Sunday, October 03, 2004

The Dinner Party

It went brilliantly! As it turned out, not only did my parents and my little sister come for dinner, but so did my girlfriend's mother. It was quite a do.
I knocked up some sushi for starters - including Salmon, Tuna, Turbot and Amber Jack, but then I also experimented a little and created a Hoi Sin Duck sushi roll. Probably blasphemous to anyone immersed in either Chinese or Japanese culture, but I invoked the twin excuses of 'fusion cuisine' and 'it's delicious'. It was delicious, by the way.
Then my girlfriend had rustled up a fantastic lamb casserole with aubergine (mmmmm) and North African flavours. It was so tender the meat jumped off the bone.
Finally, I delivered on my promise of a chocolate-brownie-whisky cake (very simple, very rich - especially with the amount of whisky I poured over it). I think it was rescued by my girlfriend's addition of creme fraiche and poached pears.
Well, the folks went away happy anyway.
It's funny how much energy you can put into preparing dinner when you're meant to be writing a novel.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about the recipe for the brownies? Sounds wonderful
And explain North African spices

Joe said...

I think 'North African spices' mainly consists of cinnamon and cumin. Perhaps paprika too, but that might be a European bastardisation.
As for the famous chocolate-brownie-whisky-cake...
Off the top of my head, it's roughly this: 150g Choc, 150g butter, melted in a pan. Add two eggs, 250g sugar, 125 self-raising flour, maybe some nuts if you're that way inclined.
Then 35 mins in the oven at 190 degrees C.
Finally, let it cool, pour over a bucketload of whisky, and let it all soak in overnight (or for as long as you can wait before tucking in - usually five minutes in this house.)
Let me know if that works. If not, I'll double check the quantities!