A Lovers Banquet

So last Sunday our house turned into a kid free zone, which is almost unheard of.  A WHOLE DAY TO OURSELVES!  What to do? 

You guessed it - after a nice long lay in and a bracing 2 hour walk (in the rain!) we decided to spend the afternoon cooking up the food of lurve in the kitchen.  One of our great pleasures is to make each other something yummy to eat so an afternoon with some wine, some sounds and some food is our idea of heaven.  The resulting banquet was so delicious we are happy to share it with you folks. So enjoy working together in the kitchen, the banquet is truly easy and time-wise the whole thing took about 2.5 hours including all the prep and cooking time and washing up.  Dawn is an obsessive "wash and wipe" type o' gal.  So, a little tip -  to avoid marital disharmony, decide ahead of time who is cooking what and then, by working together, you can get to the point where you actually have finished everything and you are just waiting for the meal to cook!   Below, we've listed a suggested order which kind of brings everything together just right... and we're sure you won’t need any suggestions as to how to fill your spare time here… it is called a lovers banquet after all!

Menu

Starter – Spicy Squash Soup

Main – Sausage in caraway and mustard batter, served with steamed carrots and broccoli and a caramelised onion gravy

Dessert – Strawberry shortcake towers

Note – the following quantities will produce enough to serve 4.  This makes sense from an economic point of view and also means you can enjoy the meal twice… although you could always wow another couple by inviting them over for dinner and sharing it with them.  The dessert is particularly impressive!

Ingredients

For the soup

1.5 kg butternut squash

3 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp dried thyme (or some fresh thyme if you can get it)

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 large onions

1 large garlic clove

400ml chicken stock (vegetable also works well)

1 knob of butter

2 slices of bread (to make croutons)

For the main course

2 eggs

150g plain flour

300ml milk

2 tsp French or Dijon mustard

1 tsp caraway seeds

8 good quality sausages

1 red onion

2 tsp olive oil

For the gravy

2 onions

Knob of butter

500ml stock (we used lamb but beef, chicken or vegetable would work)

Salt

For the accompaniments

4 large carrots

8 large florets of broccoli

For the dessert

The pastry

140g unsalted butter

250g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting

85g caster sugar

1 egg plus one extra egg yolk

The filling

200ml double cream

100ml Amaretto

50g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

½ vanilla pod

300g strawberries

The Order

We’ll list this below for each course, but timing wise, do it in the following order. If working together, 1 person could do a, c, e, g, I, k and m with the other doing b, d, f, h, j, l and n

a)      Make the pastry

b)      Caramelise the onions for the gravy

c)      Make the batter and brown the sausages

d)      Make the soup

e)      Cook the pastry and then allow to cool

f)       Make the croutons

g)      Prep the veg for the main course

h)      Make the filling for the desserts

i)       Finish the gravy

j)       Construct the desserts and then chill

k)      Add the batter to the sausages

l)       Steam the veg

m)    Reheat soup and serve

n)      Reheat gravy and serve with main course

For the soup

The Prep

1.      Peel and de-seed the squash, then cut into cubes

2.      Preheat oven to 200 degrees (gas 6)

3.      Dry fry the cumin and coriander seeds for 30 seconds over a high heat and then crush to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle.

4.      Peel and slice the onions and garlic

5.      To make the stock, use a stock cube and 400ml boiling water

The Method

1.      Put the squash into a roasting tin and drizzle with 2 tblsp of the oil.  Season and sprinkle with the chilli and thyme. Roast for about 40-45 minutes, shaking tin every 10 minutes or so.

2.      Meanwhile, make the croutons.  Remove the crusts from the bread and then cut into small squares.  Each slice should yield 16 small croutons. Grease or oil a baking tray and lay the bread flat.  Drizzle with the remaining oil and put in the oven for just a few minutes.  Keep an eye on them because they will burn quickly… just a few minutes is enough.  Remove and set aside to cool.

3.      Melt the butter in a large saucepan or stock pot and cook the onions and garlic until softened.

4.      Put the roasted squash, onion, garlic and stock into a food processor or blender and whizz until smooth.

5.      Add the cumin/coriander spice mix to taste (if you use the whole lot it will be quite spicy!).

6.      Serve with the croutons.

For the main course

The Prep

1.      Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/gas 6.

2.      Peel, halve and slice the onions for the gravy.

3.      Peel the red onion and cut into wedges.

4.      Peel and slice the carrots; set aside.

5.      Cut the broccoli into small florets; set aside.

6.      To make the stock, use a stock cube and 400ml boiling water.

7.      To make the gravy, cook the onions over a low heat with the butter and a good pinch of salt.  Keep stirring frequently until the onions go brown, but do not let them burn!  This will take at least 20-30 minutes.  Then add the stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Set aside.  This can be quickly reheated when you serve.

8.      To make the batter, put the eggs and a little of the milk into a bowl.  Add the flour and whisk until smooth, then put the rest of the milk in and whisk.  This can be done in a food processor if you like (use the mixing rather than the chopping blade).  Add the mustard and caraway seeds and stir them in thoroughly.

   

The Method

1.      Put the sausages and red onion wedges into a roasting/baking tin or large ovenproof dish.

2.      Drizzle with the oil, season with salt and pepper and then cook for 20 minutes or until sausages are browned.

3.      Pour the batter over the sausages, return to the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden.

4.      We steamed our broccoli and carrots for 10 minutes in a steamer but you could just boil them if you prefer.  The carrots will take about 15 minutes and the broccoli 10.

5.      Just before plating up, reheat the gravy.

6.      Serve.

  

For the dessert

The Prep

1.      Heat oven to 180 degrees/gas 4

2.      Line 2-3 baking trays with greaseproof paper

3.      Cut the butter into cubes

4.      Beat the egg and yolk together in a bowl.

5.      To make the pastry, combine the butter, flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.  Rub together until it looks like a bowl of breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar.  Add the egg gradually and keep stirring until the dough becomes smooth.  You may not need all of the egg mixture. Make the dough into a ball, cover in cling film and put in the fridge for half an hour.

 

6.      To make the filling, put the cream and icing sugar in a bowl.  Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the cream.  Whip the cream, gradually adding the Amaretto until it has all been added and then keep whipping until the cream forms soft peaks. Put in fridge.

 

7.      Slice the strawberries very finely.

The Method

1.      Lightly flour a worksurface and roll out the pastry.  It should be about ½ cm thick.

2.      Using a cutter or small plate, cut out some 8cm rounds.

3.      Place the discs on the baking trays and put in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

4.      Set aside to cool.

5.      When almost ready to serve, set aside the best 4 discs.  These will be the ones that will be on the top.

6.      Take 4 of the other biscuits and lay them flat.  Spread a layer of the cream on each one, and then cover with about half of the strawberries.  Add some more cream on top.  Then add another biscuit and repeat.

7.      Place the previously set aside biscuits on the top, dust with icing sugar and serve.