a saturday in the kitchen

For Toms Mums birthday gift we spent this Saturday up at Brook Farm creating a delicious meal for his parents that rivaled any fine restaurant. My tasks were the sweet things, Tom did everything else. It was a great day spent working on my new years resolution.

My first task was actually treats for Tom to take in to work to belatedly celebrate his birthday. It is custom to take in a cake or something on your birthday for employees around you to share, and as Tom didn't desire taking in a cheap store bought cake I was employed in making Millionaire's Shortbread. Luckily the double batch was more than enough to go around and my team will love me on Monday as I have a fair few packed and ready to share. They are quite easy to make, a shortbread base covered in toffee then topped with chocolate. Yummy!

My next task was dessert for the night, a Ginger Passion fruit Trifle. Using a trifle base I lightly soaked it with ginger wine then covered with a mixture of whipped cream and icing sugar and topped it all off with the insides of eight passion fruits. It looked amazing and was a deliciously light finish to the four course Tom had presented.

The menu for the evening:

Broccoli and Stilton soup

Lycees to cleanse the pallet

Scallops in a light breading

Seasoned Talapia wrapped in Parma Ham served over curly kale with roasted tomatoes

Ginger Paasionfruit Trifle

Yes, everything Tom made was amazing. The soup had a perfect balance of broccoli and Stilton. I usually find scallops chewy but these had the ideal texture melting in your mouth. There was three different varieties of the seasoned Talapia which we were served a sample of each. I was finding it difficult to finish my plate of the main course as all of the incredible food was filing me up. But as always of course I found a bit of room for dessert. I bet that finding a meal of this calibre in a restaurant would be difficult without breaking the bank!

This morning the cooking frenzy carried on. For the second time I put together a batch of cereal bars. Quick to mix together oats, shredded coconut, nuts, seeds and dried berries then fold into heated condensed milk. Once flattened in the pan, pop in the over on low heat for an hour. That it! Just like that a couple of weeks worth of yummy morning treats are created that make everyone sitting nearby in the office impressed thinking I am a Queen in the kitchen.

Love