No “Night Out With” today folks. Mainly because I failed to get my act together, but it will be back next week!

In it’s place, let’s have a look at Bob Bob Ricard, where I shall be enjoying my Office Christmas Party (OK, so I’m self-employed, so really it’s just going to be me and the sister getting dressed up and tipsy)

I will be starting with their signature cocktail – Rhubarb Gin & Tonic (mouth watering just thinking about it) and the sister will be getting trigger happy with the “Press for Champagne” buttons that they have on each table. That’s just how she rolls.

I will then have the Rabbit, Fois Gras and Date Terrine, and even though she’ll want the same, I’ll make the Tinker order the Venison Tartar with Raw Quails Egg, so that we can share.

We’ll follow that with a 2lb Grilled Lobster with Garlic Butter & Chips (I’ll ask for mayo on the side, because that’s how I roll ) and maybe a burger too? Yes? OK, but we’ll share right? Of course. Because that’s what sisters are for.

The sister will press the button again.

We’ll finish with Chocolate Raspberry Trifle and the Cheese. 

And maybe another press of the button…

This post was a little while in the making, simply because my sister and I rarely follow recipes, we’re much more a “bunch of this, dollop of that” kind of cooks. But our darling cousin wanted the recipes for everything we cooked for her polo picnic, so we had to get our pencils out and do some scribbling.

So, first things first, here’s what we served…

And here’s what it looked like, along with a few “recipes”…

These are pretty simple and self-explanatory. Elderflower cordial poured over ice, and topped with sparking water (or prosecco!) and garnished with a stick of cucumber for swirling.

I’ve already blogged about the delicious beetroot and goat’s cheese dip right here. I know mine looks nothing like the original, but that’s because I couldn’t be bothered to check the recipe on my own blog, it was just too darn hot to get the computer out! It didn’t matter in the slightest though, it still tasted delicious!

Chicken Liver Parfait 

Ingredients 
500g Chicken Livers
300ml Milk 
3 x shallots, finely chopped
200g Butter
1 x clove garlic, finely chopped 
2 or 3 sprigs of thyme (kept intact)
Marsala Wine (Port or Sherry would also work)
3 x tbsp double cream

Ingredients
6x duck eggs
1 whole black pudding
500g sausage meat
Plain flour
2 x eggs
Brown bread crumbs

Put duck eggs in a pan of boiling water, bring back to the boil and simmer gently for 7 minutes. Drain then run under a cold tap for 3-4 minutes. Leave to cool in cold water. Once cold, gently remove the shells (tap them all over on a chopping board, pick off a small area of shell then gently roll between your palms in the cold water. The shells will come off much more easily)

Roughly chop the whole black pudding and put in a blender with the sausage meat and blend until smooth.

Divide the meat mixture in to 6 portions. Lay a piece of cling film on your work surface, put a portion of meat mixture on top then gently push with a fork to form a circle approx 10 cm across. Put a peeled egg in the middle then pull the corners of the cling film up together and gently squeeze and smooth the meat around the egg until it forms a ball. Twist the top of the cling film to secure then chill for at least an hour or overnight.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan filled 1/3 with vegetable oil over a medium to high heat.

Prepare three bowls: plain flour, 2 eggs gently whisked, breadcrumbs (I use brown breadcrumbs made from the dried out crusts that no one eats). Unwrap your eggs then dip each in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs then gently lower in to the hot oil. You can probably fit in two at a time. Fry for about 6-7 minutes until dark golden brown then lift out and drain on a cooling rack covered in kitchen paper. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Cut each scotch egg in to quarters and sprinkle with a little sea salt to serve.

1 x sheet puff pastry

300ml crème fraiche

2 x egg yolks

Zest of 1 lemon

salt & pepper

185g hot-smoked salmon

3 x spring onions (scallions) finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.
Unroll the sheet of pastry and lay on a baking sheet. Turn over the edges and press down (there is no art to this, the more rustic it looks the better as far as I’m concerend!)

Prick the pastry all over with a fork and pop into the oven. Now, I’ve never timed how long it takes to get all golden brown, but I think it’s about 20 minutes. Once it is golden brown and puffed up, remove from the oven and transfer the pastry to a cooling rack for 10 minutes so that it doesn’t get soggy while you make the filling.

In a bowl, mix the creme fraiche, egg yolks, lemon zest and salt & pepper. Flake the salmon into the bowl, add the chopped onions and stir. 

Return the pastry to the baking sheet and using a spatula, press down the centre to flatten. Spread with the creme fraiche filling and return to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes (ish… again, I never time it, sorry!). 

remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and enjoy!

(the ones in the picture are individual sized, but it’s the same process)

Asparagus, Green Beans, Baby Courgettes etc…

Extra large bunch of parsley

Large bunch each of basil and mint

Tablespoon of capers

6 x anchovies

4 x large cloves of garlic

juice of 2 lemons

a few big glugs of olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Normally I would just chop the herbs, capers, garlic & anchovies by hand with a large knife and then mix with the lemon juice, olive oil and seasoning for a chunky salsa (which, by the way, tastes amazing with char-grilled italian sausages).

But, this time, we wanted something that we could dip the veg into and still get plenty of flavour. So we just blitzed all of the ingredients in a blender for a thick creamy bright green dip that clung to the char-grilled courgettes and blanched asparagus & beans.

6 x nectarines

4 x tablespoons soft brown sugar

8 x tablespoons marsala wine

fresh raspberries

Clotted Cream ice cream

Toasted flaked almonds

Cut the nectarines into slices and put into a non-reactive pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar and marsala. Put the pan on a medium heat and bring to the boil. As soon as the liquid boils, remove the pan from the heat and lift the nectarines into a bowl with a slotted spoon. Return the pan to the heat and boil the liquid until reduced by half. Remove from the heat and once cool, pour the liquid over the nectarines.

Serve spooned over clotted cream ice cream and garnish with a few fresh raspberries and a sprinkling of toasted flaked almonds.

We also served Italian Tarallucci biscuits with ours, to soak up all that yummy juice.

Phew! And that’s about it – probably the longest post I’ve ever written! I think it may have taken longer to write about the picnic than it did to make it, it definitely took longer than it did to eat it!

Big thanks to the sister for being my partner in crime. x

This weekend was spent in the country, watching polo and picnicking like kings. 

The sister and I put on a pretty impressive spread as a gift to the birthday boy (& girl).  

More pictures and some of the recipes to follow (as per the birthday girl’s charming demanding!)

For those of you wondering, those are home made scotch eggs looming deliciously in the foreground. A British picnic wouldn’t be a British picnic without some.

{ pic by the fabulous Robin Allison Smith }