We were thrilled to host a private cookery demonstration in our upstairs showroom for one of our customers and her friends.
Claire devised a seasonal menu to include 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 puddings all of which were consumed as a delicious sit down lunch. The dishes were specially chosen to cater for some food intolerance’s and certainly bought out Claire’s creative ability in fulfilling the brief.
Claire started with a halloumi and char grilled pepper salad. With a top tip of bagging the cooked peppers to remove the skin from the peppers, and of course the easy way to grill the halloumi directly on to simmer plate.
This demonstrated how easy this dish was to make. Served with crusty bread this dish makes a lovely luncheon on its own.
The second starter was a twice baked salmon and herb soufflé. Served in ramekins these little soufflés rose so much as to be making a bid for freedom!
They tasted delicate yet flavoursome and as they are twice baked much of the work for them can be done in advance.
For the first main course Claire made chili chicken with chorizo. Using one of the large buffet pans it was easy to fry off the chicken and then combine a carefully chosen selection of spices to give the dish a warm and slightly Mediterranean feel. Again this is the sort of dish that can also be made in advance and just sit in the AGA simmering oven until ready to serve. Chopped coriander and a generous dollop of sour cream made this a filling main course no.1.
Appetites were slightly dimming as we moved on to main course no.2. This was bacon wrapped cod on a bed of braised lentils. A healthy dish that used underrated lentils for an all round satisfying meal. Served with a green salad this would make a versatile addition to any dinner party.
Then the puddings arrived. We had, by this time slowed the rate of serving – which with the odd glass of wine allowed for digestion you understand!!
First up was sticky toffee puddings. These little packets of brown sponge were absolutely delicious. Light and softly sweet, nobody could refuse that temptation!
Finally, a lemon and raspberry semi freddo was the perfect way to finish the meal. The coolness freshened everybody’s palette and the limoncello contained in this dish gave it a deep lemon accent that provided a good foil for the richness of the double cream.
A big thank you to Claire for all her hard work in this project and to our lovely customer Mrs N for choosing us for her ‘Ladies Day Out’!