Jalapeno poppers and mango glazed cod for a Mexican themed menu

This goes back to 7th June. Theme menus are great - it's always good to try out new things, but it's always amazing how much preparation there is and how long it takes - so many components. So busy we ran out of time for taking many pics (as usual)......

Appetisers

Jalapeno poppers

Used this recipe. Jalapeno poppers where have you been all my life? A must-do-again thing!

Cheesy nachos
Salmon ceviche in a tortilla cone

These are the tortilla cones - a labour of love. Trick is to soak them in water briefly so you can mold them into shape before baking. Do a lot more than you need!

Garlic flatbread

Mexican spiced chicken and prawn skewers 

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Mango glazed cod 

That time when you wish you had one spare! Used this mango marinade recipe

Taco shells with mexican beef and tex-mex chicken with bowls of tomatoes, onion rings, salsa, sweetcorn. guacamole, iceberg, cucumber and cheese so guests can make their own tacos how they like them!

Mexican style grilled leg of lamb with mohito dressing

Sides

Tex-mex salad

like this one from a few years ago

Spicy Mexican rice

Lime and coriander sweet potato wedges

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Pan Asian theme meal near Shipston on Stour

These Pan Asian meals are quickly turning into my favourite events to do - it's the flavours!

Pan de sal bread rolls - turned out better than last time's. You roll them in breadcrumbs on the sides which gives an interesting texture.

Spring rolls with beef and duck

Asian chicken and lettuce wraps (pictured here just before rolling them up. Flavours!

Sesame prawn toast - staple

Main courses

Volcano chicken - pictured here before cooking. so called because the marinade turns it rather dark, then you pour whisky over and flame it as it goes to the table. Pretty impressive - they all sang happy birthday as we took it in. Quite an amusing dish - you sit it on an empty drinks can half filled with stock which steam-cooks it from the inside. While picturing this I must have smudged the lens - hence the rest of the pics, but the view finder's broken so there was no way of knowing till later..... c'est la vie (le sigh)

Salt and pepper squid with szechuan pepper - amazing! The simple things are often the best. 

Blackened cod - with spiralized carrots - vegetable spiralizer gives endless fun!

Crispy shredded beef from this recipe - wow tasted so good. The whole lot went - they loved it.  After frying it  you toss it in a dressing of rice wine vinegar, chilli sauce and soy.

Dessert

Coconut cheesecake adapted from this recipe with mango sorbet - use Nice biscuits for the  base to keep the coconut flavours going. 

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Pan Asian theme meal

"Had a good Christmas?" Everyone asks when they get back to work in January. Makes you laugh - do they not think that in the hospitality world things carry on as normal during Christmas and New Year, just much busier? The guests I served on Christmas Day actually had to remind me that it was Christmas Day - one day was blending into another.

Served this Pan Asian meal the day before New Years eve. Of all the theme meals I have done I think this one was the most involved - so much preparation - but so worth it.

Homemade pan de sal

From this recipe - you roll it into a rope, roll that in breadcrumbs and then cut with a blunt pastry scraper so you get a rustic top.

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Starters served on platters on the table for guests to serve themselves

Black sesame salmon balls

From this recipe - so delicious! Steamed them over boiling water in batches. Found the black sesame seeds in East and West - a great find of a shop in Cheltenham.

 Red bean paste sesame balls (v) - made the same way as the salmon version above but with red beans.

Vegetable tempura (v) (never got a photo of that - in the rush it almost flew from the fryer to the table)

Tuna tataki with ponzu

 Tilapia larb - based on this recipe. More usually larb is made with ground pork - it is possibly one of the best tasting things - this was a fish verison and equally as good! I topped it with toased rice - an interesting texture & flavour. "Ooh - I've never seen that" said one of the guests as I was preparing things.

 Avocado and vegetable rice paper wraps with peanut dipping sauce(v)

 Main course

Blackened cod

Red thai seabass baked in banana leaf
Had to wait in the rain outside the Rannee supermarket in Cheltenham to pick up these leaves. Love this place - if you need to go out for a few minutes you just close up the shop: a refreshing change. 

Sesame crusted tofu with broccoli and shiitake mushrooms

Indonesian (vegetarian) fried rice - with some of the red curry paste from the seabass

Stir fried bok choi, sprouts, snow peas and onion

Soy bean and sesame noodle salad

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Trio of desserts

Mini coconut pancakes - used this recipe. Also sprinkled with a dusting of mango powder

Lychee and pomegranate panna cotta - used this recipe

Shotglass of mango sorbet - a variation on the orange sorbet recipe

Coconut pancakes must have been good - one of the guests said they didn'tnormally do desserts. But then she came back for another of the coconut pancakes.... and then another!

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Coffee, tea and homemade pistachio barfi (was I really peeling pistachio nuts at 1am or was it my imagination?)

Dear James

Thank you so much for the wonderful evening you created for us all at Oak House and Stables on Sunday 30 December.  We had a really memorable evening and your food was delicious.

We are looking forward to more trips to the Cotswolds and will definitely ask you to cater for us again.

With best wishes for good health and happiness in 2013.

MS

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70th birthday barbecue catering near Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire

2 barbecues on 2 consecutive days and both for 70th birthdays - must be barbecue season! Both also featured the blackened cod - must be my favourite. Marinated in a mix of soy, oyster sauce, thai fish sauce, chopped lemon grass, grated ginger and garlic, mirin, dark brown sugar, ground cumin and coriander & fresh coriander. Completely transforms it. It helps when you have a BBQ with a lid. This was one of the best barbecues I have ever used - a Weber. Managed to get the coals just the right temperature so food would cook rather than burn.

Barbecue with a view (house had a 180 degree view - stunning)

As there was one vegan guest for this one I made a few vegan items - grilled field mushroom with shallot curry (pre-cooked the curry while they had canapes then put in the raw mushroom and let it cook on the BBQ) and roasted pepper with chickpeas with chilli and garlic (he liked spicy food), and also black bean kofta with soy yogurt and mint in pitta.













Although we have tempting desserts you can cook on the barbecue they were interested in the assiette, but to have 3 rather than 5, so I made them slightly lager - muffin size tart cases for the chocolate tart and the creme brulee in the mini bread and butter dishes rather than the japanese spoons. And raspberry sorbet.

Sunset from the kitchen door while the guests ate dessert

'Did you leave anything for me?'

Then as we were clearing up...... pop. Out went the lights. The third time this year - I'm not kidding. After our experience in January though - this was a piece of cake. In January we had arrived at a venue to cook for 31 guests and found there was no power at all - the local substation had blown. We couldn't even get in though the electric gates - all our equipment and food had to be passed over the gates, and driven up to the house, and then of course, no lights too cook with, or set the table with, no electric hob or oven to cook with, no hot water, just an aga which was 1/5 of the power it should be. The hosts had decked the place in candles and hoped for the best. They got it too - it all went fine - I'll never forget all those pheasants, vegetables and potatoes in one aga. Amazing. Boiling water for washing up took 1 1/2 hours. Then in April we did a canape wedding in Gloucester and half way through proceedings, just as it was getting dark the fuse blew for the kitchen lights. Not the receptions rooms - were all the guests were - they were fine, just the kitchen for some reason. Try as they might each time it just kept tripping so in the end it was back to decking the kitchen out in candles again.

So this time at least we got to clear nearly everything from the table before we enetered darkness. It's all part of the fun/ challenge of cooking in people's homes.

Just as I had packed up the last thing in the van around 23:30 they had located the problem room. They had kept switching everything off/ on in various rooms of the house to see which room was causing the fuse box to go. Which room was it? The kitchen of course. It's always the ktichens' fault!

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Barbecue catering for 65 at Wellacres, Gloucestershire, happy 70th birthday!

Wellacres makes such a great venue for more relaxed functions. Unlike hired halls or venues you have sole use (no other parties coming in behind you), you don't have to finish your party at a certain time, and because it is surrounded by fields you feel just like it is yours (most people want to move in) - no neighbours worry about. And once the celebrations & meal are out of the way guests can relax and enjoy the 5 star features - jacuuzi & swimming pool, cinema style screen for football games etc. This group had even set up a cinema screen in the barn so they could relive their past with their guests with a slide show.

Live music

There's Anna from Party Angels taking care of front of 'house' so well, just last checks before guests sit down.

Blackened cod (on next door BBQ - if you close the lid it cooks the cod like an oven - but you get the smoky flavour in there too), Home Farm pork loin in honey and mustard, plum and brandy wine poached chicken wrapped in parma ham, Home Farm burgers and sausages for children (and some of the adults of course), garlic mushrooms, skewers of halloumi, aubergine, courgette, baby plum tomatoes, corn on the cob

Pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, passionfruit and mango in rosewater syrup in watermelon (less fruit is more). Also grapes, strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows etc to be dipped in chocolate fondue.

Barbecued bananas with sticky toffee sauce - so popular this is the second round.

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Dinner party cooked in the home, Broadway, Worcestershire

I had been looking forward to this one since I met with the hosts a couple of months ago to discuss details. Always good to try out new things.I had seen their house being built years ago - the Cotswold Way up to Broadway tower runs accross the field behind the house that they look out on - and it is prime dog walking territory. As kitchens go this is one awesome view from the kitchen window - certainly not one you get in restaurant/ hotel kitchens.

Canapés

Roast beef with horseradish on parmesan shortbread

Asparagus on baked new potatoes with smoked trout mousse

Japanese spoon of pea puree and grilled ham

Palmiers

Menu

Homemade thyme bread rolls

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Open ravioli of cod, asparagus and mozzarella gratinated with parmesan, wild nettle pesto – fish course size

I sealed the cod on the grill pan before we left (smoke created sets off smoke alarms at venues otherwise). I topped this with mozzerlla and then could just finish it in the aga. Asparagus from Bangrove Farm between Tewkesbury and Broadway was roasted in the aga. Once cooked I then heated the lasagne sheets in the oven to melt the parmesan on top then finished with a blow torch. [they need to be on a baking mat to lift them off and if you put this under the grill it would catch fire]. The nettles I had picked between ironing tablecloths and picking up the van - busy day.

6 Hour cooked shoulder of Home Farm lamb with roasted lamb cutlet served with leek stuffed fondant potato, steamed kale, broad beans and balsamic jus

Someone's stolen the middle of my fondant potatoes!

Well it's something different with my ever popular fondant potatoes. I cut these, out, stuffed with cooked leek and replaced a small disc of the fondant potato on top. Once heated they seal up.

I had done the shoulder with roasted saddle for a wedding of 120 a couple of years ago, and thought it was time for a revival - it does make quite a special dish.

They had asked for broad beans in particular. Overall quite a very suitable spring dish.

Trio of shotglass desserts:

Lemon meringue pie

Rhubarb and rosewater jelly

Eton Mess

And then our discussion the couple of months before had turned to dessert. They had loved the look of the assiette of desserts and we discussed all the different variations before coming up with this idea together. "They won't be expecting that" the host had said.

Lemon meringue pie - Biscuit crumbs, lemon tart filling and italian meringue on top glazed with the blow torch. I had been meaning to get round to making Italian meringue for years. Couldn't believe how easy it was - will definitely be doing it again.

Rhubarb and roswater jelly - rhubarb poached with sugar. Drain poaching liquor through a jelly bag and set with gelatine. Some of the reserved rhubarb pulp went on top of the jelly.

Eton mess - Strawberries & raspberries with raspberry coulis with vanilla creme chatilly on top and crushed meringue on top of this.

Great fun to make.

Coffee, tea and homemade fudge (crumbly)

The host had asked for fudge to go with the coffee but requested a crumbly variety rather than soft version. I had always meant to get round to making tablet as well. I remember nana bringing some back from one of her WI sales and I was hooked. Used this recipe. It needs quite a bit of 'testing'. Well that was my excuse.


Well this saved sweeping and mopping the floor.......

Breakfast Delivery

Greek yogurt with apple and berry compote

Eggs Benedict - Homemade English muffins with Home Farm bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise

After a quick power nap it was back to the kitchen to bake muffins, poach Clarence Court Burford Brown eggs and make hollandaise for breakfast. There is no breakfast dish that says Sunday more than eggs benedict.

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