Well I haven't eaten out for ages and this Friday is the night we've chosen to break the long duck! Going to Iris in Wakefield - very excited. Have checked out the menu. It's not gigantic, but that doesn't make the choice much easier and there may be differences on the day!
Will I make it to Friday without over-eating as I surely intend to then!
Monday 23 June 2014
Tuesday 10 June 2014
I Attempted to Migrate to WordPress; Forgive Me Blogger, I Repent.
It's like a joke: A coeliac, a vegetarian, a dark chocolate hater, a person with a severe nut allergy and two diabetics (a type 1 and a type 2) walked into the same dinner party...
So, it was the Father-in-Law's 70th and we decided to throw a surprise party, all the while knowing he would hate it.
It being a working week, me usually being shattered when doing the shopping on Friday's, I looked for convenience and simplicity. I just couldn't face spending Saturday cooking like a mad thing. But it also had to be quite delicious, bearing in mind I was cooking for those who are not just Husband#1!
So, I spoke to my local Butcher (Allums of Wakefield, in Altofts!) who were brill and set me aside three kilos of chuck steak, with which I slow cooked (Sir) Rick's Bullfighter's Beef and a three kilo pork shoulder (boned; sorry foxes) which I slow roasted in the oven overnight to make pulled pork.
So when the guests arrived on Saturday afternoon, one by one, to prolong FIL's agony, I was able to sit down and pretend I'd made him a little something for tea. Quite cool!
So the Bullfighter's Beef, whilst much more delicious when (Sir) Rick makes it, entailed putting the meat, one and a half bottles good red wine, a cinnamon stick, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary (all from the garden!), garlic, cloves, olives and a couple of carrots into the slow cooker and turning on. I left it overnight on the low setting and lo-and-behold it was as tender as I don't know what. (Sir) Rick thickens his with a beurre manié, however my gluten free sister demands cornflour; whichever is quick and easy enough. Lovely served with a macaronade: macaroni, part cooked then put in meat juices, covered in Parmesan and then baked. Lucky for us and tomorrow's tea, there was just enough left to freeze.
The pork meant I had to rub a mix of garlic, vinegar and oil into the skin and put in a very hot over for half an hour before turning it over, adding a little more mixture to the meat and lowering the heat to about 110'c. There I left it until the next afternoon, when the crackling was perfectly crunchy with no effort whatsoever. I served it with a homemade BBQ sauce (tin tomatoes, vinegar, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and smoked paprika boiled together for thirty minutes or so, then blended) and coleslaw. Of course there were beautifully juicy bread cakes! My only one criticism of this (and it is very small) is that perhaps I might have covered with foil early in the morning. But then again, every scrap was eaten, disappointingly so; there was only one sandwich-worth each left the next day.
With all this, of course I had the gluten free, as well as a vegetarian and a nut allergy sufferer to take into account. So for the vegetarian, I made a mushroom stroganoff. Mushrooms, onion and garlic heated together in olive oil, stock, paprika and cream added with a TBSP of tomato puree and bob was the uncle. Oh, yes, I also tried to flambé some sherry: it didn't work, but it added to the taste! Always goes down well and we've just had the leftovers for tea tonight - served with microwave basmati rice, of course!
What do you make for pudding then? Ina Garten says your guests don't have more fun if you make dessert. That may be true, but then again, I don't have as much fun if I don't delight the masses! The dark chocolate hater and the nut allergy make desserts a nightmare, but add the coeliac and diabetics and it was getting hairy...so I settled on the beautiful supply of summer berries with a range of sauces. We had strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and cherries (of course I de-stoned them, I'm me!) with a choice of dark chocolate, white chocolate (good for the hater) and salted caramel sauce (don't tell anyone I took a reduced bottle of pre-made and loosened it up with double cream!). Worked a treat. I also added a beautiful bowl of marshmallows to dip in; I'll be honest, the kids went mostly for the marshmallows with sauce...Oh yes, there were also mini-meringues, shop bought of course.
Greed insisted I add three large pieces of cheese, which I have since frozen and will eat steadily over the course of the next couple of days.
Did Fil enjoy? I believe so - even the surprise guests were for forgiven for the subterfuge. Did the food go down well? I was proud, whatever! Pretty certain that the rosy cheeks that went home almost seven hours after arriving were happy with drink, drink, more drink and more than enough food!
So, it was the Father-in-Law's 70th and we decided to throw a surprise party, all the while knowing he would hate it.
It being a working week, me usually being shattered when doing the shopping on Friday's, I looked for convenience and simplicity. I just couldn't face spending Saturday cooking like a mad thing. But it also had to be quite delicious, bearing in mind I was cooking for those who are not just Husband#1!
So, I spoke to my local Butcher (Allums of Wakefield, in Altofts!) who were brill and set me aside three kilos of chuck steak, with which I slow cooked (Sir) Rick's Bullfighter's Beef and a three kilo pork shoulder (boned; sorry foxes) which I slow roasted in the oven overnight to make pulled pork.
So when the guests arrived on Saturday afternoon, one by one, to prolong FIL's agony, I was able to sit down and pretend I'd made him a little something for tea. Quite cool!
So the Bullfighter's Beef, whilst much more delicious when (Sir) Rick makes it, entailed putting the meat, one and a half bottles good red wine, a cinnamon stick, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary (all from the garden!), garlic, cloves, olives and a couple of carrots into the slow cooker and turning on. I left it overnight on the low setting and lo-and-behold it was as tender as I don't know what. (Sir) Rick thickens his with a beurre manié, however my gluten free sister demands cornflour; whichever is quick and easy enough. Lovely served with a macaronade: macaroni, part cooked then put in meat juices, covered in Parmesan and then baked. Lucky for us and tomorrow's tea, there was just enough left to freeze.
The pork meant I had to rub a mix of garlic, vinegar and oil into the skin and put in a very hot over for half an hour before turning it over, adding a little more mixture to the meat and lowering the heat to about 110'c. There I left it until the next afternoon, when the crackling was perfectly crunchy with no effort whatsoever. I served it with a homemade BBQ sauce (tin tomatoes, vinegar, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and smoked paprika boiled together for thirty minutes or so, then blended) and coleslaw. Of course there were beautifully juicy bread cakes! My only one criticism of this (and it is very small) is that perhaps I might have covered with foil early in the morning. But then again, every scrap was eaten, disappointingly so; there was only one sandwich-worth each left the next day.
With all this, of course I had the gluten free, as well as a vegetarian and a nut allergy sufferer to take into account. So for the vegetarian, I made a mushroom stroganoff. Mushrooms, onion and garlic heated together in olive oil, stock, paprika and cream added with a TBSP of tomato puree and bob was the uncle. Oh, yes, I also tried to flambé some sherry: it didn't work, but it added to the taste! Always goes down well and we've just had the leftovers for tea tonight - served with microwave basmati rice, of course!
What do you make for pudding then? Ina Garten says your guests don't have more fun if you make dessert. That may be true, but then again, I don't have as much fun if I don't delight the masses! The dark chocolate hater and the nut allergy make desserts a nightmare, but add the coeliac and diabetics and it was getting hairy...so I settled on the beautiful supply of summer berries with a range of sauces. We had strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and cherries (of course I de-stoned them, I'm me!) with a choice of dark chocolate, white chocolate (good for the hater) and salted caramel sauce (don't tell anyone I took a reduced bottle of pre-made and loosened it up with double cream!). Worked a treat. I also added a beautiful bowl of marshmallows to dip in; I'll be honest, the kids went mostly for the marshmallows with sauce...Oh yes, there were also mini-meringues, shop bought of course.
Greed insisted I add three large pieces of cheese, which I have since frozen and will eat steadily over the course of the next couple of days.
Did Fil enjoy? I believe so - even the surprise guests were for forgiven for the subterfuge. Did the food go down well? I was proud, whatever! Pretty certain that the rosy cheeks that went home almost seven hours after arriving were happy with drink, drink, more drink and more than enough food!
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