A Birthday Supper for Thirteen in Chichester

On Saturday evening I was employed to cook up a feast for birthday boy Duncan. He’d had the brainwave to hire the colossal and gorgeous East Pallant House, a Georgian townhouse in the center of Chichester, and fill it with his friends, then hire a chef (moi) and pianist to make the evening extra special. 

Together we devised a three canapés and three courses which would appeal to all his friends (chicken being the common denominator for the main course).

With my little brother Toby as head waiter, we got through the evening to rave reviews and I became the ‘amazing scotch egg girl’ for the thai-style canapé of prawn scotch eggs (see recipe below)! Hats off to Tobes for doing some excellent serving in the midst of some rather excitable guests!

This is what I cooked:

Proscuitto & Melon bites, Pea, Mint & Parmesan Bruschetta and Sesame Prawn Scotch Eggs with Sweet Chilli Dip

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Smoked Salmon Rosette, Sweet Cucumber Salad

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Pan-Roasted Chicken, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Braised Lentils, Basil Oil & Aioli

(v) Asparagus & Gruyere Tart, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes & Braised Lentils

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A choice of Almond Tart with Strawberries or Chocolate & Caramel Tart

Sesame Prawn Scotch Eggs

I made these first for a Christmas drinks party and everybody loved them. I saw the recipe in Waitrose Kitchen and it's by Ravinder Bhogal who I had never heard of (and still haven’t – must look her up). While the basic prawn paste takes seconds, the peeling of the eggs is a bugger and even though their assembly consistently makes me question why I bother  - the result is so good that I forget the pain!

Makes 12 (or 24 halves/48 quarters, but allow for casualties)

• Gently lower 12 Quail’s Eggs into boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove to a bowl of cold water and peel. Toast 5 tbsp Sesame Seeds and cool.
• In a food processor blitz: 500g Raw King Prawns, ½ tsp Chilli Flakes, 2 crushed Garlic Cloves, 1½ tsp grated Fresh Root Ginger, 1 tsp Caster Sugar, 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil, 1 tsp Soy Sauce and 1 Egg White. To this add 4 Salad Onions, finely chopped.
• Get 3 Shallow Bowls. In one combine the Sesame Seeds and 125g Breadcrumbs. In another 2 whole, beaten Eggs. In the last 3 tbsp Flour.
• Divide the prawn mixture into 12 even balls (wet hands keep it from sticking too much). Flatten each ball, place an egg on top and gently mould the prawn around the egg. Dip each into the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Chill for 30 minutes.
• In a large pan heat 1.5 litres Vegetable Oil until a cube of bread turns golden in 40 seconds. Fry the scotch eggs in batched for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Drain and sprinkle with a little salt.
• Serve with some Sweet Chilli Sauce.

n.b. They are best served immediately but I made them in advance and then reheated at 200C for five minutes, which worked out fine. 

Roasted Figs with Gorgonzola, Walnuts & Honey and Fig Ice Cream

It’s taken a few years to get over that childish, September back-to-school feeling but I love the month now. The crisp air smells of autumn but the summer sun has not left, hay bales dot russet fields and my favourite fruit is in season: Figs!

Now, a fig that has fallen from a tree in the sticky heat of Italy or Madeira, say, is a different thing to the imported figs I managed to buy. Their plump and purple velvet skin broke to reveal a rather dry center, so they needed a little help in the flavour department.

Some I stuffed with the classic combination of blue cheese, walnuts and honey and then tied them up in the leaves from our figless fig tree to enhance the fig flavour. When roasted, the sweet and salty taste was delicious with the perfumed fruit. I then came across this great Fig Ice Cream recipe from Delicious Shots (see her beautiful pictures) in which you cook the figs down with sugar and honey and mix into a vanilla custard then churn. The ice cream comes out with the fig seeds looking rather like vanilla seeds and making a pop in your mouth which I rather liked but it may not suit everybody. It has a lovely pale lavender colour with the chunks of figs still visible and looked gorgeous in these exquisite blue bowls handmade by Rosemarie Durr in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Fig Ice Cream from Delicious Shots

 2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

2 egg yolk

1/2 cup sugar, divided 

2 cups figs, quartered 

2 tbsp honey 

1/2 tsp vanilla bean extract

In a large saucepan, combine the figs, half of the sugar and honey. Let it macerate at room temperature for 20 minutes. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens. At this point, break down the fig (as much as you like) with a potato masher, cook for 3 minutes more. Let it cool completely, cover and refrigerate it for a couple of hours  until well chill. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the rest of the sugar and egg yolks until pale yellow. In another saucepan, combine milk, heavy cream and the vanilla bean. Heat the mixture until just begin to boil (but don't let it boil) Temper the milk mixture over the eggs, mix well and return the saucepan to the heat. Cook for three minutes more stirring well. Don't let the mixture come to boil. Let it cool completely, cover and refrigerate it for a couple of hours until well chill. When ready, combine well the figs and the milk mixture and pour it into an ice cream maker and follow manufacture's instructions. 

Lemon & Almond Cake with Peaches & Cream

Over the weekend I couldn’t resist the piles of peaches, plums, apricots and greengages on sale at the fruit store in Alresford. Going to Ballymaloe has really made me appreciate seasonal produce and so it seemed only right to buy as much stoned fruit as possible as ‘tis the season and I adore peaches.

The peaches were the doughnut variety and so sweet and delicious that I pretty much ate four back to back. Then I decided to make a lemon and ricotta cake. Which turned into a lemon and almond cake as nowhere had ricotta (I am trying to avoid supermarkets but that has it’s pitfalls!). I decided to fill and top the cake with the beautiful peaches and lemon verbena cream. The sponge was perhaps a little dense for layering (ricotta would have been lighter) but everyone loved it and it tasted of summer. 

Ballymaloe Week 12 Highlights and Two Greedy Girls Eat London

My Cake for the final exam...

1. In the last morning of class on Monday I made Pork en Croute (in homemade puff pastry) with a Duxelle Stuffing and Apple Sauce.

2. That afternoon we had our last demo with Darina which covered boning and stuffing a whole chicken, an effort she pointed out, that always impresses but never tastes as good as chicken roasted on he bone. She also filleted and poached some beautiful Skate and showed us how to butterfly a leg of lamb and joint/cook rabbit into a delicious stew. I always thought I was squeamish, but the sight of a skinned rabbit sans ears, stretched out on the countertop made me appreciate why rabbit isn’t embraced in home kitchens.

3. I loved all the food Rory cooked in his last demo the next morning. In his typical style he showed lots of variations of Beef Carpaccio, some with Parmesan, Rocket & Truffle Oil and others more simply with Olives or Horseradish Mayo and Chives.

4. He also cooked some quail: first roasted in Quail Veronique (a Grape Sauce) and second in a warm salad also with grapes. Then an elegant main of Fillet of Beef with Currants & Armagnac and a Whole Poached Salmon, decorated in his usual just-the –right-side-of-retro flamboyancy.

5. After lots of applause and whooping for the final demo we lunched on the food along with some Prosecco which Christiana had bought for her birthday and this gorgeous cake a teacher had made for her.

Broad beans in the Greenhouse

6. Following on from that, on Wednesday, between revision, the Pink Cottage threw Christiana a birthday breakfast brunch- Aussie Style with Corn Fritters, Bacon, Smashed Avo, Roasted Tomatoes and (left of center) Ali’s Drop Scones with Jam. See her blog for pics: This included yet more Prosecco with Freshly Squeezed Oranges - obviously a cookery students exam fuel of choice!

5. After one and a half days of trying to revise in the hottest weather so far (sod’s law!) at 9am on Thursday morning I had my practical exam. The day before they had drawn bread lots. I had the dreaded White Yeast Rolls. Dreaded as they would take me a lot longer than a soda bread. As I could barely fit all I had to do on my order of work sheet, I was slightly dreading the three-hour time limit! But, considering how the whole thing felt like a race against time – at one point, I was cursing my choice of a boned chicken-thigh dish as I battled, at times elbow-deep (these were monster organic chickens), through filleting two whole chickens, then boning the four thighs as delicately as possible – I crazily enjoyed the whole thing. The resulting dishes were not as neatly plated as I would have liked, as I just didn’t have enough time, but I was pretty proud that I got an epic amount done in a little over the three-hour time limit.

Panzanella

Pollo al Mattone with Sage, Parsley and Garlic Oil,
Green Beans, Roasted Onions and Potato Crisps

Ricotta and Lemon Cake with Italian Fruit
Salad and Crystallised Flowers

6. To my knowledge I have never done 6 hours of written exams back to back, so Friday was like a mini marathon. Whilst a lot of the questions had luckily been covered in my cottage’s huge pile of flash cards there were still lots of enigmas in there such as:  Brioche is a traditional French Christmas Bread – True or False? I still don’t know…answers please?

7. That evening the school threw us a fabulous Farewell Dinner. With fire-lit walkways, great urns of flowers, candles and the terrace draped in Indian fabrics, the school looked far from it’s everyday self. Rory and the teachers cooked up this delicious feast: We had some delicious Strawberry Prosecco and Grilled Tomato Bread for aperetif and then sat down to a meal cooked by Rory and the teachers of Duck & Lentil Broth, Slow-Cooked Lamb with Aioli, Sauce Verde & Green Beans and finished with Peach or Strawberry Popsicles outside.

8. Saturday morning passed in a whirlwind of cleaning, packing and goodbyes. After packing Mr Wou up to the gunnels, complete with bike and my cottage-mate Jenn we sadly left the bucolic foodie paradise to face reality via a week of serious eating in London. 

9. Before hitting London we cooked up a Ballymaloe-style supper for my family: A chicken, jointed, marinaded and bbq-ed served with Roasted cherry tomatoes, a Radish and Cucumber & Mint Salad and a New Potato, Broad Bean, Feta and Toasted Hazlenut Salad. Then Poached Safrron Pears with Cardomom and Yoghurt Creams.

10. With the sun uncharastically beating down, we sacked off London for another day in favour of sailing, swimming and a picnic on East Head Beach with AJ and Rachel. The night before, Jenn and I made my favourite Pain Bagnat which is a small round loaf stuffed with lots of delicious Mediterranean ingredients (olives, peppers, salami, tapenade etc.) and weighed down overnight. The whole loaf was devoured by four hungry sailors in about five minutes!

11. Finally in London and we were faced with a difficult dilemna: where to eat when you have a list as long as your arm and only potentially a handful of meals? First stop was the Ottolenghi in Islington as Jenn had never been. We had a selection of their amazing salads and mains and then shared The Cake i.e. the Apple Cake with Maple Icing which I have made lots of times from their cookbook because it is that good.

12. Even though it wasn’t on our list, the perfect weather drew us to have brunch at Granger & Co. – Bill Granger’s first restaurant/café in London on Westbourne Grove. It was perfect for a summery lunch. I had an unusual and refreshing Mint and Rosehip Punch and their infamous Corn Fritters with Roast Tomato, Spinach and Bacon and Jenn’s Crisp Salmon Salad with Coconut and Caramel Dressing was delicious.

With dinner and cocktails at Wahaca and a stroll plus brunch around Maltby Street market on Sunday morning our foodie adventure was finally over. Jenn flew back to America on Sunday leaving me to contemplate what to do next…