We had a full house for our Spring Entertaining cookery demonstration.
Guests were greeted with fresh coffee and homemade Whittington biscuits (from the AGA National Trust recipe book). Customers then took their seats and watched two starters, two main courses and two puddings evolve in front of their eyes.
Alison started with a salmon and avadado terrine. Not only would this make a delicious starter for a dinner party, but it would also be a good lunch dish, served with a green salad and crispy bread.
Next up was a light and flavoursome rice and Parmesan tart. The pastry for this tart was short and crisp with a definite taste of Parmesan. The filling was light and delicate, almost fluffy in texture. Served with a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc made an excellent combination.
For the main course we started with chicken breasts poached in stock, served with a green vegetable broth and accompanied by a herbed cream sauce. This not only tasted delicious but was also healthy (even the herbed cream was made with creme fraiche!)
The other main course was a barbequed pork fillet with a Vietnamese caramel sauce. The fillets of pork were cooked on the roasting floor, so no nasty cooking smells and the accompanying sticky sauce and rice made this a tasty and filling dish.
For those that were still hungry there were two unusual puddings. One was a lime and mango meringue. With light pastry cases and perfectly cooked meringues, these little treats showed that limes and mangoes are suitable companions.
The second dish of almond and orange syrup cake was served with an amazing Limoncello based semi freddo that balanced the sweetness of the cake beautifully.
We finished lunch and discussing recipes around 2.30pm so it was a pretty busy and tasty morning!