Lobster, Revisited

Hello maties!
Just a quickie from me today but a longie for you - I've just been reading Joanne's comment on my previous crab sarnie post and realised I have never shared with you my all-time favourite recipe, Crab Fettucine.  Well I'm going to have to address that p.d.q.  and, oh heck, I'm going to have to eat it in the process.  What sacrifices I make for YOU!!

So whilst flipping through old posts for a non-existent crab recipe, I stumbled upon this old post (FIND IT HERE) and I'm excited to repeat it here today because,
1.  Its focus is probably my favourite 3-course summer meal EVER (all sooo easy) and,
2.  The synchronicity is uncanny, it tells me that we were clearing the old sheds three years ago almost to the day and the new She-Shed build started yesterday.  It took me a while to replace my Leaning Sheds Of Poutland but I got there, eventually!


Now, please wade through my vintage post, get to the domestic goddess the recipes), and try this for yourself - and if you're not a lover of seafood the lobster can easily be replaced with cooked chicken.



My Post From 28 July 2016, Repeated

Hi peeps, thanks for popping in.  It's been all go here today, what with the shed project, shopping and taking His Royal Fluffiness for his pamper session (a grooming at the local vets).

And then, maybe because I was thinking about sunny days and eating al fresco, maybe I was thinking about the friends I made this meal for here, but anyway, I suddenly remembered I promised you some recipes and I hadn't delivered!  And I'm sorry about that.  So I swiftly got on the case.

Now this is a variation on a meal that I usually turn out at least once during the summer months.  Because it's so simple.  It's inspired by a souvenir cook book I picked up when visiting the Newport mansions on Rhode Island.  What an experience!  Allow at least a day to visit just a few of the many mansions available to view.

Anyway, back to the plot.  The food. 

I've strayed from the recipes and format over the years but I do love the concept. 

An extremely easy meal involving little cooking, a bit of preparation and almost all is done in advance.

And that's really the beauty of this tried-and-tested menu.  When your guests arrive, you look (and feel!) calm and collected.  You can enjoy drinks out on the patio with them, at some stage you drift away from your prosecco to pop into the house to fling a few elements together ...

But you serve a meal that is perfect for a summer's evening, that is a doddle to make yet looks and tastes so professional that you cannot fail to impress your guests.  Whilst relaxing and enjoying their wonderful company.

You just cannot go wrong with this menu!  So please, please, give it a go.

Requirements: prepping in advance; a calm, sunny evening; invite people you love.

Recipes serve approx. 6; warning - you may have leftovers :-)



Herby Goats Cheese Dip

Ingredients

1 roll-pack goats cheese

about half pack cream cheese with herbs

squirt of lemon juice

finely chopped fresh thyme and rosemary, or to taste or to what you have to hand

olive oil

A little salt and pepper if required

Perhaps just a spoon-tip of wholegrain mustard

Method

Mash goats cheese with herby cream cheese, quantities to taste but the ratio I used was roughly equal quantities.

Blend in chopped herbs, a spritz of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

Add a small amount of salt, pepper and/or mustard if required but be light of touch, keep the flavour delicate and predominantly that of the cheese.

Serve

Place in a glass bowl; I just love those little Ikea +365 glass dishes, on the left, so useful, so elegantly simple.

 Serve with bruschetta, bread sticks, oat cakes - whatever takes your fancy.  And I recommend it served with chilled prosecco out on the patio! 



Chilled Lobster Tarragon

Ingredients

2 medium-sized cooked lobsters, cut in bite-sized pieces
(I get mine cooked and shelled from our local Crab Cabin, hope you have something similar near you)

A couple of squirts of fresh lemon juice

2 ribs of celery, very finely chopped

4 spring onions, trimmed lightly top and bottom, chopped

3/4 cup full-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

sea salt or plain salt and freshly ground pepper, to tase

6 outer leaves from Little Gem lettuce

lemon cut in 6 wedges

Method

Combine the lobster, juice, spring onions and celery in a bowl.

Mix the mayo and tarragon with seasoning then add the lobster mix.

Place in a covered container and pop in the fridge for a few hours.

To serve: place servings on to the lettuce leaves, with the lemon wedge to the side.

To Serve

Boiled new potatoes, local (as I used) or Jersey Royals and sugar snap peas.

Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients

Sugar snap peas, about a pound (2 bags), washed and trimmed if necessary

Butter, I use Guernsey butter, of course, but use any rich local butter

Finely chopped chives and basil, or whatever you fancy

Method

Add sugar snaps to rolling boiling water for about a minute or so.  Drain and cool under cold running water.  Put to one side until ready to serve.

To serve, gently heat the butter in a pan (do not burn), add the sugar snaps and herbs and warm through.

Serve this dish with a chilled white - I served Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc on this occasion.  V nice.

Mixed Berry Tart

Ingredients

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened at room temperature

1/3 cup double cream, chilled

1/4 cup castor sugar

6 tartlet shells, I always get mine from M&S

You need roughly 1 cup each of washed & prepared fresh strawberries and blueberries (or other berries)

1/2 cup apricot jam

2 tablespoons water

Icing sugar, to dust

Method

Beat the cheese, cream and sugar together in a bowl until the usual stiff peaks form.  Divide between the tartlets. 

(Now I usually end up with extra mix, which I keep in the fridge and have with fresh fruit the next day)

Place the fruit on top the mascarpone mix, as artistically or not as your heart desires!

Combine the jam and water in a little saucepan.  Cook slowly until melted and smooth.

Brush over the top of each tart.

Cover and refrigerate until chilled, which at least 2 hours

To serve: dust with the icing sugar.

(Any left over tarts are super for breakfast the next morning.  Trust me!)

And if you are living in our British climate, retire to the sofas indoors for coffee.  (And a little chocolate :-). )  Because it will no doubt be getting a tad chilly by the time you've lingered over this wonderful meal.

And there you have it - a beautifully light summer's evening menu.  Do I make these recipes sound easy?  Well, that's 'cos they are!

I do hope you try out at least one of the recipes, dear reader.  You won't be disappointed.

Do you have any fave summer lunch/supper recipes to share?

Or menus that make entertaining so easy because they can be prepped well in advance?

I'd love to hear.

Happy Thursday to you all.

A la perchoine.

Wine with The Neighbours

Burgundyberrywine.  The colour of my coated jeggings is perhaps

best described in this portmanteau, because I do believe that colour is in the eye of the beholder.

Plum, aubergine ... oh I could go on, but I will stop here because no matter what it's called, it's all shades of dark red and puce and it's going into so many of my outfits at the moment.

Looks like berry isn't just for Christmas. 

 

So when the neighbours down the end of the garden invited us for a neighbours' supper, I thought no further than berry coated jeans for my Saturday night out.  Out of the house, yes, but just a few yards down the track!  I don't think I walked off even one of the many tasty calories my dear neighbour put on my plate :-(.

 

 

The Outfit Bit

 

Yes. That colour jeggings, with a black tunic blouse.  I found a camisole in Peacocks for £4 last week and snapped it up as I saw immediately that it was the same colour as the jeggings and my gorgeous new berry knee boots. And bing-o, it was. This long cami is going to be so useful to column with the jeggings for putting together with cardis, and the occasional jacket if I'm feeling a bit more dressy.

Peacocks also have jeggings (not coated) in the same colour; yes, I was tempted but stopped myself for fear of going into berry overkill territory.  But they're really nice, if you fancy smearing a bit of berry on your legs.

 

 

I thought the pointy toed heels were perfect pitch for this night-out outfit, but practicality ruled the day night.  Yes, I only had to walk a few yards to my destination, but it was raining heavily, wind-ing even heavier, so as soon as I poked my nose out of the window I was inspired to swap for boots.

 

 

 

I'd worn the top and jeggings recently for another at-home supper at the home of friends.

 

 

 

Then,  I'd slipped a woolly jumper over the tunic that time, probably as I was at the tail end of sinusitis.

 

 

 

 I think the tunic on its own changes the outfit into something a bit more partyish. 

What do you think?

 

 

The Food Bit

 

I took no photos of the meal, respectful of the fact that it's post-Christmas and there may be a few serious dieters reading this.  But just want to say this.  When at our neighbours' drinks party before Christmas we'd talked about getting together a bit more frequently than once a year.  When our neighbour invited us for this supper the week before, I started rambling on about how it's the getting together that's important, and that I'd keep the food very simple when I host.  She totally agreed and said she was keeping her menu simple too.    She was doing a crab and prawn tian for starter, then a choice of sea bass or beef bourginon (or both!) for mains.  Pudding would be a citrus posset, lemon merengue pie and a fruit crumble.

Oh my!!!  That's simple?!!!! 

 

On the night itself she kept to a lighter touch.  Slightly.

The tian was delicious and I would have been happy to stop there.  But I didn't want to appear precious so I soldiered on.  For the cause, you understand.   

As we all chose to keep it light with just the fish for mains, she didn't serve the beef, but then did bring to the table a choice of cod or hake, both en papillote.  And she only served the posset, though the other two pudds were on the countertop if we fancied.  No, no, posset would be just lovely to round off the splendid meal, we all chimed.  So on to the table came the possets.  Lemon, lime, orange.  Yes, she'd made three types of posset!

 

And that, readers, is the act that I will be following!!!!

 

 

 

A la perchoine.



Posh Cream, Aperol and Scenery by The Pout

Our subject matter this week is how to wear rather 'posh' cream to drink the last Aperol spritz of the season, accessorised with late summer's evening scenery.

That was the remit set by my blogger bestie Anna of muttonyearsstyleandi.
Essentially, posh cream accessorised with scenery and Aperol put in a sartorial context.

It came about when I excitedly told Anna that I'd just had my first APEROL.  Ever. 

AT LONG LAST! 

You see, Anna's a bit of a fan of this herby liquor and it has been featured more than once on her IG.   Aperol tastes a bit like Campari, I decided, which I hadn't tasted since the early 70s, in a disco club when I was trying to look with it cool!

I stepped over the threshold into Aperollia at a friend's house on Friday evening.  She offered an aperitif choice of prosecco or Aperol.  I spied the bottle and recognising it from Anna's IG, I replied rather excitedly "Both please".  I was charged with the mixology and first tasted my Aperol neat before loading our flutes with prosecco*.  It made a  most intoxicating refreshing drink.

*OK, Anna's subject matter included "spritz" - I found my spritz in prosecco, not soda water (insert slightly inebriated emoji ... hick!), so let's call that an Aperol Fizz.

So that's the Aperol done.  Tick.  

What about the evening scenery bit of Anna's themed post?

Well, this is it.  My hostess is most skilful in the homemaking department.  A pergola leads from the dining area and the conservatory.  She had canopied it.  Lately I've been lusting after researching some of these canopied and draped pergolas on Pinterest, but hadn't seen one in the flesh.  Not until last night.  Now I want my pergola canopied too.  Deffo.  Isn't it an attractive sitting spot?  It looks out onto the summer's evening scenery, so I can put a big fat tick next to that element of the subject matter.

Yes,  last night I drank my first ever Aperol and saw my first ever canopied pergola.

Small steps for blogkind ... big steps for this blogger.

OK, let's move on to the 'rather posh cream' bit.

I wore my Zara pearled sweater.  It's posh 'cos it's dripping with pearls.  It's cream.  So that's posh cream.  Tick.

And it's new!  Zara lured me in to her Southampton store  recently - has Zara been luring you lately?

I felt it was the ideal thing to wear for a cosy supper with old girlfriends, the old being that I have known them for 35 years and one of them for 62 years.  R at I met in infants school and went all the way through our school years together, then we all worked together in the 80s.

Go figure, there was much chat around the cosy dining table!

May I just say here that I am loving Zara's work.  I love the way this sweater is designed and made.  The sweater fibre is extremely soft and the pearls are sewn on beautifully.

This is the kind of sweater I have been wanting for ages.  

Posh casual.

It's the kind of sweater you just throw on and walk straight out the door.  No accessories required. 

It's a sweater so it's uncomplicated to wear, yet you feel posh. 

It looks like you've made some effort when in fact all you've done is slip it over your head!

This sweater needs no more that black jeans, black wedged courts by Clarks, and a solitary pearl and "diamond" bracelet.

Aperol Fizz, posh cream and accessorising with scenery.

What more does a gal need to feel good when suppering with old girl friends, eh?

Well, maybe a pleather biker jacket.

Shades, for mystery.

And a smile.

Smile in the comments box if you like this post!

So, that's what I wore for my first Aperol of summer, of EVER!

Now, please do pop along to see how Anna dressed for her last Aperol of summer.

A la perchoine.

Drinks With The Neighbours

To Do Lists.  Why do we do it to ourselves?  Christmas preps.  Getting together for just a few days, with food a little more fancy than normal, with the house tarted up a tad, oh and some presents too.  Not a huge deal, really, eh?  But each year I live by lists from some time in November through to the end of the year.  Terrified of forgetting something.   Why do I beat myself up over this?

Oh, maybe its because about 20 years ago I forgot to buy my brother in law's present (garden spade, permanently etched in Pout Memory).  It only dawned on me as we were sharing presents on the day itself.  I looked around for his awkward-shaped parcel.  No where.  Then it dawned on me. 

I didn't buy !!  It was a sort of Home Alone "Kevin!!!!!!!!" moment.

Since then, my Christmas preps are planned, documented and with a 4-eyes control process to ensure that The Bad Thing I did back in the day will never ever be repeated.

As I sit here typing, I spy to my left a spiral-bound battle-worn notepad in which currently I have at least half a dozen lists going on simultaneously.  Presents.  Christmas meal (and I am only preparing one dish!).  Drinks with Neighbours.  Family get together.  House preps.  Catering menus. Oh, it goes on and on.  And somewhere on one of the many lists is an entry "write blog post". 

See the system works.  For that is what I am doing right now!!

But I do love Christmas and I love the lovely times spent with family.  So, wind your neck in, Pout, and stop your ramblings!!!

What's not to love about this time of year.  Lots of nice things happening.  Like our annual Christmas drinks with the neighbours.  I have to admit I was still feeling washed out by this fluey cold on Tuesday, the day of our drinks party.  This fluey cold thing comes and goes. 

But needs must and I snapped myself into action and managed to organise nibbles and (delegate) drinks.  And despite The Photographer telling me I looked as white as a sheet an hour before they arrived, somehow 10 minutes in the bathroom and a change of outfit did wonders.  I think. 

And then I was ready.  Quick check around the house.

 Candles lit.

Plethora of festive lighting in the front lounge.

I say plethora as I do not like the juxtaposition of those two light displays.  I want to remove one.  The Photographer can't understand why I would want to do this.  Big debates at Chez Pout!

Gilded reindeers casually draped with glass beading.

The Photographer nonchalantly crosswording next to my (small) Christmas tree.

I tried to get a pic of the loads of flashing lights out in the garden. (Another plethora, but in a nice way).   I failed.

But, importantly, the Nibbles were ready.  I was ready.

And so I enjoyed a quiet glass of wine before the neighbours arrived, pleased with my work.

I just love this time before a party.  A sense of achievement pervades my every nerve ending.

But in my dash to make house and me presentable, I forgot to take an OOTD pic.  So I tried a selfie.  

I failed again.

So (and you'll have to trust me on this one), under that snug scarf I wore something remarkably similar to the outfit I wore for my last home-entertaining here, the only subtle difference being a change of necklace.  I wanted something a little more colourful, festive.  I chose the necklace worn for my-first-time with you. 11 months ago.  Where has that time gone?

I had a nice evening.  I hope you are enjoying a nice evening right now, whether it be cosying up or out having fun out and about.  Whatever you are doing, just relax and forget about those To Do Lists. Even just for a few hours!

A la perchoine.

Friday Night Celebrating With Friends!

 

 

Hi peeps, thanks for popping in.  Can you believe it?  Here we are again, Friday night!

Even though my Working Girl past is way behind me, I still feel something exciting in the air late Friday afternoons.  Time to party! Feeling like I need a little bit of pensioner fun.
 I usually like to do something come Friday evening.  it just feels so right.

 

But before the night comes the day and, as usual, Friday started with an early morning round of golf.  Then breaking with routine, a quick clean up of the house before driving to the harbour to collect my special Dutch friend, Marianne.  She's staying with me for a week.

You've seen Marianne on previous posts back in March, like here when she joined me in Sussex.

 

 

Mates!

 

 

Here doing my Sandie Shaw, I wore a Next linen mix yellow floral shift dress for the harbour trip. 

 

Needless to say, there was lots of catching up to do. 

 

 

 And she knows how to spoil me, just look at my goodies from Holland!

I love Wohnen!  It's a filled with Dutch house style pics.  I'm a big fan.

Is there any particular country's décor style that you like, apart from that of your own home country?

 

 

 

And then Friday night out!  Wearing the black version of the Next linen mix dress (SS15).

Here I wore a mix of turquoise jewellery and some little black and diamante sandals with a tiny graduated wedge heel; caSS03!

 

 I love this style of dress as it's so easy to wear, just a simple slip on and job done.  It's cool in hot weather as it's nicely loose around the middle.  This dress is so versatile, as black dresses usually are, and can be notched up or down with accessories.

Do you wear black dresses in summer?

 

 

And here's Marianne, looking so smart-casual!  White trousers with a mottled print cardi in black/grey/ecru.  She looks lovely, eh?

 

 

We were invited round to our over-the-fence neighbours.  Some chilled sparkly pink out in the evening sun.  That's my garden over the fence!  Not far to go home, eh?  No need for a taxi.

 

 

A super salmon parcel and a tasty pea shoot garnish.  Lovely fresh, delicate flavours. 

 

 

Served with a chilled pinot grigio.  In a Transylvania glass!  Brought back from Romania. 

Can you make out the black bats? 

 

 

 Lamb tagine, some fancy couscous mix, fruity braised red cabbage and a mix of beans bought at the farmer's market a few hours before.  Yummy!

 

And here it all goes a bit crazy.

Strawberry meringues dipped in chocolate, fresh raspberries from the farmer's market, rhubarb from their garden served as a compote with a marscapone and ginger topping ...

 

 

... and as if we weren't already spoilt for choice, a super-citrusey lemon meringue pie!

 

My neighbour is a superb cook and she and her husband are the best host and hostess team.

Thank you neighbours, we had a super evening.

 

And this glass is for you!

 

For after the long journey home :-), I checked my blog and saw that I'd reached a milestone for my blog in terms of page reads.

I raise this glass to you, my very dear readers.  Thank you for popping in to see me. 

I am so very thrilled that you enjoy reading my posts.

I'm still a rookie and after six months of posting, I continue feeling my way through the blogisphere but hope that my mix of pics n snippets in some small way serves to brightens your day. 

 

Thank you for your sweet comments, I love to hear from you, to find out a little more about you and what you're up to. .I feel privileged and humbled that you spare me some of your previous time.

 

I was so happy to celebrate this special Friday night with you too!!!

 

 

A la perchoine.

 

 

 



Super Seafood Suppers, The Overdue Appendix

Hi peeps, thanks for popping in.  It's been all go here today, what with the shed project, shopping and taking His Royal Fluffiness for his pamper session (a grooming at the local vets). 

And then, maybe because I was thinking about sunny days and eating al fresco, maybe I was thinking about the friends I made this meal for here, but anyway, I suddenly remembered I promised you some recipes and I hadn't delivered!  And I'm sorry about that.  So I swiftly got on the case.

Now this is a variation on a meal that I usually turn out at least once during the summer months.  Because it's so simple.  It's inspired by a souvenir cook book I picked up when visiting the Newport mansions on Rhode Island.  What an experience!  Allow at least a day to visit just a few of the many mansions available to view.

Anyway, back to the plot.  The food. 

I've strayed from the recipes and format over the years but I do love the concept. 

An extremely easy meal involving little cooking, a bit of preparation and almost all is done in advance.

And that's really the beauty of this tried-and-tested menu.  When your guests arrive, you look (and feel!) calm and collected.  You can enjoy drinks out on the patio with them, at some stage you drift away from your prosecco to pop into the house to fling a few elements together ...

But you serve a meal that is perfect for a summer's evening, that is a doddle to make yet looks and tastes so professional that you cannot fail to impress your guests.  Whilst relaxing and enjoying their wonderful company.

You just cannot go wrong with this menu!  So please, please, give it a go. 

Requirements: prepping in advance; a calm, sunny evening; invite people you love.

Recipes serve approx. 6; warning - you may have leftovers :-)



Herby Goats Cheese Dip

Ingredients

1 roll-pack goats cheese

about half pack cream cheese with herbs

squirt of lemon juice

finely chopped fresh thyme and rosemary, or to taste or to what you have to hand

olive oil

A little salt and pepper if required

Perhaps just a spoon-tip of wholegrain mustard

Method

Mash goats cheese with herby cream cheese, quantities to taste but the ratio I used was roughly equal quantities.

Blend in chopped herbs, a spritz of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

Add a small amount of salt, pepper and/or mustard if required but be light of touch, keep the flavour delicate and predominantly that of the cheese.

Serve

Place in a glass bowl; I just love those little Ikea +365 glass dishes, on the left, so useful, so elegantly simple.

 Serve with bruschetta, bread sticks, oat cakes - whatever takes your fancy.  And I recommend it served with chilled prosecco out on the patio! 



Chilled Lobster Tarragon

Ingredients

2 medium-sized cooked lobsters, cut in bite-sized pieces
(I get mine cooked and shelled from our local Crab Cabin, hope you have something similar near you)

A couple of squirts of fresh lemon juice

2 ribs of celery, very finely chopped

4 spring onions, trimmed lightly top and bottom, chopped

3/4 cup full-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

sea salt or plain salt and freshly ground pepper, to tase

6 outer leaves from Little Gem lettuce

lemon cut in 6 wedges

Method

Combine the lobster, juice, spring onions and celery in a bowl.

Mix the mayo and tarragon with seasoning then add the lobster mix.

Place in a covered container and pop in the fridge for a few hours.

To serve: place servings on to the lettuce leaves, with the lemon wedge to the side.

To Serve

Boiled new potatoes, local (as I used) or Jersey Royals and sugar snap peas.

Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients

Sugar snap peas, about a pound (2 bags), washed and trimmed if necessary

Butter, I use Guernsey butter, of course, but use any rich local butter

Finely chopped chives and basil, or whatever you fancy

Method

Add sugar snaps to rolling boiling water for about a minute or so.  Drain and cool under cold running water.  Put to one side until ready to serve.

To serve, gently heat the butter in a pan (do not burn), add the sugar snaps and herbs and warm through.

Serve this dish with a chilled white - I served Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc on this occasion.  V nice.

Mixed Berry Tart

Ingredients

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened at room temperature

1/3 cup double cream, chilled

1/4 cup castor sugar

6 tartlet shells, I always get mine from M&S

You need roughly 1 cup each of washed & prepared fresh strawberries and blueberries (or other berries)

1/2 cup apricot jam

2 tablespoons water

Icing sugar, to dust

Method

Beat the cheese, cream and sugar together in a bowl until the usual stiff peaks form.  Divide between the tartlets. 

(Now I usually end up with extra mix, which I keep in the fridge and have with fresh fruit the next day)

Place the fruit on top the mascarpone mix, as artistically or not as your heart desires!

Combine the jam and water in a little saucepan.  Cook slowly until melted and smooth.

Brush over the top of each tart.

Cover and refrigerate until chilled, which at least 2 hours

To serve: dust with the icing sugar.

(Any left over tarts are super for breakfast the next morning.  Trust me!)

And if you are living in our British climate, retire to the sofas indoors for coffee.  (And a little chocolate :-). )  Because it will no doubt be getting a tad chilly by the time you've lingered over this wonderful meal.

And there you have it - a beautifully light summer's evening menu.  Do I make these recipes sound easy?  Well, that's 'cos they are!

I do hope you try out at least one of the recipes, dear reader.  You won't be disappointed.

Do you have any fave summer lunch/supper recipes to share?

Or menus that make entertaining so easy because they can be prepped well in advance?

I'd love to hear.

Happy Thursday to you all.

A la perchoine.