My Come Dine With Me

johnnycee66

A group of 8 friends decided last November to organise a CDWM between us, and the first outing is starting tomorrow night. I thought i'd do an occasional post on the happenings, particularly around the menus and recipes, some photos too, if anyone's interested in tuning in!

As there were a few relationships in the group, we decided to put all names in a pot and draw out teams of two, so existing partners ended up with cooking strangers! Rules are that no more than 100 euro can be spent on the food, wine cannot cost more than 15 euro per bottle, and has to be bought, it can't come from existing stock. On the night, guests will bring along 10 euro each, and this will be the prize pot at the end for the winning duo. Scoring will be by means of tokens (up to a total of 10) placed in a coffeecup, or a variation on this, and said coffeecup sealed until the end of the competition. We then intend to meet in a nice restaurant after its all over, and do the awarding! As per the tv show, an element of entertainment has to be provided by the hosts. What's still up for debate is allowing people to rummage around your house while the hosts are busy in the kitchen!!

Tomorrow nights theme is Southern European Gastronomic Journey, and the menu is:

Starter: Italian Bruschetta Selection

Main: Portuguese Pork, Bean and Chorizo Stew

Dessert, Spanish Lemon Mousse with Chocolate Truffles

I'll take a few photos as we go along and post them here, alone with recipes and sources, and maybe the occasional careful and totally objective critique!!!! It should be good fun, its generated a lot of energy between us, so here's to tomorrow night...

Betsysquared

johnnycee66 wrote: »

A group of 8 friends decided last November to organise a CDWM between us, and the first outing is starting tomorrow night. I thought i'd do an occasional post on the happenings, particularly around the menus and recipes, some photos too, if anyone's interested in tuning in!

As there were a few relationships in the group, we decided to put all names in a pot and draw out teams of two, so existing partners ended up with cooking strangers! Rules are that no more than 100 euro can be spent on the food, wine cannot cost more than 15 euro per bottle, and has to be bought, it can't come from existing stock. On the night, guests will bring along 10 euro each, and this will be the prize pot at the end for the winning duo. Scoring will be by means of tokens (up to a total of 10) placed in a coffeecup, or a variation on this, and said coffeecup sealed until the end of the competition. We then intend to meet in a nice restaurant after its all over, and do the awarding! As per the tv show, an element of entertainment has to be provided by the hosts. What's still up for debate is allowing people to rummage around your house while the hosts are busy in the kitchen!!

Tomorrow nights theme is Southern European Gastronomic Journey, and the menu is:

Starter: Italian Bruschetta Selection

Main: Portuguese Pork, Bean and Chorizo Stew

Dessert, Spanish Lemon Mousse with Chocolate Truffles

I'll take a few photos as we go along and post them here, alone with recipes and sources, and maybe the occasional careful and totally objective critique!!!! It should be good fun, its generated a lot of energy between us, so here's to tomorrow night...

Good luck!
Its a great idea and should be fun, I agree on the rummaging around the house bit, would be very mortified about that I think!

nesbitt

That sounds like fun. Good menu too.

My brother and his wife do this with their group of friends and colleagues, seems though that it can get very competitive but makes for a great evening out or in!

Agree with the rummaging about your gaff, mind you, could make for some stimulating conversation or mega red faces:D

Anyway hope the cooking, eating and drinking goes well.

foodaholic

Im doing this too- there will be four of us doing it.
Im wrecking my head with menu planning for my night, as one guest hates fish whereas the rest of us love it. There other guest hates anything with even a speck of fat on it - whereas the rest of us love the fatty cuts of meat.

so think im gonna go with individual beef wellington for mains and choc fondants for dessert.

Ideas for starters would be great ??

UrbanSea

Good luck with it,that menu sounds nice.

UrbanSea

foodaholic wrote: »

Im doing this too- there will be four of us doing it.
Im wrecking my head with menu planning for my night, as one guest hates fish whereas the rest of us love it. There other guest hates anything with even a speck of fat on it - whereas the rest of us love the fatty cuts of meat.

so think im gonna go with individual beef wellington for mains and choc fondants for dessert.

Ideas for starters would be great ??

The black pudding starter from the cooking club sounded excellent
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056142931

foodaholic

I know that looks great gonna give it a go this weekend

they where over for dinner last week and did baby squid stuffed with a black pudding mixture so trying to do something i havent cooked for them before

Does anyone know anyone whos gonna do the TV3 come dine with me. I heard its going to be the same guy commentating as on the english show - let the catty remarks begin

johnnycee66

Tomorrow night is a female duo, it will be interesting over the weeks to see if the gender of the cooks influences the type of food cooked. My own slot is towards the end, I think I'm last, so I might be coming back for knock-em-out ideas, I'll have the strategic advantage by then!!!!

UCD AFC

Think the winners should apply to be on the TV3 version!

Good luck with it, sounds fun.

Padraig Mor

Did this a couple of months ago with three others. Great fun, but boy is your own cooking day exhausting! My menu was:

Starter:
Goats cheese in filo pastry with raspberry and walnut vinaigrette.
or
Chorizo and chickpea soup (one guest didn't like goat's cheese).

Sorbet:
Basil and lime sorbet.

Main:
Roast rack of lamb with apple and rosemary jelly.

Dessert:
Individual sweet cheese custards on a pastry base with macerated berries.


I lost!

johnnycee66

So the first night has passed and by all accounts was a roaring success, the first two participants produced a great meal, which everybody agreed was lovely, but some of the written comments say different!!!!! The table was very pretty, all decked out in colourful stripes, and very much added to the ambience.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=1558&pictureid=8580

(I've tried to upload photos, but its not working. My technical expertise in this area isnt great, so I'll try again, but the photos may be too big, so I have to resize them, I think, and post them later).

First course was Italian Bruchetta selection, and it was presented as a range of different foods (hummus, tapenade, chilli peppers, garlic tomatoes, parma ham, and garlic cloves to rub bread with), aong with baskets of different breads (white country, tomato, olive, flatbreads) most of which were homemade, the olive bread bought from the French Bakery in Swords). It was quite tasty, and very interactive, as a lot of passing around the table was required, my own inclination is to call it more of a tapas or mezze selection rather than italian bruschetta (ahem!!!) but good fun.

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Second course was a Portuguese Pork, Bean and Chorizo stew, recipe from Darina Allens Ballymaloe Cookery Course. Again, quite simple and tasty, nice and tomatoey although see the comments below!

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Finally, dessert was Spanish Lemon Mousse with Chocoloate Truffles, the mousse recipe from the BBC Good Food website and the truffle recipe from Jamis Oliver's website. Mousse was very creamy with a gentle taste of lemon, and served in large shot-type glasses. The chocolate for the truffles was served in a large bowl, which guests scooped out from, and toppings were provided to roll them in. This was a bit fiddly, but again, all homemade, so a freat effort.

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Entertainment around the dinner table was a game called dinner-doodle, where we were all busy following instructions and sketching various pictures. Lots of concentration and crayons!!

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The wines for the evening were a white viognier, The Dreamer by Philip Shaw, Australian, and the red was a Wolf Blass Presidents Selection shiraz, bith nice, but I had expected perhaps some regional wines to complement the theme. A nice dessert wine was also provided, Essensia Orange Muscat from California, and all wines were sourced in Gibneys in Malahide.

Comments:

"Like the brightly decorated table"

"Good and interactive starter, well done on making hummous, tapenade and breads!"

"Very tasty, although not very Italian! Would have preferred individual portions."

"Enjoyed the starter, lots of nice, different tasty bits."

"Mix of starters was nice, but didnt like self-assembly."

"Main was heartwarming and tasty, good flavour."

"Where's the pork?"

"Tasty tomato soup."

"The chorizo stew was good, something a bit different, nice flavours and smelled great!"

"Thank you for a lovely dinner. I thought the evening was very entertaining, food anf company gorgeous! I particularly enjoyed the main course - a hearty winter stew, I also enjoyed the interactive starter and dessert."

"Pud was very creamy, choc truffle was a bit fiddly."

"Lemon was lovely, truffles okay but not really truffles, just chocolate in a bowl."

"Dessert was a pint of cream pointed in the general direction of a lemon."

"Good daft doodle, a great first night, brave to start, well done!"

"I think the girls made a huge effort and I am very appreciative of a lovely night, can't wait for the next one!"

"Outfits of Gail and Frances very matching!"

"Food was yummmm! Lots to drink and, once our hosts had got into their strides, plenty of attentiveness. Really informal evening which is a bonus, but music????? What was all that about?"

"Loved the doodles!

Needed hostesses to meet and greet"

"Clean up of kitchen was good, but focus on guests!!!!"

Comments over!!!! and all agreed that aver the few weeks they'll be posted up verbatim, as our own type of mini-blog. I'll sort out the photos as soon as I can, and the next night is on the 5th of February, menus to be published next week.

cheers all, and congrats to the first two!!!

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Caros

Sounds a great night, looking forward to seeing the pics.

johnnycee66

I need a bit of help with uploading the photos! I've managed to upload them to an album on my profile on Boards, but the method for including them on the post escapes me. Any insight or instructions would be greatly appreciated! thanks

The Lovely Muffin

The food sounds amazing.

johnnycee66 wrote: »

I need a bit of help with uploading the photos! I've managed to upload them to an album on my profile on Boards, but the method for including them on the post escapes me. Any insight or instructions would be greatly appreciated! thanks

To post pics in here. copy and paste the image URL into this tag [IMG]url here[/URL] (obviously the image url (link) goes where it says 'url here'). Alternatively you could post a link to your Boards album.:)[/img]

johnnycee66

photos now up, see post #11. Many thanks Purple Bobbin!

johnnycee66

The second night's dining is almost here, and will be held this coming Saturday, the 5th Feb. The menu has been published as follows:

Theme : Fusion of French Flavours

Starter: Salad of Goats Cheese and Beetroot

Mains: Roast Shoulder of Lamb, with Roasted Ratatouille and Mustard Potatoes

Dessert: Caramelised Tarte au Citron, with raspberry compote

Coffee and dark chocolate thins

The hosts have requested that if guests wish to bring wine, that they choose a white burgundy (chablis or St Veran for perference) and St Emilion as the red.

This particular dinner will be interesting, as one of the hosts is my partner, along with a colleague from work (my own turn will be next). So I have an insiders view of what'll be happening in the kitchen, as well as being a guest in my own home for the day!!!

I'll take photos and post them up early next week, aliong with commentary, comments et al

A bientot!

Caros

Ooooh sounds delish!

pickarooney

Beetroot is a very brave/insane choice for the starter. I've never seen more than half of any group who could stomach the stuff

Would a Montbazillac not be a better accompaniment?

dolphin city

i think if I was at that first night it was a bit of a cheat. You seemed to have had to do your own work on some of the food. I would have expected it to have it on individual plates, prepared and served, as you would get in a dinner party - would have been a bit to casual for me.

Just from looking at the photos and reading, I would have given that a 6 out of 10.

Looking forward to week 2.

johnnycee66

Look out for next week, and the comments! (We set up a room with pen, paper and a receptacle, so we can all scribble comments as the night progresses). It should be interesting, I get the sense (from casual observation and eavesdropping around my own home!) that these two are going for gold! My own thoughts around the montbazillac, before the evening, is that perhaps a crisp white would suit the goats cheese better (maybe it depends on the cheese, I'm not too gone on those chalky pungent goats cheeses, I prefer soft ones myself), but its all open...!

yungwan

This looks like such fun! I have always thought it would be a great idea to do this with friends!

I look forward to the next report!

johnnycee66

Last night our wee group met for the second installment of our Come Dine With Me, a meal around the theme of "Fusion of French Flavours". With a heading like that, we expected a significant gallic flavour, and our hosts, Tom and Sam (Samantha) certainly didnt disappoint.

As one of the hosts was my partner, I got to see the amount of efffort and detail that they put into the meal, and also the effort of the previous few days getting the house and the table ready.

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The two wines chosen for the night were a white burgundy, Bourgogne Chitry, Domaine Michel Colbois 2007, and a red bordeaux, Chateau Pelan Bellevue Cote De francs 2001, both bought in the Wine Buff in Drogheda. At this point Im going to give the Wine Buff an unashamed plug (if thats allowed) because the manager, Anthony Corcoran, was very friendly and interested, and spent a half hour with us advising, giving some tastings, cut us a deal and threw in some goodies! He was genuinely a great help, so thanks a million!

When us guests arrived, a lot of people had gone to the effort of dressing up with a french flavour, and that added to the general theme of the night. The hosts greeted us with Kir Royales and some carefully chosen and mangled french phrases of welcome! Nibbles were provided, duck rillettes with juniper and orange (oh la la!).

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When we sat at the amazing table, we were brought an amuse bouche, a small piece of black pudding flavoured with spiced butter and pear and ginger chutney.http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=1582&pictureid=8740



First course had been described as a salad of beetroot and goats cheese, and was presented as a small stack of thinly sliced beetroot sandwiched with a kind of creamy goats chees mousse, flavoured with tarragon, and topped with a tiny blob of lumpfish caviar for a salty bite. It looked great, and was very tasty and creamy.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=1582&pictureid=8741

When that was done, and the wine had been flowing, we were brought a small spoon of an orange sorbet as a palate cleanser. Obviously the wine was flowing quicker than I thought, cos I forgot to take a photo of the sorbet!


Between courses we played a game of charades around the table, people having to mime famous paintings for all to guess!!!!! We actually surprised ourselves with a very good innings.

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Main was roast shoulder of lamb, with roasted ratatouille and mustard potatoes. the lamb was very tender, and the potatoes came in individual small pots. Again, cant remember what I was doing, but I forgot to take a photo of the lamb, great pity really as the presentation was great.

So we took a break then (and I must have sobered up as my photo taking skills improved from here on in). Our hosts, one of whom suddenly appeared dressed up in a hugh inflated chef suit!!!! brought in the cheese, got us all to our feet, and conga-ed the party to another room, where they gave us a very dodgy version of the cancan, and then had a competition for the best cancan. All I can say is, god bless alcohol, the things it helps you do!!!!!!

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So back, for the continuing feast. Amazing cheeses, collected that morning from Sheridans Cheesemongers in Cavan (that had been my job), caramelised lemon tart for dessert, and the most amazing home-made chewy macaroons with a raspberry buttercream filling made by Sam, on of the hosts. Despite the amazing food, the macaroons alone sold the night for me!

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At the end of the meal, we all felt quite a bit roly poly, well stuffed! As with the last outing, a space was provided for guests to anonymously write commments, so here they are:

"dessert beautiful, accompaniments didnt really do anything"

"attention to detail and comfort amazing"

"let the games begin..."

"disappointed that the host read the comments and announced them during the meal, identifying individuals"

"main just needed a bit of gravy"

"was attacked by dogs while voting!"

"amuse bouche nice"

"main course a bit dull, nice but...! no coherent flavour to draw it together"

"very attentive to guests"

"less alcohol this time, more rounded evening. Macaroons a hit and fabulous cheese, chef entertainer quite super!"

"nice touch with the amuse bouche and the sorbet, but was actually full by the time dessert arrived"

"excellent evening! the meal was of a different league, but so it shall be judged! I thought goats cheese lacked seasoning, but interesting use of beetroot. Main: vegetabes were a bit blunt. Lamb lovely cooked, potatoes gorgeous! dessert was lovely, very lemony"

"no effort was spared, well done guys. Next time, think more about the execution of the cooking"

"starter very tasty, both taste and visually"

"very entertaining evening so far, lots of thought put in"

"lovely evening, obviously a lot of effort put into it all, some was unneccessary!"

"Really liked the starter, main was lovely, but could have done with some more liquid"

"great presentation, very french, carried throughout. Met well and plenty to drink, great atmosphere"

"starter - more salad for me please. main lovely, very tasty, entertainment innovative! Only issue - more serious than previous"

"The macaroons were the best bit - well done! recipe please!"

"lovely dinner, lovely theme, great company"

So these were the comments for night 2. It was a great night, lots of effort, my liver is still in shock. All thats left to is say a big thanks to our two hosts Tom and Sam.

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Roll on the next (oh ****e, its my turn next!)

Caros

Johnnycee, I'm so enjoying this thread!! I'm salivating over the menu and it looks as good as it sounds! Can I come round to your house for dinner!
Looking forward to the next installment.

johnnycee66

And it continues. After the high-octane challenge of the 2nd night, now its my turn. Both I and my cooking partner Katy have to prepare a meal for this coming Friday. The theme we've decided is to showcase pork, and we've called it

"Oink Oink - a night of piggy pleasure!"

So the menu:

Starter: Scallops with black pudding and pancetta

Main: Slow roasted pork belly and braised pig cheeks, with spiced mash of sweet potato and apple, and also accompanied by mustard greens.

Dessert: French apple tart, with vanilla cream and calvados sorbet.

As its my own meal, I'll get one of the other guests to take photos and post up a review next week, along with comments. I'll be away for a week, so wont even get the change to read the crushing commentary til I get back!!!!

johnnycee66

Now I’m deputising for our regular blogger whilst he is taking a well earned holiday. Unfortunately I don’t have his technical know-how, so the photos from the evening will have to wait, apologies.

Friday night, yes a school-night, saw the third round of our Come Dine with Me programme. The menu was constructed around a pork theme, so all of the guests were sporting a touch of pink, to support our hosts, John (your usual blogger) & Katy. The “piggy” theme ran strongly throughout the evening from decorations (pink balloons in the ‘vestibule’ to piggies on the table settings, activities and of course the menu itself.

Whilst the previous two rounds had been held on a Saturday evening, giving the hosts most of the day to prepare, scheduling nine diaries provided too much of a challenge, that’s why a Friday night was ultimately chosen. With people arriving a little later than previous events, around 8-15/8-30ish, this created a nice and relaxed atmosphere, giving the busy hosts some extra time to put the finishing touches to the dishes.

Wine selection for the evening was Croix De Bardes Lalande de Pomerol (2006), which was bought from Tesco’s. Having overloaded on Chablis in previous weeks, the wine order was “red-focused” with a little bit of carryover from the collective white stock.

Guest arrived in dribs and drabs after their respective weeks at work. There was a slight element of fatigue in the room, some having been travelling (including one ofthe hosts!), others just had the normal Friday night lull after a tough week of work. Revival came in the form of a cool glass of Kir Normande (Apple Brandy base and champagne) and some piping hot canapés of apricots wrapped in bacon and mini sausages wrapped in bacon. People spent some ‘quality time’ milling around catching up with each other.

After a 20 minute reception next to a roaring fire (very cosy), guests were ushered into a wonderfully decorated table, with a proud terracotta piggy sitting at the head of the table.

Starters were scallops and black pudding, accompanied by a collection of purees - cauliflower and apple vanilla, served on contrasting white plates. The look of the dish was only surpassed by its flavour.

Aided by a couple of glasses of wine, the first round of pig-related entertainment kicked in. A 15 question quiz and everything PIG, from famous pig owners, pigs in the media and how pigs live their porky lives. I didn’t know there was so much to know about our pinky-porky friends.

Mains of roasted belly pork and braised pig cheeks, accompanied with spiced mash of sweet potato and apple, and mustard greens. With the sweet potatoes served in small ramekin dishes, the pork was tender, tasty and well proportioned.

After a small break in the proceedings, individual cheese plates were served: a small piece of brie, accompanied by a spicy rocket salad and a quartered fig. Very tasty and just the right size, before the deserts.

Coming to the end of the meal and after such lovely food, there were high expectations for desert, and I’m glad to report that no-one was disappointed. The French tart provided just the right balance of fruit and sweetness, and it was served with a well contrasting vanilla cream. This was definitely one of the highlights of the meal, if not the whole series of meals.

Once the meal had finished, the second round of piggy entertainment kicked in. Two very talented young friends of our hosts, Kierán and Ronán, had drawn a wonderful big pink pig and we played a modified version of “pin the tail.” With a taped tail in hand, people stood up and with guidance from a few pretty drunk guests, tried to pin the tail on the pig! Great fun and great prizes for the two closet ones. Alongside the “paint your own piggy bank” for the pin the tail winners, all guests received goody bags filled with, yes you guessed it, pig related goodies.

As the evening wore on, people got very free with the comments, which led to a record number of secret (or not so secret Thomas!) post-its being written out and filed in the jar!

• “Where were the vegetables”
• “v. Well done, cooking on school night is def not an easy option”
• “Apple tart was fabulous”
• “Girls girls what do we say.......too much food”
• “Val M Tyne rules”
• “Too much Michael Jackson”
• “Mains really tasty, well presented, enjoyed it all. Yum, yum, yum. Deserts –looked great, tasted good. Extras – well needed as we were late arriving. Perhaps less refined than mains, but tasty none the less.”
• “A small bit of stress at the start of the night – improved as the night when on”
• “Wonderful released meal, great atmosphere.”
• “Where was the veg?”
• “Yummy scrummy! Very nice pork. Never tried this type of dish before, so enjoyed it very much”
• “My objective for the evening was to get v. drunk”
• “Very nice food- really very good, but at some point it doesn’t matter – what’s much more vital is the company for my scene of well-being”
• “amazing food. main course
• “Relaxed evening. Main course was one of the best things I’ve had for a while. “Loved the apple pie. If it was me, I would have kept the pace with the various courses. Very well presented. Only thing I was not sure was the cauliflower mash, otherwise brilliant.”
• “Where is everyone”
• “Hosts obviously put a lot of effort in. Themes carried well throughout. Starter good, although scallops not my cup of tea. Not sure about the puree.”
• “Tom here, great food...couldn’t say dull”
• “Really disappointing to be accused of being a cheat!”

Three rounds down and the final one to come in three weeks. Expectations have been increased from last night, who knew that our little pink friends could be so tasty.

Now let’s see if the Greek-Manchester duo in final round can maintain the heady pace set by the previous rounds?

johnnycee66

Just to say thanks to Dan for writing up the last entry up while I was away in cdwm rehab!
First of all, the table setting, vey important, as the guests are discovering a taste for barbed comment!!!!

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Second photo, a closer look at our mascot for the evening, Mr Piggy himself at the top of the table:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=1602&pictureid=8843

Pictures for our nibbles and starter have gone elsewhere, so here's the main course (lighting wasnt too great, so what you're viewing is a very very painstakingly prepared pork belly and braised pork cheek topped with sweet potato mash (in the ramekin)

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=1602&pictureid=8846


Cheese course, fetchingly assembled by moi, we marinated a camembert in pommeau for three days,num num

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Katys apple tart, amazing, jumped straight from the pages of the magazine and into the tin

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Piggy petits fours:

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This was the absolutely wonderful pink piggy for the games, drawn and painted for us by our two young friends who deserve a special mention, Kieran and Ronan O Reilly:


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Some of our guests, definitely getting into the swing of things:

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And finally, your two hosts, Katy and I, looking cool, calm and collected before the gruelling marathon that was the third night of come dine with me!!!!!!

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So that was the third night, and was I shattered the next day! As Dan said above, the final night is in two weeks time, and with have a peculiarly greek-mancunian flavour. thanks again to everyone, it was a great evening, let it continue.

Padraig Mor

Ha ha - brilliant!

johnnycee66

Yes, just when you thought it was over, our final night draws near, next Saturday night to be precise.

The final cooking couple, as befitting their respective origins, have decided on a manchester/greek theme!!

Menu as posted is:

Red Beetroot Soup with Tzatziki

Apnaki Klejtiko with pickled red cabbage

A Manchester Tart (what could this be?) with Kaimaki Ice Cream

Local cheeses from the North West of England and Greece

So out with Google translator, and Apnaki Klejtiko is Greek Lamb Stew, apparently cooked in a pit the day before!

Kaimaki is mastic, a gum resin used as a flavouring.

So the lads are going for originality, and I think it will be a very original last night!

I'll follow with the posting, comments and photos on Monday, can't wait to see what they're wearing!!!!

johnnycee66

Last night (saturday) saw the final instalment of our come dine with me competition, with Dan and Dimitri providing a greek-manchester fusion of food (hmmmm.....). From the reports were received during the week it was apparent that the two lads were going to go for gold, and a great deal of effort was put into the fare (isn't that right Dan!)

Guests were greeted with ouzo (awful tack, I stuck to the red wine!) when we arrived, and nibbles had been prepared, nice olives and mini crostini, tomato and feta bites.

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Music in the background had a disturbing habit of switching from Manchester to Athens (Morrissey followed by Nana MousKouri, it was almost a eurovision dream!), this went on for the entire evening!

We were greeted by a great table setting, the boys really surprised us and did the pretty thing, fair play to them. They were both attired in matching pinnies, one looking slightly more bemused than the other.

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Starter was Red Beetroot Soup with Tzatziki. I'm not sure what I expected, but I have to say it was fabulous. The base was beetroot and cranberries, but orange and clove had been added. The first mouthful gave a deep savoury orange flavour, and it was only after a while that I noticed the clove background. It may sound strange, but it was really really lovely.

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Main course was Greek Lamb Stew with pickled red cabbage (presumably the red was the manchester element!!!). It had been pre-prepared and then assembled en papillote for final finishing, and it came to the table in its individual parchment parcels, great presentation!

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Dessert was a manchester tart, the existence of which had been a mystery to me before this, although the boys (well, dan anyway) swears its a real thing and is on the BBC good food website. It was very tasty, raspberry jam and raspberries spread on a shortcrust base, then a custard poured over and baked (i think, or maybe just set), and then topped with toasted coconut flakes. Very north of England (not!!!) but quite yummy. It came with a kaimaki icecream, flavoured with resin, strangely nice!

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And finally, cheese! North of england cheeses, Lancashire, Garstang Blue, Nantwich Blue and a greek cheese, Lesboan oil cheese (sounds very dodgy, I really liked it).

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So that was the meal, very very tasty. Wines were a greek red (name escapes me but lots of "a"s, "d"s and "t"s in the name) which was very nice, and google says can be substituted for merlot or gamay, so nice and light, and a greek white which was very smooth but not particularly distinctive.

For entertainment the boys had a mid-meal quiz relating to Manchester and Athens, and the winner (Katy!) got to smash a plate outside in true raucous fashion!!!!!

Then to the living room for alcohol-fuelled "lets dance" doing the elastic twang in front of the telly to the screaming amusement of the others (god, my joints this morning, no more Donna Summer for me for a while!!!).

Just the final batch of comments to post (in no particular order), and then it's almost over:

"Cheese was delicious"

Main course very nice, pleasing rustic presentation, lamb could have been a bit more tender - too hot a cooking medium"

"soup strange!"

"nibbles perhaps a bit more flavoursome?"

"loved the soup - unusual but really tasty, really lovely"

"Tzatziki really nice, humming wwith garlic - the way I like it"

"First intro to Manchester Tart (!) but really loved it! Top marks for the first in singed pastry - jealous!"

"dessert - loved the icecream"

"Hummmm.........internationalism at its best....there's been a bit of whining also....tiredness? sour grapes??"

"no soup spoons and I hate peas"

"the matching pinnies did it for me!!"

"Overall, the food was great, really spoke for itself"

"Soup was sublime! one of the tastiest soups I've had in a long time"

"more meat for the main"

"would have liked a little more lamb"

"very nice welcome"

"In the words of Vera Duckworth, bloody lovely chuck!"

"Looks like we saved the best til last, just waiting to see if you pull the entertainment out of the hat!"

"Dessert - very nice!! ice cream was different, and not not-nice!"

"fabulous location! enjoyed it all - extemely tasty! Could eat it all again! music autentic, altho' a little downbeat. Hosts attentive and well matched, looking forward to the dancing."

"First come dine cat fight, who won?"

"soup - amazing"

"Deliciously simple - good clean flavour and very tender lamb"

"It would have been 10, if only for that little plate!"


And so ended our little competition, which I have to say turned into a great way to get us through January and Feb, although all agree that it leaves you shattered!!!! Perhaps a return in the late Autumn, we'll see.

And the winner is...........we don't know yet!!!!!! We're all into Dublin this wednesday evening for a meal and the prizegiving, where the winners will be announced and the lolly handed over. That will probably be my last post in relation to this thread, but I have to say, it was mighty fun, and thanks to all the participants, ye were great!!!!

dellas1979

Ahhh let us know who won!!!

Have a feeling it could be the last night from the comments!!!

Caros

Ah god ya you'll have to let us know who won!
The food looked fab, love the presentation of the lamb en papiotte.
Personally I loved the French night!