Italian Evening

Menu

Italian Sausage Casserole 

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Italian Chicken with Olives, roasted peppers and courgettes

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Italian Mozzarella and Tomato Salad

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Olive and Oregano Baguette

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Dessert

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Italian Lemon-cello Trifle with Cantuccini and Homemade Lemon Curd

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Italian Chocolate Salami

 

Afternoon Tea

How civilised it must have been when Afternoon Tea was a delightful little ritual to participate in, at three or four, in the English home.  Nowadays it's a treat and this menu is slightly more elaborate or substantial than just a slice of seed cake or buttered muffin with tea. However, when you only make the effort once in a blue moon, there is certainly excuse to lavish several of the variants in a single sitting!

Menu

Sandwiches; 

Cucumber and Dill Cream Cheese, Sliced Ham with Apple and Pear Chutney, Prawn Marie Rose

Cheese and Chive Tartlets

Hot Buttered Muffins, Crumpets and Teacakes

Victoria Sponge

Chocolate and Banana Loaf

Lashings of Tea

                                          

Autumn Feast

Buffet For 14

Menu

Stuffed Pepper-dews

Salt Beef on Rye

Hot Mustard Bread

Butternut Squash & Pinenut Salad

Minted Pea & Ham Salad

Rustic Pork & Cheese Pie

Coronation Chicken

Hot Potato Wedges with Sour Cream

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Desserts

 LemonPolenta Cake

Pear & Almond Tart

Chocolate Orange Cake

                                                                                 

Butternut Squash &Pine nut Salad

Ingredients

1 butternut

1 tsp sea salt flake or 1/2 tsp pouring salt

1 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp ground ginger

2 x 15ml tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tbsp for dressing

50g golden sultanas 

60ml water, from a freshly boiled kettle

1 tsp sherry vinegar

100g rocket and other salad leaves

50g pine nuts, toasted

  Preheat the oven to 200c.  Don't bother to peel, but halve and de-seed the butternut, cut into 1.5cm slice, then cut each slice into four.

  Put the butternut pieces into a bowl with the salt, spices and 2 tbsp oil and smoosh them about, then tip into a baking tray lined with foil.  Don't clean the bowl yet.

  Cook the butternut for 30 - 40 minutes.  Check to see if it is cooked through by the time the 1/2 hour's up by piercing with a fork.

  Add the sultanas to the spice-smeared bowl and cover with the freshly boiled water; once cooled, whisk in the vinegar and two tbsp oil that remain.

  Put half the salad leaves over a large plate or shallow bowl and arrange the butternut pieces on top.  Sprinkle with the remaining leaves and the toasted pine nuts.  Scrape the sultana-studded dressing out of the bowl to dribble over it all, and toss gently before serving.

  

  

Minted Pea & Ham Salad

Ingredients

200g frozen peas

250g sliced cooked ham torn into pieces

2 little gem lettuces

Bunch of spring onions,sliced

300g cooked new potatoes, sliced

Bunch of mint, roughly chopped

150ml natural yoghurt

1 tsp sugar 

Cook peas in boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Separate some leaves from the gems to use as decoration and slice up the rest.  Toss with the peas, ham, two-thrids of the mint, spring onions, and potatoes.  On a wide shallow bowl place the whole gem leaves round the edge and then pile the salad in the middle.  Mix the yoghurt and sugar together and drizzle over followed by a sprinkling of the remaining mint leaves.

SaltBeef on Rye

Ingredients: 

5 slices of dark rye bread, each cut into four squares

Packet of salted 100% beef slices

2 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 1/2 tbsp mayonaise

Baby dill pickles sliced

On each square of bread pile up the other ingredients starting with a tsp of mustard mayonnaise, then a strip of beef folded and a dill pickle on top.

Stuffed Peppadews

1 jar Pepper-dews 

Cream Cheese

Just smear a teaspoon of cream cheese into the hollow peppadews and arrange on a plate.

34^th 
Anniversary Dinner

Starter

Salmon, Cream Cheese & Horseradish Filo Parcels

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Main Course

Cheese & Potato Pie with Cheese Pastry

Root Vegetable Mash

Peas with Honey & Mint

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Dessert

Prune & Chocolate Custard Tart

Salmon, Cream Cheese and Horseradish Filo Parcels

Pack of filo pastry sheets

smoked salmon pieces 

cream cheese

horseradish

few snipped chives

Melted butter for brushing

Preheat oven to 200c.  In a medium bowl mix the salmon, cheese, horseradish and chives, set aside.  

Cut the filo sheets into squares about 6 inches square.  Layer up 3 to 4 peices, lightly brushing with butter between each sheet.  Dollop 2 teaspoons or so of the salmon mixture in the middle of each square and gently bring up the pastry around and twist.  Brush with a bit more butter and place on a baking tray.  Cook for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown.  Serve warm or cold with champagne.

Cheese & Potato Pie with Cheese Pastry

For the Cheese Pastry:

200g plain flour

150g cold butter, diced

50g Red Leicester cheese (grated)

2 tbsp cold water

Place the flour, cheese and butter into a food processor and whiz to form a fine crumb.  Add the water and whiz until the mixture comes together and forms a ball.  Remove from the machine and leave to rest in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably over night.  This makes it nice and easy to roll later.

  Roll out about two thirds of the pastry and line a well buttered 23cm pie dish.

For the Filling:

1 bunch of spring onions (white and green parts, chopped)

150g Cheshire Cheese, crumbled (or use any crumbly cheese, Wensleydale, Lancashire etc., or a mixture) 

4 tbsp Creme Fraiche

1 bunch of chives, snipped

500g potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced (we used our new Mandolin; it made it so quick and easy.  Ours was a present but I definitely recommend investing in one!)    

5 rashers of smoked bacon, cut into pieces and cooked

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180c.  Mix together the creme fraiche, spring onions, cheese and chives, season.

  Arrange the sliced potatoes in layers with a few tablespoons of the onion and cheese mixture spread between and a sprinkling of bacon bits.  Continue to layer up the pie until all the potatoes are used up.    Brush the pastry edge with a little milk.

  Roll out the remaining pastry for the lid and seal edges.  Brush with more milk.  Don't make any steam holes as the potatoes need to steam inside the pie to cook through.

  Bake for 30 minutes and then reduce temperature to 160c and cook for a further 40 minutes or until pastry is golden and the potatoes are tender.  Test by inserting a skewer.

  Leave to cool for 15 minutes before serving as it will be much easier to slice.

Root Vegetable Mash and Peas with Honey and Mint

Choose a mixture of root vegetables ~ I used parsnips, carrots and sweet potato.  Cook the parsnips and carrot in boiling water until tender.  The sweet potato is best cooked in foil in the oven until soft.  Mash the three together with plenty of butter, salt and pepper.

  The peas with honey and mint is lovely.  Just cook the peas in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and then stir in a couple of spoonfuls of honey, butter and chopped mint.

  Prune & Chocolate Custard Tart

Pastry:

185g plain flour

50g icing sugar

30g ground almonds

115g chilled butter, diced

1 egg

Filling:

250g stoned prunes

2 tbsp Creme de Cacao (or any liqueur you fancy)

50g dark chocolate, chopped

300ml cream

1 egg + 2 egg yolks

150g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 level tsp cornflour

For the Pastry:

Place the flour, icing sugar, ground almonds and chopped butter into a food processor, whiz to form crumbs.  Add the egg and whiz until it forms a ball.  Leave the pastry for at least an hour in the fridge, preferably over night.

  Roll the pastry to base line a  buttered 26cm flan tin, prick the base all over with a fork (just indenting not going all the way through).  Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans.  Bake in a preheated oven at 200c - fan 180c for appox 10 - 15 minutes.  Remove the paper and beans and place back in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes more.  Leave to cool.

For the Filling:

Place the prunes, chocolate and liqueur into a food processor and whiz to a paste.  Spread onto the base of the cooled tart.

  In a large bowl whisk together the egg and egg yolks with the sugar, vanilla and cornflour.

  Bring the cream to boiling point in a small pan.  Pour the hot cream, whisking continuously, onto the egg mixture.

  Gently pour the custard over the prunes and bake for about 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 150c - fan 130c.  Until set.

  Serve warm or cold dusted with a little icing sugar.