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.

pasta disaster

the dinner party was on the whole a success, however in an attempt to be sociable and organised hosts we made the ravioli too far in advance and the goats cheese ones disintergrated into a sloppy, sticky mess. the mushroom ones were luckily rescuable and delicious and more filling than we had anticipated. 2-3 of the size i gave below were plentiful with accompaniments. the walnut sauce was a bit odd as the pasta was too delicate to mix into it therefore it didn't get warmed. the shortbread stacks were a resounding success except we had to wait a while before tucking into them as we were as stuffed as the pasta...

summer dinner party

the sun is shining and we have friends coming over for dinner tonight so we are preparing, at a leisurely pace, a simple meal that we can enjoy out in the sunshine.

chris is presently rolling out fresh pasta for handmade ravioli; we have opted for two fillings to create a contrast; half are destined to be rich wild mushroom and half a lighter goats cheese and spinach and topped off with nigella's walnut pasta sauce which we are hoping will tie to the two flavours together. all a bit of an experiment it has to be said.















if the main course turns out to be an absolute disaster then at least i am fairly confident that the dessert will be delicious - a stack of handmade shortbread with vanilla creme fraiche and fresh local raspberries. the secret to this is a very thin layer of white chocolate on the bottom layers of shortbread to make sure the biscuits don't go soggy from the creme fraiche.

ice cold white wine i think is in order...

i'll give you our guests verdict tomorrow but for now these are our recipes to serve 4 for a light dinner, you can bulk it out with garlic bread and salad (we are having a tiny salad from the garden; the slugs spared very little...)-

basic pasta recipe
ingredients
300g '00' flour, sifted
pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil
3 free range eggs
extra flour for dusting
extra beaten egg for sealing ravioli

method
combine the flour and salt and pile on a clean work surface, make a well in the centre
break the eggs into the well
gradually bring the flour in from the edges and combine with the eggs- patience is really key to this process (which is why chris is making ours instead of me)
add the olive oil and continue to mix til it forms a soft dough

on a lightly floured surface knead the dough until it is smooth and silky

wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 15 mins

if you have a pasta maker then roll throught the palin roller until the dough passes through the tinnest setting. alternatively roll using a rolling pin til the dough is almost transparent. the thinner the dough the more delicate the ravioli. make sure you keep your surface well floured so the dough doesn't stick and tear but don't allow the dough to become too dry either!

as soon as the desired thickness is achieved lay a strip of dough on a clear surface and blob your fillings on at various intervals- we tend to make a few quite big ones per person rather than lots of little ones so we do about a tbsp of filling in the middle of a 3" square - paint the egg mixture around the filling (to ensure a good seal) then lay a piece of pasta of a corresponding size over the top.

using a sharp knife slice between the ravioli and trim to neaten. gently squeeze any air out of the little parcel. repeat!

just before serving bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. cook the ravioli in batches for 2 minutes and serve immediately.

wild mushroom filling
ingredients
1oog portabello mushrooms
50g shiitake mushrooms
20g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked
1 clove garlic, sliced
20g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
glug of white wine
125g ricotta
30g finely grated parmasen
lots of freshly ground pepper
a pinch of salt
50g portabello mushrooms and 25g shiitake mushrooms, finely diced

method
finely chop the first 170g of mushrooms
fry in the butter and oil
add the garlic
add the white wine and allow liquid to reduce
remove from the heat
when cool blitz til smooth in a food processor
blend with the cheeses, reserved mushrooms and seasoning

goats cheese and spinach filling
ingredients
100g baby spinach, wilted and chopped
75g soft goats cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper
a spinkling of freshly grated nutmeg

method
mix it all together!

nigella's walnut sauce
ingredients
90g walnuts, shelled
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 slice granary bread, crusts removed
75ml whole fat milk
15g parmasen, grated
2 tbsp good olive oil
salt and pepper
handful of parsely, chopped

method
toast the walnuts til they give off a nutty aroma
soak the bread in the milk til soft
put 75g of the walnuts, the garlic, soaked bread and parmasen in a blender and blend til smooth and creamy
add oil and seasoning and blend again
place in a large bowl

cook the ravioli

reserve a cup of the cooking water and then drain

add the pasta to the sauce (add a little of the cooking water if it seems too thick)

serve sprinkled with remaining walnuts and parsely.

shortbread stack
ingredients
115g plain flour
115g butter
60g caster sugar
30g white chocolate, melted
300ml creme fraiche
seeds from one vanilla pod
as many raspberries as you can lay your hands on, or strawberries, or blueberries, or....
icing sugar to dust

method
preheat the oven to 220c
combine the flour, butter and caster sugar and rub together until they have the texture of breadcrumbs
knead into a dough
on a floured surface roll to approx 1/2cm and cut into squares or shapes using biscuit cutters
arrange, spaced out generously on an ungreased baking tray and bake for 5-6 mins until golden at the edge
leave to cool on the tray

when cool paint the biscuits with a thin layer of the melted chocolate
allow to set

combine the creme fraiche and vanilla seeds

just before serving, stack up the dessert starting with a biscuit, then creme fraiche and rasberries, biscuit, creme fraiche, raspberries, biscuit and dust with icing sugar
serve

white chocolate panna cotta

after much talk about it i finally got round to having a stab at the white chocolate panna cotta; the production of which had to be abruptly halted a couple of months ago when i discovered the disappearance of my ramekins. since their reappearance i haven’t had chance for what i thought was going to be a delicate and time consuming operation.

i have shied away from gelatine, on the whole, since the consternation and distress it caused my sister during home economic lesson at school and the resultant consternation and distress it caused the family that evening as we fixed grins of pleasure and delight to our faces and ploughed through dishes of lumpy blancmange and half set jellies.

it turns out though that gelatine has come on leaps and bounds since the mid eighties and i could have whipped these little delights up anytime. the only difficulties i encountered was having the patience to leave them to set over night and the fact i was also marinating some pork in the fridge with quite a potent blend of Chinese spices. the smell of star anise somewhat pervaded the gentle understated flavours of vanilla and rosewater in the panna cotta. worth making sure there is nothing too strongly flavoured in the fridge before beginning this one.

the recipe for this came from video jug website. with a few additions and alterations. this website is a great resource for recipes as it takes you through the ingredients, equipment and method with visual step by step instructions. just worth double checking quantities etc though as there were a couple of inconsistencies in this recipe, i’ve ironed these out below.

as it is all made ahead of time this is perfect for entertaining– a moment for unmoulding and plating is all you need on the day. and there is something so utterly appealing about the sexy, vanilla flecked, barely set wobbliness of these little beauties.

ingredients
400ml double cream

200ml milk

40g caster sugar

a pinch of salt

120g white chocolate

3 sheets of gelatine (or 14g of gelatine powder)

1 vanilla pod

a little rose water

method
put the cream, milk, sugar, salt and the seeds from the vanilla pod into a saucepan and heat over a medium heat.

before the mixture comaes to the boil add the chocolate and turn off the heat. whisk thoroughly until the chocolate is melted and remove the pan from the heat.

soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water - leave for a couple of minutes. when the gelatine is soft remove it from the water and squeeze out any excess water. add the gelatine to the cream and chocolate mixture and whisk well until entirely dissolved.

the original recipe said to use 3 half sheets of gelatine but the image on the video looked like 3 full sheets of the type i had got so i used 3 full sheets and they were set perfectly but i wouldn't have wanted to use any less. depending on the make of gelatine you may want to watch the video to make your own judgement.

place the lightly oiled moulds on a tray that will fit inside your sweet smelling fridge and fill the moulds nearly to the top with the mixture.

chill in the fridge overnight.

as you come to serve the panna cotta run a knife gently round the inside edge of the mould and carefully dip the bottom of the mould into a bowl of warm water to help it release. turn onto the serving plate, spritz with a little rose water and decorate with fresh raspberries.

this would make a fabulously light dinner party dessert for a summer evening as it is all made ahead of time – a moment for unmoulding and plating is all you need on the day. darker alternatives would stand up to a richer, heavier winter menu. and there is something so utterly appealing about the sexy, vanilla flecked, barely set wobbliness of these little beauties.