Tapas for a Spanish themed hen party evening near Evesham

Only girls allowed (apart from me)

They had altered a poster which hung outside the door - got to love hen parties!

The organiser of this hen party at Littleton Manor had asked for spanish tapas so I came up with a lot of suggestions and this is what they chose from those.

Spanish style cornbread - had been waiting for an opportunity to make this Eric Treuille recipe. We made a plain version the next day for a guest at another party who was alergic to yeast. There were also saffron bread rolls which I formed in special shapes only for hen parties - for obvious reasons no photo....

Ensalata mixta - salad leaves from the garden of Dove Cottage, radishes, cucumber, roasted aspargaus, artichokes, spanish olives, hard boiled eggs etc.

Asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon

Chorizo and corn empanadas

Ham and cheese croquettes (and cheese and mustard ones for vegetarians) - from this recipe. No photo sadly - they went with the wine tasting that the hens had pre-dinner. So good I can't believe it took this long to get round to making them for the first time. Also spanish style meatballs.

Patatas bravas

Tomato and bread salad

Serrano ham, manchego, fresh cherries and toasted almonds
(Won't be the last time I'll be making this!)

Paella - cooking in the kitchen. The first outing for nana's paella pan which I inherited recently. They had Spanish friends from way back (we're talking 50's or 60's) who lived nearby when they lived in New Malden and introduced them to spanish cuisine. The paella pan would only come out for large special family events - and it was the highlight every time, like everything else she cooked it was a labour of love. You would see the pan hanging up in the utility room each time you were there and just hope. I still use the original spanish recipe passed down the generations though have updated and improved it slightly.

Madgetts farm chicken, Home farm belly pork, chorizo, squid, scallops, mussells, king prawns, cod, salmon alond with the onion, pepper, artichoke, saffron, white wine base

Vegetarian version

Churros with chocolate sauce

Churros cooking earlier in the day. I used this recipe.

Also white chocolate mousse with blueberries from this recipe to which I added the bluberries and blueberry coulis.

After clearing up it was back to the kitchen to unload and clear up, via the cheese farm to pick up cheese I had pre-ordered for our lunch party of 55. The herdsman came out of his house to check who was going down the drive at that time - most people have picked up their cheese before 00:30 on a Sunday morning, but then needs must......