Friday 12 October 2012

An old-school supper for an old-school man (sorry dad): Lobster Cocktail Salad with Milk-Loaf Rolls and Coffee & Walnut Battenburg


Between working as a private cook, numerous trips to London to find a home for my move next week, being bedridden with flu and blogger being very stubborn about uploading my photos its been far too long since I last blogged. But boy have I been cooking my cotton socks off during all this!

Now, firmly ensconced in bed, with a blissful empty day ahead and my London move all sorted (I actually have a roof to live under, hooray!) I can get back to blogging.

Other than the lovely little family (plus poodles) I have been cooking for daily, I was given the day off to cook a feast for my own dad’s birthday. As he had eaten lunch at the fabulous Cambio de Tercia, it was all slightly in vain, but there is never an excuse for eating extravagantly in my books and this meant LOBSTER. I drove down to the Portsmouth fish market: a warehouse with the sea lapping at its heels and tables laden with the freshest flesh the sea could offer. Resisting the urge to buy up some crabs as well, I spied my price and bought three medium lobsters from one very gruff fisherman.

So what did I do with them? I love to actually taste the sweet flesh of lobster so opted to make a large deconstructed (hate that word but it really was!) cocktail with crisp lettuce, tomatoes, chopped avo, new potatoes and the obligatory Marie Rose sauce, all sprinkled with chives. To go with this I made some buttery milk-loaf rolls which you had the option of filling to make a lobster roll.  We had the birthday cake for pudding: a coffee and walnut battenburg as it combines my dad’s two favourite cakes. Needless to say, being a diehard marzipan fan, the birthday boy was happy. 


Coffee & Walnut Battenburg recipe taken from The Great British Bakeoff Cookbook