestant. It's natural, tasty and it works.

3. Flat ginger ale. If you're praying to the porceline god, nothing helps calm the stomach quite like flat ginger ale. Maybe it's the ginger, or maybe it's just because it's the only thing that will stay down. Either way, it'll give you back some of the salts you've lost by heaving into the bowl.

4. The B.R.A.T diet. Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast. All easy on the stomach.

5. Orange juice. This one's only for colds and better for prevention rather than a cure. The vitamin C keeps the nasties at bay, and the cold liquid is soothing.

6. Whiskey. 1 shot. Sleep. Repeat.

BTW. If you've got man flu, there's absolutely nothing you can do to make it better as we all know that it's the worst type of cold to get.

As a Canadian in London, sometimes you just feel the need for a decent BBQ, and Bodeans isn't a bad choice if you've got a hankering for some meat. It's fast, and tasty and in a city where it's difficult to find decent hot wings it's got to be your only choice. The service is friendly and ambiance is a little strange with all of the american voices chatting loudly above the stream of sports on the wide screen TV's. My favourite menu item is the Jumbo pulled pork sandwich, it's like eating ribs without all the hassle of pulling the meat from the bones and it comes with coleslaw, pickles and fries.

There is usually so much food on the plate that's it's difficult to finish it all, let alone try desert. But if you do have room, try the Mississippi mud pie.

It's not quite as good as a southern BBQ house, but it's not bad for London. Tuck in.

My Great Grandmother's garden was a playground for foodies. It had no lawn, ornamental ponds, or gazebos. The walkways were created with bits of flat stone and disused boards. By the time we arrived in August it was overflowing with the produce of Grandmas care. Carrots, onions, chives, cherries, pears and potatoes were all staples we came to expect every year. The best bit, was sneaking out before breakfast to eat fresh peas straight off the vine. There is something that that just screams 'summer' about the taste of fresh peas. Most of the time, i really dislike peas. As Patrick Brown used to say - "Little green balls of mushy poison". However, when they're fresh and raw...yummy!

Thanks JP for the pic.

Sainsbury's has passion fruits (4 for 99p) at the moment. It's very rare than you can find them in our area, and it's even more rare that they taste good. I was pleasantly surprised this morning when we went to pick up stuff for breakfast. It will remind you of summer, even if it is pissing down with rain.

7 Passion fruits
1 cup of orange juice (fresh)
1 whole pineapple

Put all of the ingredients into a blender, blend and serve. Easy and tasty.

Ok, so it isn't really pesto...since it's missing the pine nuts and parmesan, but it's close. I like to leave the lamb marinade for a bit, but you can just stick it straight on the grill if you're in a hurry.

For the pesto
Handful of Flat leaf Parsley
3 cloves garlic
1 splash of olive oil.

3 lamb steaks

Grind up the pesto ingredients with a mortar and pestle until the oil is a bit creamy. Smear the lamb with the mixture and leave in the fridge for half an hour. Grill.

Sliced white bread (thicker the better)
2 Tomatoes (sliced)
150g cheddar cheese (grated)
1 package of streaky smoked bacon

This recipe makes 2 sandwiches.

Grill or fry your bacon. On one half of your bread, spread out the grated chedar cheese, on top place the tomato, the grilled bacon and the second slice of bread. Heat up a fying pan at a low temperature. Butter the top side of your sandwiches, flip them over and place them in the pan. Now butter the top side again (which was the bottom side). When the frying side is golden brown, flip it over and fry the other side until the cheese has melted. Hopefully this make sense.

Heart attack on a plate...but hey it tastes great.

Tasty and thick summer drink. It's like a meal in a glass, and great for breakfasts with a bagel.

3 peaches (halved and destoned)
3/4 punnet of strawberries
4 tablespoons of honey

Blend all of the ingredients together and serve.

Again, this one tastes better than it looks. Some things were just never meant for the camera. This recipe is great for picnics or any event that you have to prepare something the day before. Just make sure you keep it nice and cold. I personally don't like left over chicken, so you might want to do the chicken the day of serving...it'll be less rubbery.

2 small packages of medium egg noodles
3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 large chunk of ginger (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 carrot (sliced)
15 mangetout (topped and tailed)
1 courgette (sliced)
1 chicken breast diced
1 splash of vegetable oil

It doesn't matter if you don't do all of this at the same time, as the salad tastes best cold anyhow.

Put your noodles on to boil. They'll cook in about 4 minutes, strain and mix in a small amount of oil so that the noodles don't stick together. Put them in a bowl and place them in the fridge. Whilst your noodles are cooking, add some oil to a frying pan and fry your diced chicken breast. After the chicken starts to turn white add about 3/4 of the ginger and garlic and a tablespoon of soy sauce. Fry until the chicken has cooked through and remove from the heat. In yet another pot, fill the bottom with enough water to steam your vegetables. Place all of the vegetables in a steamer and steam until the vegetables are soft, but still have a bit of a bite. Make sure you put the carrots on the bottom as they'll take the longest.

Mix together the remaining garlic, ginger, soy sauce, cooking wine and honey in a small pan over a low heat. This will make your dressing. Cook until you can't smell the alcohol from the wine, it should only take a few minutes.

Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl, and mix it all together.

Alright, if you can't make this you shouldn't be allowed to touch knives...or even walk down the street on your own. As i've made a resolution to post as much as possible...not every recipe is going to be difficult.

6 large tomatoes (cut into quarters or rounds)
3 large avocadoes (destoned, peeled and sliced)
1 large ball of Mozza (torn)
Splash of olive oil
Splash of balsamic vinegar

Stack all of the ingredients as shown in the picture. Splash the oil and balsamic on top. Serve and eat off the plate. Great for groups....serves about 3-4.

Ok, so the picture doesn't look that good...but damn are these tasty. Nothing says summer like burgers. I only wish I had a proper BBQ on my patio. Again thanks to my local butcher I have access to great organic meat. Lovely.

1 pound of ground steak
1 dash of paprika
2 cloves of garlic (diced)
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
1 splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 egg

Mix all of the ingredients together add the breadcrumbs slowly so that it soaks up the egg. Break up the giant meat ball into 6 smaller meat balls and press flat with your palms. Grill until cooked through. Easy.