Friday menu for foody friend

[Pferdestarke]

We have company Friday evening and I have offered to cook dinner. He's bringing the wine. Recently he's been getting very good at the pans and has successfully turned out some fine food. I'm doing:

• Rouille and toasted French bread as nibbles

• Sliced cooked beetroot, marinated anchovies and garlic dressing as an amuse

• Glynn Purnell's Masala monkfish with red lentils and coconut

• Pan roasted halibut with a tarragon butter sauce, cockles, mashed potato with crispy panko king prawn and green beans. (I have some prawns that need using and needed some texture on the plate)

• Ginger cheesecake

Alarm is set for 8:30am for a trip to the market to collect the goods.

I will photograph.

eta: blame Apple for the st image quality.

Edited by Pferdestarke on Saturday 13th March 00:11

[Don]

I am looking forward to seeing this.

We have my bro coming this weekend and I will be cooking up some special/interesting meals. But it starts with a Friday supper my wife is making of chorizo and pepper stew with beans. Mmmm.

[BigJonMcQuimm]

Do you have the recipe for the monk fish please?

[Bullett]

2 fish courses and no cheese????

[Pferdestarke]

BigJonMcQuimm said:

Do you have the recipe for the monk fish please?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/masalaspicedmonkfish_91048.shtml

Watch the Masala mix though. Tests this morning show it is too bitter and needs both sugar and salt to bring it up a notch. I'm clingfilming the fish and double bagging, then immersing in 70degree water for 15 mins, then pan frying for texture/colour

No Halibut available this morning too as it's not quite in season (next month), so I've gone for bass instead. Sure it will do just fine.

[Pferdestarke]

Bullett said:

2 fish courses and no cheese????

I know, terrible Northern heathen aren't I!

[escargot]

Can't wait to see the result chap.

[Pferdestarke]

Don, will you photograph your creations also? I'd like to see them.

[escargot]

Actually, we've got a few decent meals planned (making use of the wild boar) this weekend also. Could be a good one for the photo thread.

[Pferdestarke]

Well, here goes. Pretty good, although as usual, presentation let me down slightly.

The rouille was very good. Deep, robust flavour. First time I've made it and I recommend you do too. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5245/rouille



Beetroot and anchovy salad was well received, if a little overpowering as you may expect.



The Masala Monkfish was great. Well done Glynn, I will be eating at your establishment very, very soon. The coconut milk split ever so slightly but added to the dish immensely. I used Quinoa in place of red lentils.



The Hollandaise-based sauce was good but the cockles let it down as they were gritty. I've decided I prefer a lighter, stock-based reduction than butter and lemon. The bass was flavoursome and the panko prawns were very textural. Sod scampi in future, i'll be making my own.



My o/h's cheesecake tasted fantastic and went down a treat. Stem ginger, ginger biscuits and orange.



We started by having a Finlandia Vodka in iced shot glasses which was new to me and very enjoyable.

Of course there was wine involved; a decent Sauvignon Blanc and then a good Pinot grigio.

The Benedictine and Courvoisier finsished things off nicely.





If there are any typos, blame the above, hic.

Edited by Pferdestarke on Saturday 13th March 00:12

[sherman]

After all that delicious looking food you finish it off with bog standard brandy

[Don]

Pferdestarke said:

as usual, presentation let me down slightly.

My fat buttocks.

The presentation was fantastic.

Thanks for sharing - that meal looked brilliant. Ours was great, too, but the "presentation" was slopping some chorizo and bean stew onto the plate next to the mashed spuds!

Tonight's nosh will be groovier. Might do pics of that...

[Pferdestarke]

sherman said:

After all that delicious looking food you finish it off with bog standard brandy

I know. I'm not a brandy drinker usually, and after this morning's hangover, I won't be in future either.

[Mobile Chicane]

Pferdestarke said:

sherman said:

After all that delicious looking food you finish it off with bog standard brandy

I know. I'm not a brandy drinker usually, and after this morning's hangover, I won't be in future either.

I polished off rather a large amount of brandy after the rugby world cup final in 2003 and haven't touched it since.

Food looks great.

[horton]

Pferdestarke said:

all looks good apart from the cheap and nasty cognac - I am by no means rich, but the minimum I will drink is VSOP and when funds allow, XO.

[Pferdestarke]

horton said:

all looks good apart from the cheap and nasty cognac - I am by no means rich, but the minimum I will drink is VSOP and when funds allow, XO.

I need to read up on cognac. I know nothing about it. That's my excuse anyway.

Edited by Pferdestarke on Sunday 14th March 21:16

[horton]

Pferdestarke said:

horton said:

all looks good apart from the cheap and nasty cognac - I am by no means rich, but the minimum I will drink is VSOP and when funds allow, XO.

I need to read up on cognac. I know nothing about it. That's my excuse anyway.

Edited by Pferdestarke on Sunday 14th March 21:16

I find cognac strangely addictive - so try better cognac with care.

I don't agree with "you get what you pay for" as a general rule, I drink cheap wine and medium priced beer/vodka - but when it comes to scotch and cognac, I have noticed the difference and I would rather buy a more expensive bottle even if it meant I had to make it last longer.

Having said that, I don't drink often and I drink for taste, rather than to get drunk.

[OliverTwist]

Looks very nice

[zakelwe]

Better not go on my brandy thread then guys, you'd faint.

Lovely meal once again. I actually think it looks very well presented, though the camera seems to have got confused with the light level and colour balance. I have that trouble with my camera, often it does not show it to it's best light.

Good work.

Andy