thalinoviel has noted elsewhere, last night was the celebration of ten years of being in business ;) The actual anniversary is next Wednesday but a six-course dinner is tricky on a worknight (not least when some of the people concerned have to travel 100 miles or so).Eleven people gathered round our dining table (counting myself and
rotwang) and I fed them until they were sorry, and then a bit more. I was actually a bit surprised how little alcohol we got through alongside this, though there were at least two not drinking much because they were driving.I wish I'd remembered to take a photo of all present! Oh well...
- Canapés:
- Cheese and rosemary biscuits (Party and Finger Food)
- Mozzarella, sun-dried tomato and basil skewers
- Coriander prawns (also from Party and Finger Food, and also previously typed up here)
- New potatoes with truffle oil, sour cream and caviar
Cheese and rosemary biscuits - Cheese and rosemary biscuits (Party and Finger Food)
- Starters:
- Smoked salmon mousse (from Best of Cooking in South Africa)
- Mushroom pâté (likewise)
- Various breads acquired from Borough Market
- Smoked salmon mousse (from Best of Cooking in South Africa)
- Main course:
- Roast venison
- Roast monkfish (more or less from the Fishworks Seafood Café Cookbook, minorly adapted to take account of the difficulty of trying to tie bits of monkfish together in a hurry)
- Herb and mango nut roast (from More Vegetarian Dinner Parties)
- Sweet potato mash (from Feast)
- Spinach with pine kernels (ditto)
- Tomato couscous (ditto)
- Garlic mushrooms (one needs a recipe for these?)
- Spiced red cabbage (from Best of Cooking in South Africa)
Venison, ready for the oven - Roast venison
- Dessert:
- Chocolate Guinness cake (from Feast) (Note to self for future reference: making the cream cheese frosting takes about twice as much icing sugar as in the recipe if you want it spreadable rather than runny.)
- Gingerbread (my mother has been using this recipe for several tens of years, I'm not sure what book it came from originally)
- Pimms and Lemonade Jelly (which is an adaptation of the Gin and Tonic jelly from How to be a Domestic Goddess, since I like neither gin nor tonic)
- Fruit salad (again, not exactly a recipe sort of thing)
Chocolate Guinness Cake - Chocolate Guinness cake (from Feast) (Note to self for future reference: making the cream cheese frosting takes about twice as much icing sugar as in the recipe if you want it spreadable rather than runny.)
- Cheese:
- I sent rotwang to Neal's Yard Dairy and served what he came back with ;)
- Also "savoury wheaten biscuits" (softer oatcakes, really) from Cookies, Biscuits and Biscotti
Savoury wheaten biscuits - I sent
- Sweets:
- Peppermint creams (recipe from caffeine_fairy), some partially dipped in dark chocolate
- Marzipan-stuffed dates
- Candied orange peel from this recipe, some partially dipped in dark chocolate
- Strawberries dipped in dark or white chocolate (okay, you may notice something of a chocolate theme here)
- Rum and raisin fudge (also a recipe from caffeine_fairy)
Marzipan-stuffed dates (frosted and unfrosted)
The morning after the night before.
