Come dine (and wine) with us-take 2!The last few months have been rather hectic for us all, which is why it has taken over two months to get everyone together and hold the second instalment of 'Come dine with us'. Having hosted the first round with Katie and Rochelle, it was lovely to be able to turn up and have a three course meal prepared for us (we hoped it would be tasty but not as good as ours!). The evening was hosted by Carys, Caroline, Emma, Hannah and Zarah, slightly unbalanced from our team of three but whose counting, I'm not competitive. Before leaving the office we were handed a yummy three course menu, which included three different dishes for each courses....our tummy’s began to rumble!
Roasted Cherry Tomato Salad
Warmed Ciabata Bread with Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil
Zucchini Fritters with Mint & Basil Dipping Sauce
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Pumpkin Risotto with Seared citrus Scallops
Butterbean & Chorizo stew
Roasted Vegetables dressed with Lancashire cheese
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Eton Mess
Raspberry Cheesecake
Lemon Drizzle Cake
We all headed home to get ready; the dress code was 'elegant and black'. Katie and I arrived first despite our nightmare train journey (one of the many joys of living in London), as soon as we entered the flat there were some lovely cooking smells coming from the kitchen and instantly stepped back in time, to the 1920's. The flat was decorated with memorabilia of the time, posters with facts and a projector lighting up the ceiling with a black and white silent movie-such a clever idea and perfect for setting the scene. We headed over to a corner of the room where the girls had 1920's accessories for us to wear; pearls, flapper headbands and feathers for our hair topped off with some seriously 'red' lipstick to jazz up our look (not quite sure if this would suit Tom though, who was again braving a night with ten women).
Having been transformed back in time, we were then greeted with a delicious Champagne cocktail, ‘Chambord Royale’, but rather than having the raspberries as garnish, they blended them along with strawberries and served over crushed ice.
The rest of the team arrived; once the late comers were dressed up and us early birds had a few more cocktails... the food was finally served to the sound of many oohs and ahhs. The starters were accompanied by the refreshing Jacktone Ranch Pinot Grigio a great start to the evening. Next up, the mains pumpkin risotto with seared scallops. Risotto can be so difficult to get right without the added complication of seared scallops (which are not great if over cooked), they had no problems it was delicious! We then moved onto the second main, butterbean and chorizo stew, this was served with Jacktone Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon.
Starting to feel a little full up, we took a break from food and were given a quiz whilst the hosts cleared up. It was good fun, they had put together a list of slang words that were regularly used in the 20's, most of which we no longer use and had to guess the meanings. Do you know what 'giggle water', and 'getaway sticks' are? After a few comical interpretations of the words we moved onto a trio of desserts, one of which was an Eton mess, one of my fave's and I was not disappointed!
Before we knew it the night was over. It was well worth the two month wait and this was reflected in the score that I gave, but I did have to knock one or two points off for us 'the guests' having to top up our own drinks!
I am looking forward to the next evening, which will bring our competition to an end and the results will be revealed. If you have held a 'Come dine with me' with your friends and have any hints, tips or food and wine suggestions for the final team, we’d love to hear them.
