With four kids whose social life far outweighs ours, it was lovely for once to have friends over and enjoy a 'grown up' evening. It is something of a rarity these days so I made the most of by taking my inspiration from River Cottage and also lunch at the Canteen in Axminster last week and cooking a three course meal.
One of our friends is coeliac so no short-cuts could be made in this gluten free menu. I was desperate to show off my new skills and make black pudding to go in one of my favourite starters of scallops, black pudding and crispy pancetta. Sadly it turns out that it is almost impossible to get pig's blood so I opted to make scallops with pea and mint puree and crispy bacon lardons.
We are lucky to have an amazing fishmongers nearby so I carried on with the fish theme and made pan fried sea bass with a lovely crispy skin on a bed of ratatouille.
The meal was finished off with vanilla panna cotta (my new favourite desert), tiny shortbread biscuits and a blueberry compote.
I have to say the whole meal was really simple to make and probably one of the best balanced menus I have served. In fact we enjoyed it so much, I forgot to take photos!
Recipes to follow...
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