Author: platesmates

Lovely tasty food, looking out over Karen’s lovely garden, shame it was too cold to go outside!

Starters

Jane – Baba Ghanoush and Muhamarra

These took a bit of time, but they were tasty, the red one (Muhamara) especially. Coincidentally, Julie was planning to make it the coming weekend. And the pitas made with yogurt were easy, though needed a lot stages to make them.

https://www.mediterraneanliving.com/muhammara-roasted-red-pepper-and-walnut-dip/

Mains

Tracey – Mediterranean shrimp

This was beautifully plated, having prawns with tomato and artichokes and Feta on the top, Tracey thought that should have been grilled a little more. Really tasty. Prawns from Costco!

Karen – Lighter Chicken cacciatore 

This included prosciutto which Karen doesn’t normally use, along with wine and mushrooms, and then she pinched a bit of Tracey’s parsley for jouzzing (I don’t know how to spell that!)

Sides

Jus – Greek potatoes.

These involved warm water poured over them before cooking, unlike normal roast potatoes

Julie – Grilled Zucchini

This included pine nuts, lime juice and feta. Had a toasting incident where the zucchini got forgotten in Karen’s oven, but it made them really tasty and crispy! They had additional spice from chili flakes 

Puddings

Janet – Limoncello tiramisu (from Genaro Contaldo) 

This used home made limoncello, made with vodka and lemons – (use the rind, don’t take the pith….) Lovely take on the standard version. 

Debrah – Barbary dessert.

Debrah fortunately didn’t bring fish and oil for her pudding which is what she thinks of with a Mediterranean diet! Substituted cranberries. Yogurt and cream, with raspberry coulis. Lovely pistachios to make it crunchy. Really delicious.

Sue and I were away for this one, and I don’t know who cooked what! But here are some lovely pictures of food. I understand that the conversation moved away from last time’s funerals, and instead took in the world’s biggest problems, from Gaza to climate change….

Janet took some notes though, which are below:

Gazpacho – deb
Kitchen garden
Deb thought she didn’t like cold soup, tried in Portugal and loved it
Tomatoes, red onion roasted
Took much longer than expected

Jus was going to do bang bang cauliflower but wasn’t actually not a MW recipe!
Rhubarb, courgette focaccia
On website
Most ingredients from her garden
Would put more veg next time

Main – Julie
Braised chicken legs with puy lentils and tomatoes
Ground spices
Sofrito
Madeira & white wine

Side – Janet

Side – Karen
Cauliflower cheese
Smoked cheese
Cauliflower purée

Pud – Tracey
Peanut butter & pretzel cheesecake
Peanut brittle not brittle more like soggy! Digestive biscuits and pretzels base

This was a lovely evening, which we did as a tribute to Hairy Biker Dave, who’d sadly died recently. We talked about lots of things, including funeral plans as well as food. It was more cheerful than it sounds, honest! We missed Debrah who was in Peru.

Starters

Jane – Cheesy balls/gougeres

The recipe made far less than described. I made both sorts – hot, and cold stuffed with mascarpone, we think that the hot ones were probably the ones we liked the best. And the leftovers froze really well – I carried on eating them for weeks!

https://www.hairybikers.com/recipes/view/posh-cheese-balls

Tracey – duck tikka

Duck with lots of spices, garlic, ginger, marinated overnight and then done on skewers under the grill. 5 minutes each side though the recipe said three – possibly needed fewer. Really spicy and tasty, good with the lime.

Best of British book, online.

Mains

Karen – Healthy shepherds pie

This used the standard beef mince, onions etc. Then the top was made with mashed potatoes with creme fraiche and leeks. Took a long time to cook, but it was worth it!. Internet

Janet – Gorgeous fish stew with garlic croutons

Hairy dieters book one. Cod because Paul couldn’t get any hake. Potatoes took a long time to cook, so the liquid evaporated a bit, needed a bit more liquid adding. Garlic croutons very garlicky, with a bit of extra Parmesan. Prawns, and then the cod added a couple of minutes before eating. A big success.

https://www.oohlaloire.com/fish-stew/

Sides

Julie – quinoa salad with asparagus watercress and spinach, mint and avocado.

Dressing – orange, soy, oil, chilli. From Hairy Dieters book. Very easy. Orange made it lovely and light.

Sue – Roast Squash salad

Roasted squash with thyme, salt and pepper in the air fryer. Baby leaves and toasted pumpkin seeds. From the Christmas section on the HB’s website. Lovely dressing!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roast_squash_salad_78271

Puddings

Justine – Sicilian lemon tart

Another recipe from the website, with a corresponding picture of lemons….Jus made the pastry (with great demonstration of the sounds) and not blind baked. Thought it would be slightly soggy bottom, but not at all, absolutely delicious. 6 eggs! This led to a discussion of whose lemon tarts is the best, Sue really likedDelia’s

This pudding was dish of the night!

There’d been another long gap since the last evening, as were all so busy, and sadly Janet wasn’t well enough to join us. But Mary came up trumps for us again with a very successful evening of delicious food.

Starters

Justine – Celeriac soup with pancetta and croutons

Justine made the sourdough (brava!), then cut them into soldiers with oil and Parmesan. The soup had celeriac, potato and onion. Really easy, really delicious. The croutons were a triumph. This was from Mary Berry Everyday.

Sue – Smoked Salmon and asparagus roulade

Mary did this on her TV programme last year, which Sue had copied then from memory. This time she found the recipe. It used cooked salmon as well as smoked, and was easy to do, but involved a few hours of chilling beforehand. Later, when we were remembering that we’d done Mary Berry at Karen’s a couple of years ago, we discovered that Sue had done a very similar starter. We loved the fact that our memories are now so poor that nobody had remembered it. We could just all keep cooking the same thing every session and we’d be none the wiser….

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/salmon_and_asparagus_69637

Mains

Julie – Tuscan chicken

This came from Mary Berry’s website. It was a luscious mixture of onion, peppers and chicken thighs which had melted into the stew. Then cream and spinach was added at the end. Yum.

https://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/tuscan-chicken

Debrah – Tiger prawn and courgette spaghetti

Another one from MB’s website. It involved courgettes that were spirulized with Jus’s mum’s old spirulizer. And Debrah had individually deveined each prawn. The coconut milk made it rich and delicious.

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berrys-tiger-prawn-and-coriander-courgetti/

Sides

Jane – Green veg with mint caper butter

This was easy, but so fresh and tasty with the fresh mint. And the leftovers worked very well the next day too!https://git.macropus.org/bbc-food/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/green_vegetables_with_71110.html

Puddings

Karen – Lemon cheesecake with mascarpone and lemon curd

Karen added raspberries to the top and left the ginger from the recipe out of the base. It was more a cheesecake inspired by the recipe than what was written, but very much not the worse for that!

Tracey – Apricot frangipane tart

Tracey made the pastry for this, no bought pastry for her! Surprisingly, given Mary is the queen of the not soggy bottom, the recipe, from Everyday, doesn’t suggest baking blind. It was easy to make, using tinned apricots that had to be thoroughly dried beforehand.

It had been such a long time since the last meet up, but worth the wait! Jamie did us proud, as did Tracey, with musical cracker entertainment to put us in the Christmas mood.

Starters

Karen – Prawn and avocado salad

Tim tested a lot of the different iterations of Karen’s starter! The avocado was blitzed with yogurt, which made it very light, but quite sharp which was surprising.

Sue – Halloumi salad with broad beans

This included mustard, tomato and capers. It was really light and tasty, with honey in the dressing that lent a lovely sweetness. We agreed it could be a great Christmas starter. Sorry I didn’t get a photo, Sue!

Mains

Justine – Chicken and chorizo bake

This was from Superfood Family Classic, on whose cover Jamie looks very young! Justine chose it because it was colourful, and added extra sweet potatoes. It was spicy and tasty with the cayenne pepper and chilli extras.

Tracey – Cod and peppers

This was from Jamie’s brand new book – Mediterranean five ingredients. It used cod, peppers, leek, orange juice and oregano. Easy, quick and tasty.

Sides

Julie – stuffing

Julie chose this as a carb based side to complement the salad. It used tinned peaches as the fruity aspect. The recipe suggested minced pork shoulder, but instead Julie used sausage meat.

Jane – orange fennel and almond salad

This was light, tasty and very easy, except for shaving the fennel which was a fiddle. Possibly worth it though, as it meant the salad didn’t have big chunks of fennel in it.

Puddings

Janet – lemon cheesecake from One

Given the cheesecake was covered in raspberries, its title was surprising. It had a biscoff base that was baked in advance, then cream cheese, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla with raspberry puree swirled through. Then icing sugar on top, grilled as if a creme brûlée. It was less dense than a normal baked cheesecake.

Debrah – pineapple with mint sugar

This was from 15 minute Jamie. The pineapple was finely cut with blueberries and pomegranate. The mint sugar was made with a pestle and mortar and looked like pesto. It worked beautifully to add as a bit of zing with some extra lime juice.

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.

Sue is a big fan of the Indian chef’s cuisine, having been to all his local restaurants. After tonight’s meal we could see why! We were sorry not to have Janet and Debrah, and yet again we forgot a team photo!

Starter

Karen – Pan fried potato cake

Although this was crispy when first cooked, it got a bit softer after waiting, but it didn’t spoil the taste. It was served with a mustard and yogurt chutney which was really tasty with lots of warmth. Karen hadn’t popped a mustard seed before, there’s a first time for everything!Recipe from Simple Indian.

Mains

Sue – Chicken stew

Sue cooks this a lot, and like many of the dishes tonight it contained lots of spices including cinnamon. Chicken breast with lots of onion. The coconut milk lends a Thai flavour to it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/koliishtewchickenste_87479

Jane – Prawn and tamarind curry

I chose this as it was easy and quick. When I first tasted it I thought it was going to be ferociously hot, but actually the flavours tempered, and it left it very tasty with a piquant flavour from the tamarind. It was supposed to use the whole fruit, but I substituted paste.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/prawn_and_tamarind_curry_30910

Sides

Tracey – Bengali cauliflower and potato curry

In Bengal they have an affinity to mustard, which was a dominant flavour in this great side. Uses panch puran which we hadn’t heard of and was accessed from Amazon. The recipe was from YouTube, and it hadn’t got accurate measurements of cauliflower or potato, so Tracey made loads. Definitely would keep for breakfast the next day!

Julie – Spiced cauliflower, carrots and peas.

This is a Gujerati classic which used asafoetida, which was another new one to us. It had lots of green chillis which made the air pungent whilst Julie was cooking it, but it wasn’t too spicy when we ate it.

Julie also made seeded leavened bread. This used yeast, unlike a standard naan. The ingredients resulted in lots of liquid to the flour, which made it difficult to work the bread. It turned out well, a Billy bonus side!

Pudding

Justine – pineapple soaked in spices and honey

Here is proof that a dish doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious. The pineapple was soaked in a spice flavoured syrup, with the cloves reminding Jus of Christmas in its preparation. Absolutely lovely.

What a fantastic evening, being privileged to be the first guests to Justine and Matt’s amazing new extension. Wonderful surroundings, great food. Just wish we’d got a photo of the environs as well as the dishes!

Jus chose the Caldesis as she had met them at a flower arranging and cookery class, and because she was interested in the diabetic emphasis of their latest book. We got the recipes from a range of sources, including online.

Starters

Sue – aubergine parmigiana

This used 3 cheeses including smoked Provola. It was slow to make, though not difficult. Very tasty, though it might be easier to make it as a lasagne style dish as opposed to the more fiddly individual portions.

Jane – caponata

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/caponata_82903

Mains

Janet – salmon laksa

The spice mix was improved by Janet’s home grown chillis. It was a lovely lemongrass and coconut broth, with the salmon poached just at the end. The recipe called for konjac noodles, but none were to be found, so egg noodles were substituted instead.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/low-carb-salmon-laksa

Justine – leek, spinach and feta showstopper

Although this created a lot of washing up, it was easy to make, which belied how tasty it was. Jus used jarred red peppers, and frozen spinach, but would probably have substituted the latter for fresh next time. A lovely topping of Parmesan and ground almonds (a theme of the evening)

Sides

Tracey – courgette fetta, labneh and dukkah

Tracey used Greek yogurt instead of labneh, which worked fine. And amazingly made her own dukkah – fantastically tasty and crunchy.

Debrah – harissa roasted cauliflower

The recipe called for wedges, but florets worked just as well. It was easy to make and the tahini dressing was fab.

Puddings

Julie – Mrs Adam’s rhubarb and apple crumble

Lovely combination of ginger and dates, and the almond crumble made another welcome appearance.

Karen – Rum trifle

The recipe called for sherry, but rum was a great call. And more almonds, this time in the cake that Karen made to line the trifle – gluten free and made in the microwave. The cream topping had mascarpone added, it was light and delicious.

What a fantastic evening, being privileged to be the first guests to Justine and Matt’s amazing new extension. Wonderful surroundings, great food. Just wish we’d got a photo of the environs as well as the dishes!

Jus chose the Caldesis as she had met them at a flower arranging and cookery class, and because she was interested in the diabetic emphasis of their latest book. We got the recipes from a range of sources, including online.

Starters

Sue – aubergine parmigiana

This used 3 cheeses including smoked Provola. It was slow to make, though not difficult. Very tasty, though it might be easier to make it as a lasagne style dish as opposed to the more fiddly individual portions.

Jane – caponata

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/caponata_82903

Mains

Janet – salmon laksa

The spice mix was improved by Janet’s home grown chillis. It was a lovely lemongrass and coconut broth, with the salmon poached just at the end. The recipe called for konjac noodles, but none were to be found, so egg noodles were substituted instead.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/low-carb-salmon-laksa

Justine – leek, spinach and feta showstopper

Although this created a lot of washing up, it was easy to make, which belied how tasty it was. Jus used jarred red peppers, and frozen spinach, but would probably have substituted the latter for fresh next time. A lovely topping of Parmesan and ground almonds (a theme of the evening)

Sides

Tracey – courgette fetta, labneh and dukkah

Tracey used Greek yogurt instead of labneh, which worked fine. And amazingly made her own dukkah – fantastically tasty and crunchy.

Debrah – harissa roasted cauliflower

The recipe called for wedges, but florets worked just as well. It was easy to make and the tahini dressing was fab.

Puddings

Julie – Mrs Adam’s rhubarb and apple crumble

Lovely combination of ginger and dates, and the almond crumble made another welcome appearance.

Karen – Rum trifle

The recipe called for sherry, but rum was a great call. And more almonds, this time in the cake that Karen made to line the trifle – gluten free and made in the microwave. The cream topping had mascarpone added, it was light and delicious.

Another evening where possibly expectations were challenged? Although the reduced calorie idea conformed to the post Christmas asceticism norm, it was actually a meal full of flavour and interest which made a great meal in combination. Great suggestion!

Starters

Julie – Smoked mackerel pate

A tasty combination of smoked mackerel and Philadelphia with seasoning. Because she thought it was a bit easy, Julie also made some spelt crackers which included the marmite ingredient of, well, marmite…. The pate was lovely, but the crackers absolutely made it sing.

Jane – Crab salad with courgette and avocado

This was tasty and light, and the chilli and lime made the dressing pop. Mint and mustard was a surprising combo, but very flavoursome. And it was thought to look better on the plate than the photo in the book, an unlikely win for my presentation skills!

Mains

Karen – simple chicken casserole

The first of two lovely chicken dishes, using mushrooms, carrots and tomatoes to produce something really luscious. This is a staple in Karen’s cooking armoury and we could see why, it’s a comforting old school casserole, perfect for the winter.

Debrah – chicken with cannellini beans

Debrah cooked and froze this a week or so before we ate it, it reheated really well. A different vibe to the other casserole with more Mediterranean ingredients of rosemary, celery and lemon, but also unctuous and tasty.

Sides

Sue – chickpea and spinach bake

This recipe was from the web instead of the actual book https://thefast800.com/high-fibre-recipe-saag-with-chickpeas/ using a jar chickpeas with fresh spinach and lots of spices. Sue reported it as being very easy to make and quick too.

Justine – broccoli, asparagus and quinoa salad with mint yogurt

This was a lovely tasty meal with a vibrant dressing that didn’t taste anything like what Janet thought it looked like! The veg were cooked for longer than instructed, partly because Jus prefers her veg properly cooked, not crunchy, but also because Mojo got out during the cooking time….

Puddings

Janet – orange and almond loaf

This included a whole orange that had been microwaved and then whizzed into the mixture, together with prunes and almonds. It had a very orangey taste, and was surprisingly light. Lovely served with a fruit coulis.

Tracey – double bubble!

Almond and raisin chocolate pennies

It’s always a good thing to have more pudding! These little chocolatey treats went down a storm, and being made of 85% chocolate, were full of the good stuff in the form of polyphenols. Yum.

Byron Bay Bars

Another delicious treat, inspired by a cafe in Australia. They felt verging on healthy, but we’re also coconutty, moist and not too sweet.