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.
Sunday 31 July 2011
Saturday 23 July 2011
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.
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.
Thursday 21 July 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday 20 July 2011
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.
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.
Saturday 16 July 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
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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Monday 11 July 2011
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.
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!
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!
Sunday 10 July 2011
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.
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.
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.
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