The 3 Christmas cookery classes were a great success, except for the topside which I used for the first class. That was too tough! So by the second class we had learnt that topside needs long slow cooking (braising or stewing) and that sirloin or ribeye are the best cuts for roasting, not to mention the obvious, fillet.
The Christmas party at Nicky Booth was a roaring success. Hopefully Conchessa will let me have the pictures so I can put them on the blog. The weather was not too hot thankfully. We all started off with a class of bubbly and wandered around the delightful garden and sat on her porch. After a chat the nibbles came out. Deep fried mozzarella balls with a sweet chilli dip. Delicious. We then went and sat at her beautifully set (white cloth and starched white napkins) table and ate a delicious 3 course meal.
The starter was double cooked blue cheese souffle with delicious just out of the oven walnut bread. I think this was my favourite. The mains were a selection of salads (Chickpea and butternut not my favourite), fennel dauphinois and an aubergine and tomato and creme fraiche bake. There was also a potato and green bean salad which went down well. The desserts were great. Chocolate tart (rich with a great crust) meringue roulade with a caramel drizzle, hot apricots, home made icecream etc. The coffee was not good ! Pity. There were chocolates to end (but I was too full) Some ended with a glass of Limoncello liquer.
All in all a memorable day. There were 17 of us and those of you who didn't join us you missed a real treat!!. We will go to her again next year for sure.
