We were sorry to not have Tracey with us tonight, but had a great evening with free ranging discussion including holidays and a deep dive into the various sports of the Winter Olympics. Sadly no group photo, so no record of how lovely Justine and Matt’s kitchen was looking! But lots of great food. We felt that some of Angela’s recipe instructions left a bit to be desired, but all were at least moderately successful. We generally got the recipes from her books Cucina and The Weekend Cook which Janet had got from the library.

Starters

Julie – stuffed onions with Parmesan breadcrumbs

The filling used porcini, shallots and celery together with breadcrumbs and Parmesan . The onions were part boiled, then the centre was taken out to be replaced with the filling. Julie described it as a bit fiddly, but very tasty, the onion was still quite crunchy but less harsh from boiling. 

Debrah – Mozzarella and pickled radicchio. Radicchio was pickled and light, and many who didn’t generally like it found this very agreeable. The recipe very firmly forbade the use of burrata. So tasty.

Mains

Justine – Fish pie.

This used hake, salmon and prawns . The fish was left to cook in milk that had stopped boiling, Jus thought there was a lot of faff. Sliced potatoes instead of mash, it worked very well.

Sue

Rigatoni and truffle pasta. This used Italian sausages with fennel. It was supposed to have black truffle, couldn’t get it so Sue used a jar, which also meant that the truffle taste wasn’t so overpowering. She also added peppers from a different recipe that broke up the monochrome look. It made loads, I’m sure Sue and Des were having it for lunch today!  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/salt_cod_fritters_with_57976

Sides

Jane – Cauliflower with pine nuts and raisins

This was the best combination, being both very easy and very tasty. It was a bit like a caponata, but with cauliflower and curry powder. I would definitely do it again. 

Puddings

Janet – Walnut cake.

Janet was going to do an almond cake but it had 10 eggs in it…. The recipe for this suggested that the cake should be cooked for an hour and twenty minutes, which felt too long. Served with crème fraiche which definitely helped as the length of cooking meant that it wasn’t very moist. Tasty though.

Karen – Lemon mousse.

‘The faffiest mousse I’ve ever made…. ‘ For this Karen used a Bain Marie for the first time, and also a Swiss meringue as well. She tried it a few weeks ago and it was too rubbery. So she reduced the gelatine from what was in the recipe, and it resulted in a light and delicious end to the meal.