Rachel Allen - Entertaining at Home

Rachel Allen

Entertaining

at

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Title Page Rachel Allen Entertaining at Home

Introduction Introduction Friends, family, good food, good times-this is what entertaining is all about. It can be as relaxed as flopping down on the sofa with a few friends to share nibbles and drinks, or as formal as getting out your best china and ironing your tablecloth for a three-course meal. How you choose to share your time and your cooking creations with your loved ones is entirely up to you. What each kind of gathering has in common, however, is a happy, welcoming atmosphere, and the main ingredient for that is you. The kind of entertaining my family tends to do at home is most often spontaneous and casual. Maybe there’s a big pot of cassoulet bubbling away gently in the oven and we’ll realise there’s enough to share, so after a phone call or two we find ourselves with several hungry friends arriving at the door with bottles in hand. But there are also times when we’ll have a larger gathering or a particularly special evening when we want to push the boat out and make more of an effort with both the food and the table decorations. In this book I hope to give you the inspiration and tools you will need to entertain for any gathering, whether relaxed and intimate or a great big bash, while actually getting to enjoy yourself as well. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned cook or a complete novice in the kitchen; I’ve tried to give you achievable recipes that take the mystery and complication out of cooking for a special occasion. And you’ll find many of the recipes easy enough to cook to make any meal a special occasion.

BRUNCHES AND LUNCHES BRUNCHES AND LUNCHES Getting together with friends and family doesn’t always mean ‘dinner’. You can have just as special a meal before the sun goes down. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, or just getting together with the girls are reason enough to plan a nice meal together. Brunch is one of my favourite meals- it allows you to put a little extra something into what is essentially a late breakfast, and it means you can have a sneaky glass of something fizzy or a Bloody Mary before noon! Here you’ll find many ideas for easy and special daytime meals.

BRUNCH BRUNCH

Baked eggs with creamy kale Baked eggs with creamy kale This is delicious for brunch. If you can’t get kale, use spinach. I love to use the Irish farmhouse cheese Glebe Brethan for its delicious flavour and melting texture, but you can use Gruyère instead. SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN 25g (1oz) butter 900g (2lb) kale with stalks removed before weighing Salt and ground black pepper 350ml (12fl oz) single or regular cream Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 6 eggs 350g (12oz) Glebe Brethan or Gruyère cheese, grated Six 100ml (3½ fl oz) ramekins or ovenproof dishes 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. 2 Add the butter to a large wide frying pan and place over a medium heat. Add the kale and season with salt and pepper. As soon as the kale wilts and becomes tender, add the cream and nutmeg, then allow to bubble for 3–5 minutes until thickened. 3 Divide the kale between the ramekins or dishes, placing it around the inside of each dish and leaving a small well in the centre. 4 Break one egg into each dish and sprinkle the grated cheese over the top. Bake in the oven for 8–10 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling around the edges. Scatter over a little pepper and serve immediately with a little toast on the side.

Wild mushrooms on toast with chive hollandaise Wild mushrooms on toast with chive hollandaise I like to use chanterelles or oyster mushrooms for this recipe. Chanterelles are one of my favourite mushrooms. They have a huge amount of flavour and their colour is like liquid gold. Here they transform what is essentially just mushrooms on toast into a luxurious breakfast treat. SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN 3 generous handful of wild mushrooms 50g (2oz) butter, plus extra for spreading 6 slices of bread 100ml (3½fl oz) chive hollandaise (see below) For the chive hollandaise 2 egg yolks 100g (4oz) butter, diced Squeeze of lemon juice 1–2 tbsp chopped chives Salt and ground black pepper 1 First make the hollandaise sauce following the instructions on page 159, stirring the chopped chives into the cooked sauce just before seasoning, 2 Next carefully clean the mushrooms. The best way to do this is to brush off any soil or debris with a pastry brush. Avoid washing them as this will make them soggy during cooking. 3 Place a large frying pan on a high heat and allow it to get quite hot. Add the butter and when it has melted and starts to foam, tip in the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 3–5 minutes, tossing regularly. 4 Meanwhile, toast the bread and spread with butter. 5 When the mushrooms are cooked, taste for seasoning then arrange on top of the hot buttered toast, drizzle with the chive hollandaise and serve immediately.

Citrus honeyed fruit Citrus honeyed fruit The sweet-sour combination of lime juice and honey is a lovely way to enhance the flavours of some fruit. I like to add chopped mint for a fresh taste. This is ideal for serving at breakfast. SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN Juice of 1–2 limes 1–2 tbsp runny honey 2–3 tsp chopped mint (optional) 750g (1lb 10oz) mixed fruit, such as melon, bananas, raspberries, pineapple 1 In a large bowl, mix together the lime juice, honey and mint (if using). Peel any of the larger fruit (if necessary) and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add all the fruit to the bowl and stir to cover. 2 Leave to macerate for 10–15 minutes before serving.

Sweetcorn fritters with mango and avocado salsa Sweetcorn fritters with mango and avocado salsa These gorgeous light fritters make a delicious brunch when eaten with the avocado and mango salsa, but they can be served on their own as a starter. You’ll need a good ripe avocado and mango for the salsa, which shouldn’t be made more than half an hour to an hour in advance or the avocado will discolour. MAKES 15–20 FRITTERS SERVES 4–6 VEGETARIAN 2 eggs, separated 3 tbsp milk 50g (2oz) plain flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 200g (7oz) tinned or frozen and defrosted sweetcorn (drained weight) 4–6 tbsp olive oil For the mango and avocado salsa 1 avocado 1 small or ½ medium-large mango 2 spring onions 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander Squeeze of lemon juice Salt and ground black pepper 1 First make the salsa. Peel the avocado and mango, remove their stones and cut the flesh into 1 cm (½ in cubes). Trim and finely slice the spring onions. 2 Put all the salsa ingredients into a large bowl, gently mix together and season to taste with salt and pepper, then set aside. 3 Place the egg yolks in another bowl and mix together with the milk. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix together until smooth then stir in the sweetcorn. 4 In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then carefully fold into the corn mixture. 5 Place a frying pan on a medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. (If using a large frying pan, you may need to add more oil-it should completely cover the base of the pan.) When the oil is quite hot, add tablespoon-sized blobs of the mixture, very lightly flattening these with the back of the spoon if they are too lumpy. Cook for 30 seconds–1 minute or until golden and crusty underneath, then, using a fish slice or palette knife, gently turn over and cook for a further minute or so on the other side. They are cooked when they are golden in colour and have a light spring to the touch in the centre. 6 Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. (You can do several at once, but be careful not to overload the pan or they will stick together. You will need to add more oil for each new batch.) Serve as soon as possible; kept warm in a baking tray in a low oven where they can sit for about 30 minutes, though they are best eaten straight from the pan!