Our friends Lisa and Jon are leaving us for sunny Australia. A great opportunity came up and they are soon off to the Australian summer and a brand new life! Who can blame them just as it is getting colder and greyer by the day in London?
In good spirit and on Guy Fawkes Night we had the last supper.
We cooked some dishes each and in the end made a lovely dinner, a little sad but also great. We had lined up the wine, starting with chardonnay swiftly moving on to a white Sancerre.
We started with foie gras with toast and more wine, still on the white.
After this we had mackerel tartar, just a bite. Mackerel is a fish on the up so I thought it would be easy to find super fresh mackerel for the tartar but it wasn’t and in the end I found just one that was fresh enough for a tartar. It was served on toast with horseradish sauce, inspired by a dish at Da Polpo.
It was important to use some of the food grown on the allotment and swede is bang in season and so beautifully tender. There are still beetroots so I also picked a golden beetroot to cook with the swede to make a soup. The soup was made quite thick, nothing but stock, swede and beetroot with only a swirl of cream on top and crispy slightly chunky crumbles of black pudding on top.
Warmed by the soup and yet another bottle of white we headed off for fireworks at the local cricket club. We each paid £6 to get in , it was super busy but with a beer for the men and mulled wine for the ladies we watched the most spectacular fireworks! The mulled wine I am sure had more brandy than actual wine and made us very merry!
When the fireworks were over we headed back for more food and drinks.
Time for the rose to come out and accompany the fish!
First out was stuffed lemon sole with a beaurre blanc served with Brussels sprouts slaw.
When the fireworks were over we headed back for more food and drinks.
Time for the rose to come out and accompany the fish!
First out was stuffed lemon sole with a beaurre blanc served with Brussels sprouts slaw.
After this we had a little break, switched to the red, started with a Crozes-Hermitage, Les Meysonnier, a perfect match to the fillet steak.
The steak was served with parsnip galette and a yummy mushroom sauce.
The last dish was a chocolate pudding, rich, chocolaty and just gorgeous. Eaten with a nice dollop of clotted cream and vanilla ice cream it was more than an indulgent ending to our last supper.
It was also a goodbye to the little kitties (who both helped me polish that last bit of the steak when I was full.)
Contributor: Petra Hallstorm - Follow Petra's cooking adventures here.
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