The Kitchen Guru

  Perfect Hot Salt Beef Sandwich When I was twenty I was lucky enough to work a stall in the world famous   Petticoat Lane market   on   Sunday   mornings, Back in the day the market was mainly Jewish market traders   we were part of the very special history of the East End of London, The excitement, hustle and bustle, comradeship between the stall holders was second to none, we worked all weathers , and shared each other’s joys and sorrows.   but the icing on the cake was visiting Blooms on Whitechapel Road after trading had finished for a succulent hot salt beef sandwich, nothing can erase these memories from my mind even though its over half a century ago. When Danny Brummer  “Z"L”  was running the Deli in Hove Street, I use to cook with him, back in the day we use to pickle our own beef but nowadays you can buy it ready pickled from Gilberts, this is the recipe we used to serve hot salt beef sandwiches to the Brighton and Hove Jewish community   1.5 kilos ready pickle

  French Onion Soup     serves 4 When I was 14, I spent time in Paris, this was the  favorite soup  of  the family I lived with this recipe is tweaked from their family recipie , going back generations. I was talking to a friend the other day about the cold, and she reminded me of the wonders of French onion soup and how it makes a wonderful lunch or a light evening meal, then asked me for my recipe, you can adapt this recipe for people (like myself) who are dairy and gluten intolerant, as there are tons of vegan cheeses out there nowadays. You need ·        50g  plant based margarine ·        1 tbsp  olive oil ·        1kg  onions,  halved and thinly sliced ·        1/2 tsp  sugar ·        4  garlic cloves,  thinly sliced ·        ½ teaspoon dried thyme ·        2 tbsp  flour I use gluten free, but you can use any plain flour ·        250ml dry white wine ·        1.3l hot strongly flavoured vegetable or pareve Beef stock ·        4-8 slices baguette (depending on size) ·        14