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.
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