Lucy's Birthday

It was Lucy’s Birthday



and the family came around for a Birthday Dinner
With Drinks we had Catherine’s fabulous egg sandwiches (we forgot to take a picture)
They were wolfed down





And we also had
Warm Goats Cheese with Sherried Figs and Onions

300 gms soft goats cheese.
2 onions sliced finely
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 sprigs rosemary
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 dried figs sliced
50 mls water
¼ cup sherry

First place figs in saucepan add water and sherry
Bring to simmer turn heat off and leave to steep.
This will plump up the figs

Meanwhile sauté onions and garlic in extra virgin olive oil with rosemary
Season with salt & pepper
Till soft and translucent
Mix in figs
You may not need all of the liquid your choice.

Break up goats cheese into gratin dish
Pour over onions and figs
Into 170C oven for 20minutes

Serve with slices of fresh baguette or maybe even croutons.

I took this picture before the cheese was completely covered with the fig onion mix so that the method is shown

Butterflied leg of lamb

Get your butcher to butterfly a lamb leg
Make marinade

1small can crushed pineapple
2 tablespoons soy sauce,
2 tablespoons dark rum,
1 tablespoon honey,
2 cloves garlic crushed,
2 tablespoons French mustard.

Marinate lamb about hour minimum
Place onto roasting tray
Into a 210C preheated oven
Cook 10 minutes
Reduce oven to 200C
Cook for 20 minutes per kilo
For medium lamb (my favourite)
Test with a skewer if blood runs
Remove from oven
Cover with foil and
Sit for at least 20 minutes

It’s important to baste with marinade every 10 minutes adding a bit of water if marinade is starting to burn.



Salsa
Feeds 4 people

1 punnet Cherry tomatoes halved,
Slice 1 red onion,
Finely dice 2-3-slices of fresh peeled pineapple.
2 fresh corns cobs or 1 cup frozen corn
Roughly dice Avocado
Finely chop 1 red chili,
Zest of lime and
8-10 mint leaves chopped

Dressing
Dress with
3 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part lime juice
Freshly ground black pepper and good pinch sea salt.

Pop corn cobs into microwave for 2 mins per cob
Remove and slice kernels off cob and place in a large bowl
Add all other ingredients.

Dress and leave for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serve this with
Basil Smashed Potatoes and Peas



1 med potatoes per peson
1 cup frozen peas
Big handful of Basil leaves
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
Sea Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Cook potatoes in the last 5 minutes add the peas


In a big bowl –
Rip the basil leaves
Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic
Add pinch sea salt
Pour hot potatoes and peas on top and
Proceed to smash each potato with a fork...
(when I did this for 6 people got a little bored with the fork and roughly smashed them with the potato masher,)
This will release the oils from the herby seasoning
Pour a generous amount extra virgin olive and serve.

A great combination

We also had Balsamic Chicken


Balsamic and Tomato Chicken Breasts.
This is a great dish for a crowd . Everybody loves balsamic vinegar
You can even prepare the previous day.
Just sauté the breast
Make the sauce
Store them separately in the fridge and bring to room temperature
Then combine and cook just before serving.
Don’t overcook the chicken in the sauté process as it will bee cooked through whilst in the oven. This will keep the sometimes easy to dry up chicken moist.

For 8 people
1 small breast per person
Vege oil to sauté
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
25 gms butter
2 large onions sliced
6 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 punnets cherry tomatoes halved
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cups light red wine probably a pinot noir

Chopped parsley to garnish

Season then sear chicken breasts on both in oil till golden brown
Don’t over cook
Set aside in serving dish

Add butter to pan and throw in onions and garlic
Season
Cook till soft
Add tomatoes stir well to coat with onion mix.
Add balsamic and red wine and reduce by half
Just a gentle simmer.

When you get to this stage you can store in fridge as suggested above,.
But if you continue straight away
Pour sauce over chicken

Into 175C oven 15 minutes
This should ensure the chicken is cooked right through and moist

If you have prepared ahead I suggest you increase the cooking time to 25 minutes.

Serve with rosemary cous cous.

Rosemary cous cous
The suggestion is to use the Israeli cous cous for this dish but normal cous cous will do.
Whatever cous cous you use just follow cooking instructions on the packet
But do try the Israeli it is sensational

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large sprigs rosemary leaves removed
3 cups cous cous
6 cps chicken stock
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Large knob of butter

Heat oil in saucepan
Add rosemary leaves to sizzle
The add cous cous and coat well

Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Add boiling stock and follow with manufacturer’s instruction.
Simmer about 20 minute still cous cous absorbs all the stock

Of course there was too much cous cous and salsa so we stored them together in the fridge.
Wow what a taste treat the next day
Here is a quick pic of the leftovers



The crowd were enjoying it

Helen made a wonderful Rum and Raisin Cheesecake
And Jacqui came to the Party complete with a Baked Cheesecake covered in Blueberries.

Both cakes were so rich and fabulous.

Here from Helen's Kitchen
Rum and Raisin Cheesecake
This is a grandiose dessert to be savoured and enjoyed. It’s ideal for a party as it can be made a couple of days ahead and stored in the fridge – in fact it’s even better that way as it allows the flavours to mingle and meld. It certainly carries an AO rating, with a wallop of rum that makes your breath run hot for just a minute. Don’t worry though – you’d need to eat the whole cake to blow any drink driving test. If you are a rum and raisin fan you’ll adore this combination. If you aren’t, well you are about to be converted.

Base
250g wholemeal digestive biscuits
1tsp cocoa
¼ cup golden syrup
80g unsalted butter

Filling:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons rum
1 ½ cups raisins, roughly chopped
5 ½ tsp gelatine
½ cup cold water
450g cream cheese
1 ¼ cups icing sugar
3 cups chilled cream

Crush biscuits to a fine crumb and combine with cocoa.

Melt golden syrup and butter together. Add to crumbs and mix well. Press firmly into the base of a 26m springform cake tin lined with baking paper. Chill

Filling: Pour rum over raisins and leave to soak overnight (or heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes on high). Strain rum into a pot. Mix gelatine and cold water until duly absorbed.

Add gelatine to rum and stir over gentle heat until dissolved. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat and cool but don’t chill or it will set.

Beat cream cheese using an electric beater until soft and free of lumps. Sift in icing sugar and beat until smooth. Stir in raisins. Add cooled gelatine mixture and beat well.

Whip cream to very soft peaks and fold into cream cheese mixture until evenly combined (do not beat).

Pour cheesecake mixture over chilled base. Tap tin gently on a hard surface to release air bubbles. Chill 3-4 hours until set.

Cheesecake will keep 4-5 days in the fridge, sealed with plastic wrap to prevent the absorption of any fridge odours. When ready to serve, run a hot knife around the inside of the tin to free the cheesecake before lifting off the sides of the tin to free the cheesecake before lifting off the sides of the tin.
Prep Time: 35-40 Minutes
Makes: 12-14 servings

HELEN’S NOTE
I didn’t have a cake tin big enough (just used a 22cm tin) so just filled ramekins with the remaining filling mixture. It’s Very rich and although it says it serves 12-14 people these are very generous serves. Really delicious and ‘grownup’ and quite boozy.