Well I started the weekend with a bit of malicious cooking. Dan had been repeatedly telling me that we had a whole load of parsley in the greenhouse.
So I wiped it all out in a single sweep; Parsley oil. Blanch a small shrub of parsley, blend with a 50:50 blend of olive oil and vegetable oil then run through… well we used a wet clean hanky, but I believe the usual method is to strain it through damp muslin.
Then I continued the theme by being accidentally malicious. I inquired about the quantity some frozen broadbeans we had in the freezer, and it turns out Dan is…dissatisfied with how his broadbeans are currently doing.
Seems I opened some pretty raw wounds there.
So anyway, using a combination of elderly broadbeans and some spare soya beans that were knocking around we made Broad Bean Crostini with Parmesan and Parsley Oil.
It is just the mashed beans combined with some lemon juice, olive oil, and Parmesan, spread on a bit of toasted ciabatta and topped with a pouched egg and some parsley oil.
Remarkably good summer lunch.
We were then joined by H&S who were on their way back from a wedding.
A wedding where a significant number of guests, and the groom, had Michelin stars. I am so glad they didn’t tell me this until after we had fed them. I suspect I would have freaked out and over elaborated.
But instead we continued in blissful ignorance and served them a full spread of delicious pescatarian friendly dips, crudites and three different breads.
We made Lemony Hummus, Beetroot Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Olive and Walnut Tapenade, Mackerel Pate and Hot Artichoke Dip.
Dan made a Focaccia, a Sourdough and a Rye Ale Bread.
Two things of note here.
One: People will be worryingly thankful if you cater for their various dietary requirements. Seriously. What does everyone else do to guests?
Two: The Hot Artichoke dip is outstandingly delicious and outstandingly retro. Feel we missed a trick by not also serving a blue cheese dip with it.
For dessert we made a very silly raspberry type sundae thing. It was elderflower sorbet (elderflower cordial from last week and sugar syrup), a raspberry syrup, a whipped cream- creme patisserie mix, and some elderflower short bread biscuits.
The creme patisserie worked a lot better this week. I used the small le creuset (aka the custard pan). I don’t know why I ever dared to deviate.
Lunch the next day was Dhal with Crispy Sweet Potatoes (although we did make this in advance).
Following the departure of H&S we embarked on a new potato based cooking spree. Basically Dan has gown many small (and not so small) waxy tubers. And now we must consume them.
We started with the traditional Spanish dish of Patas Bravas. Which were delicious and had the added bonus of making our own mayonnaise.
Don’t know why, but I really like making mayonnaise. Fun with emulsions.
Also we can’t rank the Felicity Cloake “How to cook perfect…” series enough. We even got the book.
Then we made New potato, spring onion & Montgomery cheddar quiche. This was doubly exciting because, firstly we already have a booking at The Hand and Flowers in October, so it was fun to get a feel for their style.
Secondly, we ain’t in London. It’s not like we can mosey down to Neal’s Yard and spend all our money. Sourcing a particular cheese means a fairly intensive google search, a open top ride around the Bedfordshire countryside in the glorious sunshine, and the discovery of an excellent little farm shop where we will definitely be buying our Christmas cheese. It was hard work, but the tart was seriously tasty.
Just a few notes on the Tart. Reading the comments below the recipe we made a few changes. We doubled the pastry quantities and the potatoes, but not the filling. Then we made two tarts rather than one. It worked perfectly.
thegreedyguineapig 