We had a small family party on her Birthday to celebrate and of course, she had a Birthday cake too. It was themed on her wallpaper – delicate girly butterflies & flowers (sparkly of course, but that doesnt show very well in the pics).  It was another traditional madeira sponge with jam & buttercream with white regalice.

On arriving we went downstairs to the Bistro/Bar area and ordered a drink, this was the only sneaky tactic I didn’t like as our table was ready and waiting when we arrived, but some restaurants do have a bad habit of getting you to order a drink before ordering wine for the table.

When we were eventually seated (we played a game of musical chairs first!) the Maître d’ came over and handed out the menu’s.  He then theatrically read aloud the days ’specials’.  We’re not sure if he was new and performing with much enthusiasm or is always so entertaining, but with much gusto he detailed the dishes brilliantly.

It took us a while to eventually decide on what to order but I think between us we sampled quite a few of the dishes.  To start I ordered Scallops in pastry with red pepper & aioli and Anthony eventually decided on the Assiette of Duck.

The scallops were fantastic and cooked beautifully. Personally, I didn’t think they needed the puff pastry or anchovies contained within. The scallops and aioli would have been good on their own.

Anthony thoroughly enjoy the Assiette of Duck and I have to agree, the best of the three would be the spring roll.

We both also tried an oyster for the first time and we’d definitely order some again  if we get the chance – the texture was not what we were expecting and coming from Anthony (not a fishy person) that is quite something!

For the main course I chose Halibut served with Roast Salsify, Popcorn Shrimp, Butternut Squash Puree and White Wine Veloute.  Anthony couldn’t resist the Venison served with Haggis Fritter.

I hadn’t tasted halibut before and I have to admit the Popcorn Shrimp caught my attention – I am very glad they did as the fish was beautiful. It just melted in your mouth and together with the roast salsify and white wine veloute it was fantastic.

Anthony ordered the Venison medium and it was cooked perfectly. Again, melted in your mouth. The haggis fritter was like a creamy melt in your mouth mousse but crispy on the outside – amazingly delicious.

We managed to squeeze in a pudding and I chose the Chocolate Tart with Orange & Honeycomb and Anthony had a 60 Hope Street Signature Dish, Deep Fried Jam Sandwich with Carnation Ice Cream.

I was quite full at the point but it seemed rude not to join in. Again though I felt the chocolate tart did not need the pastry, in fact I left some.  The chocolate part of the tart was more like a chocolate fondant than a cold filling like I had expected.  A bitter orange mousse was served alongside the tart in a shot glass and was very nice with the fondant-like filling.

The Signature Dish, a Deep Fried Jam Sandwich with Carnation Ice Cream went down a treat, unsurprisingly! Everyone on the table managed a taste of this jam doughnut style pudding.  The rest, Anthony ate very quickly.  Need I say anymore?!

Overall, we’d definitely go back again if the chance arises.  The restaurant itself was lovely, warm and modern.  The tables weren’t squashed in or overlooked. A lovely dining experience, some very lovely food and a really nice evening.

Tonights dinner wasn’t something I’d normally make when trying to eat more healthily, but I am participating in a forum monthly challenge and this months recipe certainly made Anthony smile. In fact, anything with sausages makes Anthony happy. The recipe is taken from Jamie’s Dinners – I halved everything to make dinner for two but even they were extremely generous portions.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• Olive Oil
• 2 knobs butter
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (Mr Oliver uses 1kg/2lb 3oz boned and skinned chicken legs, cut into pieces)
• 2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced into 1cm pieces
• 2 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 sticks of celery finely sliced
• A small handful of thyme, leaves picked
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 wineglass of white wine
• ½ pint milk
• s&p
• 225g good pork sausages
• 1 x 500g pack of all butter puff pastry
• 1 egg

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees/ Gas mark 7

1. Take a large casserole pot and add a lug of olive oil and your butter.
2. Add the chicken, leeks carrots, celery and thyme and cook slowly on the hob for 15 minutes
3. Turn the heat up & add the flour – keep stirring for a couple of minutes before adding the wine, a wineglass of water and the milk
4. Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, then cover with a lid and simmer very slowly on the hob for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is tender. Stir it every so often so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan. The sauce should be loose but quite thick. If it’s a little too liquid, just continue to simmer it with the lid off until it thickens slightly. (At this point you can let it cool and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days if you want to – it can also be eaten as a stew.)
5. Pour the chicken mixture into an appropriately sized pie dish.
6. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins, roll it into little balls, brown them in a little oil and sprinkle them over the stew.
7. Roll out your pastry to about 0.5 cm thick. Egg wash the rim of the dish and drape over the pastry, using a knife to trim the edge of the dish. Egg wash the top of the pastry to make it go golden whilst cooking, then pinch it to crimp around the edges.
8. I use the back of a knife to lightly criss cross the top – this allows the pastry to go crisp and flaky.
9. Cook the pie in the centre of the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes until golden on top

Mr Oliver likes to serve with sweetcorn and mashed potato.  But I had forgotten that we had already used the potatoes in the fish pie so ended up having the pie with chips! It was enjoyable but I think I do prefer the creamy chicken & tarragon pie…

Cod & Salmon Fish Pie
Salmon Loin, skinned
Cod Loin, skinned
1 pint milk
Dill
5 peppercorns,
1 carrot, peeled and cut into quarters
1 onion, peeled & halved
15g butter
15g plain flour
2 maris piper potatoes
butter (for mashing potatoes)

1. Poach fish in milk with carrot, onion and peppercorns
2. Put potatoes on to boil
3. When fish is cooked, take the fish out & put to one side
4. Remove carrot, onion & peppercorns and throw away (keep the milk!)
5. Melt butter in pan & add flour, cook through for a minute
6. Slowly add milk to the roux and stir until sauce thickens
7. Drain & mash potatoes
8. Flake fish into dish, top with dill and sauce then put mashed potato on top
9. Cook for 20 minutes at 200°c

Baileys Chocolate Mousse Recipe (based on recipe from Waitrose)

175g Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate, broken into small pieces
Knob of butter
5 large eggs, separated (3 yolks, 5 whites)
2 tbsp Baileys

Method
1. Place the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Leave to melt for 2-3 minutes – do not allow the bowl to touch the water. When it has all melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. Using a wooden spoon, beat the egg yolks into the chocolate with the liqueur.
3. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold the whites into the chocolate mixture until completely incorporated.
4. Divide the chocolate mousse between 4 glasses and place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.

I did not get a chance to make the usual Christmas cake so my Mum made the cake and I offered to ice it. This is my third Christmas cake and I reverted back to a traditional Holly decoration… simple but I quite like it.