Thanksgiving or Pre Christmas?

I actually didn’t get Thanksgiving when we lived in the USA. I couldn’t understand why what was a Harvest Festival should take place in late November. However it did start as a kind of Harvest Festival in 1621 as the new settlers had had a good harvest that year. Apparently it wasn’t until Lincoln in 1863 declared it a national holiday and in 1941 Roosevelt to abolish the confusion of which Thursday in November stated that it would be the fourth Thursday in November.

The USA is not the only country to celebrate Thanksgiving others included Austria, Brazil, Liberia, Canada, Switzerland and Germany, though whilst living there I do not recall any type of Thanksgiving celebration. However it all stems from giving Thanks for a good harvest.

I always felt that it was way too close to Christmas but I don’t think that I have ever cooked a TRADITIONAL Christmas dinner, let alone a Thanksgiving one , however, this year somehow or other we are having a family dinner, here next Sunday. Fortunately we changed our dining table about 2 years ago, so now we can seat 14 easily and on a round table !

So I have been thinking and planning now for a few weeks. We will be 14 ranging from age 81 to 3 years old. Actually the little ones eat well, with a favourite dish being Pad Thai, whilst the older grandchildren have gone from being the most difficult children in the world to being gourmet diners, with oysters, squid, octopus and steak tartare amongst their favourites!

My FESENJAM ( aubergine dish which I made a few weeks ago) is safely stored in the freezer, along with dishes of buttered mashed winter root vegetables ( carrots , Swede, turnip, celeriac, parsnips). Passion fruit and mango ice cream, likewise has been made and obviously frozen. Another must for Himself and son in law is a crumble, it varies with the seasons, and this one is no different, being made with plums, apple and frozen mixed berries. This too is frozen ready to go.

One of my favourite do ahead potato dishes is gnocchi made with potatoes. It is a bit fiddly , but it can be made over several days and freezes really well, which means that double or treble the quantity can be made, well in advance , flat frozen ( so they don’t stick together) and some can be pulled out as needed. I made enough for 14 people so I used several kilos of potatoes, but here is the basic recipe, which can be easily doubled or trebled.

1 kilo of potatoes

135 grams of plain flour

130 grams grated Parmesan cheese

1 whole egg, beaten together with 2 yolks

Teaspoon salt

Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and boil gently until cooked . Drain and leave to cool. When cool push through a potato ricer ( or sieve), into a bowl.

Add the flour, cheese and beaten eggs and mix well ( can use an electric mixer). Place sheets of cling film on the work surface and spoon 20-25 cm of mixture on the cling film, leaving space at each end to to tie the ends up. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used.

Boil some water and cook the gnocchi rolls for 15 minutes, and then place in some iced water to cool them down. At this point, they can be refrigerated overnight.

Stage 2, unwrap the gnocchi and cut into

2 cms slices. Put some flour into a dish, dust the gnocchi with the flour and fry in butter or olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Drain on some kitchen paper paper and then place on a flat baking tray. Repeat until all of the gnocchi mixture has been used. At this point the gnocchi maybe flat frozen until needed.

To use, simply defrost, and reheat either in a frying pan or in the oven. They can also be used as a small starter or as a canapé. for example with a tomato fondue or mango chutney ( can be bought) or as a canapé, with Parma ham and blue cheese.

Moving on, I made my ice cream. When passion fruits were very much in season I bought several and kept the pulp which I froze until ready to use. I always use Ben and Jerry’s basic recipes for making ice cream and this time was no exception. According to Ben and Jerry ( they are real people) the list of fruit ice creams is pretty endless, with Banana having no added sugar to apples and raspberries needing a fair amount. However, I would go with the basic and have a taste ( what a good excuse) and add more if it is too tart. They didn’t actually have a passion fruit recipe, so I had to wing it, starting with a sweet cream base. However before you start switch on your ice cream maker if you have one to make sure it is cold OR have a container in the freezer also that it is cold.

3 Cups double or whipping cream
3 whole eggs whisked for about 2 minutes
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 very ripe mango chopped into small bits
Pulp of 5+ passion fruit

To the beaten eggs add the sugar and blend well , then add the cream and finally the fruit.

Pour into the container / freezer unit/ ice cream maker .

If you are simply pouring into a container in your freezer, then give it a stir about every hour so that it freezes well throughout. Cover until ready to use.

I did go a bit overboard with desserts, it is something I only do for guests, so I made a burnt basque cheesecake ( in a long tin for ease of serving)with blackberries, chocolate and coffee semifreddo,mixed fruit crumble with crème anglaise, passion fruit ice cream and brandy snaps.

Brandy snaps, I haven’t made in years but they are easy and fun to make.

50g of caster sugar
50g of golden syrup or corn syrup
50g of butter
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp brandy
50g of plain flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Preheat an oven to 170°C/150 *C fan /gas mark 3

Place the sugar, golden syrup, butter, lemon juice and brandy in a small saucepan and heat gently to melt butter and to dissolve the sugar
Leave to cool slightly adding the flour and ginger, beat to a smooth paste

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and drop 4 Teaspoons of the mixture at intervals along the tray. Smooth out into a circle with the back of the teaspoon.

Bake for 6–8 minutes until golden brown

Leave to cool slightly before rolling around the handle of a wooden spoon to shape or can be moulded round a cup cake. Place on a wire cooling rack and leave to set until hard and cool. Can be eaten as they are, filled with cream, dipped in molten chocolate . Best eaten on the day they are made but if any are left they should be stored in an airtight container!

Lunches and a Dinner, a Late lunch, and Sunday Lunch.

So seem to have been out a lot recently, feast or famine or so it seems.This week saw us having lunch with Ray White, well actually at Raymond Blancs famous Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, in Great Milton Oxfordshire. Dinner at Stoke Park Cub, a girls lunch at the Swallow Street rooms ( part of Bentleys restaurant) in Swallow Street London, a very late Good Friday Lunch with the willowy brunette, lunch with friends in Sloane Square and Sunday Lunch with son and wife in Fulmer

Needless to say Le Manoir topped the list both for food and service, not to mention the location. This world-famous restaurant and hotel is now part of the Belmond group of hotels ( formerly Orient Express group). I love Le Manoir, ever since we returned to the UK, it has never failed. The service is exemplary , food delicious, they encourage children to come, as well as encourage photographs to be taken. Raymond’s eldest Son, Olivier (Olly), happened to be in the same french class at school as my eldest daughter. The french master always took great delight in the filling in of the blancs in a french test by saying Remplir les Ollys! Very odd, but something that has always stuck in my mind.

We went with friends and their friends, the sun shone and the gardens as well as the food was perfect ( apart form the constant arrival of guests, Via Helicopter!

The next visit was to The Swallow Street rooms, for a birthday girls lunch. This was wonderfully organised by the lovely Antonia for her Mum, and it turned out to be a complete surprise with girl friends descending from Belgium and far-flung places.

As Cate, the Mum, is from Wales originally, Antonia took the opportunity in her dad’s absence to have Lamb as the main course.

The Swallow Street rooms are a private dining room which seats 24 or so below Bentley’s. The room is made to look like a smart library with sage green Panelling and mirrors. Bentleys is the place to go for Oysters and people watching as it would seem that a lot of M.P.s go there as well!

Onto Stoke Park Country Club, for dinner with the older male members, a once a year event, which I have the impression is just an excuse to raise money for their drinking fund! However it is usually a very nice evening in good company. For dinner this year, the starter was poached salmon, which tested very nice, but to my mind it was a pity that they did not remove the skin, crispy skin is great but sloppy skin, on poached fish, Uh No No!, For the main course it was Pork Cutlet with Ham and Swiss cheese, again I feel that the execution was not the best, it looked very dry and burnt at the edges. If this was me cooking it, I would make a pocket in the pork, fill it with goats cheese and wrap in Parma ham. Fortunately, I chose the alternative choice which although a bit skimpy was a far better dish, Salad with King Prawns. Dessert for those who have a penchant for Puds, AN apple crumble with Blackberries.

Onto Saturday Lunch. we went to Colbert on Sloane Square to have lunch with friends from the Cotswolds. Colbert is part of the group of London Restaurants run By Corbyn and King. Fortunately it is Jeremy King and Chris Corbyn ( and not Jeremy Corbyn, otherwise we might indeed be a bit concerned.)

Apart from Colbert, they also own The Wolseley ( my favourite) The Delaunay, on Aldwych, Fischers in Marylebone, Brasserie Zédel in Piccadilly, The Beaumont a hotel in Mayfair, which won best hotel 2016, and within the hotel the American Bar and the Colony Club grill. There was one other, on Lower Regent Street, but they changed their format, and it just didn’t work, it is no more. So all of the above have a similar theme, a grand European Brasserie type restaurant. Fischers, is based on an Austrian Theme, Brasserei Zédel, very much a french brasserie with a Prix Fix very good value menu.

Maybe I have just eaten out too many times in the recent past, plus himself is learning to cook, as I was left disappointed with my lunch. My starter salad was beetroot and goats cheese which i really liked, but when I see dressed crab on the menu, i expect os see A Dressed crab, not a tiny pile of crab on a plate for £17.00 and himself chose the Feuilletés Anchois as a starter, and expected the very least a small pastry case filled with Anchovies, but think again, it was just like Cheese Straws with a smidgen of Anchovy. I have to say that the Filet Americain however was good, or so he said. Our waiter was on the other hand surly, too quick to remove plates and generally did not seem to love his job. So not good marks I am afraid, they must do better.

Col1

Sunday Lunch on the other hand was for the most part what the Doctor ordered. We had, ham Hock Fritters and heritage tomato salad, followed by, Sausages and Mash, Smoked haddock fish cake with a poached egg, beer battered haddock and chips followed by a crumble and Ice cream. This was in The Black Horse, in Fulmer, a small very pretty village in Buckinghamshire, worth a visit, they have rooms lots of outside tables, parking and seem to serve food at least on a Sunday, pretty much all day.

And finally, it being Sunday, breakfast was cooked. A His and Hers.

His was Sautéed mushrooms on Toasted Sourdough Bread with Soft Poached Eggs, Rocket, Tomatoes, Chimichurri sauce and a Mexican spicy salsa.

Hers a bowl of Berries!

his and her

Old friends, Chez Bruce and Borough Market

A short while ago, we were treated by Old friends ( friends that we have known for a long time, and not old at all) to a wonderful dinner at Chez Bruce in Wandsworth ( London). Not my neck of the woods at all, and in fact in all the years that I have been connected in some way or another, have never been to that part of London! After all, it is south of the river! South of the river means transportation is just that little bit more difficult. So difficult in fact, it meant we had to drive! Quelle Horreur! But the friends and the restaurant made it all worth while.

Chez Bruce is one of the three restaurants run by Chef Bruce Poole .

Chez Bruce opened for business in 1995. Nigel ( Nigel Platts Martin business partner and owner of the Ledbury and the Square) and Bruce added The Glasshouse, in Kew in 1999; and La Trompette, in Chiswick in 2001 to the London-based group.

We have been many times to La Trompette which is a very affordable Michelin starred restaurant in a back street Chiswick ( London W4). Likewise the Glasshouse in Kew ( handily next to the tube station).

However this was our first visit to Chez Bruce, and I have to say that it lived up to it’s hype as far as food was concerned. BUT himself felt that the service let it down. One time he was fiddling with his wine glass, with maybe a soupçon of very quaffable wine left in it, when the waiter descended and said “shall I take that away?” and before himself could protest, away it was gone. Later on, after dessert, again the waiter came with a “Are you done with that?” not so much the words but the tone, and then the lights went on, bright lights, I was almost expecting the chairs to be put on the table ( we were not the last by any means).

But as I said, the food was very good indeed and you can judge for yourself.

Today , we took a trip to Borough Market, which is by London Bridge Tube/Railway Station. I really like going to this markets, but then I love markets. However, this has gone really upmarket in recent years and I have not been for a while and was really surprised by how much more upmarket it has become. There are in fact less market type stalls, many specialist food stalls, especially olive oil, and truffle olive oils. Not so many fruit and vegetable type stands anymore but oodles of food stands, anything from melted cheese to bratwurst with all the trimmings to vegetarian hamburgers to venison sausages to Thai curries to Japanese noodles, the list is endless. If you are ever in London and at a loose end then it is worth the visit. It is now open Wednesday through Saturday, with Saturday being the busiest day. If you want to shop then it is almost impossible as it is now really a “destination” place for ( on the whole) standing and eating. So trying to “shop with shopping trolley in tow, pushing past punters with plates of steaming Paella is near nigh impossible. Likewise on the other open days, avoid lunch times as again it is really busy.

Chicago and London, Restaurants and Food

I returned home from Chicago, where I had been for the Marathon ( not me I hasten to add) to find my home resembling the scene from the film Dr. Zhivago,where he returns to his home only to find it occupied by a load of strangers and himself being confined to one room! Yes! We have builders, and so we have been forced to leave.

Whilst in the USA, we dined on the obligatory post Marathon Hamburgers, in the not so customary Hamburger Joint of the Ralph Lauren Restaurant aptly named the RL. It is attached to the Ralph Lauren store, on Michigan Avenue ( aka the Magnificent Mile). The Decor and interior were just like the Ralph Lauren shops, pretending to be Olde Worlde English gentlemen’s clubs, lots of wood and leather, rather overcrowded with the number of tables, but pleasant surroundings nonetheless . The service was slick, despite having to ask twice for an ice bucket for our post Marathon “Bubbles”, the service was also fast, a tad too fast, but hey it is the USA, AND, someone had just run 26.2 miles (again)! The Hamburgers were just what was needed and were really good.

The next morning ,we hunted for the best pancakes in town, another post marathon ” must have”. We happened upon the ” Wildberry” and judging by the line outside, decided it was for us, the wait? An hour or thereabouts, fortunately we were given a buzzer to hold, which enabled us to grab a coffee and sit along with the rest of Chicago in the sun, waiting our turn. The Wildberry did not disappoint .

Following on from these two delights was “The Cheesecake Factory” this is a fairly upmarket US Chain, and it is a bit of a factory, but having just been up the Hancock Tower to fight with the masses for the wonderful view of Chicago by night, this restaurant was just downstairs. We opted for a salad, which of course was enormous, but then just look at the desserts! Heart attack here we come!

Back to reality, well not quiet , eating in the wonderful Pied a Terre restaurant in London. It had been a two star Michelin, but now sadly only one star.

To start with we both chose the same, which was the Veal Sweetbreads served with Steak Tartar and smoked eel, Delicious! Veal today is perfectly acceptable to order and to eat, gone are the days when it was considered not correct. Veal is the meat of young cattle, it can be produced from a calf of either sex but most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds. Only one Bull per herd is required and so the young bulls would need to be slaughtered in any case . Nowadays they are given freedom before slaughtering .