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Some lovely things I’ve been making recently

June 4, 2010 19 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

Heritage tomato salad and marinated mackerel in my own red wine vinegar
Heritage tomato salad and marinated mackerel in my own red wine vinegar

The story so far in my little series of ‘Summerhouse dinners’: I’ve done three with people who came together, last week the people didn’t know each other but left like best friends. We’ve had sweltering weather, bad weather and back again. I’ve tried to perfect my hover ratio: that is, how long I chat and hang about or…do they want to be left alone? It’s trickier that balance with a small amount of guests.

I don’t quite know what to do with myself up at the big house while they are eating. Last week I just put dessert, cheese and coffee in the shed and skived off to watch Eurovision in my bedroom. Wake me up before you go go!
Zucchini and mint frittata

Zucchini and mint frittata

Cherry clafoutis

Cherry clafoutis

clafoutis, Brushed with creme de griottes, a cherry liqueur

Brushed with creme de griottes, a cherry liqueur

Salmon ceviche, guacamole, mango and spring onion salsa, tomatillo salsa, salsa asado

Salmon ceviche, guacamole, mango and spring onion salsa, tomatillo salsa, salsa asado
Tomatillo and chipotle salsa

Tomatillo and chipotle salsa
Cheese and jalapeno breadCheese and jalapeno bread
Cheese and jalapeno bread, before bakingBefore baking
jalapeno and cheese bread: Hot out of the oven, delicious
Hot out of the oven, delicious

Oak smoked tomatoes and crisp green olives

Oak smoked tomatoes and crisp green olives
Rose petals in vinegar

Rose petals in vinegar
Making the quenelles for ricotta gnocci
Making the quenelles for ricotta gnocci
Giving them a little shake in flour, ricotta gnocchi
Giving them a little shake in flour

ricotta gnocchi You boil them gently until they float and then fry in sage butter

You boil them gently until they float and then fry in sage butter
Ricotta gnocci with zucchini tagliatelli tossed in sage butterRicotta gnocci with zucchini tagliatelli tossed in sage butter

Making the meringues for the 'iles flottantes'

Making the meringues for the ‘iles flottantes’
iles flottantes Floating in creme anglaise

Floating in creme anglaise

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Comments

  1. Anonymous

    June 5, 2010 at 6:44 am

    That all looks so delicious. Are the recipes going in your book?

    Reply
  2. bakelady59

    June 5, 2010 at 7:26 am

    The whole menu looks so summery and delicious. I love the colours of the heritage Tomatoes and the freshness of the mackerel. I haven't made clafoutis for ages, so must give that a try again soon.

    Reply
  3. Gourmet Chick

    June 5, 2010 at 8:11 am

    Those ricotta gnocchi look fantastic – you must be enjoying the chance to try out some more labour intensive recipes that perhaps would not work so well at the full underground restaurant

    Reply
  4. James

    June 5, 2010 at 8:48 am

    You've made some magic moments there.

    Reply
  5. theundergroundrestaurant

    June 5, 2010 at 10:24 am

    fingers: yes some of them will be going in the book
    Bakelady: I love those old fashioned French desserts
    Gourmet: the ricotta gnocci are very difficult to do for large numbers of people. I've changed the original Zuni recipe to make it more practical and stable to handle and they work well now.
    But yes, it's been a return to my roots, practising recipes, which will hopefully give dividends when I do large dinners again.
    James: thank you. I'm writing up the Patrick O'Brian dinner we did right now, happy memories!

    Reply
  6. Scarlett the Heavenly Healer

    June 5, 2010 at 11:22 am

    Oooh… that gnocci looks SO delicious I can almost taste it….

    🙂

    Reply
  7. The Curious Cat

    June 5, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    Your food just seems to get better and better! Love those tomatoes and the bread just sounds divine! Recipe?! 🙂 xxx

    Reply
  8. Lizzie

    June 6, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    They all look delicious; particularly the salmon ceviche.

    Reply
  9. Helen

    June 6, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    What beautiful summer food. All so pretty, too. That bread looks so wonderfully gooey.

    Reply
  10. Catalan Cooking

    June 6, 2010 at 9:28 pm

    All looks stunningly good.

    Reply
  11. theundergroundrestaurant

    June 6, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    Thank you kind peops!
    Maybe I shouldn't bother with moany writing and just do pix in future!

    Reply
  12. The Shed

    June 7, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    Oh my word, the clafoutis looks perfect.

    Reply
  13. Plum Kitchen

    June 7, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    The pics are beautiful, and I always feel inspired to cook even more vege after reading your posts (kinda over Pork at the moment),but sorry, the highlight for me is always the moany writing….:)

    Reply
  14. theundergroundrestaurant

    June 7, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    Phew! 🙂

    Reply
  15. vincent

    June 8, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    Hello,

    We bumped into your blog and we really liked it – great recipes YUM YUM.
    We would like to add it to the Petitchef.com.

    We would be delighted if you could add your blog to Petitchef so that our users can, as us,
    enjoy your recipes.

    Petitchef is a french based Cooking recipes Portal. Several hundred Blogs are already members
    and benefit from their exposure on Petitchef.com.

    To add your site to the Petitchef family you can use http://en.petitchef.com/?obj=front&action=site_ajout_form or just go to Petitchef.com and click on "Add your site"

    Best regards,

    Vincent
    petitchef.com

    Reply
  16. Katie

    June 8, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    oooh that bread looks incredible – any chance of sharing the recipe???

    Reply
  17. gastrogeek

    June 12, 2010 at 11:14 am

    this is making me far too hungry! I adore the idea of rose vinegar, what a clever idea.

    Reply
  18. theundergroundrestaurant

    June 13, 2010 at 8:47 am

    Gastrogeek: I got that idea from Ben Greeno who worked at Noma for a long time. He's going to start his own supperclub soon which will be one to watch!

    Reply
  19. theundergroundrestaurant

    June 13, 2010 at 8:48 am

    Katie it'll be in the book!

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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