Dessert Disaster

We had a lovely evening last night with the butcher, his wife and their 2 kids - angry birds (“les oiseaux fache”) on the ipad was an excellent ice breaker and kept the kids occupied until we ate so that was a bonus!  My brother-in-law, who will be visiting with my sister and their 2 daughters will be thrilled to learn that they brought with them last night a few pots of "bloc de foie gras de canard", "pate de foie de canard truffe 1%" and "rillettes pur canard".  (I shall do my best to keep them for your visit Mark but you may have to fight Tony for them when you get here!)

Sadly, I didn’t heed my own advice about never making something for the very first time when you have company.  Having made the most phenomenal Mushroom pate with red onion chutney (recipe below) from June’s edition of “Good Food” magazine (a very dear friend in Cayman bought me an annual subscription to the magazine which I love and another lovely friend forwards them to me from Cayman so that I’m not missing out!), I thought I’d try their white chocolate strawberry mousse cake as well.  This was my first mistake especially in light of the fact that my most excellent friend, Ali in the Isle of Man (photos on a previous blog from our visit with her and the family in May), had recently sent me a recipe for a white chocolate cheesecake that she’d made for a dinner party from which she’d had spectacular feedback.  The Good Food version was tasty but just not tasty enough and sadly it didn’t set perfectly despite having made it the day before.  The adults ate it but the kids didn’t and that for me is a good indication - these aren’t particularly fussy kids and their eyes had lit up at the mention of “le dessert” but sadly it didn’t live up to their expectations - so, I shall perhaps try Ali’s far superior dessert for another dinner party we’re having on Friday when some other friends (english this time!) will be coming over and my mum will be staying with us.

On an unrelated note - we have a cat (photo above)!  This is the very same cat that came to us 3 years ago as a baby with his mum.  We got quite close to them and fed them regularly - we think they latched on to us because we’re the only house in the neighbourhood without dogs and they are literally taking their life into their hands by choosing this neighbourhood given our immediate neighbour is president of the hunting lodge and has about 20 hunting dogs!!  Anyway, when we returned to Cayman in October of 2008, we mentioned them to our dear friends, the older couple who live round the corner and they said they’d feed them for us and look out for them which they have done faithfully for the past 3 years even nursing the mum when she got a tumor in her tummy and eventually died which leaves the baby who’s not really a baby anymore but still “sauvage” and we shall let him stay that way - for his own sake he needs to stay a little “sauvage” in these surroundings.  That said, I shall continue to support my friend who leaves a small bowl of food each morning throughout the winter months regardless of the weather (this is quite the undertaking given the walk from her house to ours is down a steep hill which does apparently get icy in the winter).

Funnily enough, my father having read about our poor baby bunny rabbit tragedy and then having seen the photos on the Bastille day blog of the wine barrel pigs, did point out that as we're still only "pretend farmers" perhaps we should stick with pretend animals for the time being!  I feel quite positive though knowing that although not strictly "my cat", he has been around for the past 3 years and seems to be doing well so perhaps one day we'll get closer to real farming with real animals!

Mushroom Pate with red onion chutney

FOR THE PATE

175g butter

600g mixed mushrooms (any combo - they suggest shitake, chestnut and button), wiped and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

juice of 1 large lemon

pinch of cayenne pepper (I didn’t have cayenne and used paprika which worked fine)

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

150g ricotta

100g gorgonzola (I used roquefort which was equally delicious)

FOR THE CHUTNEY

3 red onions, thinly sliced

1 red chili, finely chopped

olive or vegetable oil for frying

100g castor sugar

100ml red wine vinegar

6 cornichons, chopped

Melt 50g of the butter in a frying pan and cook the mushrooms, onion and garlic for about 10 mins or until soft.  Squeeze over the lemon juice.  Using a slotted spoon, place half the mushroom mixture into the food processor and whizz on pulse setting until smooth.  Strain off the liquid from the remaining mushrooms.

Combine both mushroom mixtures in a bowl an mix in the cayenne, nutmeg and ricotta.  Crumble in the gorgonzola and mix together.  Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Divide the mixture evenly between ramekins or small little kilner jars.

Melt the remaining butter and spoon a layer over the pate to cover completely.  Seal and chill.

For the chutney, fry the onions and chili in 2-3 tbsp of oil for 10 mins or until soft.  Add the sugar and vinegar and bring to the boil.  Bubble away for 10-15 mins or until the onions are very soft and the liquid has reduced.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then fold in the cornichons.  Allow to cool - serve the pate with the chutney and chunks or rye or sourdough bread or crackers.  (NOTE from the magazine: "As a bit of an experiment I stirred some into a bowl of pappardelle, topped it with some toasted walnuts and it was fab")

BON APETIT!