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200 Days after Lockdown - 10th October, 2020 - Happy 70th Alan Hill

We had planned a larger (Covid-max) type celebration for and with Alan Hill for his 70th Birthday this weekend, with family and friends, but were restricted to the Rule of 6.  So this meant a Lunch party on Saturday, with Damien, Karen, ourselves and Sue

We find that this type of menu is easier to serve during and socially distance.  It also means that the main ingredients can be cooked outside on the Monolith, even though there was a heavy downpour as I started to sear the Squid & Scallops.  Not an easy task whilst holding an umbrella!  

This menu also allows for servings per couples, with vegetables in sets of serving bowls which reduces the amount of passing around the table as much as possible.  We are fortunate that we can fully extend our dining table for 6 people to be at a comfortable distance   

Appetiser: Squid & Scallops, with 3 Salts (Chilli & Garlic, Citrus, Squid Ink), Baby Leaves

Lunch: Slow Roasted Rib of Beef, Pomme Dauphinoise, Cavallo Nero, Petit Pois and Lettuce, Yorkshire Pudding

We asked Alan what his preference would be for lunch and dessert, which is why we repeated.  3 ribs of Beef from Swiss Farm.  We have calculated that we have served 6 portions at the Lunch, Served again as Roast Beef for ourselves and a serving sent to Betty our neighbour, cold meats and bubble Monday, at least 6 rounds of sandwiches during the week.  Call that 14 portions which works out to £2.85 a portion

Sprinkle about 2 tbs of salt on the beef and leave uncovered in the fridge for around 48 hours (24 at the minimum). Rub oil and a seasoning of your choice onto the meat just before cooking. The photo below is after 6 hours in the Monolith set at 110c.  Rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.  The internal temperature is set for 55c.  Crank the heat up our heat a large pan to very hot and sear all sides, carve and serve

Pomme Dauphinois is another of Maggie's magical potato dishes. She cooks her potatoes in salted water for a few minutes, then thinly slices them and fries gently in butter in batches, so that they have coloured slightly.  Layers them with garlic and heated double cream before putting in the oven to finish cooking and brown



Dessert: Marie Curie Trifle

Cheese

Apart from Spotted Dick we know that this is high among his favourite desserts, so it seemed logical to repeat the dessert from 2 weeks ago





Between courses, we watched an amazing video that Maria, his eldest daughter, had put together from old snaps from the family vaults.  I think it was safe to say it bought a few tears of joy to Alan as he watched and the video transferred into a live Facetime call with Maria, JT, Greyson and Siena in California




The video is too large to add as a single file so I have added a link below.  

Use this link to watch and download it from my Amazon account 

although it is about 210mb 












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