Dinner for twenty

Feeding the masses

One seriously huge shepherds pie

A few weeks back I hosted a bonfire night dinner for friends which was a great success and needing to cook for twelve I made a huge amount of cassoulet to keep the hordes happy (see Sausage Cassoulet). Well at the weekend my in-laws hosted a party for twenty, and found themselves in the same predicament of thinking up a crowd pleaser that didn’t mean too much time stuck in the kitchen so they could entertain their guests. They decided to ‘do a Jeffrey Archer’ and have a shepherds pie and champagne evening, if I were to be a pedant I would point out that it was in fact cottage pie and sparkling white, but nobody likes a pedant.

Being known as the family 'foodie' I was tasked with chopping enough carrots and swede to feed the masses. I set to work, diligently chopping up the mountain of veggies, very neatly indeed I might add, only to have father-in-law point out ‘well, you’re hardly as fast as Jamie Oliver are you?’. I don’t know, do a man a favour! - and I got a rather sore blister on my index finger from all that chopping.

Tiramisu

My other task (apart from making sure everyone’s glasses were kept topped up) was to make a tiramisu for dessert. A nice simple recipe of sponge fingers dipped in coffee and Kahlua (which I couldn’t resist adding a splash of to my morning coffee) layered with a creamy mascarponey layer of decadence.

Genius coffee cooling!

Seeing how I had originally only come downstairs in the hunt for coffee and breakfast I wanted to make the dessert quickly, however the scalding hot coffee had other ideas. It simply refused to cool down, but lovely fiancé then proved most useful by running off with my bowl of coffee to return with it surrounded by snow from the garden. Silly though it looked, it most certainly worked!

November Column - Booze

November's column, in which I ramble on about booze, is now up on the 'Columns' page.

Pizza

I love making pizza, there is something so therapeutic about kneading the dough and it is the perfect meal for when you have lots of odd and sods that need using up. Indeed this evening I find myself with a glut of peppers, a few mushrooms and half a can of sweetcorn (has to be green giant, nothing else is welcome in my house, and not the no added sugar and salt stuff oh no no, proper original stuff). Anyway so chuck in a few extras from the supermarket and we have the makings of a really yummy dinner. For some reason it is a meal that lovely fiancé and I always make together which makes it all the more fun.

Home-made pizza (makes enough for 4 people person sized pizzas or two large pizzas)

To make the dough:

500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp salt

1 7g sachet dried fast action yeast

1 tbsp olive oil

300ml warm water

For the topping:

Passata

mozzarella

A selection of the following or whatever you like: onions, mushrooms, peppers, ham, chorizo, cooked sausage chunks, olives, tomatoes, spinach, ricotta … use your imagination

Oregano and/ or basil

To finish

Basil oil or chilli oil if you like (see Flavoured oil entry)

Preheat your oven to its highest setting and pop in a baking tray to heat.

To make the dough mix the yeast and oil with the water, sieve the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre, pour in the water mixture. Give it all a good stir then sprinkle in the salt and knead everything together. Have a bit of fun kneading the dough and pretending you are one of those show-off pizza chefs tossing it around all over the place. Then roll it out to the desired size or if you are only wanting enough for one or two servings then the rest can be frozen in a freezer bag at this stage.

I like to give the base a couple of minutes in the oven without a topping to make sure it doesn't go soggy. Then you can get to work on assembling your pizza. Start with a thin layer of passata, then chuck on your desired ingredients before finishing with herbs and mozzarella. Pop him back in the oven and cook until golden at the edges and the cheese is melted, depending on how hot your oven goes this should take between six and ten minutes.

I like to serve with a sprinkling of basil or chilli oil.

Sausage Cassoulet

Bonfire night Cassoulet

I'm hosting bonfire night festivities this year. There is always a big bonfire and fireworks in a field in town so I am hosting for drinkies beforehand and then dinner afterwards. So my mission – something warming and yummy to feed a crowd (circa 12) that doesn't need much attention, not too expensive and in-keeping with the following allergies – diary, wheat, soya, celery, red meat, raisins (I need less fussy friends!).

Well presuming people would like it to feature some sort of meat and red meat is out that leaves poultry, pork (one person doesn't eat pork but does eat sausages). Anyway, I have concluded that a nice cassoulet is the answer, not least as it is in-keeping with my current obsession with French cuisine. That way I can serve everyone a nice steaming bowlful and it is a meal in itself especially with some nice bread to mop up the sauce.

Cassoulet is one of those dishes that has dozens of variations dependent on region or family tradition. I don't tend to stick religiously to any recipe as long as the sausages, red wine and stock are good quality and it features beans, chorizo and veggies then I am happy.

I'm being awfully sexist and guessing that women would have two sausages and men three, roughly anyway, so for six couples that's 30 sausages. But I'll give you the recipe for 2 people and then you and can multiply it as necessary.

Sausage Cassoulet for 2

5 or 6 Sausages (please, please, please good quality if you want to use cheap bangers then use someone else's recipe!)

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 small red or yellow pepper, remove the seeds and dice to the same size as the carrot

a good chunk of chorizo, diced to match the pepper and carrot

2 tbsp Olive oil (better yet rosemary oil if you have it)

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 small glass red wine

1 small glass chicken stock

1 small glass chopped tomatoes

70g dried haricot beans, soaked in cold water overnight and drained

fresh sprig of rosemary and thyme

optional – handful of breadcrumbs

Heat the oven to 200C and whack in an oven-proof dish with one tablespoon of oil in it. When hot toss in your sausages and cook for about 20 mins (no lid). When cooked reduce to 180C.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over a gentle heat, then chuck in your onion, carrot, pepper and garlic and cook stirring regularly until softened but not coloured. Now chuck in your chorizo, beans, red wine, stock, tomatoes, herbs and seasoning and bring to the boil and reduce until you have a sauce of your desired consistency.

Pour this mixture over your sausages, pop a lid on it and give it at least two hours in the oven. If you'd like twenty minutes from the end sprinkle on a handful of breadcrumbs and remove the lid for a textured crunchy topping.

Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the sauce and a green salad, if you like.

Scrummy no flour chocolate torte

When we recently had the neighbours over for dinner I was in a bit of a pickle as to what to serve for dessert as Mrs Neighbour can't eat wheat. Over the years I have stumbled across quite a few chocolate cake recipes that use almonds instead of flour but when I looked into it further I really struggled to find a decent one. So I did a bit of experimenting and here is my version. Not only is the rum a yummy addition but it is also rather apt as these are the same neighbours with whom I once got incredibly drunk on rum a few months back! Mmmm rum, enjoy!

Ultimate flour-less chocolate cake

200g good quality dark chocolate

2 tbsp rum

150g caster sugar

150g butter

100g ground almonds

5 eggs, separated

Icing sugar for dusting

Melt the chocolate, rum, sugar and butter in a bowl sitting on top of a pan of barely simmering water (see Random Tip 1: Melting chocolate). Remove from the heat and stir until well mixed.

Add the ground almonds and mix well. Beat in the egg yolks, one by one.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff and peaky, and then gently fold in the chocolate mixture.

Turn into a buttered and floured 20cm (8in) round cake tin and bake at 180C for about 45 minutes and firm to the touch.

Leave to cool before removing gently from the tin, and dust with icing sugar to serve.