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180 Days after Lockdown - 20th September, 2020

 Today was probably our last chance of a summer lunch in the garden.  The weather has now turned a lot wetter and cooler, and is forecast like this for the coming days.

Apologies for posting this a little after the event, especially to our guests Andrew & Alison, Steve & Marion.

 

Appetiser: Seared Scallops and Squid, Chilli & Garlic Salt, Citrus Salt, Squid Ink Salt, Baby Leaves and Watermelon Radish


We repeated the dish served the previous week previously as it seemed to go down so well. See here for the details of the salt. We found the watermelon radish in Waitrose, an interesting peppery taste and an addition of colour

Amuse Bouche: Horseradish Beetroot, Porcini Duxelle and Fried 'Caviar'


Maggie took me to Norwich for my birthday and we had dinner at Benedict's. The chef abd owner here is Richard Bainbridge and this dish is an attempted copy of his serving.  He served his with Exmoor Caviar, so we tried to achieve the saltiness that added with Deep Fried Anchovy and Capers. It certainly added the saltiness but not the depth of flavour of a caviar

Lunch: Seared Calves Liver, Beef Jus, Crispy Bacon, Crispy Onions, Cavallo Nero with Garlic & Butter, Saute Potatoes with onion


The calves liver that we were given a few weeks ago was so good we decided to serve this for lunch.  This was supplied by The Barn Butchery at Alder Carr Barns, Needham Market.  Excellent liver again and expertly sliced.

Served with our own crispy back bacon, crispy fried onions (in an Iranian style) - slice thinly with a speedy peeler, boil for 4 minutes, drain and deep fry until crispy. Maggies perfect butter sauteed potatoes, and Cavallo Nero in garlic

Dessert: Marie Curie Trifle



Coincidentally, we had already planned this dessert, a dish we last prepared a few years ago.  The recipe belongs to Richard Bainbridge, and dessert earlier in the week was a variation of the same thing.

Sponge, Stewed Strawberry Jelly, Prosecco and Framboise Jelly, Rasberries, Custard, Cream and hundreds and thousands

The afternoon was really good fun, in the sunshine. We moved to the patio and the fire pits later in the evening for cheese, coffee and a lot more laughter

At the time of writing, we are facing a mini lockdown.  We should still be able to continue hosting small lunches outside, and perhaps indoors and new measures of pubs and restaurants closing at 10:00pm, compulsory face masks and other restrictions, none of which are very onerous and no great hardship.  For us anyway.



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