fine food and swimming in the sun

we have returned sun kissed and relaxed from celebrating a friend's birthday in the south of france. it was 4 days of fabulous company, faultless hospitality and unforgettable food.

since there was always at least 12 people to cater for we had simple breakfasts of croissants and fig jam, lunches were a sprawling mass of cheeses, meats, pates, breads and salads - delicious and then took it in turns to cook the evening meal.

definite highlights for me were sophie and stewart's anchovy crostini, jo and dave's barbecued garlic bread and nick and isabelle's lancashire hotpot! i will try to get them to post their secret recipes on here...

our menu -

gazpacho

trout en pappiotte (chris's recent speciality)

medley of roast damsons and plums with toasted almond and honey mascapone

sea salt truffles

the recipe for the dessert is below - the damsons were picked freshly from the trees in the garden (thank you to the birthday boy -chris a. x); nothing was a greater pleasure than coming out of the tent in the morning sunshine and helping ourselves to a handful of plump, just ripe fruit. i've scaled this back to serve 4 but it is an easy one to do for large numbers.

medley of roast damsons and plums with toasted almond and honey mascapone

serves 4

ingredients

8 ripe plums, halved and destoned

40 damsons, halved and destoned

1 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

tub of mascapone

1 tbsp ground almonds, toasted

1tbsp runny honey

1tbsp marsala wine

seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 1/2tsp vanilla essence

method

1.beat the almonds, honey, marsala, and the vanilla into the marscapone til thoroughly combined. set aside til later.

2. layer the plums and damsons in a large oven proof dish and sprinkle with the cardamom and sugar.

3. roast in the oven at 220c for 20-30 mins til beginning to caramelise and bubble in their own juices.

4. serve (careful - it is hot as hellfire when you bring it out) with the almond mascapone and almond tuiles if available.

5. a nice alternative is to use figs instead of plums. follow the instructions above but dip the cut side of the fig in the cardamom and sugar mix and grill or barbecue the cut side for 3-4 mins til brown and caramelised.

nothing better when sat by candlelight with frineds, in the warmth of a summer evening. thank you to all the adlingtons and the rest of the gang for a truly unforgettable holiday.