Menu
Squid & chorizo on a bed of rocket, home-made harissa and a slice of lime
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Boeuf Bourguignon with fried bread, celeriac mash & glazed beans
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Raspberry tart served with vanilla ice cream
Welcome to my blog, its first post and the very small living room where all my dinner parties will be held. My guests arrived at 8pm having had a few drinks at The Garden House down the road and settled down at the small coffee table. Poor Jack and Will had to perch on the sofa thanks to their long legs, but the rest of us were comfortable tucking ours under the coffee table and none of us wanted to leave when I served up the meal.
I began the meal with fresh squid bought from Norwich market in the afternoon, flash fried and curled up onto the bed of rocket. The slice of lime really added a light zest and the home-made harissa gave a spicy kick to fairly tame flavours. I find you can always tell by the colours on your plate what kind of meal it's going to be and perhaps what it is lacking. The red of the harissa makes everything a bit more exciting.
I'd made the home-made harissa a week earlier to the dinner party with my mum who has never taught me how to cook but who I have watched in the kitchen my entire life and have picked up all my skill and knowledge from. Now we cook together, not as pupil and teacher but in a partnership, enjoying each other's company and workmanship.
The beef stew was such a pleasure to make, I really enjoy taking my time over a dish because, usually, the more time you allow your ingredients to have the more flavour they will produce. So having cooked the stew for two hours on Thursday, I cooked it again for another 45minutes before serving and added a cheeky dash more of red wine. The fried bread was spot on to bring some crunch to an otherwise soft and rich meal.
This was the only photographic evidence left of the desert. Oops. For the Raspberry Tart I used a pre-made pastry all the way from Italy! However, it let me down and ended up being far too thin, it still tasted delicious but the structure of the tart was a bit of a flop. Next time I will definitely make my own shortcrust pastry, thick enough to 'trellis' across the top of the tart (criss-cross the pastry). Served warm next to cold ice cream and whipped cream is always the way to go with a desert like this.
Overall the night went fantastically, I had such a wonderful time producing dishes that I had never cooked before but with my confidence was able to pull off. I could not have done this without friendly supportive faces though, as a young chef I need to begin with my fans and I will tackle strangers later! I believe that food makes or breaks an evening and I think I may have made this one.
Chess X
Click here to see the recipes.
