Come Dine With Me Comeback

What better way to make a comeback on this blog than with a CMWM special! Not the televised version (been there done the whole TV cookery show thing  with Britain's Best Dish), but with a couples version of our own...three couples, three houses, three meals to enjoy.

The first meal of the competition took place in Linlithgow, courtesy of the Storrars. Now I've seen plenty photos on Facebook of their culinary creations, so knew they would be going all out to impress...and impress they did. Let me take you through the evening...

Meet and Greet 

The evening commenced at 8pm with some drinks in the lounge. We had two options; raspberry or rhubarb and ginger. As you can see, the company was very quiet and reserved at this stage (not!)...

Now onto dinner...

The starter - baked figs stuffed with mozarella and wrapped in Parma ham. 

One word sums this up, YUM!

The posh interlude - sorbet

The ante was well and truly upped when we were served a citrus sorbet in between courses. This served as a lovely palate cleanser.

The main - Chinese spiced duck with greens and a plum sauce

By this time in the evening I was salivating with all the aromas coming from the kitchen. We were lucky that it was open-plan and we could see our duck being cooked. As you can see the chef was taking this part of the event very serious!

Once dished up it looked (and tasted) fab...

Desert - chocolate mousse

I class myself as a bit of a chocolate mousse connoisseur, and anyone who knew me around the time that I went on Britain's Best Dish will likely also be known as a chocolate mousse connoisseur, as chocolate mousse was made again, and again, and again until I had it perfected!

Mousse should be fluffy, light, perfectly mixed (and for me on the milky chocolate spectrum) and this one did not disappoint. It even had a little crumble of flake on the top.

Cheese, chocolate and chilli

Just when we thought the meal was complete, out came the cheeseboard and biscuits (with gluten free ones just for me). The cheese was a lovely selection and greed took over at this point. Totally not required, but enjoyed all the same! I even enjoyed a wee glass of port, something I've not really liked before now (but always tried to drink on its own, now I know why it's the perfect accompaniment to cheese).

Now if the meal had finished at that point, well massive thumbs up! However things were about to take a turn for the worse with the chilli-chocolate game. Chocolate I like, chilli...well the photo sums it up...

The entertainment

The hosts, however did manage to pull the evening back by their after dinner entertainment, the table converted into a pool table (I soooooooooo want one of these!).

The whisky stash was unleashed, although I stuck to the red wine. A drink too may for the host perhaps?

Great night, great company, great food.

The scoring

Scores were taken and put in a sealed envelope. The score? Well you will have to wait for blog three.

A huge thank you to the hosts Brian and Sarah, I've never eaten (so much cheese) or laughed so much in a long time. Next time will be at ours and from the cook's perspective...watch this space