Hollandaise history and another Burger...

Happy Sunday Everyone!
I am spending today with my nose in a book, in my pyjamas whilst simultaneously watching 'Gilmore Girls', so in order to save me and my conscience from feeling just a bit TOO un-productive I thought I would post my latest food endeavours.

My first success was one of my own which I am ridiculously excited about, no matter how minor. I managed, for the first time today, to successfully make hollandaise sauce! I know! I've never tried before, it always seemed far too scary and difficult and only within the grasp of seasoned experts, but it was actually refreshingly easy.
I adapted a recipe for simple hollandaise sauce from the BBC Good Food website because A) I didn't have any white wine vinegar so just used lemon juice and B) I was making it for one (is the loneliest number...) yeah whatever.
I'm not sure that it was absolutely perfect, it didn't quite have the mayonnaise thickness it often does if you eat it in a restaurant, but it tasted and looked far better than I was hoping it too, so if you want to give it a go, I encourage you to, as it turns out it can be accomplished by mortals.

I used -

• 1 egg yolk
• 65 grams of butter
• a generous splash of lemon juice
• salt and pepper 
• a splash of ice cold water

1. First melt the butter on a low heat in a sauce pan, then (try until you get bored) to skim off the solid stuff that sits on the surface. Set aside but keep warm. 
2. Then, whisk the egg yolk, lemon juice, water and seasoning together in a glass bowl that will sit over a pan of simmering water in a bain marie. Whisk until it goes pale and gets thicker. 
3. Remove from the heat and trickle in the butter slowly, whilst whisking, and it will continue to thicken until it has the consistency you want. Feel free to add cayenne pepper or similar spices at this point. 
4. Whisk, a lot, then it's done!

I had mine as part of a slightly bastardised Eggs Benedict, using a bagel instead of an English muffin and bacon instead of ham. Next time I'm going to make Eggs Florentine, which is my favourite and uses wilted spinach instead of ham. I also have to shamefacedly admit to not poaching my eggs in the traditional way but cheating with the genius that is silicon egg poachers. I'll get there one day. 

SO that was success number one of the weekend, the second one being not a recipe but a review of the relatively new BRGR on Great Western Road, which Calum and I went to for the first time yesterday in an attempt to cure our hangovers from Pressure at the Arches on Friday. 

The restaurant itself is very small, but decorated in a nicely off-beat, casual way. They give you a roll of kitchen roll for your table instead of napkins, which, in my opinion all restaurants should do. Especially the ones in which you inevitably end up with your dinner smeared across your face and hands. 

Knifes and forks are wooden (if you are in need of/ask for them) and the food is served in a McDonald's-esque way, wrapped in paper and in cardboard cartons, which adds to the diner feel. 

I strayed from my usual preference of beef and went for a chicken burger called 'The Breaded Piece' which was chicken in panko breadcrumbs with pickles, red onion, salad, burger relish and garlic and parsley mayonnaise. It was delicious, but very messy, although I have to admit that was partly my fault for not realising what the cardboard burger 'hawder' was for until after I finished. Duh.

Calum had a Spanish themed beef burger called 'El Classi Coo' which had manchego cheddar, chorizo and other spanish themed things. It also got the seal of approval. Alongside our burgers we shared some piri-piri seasoned fries, a couple of drinks and a delicious strawberry milkshake, and the whole thing came to a very reasonable £17. 

The menu is simple and small, in that good way which means you know that everything has effort and time put into it. It has some really good looking vegetarian options and daily specials as well as a kids menu and, alternative to the burgers, chicken wings. The price is pretty spot on for the portion size, and even by hungover standards I was left feeling very full. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for good quality fast food with a Glaswegian twist. 

So, the last weekend of January hasn't exactly been the health fest I was aspiring to, but hey-ho at the end of the day I wasn't fooling anybody. At least I started as I mean to go on.
I hope your Sunday is as full of absolutely nothing as mine is going to be.

Lindsay x