A group of friends and I have a sort of informal supper club going. You know the kind of thing…every month or so we exchange emails and texts in a frenzy of diarising and subsequently convene at someone’s abode for a home-cooked feast. The host plays chef and everyone else supplies bottles, after-dinner chocs and sparkling repartee. Or that’s the theory anyway. A few weeks ago it was my turn. Here’s my menu:
Green apple martinis
Crostini with black olive or sun-dried tomato tapenade
Wasabi peas
Mirin-glazed baked salmon topped with chillies and spring onion
Japanese rice
Vegetable ribbons with oriental citrus dressing
French apple tart
Chocolate & almond cake with raspberry liqueur reduction
Vanilla bean mascarpone
Clotted cream ice-cream
Tea and coffee
Shortbread
Despite my lack of a civilised dining arrangement for seven (having to dine whilst sitting on sofas didn’t really do the food justice or engender quite the ambiance I was hoping for) and the fact that I had to borrow half the cutlery, everyone seemed to enjoy it. The martinis are a particular favourite of mine, although should come with a warning as their potency does tend to induce a booze-induced stupor in one’s guests. The shortbread was a triumph – just a shame that people were, by then, too full/catatonic to eat any.
Recipes, and invites to future dinner parties, to follow.
