Devilishly good!

Stephanie has designated this month’s blog party as devil’s food, those sinful treats you lust after when you know you shouldn’t. Though we are talking about bite-sized canapés and I’m a great believer of ‘little of what you fancy…’ but nonetheless I should be able to conjure up some wicked delights.
This last month more than ever I’ve been neither here nor there, not often at home and generally packing or unpacking. But in the spirit of ‘the show must go on’, or ‘the blog party must go on’ I started pondering some of my top decadent dishes and how I could miniaturise them whilst making one the many train journeys.
In my usual ‘cart before the horse way’ I decided on the crockery before the actual dishes. My plan was to get out my fabulous Versace Dedalo beauties that M got me for Christmas as they really are show stoppers but as it turned out I produced the eats far from home and without a wisp of Versace in sight so I have to get a little creative. In lieu of my Greek key banded lovelies I procure a black and crystal shiny frame and repurpose that to serve the nibbles on.
I seem to think beef on many of these occasions and surely one of the most wicked and rich beef dishes is Tournedos Rossini. Strictly this demands a sliver or so of foie gras but when I asked for it in the local supermarket they looked at me as if I had two heads – clearly I thought I was in Le Clerc for a moment! So instead of the foie gras I get some smooth duck pâté and sit it on top of round of rare seared beef. I wanted to make some round croûtes to form a base but I didn’t have my usual cutters to hand so instead I managed to deploy a handy metal coffee scoop to make the little discs. These were fried alongside the beef and added the perfect toasty foundations. These may have been a slight stretch to call them Tournedos Rossini but they were a fine interpretation and undeniably devilishly delicious!
Whilst getting the beef I also tried to get some little queen scallops to make my own version of Coquilles Saint Jacques but I had to settle for the larger beasts instead. I figured that M possibly formerly being the largest consumer of mini Coquilles Saint Jacques in the free world would have a surfeit of queen scallop shells but she’s destroyed the evidence. So not have any of my usual canapé spoons I had to go exploring amongst M’s cutlery drawers for suitable alternatives. Lightly searing the scallops, then dousing them with a slug of white wine and cream I then placed them in the bowls of found dessert spoons and topped them with a slick more of the sauce and grated cheese. Fearing that grilling them would mean that they couldn’t be picked up for eager consumption I protected them with foil whilst they got a blast under the grill. I had considered piping mash potato around the scallop before their final anointing but couldn’t find a suitable piping tool and boy that would have been seriously fiddly!
Whilst in the devilishly decadent frame of mind I had been pondering truffled risotto or truffled mash potato but instead opted for cocoa dusted chocolate truffles! Well they are definitely one of my favourite chocolaty nibbles.
I had planned all sorts of Chambord wildness as my wicked drink but in honour of M I opted for our ‘memories of the Cip in Venice’ honeyed dessert wine served in one of my favourite and very appropriate Perrier Jouët Belle Epoque glasses. Well Belle Epoque seriously goes witht he excessive theme and it is the original D's birthday and this was his most favourite Champagne.
The wine complements the scallops and the chocolate but maybe not so the beef! And a deserving nod to Harvey for adding a little luxurious texture to the shot!
So if you believe that 'a little of what you fancy does you good', please help yourself to a devilishly to-die-for morsel and I’ll see you at the party, don't forget your horns!

Going to work on an egg...or four!

The intrepid T (aka my body is a temple) is going through a four-eggs-for-breakfast-a-day diet and as luck would have it my antique silver egg cups, spoons and stand arrived in the post yesterday. So it seemed very fitting to christen it thus – though when this shiny contraption was designed I suspect they thought four people would share in the mutual love of soft boiled eggs not just one lone protein junkie indulging his chicken-bothering habit. Ah well, they look nice anyway!

All Buffed up!

Hold on to your hat, Stephanie, I thought I’d arrive early and help you set up for the party. Yes, possibly for one of the first time ever I have got my act together and am ready ahead of time. When Stephanie announced the theme of this month’s blog party as “Buffy” as in vampire slayer, I was initially a little thrown. I am aware of Buffy and her tendency for lurking about graveyards and brandishing pointed sticks but I couldn’t remember anything particular about food. I consulted imdb.com, as the font of all vital celluloid knowledge, but it didn’t give me much inspiration. My limited knowledge of vampires is that they don’t eat, unless you count the biting of flesh of a well-turned neck so I am not bothering catering for our fanged friends or the undead. Instead maybe I should consider demon-busting sustenance for the Scooby Gang et al, and I am guessing that generally they wish to repel vampires - apart maybe from Angel!

As usual when the month’s theme is publicised I start pondering the turn my canapés will take, their vital ingredients and presentation. Buffy inspired crockery, I am completely flummoxed here. So bearing in mind that I don’t think any of the “energetically pursued by Buffy” vampires ever turned into a bat (it seems that is very last year for the modern vampire, Mick St John and the dashing Josef in Moonlight don’t go in for bat transformations and Henry in Blood Ties doesn’t either) I decided that artistic licence was in order. It’s not as if my place is awash with vampiric accoutrements (no really!) but I wanted bats – and the bats I’d set my little black heart on was bat-shaped table confetti. Why did I really want bats? I can only think this is some deep-seated love of Count von Count and his batty companions from Sesame Street, rising its head again.

However it seems that these furry bodied winged creatures are considered a tad seasonal, really are bats not for life? And being months from Halloween I had to do a bit of searching, but fear not my quest was successful. Though with the general shortage and all I had to buy a job lot of variously shaped confetti and had the absorbing task of sorting them into their respective genus (be afraid D, I can foresee other confetti-strewn events in Cambridge!) So when DD contacted me and asked what I was doing and I said, “sorting bats” that’s the reason why!

Shiny little black bats duly scattered around the Hell mouth I then had to devise the various little bites to serve (yes, I had to make that pun also!).

Angels on horseback and devils on horseback immediately leapt to mind (also kindly suggested by the multi-brothered J); would they be Buffy-ish enough? I can’t really think of any demonic dishes, but devilled (as in marginally fiery) seems to be a popular culinary treatment! The ‘angels’ should strictly be oysters, but I wasn’t enthused by the crusty examples on offer and substituted them for scallops instead; well I’ve always considered scallops to be far more angelic! The devils I selected for this particular sacrifice were pitted soft Agen prunes stuffed with a slight spoonful of cayenne spiked cream cheese and then wrapped in bacon like the angels. The final ensembles were spiked with miniature wooden stakes (not cocktail sticks, I wanted something heftier so I cut down a packet of wooden skewers) and served the whole on heart-shaped plates. I was going for the whole stake through the heart theme (just in case you are wondering)

First little nibbles done - what next? D had suggested a staked steak, (a pun after my own heart) and vegetarians turn away now, that was the next plate. Hunks of fillet steak impaled by a stake, served suitably bloody of course!

Next I thought I better keep some of the undesirables away, so a sprinkle of salt by the front door and some garlic-laced Boursin stuffed freshly baked dough balls.

Then it was time for more devilment, skewered strips of devilled chick thighs. My devilishly good mixture was a finely sliced garlic clove, a good shaking of Worcestershire sauce, a slug of double cream and a liberal dusting of chilli flakes. And not too scarily hot for me but with that little kick after each mouthful.

After all those savoury goodies, I thought I should end on a sweet bite and decided upon morsels of devil’s food cake impaled by blood red silver stakes (I seemed to right out of bullets). And I understand how devil’s food cake gets its name now; if you eat too much you feel somewhat hellish!

When considering this month’s drink I thought that if others were paying homage to Buffy in a similar vein (holding my sides in mirth!), their obvious choice would be Bloody Mary or even a Virgin Bloody Mary, (perhaps even more desirable in the after world), however not on my watch! Ooh I am really warming to the theme now! Tomatoes, as you may be aware, I really can’t bear in any shape or form but a Bloody Mary seems to concentrate all that I detest in that dreadful fruit/vegetable/salad item/stuff of nightmares (delete as applicable) or is it just that being confined in an aeroplane seat with some imbiber of that foul smelling drink seems to make it more ghastly in the fact that I cannot escape? And secondly, if I need one, that’s the obvious choice. Instead after a little research I adapted the recipe for a Vampire Cocktail – black raspberry liqueur (Chambord anyone?), vodka and cranberry juice. I went for some delicious ruby coloured blood orange juice instead of cranberry juice, it seemed more appropriate and such a lovely colour, I then finished off with a final bat adorned blood red cocktail stick. But then as Coco Chanel always said - "accessorise, accessorise, accessorise!"

Well that was fun, no-one died, surely that makes a successful party and as they say "in every generation there is a chosen one... she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness”, and perhaps offer them a bite to eat! Must dash, I want to scare Stephanie by turning up over a week early, when the other guests turn up I will post them here and as the great Buffy herself says “People to see, demons to kill!”

UPDATE: As I was so ahead of myself (probably for the first time in my life) I had to wait a while to see the other guests' fanged offerings. But here we all are up to our unbitten necks with stake impaled food and bloody sauces, admiring Stephanie's gravestone adorned table (you don't get to say that often!) I have to admit I was the only one who had invited a colony (some say cloud, I prefer 'fang') of "precisely yet randomly scattered bats" into their inner sanctum.

But then I could live to regret that little act, my previous experience of table confetti is that it’s incredibly pervasive. You think you’ve rounded up every little reindeer / snowflake / heart / star / black and white rubber duck or pale yellow Easter chick but mysteriously sometimes years later they materialise say in the bath. And you wonder where they’ve been hiding for so long. I am intrigued what thought-provoking theme Stephanie has lined up for next month and will it push the envelope of my vast tableware collection? We’ll just have to wait and see.

One perfect dinner party

Not that I think that my dinner party was perfect it was that tonight’s menu was based pretty much on Marcus Wareing’s new cookbook “One Perfect Ingredient”. When this latest tome arrived to join my ever-burgeoning shelves I was immediately struck by it. And I know I’ve said that before but I never cease to be amazed how whenever I think I surely must have reached some sort of limit to my capacity for cookbook-love, my propensity for those hard-backed faintly ink perfumed volumes just seems indefatigable. And despite not wanting to murder my darlings - obviously I have favourites, and this one has instantly joined the A–list (or should that be J-list!) I can’t really put my finger on what makes one cookbook shine above another, I guess it’s a mixture a feeling of instant gastronomic connection, the belief I could rely on it in a sudden culinary emergency and a old friend that I could curl up in a comfy armchair with.

The premise of “One Perfect Ingredient” is to take one ingredient and then to conjure up three very different meals. And on my first flick through I realised that it would be a perfect accompaniment for tonight’s extravaganza. I’d been meaning to have T and ML around ummm, maybe forever and now I had to concoct a suitable menu. I had a few ideas; T doesn’t really do red meat but has rather a penchant for risotto which would help my deliberations so with this in mind I consulted Marcus and I think he had some fine suggestions.

I wanted to use my lovely new lead crystal champagne saucers for the dessert so knowing that I can whip it up very quickly I went for the chocolate mousse Gordon Ramsay devised for his cook-along a couple of months ago, as Marcus didn't have something unctuous enough and chocolaty enough. With the crystal theme in mind I went for full crystal-tastic overload on the table décor again and also christened my crystal tea-light holders and crystal rose-bowl for a terribly grown-up table centre. I got some lovely white flowers as I didn’t want the more typical roses but I can’t recall their genus, unfortunately.

For the starter I selected the Leek and Potato Risotto. I did toy with adding my first handful of this year’s English asparagus spears (not counting those cooked by Mark Hix at Divertimenti forced in a Kent micro-climate) but I found out just in the nick of time that ML doesn’t appreciate the spear. I had a small pile of Jersey royals for the new potato ingredient but I actually had stockpiled over double what the recipe needed but T suggested that I boiled them all anyway and we could either have some with the main course or use the leftovers for another meal. I used the rest of my Acquerello risotto rice and boy was it thirsty tonight. I poured in the wonderfully gelatinous stock, the glass of white wine, more wine, some Evian (just because it was handy), more wine, more water and still it drank. It just soaked up every drop of liquid in its vicinity; I could only assume it was drunk when it finally reached that perfect creamy texture. I add the Parmesan, the butter and then the potatoes but was rather alarmed by the texture. This risotto could never be accused of assuming the infamous Italian rippling wave effect across the plate, the all’ onda. It was way more pert than that, actually positively gravity-defying, I assumed it was the potato but not having a picture to reference and more importantly, loving the taste I went ahead and served it. And we certainly cleaned our plates, and then I remembered, I cooked well over twice the amount of crushed potato that the risotto required and then somehow added all of it to this to the dish – mmm, that might explain it. And then there was also the delicious very welcome glass or two of Fortnum & Mason Brut Rosé Champagne (Billecart-Salmon in disguise nonetheless!) that made everything all a little rosé around the edges - that could have explained it also!

For the main course I chose the simple Chicken with Bacon and Pesto accompanied by a version of the Pea and Broad bean Salad with Manchego Cheese from the Pea chapter – clearly I had a premonition that by that stage of the meal I might need 'simple'. The plump organic, free-range chicken breast (yes, I have chickened out – but I have always been a devotee of a happy chicken!) were rather annoying three different sizes. I definitely had daddy, mummy and baby chicken to stuff with pesto and wrapped in bacon. Daddy was feisty and struggling out of its bacon jacket but I managed to pan fry it and wrestle it into the oven without losing too much of its oozy verdant core.

With the help of T and ML's frantic depodding the broad beans were swiftly denuded and I dealt with the frozen petit pois which had all bonded into one great fat pea and needed a little gentle persuasion to return back to their individual little peas. I didn't have any Manchego so used Parmesan and a slurp of double cream to loosen it up a little and then a handful of my favourite floppy lamb's lettuce also.
That all seemed to go down pretty well also. Obviously I didn’t serve potatoes with the chicken because a) it didn’t really need it and b) we’d somehow managed to eat all the Jersey Royals with the risotto in some freak pink Champagne induced accident.

Having produced this Chocolate Mousse recipe before whilst under great time pressure I was pretty confident I could get it to the table pretty sharpish i.e. ideally before either of my guests fell asleep but it didn’t turn out quite as smooth as I would have liked. I used some of the amazing Willie Harcourt-Cooze Venezuelan Black 100% chocolate that T had managed to get at their local Waitrose as mine had nothing but a photograph of smiling Willie and information about this special chocolate, which was hardly going to help my mousse. I read the recipe carefully and then perhaps due to the wine on top of the Champagne and the boozy risotto meant that I read it but totally ignored it so when I was supposed to stir the smashed shards of Crunchie into the chocolate mixture I just got T to heap some in the gorgeous Champagne Saucers (very Babycham but without the cartoon Bambi and way more diva-ish!) and then add a little golden shower on top and then some chocolate flakes. We didn’t eat it all, hopefully because it wasn’t too imperfect but because I made enough for four of us (frankly four people who hadn't had a meal for a few days) and we’d eaten quite a lot of risotto et al! And T and I managed to save room for a soupçon of gooey Camembert with Truffle Butter on French bread as it would have been rude not to!

Maybe not the perfect dinner party but hopefully pretty damn fine!

Oh, and I should really mention another little fabulous touch to the table - get a load of the Evian bottle, not just soon-to-be-recycled plastic but designed by Christian Lacroix etched glass definitely not for recycling - don't you know. Diva - moi!

Stuffed Yorkshire Pudding

M&S sell these crusty Yorkshire puddings with a little extra, lurking inside the crisp batter shell is a succulent stew of steak and a light gravy. I wanted to accompany it with something green so stirred up this melange of finely sliced leek rounds, a few handfuls of frozen petits pois and some shredded lettuce.
And I succumbed to a couple of new plates in the January sales (and yes hard to believe my restraint but I only bought two!) so here is my Julien Macdonald white platinum lace plates. What was a surprise is that the way the platinum reflects the surroundings I was convinced these were black and silver; it was quite a surprise to find when I got them home that they weren’t. They are rather lovely though! I seem to have been attracted to quite a few pieces of Julien Macdonald's loveliness, I can only assume he has seen into my oh so sparkly soul and is designing with me in mind. Well I like to think so anyway!

A purple dinner

I’ve been left alone to decorate the table whilst D tends to the incredible roasted shoulder of lamb with smashed veg and greens from Jamie Oliver’s wonderful Jamie at Home book. And to celebrate that we’ve supplemented the purple crockery and platter collection I go slightly purple crazy! The purple hued layered runners are supplemented with the sparkly magenta napkins and purple sparkly napkin rings for the girls and purple not so sparkly with silver stars for the boys. D’s new purple satin handbags and shoe Christmas decorations are removed form the tree and transferred to the table, with the purple shiny ex-Mardi Gras beads, mirrored candles and the metal snowflakes strewn randomly (?) in the gaps in between.

Everyone has got customised cutlery for tonight - D her purple set (of course!), LLcT with iron weapons forged in a volcano fire by Thor, MC with his Christmas Global-esque knife and fork, E(D) with dinky little dusty sized (aka baby’s first) cutlery and me with my ever so elegant new today LLB silverware.

I was determined not to waste the remaining lobster and whipped up the tiniest starters of puff pastry cases stuffed to the brim with creamy lobster and remaining seafood goodies. These I topped with puff pastry initials which I did unfortunately singe a tad. But everything was polished off rather sharpish so I don’t think anyone really minded.

The main event of the evening was the juicy Mr. Knibbs’ lamb, which is slashed, anointed with oil and then slow roasted for four hours on a bed of large sprigs of rosemary and unpeeled garlic cloves. The stunning woolly beast is served with gently sautéed cabbage and potatoes, Swedes and carrots all smashed together. The popular piquant sauce is capers, chicken stock, a large bunch of mint and red vinegar. Jamie is right, the shredded lamb is incredible and melt-in-the mouth and the vegetables aren't too bad either.

A purple-tastic meal indeed!

Sunday purple Sunday

D has been lusting after this purple crockery from M&S for a while, on her first sighting she texted me immediately and declared her deep love for it. Purple would be way too daring for me but is very D. When we visited M&S today they had kindly discounted it so D got her wish and stocked up on the plates and matching purple iridescent chargers. It seems however that MC doesn’t share her love on the new crockery and I guess we’ll have to pile it high with delicious things to convince him that they’re a good thing.

Whilst in M&S we grab a packet of their currently advertised canapés, the mini steak sandwiches and also the much loved tiny coquilles Saint Jacques. We wanted to try the chorizo, scallop and potato nibbles but there has been a run on them so we can’t try them out.

Thus we fill the new amethyst coloured floral plates with tasty food to beguile MC and enjoy another tasty Sunday lunch.

A piece of pizza

It's a bank holiday Monday night and I'm feeling peckish, it's not often I succumb to the allure of motorcycle delivery but I haven't had a pizza for a long time but I am hankering for the best delivery pizza I know. I dig out a Basilico delivery menu from autumn 2005 (clearly I am not that regular an orderer )but fortunately I was able to find their more up to date choices on line. Basilico make the most wonderful pizzas, they have crispy thin bases topped with authentic, fresh toppings cooked expertly in a wood-burning oven.
I order a pizza that isn't on my old menu, a pizza caponata

with garlic,mozzarella, porcini mushroom, artichokes, pancetta, cherry tomatoes and speck. Obviously I lose the cherry tomatoes but as there's no tomato sauce on the base of this one, I don't have to worry. But I also add some smoked chicken and a bit of pesto sauce.

My pizza was worth waiting for, the artichokes had a little lemony tang, the chicken, pancetta and speck were tasty and smoky, the porcini was even woodier after the wood smoke and there was plenty of mozzarella. This was a perfect pizza. Basilico deserve all the plaudits they've received.

I'm not sure that my pizza was enhanced by eating it off singularly the maddest plate ever but it was a little purchase from Habitat and needed to be christened. I broke my rule about non-china picnic plates but this extraordinary melamine one seemed to cry out to join the collection. And I just couldn't say no. Maybe it will be useful to eat off in the event of a power failure - it positively glows!

The return of the duck

To celebrate D & MC's collective birthdays last year I held my surprise duck themed duck-tacular. Okay, maybe it wasn't such a surprise theme as they both seemed to have guessed the pond dwelling water bird motif I'd devised long before they arrived. However I had great fun making hundreds and hundreds of black and white duck shaped table confetti and devising an entirely duck based menu.
After much pondering and poring over cookery books I settled on the following feast:


Duck carpaccio and plum sald
Duck, spring onion and hoisin sauce tart
Duck en croute with asparagus and Jersey Royals
Lemon posset
Chocolate and ginger cheesecake à la duck

Though I must admit that the lemon posset was somewhat duck-free but other than serving it in duck adorned espresso cups, which I rather shockingly don't possess, there was little I could do on that front.

When my thoughts turned to this year's birthday I had to think of something to trump last year. And then I decided, why not continue with the duck theme but this time get a table at The Fat Duck - digger, digger, digger ding, ding, ding, ding!
This time Heston can be in charge of the cooking though I doubt very much if it will be served in duck shaped containers, it's an amusing thought! Instead I think we will experience the sound of the sea on our borrowed iPods, get to finally the sample the much lauded infamous snail porridge and egg and bacon ice cream (nitro-scrambled, if you will!) and get to luxuriate in the sheer decadence that is Heston's tasting menu.
The countdown to the Fat Duck-tacular starts now, the table is booked, D and I have started to devise a suitably stunning outfit for the occasion and MC's wondering if he can get away without anymore new shoes in his life.
I cannot wait!

A bit of a tart!

For tonight's delectation I thought I’d try a Waitrose light puff pastry Somerset Brie and bacon slice – well personally I’d call it a 'tart' but 'slice' if you must. I did add my own little touches though, I topped the tart with even more Brie as I had a little Brie de Meaux left over from my visit to Harvey Nichols the other night. And also from that Spring fête at Harvey Nix, I had some wild garlic kindly given to me by the lovely lady showing off all the delights that is Secrett’s Farm so I sautéed some finely sliced wild garlic to finish off the topping. And this slice or tart with the extra embellishments served alongside some mâche salad was a very fine bite to end a week of struggling with only one functioning elbow. The bacon had a lot of Brie (and wild garlic) to contend with but it managed to weave its smoky magic over the rest of the ingredients, so well done the beechwood smoked bacon.

After a heartfelt conversation in the pub last night about the sanctity of a round white plate, I thought I better select such a round white plate (not pink and certainly not black square) on which to serve my slice come tart. The multi-brothered J was quite adamant that plates had to be round and wouldn’t countenance the thought of a square plate in any circumstance. We discussed the phrase "square meal" but this made him more determined. The debate was provoked by my reply to Roo’s question regarding the availability of square plates, apparently the considered opinion is that I know a little too much about plates of any shape. Okay fair point! Can you imagine a Mastermind with a contestant claiming the specialist subject of Crockery? It would seem rather odd! I could like stranger things though, ummm I could be obsessed with discovering the perfect mashed potato or attempting to coordinate my sling with my shoes (a long story, I guess you had to be there!) – oh I am! Well you know what I mean, hopefully! And I'm standing by my opinion that plates are very important! Though I may add 'important' in the context of showcasing and glorifying food not in a world peace sort of way.

Elbow room

Just in case you were wondering, the difference between a golfer's elbow and tennis elbow is your mobility. With tennis elbow you can't bend your arm comfortably which makes many everyday tasks nigh on impossible. But fortunately golfer's elbow means that the difficult operation is straightening the arm for which I am grateful as I can still work, stab at the keyboard (that's how I normally type), gently cook and even more importantly cut my own food up. And I get to take all manner of drugs!
But I'm not up to whipping up some eggs to make a soufflé at this present time so it was fortunate I had a Seafood Lover's salmon soufflé in my freezer for some such emergencies. But I had to make a small adjustment, I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it out of the rather unfetching gold foil container so I peeled it off and popped the frozen soufflé into a more attractive china ramekin. And yes, you are supposed to cook them from frozen. I accompanied my soufflé with the remaining yellow flowering broccoli and a sautéed potato flower. I had one solitary new potato remaining so this seemed to be a way to eke it out, though I guess calling it a side dish would be a little grandiose, perhaps garnish would be more appropriate.
I forgot to dry the slices though and if I'd prepped them like the potato scales the other day and chilled them after anointing with butter they'd have been firmer and easier to sauté. No matter, they added a little crisp touch to the soufflé. The soufflé itself was pretty tasty, it had pleasing chunks of salmon but the texture could have been a little fluffier, more souffléd if you will, but perhaps the timing was a bit out as I insisted on the ramekin instead of the foil. And as is always the way with a soufflé it looks much puffier and more attractive when I took it out of the oven and than dashed to pop it on plate and takes its picture. Unfortunately it very quickly started to sink so I thought a second deployment of the Gordon plate might add a little gravitas but at least this time I stayed far away from dribbles of balsamic or in fact dribbles of anything.
The Seafood Lover’s salmon soufflé is certainly not a bad freezer standby.
Maybe next time I'll leave it in the foil and see the difference, if any, it makes to the texture.
Or even better, next time I'll have two fully functioning elbows and I'll make my own extremely souffléd soufflé!

What would Gordon do?

I'm not quite sure why I find crockery so alluring; I'd been able to look at Gordon Ramsay's collection for Royal Doulton dispassionately until I ate course after delicious course off it and then I was hypnotised by those ever decreasing circles. I wanted my own for those Michelin starred moments. I thought it would finesse my presentation skills and probably encourage me to get a bit poncy!

I did exercise some restraint though. I settled on one large ‘presentation’ plate, a smaller one and an espresso cup – again. Yes another one, great for someone who refuses to drink coffee. Obviously my burgeoning coffee cup collection have so far remained entirely unadulterated by coffee but have proved most useful for amongst other things lemon posset, chocolate mousse, scallop soup and scrambled egg. But never coffee!

And of course now I have ‘the plate’ I have to consider what would grace it first. I had perfect fillet of lightly smoked salmon, such a lovely flavour and thought I’d try and create some potato scales. This was inspired by a Gordon Ramsay recipe in Passion for Seafood for brill wrapped in strips of potato but as I only had tiny new potatoes, I would have to adapt. I found a scalier recipe in Paul and Jeanne Rankin’s New Irish Cookery so thought I would be slightly closer to the mark. The trick seems to be with both the recipes that whatever the size of the potato strip or disc to dry the potato before applying liberally with melted butter and then popping in the fridge to set the potato jacket. You then carefully pan fry the potato topping (last time I tried this technique I did Gordon’s version using the long potato strips and they were less fiddly especially in the pan). I then placed the fillet in the oven to finish cooking; I was worried about the salmon going beyond the ‘cuisson’ so probably whipped it out a little early for the potato topping to brown sufficiently so I popped it under the grill just to finish off. I sat the salmon fillet astride some yellow flowering broccoli. The plan was to decorate the plate with a few perfect beads of balsamic vinegar which is not a normal flourish for me but somehow the plate just makes you want to do something like that. The concentric circles on the fine porcelain plate really frames the dish so you feel inclined to just add that little “je ne sais quoi”. But in hindsight, the little flourishes should have attempted before plating up as there's no time for those little embellishments when the dish is 'on the pass' and ready to go. Gordon would have been very displeased. So the delicate little circles of balsamic became more creative splodges that clearly would have distressed any possible Michelin star spotter.

Next time, I'll do better! Though it was extremely tasty and the potato scales were a great crispy addition so what's a little balsamic dribble amongst friends?

A pink salad

Well now I have pink plates it seems somewhat rude not to use them and I harked back to a conversation with D as to what would look best on the aforementioned pink plates. I remember we considered salmon, rosy pink Parma ham or red mullet contrasted with some verdant green of cucumber or mâche (lamb's lettuce) and I'm fairly sure we started dreaming up all sort of pink desserts. The thought of an unctuous slice of ever so dark chocolate tart with a little raspberry couli and a few fresh raspberries was mooted also. Though saying that, I think D is worried that if I claim that she was partook in these conversations people may doubt her sanity so to protect the innocent she was only privvy to my rose-tinted random meanderings, I am sure she wouldn't indulge in such bizarre ponderings of her own volition, she's just way too sensible for that!
I can't remember if we (sorry I mean I) considered rare steak but when I thought I'd eke out a little steak fillet by making a very rare beef and mâche salad garnished with some of the finest pesto and shavings of Parmesan and drizzled with the increasingly unfashionable Balsamic vinegar, I thought it might be finished off nicely by serving it on a pink plate.

And I'm not sure whether it improved the flavour but this was a very tasty and effortless salad and gave me a rosy glow so I think, power to the pink!

Update: M wants it to be known that she feels only desserts could possibly work on a pink plate, and everything else is just wrong! I just think she's jealous of my pink plates and I bet next time she hanging around the crockery department in M&S (well, we like to keep the fetish in the family!) she will be checking them out!

The blog must go on...

So what do you do when you return from the airport somewhat travel careworn and jet-lagged? Do you unpack and start the washing machine? Do you catch up on all your emails and then catch up on sleep? Or do you realise that the latest blog party hosted by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness actually ends today so if you want to take part you better shimmy and whip up some shower-inspired canapés? Stephanie had pre-warned the last month’s attendees that the latest theme was either a baby or bridal shower but hadn’t said when the party was being held. And unfortunately for me she announced it whilst I was away from access to the internet and it snuck up on me. As I would never want to deny Stephanie a chance to check out further additions to my burgeoning crockery collection I thought I better get my act together. For a very unusual departure from my strictly monochromatic teetering piles of crockery/tableware I decided that a little pink would bring some colour into my life. And just so suitable for a shower!

Thinking about the concept of a bridal or baby shower I was thinking that this would be a girlie event and hence I could think pink! I think I’d probably want to cook for a bridal shower as a baby shower definitely requires bump friendly food and in my virtual bridal shower party, all the girls happily consume seafood and rare meat – luckily!

As I only had a short time to prepare and had to use what fortunately came in the Ocado delivery today or what paltry remains I had in the fridge, I had to be creative. So hence here are my hastily created rose tinted nibbles to soothe a jetlagged soul.

Firstly, in pink eggcups bought for the occasion, I thought a very creamy gloriously golden (courtesy of those busy little Old Cotswold Legbar chickens) scrambled egg would be a tasty little appetiser. Then a selection of further warm canapés, fluffy little new potatoes topped with slices of very rare beef fillet, vibrant pesto and Parmesan and then traditional blinis but topped with a pesto cream and thick cut tsar salmon fillet.
For a finale I didn’t have time to make my own chocolate extravaganza but I thought a cheeky little Gü pot au chocolate decanted into a little pink espresso cup topped with some raspberries would go down extremely well. For drinks for all the bump-free girls I would serve a Kir Imperial, my ever so favourite Champagne and Chambord cocktail but lacking Champagne I opted for a more bump–friendly elderflower cordial with a plump raspberry and just to continue the self imposed pink theme – served it in a pink glass. Cheers everyone! Hopefully some suitably blush-coloured titbits to toast the blushing bride to be! And now, maybe that sleep!

I will be blogging some of that stupendous food I've enjoyed recently both here and there but... sleep first!

a French Sunday lunch

D and I felt that our shopping excursion had been cruelly cut short yesterday, though clearly MC and LLcT had the slightly opposing view that we'd been kidnapped! So we plan another excursion but as MC felt particularly abandoned yesterday we figured that we should attempt to lure him into joining us, the carrot being lunch somewhere. Our motives were clear; we enjoy his company, value his opinion and admire his abilities as a bag carrier! I think he thought we solely required him a dining companion and wasn't very happy that shops had to be visited first.

Rather scarily one of my first thoughts of the day was imagining the ideal dishes to serve on those pink M&S plates! Obsessed? Me? Hmmm, possibly!

So to ensure that my bizarre imagining didn't keep me awake at night, we revisited M&S so I could add a few choice pink pieces to the extensive crockery collection. And after a few more purchases we headed off for Chez Gérard which was pleasantly quiet this Sunday.

Strictly for research purposes (or at least that's what D told our waitress) we ordered a tarte flambé to split between the three of us for a starter. We wanted to see how it compared to the flamiche we made the other night. Though on further consideration I think my belief that tarte flambé and flamiche are one of the same is misconceived I think the French name is tarte flambé and the Alsatian name is actually Flammekueche. Flamiche is a leek and cream tart often served in a very similar way to a tarte flambé or even a quiche but also served as a double-crust pie as in Simon Hopkinson’s wonderful recipe that we reproduced. And it's very tasty but we all agree that if we'd had our own individual flaming tart they'd be no room for steak, frites and quelle horreur no room for any chocolate unctuousness! It was a good tart, the bacon was smoky and the spring onion had a nice bite but I am glad I didn't have to try and finish a whole one.

So after our third of a tart we have some of their damn fine rare steak and frites, I had rump and D had some ever so French onglet and we both had some yummy béarnaise to dip our hot skinny frites into. As well as great bread, Chez Gerard do a very fine steak and frites and we just had enough room to squeeze in desserts.

There was chocolate tart with a raspberry drizzle for me, lemon tart with a raspberry drizzle for MC (they seem to like their drizzles!) and mango sorbet for the chocolate dodging D. The tarts were a good size, not to big, well my chocolate one was the perfect size for one, if I had to share it with D, I may have felt deprived and the raspberry was wonderful to cut through the rich chocolate - definitely a perfect match!

Not a bad Sunday lunch at all - and no washing up, result!

update: Okay, I am sorry I had thought we'd all consumed one of Chez Gérard's fine juicy steaks but my memory was clouded by béarnaise and I should have said that MC has a big hunk of lamb instead and he wasn't just there for his qualities as a Sherpa - well, not really!

Fares of the heart

It all started initially because I was due to take some clients out for lunch today. And when I booked it a few weeks ago, I was surprised that when I got the confirmation back it mentioned a special set menu that was more expensive than usual. And then it hit me, we were entering a restaurant on 'that' day and would possibly be surrounded by couples holding hands and toying with heart-shaped chocolate confections speared with caramel arrows or encouraging each other to taste something off their proffered spoon. Hmmm, maybe not ideal choice of day for a client lunch!

I checked with the restaurant and they assured me that they definitely wouldn't foist any heart-shaped food on us and we didn't have to eat the Valentine's menu anyway, which was pleasing. As it turned out sickness meant the lunch ended up being cancelled (or postponed until next week). So in some strange sort of homage to an anti-Valentine's meal (especially after my anti-heart shaped stance with the restaurant) I decided that tonight it would all be about ‘the heart’!

I got out my delicious heart-shaped YSL plates and started pondering the menu. As shapes go I've always found hearts to be particularly pleasing. Someone who I used to know had a total abhorrence of heart-shaped things, especially these lovely elegant YSL plates. So, naturally, to be contrary I liked to slip in the odd heart motif and then see if it would be spotted by his heart-dar. He would be seriously unhappy with this meal!

For starters, there's a little hearty meat pie. I've had heart shaped biscuit cutters for ages but I've never used them to make a pie. I think it came out rather well, albeit somewhat dinky. I was going to serve it with some little new potatoes and shredded buttered cabbage but they both looked rather passed their best so I made this rather minimalist starter instead.

Next I made three heart shaped rösti, though you can't really tell their shape because of the rosy curls of smoked salmon perched on top of each of them. I finished this by poaching my final egg. I didn't really try to make this heart shaped. I thought in deference to the photographic mode du jour I should display my salmon and rösti astride a folded tea towel. Actually I'm not sure it works maybe the delicate lines of the china is not really enhanced by the casual rusticity of a tea towel, I should have used the fine Irish linen instead!

And then I thought , 'what shall I do about the dessert?' Well ‘plan a’ was a little heart-shaped mousse but out of my three remaining eggs, two were cracked and one I poached to accompany the rösti. As I don't know how long they've been cracked and a mousse consisting of pretty much raw eggs, I decided to forgo that chocolaty treat in favour of something else. But there wasn't really anything else. All I really had was these heart-shaped caramel chocolates that I was given when I made a purchase the other day. Thus they formed a very minimalist 'dessert' to round off my hearty meal.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Eating France at home

I'd been planning to whip up some plump pillows of fresh ravioli to show how it should be done but the pasta trauma of New Year's Day has affected MC and he can't be persuaded to partake in such pasta-y comestibles. I've been consulting recipes for crab or lobster ravioli and trying to come up with something special. But with MC's reticence and being inspired by the whole French thing today it somehow doesn't seem right to make pasta. And to be honest, hanging around a food show all day is mighty tiring so it makes sense to conjure up something simple... And French! A quick pop to Waitrose on the way back from Olympia clinched the deal, we grabbed a couple of Bigham's Breton chickens, a Waitrose French onion soup, a part baked garlic baguette, gratin dauphinois (working on the theory that you can never have too much gratin Dauphinois!), a bag of frozen petit pois, some little gems and a Waitrose tarte au citron.

I located the atmospheric French music CD, the French white fluted plates, the bee glasses and bee linen - all very francais! I even graced the table with the Villeroy and Boch ever so classic candelabra. Okay, not very bistro but très elegante all the same! I suppose I could have grabbed the red and white chequered tablecloth from the picnic hamper, melted a few candles in some leftover wine bottles and really gone retro bistro but if Pont de la Tour can do bistro food served with all the elegance of fine dining, then so can I.

I had envisaged serving a rich little soup in the new (and terribly French) La petite black dress espresso cups (despite them being shockingly Franglais in their names!) with a Parmesan lid. But when I decided to serve French onion soup it really could only be with a melting cheese French bread croute. I wasn’t really sure how that would work with such a small cup so I abandoned the cups in favour of small (over proof) bowls as I wanted to flash them under the grill. We also had some spare garlic bread, so that was served on the side. How lovely do my bee linen napkins look?

This was followed by the Breton Chicken which is one of Bigham’s Kitchen Classics range. This was just basically chicken breast pieces, chopped leeks and bacon which are sautéed and then a tasty chive mornay sauce is poured over the cooked chicken and leeks. This would be an easy dish to put together but the boon of having everything prepped and chopped when I’m time pressured was very useful. The box even suggests a couple of serving options including rather interestingly serving the mixture in a pastry case with French beans. This was accompanied by a creamy oven baked gratin Dauphinois. I had intended to serve Petit Pois à la Française but wanted a recipe that used frozen petit pois and the first that I fell upon was the Crafty French Cook Michael Barry but he does his version without water or stock and rather a lot of cream. I realised whilst I was cooking this that the creamy gratin, the unctuous mornay sauce and the additional cream in the peas could possible push us all to cream overload, so I just quickly substituted stock instead. Next time I think I’ll use the queen of frozen peas Nigella’s recipe. It’s available in both How to Eat and Feast.

Petit Pois à la Française

Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

3 small or 2 fat scallions, finely sliced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 drop garlic-infused oil (or any oil really)
1 Little Gem (Butterhead) lettuce, shredded
2 cups frozen petits pois
1/2 cup hot chicken stock (concentrate or cube and hot water is fine)

- Cook the scallions in the butter and oil until soft.
- Stir in the shredded lettuce, and when it is wilted add the frozen peas and stock.
- Cook at a robust simmer, uncovered, until everything is tender and the liquid flavourful and reduced.

D persuaded me that a cheese course might be a ‘little much’ with all the other food so we finished with just a slice of Waitrose tarte au citron which again I couldn’t work out how to serve in an espresso cup so a spotty plate it was, possible highlighting that the black and white themed blogging party only tipped the iceberg of my extensive monochromatic crockery collection!

Vive la France!