A birthday feast

The annual birthday feast for M and his family took place yesterday.  

We ate smoked trout souffles and salad,  lamb stuffed with fruit, rice and spices, pommes dauphinoise, carrots, peas, ratatouille, and that nice fractal vegetable, whose name I have forgotten.



This one!

Then we had one pudding - I made the executive decision to just do one, it was some fantastic hazelnut and cinnamon merginues with home made ice cream and chocolate sauce.

There was mild consternation when Tom and Mark went to help themselves to second helpings, saw the chocolate sauce and thought it was gravy and poured it over their veg.   I don't think I would ever make such thick dark gravy under any circumstances.   There was still plenty left over for the pudding.

Christmas Food

Christmas food is taking up a lot of time at present.  Our Christmas is spectacularly difficult, because we have Mark's birthday as well - and that requires a separate feast to cope with.  And this year I am going in to hospital on 23rd for the day - so I need to be especially organised as I will not be allowed to cook for 48 hours.

It is tradition for my family to eat cold ham and turkey on Christmas Day for breakfast, but I think that will have to be changed this year.  We then have turkey and everything else, followed by Christmas pudding and an alternative pudding for the boys.   Last year I didn't make a Christmas pudding as it was just us, we had homemade sticky toffee pudding instead, which was very good.   This year we will have Christmas pudding and chocolate roulade (chocolate log) for the boys. 

There are two types of stuffing: sausage and chestnut - which is frozen and ready in advance, and "the other one" - which depends on what I feel like - sometimes I make a rice/fruit/nut and spice one, sometimes it's a lemony one, sometimes it's just veggies - this is meant to keep the turkey moist.   We usually have potatoes, sprouts, carrots, peas, parsnips and red cabbage.  And bread sauce and cranberry sauce, and sausages and bacon rolls.  So far, so traditional.

On Boxing Day my youngest brother and sister-in-law are coming.  This year I think we'll have the ham hot, with pommes dauphinoise, more red cabbage and salads.   Followed by: tiramisu or trifle, more chocolate log, cheese...

I was very shocked yesterday when I went shopping - we seemed to have spent more on food than anything else, yet I bought few obviously extravagant items - however, I have got just about everything except the turkey, and of course we'll need more fruit and veg.   I didn't see any lychees.  I love lychees and feel deprived without them, no one else does.

How it went

Today’s Book Group lunch was really nice – although I have learned some lessons.  The first is, the new gravadlax recipe I used isn’t as good as the old one (which I think involved brandy or vodka as part of the cure).  Also, I think using gros sel de Guerande was a mistake – it’s just too gros and didn’t dissolve (should have used more dill too – but that’s Ocado’s fault).

The caraway seeds in the bread were good.   The lamb was good, but I seem to have got into the habit of not putting enough salt into things.  So needed salt.  Veg fine, the veggie alternative seemed OK – plenty of it left – so that’s supper sorted out!

Puddings; liked the orange brulee very much – but should have put a lot more icing sugar on the top and had more of a crust.  Chocolate cake good – but I think it would have been better if I’d put marsala in it – don’t think the coffee liqueur idea is that great – as I didn’t have any I used a mix of instant coffee, brandy and arack (a flavourless liquor from Sri Lanka which I have had a bottle of for years.  My in-laws gave it to me and I never drink it, just use it where I need a bit of booze.  The cake was meant to be a tiramisu thing, but I’ m sure marsala would be more appropriate.

Now I have to plan mark’s birthday feast for my in-laws – when asked what he wants, he usually says “Steak and kidney pudding and brown bread ice cream.”  This is a fine meal, but we can’t do it every year.... also, I am keen to find a better ice cream recipe.

One of the great mysteries about recipes is how more ingredients don’t necessarily improve the dish – but I think the BB ice cream needs something more – bread crumbs, sugar and cream are good – I think rum may have been mentioned as a remarkably versatile flavour enhancer for sweet things.  In Italy they sell a wonderful thing called rhum alla fantasia – they sell it in 75 cl bottles, but it’s actually just rum flavouring, not alcoholic at all.

The Book Group Lunch

To,orrow is the book group annual Christ#as lunch - which I host every year.  It has a si#ilar for#at each years - a starter, a #ain course with several vegetables, a vegetarian alternative and 2-3 puddings.

Usually the #ain course is the least interesting part of the #eal, although the Sal#on en croute with crea# and herb sauce is very popular.  I have done this every year since 2004 I think.  It's always easy to find lots of starters and puddings, but #ain courses are difficult so#ehow - there was a very good ga#e pie a couple of years ago, I have done venison in the past, a stuffed pork was quite nice, but I rather fear that the dish I will be cooking to#orrow is one I have done before - Agnello al agrodolce - I do it because it is reliably delicious and what #ore can one ask for - unless of course one is one of the people who finds la#b indigestible because of the fat - this is usual because your bile ducts are under-producing!   Anyway, there is a veggie alternative, leek and fennel tart (i.e. a quiche).   #ashed potatoes, green beans and squash cooked with cina#on and chilies.   The puddings are both new this year - a chocolate cake with a sort of tira#isu topping - and an orange tarte with a brulee topping.     But the thing I a# looking forward to #ost is the gravadlax - this is one of #y favourite things - it is so delicious.  I've #ade so#e bread with caraway seeds in to eat with it, and the fa#ous sauce. 

Tonight I have the tart - but not the brulee topping, the la#b, the sal#on, and the cake ready - but a lot of asse#bly work, and tidying up to#orrow #orning!

A joke about Chocolate Mousse

"My wife made chocolate mousse for dessert last week - I nearly choked on an antler!"

I thank you!

Chocolate mousse

I made this yesterday.  I think I may have mis-remembered the recipe - which I saw in something over the weekend.   It was delicious - but so thick...

250g dark chocolate, 40g butter, 4 eggs, a tbsp rum, 2 tbsps sugar.
Melt chocolate and butter, without stirring them - separate eggs, beat whites until stiff, beat sugar and rum with egg yolks - add melted chocolate to the yolks, then fold in whites.

This makes enough for 6 ramekins... but it was so thick that I'm not sure I'd make it again - the texture was more like a ganache or truffle.  It needed quite a lot of whipped cream to "dilute" it - so I think I'd try to make it with 6 eggs next time - or less chocolate.  Or maybe it should be used as the basis for truffles?


I also made pasta e fagioli again - this one was really nice.  I used borlotti beans - soaked over night and cooked them.   I then fried bacon, onions, celery and carrot - quite a lot of bacon - 100-150g - more than they tell you.  When it was soft, added the cooked beans and their liqud plus chopped parsley stalks and more water and a stock cube.   Cooked slowly for about 40 mins - left it to stand - then brought back to the boil and added lots of pasta (fusilli al radiatore seemed good) - also a bit more water.     Salt and pepper, but no other herbs etc.

It was very good - served with parmigiano - but actually the bacon was enough of a flavouring.  I think they wouldn't use smoked bacon in Italy - but I think that was what gave it such a good flavour.  Last time I made it I think I added some tomato puree or passata - didn't bother this time.  Really proper solid flavour, not at all thin.  Must do it again - only Ned doesn't "do beans".

Quince Cheese

I finally got around to making quince cheese.  It was a great delight to have about a dozen decent quinces this year - I made an initial batch of jelly with about 3 large ones - and it was regrettable to throw away all that wonderful quince material, but I did.   With the second batch of quinces I made about 9 small pots of jelly (it goes to nothing) and then used the quince pulp to make quince cheese.  To do this, you take the pulp - pips, skin and all and the recipes say to put it through a fine sieve - well, if you have all the time in the world, but I used my mouli-legumes and although it doesn't sieve that fine, it got rid of the worst of the lumps.  The resulting mash is boiled up with equal amounts of sugar until thick.   Of course the definition of what "thick" means is a dark art.   After about an hour of slow cooking the mixture was thick and bubbling like a sort of terracotta coloured polenta - large volcanic bubble burst into the air above the saucepan, scalding you as you stirred.   Ned came into the kitchen and looked at the bubbling pot with horror.   I stirred sporadically, it wasn't sticking, but it was thick. 

I poured it into plastic takeaway trays - so it can be turned out in a nice rectangle when needed.  When it cooled it could be cut into slices, but they are rather soft slices and don't completely hold their shape - so I think rather than cook until "thick" the instruction should be cook until the spoon meets resistance.   This would give a tougher, more membrillo like product.    Membrillo is more jellly like - perhaps they cook the entire quince jelly and all into membrillo.  Should have had a look for a recipe.  And now I wish I'd made apple cheese too.   However, the quince cheese is very nice and good with cheese and cold meat etc.   It does have a rather grainy texture like the fruit itself, but I am delighted with it, and hope it will make a good Christmas present.

Serving suggestions:  Apple cheese used to be served as part of a desert course - something I really like in winter - and it was studded with hazelnuts and covered with whipped cream.  I am sure something similar could be done with quince cheese - but I think walnuts might be nicer - very good combination with blue cheese.  I suppose one could use the q.c. to add to casseroles (good with pheasant or g.fowl or poultry generally).  

Cooking Again: Steak & Kidney, Quinces

Despite the really nice weather, I have begun thinking about winter food - and last night I cooked the first steak and kidney pudding of the season.  It wasn't a great success with the boys - but Mark and I enjoyed it.  It was a very basic one, beginning with frying an onion till soft, removing it, then coating the beef and the kidney in flour, seasoned with salt, pepper, mustard powder and cayenne pepper.  This was browned and removed, then returned to the pan. I added a tin of bitter, a little worcester sauce, another chopped onion, and the original cooked onion.   For the boys' sake I didn't add mushrooms.   Then it cooked for about 90 mins.   I used the rest of the seasoned flour to make the suet crust pastry with.  It was simple, using few fewer ingredients than one would expect from some of the magazine recipies and really delicious.  We ate it with  potatoes, cabbage and carrots.


Today I noticed that some of the quinces in the garden had split, so I decided to pick them and do something with them.   As they are damaged I'll probably use them to make jelly, but I found this recipe below on another blog and am going to keep it here to remind me of something else I could do with quinces (which, predictibly, the boys don't like)

QUINCE/APPLES WITH ROSEMARY AND PINE NUT TOPPING WITH QUINCE/APPLE, RUM AND LIME SAUCE
4 servings

3 small quinces or 3 large cooking or baking apples
1 tblsp chopped rosemary
4-5 tblsp pine nuts
3 + 2-3 tblsp acacia honey
2-4 tblsp rum
The juice of 1 lime
200-400 ml / 0.85-1.7 cups water (it depends on how long it takes to cook the sauce)

Chop the rosemary and pine nuts finely, mix with the honey and leave it to stand.

Peel 1 quince/apple and chop it finely. Put it in a bowl with the lime juice, rum and 2-3 tblsp of honey (it depends on how sweet the quince/apple is). Leave it for a while.
Peel the quinces/apples. Divide them in two lengthwise and remove the core.
Make a sauce by heating the chopped quince/apple mix with small amount of wate until it becomes soft and syrupy. Simmer the quince halves in a separate pan until soft, turn over, add more water if needed.
Fill the centres of the quince/apple halves with the rosemary and pine nut mix, let it cover as much as possible.
Put sauce into an oven-proof tin, and put the quince halves on top.  Put under the grill or in v. hot oven for a few minutes until golden.

Sounds nice.  Good for a dinner party  or something - if I had enough quinces (this is only their second year) and I still have about 14 on the tree (I removed 5 grotty ones).   They are huge - those five weighed a kilo.   They will have to be jelly I think.

Not cooking

I am just not in the mood.  I am uninspired, and I couldn't care less about food.  Last night I went out to the Belgian Bar (belgiancafe.com) in Ramsgate and had some nice fish - Mark had moules frites, and the chips last night were the best chips I have had for a long time... what do they fry them in?  Could it have been arachide?  They had a really different flavour and fantastic texture - more like thrice-cooked chips. 

So much for dieting.   We went out because it seemed like the last chance to sit out on a summer night and eat a meal (I'm not sure if we've done that at all this summer, apart from in our garden).

I am hoping to return to form shortly, as I am planning to have dinner parties again - private ones, as opposed to Food Odyssey ones - although I would gladly have a Food Odyssey party, if there was a demand.   Perhaps in October...

Bed and Breakfast

In April, I think, I joined a website called Bed'n'Fed, where one offers supper, bed and breakfast to visitors - for a fee.   I was getting rather pissed off with it, until the weekend, when, in the midst of the festival I got an email from Germany - asking for a room - for a couple with 2 small children.   I thought we'd risk it. 

I wasn't sure what to cook - but they suggested Italian - and said their children loved pasta - so I made pasta and meatballs.  I also made caponata with olive bread as a sort of starter.   I made very simple vanilla ice cream and chopped up strawberries and nectarines to add to it.  I also made some banana bread for tea.

I think I must stop doing bucatini - they are much fatter than spag. and harder to eat,.  Also they seem to lose heat more quickly, so not ideal.

Let's hope we get some good feedback and attract some more people - Markus and Anya were perfect quests, the appreciated the "charm" of the house - and thought the garden was "typically English" so they were really pleased - and so were we.

A mini-gig

I have a very hospitable friend - who likes to have people around to eat, and occasionally he gives me money to cook for him - just the starters, the "nibbles".   Tragically I seem incapable of providing 3 mouthfuls to have with a drink and always over-supply. 

He asked for canapes for 16 - so this is what I made:

Gem lettuce leaves filled with dressed crab and brown shrimps with a little mayo,
Endive leaves filled with cream cheese, blue cheese and walnuts
Cucumber slices topped with cream cheese and dill and some brown shrimps on top
The very popular sausage and chutney things
Lamb meat balls with raisins and pinenuts

When I got home from the shops he texted "there are only 12 people coming now".  "Too late" I said, "I've bought the ingredients."

To further confuse the issue, more people failed to turn up on time, thinking it was a turn up any time and drink do.... eventually, when they arrived, the host did not press them to eat the food, but ticked them off instead... so when we left quite a lot of it was intact...

The great thing about all those canapes is that they are low carb - and very very delicious - the sad thing is, they won't keep - although he can freeze the meatballs and the sausage things if he has any sense.   When I did the sums I found that I'd spent all but £1,24 of my "fee" thus working for 41p/hour.... but he is a friend, so it's a bit different.  I just wish there had been more people to enjoy then,  still one of the late comers made a good assault on the cucumber cream cheese and prawn things - so not all wasted.

The very good news is, my friend has met a hunter who has a lot of game available - so I am looking forward to making this contact and perhaps trying a lot of new game based dishes.   So, potential customers, any one for roast boar?  Venison meat balls with cumberland sauce?  Game pie? etc. etc.

The Great British Pub?

Having left Thanet for a couple of days, I was hoping to eat out a bit - just in pubs, but to experience some new and different food.

Mark my husband is entirely sceptical of the famous British Food Rennaissance "Remember Shropshire" he says.

His new word is going to be "Watchet" - see below.

We headed for South Molton in Devon to see his uncle Jeffrey.  En route turned off the dual carriageway and meandered down some lanes and couldn't find a settlement.  We turned back to the dual carriageway took a wrong turning, turned back and saw a board advertising a pub.

When we found the pub, The Stag, it was delightful, thatched, cob construction dating to 1197 huge fireplace, flagged floor, local beer and cider and a Ramsay-trained chef.  Landed on our feet or what?

In fact the Ramsay-trained chef was not there, there was nothing especially remarkable on the menu - usual ham eggs and chips (locally sourced eggs - but frankly, does it make that much difference as long as they are fresh?), beef burger, sausage and mash (good burger, good sausages - although unappealing presentation).   There were a few specials, but the laminated bar menu offered mussels - which were "off".  So I had the fishcakes with chili dressing, which were perfectly nice and came with chips and an undressed salad.   The chips were just frozen chips.  The pub is written up in one of those Alastair Sawday pub guides.  They praise the Farrow and Ball paint.  Of course ambience is important, but you can't eat the decor scheme.

So in short, a perfectly nice meal, with drinks and crisp it was just under £50 for 4 of us.  What I couldn't understand was why it was thought to be so great.... I think Watchet provided the answer.

I suppose the Stag would count as a gastro-pub.... in a small way.   I am arguing that competently cooked standard pub food is what you should expect everywhere and that it should be no big deal.

On the way back we took a detour across Exmoor - the other side of Exmoor is the coast which we hit at a place called Blue Anchor Bay - it was a vast caravan park - with a large pub called "The Blue Anchor" - we passed by - we know something about pubs near caravan parks - there are some around Thanet.   We hoped that the next town, Watchet would be good - it was a seaside town, nice fish surely?

Watchet, despite the brightly coloured banners provided by the local council, was a place of such poverty and greyness, with an ugly harbour set in the reddish, turbid sea, that I immediately realised we should not eat here - unless we were very lucky. 

There was a large grim hotel - with a completely microwaved menu - of what we call "ding" food.  No - there was a pub opposite the harbour - with an almost identical menu - the giveaway is "breaded whitebait".  Fresh whitebait isn't breaded, that's a crust designed to protect the tiny fish in their frozen state.   It looked grim, and opposite was another pub, called The London Inn - there was a notice about fresh crab in the window (but it didn't appear on the dinner menu) - and it promised a view of the harbour .

The landlord was about as welcoming as a traffic warden - the pub had been redecorated rather imaginatively.  The menu was 100% ding - Ned had scampi, Finn had curry, Mark had Sea Bass fish cakes and I had "fish medley" which enabled me to try 4 different types of flabby breaded and battered fish - the cod was quite nice, the salmon I recognised by its colour and dryness and the other two were unguessable.  There was a basket of sauces, which included the worst tomato sauce I've had, no mayo, some tartare type sauce and some salad cream.  The boys said their coke had been watered. 

The restaurant was a high ceilinged double bay windowed room.  Unless you sat in the bay window you did not see the harbour - and when we managed to move, we had a great view of local youth eating chips on the jetty.  And a distant prospect of Port Talbot.   The room was painted salmon pink - it was a nice room architecturally.

The ding ingredients were bad, my fish came with satisfactory peas, adequate chips and a spoonful of undressed mixed salad.  The meal with drinks was £43.  I didn't enjoy it, it just made me feel sad.  I felt full - but not in a good way.  I yearned for proper vegetables and fresh fish and properly dressed salad.

But people who are staying in campsites and caravans need a nice tasty hot meal at the end of the day - and that is presumably what is being provided.  The place was full - and people were remarking "Oh - that looks nice!" about the menu. 

We had a discussion about it on the way home.  Finn was very annoyed that I was complaining about the food - why didn't I do it publicly?  I said I didn't want to upset the people around who were presumably enjoying it.  I said it was possible that a lot of people would enjoy that food (although I wondered about the Belgians behind us drinking red wine and having lamb shank with gloopy sauce).  He didn't understand why I was upset.   I said it was because if you wanted to take people's hard earned money from them they deserved to have something good in exchange.   If you couldn't cook - didn't have a chef, you should buy really good ham, cheese and bread and sell ploughman's lunches and sandwiches and give people something decent and delicious.   I also said that it was infuriating that a seaside town right next to a harbour that appeared to operate fishing boats didn't have any fresh fish on the menu. 

I immediately engaged in a fantasy about turning Watchet into the new Etaples - opening up a weekly Friday/Saturday fish market - and running a pub which would serve that fish, allow people to buy their own fish and cook it for them - and encourage art events connected with fish and fishing to attract visitors.

I thought about what I would do if I owned the London Inn - I would redecorate, I would run a short menu - 3 or 4 starters, more main courses to accommodate all tastes, some really decent home made ice cream, or buy it from a local producer, two or 3 really good pudds.   There would be one adventurous selection every day.   In the winter it would only really operate food at the weekends, but there would always be a travellers' meal - potluck - something like a really nice chicken pie, fish pie, a veggie pasta bake, or a ploughman's.

Sample menu?


Starters: Tomato and pepper soup, prawn cocktail with local prawns (if any), fresh whitebait, a plate of smoked fish and salad/pickle, something involving local cheese (twice baked souffle)

Main: Cod and chips, slab of whatever local fish was available, cooked meuniere or some other simple way, slab of more exotic fish (e.g. monkfish/octopus/squid), a meat pie, home made pork pie and salad, burger/sausage, a meat stew, a veg dish, e.g. veg couscous. - and of course ploughman's lunches. 

Puddings: ice cream, eton mess, tarte tatin, chocolate fontant etc. fruit tarts, steamed pudds in winter,

No - it's not earth shattering - but it would give local people somewhere different to go - it would attract people from beyond the immediate area, and get into the guidebooks.  It would provide something delicious and local and there would be lots of vegetables and salads, and no packets of sauce, just pots of tomato sauce, mayo and mustard.   :Well kept beer, a short and decently priced wine list.  It isn't rocket science, but the problem is....

Are people so used to ding food that they think this is better and more "tasty" than the fresh, unbreadcrumbed thing - will food that isn't orange appeal as much?  This area is very sparsely populated and not very wealthy -  would there be enough people to enjoy it in the winter at the weekends?  I would absolutely hate to live in Watchet - but part of me would so love to take that pub by the scruff of the neck and have a go at it.   But I doubt whether I have the energy to carry out such an experiment - or the money.

The Ark, Notting Hill Gate

Eating out used to be one of my great delights.   I am sure I could diet very successfully if I ate out everyday - one can't sneak extra portions and snack - I always used to lose weight on holiday.

Yesterday in London we went to the Ark in Kensington Palace Terrace in Notting Hill Gate.

When I was a smallish child in the 1960s we used to walk past the Ark on our way to school, it was a small restaurant, with a rather temporary air, it had (I think) smoked glass windows, and a menu, handwritten, in the window.   I always liked the look of it and wanted to eat there.   We never ate out, except in Chinese restaurants - my parents went to Indian restaurants occasionally, and out with friends.   As children we began to eat out occasionally when we moved out of London - family treat meals at Berni Inns.  

Perhaps the Ark, with its mysterious menu and slightly closed off look then, began my intrigue with restaurants.  I don't think I particularly yearned for the food on offer then - stuff like avocados and prawns, pasta dishes, pates, soups - fairly standard 60's bistro stuff.

When I came back to London as a student - I found it mentioned in a book of cheap places to eat in London.  I can't remember when I first went there - probably about 1977-8.   At this time it was a very bohemian place, benches with cushions on them, wobbly tables, close proximity to the neighbours - very little space in the long galley like restaurant.  The food was a sort of Elizabeth David-y mix, still had advocadoes, and all the usual sort of main course, porc au pruneaux, and a selection of bistro puddings, mousse au chocolat and lemon sorbet, the food was basically comforting, but very well done, usually with a little extra twist of some kind.  I went there often, usually with Sue and Peter and Mike - all those friends I had through James, and later we went there with Anna and Robin - who are still my friends now.   It was our basic restaurant, the way Andrew Edmunds became in the 80s and 90s. 

I really liked the food there - so when I had the thought of going there yesterday, I was actually rather disappointed to discover it had become an Italian restaurant.  I know Italian food is fashionable - but there is plenty of it about - it didn't seem to be ethnically Italian - more a sort of Italian new cuisine - exquisitely thin slices of swordfish topped with a salad of marinaded fennel and capers - it was nice, but the bread that accompanied it was not in its first youth.... and the focaccia was not as good as mine (when is it?).

It was nice - although the grilled aubergine that accompanied the main course was undercooked - I was happy to eat there, but like so much in life it was not the restaurant I had once enjoyed.   There was a nice outside area - which was pleasant - and the interior had been done over, a sort of reddish purplish black feel - with huge mirrors at either end of the galley room.   Yes, it did make it look larger.  But I felt much sorrow for the restaurante experience I had had there in the past.

If I had stumbled upon it for the first time I would have been delighted, but as it was.... I wanted to go back to the Ark that I knew, and I can't.

First Barbecue of Summer

Yes - it has taken this long to have a barbecue.   We were celebrating the departure of our muslim student with a feast of pork - we have not touched it for 7 weeks!   So as Ahmed returned to the UAE for Ramadan, we marinated pork.

I learned something interesting about how to barbecue - if cooking pork ribs, boil them for 45 minutes first, then marinade.   I was shocked - but it made them much more tender than hours of marinading and grilling... I did the usual sort of marinade - tomato, soy sauce, ginger, sugar, lime juice.  Could have done with more sugar, also had some sausages, peppers and mushrooms - all very satisfactory.   And a couple of pittas, some salad and lots of candles - since by the time we got around to it it was nearly dark.  A few R&B songs in the background - really very pleasant.

My only complaint is that the heat generated cooked everything very quickly, but would have cooked a great deal more - just that we didn't need to cook more.  Somehow it was a lot more relaxed than barbecues sometimes are.   Or maybe I'm just getting better at them - like meringues, they are something I approach with a certain amount of trepidation, although the results are usually better than fine.

My First Gig!

Well - I've done it - canapes for 100 - and virtually every scrap eaten, but at the same time a goodly supply that lasted until 9.00, the official closing time: a few people who turned up afterwards were hanging around the preparation area looking hopeful.... all that was left were a few scraps of foccacia.   Fortunately the Stylish Ice Cream compay were there with really nice ice cream - from their Dreamland Fridge!  They are coming to the Squall in the Park - so that's great.

The Pie Factory Gallery has been cleaned up and painted - and I think the floor has been sorted out.  It's nice because there are a lot of distressed exposed bits - not too showy, just there.   There will be a cafe eventually - perhaps Janet might give me a contract to provide some of the food?

One of my canape ambitions is to present a plate that isn't just full of "brown food" - to show a variety of colours.  But people love brown food - anything with pastry was scoffed rapidly - the foccacia with tomato went quite well, but the nice "healthy" cucumber slices with cream cheese mixed with herbs (dill and chives) or with smoked salmon were somewhat neglected.

What have I learned from this?

Um - Ned is a good waiter - and able to explain the food -
The glazed chicken was popular and well worth doing; the lemon tapenade is really popular - and veggie!
Just about enough in the way of veggie options (4 - the foccacias, the cucumber and cream cheese, the spinach and feta pastries).    Um - yes, need to practice my pipeing skills - do not use the fine star with mixtures that have lumps in - the dill in the cream cheese blocked it up.  Creating some interestingly unprofessional lumps of cheese.   Probably no one cared - but I'd rather things were a bit more perfect.  Needed more trays/plates etc.  More salt in the fish fingers?

Next time I'll do the smoked salmon mix on something farinaceous, and do a prawn thing on the cucumber?

Given the right preparation area I could do a lot of last minute things - if I have waiting staff to walk trays around while I'm doing it.  Given a stove a few small hot things would be possible.  A bit of privacy would be nice - the prep area was rather exposed - and people wandered in to swipe things (I didn't mind - there was plenty - but it rather kills the "mystique").

The best thing is that everyone was very complimentary about the food - and a lot of people took my card.  So perhaps there will be more accounts of such events.  Let's hope.  This particular event was a little bit of a loss leader - and I'm delighted that Dawn asked me - it gave me some exposure, but I was wondering how much I would have charged if I were being a bit more commercial.  I need to work out my hourly rate (including my presence at the do - plus what I might pay a waiter) to make a proper price.... then again I'm aware that lots of people/organisations around here don't have that much money - so there are jobs I'd be prepared to do if they tell me what they want to spend and I see what I can do.

Canape Menu for "I've lost my little Willy"

Sausage "ravioli",  Spinach and feta pastries, glazed chicken
Tuna muffins, Turkish fish fingers,
Cucumber with cream cheese and herbs, cream cheese and smoked salmon,
Tomato foccacia, plain foccacia with lemon tapenade.

Dawn suggested I sell the tapenade in pots - could do.  Don't think it would keep that long - I'll pot the remains and seal with oil and see how well it lasts.

Chicken legs

Aldi sell ridiculously cheap chicken legs, which actually have a fair amount of flavour.  For some reason my family adore them, and I have nearly perfected a way of doing them, with onions, lemon juice, garlic, bacon, thyme, and a bit of wine - add a few sliced mushrooms at the end.  One of the problems with chicken portions is often they seem a bit flabby - and tasteless - roasting them without too much liquid seems to overcome this problem, especially if there are plenty of other flavourings.  I wouldn't risk casseroling them in anyway.

The kitten, Bernard, went wild and had to be forcibly ejected from laps and chairs at regular intervals during supper.  Last night in deference to Islamic dietary laws I made this recipe without bacon and wine - and it was still pretty good.

Yan Kit So

Crazy name, crazy gal!   I have had her book called rather naffly "Party Eats" for years and used it once, but last night, went through it and saw that it did have some really good ideas,which is why I am doing something with chicken on Friday that she suggests.  She is very good on telling you how much you can do in advance.  I have also invested in delightful bamboo cocktail sticks - I'm not sure you'd pay £2 for 50 of them in China somehow.

I wonder whether her idea of a nice steamed mange tout as a palate cleanser between spicier dishes will catch on?  I think I might get funny looks if I passed round a platter of cold steamed mange touts on Friday night - although some people might applaud me for my minimalism.

I have solved the crab/prawn expense problem - by buying smoked salmon - everyone likes smoked salmon (apart from veggies, vegans, fish haters etc. but they will have other things to enjoy).

The canape career is going to involve me developing new skills if I want to provide a greater variety - such as being able to peel quails eggs quickly and neatly - and much, much better piping skills.

Must remember to take a photo of some of Friday's food for the blog....and to collect my business cards from the printers. 

Canapes

Got to start thinking about canapes for next week.   Don't want it all to be solid stodge, I need to make about 500 pieces (that's a lot!) and they must not be too expensive (since I only have a very small budget). 

Yesterday I ate dressed crab on slices of cucumber or in bits of lettuce - that made a jolly good canape... but crab is rather expensive, still 2 crabs would probably stretch to about 60 canapes - if I mixed it with a little whipped cream and pepper - so that would be nice.

I will do the famous Turkish fish fingers, because they are so nice.   And the spinach and cheese things, and the tuna muffins.

That makes 4 different types - perhaps I could do another pastry thing - e.g. tiny sausage and chutney puffs, and then another kind of muffin - I was thinking of experimenting with mushroom and blue cheese.  I once made some courgette mousses - not very stable - but perhaps something more rugged might work.   And maybe I could do a few meat balls - or some spicey chicken.

So:
Fish sticks,
Crab and cucumber, or if crab too expensive cucumber with cream cheese and chives
Mini chicken satay with chili sauce
Sausage & chutney "ravioli"
Tuna muffins
Spinach & fetta pasties
? Mushroom & blue cheese muffins
?Foccacia squares with lemon tapenade
?Foccacia squares with caponata (finely chopped).

That sounds a good combination - the last 2 could be vegan.  Whether I can do these within my budget is another question. Still, this is meant to be a marketing exercise.  Better get my cards and leaflets sorted out.

My leaflet

Catering by

Food Odyssey

With experience of cooking foods from all over Europe and the Mediterranean, I can offer you a variety of foods for any event.   From a few cakes for a tea party, canapés for a drinks party to buffet meals for 100 or so, I can suggest food for all tastes and dietary habits and can guarantee they will be delicious.

I occasionally host a pop-up restaurant in my home in Ramsgate.  Let me know if you fancy coming – or let me cook a dinner party for you in your home, or deliver some delicacies for a special meal.  If you’re interested in having someone else cook or cater for you, get in touch to discuss your requirements.

Food Odyssey

Kate Hamlyn 01843 588976    klhamlyn @aol.com

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Pork cooked in milk

"Thou shalt not cook a kid in its mother's milke" so this recipe sounds like a Beth Din nightmare - all my Jewish antecedents would be having sharp intakes of breath - while my Irish ones would be wondering why this delicacy had never featured in their diets.   It's an Italian dish, from the north, and I guess it's part of the great European pork heritage - but cooked in milk?   That just doesn't seem right to me.   Would you have excess milk at a time when you were killing pigs (November/December)?  Not really - suggesting it doesn't have a peasant, but an urban heritage.   Chicken cooked in milk is another thing, and there are vegetables cooked in milk from Reggio Emilia.    Move to the town - have milk available all year round and you can then add pork to the repertoire.   But not, apparently, lamb or beef.   

I started making this dish from Elizabeth David's Italian Cooking, but it never works the way she says it will, so I have developed my own method, which preserves the taste, improves the appearance of the sauce and is easier.

Take a joint of pork - boneless, leg or shoulder.  Remove the skin.   Stuff  some garlic cloves and rosemary leaves into the flesh - roll up (if you want to).  Boil about a litre of milk.  Fry an onion in butter in a heavy saucepan, add about 100 grams chopped ham (any old ham) and a few fennel seeds and a chopped clove of garlic.   When the onion is soft add the pork and brown it.  When it is brown, add salt and pepper, then pour over the hot milk.  Cook on a low light, with the lid on, for an hour.   Turn the pork over and cook for a further 30 mins or so.   You will now have a joint of cooked pork and some rather grim looking watery sludge.... take the pork out, then blend the mixture in the saucepan, add some cream (you can use elderly cream for this - it doesn't need to be fresh, or sour cream, or diluted creme fraiche - NOT yoghurt!) and perhaps a little more milk to get it to a nice runny consistency, but taste it - you don't want it to become insipid!

When the pork is cool, cut into slices and pour the sauce over - when the sauce cools completely it becomes jellified - so if you don't like that, serve it sooner!  It can be eaten hot or cold, and is always delicious.

A good dish for a dinner party/buffet etc. 

Summer Sunday Lunch

My in-laws (3 of them) came to lunch yesterday.   Because we wanted to go for a walk to the beach, I decided it would be an idea to eat something - then have the walk - and then go back for more.   Otherwise we have a huge meal and are then too tired to walk to the beach.  This idea came to me because there was something happening in town at 1.30 that I wanted to go to - and it seemed like a good opportunity to see the Great Wall of Ramsgate at the same time.

This is what we had for lunch.

We sat in the garden and ate foccacia (plain and tomato) with lemon tapenade and homemade pesto, and various olives, dried tomatoes, mushrooms etc.  This was great - lots of fresh tastes and very satisfying.   After an hour or so visiting the seafront we were ready for a bit more.

We ate cold pork cooked in milk, a salad of leaves, couscous and roast vegetables with cumin dressing, caponata and pommes etuvees which I par-cooked before we went out - so that they could quickly be finished when we came home.

Then we had mirabelle trifle - with mirabelle jam, panettone soaked in mirabelle liqueur (home made), topped with cream and a few crumbled amaretti.  And then, although people thought they were full, cheese. 

After that, coffee in the garden, now at its hottest at about 4.30 - we needed shade!

The Offer

Unfortunately I don't often photograph my food - and besides, food photography is a dark art: everyone knows how they used to use dog food to stand in for stews, because it looks more glossy and delicious, and mashed potato was used for - what?  To represent whipped cream?


What I can offer is this:

"Out door catering" - snacks for a drinks party, a launch, etc.  I can also do large buffets - up to 100 I guess, depending on what people want.  I could easily do cold food for larger numbers.   I can do a range of cakes and tea things, I can cook and deliver food for dinner parties, or I can stay and serve the dinner party for you.

Or I could drop by with some really nice food for you to heat up later - perhaps if you want to give a partner a treat.

I can help with weddings, funerals, christenings - any family celebration - I could provide a few extra dishes to save you doing all the work. 

Some of my best friends are vegetarians - so I have a repertoire of delicious veggie dishes - and I can make gluten free cakes, and other delicacies for special diets.

How much will that cost?  I don't have a lot of set prices - we can talk about a menu - and what you want to spend - and we'll find a sensible price.   My priorities are things which taste delicious - I don't use much in the way of processed foods - I make my own pastry, bread, chutneys etc.

What can I do to entrance you?  I can probably upload a picture of my kitchen - or the famous picture of my serving a large birthday trifle to friends (my husband couldn't eat cake at the time!).

More entries soon.

Food Odyssey

I started having an occasional "pop-up restaurant" in January 2010. I called it Food Odyssey because I wanted to travel around the Mediterranean like Odysseus (who may have ventured as far as the North Seqa too).  On the first night 20 people squeezed into the dining room, and we ate warming Italian food - it was good and I made a bit of money.   The second effort was a bistro type meal - what one might eat on the other side of the channel.  The third meal - this was a very interesting experiment - Victorian Jewish food from the cookbook of Lady Montefiore - the wife of one of the great Jewish heroes as well as a denizen of Ramsgate. It was an extraordinary meal - but I am not entirely convinced about escabeche - although some people liked it a lot.   It's a lightly pickled fish - I think I'd prefer to use lime juice, rather than vinegar. 

This January I cooked for a murder mystery dinner party - and then got to appear in the drama.   That was fun: I did 60's retro food: stuffed mushrooms, boeuf bourguinnon (and a veg. alternative - what was it?  Something very good), pommes dauphinoises, followed by Black Forest Gateau and caramelised oranges.

Recently I've been doing "outdoor catering" - a stall at the Margate Bazaar - selling bread with seeds in, savoury things (pastry wrapped around various foods in different shapes) and a few cakes: the Australian fruit cake went down a storm.  However the financial returns were inadequate to compensate for the loss of the weekend (spending part of Saturday cooking and then getting up to bake on Sunday morning, followed by several hours standing at the stall in uncertain weather).

Over the years I've done a lot of catering one way or another. Recently I've been doing "canapes" for various events - my favourite is the rather expensive "Turkish fish finger" - actually they are called Blehmat - or fish sticks, but I like my name better. 

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to do a small catering job, and Dawn suggested bringing leaflets/cards etc. I can't afford a website yet - so I thought I'd start a blog - and then the cards would cite the blog and anyone interested could read about food I cook - and get some idea of what I can do for them.