It was a lovely warm evening, and a joy to be out in the sunshine, and later the pitch black. A night filled with laughter as we recounted tales of squirrels and glis glis, and could hear them calling from the hedgerow above our heads. We missed Debrah though!

The book was one that I used regularly when the children were little, and it was good to discover that it still delivered.

Starters

Tracey – Cannellini bean croquettes

Nigel suggested that these were served hot with tomato sauce, or ‘dare I say it, ketchup!’ We dared, Nigel. These were very tasty, with the tarragon overtaking the large quantity of Parmesan.

Janet – Mushroom tart

This was one of the few recipes in the book that came with a photo. It’s interesting how much one is guided by an accompanying illustration. This was described as serving 2, but it fed 8 of us happily as a starter. Really tasty.

Main

Jane – Grilled fish with chermoula

This absolutely came within the 30 minutes, possibly more like 5 minutes. Very easy, very tasty, though hard to keep the fish together once it cooked. It helped to put foil underneath it to stop it falling through the grill.

Sides

Justine – two bean salad with chilli and coriander

Jus doubled up lots of the seasoning, but the beans still absorbed it, leaving it a bit bland. Not Mr Slater’s finest hour, despite Justine’s best endeavours to improve it. Very healthy though!

Sue – Cauliflower with bacon and crème frauche

Yum with a double side of yum. Sue cooked it slightly differently to the recipe to allow it to be moved, in a big pan. Extremely moreish, and definitely one to repeat.

Puddings

Julie – Brûlée of scarlet fruits

This used lots of different types of berry, with crème fraiche. Then Julie made a sugar syrup which she poured over, and it set hard. A different way of making a brûlée, but a very effective one, the topping was crunchy and delicious, and we fought over it.

Karen – little pot of lemon crème

This used lemon curd, Greek yogurt and crème fraiche. Karen used both Waitrose and M&S lemon curd, and can report that the latter is superior. This pudding was delicious, really sharp and light.