Rosts Eat London: Texas Texas Yeehaw

Every once in a while, I get a deeeeeep darkkkkkk craving for some super delicious Texas cuisine. Sometimes, I get super lucky and an American chef in London reads my mind and fulfills my wishes! (Her name is Bea['s of Bloomsbury] and she has great desserts and lunches too). A couple of weeks ago, I went to my 3rd one. A few pictures from all 3 are below. I'm not positive, but from my quick calculations and extrapolations, I think James and I ate about the same number as shooting stars we saw. Each. I definitely noticed that I had improved my technique--these guys were stripped and vanishing in a flash.

Other times, I have found someone in my same predicament: a Homesick Texan. After Sarah found and trialled HT's recipe for migas, we've made it so many more times. It's so delicious and you even make your own little crispy tortillas! (Sidenote: If you're looking for breakfast burritos in London, there are good ones at The Hangover Club on Tooley Street (although, this was a summer 2013 pop-up, so I'm not sure how much longer it will exist). I also recently saw them on the menu at The Breakfast Club in Hoxton (there are a few locations and I imagine they have the same menu) and at Barrio East in Shoreditch. I didn't have them at The Breakfast Club, but I did have huevos rancheros and those were pretty delicious. As were the pancakes with berries. Those were to die for.

Still other times, there's just a little something you need back in your life, so you have to scour a little harder for recipes. Like a good sausage, cheese and jalapeño kolache. Or a New Orleans style meat pie. The pies they have here are just. not. the. same. The ones you find outside of Nola in the US aren't even the same!! And these two cravings of mine were just not going to be found on the streets of London, no matter how many pop-ups I went to (gap in the market, anyone?). Although...there has been a fried chicken explosion lately (also conveniently pretty soon after I got a homesick craving for a fried chicken biscuit), so maybe kolaches (and meat pies?!) are next???

For both the kolache recipe (I used this one, but next time, might give this one a try) and the meat pie recipe, I made my own dough by hand, because I'm not sure it's worth me investing in a breadmaker at the moment. And...I felt a bit more homemakery and accomplished by doing it myself, so that was nice. I would set aside a good few hours for the whole process for either, but it's definitely worth it.

Pictures of kolaches, Natchitoches meat pies and crawfish abound below!

In process

Almost didn't have an after picture! Got this one
of the last two just in time. I might leave them
in a bit longer next time, but was
scared to burn them